Iron-Boned Sichuan Army: The Straw Sandal Company

In 1937, the Songhu battlefield was like a red-hot iron pot, with human lives thrown into it. Xu Lianshan was an inconspicuous acting platoon leader in the Sichuan Army, wearing straw sandals, with a stiff rifle barrel and men who could not even get a hot meal. Forced to take command, he now had to stake lives on every order. They retreated east, holding the rear guard all the way, defended the ruined city of Teng County, and fired their machine guns until they glowed in the rain of the Dabie Mountains. Behind enemy lines, they had to borrow food from the people, seize medicine from Japanese transport units, and claw out a way to survive between puppet troops, bandits, and collaborators. Their adversary, Heimu Masahiko, was like a net drawing tighter and tighter, with sweeps, burned mountains, and sealed-off ravines turning the enemy’s rear into a death trap. Xu Lianshan was no hero, just a company commander who refused to let his men scatter: as long as their unit designation remained, the straw-sandal soldiers would stand their ground until the day victory came.