People in the Republic of China era began to rise from industry.

I felt like I had suddenly fallen into a quagmire.

Since yesterday evening, sporadic fighting around the main force has continued for more than ten hours.

Although the attacks were always from the outside, they had a significant impact on the speed of the advance.

Listening to Yamagata's report that the entire brigade had only advanced less than fifteen kilometers since the first attack, Suzuki's head began to spin.

"Where are the casualties?"

"The cavalry battalion reports that, including the third squad of the first company and the fifth squad of the second company, which are still missing, a total of 261 people have been killed or are missing."

"The four infantry battalions, mainly reconnaissance units, were attacked, resulting in a total of 87 dead and 22 wounded, some seriously and some lightly."

Yamagata revealed a series of figures and said with a serious expression, "Your Excellency, according to the current feedback, although the cavalry attacking us do not have many troops in each operation, their firepower is extremely strong."

"Moreover, according to the descriptions of several soldiers from the cavalry battalion who had just withdrawn an hour ago, our enemy appears to be using light machine guns on horseback."

"Nani?"

Suzuki looked on in disbelief.

"According to several soldiers, when they were retreating, the distance between them and seven or eight pursuers was completely beyond the range of their machine guns, about three hundred meters."

"But amidst the dense gunfire, soldiers and warhorses were still hit and fell to the ground."

"At that time, the pursuers behind the soldiers did not stop."

"idiot."

Suzuki muttered a curse under his breath, his brows furrowing deeply.

Whether it's beyond common sense to use a light machine gun on horseback is no longer important.

Importantly, these Chinese cavalrymen of unknown origin had indeed far surpassed the Imperial cavalry in firepower.

Otherwise, the well-trained Imperial soldiers wouldn't have gone without a single victory after so many engagements.

The fact that the number of dead was far greater than the number of wounded, even if slightly wounded, did not surprise him.

That's how cavalry duels are supposed to be.

If one is unable to withstand the opponent's attack and falls off their horse due to injury, there is almost no chance of survival.

This is also why, in cavalry duels, the losing side often suffers total annihilation.

As for the number of cavalry battalion killed or missing as mentioned by Yamagata, in his view, the word "missing" could be completely removed.

According to the reports received, the cavalry battalion that went to collect supplies had first encountered the enemy 24 hours ago.

Then came even more frequent encounters and direct engagements with the enemy.

Therefore, the fact that there has been no news for so long basically confirms that the two cavalry squads have been completely wiped out.

While it wasn't unexpected, the sheer number of casualties still sent shivers down Suzuki's spine.

Has the Chinese army become so powerful?

So what will they do next?

Currently, his cavalry battalion has suffered heavy losses, with nearly two-thirds killed in action. In addition, with some lightly wounded, it can be determined that they have lost their combat capability.

In addition, the reconnaissance detachments of each brigade have also almost exhausted their fresh leaves.

On the grassland terrain, an infantry unit without the protection of cavalry encountered the enemy's cavalry... Even if the enemy continued to harass them, it would be enough to drag his brigade to its death on this grassland!

Moreover, the price they need to pay is minimal!

He was deep in thought when the radio, which had been buzzing incessantly, fell silent.

The communications officer, who was standing by the radio station translating telegrams, picked up the telegram sheet and came over.

"General, headquarters has sent an urgent telegram inquiring about the location of our unit."

"idiot!"

Suzuki, who was already in a bad mood, cursed through gritted teeth.

Asking about one's location is, of course, to determine one's speed of travel.

He could even imagine that if he reported the truth, the headquarters would definitely send another telegram urging him to speed up the march!

However, in the current situation, the faster we move, the more opportunities our opponents will find to harass us!

No, at that point it could no longer be called harassment.

Without cavalry to provide perimeter security, the current harassment will turn into repeated attacks.

Given the speed of cavalry, it's easy to imagine that the advancing soldiers wouldn't even have time to organize a defense before the enemy had already rushed up to them.

Given the formidable firepower they displayed, Suzuki dared not even imagine the extent of his losses!

Not to mention, the effort to gather supplies locally has completely failed.

A day has already been wasted.

If they continued to accelerate their march at this point, even if they maintained control over the supply of materials, they probably wouldn't be able to hold out until they reached the Northwest and obtained new supplies with the help of the Ma Clique army.

This is going to cause a big problem.

"Sir, do you require a truthful report?"

Suzuki looked at him with a dark expression and remained silent.

Yamagata, who also understood the current predicament, asked in a low voice.

"Do not."

Suzuki decisively gave his decision, turning to his communications officer and instructing, "Telegram to headquarters: request that the government increase pressure on the Chinese government and resolve the issue of the Chinese troops entangled with our unit as soon as possible."

"The situation is very serious. If their harassment continues, the chances of our troops being able to reach the Northwest are practically zero."

After saying that, Suzuki turned to Yamagata and said, "Order all battalions to prepare and depart in half an hour."

"Place all the light machine guns on trucks and place them on the periphery of the column, ready to respond to any attack at any time."

As he spoke, he glanced at his watch and added, "We'll be setting up camp in ten hours. Our objective is to cover sixty kilometers!"

"Hi Yi!"

Yamagata accepted the order and left, but Suzuki, who had made the arrangements, remained frowning.

This is already faster than a forced march, and it still requires truck rotation.

That's all he can do right now.

If we speed up again, another attack is inevitable.

The soldiers' morale will collapse.

Moreover, this situation can only last for one day.

If they still cannot drive away this Chinese army of unknown designation through diplomatic intimidation, then he will suggest turning back, capturing Yimeng City and holding it.

Otherwise, people could really die!

Worried about these things, Suzuki glanced at the map in front of him again, then let out a heavy sigh...

While he was complaining about the slow pace of government services in China, He Jingzhi, who was in Nanjing, was also getting anxious and frustrated.

While they were negotiating with Japan and filing a complaint with the League of Nations, troops in Mengjiang clashed with the Japanese.

The diplomatic intimidation was received yesterday.

The Japanese minister's words were very harsh.

It is said that if the Chinese army attacks the Japanese army, and the situation cannot be quelled immediately and the provocateurs punished, then...

They will surely view this as an undeclared war!

The consequences were not specified, but it was certainly a large-scale military operation.

This made many people, including He Jingzhi, want to curse.

Just then, he was getting anxious when his adjutant rushed in: "Commander, a reply from the Shaanxi Provincial Security Command."

"It has been confirmed that there are no unusual movements in any of the departments under the Security Command."

"Not them?"

He Jingzhi's eyes widened: "Then who exactly is it?!"