Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Major Kurokawa Akebuku's words shattered the hopes of Colonel Mori Takashi, the commander of the regiment. He opened his mouth wide for a long time, unable to recover. No one from the First Battalion survived? How did the Chinese army do it? This was simply unbelievable. How should he reply to the telegram to the brigade commander and the division commander?

It is said that all the officers and soldiers of the First Battalion were mysteriously wiped out by the Chinese army? I didn't find out because the officers and soldiers of the First Battalion didn't fire a single shot, and no one heard the sound of gunfire? Who would believe this reason? I still don't believe this is a fact.

"Captain, how should we reply to the telegram from the brigade commander and the division commander? We can't even find a single officer or soldier from the first battalion. We have no idea what happened at that time." Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Saki Hiramiya asked in a low voice beside the commander of the regiment, Colonel Mori Joe, with a worried look on his face. He now didn't know how to deal with this matter.

The commander of the regiment, Colonel Maori Qiao, adjusted his mood and pondered for a while. After a while, he said, "Hiramiya-kun, report the truth to the brigade commander and the division commander. We have lost an entire battalion of officers and soldiers. We can't make up other excuses. After the battle, I will take the initiative to find the brigade commander to apologize."

"Captain Kurokawa, you arrange the troops to launch a tentative attack on the positions of the Chinese army opposite. Our regiment can only break through the Chinese army's defense line and capture Shunde and Nanhai as soon as possible to make up for our mistakes after the war. If we fail to complete this task, everyone should be prepared to commit suicide." The regiment commander, Colonel Maori Kyo, thought of the new 22nd Army of the Chinese government opposite and felt the anger in his heart rise uncontrollably.

Damn the New 22nd Army of the Chinese government, he had to quickly break through their defenses and occupy Shunde and Nanhai, that way he could still have a chance to survive. At the same time, he also wanted to quickly capture some prisoners of the Chinese army. He needed to know what had happened to his First Battalion that left them without a single person alive.

Major Kurokawa Aku acted quickly. Twenty minutes later, he organized two squadrons of soldiers to launch a tentative attack on the opposing Chinese army's positions under the cover of four infantry guns.

Facing this tentative move by the Japanese army, the officers and soldiers of the new 100th Division on the battlefield also opened fire at full power. The commander of the 137th Regiment, Colonel Mori Kyo, and the chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Hiramiya Saki, who were watching the battle carefully with binoculars in the back, were also dumbfounded.

"Sir, Commander, what's going on with the troops of the New 22nd Army of the Chinese government? Our attacking troops are still some distance away from them, so why are they shooting so indiscriminately? They have even exposed the positions of their heavy machine guns. This doesn't seem like the fighting style of an experienced unit." The chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Hiramiya Saki, raised a telescope and frowned as he asked in confusion.

The commander of the regiment, Colonel Mori Kyo, did not answer the question raised by Lieutenant Colonel Hiramiya Saki. He also had doubts in his mind about the performance of the New 22nd Army of the Chinese government, but he did not immediately make an arbitrary conclusion. He was still carefully watching the situation on the opposite Chinese army's position through a telescope.

After the attacking force of the Second Battalion withdrew, the commander of the regiment, Colonel Maori Qiao, called over the commander of the Second Battalion, Major Kurokawa Akebukuro, who was commanding in the front, and asked, "Captain Kurokawa, what do you think of the performance of the Chinese army just now?"

Major Kurokawa Ake thought seriously for a moment and then said, "Captain, during our attack just now, the Chinese army on the other side showed a lack of combat experience. The shooting seemed loud, but it was actually a bit disorganized, and the shooting accuracy was very poor. I feel like there seem to be a lot of new recruits in the Chinese army on the other side, and their shooting is more of a manifestation of panic and fear."

The commander of the regiment, Colonel Maori Joe, nodded with satisfaction. He had been carefully observing the combat performance of the New 22nd Army of the Chinese government. He also discovered this problem. When the chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Hiramiya Saki, asked him a question, he was not sure whether his judgment was correct. He was afraid that this was a trap set by the Chinese army.

However, after carefully observing the situation on the Chinese army's position, he was certain in his heart that there were a lot of new recruits on the position of the New 22nd Army of the Chinese government opposite. It seemed that the New 22nd Army of the Chinese government had suffered heavy losses in Hongcheng. Now there should be a lot of new recruits with no combat experience in the army. It can be felt from the disorderly shooting of these soldiers. It seems that the previous rout from Zhongshan City was not fake.

The complete destruction of the First Battalion must have been caused by other reasons and it could not have been caused by the Chinese army on the opposite position.

"Mr. Hiramiya, I think Major Kurokawa Aku has already explained your previous question very clearly. It should be that the Chinese government's new 22nd Army lost a large number of experienced veterans in the previous Hongcheng battle. Most of the people guarding the positions now are new recruits. Let the officers and soldiers get ready and launch a formal attack soon." The commander of the regiment, Colonel Mori Kyo, ordered the two men.

The Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel Hiramiya Saki, was stunned and quickly reminded: "Your Excellency, the field artillery regiment has not caught up yet. Should we wait until the field artillery regiment arrives before launching the attack?"

The commander of the regiment, Colonel Maori Qiao, shook his head. He looked at the defensive position of the New 22nd Army in the distance and said helplessly: "Mr. Hiramiya, we don't have much time. The brigade commander and the division commander must be very angry after receiving the explanation telegram we sent. If we can't show some results in a short time, it will probably not be long before I will be taken away by the military police of the division. I am unwilling to accept this."

Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Hiramiya Saki now understood why the regiment commander, Colonel Mori Kyo, was so anxious to launch an attack. Come to think of it, the 137th Regiment had not even fought a formal battle with the Chinese army, but the regiment commander was dismissed. Anyone would feel aggrieved.

After hearing the order from the regiment commander, the captain of the second battalion, Major Kurokawa Aku, hurried to organize the troops. He knew that if he could not quickly defeat the Chinese army on the opposite side, he would lose his position as regiment commander, and after the war he would definitely be implicated and transferred to the garrison to live out his days. Thinking of those boring days, Major Kurokawa Aku felt as if there was no light in the sky.

While the officers and soldiers of the Second Battalion were preparing for the attack, the pontoon bridge had been surrounded by the officers and soldiers of the New 100th Division's Suicide Squad. Li Zhengying and Hao Jian were now crawling in the weeds in the distance, observing the Japanese garrison on the pontoon bridge.

"Battalion Commander, there is probably a small group of Japanese soldiers guarding the pontoon bridge, and the scouts on the Zhongshan City road reported that the Japanese artillery unit is almost halfway there. We have also buried some mines on the road, but it shouldn't take too long." Hao Jian told Li Zhengying the news.

Li Zhengying checked the time, then whispered to Hao Jian, "Deputy Captain Hao, don't worry, I have already made all the arrangements. The ambushes with good marksmanship have already assigned targets. In another ten minutes, if the Japanese troops in front do not take the initiative to attack, our artillery will bombard the Japanese camp for another three minutes. We will take advantage of the cover of the artillery fire to quickly eliminate the Japanese troops here and ensure that the Japanese artillery troops will not notice anything unusual."

When Hao Jian heard that Li Zhengying had arranged a sharpshooter, he waited quietly. Ten minutes passed quickly and the artillery of the New 22nd Army started the attack again. As the sound of artillery shells exploded, a burst of gunfire was heard around the pontoon bridge.

The officers and soldiers of the suicide squad had already divided the tasks, basically five to six people targeted one Japanese soldier and shot at him. After the first round of gunfire, the small team of Japanese soldiers guarding the pontoon bridge were basically killed or wounded. After the last round of gunfire, the 100 officers and soldiers of the suicide squad who were closest to the pontoon bridge rushed to the pontoon bridge at a rapid speed. They had to get to the pontoon bridge as quickly as possible and completely eliminate the Japanese soldiers who were not dead.

Hao Jian also brought more than 40 suicide squad members wearing Japanese military uniforms and white towels tied on their arms to the various guard posts around the pontoon bridge. The remaining suicide squad officers and soldiers took off the clothes of the Japanese corpses and put on the uniforms of the Chinese troops. If the Japanese army had any doubts about the gunshots in front, they could use these corpses as cover.

When the new 22nd Army was bombarding, the commander of the regiment, Colonel Mori Kyo, vaguely heard gunshots behind him. He became a little worried about the key pontoon bridge, so he asked his chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Hiramiya Saki, to send someone to the back to see if the pontoon bridge was still in the hands of his troops. At the same time, he asked the commander of the second battalion, Major Kurokawa Aku, not to launch an attack until he was sure of the safety of the pontoon bridge before acting according to orders.

Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Hiramiya Saki quickly sent two soldiers to the rear to check the situation. When the two Japanese soldiers ran to the pontoon bridge, they saw the soldiers guarding the bridge carrying the bodies of the Chinese soldiers.

"Command!" Hao Jian shouted loudly with a serious face. At the same time, several suicide squad members around him who were dressed in Japanese military uniforms pointed their guns at the two soldiers.

"May the military fortunes prosper!" A soldier immediately responded to Hao Jian's call. He was still very relieved about the current situation. Didn't he see that these soldiers had killed so many Chinese soldiers?

"What do you want?" Hao Jian did not answer the second half of the command, but continued to ask loudly with a ferocious look on his face. He couldn't let these two soldiers ask him the second half of the command.

"Report, His Excellency the Captain asked us to check the situation over here. We heard some gunshots over here just now, and His Excellency the Captain asked us to ask what happened." One of the soldiers quickly replied. He could see that the lieutenant officer opposite him seemed to be in a bad mood.

"Yes, tell the captain that just now a small group of Chinese troops tried to launch a surprise attack on the pontoon bridge, but we killed them all. Please rest assured, the Chinese army's combat effectiveness is too poor." Hao Jian said with a proud look on his face, pointing at the corpses in Chinese military uniforms that were gathered together.

(Thanks to Wei Sen who loves to eat Matsutake mushrooms, Wei Guogong who loves to eat beef jerky, Heipi, and the author rq0slt for their gifts! Thank you all for your support and encouragement!)