Canteen System Assistance Notes

"Your Excellency, Squad Leader! Your Excellency, Squad Leader!"

Seeing Captain Ishibe, who was walking out of the front yard with all his might, the "mute" who had only hummed and groaned in front of Captain Lei didn't think much of it and opened his mouth anxiously: "New recruit Qiao Xiasan, my stomach hurts so badly that I can't even stand! Captain! What should we do?"

The situation was urgent, and the mute soldier blurted out what he said in Japanese. Although this made the matter clear at once, it made Captain Ishii and Kang Fugui, who had been helping to disguise their identities, stand on end - damn, isn't this exposed! Ishii couldn't help but take a step back, staring closely at the burly Captain Lei.

For a moment, Captain Lei's brow furrowed, his face tense, a thousand emotions flashing across his face, but he didn't move. The trapdoor rifle remained strapped to his back, but the hand holding the gun strap had gripped the strap tightly, as if ready to raise and aim at any moment.

Forget it, I can't care about that anymore. I don't have any tools in my hands now, and I can't do anything. Ishii forced himself not to think about this part and asked seriously:

"Why does Hashimoto-kun have such severe abdominal pain? Does anyone else have it?" He asked. "I just had some stewed vegetables and yellow steamed buns, and I'm fine so far. It's obviously not the food that's the problem." He looked up at the setting sun and asked, "It's almost dinner time, why are you suddenly having abdominal pain?"

"I don't know either! He's in pain and vomiting, but it's just acid..." The Japanese soldier was so anxious that he jumped on the spot, stamped his feet, and even seemed to be repeating himself. "Captain! What should we do!" "What should we do? What should we do?" Captain Ishii faced the panic-stricken soldiers, the tense maintenance chairman, and the silent "village soldier sergeant" standing by.

Thinking hard - the issue of identity exposure must be put aside

If I let him go, I can only beg for mercy from the other party. Saving people is the first priority now.

"Okay, quick, let's go check it out!"

----------

Private Takenouchi Hashimoto was the newest recruit to the unit, having been dispatched from Japan in early 15. Because he was labeled a "glutton" and couldn't fit into a standard uniform, he was assigned to the Independent 9th Unit. Aside from his ability to eat, this new recruit was quite capable in every way. Squad Leader Ishii, unwilling to abandon his subordinate, forced himself to suppress the uneasiness of his identity being exposed and, along with the others present, hurried to storage, turning into Niutou'ao.

As expected, he saw a group of helpless Japanese soldiers surrounding the large man who was rolling back and forth on the ground. "Squad Leader!" "Sir Ishii!"

"Kuso, be quiet! No more noise!" Ishii yelled, suppressing the chaotic scene. He pushed through the crowd and walked forward, "Hashimoto-kun, why do you have a stomachache? When did it start?" "Uh ah..."

Seeing that Hashita was barely breathing, Ishii knew he wouldn't be able to get any more questions out of him anytime soon. He turned to the soldiers around him and began questioning. "Sir Ishii, Hashita-san was so energetic just now, saying he was full and full of energy, but suddenly he has a stomachache!"

"Yes, he did a lot of work in the afternoon!"

"For lunch, he had six yellow steamed buns and a big bowl of mixed soup. He looked fine..."

Everyone chattered at once, like a flock of ducks quacking, making it feel as if they weren't at a hard-working factory but rather a bustling market. "This...this guy must have a bloated stomach! We need to see a doctor!"

Seeing the devil fall ill, Kang Fugui panicked. As the chairman of the maintenance association, if the lady died under his rule, he would certainly suffer. The imperial army would surely come to the village to investigate and arrest his family. However, the village still had the militia to protect it. If that happened, the devil might not be able to get to the village. But what if the militia couldn't defeat the devil, and the Eighth Route Army couldn't catch up? Wouldn't that be even worse...

He scratched his head, his face flushed red, and he glanced around from time to time, his eyes wandering between Captain Lei and Ishii Taijun. He wanted to speak several times, but he didn't dare to. Hearing this, Captain Ishii, as if he had grasped a lifeline, immediately turned around and asked, "Mr. Kang! Is there a doctor in your village?"

"Ahhhhhh! Yes...no! No, no, no, I'm not...I don't know, I don't know!"

Kang Fugui jumped up in shock, then turned and ran at a speed far faster than a sprinter, finally falling flat on his face. "There is a doctor in the village, but...

Seeing this, Captain Lei, who was carrying a gun, looked at Kang Fugui with disdain. He turned around and said to Ishii, "You must be Ishii, you can speak Chinese. Come, let's talk for a moment."

"Where are you devils from?"

"We are the 90th Independent Infantry Squadron at the Lukou Fort."

Wasn't it the Ikeda Company of the 9th Brigade before? "In the deserted area of ​​Niutou'ao, Captain Lei took the trapdoor rifle he was carrying and said, "Changed? When did you change? You all came to Kangjia Town to work for Kang Fugui. How long has it been like this?"

"Hey, the Ikeda squadron was transferred to the south; we were transferred here just a few months ago. Because we didn't have enough food, we came here to work. This is the first time, and we took the initiative to request it. Sergeant Kang, please don't punish him."

Oh, damn, this is so strange! This little devil even asked for mercy from the chairman of the maintenance association, but he is no good!" Captain Lei spat, and he did not hide his hatred for the devils at all. "Considering that you are repairing the kiln and burning charcoal for the village, take your people and get out of here!"

"Hi!"

Ishii actually stood at attention and bowed to Captain Lei, "Thank you, Captain Lei, for your kindness!

"But!" he repeated loudly, "But! Please have mercy! Save my soldiers!" "What?!"

Upon hearing this, Captain Lei was immediately furious. He raised his gun and pulled the trap door. "You still want us to rescue the Japanese soldiers? Little devil, do you know how much evil the Japanese devils have committed here, in Luliang, and in Shanxi Province? "Letting you go is already a great favor, and you still want to treat your illness? Dream on!"

"Sir! Since arriving here, Squad 90 has never launched an offensive! We have never harmed a single person from Kangjia Town! We are friendly! We are amicable!"

"Ha! Are you going to say there are still good devils in the world, and that good devils don't kill people?" Captain Lei raised his gun and pointed it at Ishii, who bowed without looking up. "Aggression is aggression, and killing is killing. I can say it a thousand times and it won't change. You are all invaders. How can you change with just sweet talk?"

"I know, I understand!" Captain Ishii bent almost 90 degrees, never looking up, bowing and speaking loudly, "I know, we are invaders! No matter how the Empire promotes us, we have invaded another country after all, and I don't expect forgiveness! But Hashimoto-kun! Miki-kun! There are others!"

"They were deceived and forced to come here. They can't even eat the rice they grow at home. They fight on the front lines, and the pensions for those who die are embezzled by the powerful. As an elderly wild dog, without the care of the powerful and without a powerful family, there's nothing I can do. I just hope they can return home safely.

"If this doesn't convince you, I, Ishii Hayashino, offer this to you. Please accept it."

His breath was trembling, and he kept bowing as he tore open a sewn-up pocket from the corner of his clothes. Then, he slowly took out a cardboard card from it and handed it to Captain Lei with both hands. "Hiss... Damn it... You little devil, damn it..."

Upon seeing this thing, Captain Lei, who had been excited and ready to attack, hesitated. He had no choice but to release his grip on the gun and accept the card. He was very familiar with this thing: this was the same thing the Eighth Route Army had given to the Japanese Eighth Route Army the last time they came here with them—the "surrender pass" for Japanese soldiers!

"Let me be clear, there's no proper doctor in our village. We only have a local veterinarian who treats cows and horses. I can't guarantee whether you'll live or die." "Hey, Mr. Lei has done his best. I think Mr. Hashimoto will understand."

After a long time, the two captains from China and Japan walked back to Niutou'ao. Ao took the recruit who was unconscious due to bloating and pain back to the village and found the old boy who had just put up the beam today. His eldest son was one of the few literate people in the village and was also a trained livestock doctor.

From the house came a heated exchange between Captain Lei, the old student, and the doctor's son, filled with arguments like, "They handed over five Type 38 rifles and 300 rounds of ammunition to the village," "My son saves livestock but not animals," "Dad, Captain Lei is right," "The animal died without a clear conscience and will remain an animal forever. Let's see if we can make it remember it's human," and "You're not the Eighth Route Army secretary who can turn ghosts into humans." But eventually, the door to the old student's house opened, and the three finally emerged. Captain Lei and the barefoot doctor carried the large box they used for their medical practice, while the old student held prints of Chairman Mao and Sun Simiao.

"Today is a big wedding day for my family, and I don't want to do anything unlucky. But since my son is a disciple of the Medicine King, a man who travels the world carrying medicine bags, and Captain Lei said so... I still know what's good and what's bad."

The old student spoke slowly, looking at the Japanese soldier lying on the ground. The barefoot doctor walked over, asked about the situation, pressed the recruit's abdomen under the bridge, and finally nodded: "Yes, it should be intestinal obstruction." "Then! The death penalty can be avoided, but the living punishment cannot be escaped!"

"Someone come and help! First, induce vomiting of the gray water!" The doctor looked businesslike, "If you eat too much, you need to vomit it out first!" With a bang, someone scooped in a bowl of juice of unknown color, which seemed a bit sticky.

"Second, prepare the enema! His intestines are blocked, so we need to relieve the pressure and fart, and lubricate the shit! Pull down his pants and expose the tendon hole! Then get that section of rubber tube on the wall, yes, and stuff it in his pants!"

Captain Lei came to help, bringing a can of palm oil and a large funnel. Someone else also brought a rubber hose, apparently used for cattle and horses. "No! Not a mouth plug! A wrist plug! Just leave half an inch outside. Carve a line on it with a knife, just enough to not see the line... Hey, hey, hey! It's the other way around! The other end is on the inside!" "Third! Go to the cowshed at the village entrance and bring the lead cow! If these two methods don't work, get on the cow's back!"

Somehow, the recruit Qiaoxia woke up at this moment and saw himself being placed on the table, his mouth pried open, his pants being stripped, and a long, thick funnel being pointed at him. He was filled with fear and, ignoring the pain in his stomach, struggled to escape.

"Hold him down! It's not that easy!" Squad Leader Ishii gave an order, and the surrounding Japanese soldiers rushed forward and held him down. "You've caused so much trouble by being greedy, and you still dare to run away! Obey and receive treatment!" "Hehehe, ahhhh, ahhhhh! Puhuhuhu, wow! No!!"

Screams erupted from Kangjia Town.

Chapter 374: Solutions to the Food Problem

Eat food, eat food, serve as a soldier and eat food; beg for food, beg for food, but there is no food. This unfortunate and strange situation may be the current situation of the Japanese army in China from the end of 1940 to the beginning of 1941. Although it is not so miserable that they starve to death, they are just barely able to survive.

As we all know, if you want people to have enough energy to go out and raid, rob, or conduct sufficient training to keep the soldiers in combat condition, then they have to eat more food - the foreman will have to shout and ask for more food. How can you fight without food in your stomach?

According to the 1931 version of the "Wartime Provision Rules," soldiers should be guaranteed a minimum of 2,700 kcal per day during normal training, with white rice, a staple food, being the Japanese favorite. During combat, this daily calorie intake could be increased to 500-7000 kcal, depending on the intensity of the battle. This standard was slightly lowered in 1933, but it still required a soldier to consume 870g of polished rice, 30g of meat, 90g of fish, and 200g of sugar per day, essentially meeting daily combat needs.

As for the present, maintaining this standard was becoming increasingly difficult. The Japanese army began to fall into a strange cycle: if they wanted to go out on raids to seize food, they had to assemble large forces; but assembling large forces would be detected by the Red Army, depleting their already limited food reserves and making the raids inefficient. If they intensified training and used small forces to conduct raids, focusing on quality over quantity, the additional food required for the intensified training alone would be enough to cause the Japanese army a headache, not to mention whether they could defeat the guerrillas.

To this end, in addition to reducing rations for "non-essential troops", the Japanese military headquarters in central and northern China also began to try to launch a "local self-sufficiency" operation, allowing the Japanese garrison troops to grow their own food, catch fish, raise chickens and make soy sauce, in order to reduce the supply pressure on the field material service system.

This was a perfectly normal strategy and strategic choice. If Itagaki Seishirō were still the current commander of the Japanese Army in North China, he would likely have done the same. However, the North China Front Army was now under the command of General Okamura Yasuji. This intelligent and direct man, while agreeing to some of the garrisoned areas' requests for "local self-sufficiency," refused to allow Japanese soldiers to farm on a larger scale, arguing that such production would reduce the troops' combat effectiveness.

This idea is not wrong. One of the costs of the Eighth Route Army's localization of its main force and organizing production campaigns is a decline in the army's offensive capabilities. However, since the method of saving money is not advisable, the Japanese army is now out of food. If they don't farm, how can they get food?

Okamura Neiji sat down in his office and began to think about this problem.

---—―--―

First, Okamura thought about it and wondered if he should take advantage of the new official's first three fires to reorganize the Japanese army's logistics system?

The Japanese army's own food supply was a rather chaotic matter. In 1944, the Japanese army in both North and Central China, facing food shortages, encountered numerous absurdities, including forced labor, weapons sales, and collaborating with the Communists. Besides these grassroots self-help efforts, the Japanese military leadership also devised various remedies.

There is a funny thing in this. Because of the lack of food, the North China Front Army sent troops south to Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, the land of fish and rice, to purchase rice and use trains to transport it north to support North China. The Central China Front Army also lacked food, so they used merchants in Shanghai to smuggle flour from Shandong Province in North China to the south, and processed it into cakes, rice cakes and other foods in factories in Shanghai and Lin'an City to distribute to the troops.

A strange cycle has formed.

During this process, the Japanese army showed systematic corruption, embezzlement and small business practices. Even this distorted two-way demand became an important means for the New Fourth Army in Central China and the Eighth Route Army in the Shandong Province base to earn funds, which strongly supported the anti-Japanese cause. The logistics system of the Japanese army in China could be maintained even in the 44 years when Japanese soldiers were almost starving to death. In the 40 years when conditions were still good, Okamura alone could

How could they achieve the feat of opening up the joints and blood vessels of the Japanese army?

After thinking it over and weighing the pros and cons, he finally gave up the idea.

Therefore, it seemed that the only option was to continue to obtain food from outside, at least to allow the troops to survive the spring famine before the summer harvest of 41 without a significant decline in combat effectiveness.

Because the information Itagaki Seishirō had passed on was quite comprehensive, Okamura knew that the Imperial Headquarters had used the silver hard currency Itagaki had extorted from the preserved silver in Tianjin to purchase wheat from the Kingdom of Hao to support the food-scarce North China Front Army. Logically, given the purchasing power of silver and the current global grain prices, that sum should have been enough to buy a considerable amount of flour.

However, after further retrieving the transportation records of Jiaoao and Jieshi Island ports, Okamura discovered that only a small part of this batch of wheat directly fell into the logistics warehouse of the North China Front Army, and most of it was taken away by Nissin Steamship and Du Yunyan of the North China Transport Association, and no one knew where it went. These two companies were the properties under the name of the big man in the Imperial Palace, and the Front Army could not afford to offend them at all.

Continuing to purchase from outside was no longer feasible. Okamura Neiji sadly discovered that after going around in circles, if he didn't want to lose the combat effectiveness of his troops, he could only return to the path of "robbery" and "fighting to support the war." Robbery, robbery, who should he rob?

He turned around, his gaze roaming across the large map on the wall. Aside from the three northeastern provinces controlled by the Northeastern Military, the major grain-producing areas in the Japanese-occupied areas at the time were Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Shandong, Hebei, and Henan. The first three were controlled by the Central China Front Army, while Shandong, Hebei, and Henan, the three major granaries of North China during the Republican era, all had large areas of "poor public security."

At best, the Japanese could only maintain effective food collection within a 40-kilometer radius around railways and highways—roughly a day's march. Beyond this distance, the efficiency and safety of the Imperial Army's food collection raids would plummet.

This has been proven countless times by Sakagami, and now, according to the mathematical statistics organized by General Okamura Yasuji, even in areas with "good security", the Imperial Army's collection loss rate will be raised to more than 30%. Moreover, the land yield per unit area in North China is very low. Even if the Japanese army adopted harsh measures such as the "one month's food policy" and the "mixed flour substitution method", this sustainable method of draining the pond to catch fish could not squeeze out more food in the original place.

"We must come up with a way to deal with the Red Army and launch a large-scale operation against them. We can't continue the bloodshed." Fengcun Ningji rubbed his hairy head and made up his mind. "Food, food... Where can we find food in North China? Why must we seize North China's food from the North China Front Army's territory?"

Suddenly, Okamura Neiji had an idea, and his gaze fell on Zheng County. This was the southern edge of the area under the jurisdiction of the North China Front Army, and at this time it was not under the control of the Japanese army. Further south, on the periphery of the map, there was a large area that seemed like virgin land waiting to be explored.

“I feel that even in a destitute place, as long as people can survive, there must be food available.

Well, let the North China Army complete one of the 11th Army's unfinished missions. Our army is short on manpower, and the extravagant sweeps in the countryside are rampant. It would be better to let the Mountain City Army do it for us—the reserves they've plundered should be enough to sustain our army for six months to a year. Haha, their ability to squeeze and plunder far surpasses the bayonets of the Imperial Army.

"It's a pity that this method can't be used often. Let's leave Luo Jing behind this time!"

He showed a cold and cruel smile. Okamura Ningji stood up from the table and pressed the doorbell, "Please help me find Chief of Staff Kasahara and Tanabe. I have something to say to them."

Chapter 375: Battle of Central Henan

The four pests in Henan Province are floods, droughts and locusts.

He would rather be burned and killed by the enemy than have Tang's army stationed there.

...

The Tang army, based in the Central Plains region, the heart of the War of Resistance, should have played a more pivotal role, exerting greater energy in the fight against the Japanese invaders. Tang Keqin also felt the same way. As a direct descendant of Chiang Kai-shek, how could he afford to lag behind in the fight for national salvation? So, he mustered all his energy and began to "manage" Henan Province, prompting the people of Henan to coin various proverbs to praise his "love for the people like his own children."

Even his superior Li Delin and his friend Dai Yunong thought his behavior was excessive, and recorded that "Tang Jun used the excuse of anti-espionage to detain all the people in the villages where he was stationed, except for the elderly, weak and children.

All adult men were forced to leave the village and live elsewhere.

Soft goods, food, and livestock were also prohibited from being transported abroad. Once the men had left, the women and property were at the disposal of the garrison troops. Consequently, wherever Tang's army passed, the people were seething with resentment. This demonstrates just how deeply he "loved the people."

Yet, even this tyrannical and corrupt general was praised by Chiang Kai-shek after the February Incident. Hu Qinzhai, a general in Shaanxi Province, was severely beaten by the Eighth Route Army and, when attempting a counterattack, was forced to resign and travel to the mountain city to "listen to the president's instructions," which led to the Eighth Route Army's near-complete control of the Guanzhong region. Consequently, Tang's troops bravely launched an offensive, expanding their defense area to the Taolinsai area and taking over the defense of southern Shanxi. This act of "heroically resisting the Communist bandits and deterring Zhu and Mao" was a truly loyal act.

Therefore, after the Battle of Zhongtiaoshan ended, Tang's troops, through the 47th Army, took in the remnants of the 9th, 93rd, 15th and 14th Armies, totaling more than 13,000 soldiers, on the south bank of the Yellow River.

He then blatantly annexed the number of the 9th Army and used the defeated soldiers for his own use. Although Chang Gong sent a telegram to reprimand Tang Keqin for annexing the friendly army, he also supplemented the missing rifles, machine guns and ammunition needed by Tang's unit.

This can be seen.

Then, Tang Keqin withheld most of the military rations and salaries sent by the Chiang Kai-shek government, and distributed the food and salary quotas of the new Ninth Army to the lower levels.

Ah.

This information was clear to the Eighth Route Army, and almost transparent to the Japanese as well. Okamura, who had not yet fully taken over Itagaki Seishirō's intelligence system, could analyze from the archives how much wealth this extortionate Chiang Kai-shek's direct subordinate had amassed, and how much food and supplies he had plundered from Henan Province.

This time, these are his goals.

In the original history, the Japanese launched a south-to-north offensive in January 1941, led by the 11th Central China Army. In this campaign, the Japanese nominally assembled seven divisions of infantry, aircraft, and tanks, intending to push northward to open up the Pinghan Line and eliminate the main Nationalist forces in the area around Yiyang.

However, in this battle, due to problems with the Japanese army's positioning and navigation, the offensive routes of many troops were disrupted, and they actually fought all the way along the diverted Yellow River to the Huai River. Therefore, some Japanese materials called this operation the "New Yellow River Operation" to cover up the embarrassment.

This time, the newly appointed General Okamura Yasuji, adopting a "test drive" approach, first leveraged his connections from his previous tenure as commander of the 11th Army to conduct basic communication and coordination with the Central China forces. He then began deploying troops: he brought in the 36th Division, freed up after the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, and coordinated with the Japanese 17th Division in Xuzhou, the 4th Cavalry Brigade in Bianzhou, and the 106th Division, which, along with the 110th Division, was guarding the northern section of the Pinghan Railway, forming the main attacking force.

However, because the 35th Division, which could have been the second force to be freed up, was tied up in the Shangdang area due to the independent actions of Showa's Chief of Staff, Hanaya Masaru, Okamura was forced to curse and then turn his attention to the 27th Division, the main reserve of the North China Front Army. After withdrawing parts of the 27th and 21st Divisions as reserves, he finally gathered the minimum forces required to launch this campaign.

"For this campaign, our army must reduce its strength and avoid dispersing to meet the enemy!" He instructed his new Chief of Staff, Tanabe Moritake, "You must exercise restraint in your troops and avoid excessive ambition. I won't blame them for turning back after encountering a strong enemy. Our goal is to try new tactics and seize food and supplies!"

"Hey! Commander!"

Finally, after gathering the numbers of 6 divisions and combining with 7 divisions of the 11th Army in Central China, and gathering a powerful force that was said to have more than 13 divisions but was actually 90,000 strong, the Japanese army, with a clear goal and not taking the wrong path, launched a hasty offensive from the north and south of the Pinghan Road in early January 1941 after more than a month of troop deployment.

"The Japanese army launched an attack. Japanese troops appeared in the north of Zheng County!"

"Commander Tang, Zhou Zunshi's unit from the 20th Division of the 12th Army is reporting that Japanese invaders have been spotted east of Zheng County, in the direction of Bian Jing. Their strength is unknown!" "Report! The 85th Army is reporting that they have been attacked by Japanese forces near Xingdian!"

Expedited telegrams streamed into the 31st Army headquarters in Luohe. Staff officers rushed back and forth between the communications room and the command center, compiling a wide variety of information for Tang Keqin's headquarters. The Nationalist Army's intelligence system wasn't as modernized as the Eighth Route Army's, nor did it possess the Japanese's meticulous attention to detail. Even though the Military Control Commission and other departments, through their efforts to incite defections, were able to obtain considerable intelligence from double-dealers in the puppet army, the difficulties in internal communication prevented commanders from obtaining timely intelligence.

Especially when the commander himself is not very good, precious time on the battlefield can easily be wasted.

However, this was not a big problem for Tang Keqin - because soon after the initial report of the enemy contact, the entire headquarters quickly fell into a strange silence. The Nationalist army, which had previously been able to send out enemy contact information, suddenly became silent, and not a single piece of information was transmitted.

This is a typical situation of the Nationalist army during the War of Resistance: "annihilated in one fight." Even if the troops were still organized and even still resisting, due to the changes in the troop organization and the changes in the peacetime and wartime status, the Nationalist army troops were almost unable to report effective intelligence within two days of the start of the war.

Commander Tang, who was used to all this, did not panic. He issued orders, asking the various armies to gather their troops, get closer to each other, and huddle together for warmth, so as to form a huge corps that the Japanese army could hardly swallow in one bite. At the cost of continuous loss of peripheral troops, he consumed the Japanese army's offensive kinetic energy, stretched its supply lines, and finally forced it to retreat.

Throughout the Anti-Japanese War, this tactic of crouching and defending against attacks, then waiting for the Japanese to have enough, and then counterattacking, had been a tried-and-true strategy, hitting the weak logistical weaknesses of the Japanese army. But this time, these devils seemed different.

"Report! The 85th Army is under direct attack from a powerful Japanese force, and the Queshan position has been lost! The soldiers estimate that the attacking Japanese forces are at least two divisions! The troops have suffered heavy losses in terms of supplies!" Chen Daqing's unit in the 29th Army reports! At least three Japanese divisions have appeared in the Biyang area, and they are pressing in heavily. All the outlying strongholds and villages have fallen. The Japanese will launch a general offensive soon!

Urgently request the headquarters to dispatch troops for support!"

"Zheng County is under heavy attack from the Japanese. We are not sure about the enemy situation, but they have planes and tanks, and their firepower is extremely fierce! We brothers are almost unable to hold on!"

As the battle progressed, a day and a half later, a flood of vague intelligence like this one poured into Commander Tang's headquarters like a floodgate. Before long, wireless messages, wired telegrams, and manually transmitted battle reports and handwritten orders from various units piled up like a small mountain on Commander Tang's desk.

Some troops reported that the Japanese cavalry raised dust for miles and the momentum was huge; some troops reported that the Japanese bombers covered the sky and the earth was cracking; and some troops reported that the Japanese army was strong in strength and each unit was fearless and charged in neat squares and rows, and did not retreat even if they were killed or wounded.

Intelligence reports indicated the Japanese army numbered in the tens of thousands, with seven or eight divisions each north and south, and twenty or thirty squadrons deployed across more than a dozen battlefields, relentlessly pursuing the various Nationalist units. Each battalion and detachment was deployed over dozens of miles, on four or five battlefields. The same unit number could hop back and forth between multiple battlefields, seemingly capable of turning every soldier into a soldier, shrinking the earth into an inch, and mastering the art of time and space travel.

Yet, in their reports, every divisional and corps commander assured Commander Tang that they indeed had a large number of elite Japanese troops before them. Under cover of barrages of artillery fire and darkening fighter planes, they attacked with a ferocious force like a raging wave. I fought to the last man, intending to die on the battlefield, but was knocked unconscious by a Japanese eight-inch cannon shell. Upon waking, I was being carried off the battlefield by my staff. I repeatedly attempted suicide, hoping to join the fallen soldiers in the grave, but I managed to remain alive and report the enemy's situation in detail.