Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

If Chu Yunfei could have poached these people with money, he would have done it long ago. Why would he wait for Commander Zhang to do it?

"Tsk, what a pity." Commander Zhang sighed. These soldiers were even stronger than the soldiers of the Japanese Class A divisions. If they could stay by his side and protect him, their safety would be guaranteed in the future.

.........

Around 10 a.m. the next morning, the Japanese soldiers responsible for carrying the wounded were less than 20 li away from leaving the mountains.

They were covered in sweat, carrying the wounded on stretchers in pairs.

"This enemy is extremely treacherous. They dare not confront us head-on and only know how to launch sneak attacks!" The Japanese sergeant in charge of the team couldn't help but curse.

"This also shows that the enemy is indeed not simple; they know they can't confront us head-on, so they can only resort to these petty tricks."
"But the fact that they even need mortars is quite unexpected. The Eighth Route Army doesn't seem as poor as they say." The Japanese soldier next to him frowned as he spoke.

I feel that the understanding of the Eighth Route Army is somewhat incomplete; at least the Eighth Route Army they encountered was well-equipped.

"This is the new 1st Regiment, so naturally they have such good equipment. Their artillery was all captured from other units!" the Japanese sergeant said.

Among the Eighth Route Army, the New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment were relatively strong. They fought alongside the Northeast Army and acquired a great deal of equipment, so it was normal for them to have mortars!

"In the end, it all comes down to that Northeast Army. They've been a major threat!" the Japanese sergeant continued. "If it weren't for that Northeast Army, the Empire wouldn't have lost so many men and so much equipment."

Now the enemy is using their own weapons to fight them; it's incredibly frustrating just thinking about it.

"Yes, what's strange is how this Northeast Army developed! How did they initially make their soldiers so formidable?! Logically speaking, they shouldn't have had that many supplies." The Japanese soldiers were still puzzled by this.

How exactly did that Northeast Army develop to possess such formidable combat power?

"Now that you mention it, there does seem to be a problem. How did they develop like that?! Logically speaking, with such strong combat capabilities, they must have needed a lot of resources to train them."

"I heard from the lieutenant that this Northeast Army unit left their original unit because they couldn't get supplies, which rules out the possibility that they used the supplies left behind for training," the Japanese sergeant replied.

It's impossible to train a highly effective fighting force without sufficient resources. Take marksmanship, for example; without live-fire training, such accurate marksmanship is impossible.

"Perhaps they weren't this strong at the beginning; it was only through their frequent raids on our strongholds that they acquired a large amount of supplies, which gave them the strength to do so."

Later on, they grew stronger and stronger, to the point that they have now become a major threat to us. The Japanese soldiers began to speculate.

"Perhaps when other units' strongholds were attacked at the beginning, they thought it was the Eighth Route Army that did it, but in fact it was this Northeast Army that did it, which is why other units failed to annihilate this army in the beginning!" The Japanese sergeant was increasingly convinced that this was probably the case.

"Yes, and for their own safety, they certainly won't stay in one place for too long. They'll attack one place and then immediately move on, not giving us a chance to encircle and annihilate them!" The Japanese soldiers agreed with this statement.

Such a combat style, so similar to that of the Eighth Route Army, could easily lead them to believe that it was the Eighth Route Army.

"If I had known it would turn out like this, I should have sent a large force to attack this Northeast Army!" The Japanese sergeant felt it was too late to regret.

"Sergeant Major, that's unlikely. After all, no one would have imagined that a unit that might be part of the Eighth Route Army would one day become so powerful," the Japanese soldier said.

Just like a wealthy businessman, would he care about the threat from a street vendor? Of course not.

"Alas... there's no use saying more. They've already become a force to be reckoned with, forcing the division commander to request the transfer of several top-tier divisions, all in an effort to annihilate this Northeast Army."

"This is the first unit to inflict such heavy losses on the Empire since the full-scale invasion began," the Japanese sergeant sighed, then added.

"Yes, those three top-tier divisions are capable of wreaking havoc in other war zones, but now they're only here to annihilate a force of just a few thousand men." The Japanese soldier sighed, increasingly finding this Northeast Army too frightening.

"This Northeast Army only has a few thousand men, yet we're already having such a hard time dealing with them. If they grow to tens of thousands in the future, will this still be our territory?!" The Japanese sergeant felt a deep sense of fear.

A few thousand people were enough to force them to deploy three Class A divisions. If it were tens of thousands of people, wouldn't they have to deploy dozens of divisions? That would be quite terrifying.

"No, they will definitely be annihilated this time. Even if they are powerful and manage to escape, they will certainly be severely damaged, and it will not be so easy for them to recover."
"From now on, whenever they attack any place, the troops will report it and send a large force to encircle and annihilate them, never giving them a chance to expand," the Japanese soldier said.

The Northeast Army was allowed to develop in the past because they were given opportunities, but this situation will never happen again.

If we can severely damage that Northeast Army this time, then our objective will be achieved.

“That’s true. As soon as they show their faces, they’ll be targeted by the main force. It won’t be easy for them to develop.” The Japanese sergeant nodded in agreement. No unit could develop while being constantly besieged.

But he still felt a little uneasy. What if that Northeast Army got away, and they weren't even seriously injured? Then he could sleep soundly.

The procession carrying the wounded was still moving forward. The soldiers carrying the stretchers were already panting heavily. The weather was already hot, and carrying people up the mountain road made it even more difficult.

"Sergeant Major, the soldiers are all exhausted. Why don't we rest in the woods ahead for a bit before continuing?" the Japanese soldier said, pointing to the woods at the foot of the mountain not far away.

It looked cool and shady there, a good place to rest. Although the wounded urgently needed treatment, if the escorting soldiers fainted, the wounded would also die.

"Yes, it's good to rest for a bit, and have some food and drink to replenish your energy," the Japanese sergeant nodded and said.

The group quickly entered the woods. A cool breeze blew by, making the Japanese soldiers feel refreshed and their body temperature dropped significantly.

Just as the Japanese soldiers relaxed their guard, the soldiers lying in ambush on the mountain opened fire.

Bang bang bang…

Da da da………

Puff puff………

Intense gunfire erupted instantly, catching the Japanese soldiers completely off guard; they had no idea that anyone would be lying in ambush there.

In the blink of an eye, all the Japanese soldiers standing there were shot and fell to the ground; some died, and some were seriously wounded.

As for the wounded soldiers, they were put down in the woods and were still alive, so they temporarily escaped death, but they were not far from dying because they had no combat ability and could only watch their own soldiers being shot and falling to the ground.

The Japanese sergeant, shot in the chest, collapsed to the ground, his eyes filled with disbelief. Why were there enemies lying in ambush here?! Weren't they supposed to be being hunted down by their own troops? How could they be here?!
"Quickly, clean up the battlefield." The company commander leading the team ran down from the mountainside, and the other soldiers also jumped out of the trenches and ran down the mountain.

Bang bang bang…

The company commander, holding a pistol, saw some wounded Japanese soldiers trying to retaliate with their guns as they descended the mountain. Naturally, he didn't give them the chance, raising his hand and firing, sending the Japanese soldiers to their deaths.

Soon, they killed all the wounded, both the original ones and the new ones. They also carried away the bodies on the ground and quickly covered up the remaining bloodstains.

Actually, even if we don't do these things, it won't affect the subsequent operations.

"Company commander, the ambush location you chose is absolutely brilliant! These little devils are definitely going to rest here," a soldier asked excitedly.

"Impressive, isn't it?" The company commander smiled.

"Impressive! Company Commander, how did you come up with the idea of ​​setting up an ambush here?! I think there are several other suitable places to ambush ahead," the soldier said, somewhat puzzled.

"I know the places you mentioned, but don't forget, there's hardly any shade there. The Japanese are suffering, but are we not suffering too?!"

"Of course it's an ambush, and naturally we need to choose a place that's advantageous to us. This grove of trees not only provides shade, but it's also a route the Japanese soldiers are bound to take." The company commander explained simply.

He wouldn't ambush the Japanese soldiers under the blazing sun; they'd be roasted to death before the soldiers even got close.

"Yeah, the company commander is really something. It seems like this ambush location wasn't chosen just anywhere." The soldiers nodded repeatedly, thinking their company commander was truly amazing.

"Study hard, you'll be leading a team someday," the company commander encouraged.

"Yes! I will definitely study hard and strive to replace the company commander as soon as possible," the soldier replied immediately.

"Damn it, get out of here!" The company commander laughed and cursed upon hearing these anti-Chinese remarks.

The battlefield was quickly cleared up, and the company commander led his soldiers away to rejoin the main force.

.........

At this moment, the Japanese brigade commander who was pursuing the 772nd Regiment was also having a bit of a headache. It was really not comfortable to chase the enemy in this awful weather. He hadn't caught up with the enemy, and his body was about to give out.

"Brigade Commander, it seems we really can't catch up with the enemy. When should we retreat?!" The Japanese regimental commander was also getting impatient, wiping the sweat from his face.

"How many more days can our water last?!" the Japanese brigade commander asked. They had brought a lot of water with them into the mountains, but the soldiers were drinking a lot of water because of the hot weather.

"I estimate we can hold out for about three more days," the Japanese regimental commander replied.

"Damn it, let's chase for another day. If we still can't catch up today, we'll retreat tomorrow. We'll save our water then and leave the mountains." The Japanese brigade commander cursed before making the decision.

We've been in the mountains for several days now, and all we can see are the enemy's backs. Catching up with them is no easy task.

If they continued the chase, they would have to find a water source. To be honest, he was quite worried that the enemy might poison the water, which would be disastrous for them. Therefore, just to be on the safe side, they had to prepare to retreat.

"Those Eighth Route Army soldiers are really strong; they can run for so long." Even the Japanese regimental commander couldn't help but admire them.

"I reckon they must train for long marches frequently, otherwise they couldn't be this good," the Japanese brigade commander said. "They couldn't be this good unless they specifically trained in this area."

"The puppet army couldn't hold out for long, otherwise we wouldn't have needed our soldiers as the vanguard," the Japanese regimental commander said, referring to the puppet army.

The physical strength of the puppet troops was no match for that of the soldiers. They were only sent as the vanguard, and they couldn't hold on for long.

"The puppet troops are indeed in poor physical condition. Although they have some fighting ability, they are now dragging us down." The Japanese brigade commander said helplessly.

They couldn't possibly abandon the puppet troops. If the Eighth Route Army wiped them out, they would lose a helper. Once the puppet troops were gone, the enemy would probably be thinking about how to deal with them as well.

"Yes, so for the sake of the overall situation, we had no choice but to retreat," the Japanese regimental commander replied, as if their retreat was entirely due to the puppet army dragging them down, forcing them to withdraw.

"By the way, brigade commander, the puppet army failed its mission this time, so let's just forget about the 5,000 silver dollar reward!" the Japanese regimental commander said.

Five thousand silver dollars is no small sum.

"Then forget it." The Japanese brigade commander nodded.

.........

In comparison, the soldiers of the 772nd Regiment were in much better condition. After all, they had been training on mountain roads and were used to it. It was just that they had run a longer distance this time.

"Commander, I reckon the Japanese are about to give up and might have to retreat soon," the battalion commander said to Blind Cheng.

After several days of pursuit, still along mountain roads, the Japanese troops probably couldn't hold out any longer.

"Even if they want to continue the pursuit, they won't have enough water to drink, and they probably won't dare to drink the water in the mountains, so they'll definitely have to retreat," the battalion commander continued.

He really didn't believe the Japanese soldiers would dare drink the mountain water at this time; weren't they afraid of being poisoned?

"Hmm, it seems we need to prepare as soon as possible," Blind Cheng nodded and said.

He wouldn't let these Japanese soldiers leave the mountains easily; he would kill them, or at least severely injure them.

"When should we take a detour to ambush the Japanese?!" the battalion commander asked. Wasn't their plan to ambush the Japanese on their retreat route?

"Let's see how things go. We'll take a shortcut once the Japanese really decide to retreat," said Blind Cheng. They weren't sure how many more days the Japanese would have left to drink their water, so they couldn't be sure when the Japanese would choose to leave.

"Yes, sir!" The battalion commander nodded.

It quickly reached around six o'clock in the evening, and the Japanese soldiers stopped their pursuit and began to cook. (End of Chapter)