Chapter 7: The Devils Have Arrived

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  Lieutenant Colonel Yokota's expression turned grave after receiving the report from Sergeant Shouta Minami, who had escaped. Although his education at the Japanese Military Academy taught him to "charge forward and annihilate" a powerful enemy, as an officer with systematic training, he knew what to do. At least he wouldn't be like some Japanese officers who would recklessly order soldiers to charge without thinking. Lieutenant Colonel Yokota prided himself on being a "wise general," and his subordinates considered him a leader who "loved his soldiers like his own children." As such a commander, he wouldn't let his 800-plus brave warriors under the Emperor's command die in vain. Understanding what Sergeant Minami had encountered was also important, after all, the Art of War said, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will not be defeated in a hundred battles." Therefore, he called for medical treatment for this sergeant who was being cursed by surrounding Japanese soldiers as a "damn coward" and "deserter" who should have chosen seppuku. He personally went to his bedside to inquire about the situation. As an officer with many years of frontline experience, he intuitively knew that Sergeant Minami was not lying.

  By understanding what he knew, just now he met many people in the Eighth Route Army who were equipped and dressed very strangely. These people all wore iron hats, wore colorful clothes, and according to his observation, they all wore black leather boots on their feet. More importantly, these people's equipment was extremely fine, with one person holding a machine gun in hand, and even had grenade launchers, and several of them were accurate marksmen, every shot was fatal... Hearing this, Yokota's eyebrows furrowed, and at this time, there was news that two small teams of soldiers under his command lost contact with the main force, and it was exactly where a burst of intense gunfire came from just now.

  "No need to look for them, they have all been loyal to the Emperor." Yokota waved his hand, he understood that this time he encountered not ordinary bandits, but a very terrifying opponent. "Order everyone to prepare for battle, and send two small teams one kilometer ahead to scout, the main force will follow, tell them, if they encounter the enemy, don't get entangled, retreat as soon as possible."

  The large unit led by Yokota did not encounter any harassment along the way and soon arrived at the battlefield, which was about a two-hour journey. "Let's take a good look at the battlefield!" Yokota said to his staff officer beside him. "Report, this is the shell found on the battlefield!" A soldier handed over a bullet shell, including 5.45mm, 5.56mm, 5.8mm, 9mm and 7.62mm NATO ammunition, "The opponent's caliber is very diverse, it should not be a regular army." A staff officer next to him concluded, "However, Lieutenant Colonel, what is puzzling is that our Type 38 rifle uses 6.5mm ammunition, which is already small enough, why do these bandits use even smaller calibers of unknown origin? Are they not afraid of insufficient firepower?"

  All the officers present came to the same conclusion, and soon a dead Japanese soldier's body was brought over. Yokota lifted up the white cloth covering the body, revealing that the Japanese soldier had died from a fatal gunshot wound to the chest. The entry point of the bullet was very small, suggesting it was caused by some kind of small-caliber bullet. However, when Yokota flipped over the body, he found an exit wound on the back the size of a rice bowl. At this time, a Japanese soldier next to him handed over a 5.45mm bullet head that had been dug up from the ground. Looking at the already curved and swollen bullet head, all the officers were shocked by the lethality of this bullet - God knows what it would feel like to be hit by such a small thing, but one thing was for sure, it wouldn't be good.

  At this time, several explosions suddenly occurred in the distance, and several Japanese soldiers who were collecting bodies were blown to pieces. Without asking, Yokota could be sure that these were the strange "Eight Route" troops' landmines, because the local Eighth Route Army's landmines and handmade grenades couldn't possibly have such great power, not even those made by the Empire.

  "Baka!" All the Japanese officers were furious, and the Japanese also attach importance to the soil, and they do not want their bodies to be blown to pieces after death, so their anger is understandable.

  However, this was only the beginning. In the subsequent search operation by the Japanese army, they encountered all sorts of troubles, specifically various types of landmines - from the "black fire" landmine used by the Eighth Route Army to a type of plastic landmine that couldn't be detected even with mine detectors. All these landmines had one characteristic: they wouldn't kill people, but this made things worse. Within just a few hours before nightfall, more than 20 subordinates were either covered in blood or had lost arms and legs, lying on stretchers. As a result, he nearly lost the combat effectiveness of an entire company, as each wounded soldier required four people to carry him. However, when they entered the reed marshes and saw the marks left by the enemy on the ground, Yokota no longer had the courage to advance.

  "Wow, it's huge!" exclaimed Yokota and his men in unison. Under the flashlight, several tracks and tire marks on the ground stretched far into the distance. Judging from the width of the tracks and the wheelbase, if Japanese tanks were wolves, then the tank that left these marks was an elephant, a mammoth to be exact.

  "Bivouac on the spot, send a telegram to Lieutenant General Niiro, and explain the situation here. At the same time, report to the superiors and tell the soldiers that they must be extremely vigilant tonight, with double sentries, and everyone must sleep with their guns in hand!" Commander Yokota ordered, and all the company commanders and platoon leaders strictly executed this order after receiving it.

  That night, in the second half of the night, a heavy rain suddenly fell, and amidst the thunder and lightning, the Japanese army's camp occasionally heard a gunshot. That was because some wounded soldiers could not bear the pain or accept the severe reality of their injuries, so they chose to die - because after being blown up by anti-personnel landmines in the late 20th century, few men could still be called "men", and there seemed to be no eunuchs in the Emperor's palace. Therefore, every time a wounded soldier saw his mangled third leg or felt that something important was missing from his crotch, he would commit suicide for the "dignity of the Great Japanese Empire warriors". The heavy rain concealed the gunshots, and also concealed the sighs of Yokota, the battalion commander - logically speaking, as a battalion commander, he should not have been like this, because this was also a helpless thing. After all, for them, this was also a kind of relief. However, Yokota still had some worries in his heart. He foresaw that the enemy would be very strong and did not know what the outcome of tomorrow's battle would be. Maybe... maybe many people would not return to Japan, back to that country where the gods were always causing earthquakes and tsunamis. But overall, the morale of the troops was still good. At this moment, a passionate singing voice entered his ears:

  Where Peng Bo's waves broke and scattered

  Deep green Cryptomeria wood

  Beautiful land of Yamato

  A long history of thousands of years

  The imperial power is supreme.

  Gazing up at the Donghai Linglong swaying peak of Furong

  The sons of China are boiling with hot blood

  I am the pillar of the country

  Defend the family and country without regard for oneself.

  ……

  "Damn it, we're the army, how come someone's singing a navy song!"

  For the Eighth Route Army and the travelers, this heavy rain was a blessing in disguise, even though most people didn't have raincoats or umbrellas. At least this heavy rain calmed down two Eighth Route Army commanders who had a big argument over weapon allocation issues, and more importantly, the mountain flood triggered by the heavy rain washed away all the tracks left by tanks and other vehicles, and the resulting mud could greatly slow down the Japanese army's advance, giving the Eighth Route Army more time to master their newly acquired state-of-the-art weapons.