Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

Seishiro Itagata breathed a sigh of relief, put down the phone, and then wrote down the contents of the telegram.

"Someone come here." Itagaki Seishiro put down his pen and called out towards the door.

"Division Commander." A Japanese soldier quickly pushed open the door and came in.

"Send this telegram to the communications room and have the telegraph operator send it out," Seishiro Itaga instructed.

"Yes, sir!" The Japanese soldier respectfully accepted the telegram, then immediately turned and left.

"Tsk, this is a real problem." Itagaki Seishiro frowned. If mobilizing tens of thousands of men still couldn't wipe out this Northeast Army, and instead resulted in heavy casualties, then the commander would probably need to send even more men.

"Division Commander, I've already sent a telegram to the New 20th Division. They've probably assembled their troops and are ready to depart by now." The Japanese brigade commander pushed open the door and came in to report the situation.

"Yes." Seishiro Itagata nodded.

"Division Commander, should we inform the Commander about the attack on the 33rd Brigade?!" the Japanese brigade commander said hesitantly.

Although the commander would be furious if he found out about this, the consequences would probably be even more serious if he didn't tell him.

"I have already informed the commander of the situation," Itagaki Seishiro replied. He naturally knew the consequences of not reporting, so he didn't need his subordinates to remind him.

"The commander must be furious!" the Japanese brigade commander asked cautiously. The plan had failed, and the 33rd Brigade had been attacked by the enemy. Even if they managed to surround the Northeast Army, it would probably take a huge price to eliminate them. How could the commander not be angry?

"Yes, but fortunately, the commander scolded Yamamoto Ichiki, not me. The main responsibility this time does not lie with me." Itagaki Seishiro sighed. If this matter were to be attributed to him, he would probably have committed seppuku by now.

"To be honest, that Yamamoto Ichiki was indeed quite capable, able to devise such a good plan, but things still went wrong, causing the Empire to suffer heavy losses." The Japanese brigade commander shook his head as he finished speaking.

He admitted that Yamamoto Ichiki was quite capable, but the ending was not as perfect as he had imagined.

“He was actually quite cautious, but he didn’t expect the enemy to be even more cautious. Perhaps he shouldn’t have let the enemy know that the Sixth Division had been transferred.” Seishiro Itagaki suddenly felt a little regretful.

If the enemy hadn't known that the 6th Division was being transferred, they might not have kept their eyes on Taiyuan, and they might not have discovered Yamamoto's special attack force.

"Division Commander, this isn't your problem. Ultimately, it's Yamamoto Ichiki's fault. If he hadn't come to Taiyuan in the first place, but instead went to a surrounding city, how could the enemy have discovered him?"

They certainly wouldn't have guessed our subsequent plans, which led to this situation. "The Japanese brigade commander quickly said, not thinking it was Itagaki Seishiro's fault.

The person most responsible is Yamamoto Ichiki. The plan was perfectly good, but problems arose from the very beginning.

“Actually, I’m wondering if the enemy really started planning as soon as they discovered Yamamoto’s special attack force?! Could their planning have already begun when the Sixth Division arrived?!” Itagaki Seishiro said.

"This... I don't think it's possible. How could they possibly know our plans? They must have discovered Yamamoto's special attack force before they figured out our plans and started preparing in advance," the Japanese brigade commander said after thinking for a moment.

Even if the Sixth Division is transferred, how could the enemy possibly know what they're planning to do next?

"That's true, but this Mu Jin is quite formidable. He only guessed, yet he concluded that this was our plan, so he contacted the Eighth Route Army in advance to cooperate."
The most crucial point is that the Eighth Route Army actually trusted Mu Jin and assigned him command of their two strongest regiments.
The level of trust between them is a little too high! After thinking about it carefully, Itagaki Seishiro felt a chill run down his spine.

According to intelligence, this Mu Jin is said to be only in his twenties. How can he have such amazing command ability? It's terrifying.

If they can't eliminate the other side, they'll be in big trouble later.

“Yes, if I didn’t know that the Eighth Route Army didn’t have the ability to train such a powerful force, I would have seriously doubted whether Mu Jin was actually a member of the Eighth Route Army.” The Japanese brigade commander chimed in.

Judging from several battles, the Eighth Route Army still trusted Mu Jin's Northeast Army quite a lot. If there wasn't something fishy going on, he really wouldn't believe it.

"Speaking of which, I remember intelligence personnel saying that quite a few Northeast Army soldiers who had deserted their posts chose to join the Eighth Route Army," said Seishiro Itahira.

"Yes, some Northeast Army soldiers did join the Eighth Route Army to fight us. You mean, the reason why Mu Jin cooperated with the Eighth Route Army so many times was because they recruited other Northeast Army soldiers?!" The Japanese brigade commander realized and said.

The reason why Mu Jin cooperated with the Eighth Route Army on multiple occasions was entirely because the Northeast Army was not valued, but the Eighth Route Army accepted their people. Therefore, Mu Jin cooperated with the Eighth Route Army for this reason.

"Yes, that's very possible." Seishiro Itagata nodded in agreement; that was exactly what he thought.

"Sigh... In the end, it all comes down to that guy in the Nationalist army. If he had treated the Northeast Army better, probably not so many Northeast Army soldiers would have deserted their original units."
Mu Jin had no chance to develop outside, and with no one to restrain him, he ended up becoming our biggest enemy!

The enemy is still sending people to negotiate with that person, but it seems like he wants to negotiate but doesn't really want to. The Japanese brigade commander sighed and then said.

"This matter may not be so easy to achieve. There are too many factors involved in peace talks, and reaching an agreement is not an easy task." Itagaki Seishiro shook his head.

The other side has many things to consider if they want to negotiate, and it's not entirely up to one person. There are many factions within the National Revolutionary Army, and many of them are determined to fight them to the end, and they are quite powerful.

"If we can reach a peace agreement, the subsequent issues will be much easier to handle. Maybe they'll even transfer troops over there to help us encircle and annihilate Mu Jin. Then, let's see where he can run to!" said the Japanese brigade commander.

After all, this wasn't the first time that guy from the Nationalist Army had done something like this.

"Hmm." Seishiro Itagaki nodded, not saying much. In any case, this matter was not easy to resolve, and the peace talks were unlikely to succeed.

.........

At this time, Yamamoto Ichiki and his group were still on their way.

Inside the car, Yamamoto Ichiki took out a map.

“According to the telegram sent by the division commander, they are probably surrounded in this location. This is the only suitable spot for an ambush,” Yamamoto Ichiki said, pointing to a location on the map. “Yes, the other places are too far from the road. This location is closer to the road, but not too close, probably two or three hundred meters away. If it were a regular unit, they probably wouldn’t be able to stop the 33rd Brigade,” the Japanese lieutenant colonel beside him added.

Frankly speaking, the location chosen by the enemy was not suitable for ordinary troops to ambush, but the New 1st Regiment and the Independent Regiment had strong enough firepower and an advantage, so holding off the 33rd Brigade for an hour or two was not a problem.

"You yourself said that the firepower of the New 1st Regiment and the Independent Regiment is not weak. Although their combat strength is not comparable to that of a Class B division, they can hold off the 33rd Brigade for a period of time with their firepower alone. Now we should pray that they can hold out for a day, or at least half a day."

"If the enemy can't take down the 33rd Brigade after so long, they might retreat. We'd better figure out which way they might retreat to." Yamamoto Ichiki said, staring at the map with a serious expression.

He was too lazy to think about the fate of the 33rd Brigade; he just wanted to guess which way the enemy would retreat.

"If we're talking about retreat, it'll definitely be towards the south. The enemy will most likely retreat south!" the Japanese lieutenant colonel said. The southern defenses were somewhat weak before, which allowed the Northeast Army to attack the 33rd Brigade. Therefore, he thought the Northeast Army would likely return by the same route.

"No, no, not necessarily. Another brigade of the 16th Division has already been mobilized, and its support speed is even faster than other units. It's heading south to block the enemy."

That Northeast Army unit probably already anticipated that breaking out to the south was impossible, so they would definitely choose to break out in another direction. Yamamoto Ichiki shook his head repeatedly, and after careful consideration, he ruled out the possibility that the enemy would break out to the south.

If he were Mu Jin, he would never be so foolish as to try to break out to the south. He would be caught red-handed, and by then, if they arrived, it would be unlikely that Mu Jin could escape.

Therefore, unless Mu Jin is a fool, he would never choose to break through to the south.

"Captain, if we follow your logic, where will Mu Jin break out from?!" the Japanese lieutenant colonel asked, also somewhat unable to guess how Mu Jin would choose to break out.

"Let me think about it." Yamamoto Ichiki fell silent after saying that, his brows furrowed as he began to make assumptions.

Breaking out from the east is unlikely, because another brigade of the 16th Division in the east has already moved eastward, and if things go wrong, another brigade from nearby can be called in to provide support.

Going north is even less likely, as there are troops there as well. In fact, going west seems more probable, as it is closer to northwestern Shanxi.

"Judging from the current situation, the most likely direction for the enemy to break out is actually the west. You see, many of the Eighth Route Army's units are close to northwestern Shanxi. If they break out to the west, they can join forces and attack us!" Yamamoto Ichiki began to analyze with a serious expression.

"Then I'll immediately send a telegram to the division commander and ask him to send troops to reinforce the west!" the Japanese lieutenant colonel said hastily upon hearing this.

Since the enemy is highly likely to break out to the west, we should now notify our troops to reinforce the west. It will be much less likely that the enemy can escape.

"Don't rush, let me think about it some more!" Yamamoto Ichiki stopped his subordinate, feeling that they couldn't make a decision so hastily.

If he guesses wrong and the enemy escapes, the consequences will be severe. If he mobilizes so many people and the enemy still gets away, how can he face the commander?

Therefore, you must never make a decision based on guesswork. That would be gambling that you can guess the enemy's thoughts, but if you don't guess correctly, you're finished.

Moreover, he hasn't reported their current actions to the commander yet. After all, the commander has handed over command to Seishiro Itaga, so they only need to report to Seishiro Itaga.

"Commander, a telegram from the division commander!" At that moment, a three-wheeled motorcycle arrived beside Yamamoto Ichiki's car to report.

Upon hearing this, Yamamoto Ichiki quickly rolled down the car window and took the telegram to read it.

After reading the contents, Yamamoto Ichiki was stunned.

"Captain, what's wrong?!" asked the Japanese lieutenant colonel standing nearby.

"This telegram was sent by the division commander on the orders of the commander! The commander already knows about the failed plan." Yamamoto Ichiki said with some helplessness. He should have expected that Itagaki Seishiro would tell the commander about such a big thing, but he didn't expect the other party to inform him so late.

He had assumed that Itagaki Seishiro would choose to report again the next morning.

"Did the commander scold you?!" the Japanese lieutenant colonel said.

"He didn't scold us, but he told us we absolutely had to find the trail of that Northeast Army and keep chasing the enemy no matter what, so they wouldn't get away," Yamamoto Ichiki said. To be honest, he would rather the commander scold him, so that it would show that although the commander was angry, he wasn't extremely angry yet.

But now, the commander didn't scold him, which clearly meant he planned to settle scores later, something he feared most.

Because of his own mistake, a perfect plan has fallen apart, and the empire may suffer even greater losses in the future. It's hard to imagine how the commander will treat him.

"Judging from this, the commander doesn't seem very angry. It's obvious he's trying to get us to redeem ourselves," the Japanese lieutenant colonel said optimistically.

"Heh, is that what you think?!" Yamamoto Ichiki gave a wry smile.

"Uh...isn't that right?!" The Japanese lieutenant colonel was stunned for a moment, then said, "The commander didn't even scold them in the telegram, and he even told them to stick to the enemy. Isn't that giving them a chance to redeem themselves?"

"You're underestimating things. If only it were that simple!" Yamamoto Ichiki sighed.

"Captain, just say what you want to say directly, don't beat around the bush." ​​The Japanese lieutenant colonel was completely confused and didn't understand what Yamamoto Ichiki meant at all.

"We've really embarrassed the Commander this time. The Sixth Division might even be missing a brigade as a result. With such a huge loss, do you think the Commander will let us redeem ourselves so easily?"
"It's not 'us,' it's just me. It has nothing to do with you. I made the plan." Yamamoto Ichiki stated bluntly.

Someone has to take the blame for this, and the one most closely related is the planner himself.

The key issue is that the problem truly lies with him. If he can ultimately annihilate this Northeast Army, he might even be able to commit seppuku. However, if he fails to annihilate the enemy, he might face a military court and then be executed.

The 6th Division suffered heavy losses, and he must bear the responsibility; even the commander couldn't protect him. (End of Chapter)