Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

"Oh..." Upon hearing this, Ban Shangshanfu couldn't help but sigh. This was exactly the result. He should have thought of it since Tanashita Kojiro hadn't replied for such a long time.

He glanced around the airport gate and saw many temporary shelters, which were obviously built by the enemy using sandbags.

From this, we can infer that the enemy first built a bunker in the distance, then launched an attack, and under fire suppression, pushed the bunker forward, until finally attacking the airport in one go.

If any other troops had carried out these actions, they would have suffered heavy casualties, but they had to face the Northeast Army, which had extremely strong combat effectiveness.

This unit has strong firepower and accurate shooting, and can easily destroy their firepower points. In contrast, the enemy has firepower suppression, so how can they not be pushed forward?

"Have you found Kojiro Tanashita?!" asked Banshanfu.

He wants to see how Kojiro Tanashita is doing right now!
"Found him, near the rear of the airport. He has died." The Japanese officer hesitated for a moment, but still informed the situation.

Kojiro Tanashita died a tragic death. He was beaten to pieces with many bloody holes on his body. Although the body was frozen, it was still possible to see what he had suffered.

"Take me over to have a look." Ban Shangshanfu walked towards the airport.

The Japanese officer led the way in front. After entering the airport, Ban Shangfu saw only the bodies of his own people. The bodies were covered with a layer of frost and looked very tragic.

Ban Shangfu felt heartbroken when he looked at the bodies of these soldiers, as these were elite soldiers with combat experience.

I didn’t expect that in just one night, no, to be precise, in less than an hour, the entire army was wiped out! Unbelievable.

"The enemy must have taken advantage of the situation to attract fire from the front, and then took the opportunity to go around and cut off Tanashita Kojiro's retreat, so that they were ambushed by the enemy during their retreat.
Judging from the scene, the enemy behind them had very strong fighting power and firepower, and directly beat Tanashita Kojiro so that he could not move forward and was blocked.

Under the double-sided attack, they could no longer hold on and thus died in battle." The Japanese officer continued to speak out his analysis.

The enemy had made preparations long ago and had no intention of giving Kojiro Tanashita and his men a chance to escape from the airport. Perhaps if they had retreated at the beginning when the troops did not suffer so many casualties, they might have had a glimmer of hope. After all, the number of enemies entering the airport was not large.

"Well, have someone count the number of pilots who died in battle." Ban Shangshanfu nodded in agreement, and gave orders to the Japanese regiment commander who remained silent.

"Hi!" The Japanese captain quickly led his men away.

Not long after, Banshanfu came to the body of Tanashita Kojiro. Looking at Tanashita Kojiro, who was already covered with frost, Banshanfu couldn't help but sigh again.

All I can say is that things in this world are unpredictable, who could have thought that something like this would happen.

"Mr. Tanashita, you can go with peace of mind. We will avenge you sooner or later!" Ban Shangshanfu swore in his heart.

That Northeastern Army had inflicted such heavy losses on them one after another, so they simply couldn't let them go.

Afterwards, Ban Shangshanfu went to check the location where the planes were placed. More than 200 planes had been bombed into empty frames, and there was ice on the planes.

"Brigade Commander, something is wrong. The number of pilots who died doesn't match!" The Japanese regiment commander ran over and reported with a serious face.

"How many people are missing?!" Ban Shangshanfu asked hurriedly after hearing this, perhaps the missing pilots had escaped.

But on second thought, it's unlikely. The enemy would not let these pilots leave the airport. They were most likely captured.

He heaved a sigh of relief at the thought that those pilots might be captured. Since the enemy chose to take prisoners, they would most likely not kill the pilots, because the enemy also knew the value of the pilots and could exchange them for better things.

"Forty-six pilots are missing, and they are likely captured by the enemy," responded the Japanese wing commander.

"That should be correct. They can't escape. The only thing they can do is be captured." Ban Shangshanfu nodded. Anyway, not all of them died. It all depends on what the enemy wants.

They are not clear now whether the Northeast Army has joined forces with the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army or the Eighth Route Army. They will find out when the enemy comes knocking on their door.

"I'll go to the communications room to see if the phone inside is still usable. You take people to search nearby. Maybe the pilot really escaped." Ban Shangshanfu said. Although the possibility of escape was almost zero, how would they know without searching?

If they escape, they won't be so passive later. If the pilot is really captured, they can't just sit there and watch. It all depends on how the conditions are negotiated!

"Hi!" The Japanese captain led his men away.

Ban Shangshanfu quickly went to the communication room and after trying it, he found that the communication here was indeed destroyed. He quickly asked the signalman to restore the communication.

Ten minutes later, Itakayama called the division commander Itakune Seishiro.

"Division commander, the airport has been lost, and almost all the soldiers inside were wiped out. Forty-six pilots are missing. I suspect they were captured by the enemy." After the call was connected, Ban Shangshanfu hurriedly reported the matter.

"Okay, I understand. Have someone bring the bodies of the soldiers who died in battle back to the city for cremation. As for Tanashita Kojiro, have him cremated separately. After all, he was also a regiment commander.

They are all heroes. Although they failed to defend the airport, they tried their best. The enemy was too powerful. We cannot blame them. We can only blame ourselves for not recognizing the situation clearly at that time.
They only thought about saving the planes and pilots at the airport, thus missing the best opportunity to evacuate them." Itahene Seishirō took the blame on himself.

If we really want to discuss who is right and who is wrong in this matter, he does have a big problem. He somewhat underestimated the Northeast Army.

The main reason was that I was too angry when I learned that the airport was attacked, so I did not make the right judgment rationally. In short, I was careless.

"Division Commander, this cannot be entirely blamed on you. I am also responsible. If I had seen the enemy's purpose earlier, I would not have sent people to support them, resulting in the soldiers of the Aoi Regiment dying in vain." Ban Shangshanfu also took part of the responsibility on himself.

"Okay, just treat this as a lesson for us. This matter is very serious. I might even lose my position as commander, but I will try my best to protect you." Itahira Seishirō hung up the phone.

He was a little unsure. Although he thought his position as commander would not be taken away, who knew what the commander would think. "Division Commander, Division Commander?!" Ban Shangfu heard the busy tone on the phone and couldn't help but feel anxious. Was the division commander going to handle it alone?

.........

After hanging up the phone, Itahune Seishirō took a deep breath and then called the commander.

"Moses, this is Seishiro Itakane. Please connect me to the commander."

"Hi!" came the operator's voice.

"Mr. Banheng, why are you calling me so early in the morning? Has something happened?!" Soon, the voice of the Japanese commander was heard on the phone.

"Commander, the airport, the airport has been captured by the enemy..." Itagaki Seishirō was so nervous that before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by the commander's shocked voice.

"What?! What did you say?! Say it again, what is going on!!!" The Japanese commander's tone was filled with anger and shock. So early in the morning, Itahune Seishirō actually brought him such shocking news.

"Commander, the airport was lost and all the planes inside were blown up. Except for dozens of missing pilots, the rest of the soldiers were wiped out. Even the one wing that was sent out was ambushed by the enemy halfway and was also wiped out!" Itahira Seishirō said all the key points in one breath.

The person on the other end of the phone fell silent soon, and it was obvious that he hadn't fully digested what he said yet.

"That means more than 200 planes disappeared from the airport in one night?!"

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"Yes."

"Two regiments and seven or eight thousand soldiers are gone?!"

"No, that's right." Itahune Seishirō responded nervously, swallowing his saliva. His legs were shaking because he knew that he would be scolded soon.

"Itakase Seishiro, you idiot, how on earth did you give orders?! Huh?!!! So many people died, we couldn't even defend the airport, and so many pilots also died. Were you giving orders with your butt?! Huh?!!!" The Japanese commander cursed loudly, he wished he could reach through the telephone line and beat Itakase Seishiro to death.

"I've fought in so many battles, and I've never suffered such heavy losses. Do you know how much material it takes to train a pilot?!

Even if all the planes at the airport were added together, they couldn't replace these pilots. Do you understand? Why don't you protect the pilots first? "The Japanese commander continued, his tone gritting his teeth.

"Commander, this is all my fault. I misjudged it. I thought there was a wing guarding the airport, and the enemy only had three or four thousand people, so they could hold out until reinforcements arrived.

By then, neither the plane nor the pilot would have been in any danger, and there wouldn't have been such a huge loss.

But I never expected that the Northeast Army was so powerful that in less than ten minutes, the airport defenders suffered heavy losses.

They even joined forces with the Eighth Route Army or the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army to ambush our reinforcements on the way. All together, there were at least tens of thousands of people!" Itahira Seishiro began to explain the reason.

"You are really an idiot. We suffered such a great loss at the hands of the Northeast Army. From the beginning, we were sure that it was the Northeast Army that attacked.
You should have asked the troops at the airport to retreat with the pilots instead of waiting until you found out you couldn't hold on and then asked them to retreat!" The Japanese commander was almost mad.

If they had retreated at the beginning, they would definitely have disrupted the enemy's deployment and would not have suffered such heavy losses. Although they already knew that this Northeast Army was very powerful, they still wanted to annihilate the enemy. If it were so easy to destroy the enemy, they would have done it long ago.

"Hey! This is all my problem. Please don't take over my position as commander and let someone else take over! I am willing to assist him in the operation!" Itahene Seishirō said hurriedly. He dared not deny this mistake.

"Alas... never mind. You just wanted to minimize the losses, but you underestimated the enemy. You should learn from this lesson and don't make the same mistake again." Hearing this, the Japanese commander sighed.

In consideration of the contributions that Itakase Seishiro had made in the past, and the fact that other troops had also suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Northeastern Army, he decided to let Itakase Seishiro go.

Besides, there is no one more suitable commander than Ita Tsunesaki Seishiro now. If someone else were to take over, he might be even more careless than Ita Tsunesaki Seishiro, and the casualties might be even greater.

And Itakase Seishiro has already suffered a great loss, so he will be more alert next time he faces that army, so it is a good thing to keep Itakase Seishiro!
"Thank you, Commander!! I will never make this mistake again." Upon hearing this, Itahira Seishirō was also very happy. He knew that he would not be withdrawn like this.

"Don't be happy too soon. You will be punished severely for your command mistake this time. If this kind of situation happens again, it will not be as simple as being dismissed. You will be brought to a military court. Do you understand?" the Japanese commander reminded.

Although Seishirō Itakune's status as commander was not removed this time, it was only temporary.

"Commander, rest assured. I will remember this. However, Commander, we have lost so many soldiers this time. Please send a division here.
It may not be enough. At least two divisions should be transferred! The main reason is that the Osaka Division is really useless. This unit is not reliable at all in fighting. "Itahune Seishirō couldn't help but mention the Osaka Division again.

If the Osaka Division could cooperate in the battle, there would naturally be no need to send two divisions. But unfortunately, the Osaka Division just couldn't play a role, as can be seen from the situation last night!

He was sure that even if the soldiers of the Osaka Division did not have food poisoning, they would definitely find various excuses not to carry out combat missions.

"A lot of new troops have been transferred to the country recently. I will apply to transfer another division to help you. However, the soldiers in this division are all new recruits. The training time is less than a year. You have to let this unit gain combat experience as soon as possible." The Japanese commander said slowly.

The war has become quite exhausting for them so far. They need to constantly transfer troops from their home country to China. Otherwise, if they continue to fight like this, no one knows how many of their veterans will be sacrificed.

They thought that the battle would be over by taking Wuhan, but the Nationalist army was surprisingly tough and refused to surrender. More importantly, they were trapped in the battlefield on the Chinese side.

This was totally inconsistent with their original plan. They had intended to take over China as quickly as possible and then attack other countries, but unexpectedly, things turned out to be beyond their expectations.

In just over two years, they have become deeply stuck in a quagmire, and they have not yet found the oil resources they want in China, which makes things even more difficult.

The prices of supplies sold to them by the United States are getting more and more expensive. If this continues, they will find it difficult to bear.

(End of this chapter)