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force that they were not alone.
    Hamuda swiftly grasped the situation and ordered his unit to readiness. Correctly assessing that the attack had been carried out the other side of the river, he ordered his tanks to prepare to move out.
    On arrival at his command tent, a sergeant passed him the radio handset, unit commander Major Yamashio already informed and planning his own response to the obvious Chinese advance.
     
     
     
     
    Fig # 33 - Yujiang River dispositions.

    1st Company was ordered to take up positions bordering the river, oriented to the west, remaining silent for a flank ambush when Yamashio ordered it.
    2nd and 3rd Companies had crossed the river previously and would remain in position, guarding the approaches to Guiping . 4th Company would remain in situ as a reserve.
    With the improved communications offered by all the newly-arrived German equipment , Yamashio expected to be able to better control his battalion’s responses , and so was light on specific orders, enjoying a freedom of operation and command almost unheard of for a Japanese tank unit commander.
     
     
    Hardy hated the Chinese with a passion. They were useless soldiers , so he told himself, unable to digest the simple soldierly arts let alone the complexities required of the tank man.
    And yet here he was, co mmanding an M5 light tank with C hinese crew , and leading his whole unit into battle.
    The unexpected strafing attack by the nip fighters had been ineffective, killing solely one useless chink tank commander who couldn ’ t keep his head down.
    Apart from that , the advance had been uneventful as the column pushed up Route 304 towards their first objective, the Yujiang River bridges at Guiping .
    Raising himself out of the cupola , he brought his binoculars to his eyes, taking in the relatively open landscape into which he was driving . Hardy shuddered at the memory and quietly t hank ed his god that he wasn ’ t back in France , where such terra in meant Paks and Panzer s, which always brought death and destruction in equal measure.
    As they passed the left hand junction with the county road Teo Li, his gunner, began chattering excitedly and the tank halted abruptly and without orders. Whilst Hardy could normally manage to issue orders and could understand much of what his crew said, at this moment, his ability to comprehend the increasing pitch and rapidity of his crew’s agitated conversation was non-existent.
    The gunner alternated between looking down his sights and sending an imploring look directly at his American commander, accompanying both with increasingly panicky words. Hardy shook the man’s shoulder and calmly used his best Chinese to find out exactly what the problem was.
    He was in the process of isolating key words like 'Japanese’, 'Tank’ and 'big’ when something sounding like an express train rocked his tank as it passed close by.
     
     
    Fig # 3 4 - Yujiang River ambush positions.

    Ordering his tank to head for some isolated buildings just off to the right , he stuck his head back out , the binoculars again probing for enemies.
    A second shot betrayed the enemy position.
    The radio was in his hand in an instant, send ing back a contact report as his tank dropped in behind the farm building, screening him from the Shinhoto Chi-Ha that had engaged the Stuart tank.
    He dismounted and moved to the corner of the building , from where he immediately spotted a second Shinhoto . The 47mm gun was engaging the next US vehicle in line, with more success it seemed, as a burst of smoke followed the sound of metal on metal.
    Climbing back in to his tank again , he informed the unit commander of the latest development and was told to reconnoitre further forward around the flanks , if safe to do so. W hich order he immediately interpreted to his own ends, determining the move totally unsafe and electing to remain in place until the medium tanks took care of business.
    Li’s mouth was still working overtime , but the man