Chapter 1 Wu Long Finally Gets the Help of Regiment Commander Tang Youwei in Cleaning the Battlefield

It wasn't that the Second Company couldn't complete the task of cleaning the battlefield, but rather that there were simply too many materials on the battlefield to be cleared away by the Second Company's hundred-plus men.

Moreover, the wreckage of the twelve tanks couldn't be cleared away by the Second Company alone.

Yusuke Kaminoto, the garrison commander, after dispatching the cavalry squadron led by Shugen Mizumi, the tank squadron led by Yuma Goto, and the two infantry squadrons led by Takezo Yamada and Kazuo Ono, had been patiently waiting in the command post for news of their victory.

When the news came that Shugen Mizumi's cavalry squadron had been completely annihilated, Yusuke Kaminoto, the garrison commander, couldn't believe it.

He stood up from his chair and walked to the Japanese soldier who had brought the news, slapping him twice across the face.

"Baga! Your false report will be punished by military law."

Sergeant Zeninosuke Fujita, who had come to report, quickly stood at attention: "Hai!"

"Report, Commander! Company Commander Mizumi Shugen led all the cavalry warriors to their glorious deaths."

"Baga! Are you not afraid to die?" Commander Yusuke Kaminoto was furious. He had just slapped the messenger twice, and he still hadn't learned how to report?

Sergeant Zeninosuke Fujita was also very scared; he didn't want to tell the truth. Telling the truth hurts!

But false reporting was punishable by military law, as the commander himself had said. What could he do?

He was already prepared to be slapped a few more times, and his right cheek was already turned up to the position most convenient for the commander to slap.

Commander Yusuke Kaminoto suddenly felt dispirited and waved his hand: "Get out!"

He had been determined to make this tactless messenger change his ways, but when he saw the captain of the Mizune Ichiro regiment in the command post with a smile that was not a smile.

That's why he let the poor messenger go. Sergeant Zeninosuke Fujita certainly didn't know that he had been saved by a regimental commander's smile.

When he rode his warhorse back to the front line again, he soon had to bring another bad news to report.

"Report!" The familiar voice sounded outside the door.

Commander Yusuke Kaminoto looked at the stubborn soldier outside the door: "It's him again?"

Today, whenever I see him, there's no good news! Yusuke Kaminoto thought to himself.

He still gave the order, "Enter!"

"Report, Commander! Just now, Company Commander Yuma Goto's tank squadron was fiercely bombarded by the enemy's heavy artillery." This time, Zeninosuke Fujita finally advanced.

He didn't say the rest of the sentence, just reporting like this shouldn't count as false reporting, right?

What was the result? All the Japanese soldiers in the entire command post were looking at the messenger who had just been slapped.

There were still marks left on his face from being slapped. Commander Yusuke Kaminoto was furious, and slapped him twice more:

"What is the situation with Yuma Goto's tank squadron now?"

Sergeant Zeninosuke Fujita's face was burning, his eyes were filled with tears, and he reported with a sob, "Report, Commander! Company Commander Yuma Goto led the tank squadron to gallop across the battlefield, struggling to break through, and was ultimately destroyed by the enemy's artillery fire!"

"Slap, slap," two more slaps. "Are you sure about your news?"

"Report, Commander! The news is accurate. Company Commander Takezo Yamada and Company Commander Kazuo Mizuno are leading the remaining warriors to attack the enemy's fortifications."

"Yoshi! Yamada-kun and Mizuno-kun are the strongest warriors of the Empire." Commander Yusuke Kaminoto finally heard a piece of news that allowed him to step down.

"Go! Keep a close eye on the front line and report back immediately if there is any news." He continued to instruct the pitiful Sergeant Zeninosuke Fujita.

Sergeant Zeninosuke Fujita's face was already red and purple: it was blood from being beaten to death.

But he had no choice but to continue riding his warhorse towards the battlefield. He was in the rear, far away from the battlefield, watching the two infantry squadrons advancing on the front line.

How Sergeant Zeninosuke Fujita hoped that Takezo Yamada's squadron and Kazuo Mizuno's squadron could live up to expectations so that he wouldn't get slapped again when he returned to report.

He watched the less than a hundred Japanese soldiers on the battlefield advance smoothly for five hundred meters without being attacked.

Just as he was feeling happy, a few bursts of fire flashed, smoke rose, and everything became unclear.

There was no need to watch any further; Sergeant Zeninosuke Fujita knew in his heart: it's over! I'm going to get slapped again.

He patiently waited until he saw that the Japanese soldiers of the two infantry squadrons had been completely annihilated.

Only then did he run back to report the news on his warhorse as if he had lost his parents. When his voice sounded again, "Report!"

Just these two words had already given the commanders in the entire command post a bad premonition.

His voice was trembling, filled with fear and dread. Without even hearing his report, one could guess that this was not good news.

"Enter!" Commander Yusuke Kaminoto had to let him in, even though he could also hear the hidden information from the two words of the sergeant's request.

"Report, Commander! Takezo Yamada's infantry squadron and Kazuo Mizuno's infantry squadron were completely annihilated, with no survivors." Zeninosuke Fujita reported in a crying voice.

His voice was full of fear and dread.

"Slap! Slap!" The expected slaps did not come late.

"Hai!" Zeninosuke Fujita, who had been slapped twice, quickly stood at attention.

"Did you see clearly how the Empire's warriors died gloriously?" Commander Yusuke Kaminoto roared at the stupid messenger.

"After Takezo Yamada's infantry squadron and Kazuo Mizuno's infantry squadron passed through the enemy's heavy artillery bombardment zone,

Only less than a hundred warriors were left. They persisted in advancing and were not attacked.

It wasn't until they were only twenty or thirty meters away from the enemy's fortifications that a burst of fire flashed and smoke billowed.

After the smoke cleared, the entire battlefield was full of enemy figures. Company Commander Takezo Yamada and Company Commander Kazuo Mizuno were all gone.

The remaining warriors of the two squadrons all fell to the ground."

Sergeant Zeninosuke Fujita had personally witnessed the entire process of the demise of the two infantry squadrons.

His description now was extremely vivid!

Hearing his vivid description, Commander Yusuke Kaminoto became even angrier: "Get out! Slap, slap!"

Even as Zeninosuke Fujita went out, he didn't forget to give him two more slaps.

After the messenger left, the entire command post was silent. The Japanese soldiers inside knew that Commander Yusuke Kaminoto was now on the verge of rage.

That small, ordinary Japanese soldier simply couldn't let him vent his anger.

It would definitely take an officer to be able to withstand his wrath.

However, none of the Japanese soldiers present were willing to bear such responsibility.

Commander Yusuke Kaminoto looked at the map hanging on the wall of the command post and the sand table on the table.

The flags on the sand table, showing the positions of the enemy and our forces, were very conspicuously marked with flags representing the current positions of Takezo Yamada's squadron and the others.

Originally, he had been thinking that these flags could extend all the way to the second line of defense.

Now they had been trampled underfoot by the Special Operations Brigade and would never be able to turn over.

The Japanese soldiers in the entire command post were trembling. Even Regiment Commander Mizune Ichiro had now put away his schadenfreude.

His mood was very complicated: he had just arrived here with two infantry battalions and one artillery battalion.

He had been beaten by the Special Operations Brigade until he had lost his armor and abandoned his weapons. In this situation, he didn't mind the Tianjia'an Garrison Headquarters suffering losses.

But the situation of complete annihilation, with no survivors, made Regiment Commander Mizune Ichiro very afraid: he was afraid of how the next battle would be fought.

Commander Yusuke Kaminoto's elite troops now only had four infantry squadrons, one machine gun squadron, and one artillery squadron left.

In the eyes of Regiment Commander Mizune Ichiro, these squadrons were not even comparable to one of his battalions.

In the eyes of Yusuke Kaminoto, the two infantry battalions and one artillery battalion led by Regiment Commander Mizune Ichiro had retreated from the front line today.

Wasn't their end the same as that of his two infantry squadrons and one cavalry squadron?

By comparison, one squadron under his command was comparable to a battalion of the 10th Independent Mixed Brigade.

Thinking of this, Commander Yusuke Kaminoto's mood finally improved a little.

Although he had suffered some setbacks just now, his main force was still there, and who would win the battle to come was still unknown.

It was just that no Japanese soldier in the command post spoke about how to fight the next battle.

Enter the bunker? The enemy has artillery, so this plan won't work.

Enter the trenches? The enemy has artillery, so this plan won't work.

Attack directly? The enemy has artillery, so this plan won't work.

Unable to defend and unable to attack, then they could only retreat.

Give up Tianjia'an directly! Regiment Commander Mizune Ichiro thought of this and looked at the other Japanese soldiers in the command post, whose gazes were scanning back and forth between Tianjia'an and Xuzhou.

Regiment Commander Mizune Ichiro knew that these Japanese soldiers had the same idea as him.

While there was still time, before the Special Operations Brigade began their attack, they could get on the train and return to Xuzhou immediately via the railway.

Obviously, from Commander Yusuke Kaminoto's aggressive gaze, it could be seen that he would not order a retreat.

Because he was the garrison commander here, all the Japanese soldiers could retreat, but he couldn't.

Under the pressure of the approaching army, the only way for him to leave here was to be injured or killed in battle.

In any case, Commander Yusuke Kaminoto still ordered the puppet army to enter the fortresses to defend. The Japanese soldiers of the Aikuang Team guarded in the trenches.

This time he decided that even if the puppet army inside the fortresses were bombed to death, it wouldn't have a big impact on the entire battlefield.

All four of the infantry squadrons, the machine gun squadron, and the artillery squadron under his command were concentrated in the rear, ready to reinforce at any time.

Just when everything was ready, a great piece of good news came: two more infantry battalions of the 10th Independent Mixed Brigade had arrived from Xuzhou.

And this time, Brigade Commander Shunsuke Soratani personally came to command the battle.

The other regimental commander of the 10th Independent Mixed Brigade, Akito Kanetae, was waiting in Xuzhou, and he would come over with Battalion Commander Yusuke Yamada, the tank squadron, and the cavalry battalion as the third batch of troops.

Battalion Commander Hideki Shiba and Battalion Commander Naoteru Ato Machi had arrived in Tianjia'an with Brigade Commander Shunsuke Soratani.

This suddenly made the Japanese soldiers here much more powerful.

Garrison Commander Yusuke Kaminoto finally breathed a sigh of relief. Under his firm defense, Tianjia'an had finally waited for the arrival of reinforcements.

Now he could transfer the entire responsibility of defending Tianjia'an to Brigade Commander Shunsuke Soratani.

The position of brigade commander was much higher than that of his garrison commander, who only had the actual position of battalion commander.

The most important thing was that Yusuke Kaminoto felt a huge pressure and a strong sense of foreboding.

Brigade Commander Shunsuke Soratani, who had just walked into the command post, received the warmest and most sincere welcome from Garrison Commander Yusuke Kaminoto.

And Commander Yusuke Kaminoto personally introduced the situation, and at the same time took the initiative to make it clear that the highest command of the entire Tianjia'an defense was completely under the command of Brigade Commander Shunsuke Soratani. He would be a small soldier under the command of the brigade commander.

Wherever the brigade commander told him to charge, he would charge there.

This attitude and this sincerity made Brigade Commander Shunsuke Soratani glare at Regiment Commander Mizune Ichiro several times.

Such a sensible garrison commander, not at all power-hungry, had just arrived, was not familiar with the situation at all, and immediately handed over the command.

And you were still telling me how disrespectful and disrespectful he was!

Brigade Commander Shunsuke Soratani, who took over the command with a smile, immediately entered the state. He looked at the obvious three lines of defense on the sand table.

Listening to Commander Yusuke Kaminoto's introduction, the first two lines of defense had been breached by the Special Operations Brigade.

He was now placing the puppet army in the fortresses and the Japanese soldiers of the Aikuang Team in the trenches to hold the third line of defense.

In addition, he had also sent the military police to serve as a supervising team behind the third line of defense to ensure that no one escaped.

Brigade Commander Shunsuke Soratani greatly appreciated Commander Yusuke Kaminoto's idea of using the military police as a supervising team.

He also believed that the puppet army did need a strong supervising team to ensure that they did not escape.

At this time, he began to ask how the first and second lines of defense on the front line were lost.

At the same time, he also asked Regiment Commander Mizune Ichiro how he had buried more than three thousand Japanese soldiers in just a few hours.

Battalion Commander Yusuke Nakatomi and Battalion Commander Taro Hayuta unanimously complained that the Special Operations Brigade's heavy artillery bombardment had taken the lives of the main force.

The artillery bombardment on the opposite side, the infantry charge! The two infantry battalions were completely unable to resist and were defeated before they even entered the position.

Artillery Battalion Commander Hiroki Ueda cried out about the planes in the sky, which made his artillery battalion completely unable to fight back.

The entire artillery battalion was defeated by the aerial strikes while still on the march.

The Special Operations Brigade's aerial strikes continued until their infantry rushed into the middle of the cannons, and the entire Hiroki Ueda artillery battalion had no choice but to retreat.

Brigade Commander Shunsuke Soratani was the first to hear that the other side had planes participating in the battle.

He asked: Did you see the planes?

Battalion Commander Yusuke Nakatomi and Battalion Commander Taro Hayuta quickly nodded: "We saw the planes, but they didn't attack us."

"The planes have been attacking the artillery and haven't touched the infantry at all!" Hiroki Ueda said aggrievedly.

He didn't understand why those planes were like that, not attacking the infantry at all.

His grievances had nowhere to be诉, and now he could finally say it in front of the brigade commander.

Brigade Commander Shunsuke Soratani pondered and asked, "Now that I have brought two infantry battalions, how can we give the enemy on the other side the biggest blow?"

With one sentence, the entire command post was silent. He wanted to understand the situation, and every Japanese soldier here could say a lot.

He wanted to ask these Japanese soldiers how to deal with the Special Operations Brigade on the opposite side, but no Japanese soldier dared to speak up.

These Japanese soldiers had been frightened. They had tried all the methods they could use, and without exception, the teams they sent out were all taken by the other side.

How could they still fight? How dare they still fight?

Regiment Commander Mizune Ichiro saw that everyone was silent and had to open his mouth to explain, "Brigade Commander! Just half an hour before you arrived, Commander Yusuke Kaminoto sent out an elite garrison force.

A total of two infantry squadrons, one tank squadron, and one cavalry squadron were sent out.

In just two hours, all four squadrons were completely annihilated, with no survivors!"

Facing his direct superior, even though he had just been scolded, Regiment Commander Mizune Ichiro still told the actual situation of the entire battlefield.

"The heavy artillery on the opposite side is too powerful. No matter what method we use to attack, or to defend.

They only use one method: artillery bombardment!

We didn't see how the first line of defense was lost.

When the Special Operations Brigade attacked the second line of defense, I was leading the team to reinforce.

I personally saw those solid fortresses being hit by a shell and immediately falling apart.

They used one shell to blow up a bunker and bury all the warriors who were defending in the bunker.

The warriors of Yusuke Nakatomi's battalion shouted and charged towards the trenches on the line of defense.

Before they even entered the fortifications, they were attacked by countless shells falling from the sky, making them completely unable to fight.

The other side used all 150mm large-caliber shells, which were too inhumane.

When a shell landed, no one within a radius of dozens of meters survived, and not a blade of grass grew.

With such firepower, the warriors of the two infantry battalions did not retreat and continued to charge forward.

In the end, they still failed, and the artillery bombardment on the opposite side never stopped.

It wasn't until their infantry charged up that the artillery fire stopped.

At that time, only one in ten of our warriors was still alive.

Even though they fought hard, they were ultimately outnumbered and failed."

This time, Regiment Commander Mizune Ichiro carefully explained the reason why he had buried thousands of Japanese soldiers.

The heavy artillery on the opposite side was too numerous and too large. They didn't even give the Japanese soldiers a chance to retreat.

After understanding his difficulties, Brigade Commander Shunsuke Soratani was silent.

As resourceful as he was, as smart as he was, Shunsuke Soratani, who was able to become a brigade commander, had now understood.

This Commander Yusuke Kaminoto was simply throwing a hot potato to himself.

Letting himself take over this matter all of a sudden without knowing anything, now the matter was difficult to handle.

What to do?

Brigade Commander Shunsuke Soratani knew nothing about the terrain here. All he could see now was the terrain on the sand table and the markings on the map.

"How many enemies are there?" Brigade Commander Shunsuke Soratani asked.

"Many! Many!" Commander Atsushi Yoshikata replied. He had been fighting the Special Operations Brigade from the first line of defense.

But he didn't know how many people were on the other side, so he could only use the word "many" to describe it.

"Idiot! Slap, slap!" Two loud slaps rang out in the operations command post.

The angry Brigade Commander Shunsuke Soratani slapped Commander Atsushi Yoshikata twice.

"You've been fighting the other side for so long, and you don't even know how many troops they have.

Is your brain full of pig feed?"

"How many people are on the other side?" The angry Brigade Commander Shunsuke Soratani changed the target of his question to the puppet army commander, Bingbiao Bian.

Of course, he didn't ask this puppet army commander in the first place because he thought that the puppet army had no ability or level.

Bingbiao Bian didn't dare to say many such numbers, and he quickly reported, "Report Brigade Commander! The enemy has at least a corps of combat troops, with 20,000 men.

In addition, they also have a heavy artillery regiment."

In any case, he had to say the number first. Bingbiao Bian himself believed in the number he said casually.

In his opinion, if there was no corps of infantry, how could the other side have captured the first and second lines of defense so easily?

Brigade Commander Shunsuke Soratani looked at the puppet army commander Bingbiao Bian with appreciation in his eyes: "Yoshi! You have vision!"

Only at this time did Commander Atsushi Yoshikata understand: he should also casually report a number, and he should report more of the National Army soldiers.

This way, he could show that his team was fighting hard but was defeated by the other side's superior forces.

Hearing that there were more than 20,000 infantrymen on the other side, Brigade Commander Shunsuke Soratani really believed it. He now had two infantry battalions, 2,500 Japanese soldiers.

Adding the 1,000 remaining Japanese soldiers from Mizune Ichiro's regiment, there were a total of more than 3,000 Japanese soldiers.

As for the several infantry squadrons of the Tianjia'an Garrison Headquarters, the Aikuang Team, and the puppet army, Brigade Commander Shunsuke Soratani didn't consider them to be combat troops.

In his opinion, a soldier ratio of one to seven was very normal and could still be fought.

For insurance, he still called Xuzhou to ask if his third batch of troops had returned.

After receiving a negative answer, he ordered a telegram to be sent to the battalion of Takeshi Fukagawa to ask how they were doing and whether reinforcements had arrived.

When he heard that the battalion of Takeshi Fukagawa was still holding on, and the Lunan Detachment surrounding them had not launched a fierce attack, he was relieved.

But the next news made him worry again: the reinforcements had not arrived at Huangtuling.

Thinking of when the reinforcements set out, he was still in the Xuzhou command post. Now that he had arrived in Tianjia'an with the army, the reinforcements had not yet arrived.

What was going on?

Brigade Commander Shunsuke Soratani had a bad feeling: could it be that the Lunan Detachment dared to encircle the point and attack the reinforcements?

He ordered a call to be made to the battalion of Yusuke Yamada, which was a mechanized team he had specially sent out.

According to their speed, they should have arrived at Huangtuling long ago at this time. Could it be that they were blocked by the river and needed to build a pontoon bridge themselves?