Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 29 Kunisaki Noboru's Surprise
"Baka... Hasegawa, that idiot, can't even take down a church, yet he asks for reinforcements. How does he have the nerve to do that?"

In an office in the former NJ City Hall building, Kunisaki Noboru, the highest-ranking commander of the Kunisaki Detachment, was furious when he saw the communications soldier who had been ordered to request reinforcements. He reached out and slapped him several times.

Kunisaki Noboru was born in 1886 and graduated from the 32nd class of the Army War College. Now 53 years old, he is a veteran officer.

This man was cruel, arrogant, and extremely concerned with his reputation. Today, he was entertaining a friend when he heard from his subordinates that his deputy had led a company of soldiers to a church to seize a woman, but they failed and suffered heavy losses. He was furious.

"Hai... Hai..."

Faced with the enraged Kunisaki Noboru, the communications soldier could only endure the burning pain on his face and keep bowing and apologizing.

“Kunisaki-kun... please don’t be too harsh on Hase-kun.”

At this moment, another person wearing the rank of lieutenant general, who was sitting in the office, spoke.

This man had a mustache and wore round glasses. At first glance, he appeared to be a gentle and refined person, but upon closer inspection, one could see that his eyes occasionally revealed a cruel and bloodthirsty glint. This man was none other than Hisao Tani, the current commander of the 6th Division.

Tani Hisao, who was three years older than Kunisaki Noboru, graduated from the 24th class of the Army University, but he got along very well with Kunisaki Noboru and the two had a close personal relationship.

Today is the day the Japanese army is preparing to hold a victory banquet after capturing Nanjing, so Tani Hisao specially came to visit his old friend for tea and a chat.

He had barely sat down and hadn't even had a sip of tea when he saw the message from the communications soldier requesting help.

Hisao Tani stopped his old friend, who was about to get angry, and said, "Kunisaki-kun, don't be angry."

He asked the communications soldier, "Which Chinese unit are those people in the church?"

The communications soldier hesitated for a moment, "General, we...we didn't capture any of their prisoners, so we don't know their identities."

"Baka!" Kunisaki Noboru roared again, raising his hand, but before he could strike, Tani Hisao grabbed it.

At this moment, Tani Hisao's face was no longer relaxed, but gloomy as he said, "Kunisaki-kun, it's not too late to fight after we find out the details."

After saying that, he asked the communications soldier, "What are the characteristics of those people, and how many of them are there?"

"The number of troops in the church is unknown, but Colonel Hase probably estimates it's no less than a company. As for their distinguishing features..." The communications soldier thought for a moment and quickly added, "By the way, they're all wearing German uniforms, and German-made helmets too..."

"Oh, and they also have five or six mortars, their small arms firepower is extremely fierce, and they've even laid mines around the church, making our attack extremely difficult."

"German-equipped division!"

At this point, Kunisaki Noboru and Tani Hisao's expressions became serious. At this time, German-equipped divisions were synonymous with China's elite troops.

"Kunisaki-kun, it seems you need to assemble your troops immediately."

After a moment's thought, Tani Hisao said in a sinister tone, "I estimate that those Chinese troops in the church are the last remaining force of the German-equipped divisions."

"Okay... I'll immediately order the 11th Regiment to set off as reinforcements." Kunisaki grabbed the phone without hesitation and immediately gave the order.

It should be noted that the Japanese army did not originally have the organizational structure of "detachment" in its combat units.

Until World War II, it was a special organization temporarily set up by the Japanese army to carry out specific combat missions. Take the Kunisaki Detachment as an example. This unit was mainly composed of the 9th Brigade of the 5th Division (lacking an infantry battalion), including the 11th and 41st Infantry Regiments, with a number of about 7,000 people.

Now that Kunisaki Noboru has dispatched half of his troops, it's clear he takes this matter very seriously.

After making the call, Kunisaki Noboru still felt uneasy. He frowned and said to Tani Hisao, "Senior, although the troops have been dispatched, I still feel that those Chinese troops in St. Paul's Church are not so easy to defeat."

Tani Hisao snorted: "That depends on Tanikawa-kun. Although the 11th Regiment you sent out is missing a battalion, it still has two infantry battalions. If it can't even take down a small church, you can suggest to Itagaki-kun (5th Division Commander Itagaki Seishiro) that he be removed from his position as deputy detachment commander."

………………

Just as Su Yaoyang was rushing back with the newly recruited men, Li Gaoyuan, who was leading more than a hundred defeated soldiers to defend St. Paul's Church, also encountered his first fierce battle.

Half an hour ago, the reinforcements sent by Kunisaki Noboru finally arrived.

As Tani Hisao said, although the 11th Regiment was missing an infantry battalion, it still had a complete force consisting of two infantry battalions, an artillery company, a supply company, and a communications company.

As soon as the 11th Regiment arrived, Colonel Yuichiro Nagano, the regimental commander in charge, spotted Hasegawa.

As the deputy commander of the Kunisaki Detachment, Yasushi Nagano and Yuichiro Hasegawa were naturally familiar with each other.

Upon meeting him, Nagano Yuichiro was taken aback.

Hasegawa, who is usually gentle and refined and always dressed in a neat military uniform, looked disheveled and dirty. His uniform was torn in several places, and there was a scratch on his face.

"Hase-kun, what happened? Why are you like this?" Nagano Yuichiro asked quickly.

"Nagano-kun, I'm sorry to have made you laugh."

Hasegawa forced a smile. "This morning, I heard that there was a group of Chinese female students in St. Paul's Church, so I brought a company to bring them back to the brigade headquarters. Unexpectedly, we encountered a German-equipped Chinese division and were caught off guard. That's why I had to request tactical guidance."

"German-equipped division?" Nagano Yuichiro was slightly surprised upon hearing this. Because he had come in a hurry, Kunisaki Sono had not told him that the church guards were German-equipped troops.

“Yes, it must be the German-equipped division.” Hasegawa nodded. “I observed through my binoculars that all the guards in the church were wearing German-style steel helmets and German military uniforms.”

What surprised me was that they weren't using German equipment; instead, they seemed to be using American equipment, especially their rifles, which were capable of continuous fire with an astonishing rate of fire. One of my squadrons had already suffered more than half its casualties.

"Is there still this?"

A hint of curiosity flashed in Nagano Yuichiro's eyes, but he immediately said arrogantly, "Hase-kun, don't worry about it. You'll know once I've defeated all those defeated Chinese soldiers."

"You rest here while I avenge you!"

After saying that, he strode out and began to arrange his troops.

Hasegawa's eyes turned cold as he watched Nagano Yuichiro giving orders to the two battalion commanders not far away.

(End of this chapter)