Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

"Yes, sir!" The Japanese telegraph operator dared not delay and immediately turned and left.

"The 33rd Brigade still has a chance to leave, but they need to buy time! With the fighting strength of the New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment, as long as Nakajima-kun concentrates his firepower to break through, they will definitely not be able to stop them!" Tani Hisao still held some hope that the 33rd Brigade could break through.

In any case, the 33rd Brigade was a Class A division, while the New 1st Regiment and the Independent Regiment, even if they were the strongest units in the Eighth Route Army, could not compare with Class A divisions in terms of combat effectiveness.

Let alone a Class A division, they are far inferior to Class B divisions, so the 33rd Brigade still has a chance to break through.

"That's right. Although the 33rd Brigade was ambushed, giving the enemy the initiative, the difference in combat strength between the two sides is too great. They definitely can't hold them off." The Japanese regimental commander also agreed with this statement.

"Not necessarily. The firepower of those two regiments is not weak. If it weren't for that Northeast Army unit, even if the 33rd Brigade were ambushed, it could have turned the tables and annihilated those two regiments."
But now, these two regiments only need to stall for time, allowing the Northeast Army to encircle them.

They will surely realize this, so they will definitely fight to the death to stop us. If that happens, breaking through will be even more difficult. As Tani Hisao spoke, his brows furrowed, and he sighed at the end.

Although he hoped that the 33rd Brigade could successfully break through, their situation was indeed too difficult, and they needed to race against time.

Since that Northeast Army dared to send two regiments to ambush them, they must have made all sorts of preparations. So, whether they could break through was truly up to fate.

"Division Commander, I believe the 33rd Brigade will definitely be able to break through successfully!" the Japanese regimental commander reassured him.

"I hope so," Tani Hisao couldn't help but sigh again.

"Wait, Division Commander, we should inform Yamamoto Ichiki first about the news of the New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment joining the battle. Things have gone beyond our expectations."
"Yamamoto Ichiki is caught off guard right now. If we rush over there, he might catch us off guard, and then we'll be in big trouble." The Japanese regimental commander suddenly remembered something and hurriedly said.

Although the current situation was caused by Yamamoto Ichiki, the Yamamoto Special Attack Corps was still Commander Shinotsuka's brainchild. If the other side found out that they did not pass on the message in time, they would probably hold a grudge against them.

"Yes, right now, the only ones who can deal with that Northeast Army are the Yamamoto Special Attack Corps. If something happens to them, even if our encirclement plan manages to surround the enemy, it probably won't be able to stop them from breaking through." Tani Hisao nodded. He knew this very well. The only person who could deal with Mu Jin was Yamamoto Ichiki.

"Yes, it's practically impossible for our troops to eliminate Kijin without cooperating with Yamamoto's special attack force." The Japanese regimental commander agreed with this statement.

They had witnessed the fighting capabilities of Yamamoto's special attack force firsthand; although they hadn't shown much of it, it was far superior to their own soldiers.

"Send a message to Yamamoto Ichiki immediately, telling him to be extremely careful once he gets there. If he loses contact with the 33rd Brigade en route, it means they have been annihilated by the enemy. In that case, there's no need for them to provide further support. They just need to carefully search for enemy tracks and coordinate with other units," Tani Hisao ordered.

"Yes, sir!" The Japanese regimental commander wrote down what Tani Hisao said with a pen and paper, then repeated it to make sure there were no problems before leaving to send a telegram.

"This Mu Jin is really a tough opponent." Tani Hisao couldn't help but feel a strange fear towards this enemy he had never seen before.

Since entering the Chinese war effort, he has rarely suffered defeats. Even when fighting against a Nationalist army group, he remained calm and composed.

Now, however, he was genuinely afraid. Before fighting that Northeast Army, he had remained skeptical about the enemy's strength.

Even if the enemy is strong, they are at most a few points stronger than their soldiers. Now it seems that he underestimated them.

It's unbelievable that even the 33rd Brigade is now being annihilated by the enemy.

"Division Commander, the 33rd Brigade has sent a telegram saying they are concentrating their firepower to break through the encirclement." At this moment, the Japanese telegraph operator ran in and delivered the message.

"Okay, go down." Tani Hisao nodded, expressionless. No matter how anxious he was, it was no use, because he really couldn't help.

A few minutes after the Japanese telegraph operator left, the Japanese regimental commander returned!
"Division Commander, the telegram has been sent to Yamamoto Ichiki, and he should reply soon. By the way, the 33rd Brigade is also preparing to break out, and I believe good news will arrive soon," the Japanese regimental commander said.

"Just wait and see," Tani Hisao replied calmly.

.........

On the other side, Yamamoto Ichiki got into a car as soon as he left the mountain. He used all available means of transportation to provide rapid support, otherwise he would not have been able to get there in a short time.

Inside the car, Yamamoto Ichiki still couldn't believe it. His plan was flawless; why had things turned out this way?!

Could it be that someone leaked their plans to the enemy?! Or perhaps the enemy learned of the Yamamoto Special Attack Corps' strength, which is why they abandoned their attack on the command post and instead chose to attack the 33rd Brigade.

"Captain, how could the plan have failed?! Could there be an enemy spy among us?!" The Japanese lieutenant colonel sitting next to me couldn't help but say.

He felt that the captain's plan was flawless, but things had taken an unexpected turn.

"Impossible. Not many officers know about this plan. Even if the enemy has placed spies on our side, they wouldn't have the opportunity to access such a top-secret mission." Yamamoto Ichiki directly denied this claim.

Although he suspected from the beginning that there was an undercover agent among them, after careful consideration, he felt that the possibility was unlikely.

The officers who knew about the plan were 100% loyal to the Empire and would never be turned by the enemy. Not to mention turning them, the enemy would not even be able to make contact with them.

"Then why did it turn out like this?! Could it really be as the division commander said, that the enemy felt the location of the command post was too easy to defend and difficult to attack, and chose to move the target to avoid casualties?!" The Japanese lieutenant colonel frowned and said after hearing this.

If it wasn't an internal traitor, then a more convincing explanation might be that the enemy felt attacking the command post was more difficult than attacking the 33rd Brigade, so after weighing the pros and cons, the enemy chose to abandon the attack on the command post.

"Damn it, what's going on!" Yamamoto Ichiki's face was grim as he pondered. Could it really be a problem with his plan?! "Impossible. If we don't choose a location that's easy to defend and difficult to attack, the enemy will be even more likely to suspect a trap and won't dare to attack!"

Mu Jin was not so easily fooled, and judging from his attack on the 16th Division headquarters, he clearly harbored extreme disgust for troops involved in the massacre.

"So even if they know the command post is easy to defend and difficult to attack, they will definitely attack it!" Yamamoto Ichiki said firmly.

He was confident that his plan would be flawless. To devise this plan, he studied Mu Jin's tactics day and night, discerning the opponent's habits.

"Commander, even if you're so certain, the enemy didn't attack the command post; instead, it was the 33rd Brigade that suffered the consequences," the Japanese lieutenant colonel said after a moment's hesitation.

These words immediately left Yamamoto Ichiki speechless.

"Although Mu Jin's troops are very strong, it is still unlikely that they can annihilate the 33rd Brigade in a short period of time, given their numbers."
Not to mention that the 33rd Brigade has already begun its retreat. It will take the enemy even longer to annihilate the 33rd Brigade, and that's only if our men don't go to support them! Only then will they have that opportunity.” Yamamoto Ichiki changed the subject.

In his view, it would be quite difficult for Mu Jin's troops to wipe out a brigade in a short time, and the 33rd Brigade's camp was not located in an open area, but in a mountainous area.

Therefore, this limited the enemy's artillery firepower to a certain extent, which gave the 33rd Brigade the opportunity to retreat, but the casualties were estimated to be quite high.

"That's right, and the enemy is very worried about heavy casualties, so they probably won't relentlessly pursue the 33rd Brigade." The Japanese lieutenant colonel quickly added his praise.

"I still feel like something's not quite right. If the other side made a move, they should have been confident of victory. The 33rd Brigade retreated so easily. I still find it a bit strange." Yamamoto Ichiki stroked his chin and continued to think.

These events were all strange, so he believed that things couldn't be that simple.

Just then, a three-wheeled motorcycle came up from behind, keeping the same speed as Yamamoto Ichiki's vehicle, with a Japanese telegraph operator sitting in the back.

Upon seeing this, Yamamoto Ichiki immediately rolled down the car window. He knew that there must be some important news.

"Captain, Division Commander Tani Hisao has sent a telegram." The Japanese telegraph operator handed the telegram to Yamamoto Ichiki.

Upon receiving the telegram, Yamamoto Ichiki immediately began reading it, and his expression grew increasingly grim as he finished reading.
"Commander, what did the division commander say?!" The Japanese lieutenant colonel asked cautiously, wondering what had happened to make Yamamoto Ichiki have such an expression.

"The 33rd Brigade was ambushed by the enemy during its retreat, most likely by the New 1st Regiment and the Independent Regiment," Yamamoto Ichiki reported.

"What?! How is this possible?! These two regiments aren't... wait, the regiments that were surrounded and wiped out by our people, aren't these two?!" The Japanese lieutenant colonel was shocked upon hearing this, but then he realized what was happening.

“I knew something was off. You guessed right. Those two regiments that our men surrounded and wiped out weren’t the New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment at all,” Yamamoto Ichiki replied.

He had just sensed something was wrong, but now it wasn't. The appearance of the New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment made him realize that the reason the enemy dared to take action was because they had outside support!
"The problem is, how did the intelligence personnel find out about this?! Besides, the regiment that our troops were pursuing definitely had a regimental flag," the Japanese lieutenant colonel said.

"Need I say more? It's all a smokescreen. The enemy started planning long ago, before we even got around to it! Only this explanation makes sense," Yamamoto Ichiki said slowly.

"Hiss... If that's the case, then our initial plan was already guessed by the enemy?! This Mu Jin is a monster! How could he be so powerful? How could he predict so many things in advance!" The Japanese lieutenant colonel gasped and couldn't help but curse.

However, his tone revealed a hint of fear, as he felt that such an enemy was not even human and was truly terrifying.

"It's not as exaggerated as you say. Perhaps we were already discovered by the enemy when we first arrived in Taiyuan."
They sensed something unusual about us, believing us to be a powerful secret force, especially considering the arrival of the Sixth Division.
Thus, they guessed our next plan and even persuaded the Eighth Route Army to cooperate with their operation. Yamamoto Ichiki figured it out immediately.

The origin of the original plan was likely that they were discovered as soon as they arrived in Taiyuan. Before the plan could even be implemented, the enemy had already guessed what they were going to do next.

Thus, they were always ahead of them, making their efforts futile. The key point is that the enemy probably thought they were fools.

"This..." Upon hearing this, the Japanese lieutenant colonel was at a loss for words. After all the trouble, the problem lay with them, which led to the current situation.

"I underestimated them somewhat. Taiyuan was a place the enemy was keeping a close watch on, but I didn't think they would keep an eye on it all the time, which is why I was exposed."

"If we had chosen to go to another county in the first place, this situation would never have happened!" Yamamoto Ichiki was filled with remorse and slapped himself twice, wishing he could shoot himself twice.

"Commander, don't blame yourself too much. The problem now is, can the 33rd Brigade hold out until we get reinforcements?!" The Japanese lieutenant colonel quickly tried to persuade him.

“It’s difficult, very difficult. At our current speed, it would take us almost a day to get there, but the 33rd Brigade probably won’t last a day!” Yamamoto Ichiki shook his head. They can’t fly, so they can’t get there in such a short time.

"Does that mean the 33rd Brigade is basically beyond saving?! Should we still go over there?!" the Japanese lieutenant colonel said.

He felt that he probably wouldn't be able to save anyone in the past, and might even accidentally get himself killed, which would be terrible.

"Of course we'll go. The division commander said that if the 33rd Brigade is annihilated, we'll need to track down the enemy and keep up with them as much as possible, so as to cooperate with other units to wipe them out," Yamamoto Ichiki replied.

He strongly agreed with the plan; after all, things had come to this point, and he had to try to salvage the situation.

"Yes, that's right. Actually, the situation isn't too bad. It's pretty much as we guessed before, except the brigade that got into trouble has changed to the 33rd Brigade," the Japanese lieutenant colonel said. (End of Chapter)