Spy Wars: I am the Captain of the Military Police

"Commander, urgent telegram from Zhangjiakou!" The signalman staggered into the command center.

When the chief of staff took the telegram, he found that his hands were shaking uncontrollably. The outer positions of Zhangjiakou had collapsed completely, and Fu Zuoyi's reinforcements would not arrive for at least two days.

Battle reports from the frontline poured in like snowflakes: "Hill No. 3 has been lost, and Captain Wang and over 800 of his men have died for their country..."

"Poison gas bombs! The eastern defense line needs a medical team..."

"Ammunition exhausted, requesting resupply..."

The war staff drew shocking arrows on the map with a red pencil, and the Japanese Fifth Division was forming a siege.

The air in the command center seemed to freeze, and everyone knew that Nankou was a dead end.

On the Nankou defense line, the total number of defenders was less than 20,000, and each soldier had to defend a front line nearly ten meters wide.

A position somewhere where the Japanese attack had just been repelled.

The cook squad leader, Lao Zhou, squatted in the bomb crater, cooking the last bag of millet in a chipped iron pot, mixed with rainwater scooped from the helmets of his fallen comrades last night.

Seventeen-year-old soldier Li Changshun was carving the word "正" (correct) on a half-cut tree stump with his bayonet.

Each tick represented another day. His cotton uniform was already tattered, and his leggings were stiff from being soaked in blood.

Not far away, machine gunner Lao Zhao pressed the last bullet chain into the gun chamber, humming the bangzi opera from his hometown in Hebei.

At noon, the Japanese army launched its most violent attack.

Twelve bombers circled over the position, dropping incendiary bombs that turned the entire hillside into a sea of fire.

In the trenches, soldiers wrapped themselves in soaked quilts, but many were still burned to death in the bunkers. The air was filled with the nauseating smell of burnt flesh mixed with the acrid smell of poison gas.

"Fix bayonets!" With a roar, the remaining defenders jumped out of the trenches.

Some of them held machetes, some held the last grenade, and more just picked up bloody stones.

Li Changshun saw Xiao Zhang, the usually most timid clerk, rushing towards the Japanese tanks with a bag of explosives...

On the Nankou defense line, the Chinese army was already showing signs of defeat. . . .

. . . . . . . . .

Inside the operations room of the garrison headquarters, a corner of the banner on the wall that read "Long-lasting Military Fortune" was lifted by a draft, and the wind swept across the wall where the attack routes were marked with cinnabar pen. Those winding arrows seemed to come alive in the interweaving of light and shadow, transforming into spreading bloodstains.

"Commander! Urgent message from the front!"

The signalman pushed open the door of the operations room, and his boots made a sharp sound on the teak floor.

His forehead was still stained with lingering gunpowder smoke, his bronze face flushed with excitement. He held the telegram high above his head with both hands as if offering it to a shrine: "The Chahar Dispatched Corps has broken through the outer Great Wall defense line. Zhangjiakou will be captured soon!"

Chief of Staff Gun Hashimoto's leather military boots made a dull drumbeat on the floor.

As he snatched the telegram, a flash of fanaticism flashed in his eyes.

"Yoshi!" The praise rolled out of his throat with a suppressed tremor. When he turned around, the saber sheath hit the corner of the oak table with a crisp metallic sound, which exploded a heart-pounding echo in the enclosed space.

He quickly leaped in front of Kazuki Seiji and said, "According to the previous battle report from the Itagaki Division, they are attacking fiercely on all fronts. They are expected to break through the Chinese army's defenses soon and complete a strategic detour to Huailai. The situation has already turned to the Empire's side!"

Kazuki Seiji slowly stood up from his leather swivel chair. As he took the telegram, his neatly manicured nails unconsciously stroked the paper, and his hawk-like eyes wandered between the lines.

After a moment, the corners of his mouth curled up with excitement: "This is all expected."

Kazuki Seiji's voice carried the arrogance of a superior: "Compared with Itagaki-kun's telegram last night, the battle situation is progressing exactly as it should.

The Chinese Seventh Army's double-line defense? It's nothing more than a desperate struggle! Their army is like a cow being led by the nose by us, running around in a hurry.

At this point, the contempt in his eyes was undisguised. "Especially their Seventh Army Commander, dreaming of fighting on two fronts? It's ridiculous!"

The war room suddenly erupted in hyena-like laughter, and the officers' straight backs bent into flattering arcs.

The gilded teacup held by Takeda Hirokazu was filled with mist, blurring the calculations in his eyes: "The tactical coordination of the Kwantung Army's Chief of Staff Tojo is indeed ingenious and far-sighted.

He held his troops in place until the crucial moment, only to deliver a fatal blow, forcing the Chinese army to disperse. This move was truly brilliant."

"idiot!"

Kazuki Seiji slammed his fist on the war table, his carotid artery pulsating violently beneath his medal-studded collar: "A trick of the speculators!

Even without the support of the Kwantung Army, the Fifth Division can still tear through the Nankou defense line! Tojo Hideki, this old fox, is clearly here to steal the credit!

Hashimoto Gun immediately glared at the talkative Takeda Koichi. He hunched over like a shrimp and approached, "Your Excellency, please understand! The Kwantung Army has been stationed in Rehe for a long time because they don't want to engage in a head-on confrontation with the Chinese army.

Now that they see our army is about to win, they're hypocritically offering their help." He sneered and curled his lips. "So-called "flowers of the army" are nothing but cowards who only seek to take advantage."

Beside him, Takeda Hiroichi unbuttoned the top button of his uniform, his fingers unconsciously stroking the bronze cigarette case, and suddenly said, "But, Commander, Chief of Staff, don't forget."

He paused deliberately to draw everyone's attention. "The 11th Independent Mixed Brigade is from the Kwantung Army. They are the main force attacking Nankou and have been engaging the Chinese head-on."

Hashimoto Gun sneered and tapped his fingers on the spread-out battle map: "Head-on confrontation?

They did take over Nankou Town, but what happened next?"

He suddenly raised his voice: "The Chinese army is pinned down at Juyong Pass!

In just a few days, they couldn't even advance 500 meters! What's there to say about such a record? "

Kazuki Seiji suddenly smiled and said, "I received a report that the Military Police Taniguchi Battalion has been following the 11th Brigade..."

He drawled his words meaningfully: "When some soldiers tried to retreat, the military police simply blocked their retreat with machine guns."

"That's not all!" The cigarette case clicked crisply in his palm, and Takeda Hirokazu continued, "The military police of the Taniguchi Battalion set up machine guns on the battlefield, and the retreating soldiers..."

They were all executed as deserters.

The 11th Brigade's offensive came at a heavy price, and at the same time...

But those soldiers who fell at the hands of the military police were probably more wronged than those who died at the hands of the Chinese army."

"Snapped!"

Hashimoto Gun slapped the map with his palm: "Colonel Takeda Koichi! Please be mindful of your identity and words! Is that a retreat? Soldiers retreating on the battlefield, is such behavior condoned?!"

When Hashimoto Gun called him by his rank, Takeda Koichi immediately stood up and bowed, saying, "Smith Marseille, Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, I was just expressing my feelings. There is nothing else to it."

"Haha, you know what you are thinking. Don't always try to create a conflict between the Commander and the Military Police Headquarters.

Do you want to kill us all?

Put away your ridiculous suspicion!

Even if the military police have done something out of line, it is not something you, a mere colonel, can make random guesses and comments about!

You are sent by the military. If you just want to use the commander to attack the military police headquarters, or to attack someone!

This will make your resume more dazzling.

Then I advise you, even if the military leaders make a promise, you still have to live to enjoy it!"