The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 673 Missing (Bonus chapter for reader 2020...7053)

Time: 10 PM, March 29th.

Location: Jiamusi City, in a wooden house that was clearly recently built.

After making a note on a document, Lieutenant General Kusunoki Seiryu looked at his desk; there was still a large pile of documents waiting to be processed.

Thinking that if everything were to be dealt with, it would probably be at least one or two in the morning.

He couldn't help but stretch out his palms and massage his temples, looking like he had a headache.

There was no other way! More than a month ago, on that night, Hu Biao and his men burned Jiamusi City almost to the ground, and the casualties were enormous.

Jiamusi City was the capital of Hejiang Province of the puppet state of Manchukuo, a key area for the Japanese to control, a crucial border region between the Japanese and the Russians, and a very important logistical base.

Furthermore, considering the issue of saving face, the Japanese would naturally not allow the city to completely decline.

Thus, Kusunoki Seiji, the commander of the 57th Division of the Japanese Kwantung Army, received a brand new task: to take full charge of the reconstruction of Jiamusi City.

Before arriving, Nanmu Shilong knew that Jiamusi City had been severely damaged and that rebuilding it would be an extremely difficult task.

But once I got there, I realized how incredibly difficult it was.

There wasn't a single decent house to be seen in the entire city; the makeshift wooden huts were only for the wounded to live in. Even his office, as the person in charge, was a ridiculous wooden hut, though it was slightly larger.

The empire's immigrants could only live in tents.

Sleeping in a tent during the cold winter? Just thinking about it makes my scalp tingle.

More importantly, the morale of the soldiers, immigrants, and even staff of the puppet state of Manchukuo in Jiamusi City was at an all-time low.

Immigrants from the empire and staff of the puppet state of Manchukuo, in particular, are now trying every means to move to other cities to live.

Anyone with even a little bit of connections or ability would have left long ago.

Even those who were unable to leave often became distracted during the reconstruction work, causing serious delays.

His trembling, fearful demeanor made it seem as if Hu Biao and his men might return to fight again at any moment.

Thinking of the above situation, Nanmu Shilong cursed angrily:

"Fools, a bunch of fools! Hu Biao and his gang only managed to succeed in Jiamusi and Changchun by some tricks and schemes."

Now they must be hiding like rats in some ditch.

"Do they dare to continue causing trouble in Jiamusi? Impossible! I'd rather they come looking for death; we'll definitely catch those damned rats then."

Kusunoki Setaka must have had considerable confidence to dare to utter the above remarks.

Not only did he not come to Jiamusi alone, but he also brought with him the 57th Division of the Kwantung Army, a core force of nearly 20,000 men.

More importantly, after arriving, he thoroughly reorganized the area and prepared some contingency plans.

To put it roughly, the expatriates in the city were divided into small groups, each with a designated leader and semi-armed squads, and they were given some weapons.

If Hu Biao and others use the radio to spread false information or use other means to create chaos, these people will suppress them to prevent riots from occurring.

Meanwhile, his regular troops would encircle and annihilate them.

In short, unless there is a riot in the city, Hu Biao and his men are courting death if they come here.

However, it seemed as if fate was deliberately trying to slap the Japanese lieutenant general in the face; the next second, faint gunshots came from all directions of the city and reached his ears.

What other possibility is there for such a commotion, other than Hu Biao and his men, whom he was certain would not come, launching another surprise attack on Jiamusi City?
After a jolt, Nanmu Shilong prepared to react according to the contingency plan.

However, as soon as he picked up a phone on the table, before he could even crank the handle to order his troops to move out, he heard something and his face turned deathly pale.

Because in his ears, countless screams of extreme terror rang out.

This means that the Japanese immigrants in the city became restless and panicked as soon as the gunfire started, and his arrangements were completely ineffective.

Under such circumstances, the history of Jiamusi will repeat itself, and tonight it will suffer another catastrophic disaster...

*******
Ten hours later, it was completely bright outside.

Having not slept all night, Nanmu Shilong slumped behind his desk, his eyes bloodshot, his hair a mess like a bird's nest, and his beard unkempt. In such a short time, he looked as if he had aged ten years in an instant.

But Nanmu Shilong couldn't care less about any of that, because he was currently listening to his subordinates report on the losses from the previous night. Every number in the report made his very soul tremble as it reached his ears:

"Your Excellency, yesterday the troops suffered a total of 611 casualties."

702 people were injured, of whom 355 were seriously injured, and 133 are still in critical condition.

The puppet state of Manchukuo suffered 389 casualties, and the person in charge of Hejiang Province whom you had just appointed recently tragically died last night.

1732 overseas Chinese were injured or killed in the city. Now, almost all of those who were not injured have gone to the train station to leave Jiamusi by train.

Because there were too many people, and we were worried about causing further chaos, we didn't dare to forcibly stop them.

In addition, our newly built wooden houses and tents were almost completely burned down last night; Hu Biao and his men also raided and destroyed armories, airports and other areas outside the city, and attacked several trains on the railway.

The bombing resulted in the destruction of an ammunition depot and fuel depot, the damage of eleven fighter jets, and the derailment of two trains.

While listening to all this, Nanmu Shilong had only one thought in his mind: It's over! It's completely over.

Even compared to the casualties in Jiamusi last time, and the losses in Changchun, the number of casualties and other losses last night were much smaller.

But how can I put it? Such a loss is still like giving the Kwantung Army two more slaps on its already swollen face, leaving it utterly humiliated.

As the person directly responsible, his fate will certainly be tragic.

I probably won't die, but my future is completely ruined.

Just as he was filled with grief, his subordinate, who was standing in front of his desk reporting, suddenly thought of something.

With a puzzled look on his face, he added another sentence:
"Our experts, based on their analysis of the explosion sites at the ammunition depot, fuel depot, airport, and military train, believe that something is very wrong."

If all the fuel and ammunition inside were to detonate, the explosion and the resulting debris would be far more than just a small amount.

It must have been Hu Biao and his group who transported a large portion of it.

Of the eleven planes lost at the airport, only the wreckage of eight has been recovered so far.

In addition, a Type 99 dive bomber, a Hayabusa fighter, and an L2D transport plane have gone missing, possibly also taken away by Hu Biao and his men.

According to the analysis, Hu Biao and his men mobilized a maximum of 700 troops last night.

The footprints they left behind didn't look like they were carrying any heavy loads. Even if they took some weapons and fuel, the quantity would be quite limited and couldn't possibly have caused such a large discrepancy.

None of the airport survivors witnessed the plane taking off.

There were no tire tracks from the plane being towed in the surrounding roads and wilderness.

So this situation is really strange. Did Hu Biao and his men take away a large amount of weapons and fuel, as well as three different types of aircraft?

Do they possess magic, capable of conjuring things out of thin air?

"Lord Nanmu, should we report this matter and investigate it?"

If this had happened in the past, Kusunoki Setaka would have reported all the strange circumstances to the Kwantung Army headquarters and launched a thorough investigation.

But if this is reported now, is it because they think the punishment he will receive is not severe enough, that he won't die?
It's important to understand that the destruction of equipment and supplies is not on the same level as the loss of them by Hu Biao and his men, nor is the punishment received.

Based on this idea, Nanmu Shilong solemnly instructed his subordinates:
"Fools! Stop your ridiculous guesses and ideas; if Hu Biao and the others really knew magic, why didn't they use it before?"

Those so-called experts must have been terrified and made a judgment that was far below their standards.

There's no need to report such an outrageous matter; it would only cause headaches for Lord Umezu and his men.

With a shout of "Hai!", the fact that the garrison in Jiamusi had lost a large amount of weapons, equipment, aircraft, and fuel the previous night was concealed.

This is precisely why the Japanese Unit 731 was completely unprepared for this, and was destined to suffer a catastrophic disaster.

To put it in a witty way: Hu Biao and his magic are unstoppable...

(End of this chapter)