I am an industrial worker during the War of Resistance

Chapter 97 The Vanished Tiger

"What did you say? Kobori-kun's regiment and those three thousand Mongol cavalry were completely wiped out?"
"You didn't even find a single living person?" Hideki Tojo could hardly believe his ears.

"Hi, Commander, it's like this."

Around 7 a.m., our reconnaissance aircraft conducted battlefield reconnaissance for Xiaojue and his entourage.

Nothing had happened yet.

When we tried to contact Kobori-kun in the afternoon as usual, we were unable to reach him.

Moreover, it was time for our reconnaissance aircraft to provide reconnaissance for Kobori-kun, so we sent our reconnaissance aircraft to conduct reconnaissance.

However, when our reconnaissance planes arrived at the Tumet Plain after leaving the Yin Mountains...

They discovered the battlefield where Kobori was ambushed.

The battlefield was littered with corpses.

That area had become the domain of steppe wolves and vultures, after our reconnaissance plane flew low over it.

On the battlefield, naked corpses were found everywhere. The loincloths left on the bodies identified them as the remains of our Imperial soldiers.

The reconnaissance plane flew around for nearly an hour but did not see any survivors near the battlefield.

However, they discovered that the local landscape around the battlefield had changed.

After a low-altitude inspection, they discovered that it was a hidden troop pit dug by the enemy in the ground.

They dug out a ring of hidden troop pits, roughly 20 kilometers long and 15 kilometers wide.

Those enemies used these hidden bunkers to evade our reconnaissance aircraft.

They used their extensive encirclement to evade the outer cavalry's vigilance.

When our reconnaissance aircraft were conducting low-altitude reconnaissance of the battlefield, they discovered numerous traces of artillery fire.

Moreover, its density is extremely high.

Kobori and his group were probably caught in the artillery barrage immediately.

Lieutenant Colonel Koizumi Tsutomu, who was selected by the Ministry of the Army to serve as the adjutant to Tojo Hideki, the commander of the Chahar Expeditionary Army, spoke respectfully to Tojo Hideki.

"Boom"

After listening to his adjutant, Koizumi Kōshō, finish explaining the battlefield situation...

Hideki Tojo slammed his fist on his desk in anger.

He cursed, "You idiot! Little Hori is such a damn fool! How could he be so stupid?"

It actually managed to be ambushed on that vast plain. It's best if it's dead; if it were still alive, I would personally shoot it.

It wiped out an Imperial cavalry regiment.

Faced with the furious Hideki Tojo, known as "Razor Tojo," even Koizumi Tsutomu, who was selected by the Ministry of the Army, dared not breathe loudly.

Hideki Tojo was cruel, irritable, and stubborn.

Although its strategic and tactical capabilities were extremely poor, its extremely brutal nature earned it the support of the Japanese army and hardliners in the military headquarters.

This is also why it has been able to rise to a high position step by step.

"Order the reconnaissance aircraft to go to the battlefield again first thing tomorrow morning. The army that was able to wipe out that idiot Kogoro Shige must have had a considerable number of soldiers."

I don't believe they just vanished into thin air.

Since they cannot be found in the plains, they must be hiding in the Yin Mountains.

Send out all our reconnaissance planes and search for me inch by inch over the Yinshan Mountains.

I need to find all of these people.

The Independent Mixed Brigade No. 1 is ordered to immediately begin its advance towards Yinshan.

Tell Major General Sakai Koji, the brigade commander, that I have ordered him to find and eliminate this army hiding in the Yinshan Mountains within half a month.

Furthermore, I want to see the living commander of this army; I want to personally use him to pay tribute to the fallen heroes of the Empire.

"Yes, sir, I'll go and relay the order right away."

After Koizumi Yoshiyuki stood at attention and saluted, he turned and left Tojo Hideki's office, quickly running towards the confidential radio room.

This order required him to personally watch the confidential telegraph operator send out the telegram.

If it's a different command, it can also have its subordinates relay the order.

However, if "Razor Tojo" were to discover that he hadn't personally relayed the order, he would be in big trouble.

The Independent Mixed Brigade No. 1, which belonged to the Chahar Expeditionary Force of the Kwantung Army, was also called the Sakai Brigade because its brigade commander was Sakai Koji.

The Sakai Brigade consisted of the 1st Independent Infantry Regiment, the 3rd Tank Battalion, the 4th Tank Battalion, the 1st Independent Field Artillery Battalion, and the 1st Independent Engineer Company.

Its independent field artillery battalion was equipped with twelve 75mm Type 90 field guns as its main artillery.

This cannon weighs 1.6 tons and needs to be towed by a car.

Its maximum range is 13,890 meters. In addition, it has several 70mm infantry guns and 37mm rapid-fire guns.

The 3rd and 4th Tank Battalions were equipped with a total of 71 Type 89B medium tanks, Type 94 light tanks, and Type 95 light tanks.

The entire Sakai Brigade has 744 vehicles of various types.

More than 4750 people.

Sakai Koji, the brigade commander of the Sakai Brigade, was born in 1885 and would be 52 years old in 1937.

For a 52-year-old to rise to the position of major general and brigade commander, Sakai Koji's promotion speed was considered very fast in the Japanese promotion system.

However, as an ambitious man, he still harbored resentment at not being able to become a lieutenant general and division commander.

It was quite convinced that Seishiro Itagaki, who was ten months older than it and was known as "the courage of Itagaki," had become a lieutenant general and division commander.

But it's just a comparison; Sakai Koji never thought he was any worse than Itagaki Seishiro.

But Hideki Tojo, who was a little over a month younger than him and seemed like a crazy fool, also became a lieutenant general.

He also became the commander of the Chahar Expeditionary Army.

Koji Sakai was never one to back down.

It believed that Hideki Tojo was utterly useless, except for his ability to flatter his superiors.

Ishihara Kanji's description of him as a private first class, capable of commanding a maximum of ten machine guns, was an understatement.

According to Sakai Koji, Tojo Hideki could at most charge with a rifle.

To put it in command of an infantry platoon would be irresponsible to the Imperial warriors.

But circumstances are beyond one's control. Now that man has become a lieutenant general and commander, he is one's superior. No matter how much one despises this bastard, one has to put up with it.

Koji Sakai was the first to graduate from the 18th class of the Japanese Army Officer School.

He later graduated from the 24th class of the Japanese Army University.

It is brave in battle, but also methodical.

Although he couldn't be considered a famous general, he was still considered above average among the high-ranking Japanese commanders.

However, it also has its shortcomings. Although it has a large number of tanks and armored vehicles, it always believes that infantry and artillery are the core and soul of an army.

As for the tanks and armored vehicles, they were merely weapons to provide cover and fire support for the infantry.

Moreover, Sakai Koji is extremely cruel by nature.

Since the July Incident.

Every time Sakai Koji breaches a city, he carries out a massacre. In just over two months, more than ten thousand civilians have died at his hands. Now, Sakai Koji holds the telegram from that idiot Tojo Hideki in his hand, his hands trembling with rage.

"You idiot! You don't know where the enemy is, how many there are, or even their equipment."

Knowing only that they might have a lot of cannons, I was tasked with eliminating these enemies within half a month in the seemingly endless Yinshan Mountains.

Tojo, you idiot, you really deserve to die.

Everyone.

"Hey!" Standing in front of Sakai Koji, the brigade commanders of all ranks were already trembling with fear as they listened to Sakai Koji berate Tojo Hideki.

Upon hearing Sakai Koji's command, they responded in unison.

"Everyone, assemble the troops immediately and march towards Yinshan."

Everyone must reach the foot of Yinshan Mountain within forty-eight hours.

Upon receiving the order, the military commanders at all levels quickly left the brigade and regimental commander's office.

Their brigade commander dared to publicly denounce Hideki Tojo as an idiot, but these people dared not listen.

General Hideki Tojo has supporters at the Military Headquarters, and this Mr. Koji Sakai also has his own background.

Otherwise, it would be impossible for General Tojo to have been criticized for so long and still be able to sit firmly in the position of Major General and Brigade Commander.

With my small frame, I shouldn't try to be cute here; getting to work is the most important thing.

Otherwise, one might accidentally be given a rifle by the brigade commander and sent to the front lines to charge into battle.

After everyone had left the office, Sakai Koji also looked at the map on his desk.

Although Hideki Tojo's order to find and eliminate that unknown enemy within half a month was foolish.

But it must be implemented immediately.

Aside from Hideki Tojo being its superior.

More importantly, now all the Northern Route Army troops, except for my own brigade which is preparing to march west to Suiyuan, are now...

The remaining troops were all launching a fierce attack on Yanmen Pass.

Meanwhile, in the east, Itagaki Seishiro was also launching a fierce attack on Pingxingguan.

But at this moment, a force of unknown designation and strength suddenly emerged on the right flank of the Northern Route Army.

However, it annihilated a cavalry regiment on the Empire's side, as well as the formidable force of three thousand Mongol cavalry under Prince De.

This is absolutely unacceptable.

The existence of this mysterious unit will pose a significant threat to the right flank of the Northern Route Army.

Regardless of which side this force belongs to, they must be eliminated outside the defensive line.

If this force is allowed to gain a foothold in the Yinshan Mountains, it will put enormous pressure on the Northern Route Army.

It will also be a huge thorn stuck in the back of the troops that captured Shanxi.

That's why Sakai Koji immediately ordered the troops to set off.

It intends to launch a crushing attack on this force before they have even established a foothold in the Yinshan Mountains.

Even if they cannot be completely wiped out, they must be driven out of the Yinshan Mountains so that the imperial army attacking Shanxi will have no worries about their rear.

On this point, it agrees with that bastard Hideki Tojo.

The Sakai Troupe's current base is about 100 kilometers away from the Yinshan Mountains.

After quick preparations, the Sakai Brigade arrived at the foot of Mount Yin in just over a day.

But the first news it received after reaching the foot of Yinshan Mountain was the worst possible news.

Because after the destruction of Kobori Shigeaki's cavalry regiment and the Dewang cavalry.

On the Pingxingguan battlefield in the east, the supply corps of the Japanese 21st Brigade was ambushed again.

Lieutenant Colonel Junsei Hashimoto, staff officer of the 5th Division, and Lieutenant Colonel Jun Shinjo, commander of the 6th Supply Depot Motor Transport Team, were killed in action.

The entire supply train, numbering over a thousand, was annihilated (more than a hundred escaped in later generations).

Even the rescue troops almost fell into the encirclement.

If it weren't for the quick reaction of the fictional Captain Shimajima, his rescue team would have been annihilated as well.

This decisive battle was entirely won by the troops from northern Shaanxi.

Later reports indicated that Gao Guizi's 17th Army of the Jin-Sui Army suddenly deserted before the battle.

But it was precisely because of its escape that the Shimajima Regiment had a chance to escape; otherwise, in addition to the supply regiment, an infantry regiment would have been lost as well.

The battle at Pingxingguan is still ongoing.

Meanwhile, we need to find a way to locate the mysterious force hidden in the southern part of Yinshan.

Almost three days have passed since the annihilation of Kobori Shigeshi's cavalry company.

We haven't been able to find out which side's troops were responsible, but the ones that wiped out Kobori were the Fan cavalry regiment and the Prince of De's cavalry.

There was no news from Baldy's side, no news from northern Shaanxi, and even less likely from Suiyuan, because Suiyuan had been thoroughly infiltrated, and they certainly didn't have that capability.

There was no news from the warlords in those more distant regions.

It was as if this military force appeared out of thin air; no one knew where they came from.

To avoid affecting morale, the Japanese side kept the news of the annihilation of Kobori Shigeru's cavalry regiment a secret from the high-ranking commanders and members of its Sakai Brigade.

Even Itagaki Seishiro's side used the remaining cavalry of the Kobori Regiment to create the illusion that the Kobori cavalry regiment was still fighting in the east.

Everyone kept the news of the cavalry's crushing defeat a closely guarded secret.

But now Sakai Koji is facing a problem at the foot of Yinshan Mountain: should he go and collect the corpses of Kobori and the others first?

It's been almost three days now.

Several reconnaissance planes flew back and forth in the Yinshan Mountains almost non-stop throughout the day, trying to find this mysterious unit, but so far there has been no news.

They seemed to have completely disappeared into the Yinshan Mountains.

However, Sakai Koji could understand this.

After all, the southern mountain range of Yinshan is continuous and lush with vegetation.

Don't even mention hiding tens of thousands of people there; even if you threw in a hundred thousand people, they would still be hard to find.

But if we rashly cross the Ping-Sui Railway line and get ambushed again, it would be a huge embarrassment.

Moreover, according to the information transmitted back by the reconnaissance aircraft.

The battlefield west of Yinshan Mountain has now become a playground for wild beasts and vultures.

Now that place has truly become a place littered with corpses.

Because there were bones scattered everywhere there, dragged away by wild animals.

The reconnaissance planes couldn't drive the wild animals away in time, so they had to give up.

Since things have come to this, let Hori-kun continue playing with the wild beasts over there.

When I'm able to go there, I'll see if I can still find its two bones and bring them back.

That's all.

"But where is that vanished tiger?" Sakai Koji muttered to himself.

(End of this chapter)