Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

"What?! Is this a disguised apology?!" Fang Ligong fell into deep thought for a moment. Is this the case?

"Since you have given us all the things, don't worry about it anymore." Chu Yunfei said. He didn't want Fang Ligong to keep harping on this matter.

"The commander asked us to hand over half of our weapons and equipment, and we will keep the remaining half to develop our troops." Chu Yunfei continued.

"Yeah." Fang Ligong nodded.

.........

More than a week later, Matsushita Renkyu returned to Taiyuan with his troops.

Itakase Seishirō came to the outer city with a serious face and waited. They suffered heavy losses in this battle. Not only was there only more than 7,000 soldiers left in the 20th Division, but the commander of the 16th Division, Nakajima Imago was also killed in the enemy attack.

In addition, a brigade commander of the 16th Division and a regiment commander of the 20th Division were also killed, and the loss of senior officers was serious.

"Division commander, this group of Northeastern Army is really too scary. They are not afraid of us at all. If we don't get rid of them, our situation in the future will be even more difficult." A Japanese brigade commander next to Itakane Seishirō said.

It is really terrifying that an army with stronger combat power than them does not take them seriously.

"You don't need to say more about this!" Itaige Seishirō said in a cold tone. How could he not know? He had realized it a long time ago, but he didn't expect that the terrifying degree of that Northeastern Army was far beyond his imagination.

"Hey!" Upon hearing this, the Japanese brigade commander lowered his head and dared not say anything more. He also had a problem with his brain. The division commander must have considered things more thoroughly than he did.

After waiting for a few minutes, Matsushita Renkyu and his convoy finally appeared. Itagaki Seishirō looked from afar and saw that many soldiers had bandages wrapped around their bodies, obviously seriously injured.

Looking at the 20th Division, which originally had more than 20,000 people, and now only had more than 7,000 people left, Itahune Seishirō felt his heart bleeding.

These were the elite troops carefully trained by the empire, yet they were killed by the Northeastern Army and only these few were left.

Fortunately, the organization is still there, otherwise the new 20th Division would probably have been withdrawn.

In the military vehicle, Matsushita Renkyu was holding an urn in his arms, which contained the ashes of Nakajima Imago. There was no way they could return because the journey was too far and the body could not be kept for too long, so it had to be cremated first.

But Matsushita Renkyu didn't know that what he was holding was not Nakajima Imago's urn, but the ashes of an ordinary soldier.

"Division Commander, Division Commander Banheng is outside to pick us up." At this time, the Japanese brigade commander sitting next to him hurriedly reminded.

"What?! Stop the car." Upon hearing this, Matsushita Renkyu lowered the car window and looked into the distance. He happened to see Itakune Seishiro, and he quickly asked the car to stop.

He then got off the car immediately and ran quickly towards Itahiro Seishiro holding the urn.

"Mr. Banheng! It's my fault for not fighting well this time. I'm sorry for bringing shame to you!" Matsushita Renkyu ran up to him, lowered his head and admitted his mistake.

"Matsushita-kun, this is not your fault. It's mainly my problem. Is this Nakajima-kun's ashes?!" Itakase Seishirō did not choose to blame. He looked at the urn that Matsushita Renkyu was holding.

In fact, he had no right to blame Matsushita Renkyu, because from beginning to end, Matsushita Renkyu was just following orders.

Nothing went wrong. Even when Matsushita Renkyu learned that he was going to be used as bait to lure the enemy, he did not complain at all. How could he blame such a subordinate?

If anyone wants to blame someone, it can only be Itagaki Seishirō. As for Nakajima Imaogo, he is dead, so how can he be blamed?

"Yes, Nakajima-kun's body was severely decomposed on the way back, so we had to cremate him first." Matsushita Renkyu nodded quickly.

"Well, give it to me. I have already held a memorial service for Nakajima-kun and the soldiers who died in battle in the city." Itakune Seishirō nodded and took Nakajima Imao's ashes from Matsushita Renkyu.

The group entered the military camp in the inner city of Taiyuan. A number of officers had already gathered in the camp. They were all summoned back by Itakune Seishirō to attend the memorial service for Nakajima Imago.

Itakune Seishirō presided over the event personally, holding the urn of Nakajima Imago. He recounted the contributions that Nakajima Imago had made into the microphone and affirmed his contributions to the empire.

Then he talked about the present.

“This time, in the process of encircling and suppressing the Northeastern Army, Nakajima-kun unfortunately died, but Nakajima-kun also caused the Northeastern Army to suffer heavy losses. It can be said that he had the upper hand!

It's a pity that Nakajima-kun was unlucky, otherwise he might have been able to annihilate the Northeast Army. His death cleared a major obstacle for the empire!" Itahene Seishirō's voice was so loud that it reached the ears of the officers and soldiers present.

In fact, the reason for saying this is just to make Nakajima Imao's death more heroic and fearless, and not a meaningless death.

Otherwise, if the news got out, the commander of the empire's A-class division was killed by the enemy without doing anything, wouldn't the empire lose all its face? !
The key point is that this will leave a bad impression in the minds of ordinary soldiers. Even the commander of a Class A division was easily annihilated by the Northeast Army. Wouldn't it be even more difficult for them? This will greatly affect morale.

This is also the reason why this memorial service was held specially, to tell the soldiers that although the Northeast Army was a bit powerful, they were not invincible.

The reason why Nakajima Imago died was simply because of bad luck. He was accidentally hit by an enemy's artillery shell.

After Itakune Seishirō finished speaking, the officers and soldiers applauded and admired Nakajima Imago's bravery.

As for Matsushita Renkyu, he was lost in thought for a moment as he listened to what Itakune Seishirō said. They were clearly badly defeated, so how come it seemed like they had won a great victory!
However, he also knew the reason why Itakune Seishiro held this memorial service, but he would not say it out loud, otherwise he would be seeking death.

Itakune Seishiro is trying to boost the morale of the soldiers. If he steps out to sabotage them, will he end up well? !
After the memorial service, Itakune Seishirō called Matsushita Renkyu and Brigade Commander Fukada to his office.

"Mr. Matsushita, tell us the details of the battle." Itagaki Seishiro said expressionlessly while sitting on a chair. "Hi!" Matsushita Renkyu quickly told us the details of the battle.

"In other words, after you used poison gas bombs, you counterattacked the enemy, but ended up being attacked fiercely by the enemy instead, causing heavy losses, right?!" Itagaki Seishirō said with a frown.

"Yes, I thought the enemy was affected by the poison gas bomb, so I thought of launching a counterattack, which might cause heavy losses to the enemy.
Who would have thought that those enemies seemed to be unaffected and still had the energy to fight back fiercely? I wondered if the enemies were too physically strong, so the poison gas bombs didn't work that quickly. "Matsushita Renkyu expressed his guess.

"Impossible. Even if the Northeastern Army has amazing physique and can hold out a little longer, what about the Eighth Route Army that is cooperating with them?!

They can't possibly hold out for that long, right? ! So, the possibility you mentioned shouldn't happen!" Itaheng Seishiro immediately found the key.

"That does make sense, but what about the enemy? Did they really make a lot of gas masks to protect themselves from our biological weapons?!" Matsushita Renkyu thought of this possibility.

"I think so. Since the enemy learned that we were researching biological weapons, they have probably started making gas masks. This time, they put on gas masks to prevent accidents." Itahune Seishirō said with a serious expression.

He felt that the enemy had invented gas masks, which was why they were able to take precautions in advance. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why the enemy could launch a fierce counterattack as if nothing had happened after being attacked by biological weapons.

"But how could the enemy produce so many gas masks?!" Matsushita Renkyu asked in confusion. He felt that with the enemy's capabilities, it was impossible for them to produce so many gas masks.

"I guess their gas masks were not made recently, but were made long ago. When the Eighth Route Army's independent regiment attacked the county town, they seized a batch of experimental data on bacterial weapons from the county hospital.

Perhaps the Eighth Route Army told the Northeast Army about this matter, so the Northeast Army began to study and produce it.

If they really built it, it means that there are still talented people among them." Itaheng Seishirō told the story of the first time the independent regiment captured the county town, and then made some analysis.

"That is to say, Mu Jin and the others had already started preparing two years ago. Is it possible that they were only made recently?!" Matsushita Renkyu asked.

"No, they don't have that much materials, so it must have been made in the past." Itagaki Seishirō said affirmatively.

How could the enemy produce so many gas masks in such a short time?

"So what should we do next?! Also, where should the rest of my 20th Division members go?!" Matsushita Renkyu asked questions one after another, but in fact he mainly wanted to ask the latter question.

The remaining members of the 20th Division can only be organized into a brigade at most.

"I have asked the commander about this matter. The 20th Division will be reorganized into the 8th Mixed Brigade. Wait until the Northeastern Army is annihilated or severely damaged. Then we will give you reinforcements and it will become a division again." Itagaki Seishirō said slowly.

"I understand!" Matsushita Renjiu nodded. He already had a guess in his mind.

"Mr. Banheng, can we really annihilate that Northeastern Army?!" Matsushita Renkyu had begun to doubt this. He felt that the enemy they encountered was too terrifying and too strong, and the enemy's commander was also terrifying and had been leading them by the nose.

"Mu Jin has a very good relationship with the Eighth Route Army and is cooperating with them in all aspects. If I didn't know the situation of the Eighth Route Army, I would have suspected that this Northeast Army is actually the Eighth Route Army." Matsushita Lianjiu added that he felt that the relationship between this Northeast Army and the Eighth Route Army was too good.

"Mr. Matsushita, as a soldier of the Empire, how can you doubt the Empire's troops? The commander has already made arrangements. He will transfer another Class A division and an experienced Class B division.
In addition, the commander will dispatch a force that is as powerful as the Northeast Army, and they will definitely be able to annihilate the Northeast Army at that time! "Itaheng Seishirō told the follow-up situation, so that Matsushita Renkyu would not completely lose the confidence to fight against the Northeast Army.

"If that's the case, then I feel much more at ease." Matsushita Renkyu heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this. There were two more divisions to be transferred here later, so there was nothing to be afraid of.

"This time, we must not only annihilate the Northeast Army but also the Eighth Route Army, and eradicate them completely! Otherwise they will often cause us trouble." Itai Seishiro's face was full of murderous intent.

If it weren't for the full cooperation of the Eighth Route Army, the Northeast Army would not have been able to mobilize so many people to attack Nakajima Imao, and even the 20th Division would not have suffered so many casualties.

So all of this is related to the Eighth Route Army. Without the cooperation of the Eighth Route Army, the enemy would never be able to do this!

"That's right! And this time, I found that the combat effectiveness of the New 1st Regiment and the Independent Regiment is not that weak. If they really fight with our troops,
I estimate that they can match our casualties ratio of two to one, or three to one. I wonder if other Eighth Route Army troops will be as strong." Matsushita Renkyu said with a serious face.

The combat effectiveness of the New 1st Regiment is stronger, while that of the Independent Regiment is weaker. If the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army's troops is the same as these two, then he feels that things may become a little troublesome.

"You're overthinking it. The New 1st Regiment and the Independent Regiment are the two strongest troops in the Eighth Route Army. As for the other troops, they are far inferior to these two regiments." Itagaki Seishirō said.

The New 1st Regiment has cooperated with Mu Jin many times, obtained countless equipments, and has a lot of combat experience. It is completely normal for them to have such strong combat effectiveness.

As for other troops, there is definitely no comparison.

"That's fine!" Matsushita Lianjiu was relieved after hearing that.

"Captain Itachi, what about our 16th Division?!" Brigade Commander Fukada asked at this time. The 20th Division had been reorganized, but the commander of the 16th Division had not yet been decided.

A division cannot survive without a division commander, let alone they are a Class A division.

"Mr. Fukada, you don't have to worry about this. I will be the commander of the 16th Division temporarily, and the commander will send a division commander back later!" Itagaki Seishirō said slowly.

No matter what, he is also the commander of a Class A division, and there is nothing wrong with him temporarily serving as the commander of the 16th Division.

"I wonder which division commander the commander will send to take over?!" asked Brigade Commander Fukada. He really wanted to know this.

"It will probably take some time to select the person, so you just need to wait patiently. The candidate for the commander of a Class A division is not someone who can be chosen just anyone." Said Itahira Seishirō. The Class A division is the most elite force of the empire, and the division commander must be carefully selected!
(End of this chapter)