Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

“Of course.” Xiao Yu nodded in agreement. This walkie-talkie was much better than the Japanese step-talkies, with a wider range and easier portability.

"Withdraw!" Xiao Yu ordered, as the other troops had probably already destroyed most of the railway.

.........

Meanwhile, the troops sent by Qinghe County to support the watchtowers and checkpoints had also set off. They were very careful along the way, fearing that they might encounter an ambush on the way.

In one of the convoys, a Japanese captain leading the team sat in his car with a grim expression, looking as if he were facing a formidable enemy.

"Captain, are we really going to be ambushed by the enemy on our way there?!" a Japanese lieutenant asked with some concern.

He had a bad feeling about the situation. The enemy had attacked so many pillboxes and checkpoints all at once. He really didn't believe they hadn't been prepared.

"It's hard to say. Soldiers who defended the city before encountered this situation before. The enemy not only captured the blockhouse, but also killed all the supporting soldiers. This is probably related to that Northeast Army." The Japanese captain replied.

They were facing the same situation that the soldiers guarding the city had faced, so he was also very flustered.

"But there's no need to worry too much. If the vanguard is attacked, we can just retreat," the Japanese captain added.

In any case, they were already prepared, and sent an advance force to scout out places where the enemy might be lying in ambush. If the advance force was attacked, they could retreat immediately.

"But if we do that, won't the vanguard have to abandon everything?!" the Japanese lieutenant said, frowning.

"What can we do? If it really is that Northeast Army lying in ambush, do you think we can stop them with our small numbers?! Retreating in time is the only way to minimize casualties," the Japanese captain said. He didn't want it to be like this either, but to preserve his strength, he had no choice!
"I find it a bit strange. The regimental commander knew we might be attacked by that Northeast Army unit, so why did he still send us to provide support?"

"Wouldn't it be better to just abandon those pillboxes and checkpoints?" The Japanese lieutenant seemed puzzled.

If they thought someone would ambush them on the way, why bother with all that? That would just increase casualties and weaken their own strength.

"Perhaps the regimental commander didn't want to just abandon the soldiers in those pillboxes and checkpoints. If that Northeast Army hadn't been involved..."

But if we choose to abandon them, wouldn't that allow the enemy to easily take down the pillboxes and checkpoints?
They also easily caused us to lose thousands of soldiers, so the regimental commander wanted to take a gamble. If he was right, we could preserve more strength; if he was wrong, we would only lose the vanguard.

"We've already lost thousands of men, so losing a few more is acceptable." The Japanese captain began to analyze.

He naturally couldn't have imagined that the Japanese regimental commander didn't think that way at all; he was simply following orders.

"I see. It seems the regimental commander cares about his soldiers." The Japanese lieutenant nodded in agreement.

"You never know. Never mind, don't think too much about it. If the enemy attacks later, don't even think about fighting back, just retreat," the Japanese captain said.

He didn't want to fight that Northeast Army; once they were caught by the enemy, their small force wouldn't even be able to escape.

"Understood," the Japanese lieutenant replied. He knew they couldn't confront that Northeast Army head-on. Their previous troops had been stubborn and had suffered heavy losses, being killed by the enemy repeatedly. They couldn't afford to make the same mistake again.

Time passed by, and the convoy passed safely through places where there might be an ambush.

This relieved the Japanese captain.

"Captain, judging from the situation, it seems that the Northeast Army unit hasn't gotten involved. In that case, the blockhouse and checkpoint should be safe," the Japanese lieutenant said.

They have safely passed several locations where ambushes might have been set up, so it can be said that the Northeast Army was not involved; otherwise, the vanguard would have been eliminated by the enemy long ago.

"That's a possibility now." The Japanese captain nodded; he thought so too.

"How about we send someone back to inform the regimental commander that the enemy hasn't been involved?!" the Japanese lieutenant suggested.

"Don't rush, there are two more suitable ambush locations behind us. The enemy might be lying in wait at those two places," the Japanese captain said, shaking his head.

He felt he still couldn't be careless; the enemy hadn't laid an ambush ahead, perhaps to lower their guard before launching an attack.

“That’s true.” The Japanese lieutenant nodded in response.

A dozen minutes later, they safely passed the next two suitable ambush locations, which finally allowed the two Japanese soldiers to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Send someone back on a motorcycle immediately to report this," the Japanese captain ordered.

"Yes, sir!" The Japanese lieutenant immediately rolled down the car window and gave the order.

"To be honest, Captain, I was worried that the Northeast Army would ambush us on the way here, but now I can finally relax." The Japanese lieutenant sounded relieved.

"Look at you, so pathetic. Is it really necessary to be so scared?" the Japanese captain said irritably, though he was actually scared himself.

If the enemy is not satisfied with annihilating the vanguard and pursues them further, even more people will likely die.

"There's nothing we can do. Even the soldiers of the top-tier divisions are no match for them, let alone us," the Japanese lieutenant replied, readily admitting his fear.

"Now that we've confirmed that the Northeast Army unit is gone, the pillbox and checkpoint should be safe, right?" the Japanese lieutenant said, changing the subject.

"It's hard to say. The firepower and combat effectiveness of the New First Regiment are actually not much weaker than ours. Moreover, we are now less than three miles away from the blockhouse, and we haven't heard a single gunshot. I'm worried that the blockhouse may no longer be able to be held." The Japanese captain had a different opinion.

In his view, the strength of the new regiment was not much weaker than theirs, and they had a numerical advantage. Moreover, the enemy also had assault weapons, so it was hard to say whether the pillbox could be held for a few hours.

"Captain, perhaps the enemy felt they couldn't break through after a long siege and were worried about our reinforcements, so they retreated." The Japanese lieutenant still chose to think the best of a scenario.

No matter what, it was a pillbox, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Even if the new regiment could suppress it, it would be impossible to take down the pillbox in such a short time.

"I have a bad feeling about the troops speeding up their advance," the Japanese captain ordered without saying much.

"Yes, sir!" The Japanese lieutenant nodded, and the convoy sped up.

They covered the three-mile distance in just a few minutes, and when they arrived in front of the watchtower, they were all stunned.

The watchtower, which was originally several stories high, has now collapsed into ruins.

"Baka! How is this possible?! How could the New First Regiment have captured the blockhouse in such a short time?!" The Japanese lieutenant was shocked.

He simply couldn't believe that the New First Regiment could have done this. "The facts are there, there's nothing more to say," the Japanese captain sighed.

"Captain, no soldiers' bodies have been found nearby. I estimate they're all buried in the rubble!" At that moment, a Japanese lieutenant came over to report.

"Captain, should we dig out the soldiers' remains inside?!" the Japanese lieutenant asked.

"No rush. Let's check the next watchtower. As for the soldiers' remains buried in the ruins, let the puppet troops dig them up later," the Japanese captain said, shaking his head.

They had to rush to the next location, so it wasn't a suitable time to exhume the soldiers' remains.

"Yes, sir!" the Japanese lieutenant replied.

"By the way, you ride your motorcycle back and report the situation here to the regimental commander. I'll continue leading the team," the Japanese captain instructed.

Soon, the Japanese lieutenant left on his three-wheeled motorcycle, while the Japanese captain continued leading his men forward.

.........

In Qinghe County, the Japanese regimental commander paced back and forth in his office, appearing somewhat anxious, and every now and then he would go to the window and look towards the direction of the military camp gate.

"Commander, don't worry, everything will be alright," the Japanese major reassured him. He had originally been going to lead his team to provide support, but the commander had called him back, worried that something might have happened to him.

After all, he was a major; if he were to die, it would be too much trouble to find someone to take his place.

"Sigh... How could we be so pathetic! Damn it!" The Japanese regimental commander sighed, his face full of anger. When they first entered Shanxi, they had captured so many cities in succession, and they were so full of vigor. But in just a few years, they have become like this.

"It's all that Northeast Army's fault! The higher-ups must have already figured out how to deal with them. I don't believe that several top-tier divisions can't handle a small Northeast Army!" The Japanese major couldn't help but curse.

He both hated and feared that Northeast Army. To be honest, that enemy was indeed formidable, causing them to lose so many soldiers in succession.

It even forced the commander in Taiyuan to request several Class A divisions to come and help. Currently, only this Northeast Army can make them take it so seriously!
"Hmph! No matter how strong they are, they only have a few thousand men. How could they possibly be a match for several Class A divisions? Let alone a few, even one Class A division would be enough. As long as we can surround them, we can definitely annihilate them!" The Japanese regimental commander also sneered and said.

He admitted that they couldn't defeat the enemy, but he didn't think the enemy could handle a Class A division of soldiers.

"That's right." The Japanese major agreed with this statement.

"Huh? Someone's back." The Japanese regimental commander heard the sound of a motorcycle and quickly got up.

"They're back so late, they probably haven't encountered any enemies," the Japanese major analyzed. "If they had encountered enemies, they would have returned much faster."

After all, they had already given orders to return immediately upon encountering the enemy.

"It should be, but we can't be too sure. Let's wait for someone to come up and report," said the Japanese regimental commander, not daring to be too careless.

After a while, the Japanese soldiers who had returned arrived at the office.

"Commander, we haven't encountered any enemy attacks on the way," the Japanese soldier quickly reported.

"Hey, how's the watchtower?!" The Japanese regimental commander nodded in satisfaction, breathed a sigh of relief, and then asked.

"Well, I didn't get to the watchtower. I came back when I was still a few miles away. However, I didn't hear any gunfire from there. I don't know if the enemy retreated or if it was captured by the enemy," the Japanese soldier explained.

"What?!" Upon hearing this, the Japanese regimental commander frowned, a bad feeling creeping into his heart.

"Could the pillbox have really been captured?!" The Japanese regimental commander couldn't help but think the worst.

"Commander, I don't think it's possible. Although the New First Regiment is strong, there's still a significant gap between them and us. It's impossible for them to take down the pillbox in such a short time," the Japanese major said after thinking for a moment.

"Is it possible that the Northeast Army never intended to ambush reinforcements and instead chose to attack the blockhouse?!" the Japanese regimental commander retorted. If that were the case, the blockhouse would certainly not withstand the enemy's attack and would be easily captured.

"That's true." Upon hearing this, the Japanese major fell into deep thought.

"Commander, I think it's unlikely. If that Northeast Army really got involved, they wouldn't just be attacking the fortified towers; they wouldn't even let the reinforcements go!" the Japanese major analyzed.

Although he had never fought against that Northeast Army, he knew their style. They would kill as many of their own as possible and would never let reinforcements go.

The fact that the reinforcements were not attacked by the enemy can only mean that the Northeast Army was not involved at all.

"Hmm, what you said makes sense," the Japanese regimental commander nodded slightly and said.

"Commander, besides, this is just speculation, we can't be sure yet. Let's wait and see. Once the reinforcements arrive at the pillbox and discover the situation, they will send someone back to report," the Japanese major said.

The soldier who returned with the message was not far from the watchtower, and the soldier who arrived at the watchtower would not be far off either; perhaps they had already sent someone back and were almost there.

He had barely finished speaking when he heard the sound of a motorcycle.

Soon, a Japanese lieutenant entered.

"Commander, the enemy has captured the pillbox. Not only that, but the pillbox itself has been destroyed, and the soldiers' bodies are buried inside," the Japanese lieutenant quickly reported.

"Damn it! I knew it! I never thought the New First Regiment would actually be able to take down the pillbox in such a short time!" The Japanese regimental commander couldn't help but curse.

He had held onto a sliver of hope before, but now all hope is gone; the watchtower has been captured.

If this blockhouse is captured, then the other blockhouses and checkpoints will likely be in a similar situation.

"Regimental Commander, if that's the case, we've probably underestimated the fighting strength of the New 1st Regiment. Their fighting strength might not be much weaker than ours," the Japanese major said with a serious expression.

He thought the New First Regiment wouldn't be able to take down the blockhouse, but now it seems he underestimated them.

"So what? As long as we're sure that the Northeast Army wasn't involved, that's fine. Without that Northeast Army, taking down the New First Regiment will be a piece of cake," the Japanese regimental commander said with a gloomy face.

(End of this chapter)