Chapter 24: Settling Scores (Part 2)

  Two hours after nightfall, Nakagawa Hiroshi, who had rushed back from the front line, finally joined forces with the main force of the 36th Brigade.

  During the breakout of Baoshan Camp, although the command post of the 36th Brigade was destroyed and two directly affiliated squadrons stationed outside the command post suffered heavy casualties, the main forces of three infantry battalions stationed in several other directions did not suffer much damage.

  In the previous battle of attacking the four-line warehouse, the 36th Brigade had lost two battalions in the first six days, and later it was mainly the Fengtian Guard Brigade under Yu Zishan that launched the main attack. The 36th Brigade basically did not suffer any more casualties, so the entire 36th Brigade still had its main force intact. As soon as Nakagawa Kōdai arrived to take command, the entire brigade immediately regained its combat effectiveness.

  Nakagawa Hiroshi got down from the armored car and three battalion commanders were already standing by the roadside.

  "Nakamura-kun, Tachihara-kun, Ohtake-kun." Nakagawa Hiroshi exchanged greetings with the three squad leaders one by one, and immediately got to the point, "Has the Treasure Mountain Camp caught up?"

  Captain Nakamura Shirō of the 1st Squadron said, "Colonel, by the time we arrive at the location provided by the Tokkō, the Chinese will have long since fled without a trace."

  "Ah!" Nakagawa Hiroshi was suddenly furious upon hearing this, and with a flick of his wrist, he slapped Nakamura Shirō's face with a loud smack.

  "Hai!" Nakamura Shirō suddenly bowed his head, and Tachihara Shunsuke and ōtake Nobuo beside him also bowed their heads and straightened up.

  ōtake Nobuo explained, "General, although we were unable to catch up with the Vietnamese, the air force has indicated several directions in which the Vietnamese troops are fleeing."

  Nakagawa suppressed his anger and asked in a low voice: "Mr. Ohtake, where did these Chinese people run to?"

  "Your Excellency, according to the air reconnaissance, the Chinese have dispersed and fled in all directions. Some went west, some south, some north, and incredibly, some even fled back to Shanghai in a panic. Therefore, we cannot accurately determine the true direction of the Chinese retreat, however..."

  "Hakka Yarou, you fool!" Nakagawa Hiroshi shouted angrily, "This is just a trick of the Chinese, they are trying to break through separately!"

  "General, please calm down." Tachibana Shunsuke hastily explained, "We also suspected that the Japanese troops were implementing a plan to scatter and escape, so with the help of aerial reconnaissance soldiers, we followed several small groups of Japanese stragglers all the way here. Moreover, we judged that the mountainous area in front should be their temporary gathering place."

  "Alright." Nakagawa Hiroshi nodded and said, "Immediately divide the troops and blockade the mountainous area."

  Ryogen Tatsu hesitated for a moment, then reminded: "Colonel, according to the intelligence provided by the Tokko, this group of Vietnamese soldiers is not ordinary. They are very good at surprise attacks and even better at night attacks. If we divide our troops to blockade the mountainous area, we may be ambushed by the enemy."

  "Hakka, this group of Chinese defeated soldiers has lost their will to fight and are completely demoralized. How can they possibly launch a counterattack against the Imperial Army?" Nakagawa Hiroshi was furious upon hearing these words, which is understandable. After all, he had just been transferred from the division headquarters and had not yet clashed head-on with the Baishan Regiment, so he didn't know their strength. Most importantly, Major Nakagawa was eager to annihilate this group of Chinese defeated soldiers in order to gain recognition from Lieutenant General Kijirō and General Shizuo.

  "Yes!" The three battalion commanders responded in unison and immediately dispersed to lead their troops to blockade the traffic arteries.

  …………

  Ryogen Shunsan's judgment of these little devils was basically accurate, the mountainous area dozens of miles ahead was indeed the gathering place chosen by Yue Weihan, but by the time they figured out their intentions, the Baoshan camp had already gathered most of its troops, and at this point, it was too late to try to seal off the gathering place.

  Cao Xinglong, Chi Chengfeng and Niu Dageng have led their troops back to Yue Weihan's side one after another.

  Yue Weihan asked: "Dalong Dagen, Lao Chi, how's the situation? Have all the brothers returned?"

  "He Lao, brothers, this time we've suffered a great loss. Although the enemy infantry didn't catch up with us, those little devils' planes circled above our heads all day, dropping bombs and firing machine guns. Many brothers were injured, two new recruits ran away, and six brothers... won't be coming back."

  Yue Weihan's face suddenly sank, and he asked Cao Xinglong and Niu Dagen: "Dalong Dagen, what about the machine gun company?"

  "It's all the same." Cao Xinglong and Niu Dageng also held back their anger, saying, "Commander, this time we were really made fools of, letting those little devils chase us like rabbits. We couldn't do anything about their planes, our Baoshan battalion has never suffered such a loss since breaking out of Baoshan!"

  Yue Weihan coldly watched the returning soldiers, except for the thirty or so old soldiers from the 3rd camp in Baoshan, the rest, whether they were remnants of the Sichuan army or the Guangxi army, now all had a somewhat dejected and disheartened look, let alone those new recruits who looked like dead men with dull expressions and empty eyes.

  What is a mob? This is a mob! When fighting with the wind at their backs, they can become more and more courageous, as if they could pierce the sky. But once they are fighting against the wind, they immediately slacken off. Compared to true battle-hardened veterans, they do not lack courage, they do not lack skill, and they do not lack physical strength, but what they uniquely lack is determination!

  A truly seasoned veteran must have an unyielding will of steel, no matter the difficulties or dangers, and be able to face them with composure and respond calmly. The group of defeated soldiers in front of us is still far from being a true veteran.

  However, there is a ready-made opportunity at hand, which can not only temper the will quality of these defeated soldiers and restore their confidence in defeating the Japanese army, but also create an opportunity for safe breakthrough.

  Yue Weihan had to admit that the seventeen regular divisions of the Japanese army were among the best in the world and could be called elite troops!

  These seventeen regular divisions, whether in training or equipment, were far superior to the National Army at that time. What's more frightening is that these seventeen regular divisions of Japanese soldiers all extremely revered the spirit of Bushido and had an unimaginable will to fight. An iron fact is that in the first two years after the outbreak of the war of aggression against China, there were almost no Japanese soldiers who surrendered!

  However, even elite divisions like those of the Japanese army are not invincible and also have weaknesses.

  The biggest weakness of the Japanese army was that its tactics were relatively rigid, especially in the first few years of the invasion of China, and it was extremely unsuitable for night warfare, mobile warfare, guerrilla warfare and other unconventional tactics. By the end of 1938, the Japanese army had ended its direct attacks on the National Army and concentrated all its efforts on encircling and occupying the areas controlled by the Eighth Route Army, but the Eighth Route Army was still able to stir up trouble in the enemy's rear in northern China, precisely because the Japanese army was extremely unsuited to the unconventional tactics of the Eighth Route Army.

  This situation did not change until 1941 when Gunji Nangai took over as commander of the North China Area Army.

  Don't look at the Bao Shan camp now, with less than a hundred people left, and the equipment is also much worse than before. As long as we choose the right terrain and concentrate our forces to launch a night ambush, we can definitely catch the arrogant Japanese army off guard, and even annihilate one or two infantry squads, which is completely possible.

  These words took a long time to say, but in Yue Weihan's mind, it was just a flash of thought.

  Yue Weihan took a deep breath of cold air and shouted loudly: "Well said, our Baoshan camp has been beating the devils since the breakout of Baoshan. When have we ever suffered such a loss? Brothers, if we don't avenge this today, are we still the Baoshan camp? Can we still be called soldiers?"

  "Revenge! Revenge! Revenge!" The old soldiers of the 3rd camp suddenly roared with hoarse voices.

  Yue Weihan waved his hand and said in a stern voice, "Others may wait ten years to take revenge, but we, the Baoshan camp, are not like that. If we have a grudge, we will settle it immediately! Brothers, if we don't get our territory back today, we'll all be castrated and become eunuchs again!"

  "Get out, you little devil!"

  "This matter can't be dropped just like that, Grandma!"

  "Today's donkey day, if I don't beat a few little devils to death tonight, I'll be finished with him!"

  The old soldiers of the Third Battalion immediately followed with loud shouts, and the defeated soldiers who had been hanging their heads in despair and the new recruits who had been numb also finally recovered a bit of energy, and they too rolled up their sleeves and started cursing loudly, as if not cursing a few times would make them appear unmanly.

  Only Liu Xin lowered her face and whispered: Pfft, what kind of officials and soldiers are these? How crude.