Comrade, your ingredients are too complicated.

As the saying goes, the higher the expectations, the greater the pain of disappointment.

In Tuqiao's opinion, although the defense deployment of his headquarters could not be said to be foolproof, it could at least be said to be at the level of an iron wall.

But who would have thought that those sentries he had checked repeatedly, the bunkers he had carefully arranged, and even the machine gun firing ranges he had calibrated personally would be penetrated in an instant by the Eighth Route Army's commandos like a sharp knife cutting through bamboo.

The two Type 95 light tanks and Type 97 medium tanks, which carried the hopes of the entire village but were easily turned into scrap metal by rocket launchers, became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

It was not until this moment that Tuqiao finally realized that this battle might be the place where he would die.

"I originally thought that the Imperial Army's advance team was the pinnacle of infantry, but I didn't expect that the Eighth Route Army in front of us is even more courageous than them. With less than 300 people, they dared to launch a surprise attack on our headquarters. Whose generals are they?"

"Pass my order to Major Takeda."

Just when the old Japanese was sighing, an 81-caliber delayed-action bomb drew an arc in the air and finally accurately penetrated the main building of the headquarters.

The moment the shell hit the combat meeting room, time seemed to be torn apart.

The ceiling exploded with a loud bang, and wooden beams and rubble poured down like a rainstorm, followed by a ball of blazing white flames that expanded in the center of the sandbox.

The shock wave lifted the battle map covered with markings into the air, and the pages burned into gray butterflies before they even hit the ground.

The broken shrapnel mixed with the nail-like wood chips swept across the room, and most of the staff officers fell down one after another without any time to dodge. Some were nailed to the wall, and some knelt on the ground, holding their throats that were bleeding.

Of course, not all devils failed to respond in time.

At the moment the shell pierced through the ceiling, Tsuchihashi Ichi's personal guards pressed towards his own general like a shield mountain.

As soon as his back touched the Japanese soldier's uniform, a shrapnel that had been embedded in the pillar whizzed past the place where Tuqiao's head originally was, cutting the golden rising sun flag behind him into two pieces.

"Your Excellency, Lieutenant General! Go!"

The guard's roar, mixed with blood foam, sprayed into Dobashi's ears. His right shoulder and back were already embedded with several jagged fragments, but he used his left hand to hold the lieutenant general's belt tightly and pushed towards the secret door.

When another burning beam fell from the ceiling, the guard used his spine to build a final human shield for the old devil.

Soon, the flying flames engulfed him, but Tsuchihashi Ichi's military cap eventually disappeared into the shadow of the secret door first.

······
Under the relay-like protection of many guards, Dohashi finally arrived at the reinforced concrete underground shelter located right below the headquarters.

The underground bunker is equipped with a full field communications system, supply reserves sufficient to last for several weeks, and two hidden evacuation passages leading to the outside world.

The old Japanese can just curl up in this tortoise-shell-like fortification and hold out until reinforcements come to rescue them.

When the explosion-proof door was about to be closed, the commander of the security squadron, Major Takeda, glanced at the short knife on his own lieutenant general's waist, hesitated for a while, and finally persuaded:

"Sir, the predicament of our 12th Army today is not due to war."

"Please make sure you stay alive. The surviving warriors still need unified and clear command, and the upcoming city defense street fighting cannot be done without the participation of senior officers."

As if he felt that his words did not carry enough weight, Major Takeda gritted his teeth, stamped his feet, and used his tried-and-tested method of provoking the opponent.

"Lieutenant General Tsuchihashi, as the military commander of the Empire of Japan, it would be fine if you survived and were shot to death. But if you end your own life, how can you face the soldiers who are fighting!"

Hearing this, the old devil suddenly regained his fighting spirit.

Theoretically, the headquarters' security squadron could hold out for at least half an hour. His stand-in and the booby traps in the passage could also buy some time.

As long as he can wait for the two infantry battalions to return for support, or even wait until the 13th Army goes north, there is a high probability that Tuqiao will be able to successfully survive this crisis.

At worst, he could still try his luck and bet that the Eighth Route Army had not found the end of the evacuation passage.

It seems that it can really be rescued.

However, Tuqiao's instinct for survival was quickly crushed by the culture of succumbing to evil.

Listening to the explosions and chaos coming from outside, the old devil's face turned red, and he scolded in a stern tone:
"Absurd! Since the beginning of the war, the only Axis officers left alive are those Italian wimps who have become trophies of the enemy."

"How glorious the Imperial Army was. Even at the most critical moment on the Chinese battlefield, it only lost two escapees, Ando Nijuzo and Okada Sue."

"If my gold-threaded shoulder straps fall into the hands of the Eighth Route Army, wouldn't the reputation of the Imperial Japanese Army be nailed to the pillar of shame in the world's military history, just like the Italian spaghetti flag?"

"I have made up my mind, don't try to persuade me again!"

After saying this, Tsuchiya's fingers slowly stroked the trefoil pattern on his shoulder.

Then he yanked the brass handle of the explosion-proof door, and the three-hundred-kilogram steel door closed with the hissing of the hydraulic device, blocking out the charge of the Eighth Route Army and the combat curses of the guards.

But the sound of the unsheathed sword could not be blocked.

The captain of the guards was screaming through the crack of the door when a dull sound like leather tearing suddenly pierced his eardrums. Then there was the thump of a heavy object falling to the ground, like a sandbag rolling off a truck.

It turned out that his commander's screams were more broken than he had imagined.

It was not the "cry of a crane" praised in Bushido textbooks, but rather a short, hoarse, and sticky blood-foaming sound like a wild dog's neck being stepped on.

"boom!"

After a while, the explosion-proof door suddenly vibrated violently.

Dohashi did commit seppuku once, but he had set up the suicide explosive device in the basement first and only used the knife after confirming the countdown.

There is no other way. Disembowelment is very painful and the pain lasts for a long time. Few Japanese soldiers can really commit suicide by disembowelment. Most of them will first disembowel themselves and then die quickly through other means.

Bushido and the culture of suicide by honor are ridiculous.

······
The hands of the pocket watch had just passed three quarters of an hour when the burning confidential documents were already floating all over the headquarters courtyard.

When Li Yunlong kicked open the explosion-proof door, the half-broken saber that Tuqiao had destroyed was still stuck in the ruins, just like the oath of death that he had not had time to fulfill.

In fact, the Japanese made a very wise choice. After all, the inner city of Quancheng had already been turned into a mess by the large force of the 1st Marine Brigade.

Under the delays and blockades of their comrades, even if the reinforcements of the 12th Army kept charging all the way, it would still take more than an hour to reach the battlefield.

As for evacuating through the hidden passage?

That's even better. No matter which exit it is, there will be a squad of soldiers guarding it.

Whack-a-mole, we specialize in dealing with all kinds of disobedience.

"Damn it, this old guy Tuqiao is really cruel to me."

"He destroyed his general uniform, his own samurai sword, burned his fingers with fire to destroy his fingerprints, and used his face to catch a bomb to disfigure him. In order to prevent us from taking his body as a trophy, this bastard really did everything he could."

"As an officer trained by militarism, why can't he learn from the officers and soldiers of the destroyer Yukikaze? It's really unlucky."

Looking at the basement scene that was completely destroyed by the bomb and almost difficult to piece together a complete corpse, Li Yunlong shook his head with regret.

For the current 1st Marine Brigade, the killing of Tsuchihashi marked the first time they had achieved the precise beheading of a Japanese lieutenant general-level commander.

This victory not only announced the troops' combat capability to the world in the most powerful way.

With their undisputed performance, they have permanently engraved the title of the world's best airborne troops in the annals of military history.

Of course, it would be great if we could seize the enemy officers’ identity documents, epaulettes or sabers. After all, no matter how brilliant the victory was, we had to keep some physical evidence to silence the gossips of modern nitpickers.

The body will rot.

Memories will become blurred.

Only gilded epaulettes and sabers can forever slap the face of the deniers.

Compared to his brigade commander's gloom, the second regiment commander was obviously much more optimistic. He first picked up the remains of the broken sword from the ruins, and then said in a relaxed tone:
"Commander, why do you care so much about the spoils? It will alienate our efforts."

"Look at Germany's paratroopers. Their backbone was broken after Operation Mercury, and they can no longer carry out large-scale paratrooper operations. Italy's airborne troops are quite strong, but the rest of the troops are too weak and are destined to be insignificant."

"The Japs? Forget about that. Their Sumatra airborne invasion is a joke to me."

"On the allied side, France has no paratroopers, and even Ying and Ah Chou haven't performed well. The Russians always use paratroopers as infantry."

"Based on the current situation, the above-mentioned major participating countries have long been left behind by us. No one can take away the throne of the world's number one."

As soon as these words were spoken, Li Yunlong's brows relaxed, and the previous depression instantly disappeared.

In fact, he and the 1st Marine Brigade had already reached the top of the military branch, but the performance of his fellow villagers was too dazzling, which made him always maintain a self-motivated attitude.

After the idea came to him, Old Li suddenly realized the truth and patted the Second Regiment Commander on the shoulder. Then he said with the momentum of an airborne combat genius:

"Haha, it's just that we didn't capture any spoils of war. That's not a big deal. There are at least a dozen Japanese lieutenant generals in our country. We will definitely have a chance to raid the Japanese headquarters in the future."

"Besides, when we counterattack the enemy's homeland, our brigade will definitely be the first to land."

"When the time comes, we will plant our flag on Hirohito's Imperial Palace. I wonder who will dare to question the strength of the 1st Marine Brigade!" (End of this chapter)