Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

"Yoshi! There's still time. Where is the 31st Brigade?!" Seishiro Itagaki asked again.

After the incident at the 6th Division headquarters, he stopped sending the 31st Brigade to Huangyun Mountain, fearing that the brigade might also encounter trouble later. So he sent the 31st Brigade to Yun County to rest and reorganize.

"We've already arrived in Yun County, but if we leave them there and don't continue our operations, won't that let the enemy escape?!" the Japanese brigade commander asked.

He was a little worried about this; if the enemy got away, their operations for these brigades would be ruined.

"That's unlikely. The fact that no enemy has been found on Kojima Jiro's side means that the enemy's retreat route is most likely not to the south. Now, only the west and north remain, and the enemy could choose either of these directions."

"So, leaving the 31st Brigade to guard Yun County won't cause any problems! We'll send another brigade westward to reinforce them and tighten the encirclement," Itagaki Seishiro explained.

"Understood." The Japanese brigade commander nodded; the division commander was indeed more thoughtful.

"Moreover, the enemy that attacked the 33rd Brigade is now estimated to be planning to attack the Yamamoto Special Attack Corps as well. They have no means of transportation and will have to travel on foot, which will take a lot of time. Therefore, as long as the other brigades proceed in an orderly manner, they will surely be able to surround the enemy," Seishiro Itaga continued.

"Moreover, our planes have all been deployed. As long as we can surround the enemy, we can make them suffer a terrible defeat!" Seishiro Itagaki's eyes were filled with murderous intent.

In order to wipe out this Northeast Army, they prepared nearly two hundred aircraft, scattered at various airfields. As soon as the enemy was located, the aircraft would fly over to bomb them, causing losses to the enemy before the battle even began.

"It's a bit of a pity, really. Before the Eighth Route Army's surprise attack, we could only send planes to deal with the Eighth Route Army first, and couldn't send planes to help immediately." The Japanese brigade commander sighed.

If the planes had been able to support the 33rd Brigade at that time, perhaps the 33rd Brigade would not have been completely annihilated.

The main problem was that they trusted Yamamoto Ichiki too much and thought that Yamamoto Ichiki's plan would work. That's why they sent planes to deal with the Eighth Route Army first. After all, it was quite frightening that the Eighth Route Army suddenly had hundreds of thousands of people come out to destroy the railway they were building.

"There's no point in saying more. Now we'll see what happens next. If we don't eliminate the enemy, I won't have the face to live any longer!" said Seishiro Itaga.

Although the commander would protect him, if he couldn't wipe out this group of enemies, how could he face the commander? And how could he face the many soldiers who were killed by the enemy?

"Division Commander, don't think like that! We will definitely be able to wipe out the enemy," the Japanese brigade commander quickly said.

"Well, it's all or nothing." Itagaki Seishiro had made up his mind; if he didn't kill these enemies, he would commit seppuku.

.........

At this time, Li Jin had also arrived at Huangyun Mountain, and Lü Changgong brought Gu Shoufu to see him.

"Commander, this guy is Tani Hisao," Lü Changgong introduced.

Li Jin also looked at Tani Hisao, who was currently bound hand and foot and had his mouth gagged with a white cloth.

He examined the person closely and confirmed that their appearance matched his memory. He couldn't help but recall the person's evil deeds.

The 16th Division killed fewer people than the 6th Division, and Tani Hisao was the most heinous of them all!

"What happened to his hand?! Did you guys make your move beforehand?!" Li Jin went around to the back and found that Tani Hisao's hand was wrapped in bandages, so he asked.

"No, this guy wanted to commit suicide before we captured him, and some soldiers fired shots to stop him," Lü Changgong quickly explained.

"So that's how it is." Li Jin nodded slightly. He had thought that Lü Changgong and the others couldn't hold back and had used torture on Gu Shoufu ahead of time.

"Commander, should we start dealing with him now?!" Lu Changgong suggested, a smile appearing on his face as he looked at Gu Hisao.

Tani Hisao was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat and kept making muffled noises, trying to speak.

"Let him speak," Li Jin said.

Two soldiers untied the cloth binding Tani Hisao's mouth.

"You, you are Mu Jin?!" Gu Hisao gasped for breath, the pain in his wounded hand becoming increasingly unbearable.

"Aren't you happy to see me?! I'm also very happy to see you." Li Jin said with a smile. He was indeed very happy to see Tani Hisao alive.

When he ordered Lü Changgong to take action, he repeatedly instructed him not to let Tani Hisao die, but he also knew that guns and cannons on the battlefield had no eyes and that Tani Hisao might die.

However, fate was kind to him and did not let Tani Hisao die so easily, otherwise, he would have been very unwilling.

“You’ve executed me by slow slicing, Nakajima?!” Tani Hisao exclaimed.

“That’s right, I personally cut off pieces of his flesh, but unfortunately his body was too weak, and he died before he could hold on!” Li Jin said with a regretful expression on his face.

"Baka! How dare you treat the Empire's general like that!" Tani Hisao couldn't help but curse, his heart filled with rage as he confirmed that Nakajima Kesago had indeed been executed by slow slicing.

In his view, this Mu Jin was not a soldier at all, yet he would use such cruel torture on a prisoner!
"So what? Compared to the civilians who died in the massacre, my execution of Nakajima Kesago by slow slicing is already quite humane."

What you did was worse than animals. If you ask me, all two divisions of Japanese soldiers should be executed by slow slicing!

Those Japanese soldiers who died in battle were lucky; I gave them a dignified death. But you, the mastermind, won't get away with this!

"You will be executed by slow slicing, just like Nakajima Kesago!" Li Jin's voice was filled with murderous intent. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, wishing he could shoot Tani Hisao to death.

"Baka! Those were just a bunch of lowly people! So what if they died! Their lives are not worthy of being compared to those of Imperial soldiers!" Tani Hisao cursed. In his view, so what if some people were killed? The people of their Empire were the most noble.

"It's okay, keep being stubborn. I'll show you how I wiped out the Sixth Division. Oh, and the Sixteenth Division too, they won't escape either!"
Itagaki Seishiro is currently deploying troops to surround me, but haven't I been waiting for them as well? You think I don't know your plans?
"From the very beginning, I was prepared!" Li Jin said slowly. "What?! You actually thought about wiping out the 16th Division?!" Tani Hisao was shocked. If anyone else had said this, he would have thought they were overestimating themselves, but the person who said it was Mu Jin.

Prior to this, the enemy had already wiped out the 33rd Brigade and the Yamamoto Special Attack Corps. Their strength was terrifying, and more importantly, they had anticipated their subsequent actions.

"Knowing that others will accompany you to hell, aren't you happy?!" Li Jin smiled; he never intended to let the 16th Division escape.

Both of these divisions had participated in the massacre, and he could never let them off so easily.

"Oh, right, you're going to send planes to bomb us later, right?! Because the Eighth Route Army suddenly appeared with so many people, catching you off guard, while on my side, because we have the Yamamoto Special Attack Team, you sent planes to bomb them!" Li Jin continued.

"Hmph! Good to know. We've prepared quite a few planes this time, and you'll all be bombed to death!" Tani Hisao said with a cold snort. He appeared calm on the surface, but in reality, he was worried about the troops that were about to surround Mu Jin.

If he could send a message, he would definitely tell Itagaki Seishiro to stop thinking about encircling and suppressing them. Without mobilizing more troops, they simply wouldn't be able to destroy Mujin.

“Your airports aren’t too far from Huangyun Mountain. I’ll take them down tonight! Let’s see what you can do to bomb me.” Li Jin continued. He wasn’t worried at all that Gu Hisao could get the message out. In fact, the reason he told the other party was to make them feel despair.

That kind of despair—knowing all the information but being unable to pass it on, only able to watch helplessly.

"Impossible! How could you know the location of the airport?!" Hisao Tani said, his voice trembling.

"After I blew up your airport in Taiyuan before, I guessed that you wouldn't just give up air superiority here, and that you would definitely rebuild the airport."
Your "Cage Plan" is specifically designed to target the Eighth Route Army. Mobilizing troops here is undoubtedly intended to eliminate my force while simultaneously dealing with the Eighth Route Army. The location for the new airport is limited to just a few places.

"We need to evade my surveillance while also being able to execute bombing missions quickly!" Li Jin continued.

If he hadn't sent people to keep an eye on things beforehand, he wouldn't have been able to pinpoint the location of the Japanese airport so quickly.

"You...you..." After hearing this, Tani Hisao felt a chill run down his spine. Didn't this mean that the other party had been planning this all along?! Just waiting for today's action.

“Don’t be too happy, this is all within my expectations! By the way, didn’t you notice that many of the people attacking you have already left? They’re actually on their way to the airport!” Li Jin continued.

Upon receiving Lü Changgong's telegram, he immediately sent a telegram instructing Lü Changgong to dispatch men, as the Japanese planes posed a significant threat to them and therefore had to be destroyed.

"I see." Tani Hisao looked at Li Jin in horror. For a moment, he couldn't help but doubt whether the person in front of him was even human. How could anyone start planning so far in advance?

"I love seeing that look in his eyes. Let's gag him." Li Jin was too lazy to say anything more now. The more desperate Tani Hisao was, the happier he was!

"Let's set off too, to another airport!" Li Jin ordered. Tonight, they had to blow up three or four of the Japanese airports.

Especially since the Japanese had concentrated their planes at a few airfields in order to deal with them, this was a golden opportunity. If they didn't bomb them, they would be in big trouble later.

.........

Yun County, Japanese military camp.

In the conference room, the brigade commander of the 31st Brigade was staring at the map in front of him.

"Brigade Commander, is the Division Commander really in trouble?! Why won't Division Commander Itagaki let us go to rescue him?!" asked the Japanese regimental commander standing nearby.

"Not only is Division Commander Banheng forbidding us from going to the rescue, but the Commander also disagrees. The situation is very serious; if we're not careful, we might also be in trouble."
The 33rd Brigade has been completely wiped out, and the division commander is presumably dead as well. Now, only we remain of the 6th Division.
"At times like these, we need to stay calm." Japanese brigade commander Oshima Ichiro said with a serious expression. He also wanted to avenge his division commander, but with their current strength, it was simply unrealistic to fight the enemy.

It's a pipe dream that a single brigade could take on that Northeast Army.

"Brigade Commander, the enemy attacking the command post probably only number two or three thousand. Do you think our brigade can't handle them?!" said the Japanese regimental commander. Their brigade had more than 12,000 men, five or six times the number of the enemy.

Even if the enemy's combat strength is stronger than their soldiers, the difference in numbers between the two sides is huge. Therefore, he felt that it would not be difficult for their brigade to wipe out two or three thousand people.

“You’re being too simplistic. The various battle examples before us have shown that this Northeast Army is not so easy to deal with. If we dare to act on our own, then we could very well become the next 33rd Brigade!” Oshima Ichiro said slowly.

He saw it clearly, and the division commander and the commander-in-chief also saw it, which is why they did not let them continue towards Huangyun Mountain. They were worried that before the other troops could surround them, they might be wiped out by the enemy.

That would disrupt the subsequent plans. If something happens to them, the enemy could easily escape, making it much more difficult to deal with them again.

"This..." The Japanese regimental commander fell silent for a moment. He didn't think he was any better than the commander. Since the commander had given such an order, it would be better for them to stay in Yun County.

"Sigh... In the end, the plan itself had a major problem. It was supposed to be a good plan, but it went wrong and was used by the enemy! It even got the division commander into trouble."

"If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have agreed to let the division commander go as bait in the first place." Oshima Ichiro regretted it deeply. He should have tried his best to stop it and prevent the division commander from taking the risk.

"Brigade Commander, don't be too upset. This isn't your fault!" The Japanese regimental commander comforted him. No matter how much blame was placed on him, it couldn't be blamed on the brigade commander. It was the responsibility of those who made the division commander risk his life as bait.

.........

Around 8pm.

The 772nd Regiment and the 771st Regiment finally reunited.

"Old Cheng, how's the situation on your end?!" The commander of the 771st Regiment asked as soon as he arrived.

"What else can we do? We killed some Japanese devils. Last night I had my men bombard their camp, they didn't get a good night's sleep. You've come at the perfect time! We'll take care of these devils tonight!" Blind Cheng replied. (End of Chapter)