Spy Wars: I am the Captain of the Military Police

The closer we get to the front line, the more horrifying the scene becomes.

The destroyed tanks were torn apart like toys, their turrets missing and their armor covered with huge and hideous holes.

Some of the debris seemed to have been melted by unimaginable high temperatures, and the twisted metal edges took on a strange, glass-like luster.

A team of engineers was struggling to drag a completely smashed Type 92 infantry gun off the road.

The sergeant in charge saw Ichitsu's collar badge and reluctantly stood at attention and saluted, his face covered in dust and fatigue.

"I heard you encountered an armored unit?" Ichijo Yusuke asked directly, his voice cold. "The Chinese government's tank regiment should have been defeated by us long ago."

The sergeant's eyes were filled with fear, and his lips trembled: "Report to the commander! No... It's not the Chinese army! It's our tank unit... It's a monster!

Their armor is impenetrable! Our shells bounce off like pebbles!

They... they can emit lights like will-o'-the-wisp lights in the night!"

"Nonsense!" the military police sergeant behind him shouted.

"Let him continue." Yusuke Ichijo raised his hand to stop him.

The sergeant seemed to have found an outlet for his venting, and he began to describe incoherently that the enemy's artillery fire was extremely accurate and fierce, and it seemed as if they could predict the direction of the Japanese army's attack and set up ambushes again and again.

A regiment of the 6th Division of the 10th Army, while trying to make a detour, ran into a death trap set by the enemy and was almost wiped out.

"Where is the division commander, Hisao Tani?" Ichijo Yusuke asked about the core general of the 10th Army, Hisao Tani. He had heard from Itai Yudai that Hisao Tani had once visited the general and was considered someone the general knew.

"The 6th Division headquarters... the headquarters was almost wiped out yesterday! The enemy has a terrible artillery shell that can... cover the entire area like rain! I heard that many staff officers of the 6th Division..." The sergeant could not continue and just shook his head painfully.

Yusuke Ichijo waved his hand to let the engineer sergeant continue his work.

He rode his horse up a small hill and had a panoramic view of the entire frontier position.

The imperial army, which should have been so powerful, now seemed fragmented.

The soldiers huddled in hastily dug foxholes, morale low.

In the distance, from the direction of Songjiang City, occasional dull artillery fire could be heard, forming a sharp contrast with the dead silence of the Japanese positions.

The clouds in the sky were very low, as if it was going to rain again, and there was not a single Japanese plane in sight, as if the Empire's invincible naval and air forces had already evacuated and abandoned this place.

Yusuke Ichijo remained silent.

The order he received was to come and supervise the battle and investigate the reasons for the unusually slow progress of the 10th Army, but now it seems that the situation is a bit bad.

"General Shigeteng." Ichijo Yusuke spoke slowly, his voice low. "What do you think they are facing?"

Shigeto Chiaki took a deep breath: "I can't tell..."

Just then, a signalman came galloping on horseback and handed over a telegram.

Yusuke Ichijo took it and saw that it was an urgent order forwarded by the 10th Army Headquarters, requiring him to report immediately to the temporary military command post located in a remote farmhouse.

The order was signed by the Chief of Staff of the 10th Army.

Yusuke Ichijo put away the telegram and once again looked towards the battle line shrouded in unknown fear.

Under the gloomy sky, the outline of Songjiang City is looming, like a dormant giant beast.

"Go to the headquarters." He turned his horse and ordered the military police and the Chongteng Detachment behind him: "Maintain the highest alert."

A group of cavalry led by Yusuke marched slowly along the muddy road towards the 10th Army's temporary command post.

The makeshift medical points on both sides of the road are overcrowded.

It is more like a place to wait for death than a medical center.

The wails of the wounded were endless, but what was even more heartbreaking were the silent ones. They stared at the gray sky with their empty eyes, as if their souls had been sucked away.

The military doctors and medical soldiers looked tired and numb, their movements were mechanical, and they seemed to have become accustomed to the tragic scene before them.

However, Yusuke Ichijo noticed with his sharp eyes that the proportion of seriously injured soldiers with missing limbs did not seem to be as high as he had initially imagined.

Many soldiers had no obvious external injuries, but they were huddled in the corner, their bodies shaking constantly, and they would not respond to any loud noise, even the bumpy sound of their own supply carts passing by.

It will make them jump up like frightened rabbits and look around in fear.

Their eyes were dazed and filled with unspeakable fear.

Shigeteng Chiaki rode his horse closer to Ichijo Yusuke and lowered his voice, his brow furrowed in a look of caution typical of a veteran officer. "Something's a little strange."

"Speak." Yusuke Ichijo's eyes continued to scan the surroundings, capturing every detail like a hawk.

"These wounded seem to be deliberately gathered here, as if they are intentionally showing it to us. Normally, the wounded will not be concentrated on both sides of the road like this. This will affect the mobility of the troops and logistical transportation." Chong Teng Qianqiu said as a reminder.

"Also, look at those uninjured soldiers. Logically, they have the Imperial Fleet's artillery support at sea. Even if the attack was thwarted, their morale shouldn't be in such a state... completely destroyed."

Yusuke Ichijo nodded slightly, as Shigeteng's words confirmed his inner doubts.

The soldiers of the Empire, especially the elite Tenth Army, are by no means a mob.

Now the situation is so tense, like a frightened bird.

His eyes turned to a group of soldiers who were sitting and resting under the ruins not far away.

Their uniforms were relatively intact, and their weapons were within easy reach. It was obvious that they were not remnants of soldiers who had just withdrawn from the front line.

But they did not relax as they did during the break. Instead, they all looked terrified and whispered to each other, their voices suppressed but excited.

"It's impossible to penetrate! It's like hitting a boulder with a bamboo spear!"

"At night... did you see that light at night? In a flash, the entire team was gone!"

"Those appear to be Imperial chariots! But they're actually monsters! Steel monsters!"

"The higher-ups want us to charge? How? To die?"

There were complaints everywhere, filled with resistance and fear of fighting.

A sergeant tried to scold, but his voice was weak and even he himself seemed to lack the confidence, and was soon drowned out by the soldiers' louder complaints.

"Did you hear that, General Shigeteng?" Ichijo Yusuke said coldly, "They're afraid of fighting."

Zhong Teng Qianqiu nodded solemnly: "Yes, their fighting spirit has been destroyed."

As he was speaking, a major officer and several guards came on horseback from the direction of the command post. When he saw Ichijo Yusuke, he quickly reined in his horse and saluted, forcing a tired but respectful smile on his face: "Is this General Shigeteng Chiaki and Lieutenant Ichijo Yusuke of the Military Police?

The Chief of Staff is waiting for you two, and I have been ordered to lead the way."

Chong Teng Qianqiu returned the greeting and asked seemingly casually, "What's the situation?"

The major's smile froze instantly, his eyes flickering as he spoke vaguely, "Well... the enemy's resistance is very stubborn. The Chief of Staff will explain the specific situation to you personally."