Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

"Yes, sir!" The Japanese lieutenant nodded, glanced at his watch, and realized there were still more than two hours until seven o'clock. He then decided to take a nap before setting off.

Two hours passed quickly, and the Japanese lieutenant was woken up by a soldier. He quickly gathered his men and then hurriedly set off. Of course, he did not forget to send an advance team to scout ahead.

The two teams maintained a distance of two or three miles. If the vanguard was attacked, they could assess the situation and decide whether to attack. If they sensed something was wrong, they would immediately retreat.

"Lieutenant, I actually think the enemy should have already retreated by now. They couldn't possibly have dared to lie in ambush halfway all this time," said the Japanese lieutenant sitting next to the Japanese lieutenant in the car.

He felt that the lieutenant was being too cautious. Although the enemy was formidable, they wouldn't dare gamble that Qinghe County wouldn't send anyone to provide support!
Moreover, judging from last night's events, the number of enemies attacking Qingyuan Bridge was not large. Even if the enemy had ambushed them along the way, it was to prevent them from disrupting the plan to blow up the bridge.

But the bridge had already been destroyed, and the enemy had accomplished their objective; how could they possibly remain in ambush indefinitely?

"How can we say for sure? It's better to be safe than sorry. We've already lost a lot of men, and we can't afford any more losses," the Japanese lieutenant said, shaking his head.

Last night they killed more than a hundred soldiers, and even the important transportation route, Qingyuan Bridge, was destroyed. The losses can be described as enormous.

"That's true." The Japanese lieutenant nodded upon hearing this and said nothing more.

Twenty minutes later.

Boom boom boom......

Suddenly, a series of explosions were heard in the distance. The convoy immediately stopped, and the Japanese soldiers on board got out of the vehicles to stand guard.

"Damn it, the enemy really did ambush us halfway, they haven't left yet!" The Japanese lieutenant couldn't help but say as soon as he got out of the car.

The explosion was clearly caused by landmines planted by the enemy for retaliatory purposes.

However, after the explosion, there was no further sound. At this distance, if the vanguard had engaged the enemy, they would have heard gunfire, but they heard nothing.

"Strange, why haven't we heard any gunshots?! Could it be that the soldiers in the vanguard have all been killed by landmines?!" the Japanese lieutenant said with some doubt.

"Perhaps the situation isn't as bad as we think. Take a small detachment and cautiously go around to see what's going on," the Japanese lieutenant immediately ordered. He naturally didn't believe that the vanguard would all be killed by landmines, so he already had a guess in his mind.

The enemy had already retreated, but they didn't dig out the landmines they had buried; instead, they deliberately left them behind.

This also shows that the enemy did indeed ambush them last night, but because they didn't go over, the enemy chose to retreat.

"Yes, sir!" The Japanese lieutenant guessed what was going on and immediately led a small squad toward the mountain road, intending to go around and see what was going on.

"Everyone, stay on guard!" After giving the order, the Japanese lieutenant got into the car, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and lit it.

Thinking about how they might have been ambushed by the enemy and wiped out last night, he couldn't help but feel a wave of fear.

Fortunately, the men the captain sent caught up quickly enough, otherwise he probably wouldn't even have had a chance to light a cigarette, and would be a corpse waiting to be cremated.

On the other side, the Japanese lieutenant was also very cautious when he led his men over. They walked on the mountain road, keeping a watchful eye on the distance. Soon, he saw soldiers running towards the lieutenant's location on the main road in the distance.

Seeing this, the Japanese lieutenant breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the enemy had already retreated, so the vanguard had only triggered the enemy's landmines.

Thinking of this, the Japanese lieutenant quickly led his men down the mountain and walked towards the soldier at the roadside.

"Lieutenant, we stepped on enemy landmines on the way. Nearly half of our soldiers were killed or wounded. Please send reinforcements." The Japanese soldiers were covered in dust and dirt, their uniforms were filthy and stained with blood, and they looked very disheveled.

"Weren't you attacked by the enemy?!" the Japanese lieutenant asked.

"No, we became alert immediately after triggering the mine, but we didn't spot any enemies, so the sergeant sent me to request reinforcements right away," the Japanese soldier replied, shaking his head.

"The lieutenant is not far away. Go and call for reinforcements. I'll go check it out first." The Japanese lieutenant finished speaking and led his men off.

The wounded Japanese soldier continued heading towards the Japanese lieutenant's direction.

A few minutes later, the Japanese lieutenant finally arrived at the location of the landmine explosion.

The scene was a mess, the road was full of potholes, and there were severed arms and legs. Pools of blood were everywhere. More than twenty soldiers lay on the ground, their fates unknown. The wounded were screaming in agony, and the air was thick with the smell of blood and gunpowder.

"Second Lieutenant!" A Japanese sergeant rushed over!
"How's the situation?!" the Japanese lieutenant asked.

"Fifteen soldiers were killed and seven were seriously wounded! The enemy must have planted these landmines last night!" The Japanese sergeant gritted his teeth in anger as he spoke. Those damned enemies, they left, but they even left landmines on the road to harm them.

"Yeah, thank goodness they didn't come last night, or we'd probably all be dead." The Japanese lieutenant nodded, feeling a wave of lingering fear. Luckily, they turned back in time last night.

After waiting for a few minutes, the Japanese lieutenant and his men arrived in their car.

"Medic, treat the wounded immediately, then send them to Qinghe County Hospital." The Japanese lieutenant got out of the vehicle and immediately ordered the accompanying medic to provide treatment.

"Leave two vehicles behind. You few are responsible for taking care of the wounded. The rest of you, come with me to Qingyuan Bridge to check." The Japanese lieutenant continued to give orders, and then led his troops toward Qingyuan Bridge.

Now that the danger has been eliminated, they can go on their way with peace of mind.

Ten minutes later, the Japanese lieutenant arrived at Qingyuan Bridge with his men.

A small detachment went into the dormitory area to investigate first, while the Japanese lieutenant waited outside, his face grim as he stared at the broken bridge.

"Lieutenant, this bridge has been bombed by the enemy. Although only half of it remains, it cannot be used anymore. It must be blown up and rebuilt!" the Japanese lieutenant said angrily.

After all, even if only half of a bridge remains after being blasted by explosives, they dare not continue to use it, for who knows if that half of the bridge might suddenly collapse one day.

"Their move was truly ingenious. Not only did they save on explosives, but they also made us waste explosives to blow up the remaining half of the bridge!" The Japanese lieutenant was furious.

It is said that in the previous two attempts to blow up the bridge, the enemy completely destroyed it, but this time they only destroyed half of it. When it comes to being a nuisance, the enemy is indeed very good.

"Lieutenant, all the guards inside have been killed; not a single one survived." At this moment, the Japanese sergeant who went to check came out to report the situation.

The Japanese lieutenant, hearing this, went over as well. Corpses lay scattered haphazardly at the doorway; the blood on the ground had dried, but the air still carried a faint, albeit less strong, smell of blood. "Lieutenant," he said, "judging from the scene, the enemy's firepower is formidable. They're carrying mortars and grenade launchers, and likely quite a few light and heavy machine guns as well."

Furthermore, judging from the wounds on the corpses, besides those caused by melee weapons, most were on the chest, head, or throat, indicating that the enemy's marksmanship at close range was very accurate, not much worse than our soldiers.

"So, these enemies must be very skilled in night fighting. If I'm not mistaken, they should be the New 1st Regiment." The Japanese sergeant explained his analysis.

The New First Regiment's firepower and combat effectiveness are not weak. The key is that they are good at night fighting. At night, the enemy's combat effectiveness is estimated to be on par with theirs, or even stronger.

"There's no mistake, it must be the New First Regiment." The Japanese lieutenant also confirmed this statement; they had guessed it was the New First Regiment last night.

"Is the telephone in the communications room still working?!" the Japanese lieutenant asked.

"It should still work; the telephone line doesn't look damaged," the Japanese sergeant replied, having just inspected the communications room.

Upon hearing this, the Japanese lieutenant went straight into the communications room, picked up the phone, and dialed the relay station.

"Wake up the captain immediately, I have something important to report." The Japanese lieutenant spoke into the phone, instructing the communications officer to notify the captain!

"Hi!" After the Japanese communications officer replied, there was silence on the other end of the phone. A few minutes later, a voice came through.

"How's the situation at Qingyuan Bridge?!" came the somewhat lazy voice of the Japanese captain.

"Captain..." The Japanese lieutenant then recounted the situation at the scene, including the fact that the New First Regiment was the attacker.

"Yes, as expected. Have someone transport the remains of the soldiers who died in the battle back to Qinghe County, and then bring them back." The Japanese captain gave the order. Now that things had already happened, there was no point in saying anything more; it was better to get the rest done.

"Yes, sir!" the Japanese lieutenant replied, and the Japanese captain on the other end of the phone hung up.

Subsequently, the Japanese lieutenant ordered his men to load the bodies of the soldiers who had been killed in action onto the truck.

"Lieutenant, I actually feel something's not right. Why didn't the regimental commander send anyone to provide support, and why didn't he let us provide support?!"
Even if they were worried we'd be ambushed, and that Northeast Army unit might still be there, they couldn't possibly send all of them.

"Why don't the regimental commander send more men? Qinghe County isn't that far from here," the Japanese lieutenant couldn't help but say.

If the entire Northeast Army had come, it would be understandable if they hadn't. But it seems impossible for the entire enemy force to come, otherwise the transit station wouldn't be safe.

Let alone the transit station, even Qinghe County itself is not necessarily safe.

"Now that you mention it, it does seem like there's a problem." The Japanese lieutenant suddenly frowned; he also found it rather strange.

"Furthermore, why did the enemy choose to attack Qingyuan Bridge around four or five o'clock? They never attacked Qingyuan Bridge at this time before," the Japanese lieutenant continued.

"What do you want to say?!" The Japanese lieutenant frowned even more deeply.

"I have a feeling things aren't that simple, but I don't know the specifics," the Japanese lieutenant said helplessly, spreading his hands.

"Forget it, let's not worry about that. We'll ask Qinghe County about it later." The Japanese lieutenant was somewhat helpless; they couldn't figure it out no matter how hard they tried.

About half an hour later, they set off towards Qinghe County.

.........

At this time, in Qinghe County, at the Japanese hospital.

All the soldiers injured by the landmines were sent here for treatment. The Japanese major learned of what was happening here and immediately went to find the Japanese regimental commander.

"Commander, several seriously wounded soldiers have been taken to the hospital for treatment," the Japanese major said.

"Seriously wounded soldiers?! Where did they come from?! Are there survivors in the pillboxes and checkpoints?!" the Japanese regimental commander asked hurriedly.

If there were any survivors, he could ask them what happened.

"No, these soldiers were from the transit station. They were blown up by landmines planted by the enemy on their way to Qingyuan Bridge, and more than a dozen soldiers were killed." The Japanese major told them what he knew.

"I see. I knew they would ambush us on the way. Luckily, I made the call quickly and got them back, otherwise the losses would have been even greater!" The Japanese regimental commander said with some relief.

Fortunately, he made a wise decision at the time, otherwise the transit station would have suffered heavy losses as well.

"Commander, speaking of which, nothing happened at the transit station. Does that mean that the enemy that attacked Qingyuan Bridge last night was actually only a small number of people?!" The Japanese major hesitated for a moment before speaking.

If the enemy really had a lot of people, they would definitely have taken down the transit station once they realized they weren't falling for the trap, but right now the transit station is fine.

"Even so, if I send people over, will that prevent Qingyuan Bridge from being bombed?! What if the enemy is really waiting in the shadows?! Can you guarantee that?!"
"And what do you mean by that? Are you blaming me?!" The Japanese regimental commander's face darkened as he spoke.

"No, no, the regimental commander is not wrong!" The Japanese major was startled and shook his head repeatedly, afraid of angering the regimental commander.

"Hmph, let's not mention this again, and certainly not say such hindsight things!" The Japanese regimental commander snorted and warned, though he wasn't really angry about it.

Upon closer reflection, his decision was indeed flawed. When he discovered that the transit station had not been attacked, he guessed that the enemy probably only had this many people. However, he was worried that something unexpected might happen, causing even greater casualties, so he ignored it.

No one was sent to surround and annihilate them. There was nothing he could do; over a thousand soldiers had already perished in one night, and he simply didn't want to see any more casualties.

Half an hour later, one military vehicle after another carrying corpses entered the county town from the gate. These were Japanese soldiers from the watchtowers or checkpoints.

When the common people saw this, they felt extremely happy. They had long disliked these Japanese devils, and it was even better that they were dead.

Among these vehicles, several came from the transfer station and stopped when entering the city.

The Japanese lieutenant specifically questioned the Japanese soldiers guarding the city about what had happened and why so many soldiers' bodies had been transported to the county town.
The Japanese lieutenant was shocked upon learning the truth.

(End of this chapter)