Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

In any case, their current enemy is still the Japanese, and they have to wait until Mu Jin takes care of that secret unit.

"Actually, I think that the Japanese's so-called secret unit might just be something Mu Jin made up! Just to get us to help them?!" Fang Ligong guessed at this moment.

Although their 358th Regiment's combat strength was far inferior to Mu Jin's, it was comparable to the New 1st Regiment and could be of considerable help.

Therefore, he had reason to suspect that the Japanese secret force might have been a lie told to them by Mu Jin.

"It's possible, but upon closer inspection, it's unlikely. Don't forget, the New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment were with them."

If the Japanese didn't have that secret unit, with Mu Jin's current strength, he could have accomplished his plan without our involvement.

Therefore, this secret unit is very likely real, which is why Mu Jin is so cautious. Commander Zhang first shook his head, then proceeded to analyze the situation.

Because he feared that secret unit, Mu Jin needed to involve the 358th Regiment as well, so that he could spare more men to deal with the Japanese command post and that secret unit.

"The division commander is right. Moreover, the Japanese have already suffered losses at the hands of Mu Jin, so they will definitely want to have a force whose fighting strength is no less than Mu Jin's."

"With the Japanese army's resources, they have the ability to expend a lot of resources to make some of their soldiers stronger!" Chu Yunfei said at this moment.

The Japanese probably started preparing as soon as they realized that Mu Jin's fighting strength was stronger than theirs, after all, the Japanese had abundant resources.

"Therefore, the Japanese secret unit definitely exists, and its strength is not much weaker than Mu Jin's, and may even be just as strong."

This is why Mu Jin was so cautious, insisting on the involvement of the 358th Regiment. Moreover, when he initially discussed cooperation with the commander, he wasn't actually very concerned about its feasibility.

However, he was more concerned about whether the 358th Regiment could come to help. From this, it can be seen that Mu Jin cared a lot about whether the 358th Regiment would help or not. "Commander Zhang said slowly, "Based on the above analysis, it can be basically concluded that the Japanese do have a powerful secret force."

"Although Mu Jin's strength does indeed make us wary, they won't attack us until we drive the Japanese out."
On the other hand, the Japanese are a different story. They won't show us any mercy. If this secret unit were to attack us, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"From this perspective, we absolutely must help them, at least to deal with this secret unit, before we can feel at ease in the future," Chu Yunfei said.

"Hmm." Commander Zhang nodded. They were well aware of how Mu Jin had outmaneuvered the Japanese. If this secret Japanese unit were to attack them, their fate would likely be even more dire.

.........

At this time, at one of the Japanese patrol stations on the Zhengtai Railway, there were hundreds of Japanese soldiers. In addition to those on guard duty and those who needed to change shifts for patrols, the rest of the Japanese soldiers were already resting.

"Strange, why hasn't the squad that went out returned yet?!" A Japanese sergeant frowned as he looked at the clock on the wall.

Logically speaking, the troops that go out on patrol should be able to return in about half an hour, with an error of no more than three minutes. Now it has exceeded seven or eight minutes, which makes him feel that something is wrong.

"Sergeant Major, could it be that they encountered enemy soldiers sabotaging the railway on the way and are currently engaged in firefight?!" a Japanese soldier nearby speculated.

"That must be it. Those enemies love to sabotage the railway at night. They deserve to die!" The Japanese sergeant nodded upon hearing this, and his expression turned ferocious and murderous as he spoke.

If the railway hadn't been vandalized so frequently, their work wouldn't have been so demanding, requiring such intensive patrols.

"Indeed, it's because of them that the railway soldiers have also had an increased workload." The Japanese soldier nodded.

He also disliked, even hated, those enemies who sabotaged the railway.

"But those enemies don't dare to confront our patrols at all; I estimate they'll be back in a little while," the Japanese soldier added.

Although the enemy frequently sabotaged the railway, they dared not engage their patrols and instead fled whenever they encountered them.

"Hmm." The Japanese sergeant nodded. For some reason, he had a bad feeling, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.

A few minutes later, when the patrol still hadn't returned, the Japanese sergeant finally couldn't sit still any longer.

"No, we must set off immediately! Don't wait any longer!" The Japanese sergeant quickly stood up. He decided not to wait for anyone to return for the handover and to go directly to see what was going on!

"Sergeant, perhaps they couldn't resist chasing the enemy. They should be fine." The Japanese soldier also stood up, but he didn't think anything had happened to the patrol.

"Damn it! What's the point of all that nonsense? Go and tell the other soldiers to assemble at the gate!" the Japanese sergeant cursed as he gave the order.

"Yes, sir!" The Japanese soldier dared not say anything more and hurried to the dormitory to call for reinforcements, while the Japanese sergeant had already arrived at the entrance of the patrol station.

He stared at the distant railway, his brow furrowed. Had the enemy really attacked the patrol? Or was he just overthinking it?

These are all just guesses right now. He needs to go and see what's going on before he can be completely at ease.

Before long, dozens of soldiers had assembled and boarded the military vehicles one by one, while Japanese soldiers arrived on three-wheeled motorcycles.

The convoy then set off along the railway, with the Japanese sergeant sitting in the car, his worries undiminished.

After advancing along the railway for more than ten minutes, the Japanese sergeant was basically certain that something must have happened to the patrol team, otherwise they would not have been missing until now.

"Damn it, what on earth happened!" the Japanese sergeant cursed.

Two minutes later, the motorcycle that had been leading the way stopped, and then the cars behind it also stopped.

"Sergeant Major, something terrible has happened! The enemy has dismantled the railway tracks!" A Japanese soldier rushed to the sergeant's vehicle to report.

"What?! Did you see anyone else?!" The Japanese sergeant opened the car door and jumped out. He quickly went forward to check and saw that the railway tracks had disappeared, and they were disappearing in sections.

"No," the Japanese soldier replied.

"Get in the vehicle and keep going!" The Japanese sergeant turned and walked towards the vehicle, and soon the convoy moved forward again.

Along the way, the Japanese sergeant used flashlights to observe the railway through the vehicles and boats.

Judging from the distance the railway tracks disappeared, the enemy this time was much larger than the dozens or hundreds encountered before. "Sergeant Major, the distance the railway was destroyed is quite far. This time, the enemy probably numbers no less than a thousand!" the Japanese driver couldn't help but say.

If it were just a few dozen or a hundred people, it would be impossible to damage the railway so severely.

"Damn it, these enemies, they just had to sabotage me right before my patrol!" the Japanese sergeant cursed.

"Immediately send someone back to the patrol station to report that the railway has been extensively damaged by the enemy, and the fate of the last patrol team is unknown!" The Japanese sergeant summoned a messenger and ordered him to drive a motorcycle back to the patrol station!
A few minutes later, the Japanese sergeant discovered several armored patrol vehicles that had been blown up, and his expression changed drastically.

The soldiers who got off the vehicle immediately set up a perimeter.

"Sergeant Major, all the soldiers in the vehicle have been killed; not a single one survived," the Japanese soldier reported after inspecting the scene.

"What on earth is going on? Why did the enemy suddenly send so many people to sabotage the railway?!" The Japanese sergeant couldn't understand it at all.

It's worth noting that while railways have been damaged in the past, the scale of the damage wasn't very large. But tonight's damage is quite extensive.

"Judging from the situation on the ground, the enemy planted explosive charges on the railway, overturned the train, and then came over to take care of the soldiers who hadn't died for the cause." The Japanese soldier shook his head.

"Retreat to the patrol station first, report the situation to the lieutenant, and by the way, leave one vehicle behind to transport the soldiers' remains back." After giving the order, the Japanese sergeant got into the vehicle and led the convoy back to the patrol station!

By the time they returned to the patrol station, it was almost 12:30.

The Japanese lieutenant was waiting in the courtyard, his face ashen.

"Second Lieutenant!" The Japanese sergeant rushed forward as soon as he got out of the car.

"What exactly is the situation?! How many enemies are there?!" the Japanese lieutenant immediately asked.

"Judging from the extent of the damage to the railway, at least a thousand people were injured. The key question is whether other patrol stations are in the same situation," the Japanese sergeant replied truthfully.

He felt that the enemy's deployment of so many people to sabotage the railway was probably not so simple; there must be other railways that had also been damaged. After all, the Zhengtai Railway was very long, not just a small section.

"What about the previous patrol?!" the Japanese lieutenant asked.

"All were destroyed; not a single person survived!" the Japanese sergeant replied.

"Damn enemy, I'll report to my superiors immediately." The Japanese lieutenant didn't dare delay and quickly went to the communications room to make a phone call. Although he was scolded by his superiors, he still managed to explain the situation.

The same thing happened at other Japanese patrol stations. As such incidents increased, the person in charge realized that the situation was far more complicated than they had thought.

As a result, the news of the large-scale destruction of the railway was reported up the chain of command by the Japanese, until around four o'clock in the morning, when it was finally reported to Itagaki Seishiro.

When Seishiro Itagami saw the message, he was stunned for a long time.

"Is this intelligence really true?!" Itagaki Seishiro asked the Japanese brigade commander who came to report. He still couldn't believe that so much damage had been done to the Zhengtai Railway in just one night.

"Division Commander, I've verified it several times. It is indeed a large number of enemies sabotaging the railway in batches, and they've even killed the patrolling soldiers."

"I estimate that to sabotage so many railways, the number of enemy troops involved would be no less than 100,000," the Japanese brigade commander said.

The number of patrol stations that reported the damage reached dozens, and their estimates of the distances of the damaged railway were all roughly the same, with only some areas having fewer people and others having more.

Therefore, he guessed that the number of enemies involved in this sabotage was no less than 100,000.

"One hundred thousand people?! And even more! What exactly is the Eighth Route Army trying to do?!" Itagaki Seishiro's face turned ashen.

He never expected that the Eighth Route Army, whom he thought was easy prey, would take the initiative to attack. Instead of targeting the blockhouses, checkpoints, or county towns, they chose to sabotage the railway.

He couldn't even imagine how long the railway, damaged by 100,000 people, was, and how much material it would require to repair.

In just one night, their losses would probably be astronomical. The Northeast Army had already caused them heavy losses, but now the Eighth Route Army has caused them even greater losses, mainly in terms of economic losses.

The key issue is that they still need to repair these railways that have been damaged by the enemy. Otherwise, a large amount of mineral resources cannot be transported, and the ore will pile up and become unminable, resulting in even greater losses for them!

"Division Commander, the enemy is probably driven to desperation by us, so they're eager to break the status quo and have launched such a large-scale operation to sabotage our railway!" the Japanese brigade commander guessed.

He felt that the enemy must have been pushed to the brink, making them feel deeply threatened, which was why they did this. Especially since they had brought in several divisions, including Class A divisions, the threat to the enemy was even greater, which is why the enemy did this.

"You're right. They don't want to be caged beasts anymore; they want to break free. I never imagined they'd have such audacity."
However, to break the status quo, sabotaging the railways alone is probably not enough; they will likely also sabotage the highways! "Itagaki Seishiro nodded and then began to analyze.

Since the enemy wants to break the status quo, simply destroying the railway is not enough, because they also have highways, which can still trap the enemy.

"Division Commander, if it's as you say, then the number of enemy troops involved is probably no less than 200,000! Maybe even more," said the Japanese brigade commander, who was sweating profusely.

"Yes, two hundred thousand is the exact number, if not more." Seishiro Itaga nodded in response.

They built a great many roads, and if the enemy wanted to destroy them, even more people would have to get involved.

"The problem is that the Jin-Sui Army hasn't made any moves, so the people involved in this operation are probably all from the Eighth Route Army."
"How could the Eighth Route Army have so many people?! In just three years, they've grown from tens of thousands to so many?! Impossible, right?!" The Japanese brigade commander frowned deeply, somewhat incredulous.

He found it hard to believe that the Eighth Route Army could have grown to this scale in just two or three years.

“The Eighth Route Army is very popular among ordinary people, so it’s not surprising that they are willing to join. However, it is indeed a bit frightening that it has developed to this extent in just three years,” said Seishiro Itahira.

Actually, he didn't quite believe that the Eighth Route Army could grow to so many people in such a short time. How did they do it?! It shouldn't be possible.

(End of this chapter)