Bright Sword: Japs, times have changed

Why did Hirano Wataru just leave without saying a word?

His first reaction when he heard what Harahira Koizumi said was happiness, but the next second he thought about the pros and cons.

How could he not know the other party's little thoughts?

But now Hirano Wataru still wants to try one last time. This time he plans to use all means. If he still fails, he believes that Commander Okamura Ningji will understand.

And this time, Hirano Wataru also brought a secret weapon, which was originally intended to be used in the large-scale mopping-up operation, but it seems that it will be used on the independent battalion first.

After returning to the tent, Hirano Wataru called his confidant and asked him to transfer the secret weapon over.

Chief of Staff Jiro Tada, standing nearby, had a grim expression. This was the first time he was chased and attacked by a tank. "Your Excellency, Brigade Commander, I didn't expect the Eighth Route Army to have tanks. What on earth does this damn Lin Qiang have? Where did he get these weapons?"

"And their artillery is extremely accurate. With its wide-area lethality shells and superb precision, even if we use all our tanks, we won't be able to break through Lin Qiangdi's first line of defense."

"Furthermore, at this time of year, Xiaowangzhuang is a curved terrain, and we are in a downwind position. Using such weapons would cause us or the county town to be affected as well?"

Hirano Wataru's face was extremely gloomy, and he looked at Tada Jiro coldly: "This is the last resort. If you can find a way to break through the independent battalion's defense line without using that weapon, then you don't have to worry about so many problems!"

Tada Jiro lowered his head and pondered for a long time before saying, "Your Excellency, Brigade Commander, I think we can dismantle the Independent Battalion from within. Some of the prisoners we captured earlier might be a breakthrough point. If we can persuade a few of them to go back and spread false information or create chaos, we might be able to find a loophole in our defense."

Hirano Wataru's eyes lit up, but he soon hesitated again: "Those Eighth Route Army soldiers are very stubborn and it's not easy to persuade them to defect."

Tada Jiro said hurriedly: "We can promise great benefits and threaten them, and someone will definitely be swayed."

Hirano Wataru nodded slightly.

At this moment, the confidant who had gone to transfer the secret weapons hurried back, looking panicked: "Your Excellency, the road back to the county town is blocked. We can only take a small road, but we are blocked by unknown armed forces and cannot break through for the time being."

Hirano Wataru's eyes widened as he roared angrily, "Baga! Send someone to kill them immediately and get the weapons here as quickly as possible!"

Jiro Tada was secretly delighted, as he didn't have to worry about whether to use the dangerous secret weapon for the time being. However, he still pretended to be worried and waited for Hirano Wataru's next instruction.

Hirano Wataru took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and said through gritted teeth, "There's no chance of starting with the prisoners now. Tada-kun, is there any other way?"

Tada Jiro's eyes rolled. "Your Excellency, Brigade Commander, perhaps we can feign a retreat and then set up an ambush while the independent battalion is pursuing us."

Hirano Wataru frowned, "This method has been used once before. The Independent Battalion won't be fooled so easily. Lin Qiang is extremely cunning and will never leave the Xiaowangzhuang position easily."

Tada Jiro continued, "We can send a small group disguised as the main force to retreat northward, while the main force hides on both sides of the nearby valley. If the independent battalion attacks the small group, we can encircle and annihilate them. If they don't move, we can find another way."

Hirano Wataru thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

So the Japanese army acted according to plan, and small groups of troops fled north.

However, Lin Qiang had already arranged observation posts in the surrounding area, and he could see the movements of the Japanese army clearly.

He knew that this was a trick of the Japanese army, so not only did he not send troops to pursue them, but even when the Japanese deliberately revealed their flaws to lure him, he ordered his troops to stay put.

In a nutshell, even if the sky falls, no soldier will be allowed to rush out of the trench.

The small group of Japanese troops kept fleeing, but there was no sign of pursuers behind them. Jiro Tada waited in the valley for a long time and became uneasy.

Hirano Wataru realized that the plan had failed and his face became even uglier.

At this time, on the independent battalion side, Lin Qiang was analyzing the possible next moves of the Japanese army on the map.

The monk asked in confusion, "Captain, are we just going to sit there and wait?"

Lin Qiang smiled and said, "Our mission now is to hold on and see what other tricks the Japs have up their sleeves."

On the Japanese side, Hirano Wataru decided to take a gamble. He regrouped his troops and prepared for a frontal attack.

Tada Jiro tried to stop him: "Hirano-kun, the battle has been going on for a whole day. The troops are exhausted and their fighting capacity is only one tenth of what it used to be. Attacking again at this time will not achieve any results."

"I think the team should rest for the night. I'll ask Commander Yoshio Shinozuka for his opinion."

Hirano Wataru glared at Tada Jiro fiercely: "If we wait until tomorrow, Lin Qiang will definitely order the reinforcement of the fortifications, which will make it even more difficult to attack."

"That's better than letting the soldiers rush forward and die now!"

Tada Jiro said with certainty: "No matter how strong the defense is, it will eventually be breached. The key lies in the method we use."

"We are all losing resources in this battle, but don't forget that in addition to that weapon, we still have a large amount of artillery that we haven't used."

"After two days of offensive, how much ammunition does Lin Qiang have left? As far as I know, the Eighth Route Army in northwest Shanxi has been tied down, and no troops can support the independent battalion."

After hearing what Tada Jiro said, Hirano Wataru remained silent.

Finally, he gritted his teeth and ordered the troops to rest temporarily.

Jiro Tada hurriedly contacted Commander Yoshio Shinozuka to report the current battle situation to him and request instructions.

On the independent battalion side, Lin Qiang judged that the Japanese army would not make any more moves in the short term, so he organized the soldiers to take turns to rest and seize the time to repair and reinforce the fortifications.

At the same time, he sent scouts to further investigate the situation in the Japanese camp.

After receiving the report from Jiro Tada, Yoshio Shinozuka replied that he would send a special operations team to assist.

This team excels at infiltration and sabotage, and he hopes to use this to break the deadlock.

Hirano Wataru's face turned very ugly when he heard the news. They only had one special operations team on this battlefield, and that was Yamamoto Ikki's special forces team.

"idiot!"

Hirano Wataru kicked over the ammunition box in front of him, and bullets scattered all over the ground.

"That damn Yamamoto Ikki actually had the audacity to report this to a higher authority without telling me!"

Hirano Wataru called Tada Jiro and ordered him: "Go tell Yamamoto Ikki that if he dares to act without my order, then he should be prepared to commit seppuku to Tian Huangbi!"