I heard that Wang Zihao has sacrificed himself, and Wang Dandan cried until she became a tearful person.

  The fifteen good men brought out by Wang Zihao sacrificed nine people, and the rest were also crying bitterly.

  "Damn it! Who the hell killed my brother?! I'm going to avenge him!" Wu Congyu, with his fiery temper, jumped onto the armored train and pulled Zhang Dayong down from the car, who was tied up like a rice dumpling.

  "Damn you! It's because of your so-called loyalty that we've lost so many brothers!" Wu Congyu pointed at the bodies of the sacrificed Righteous Army and Northeastern Army soldiers, shouting at Zhang Dayong, "If your armored car had arrived earlier, we wouldn't have fought so hard! Today I'm going to kill you to avenge our big brother!"

  After finishing speaking, Wu Congyu pulled out his handgun, released the safety catch, and aimed at Zhang Dayong's head.

  "You damn bastard! I'm not a coward who fears death! If I frown, you'll be the one who's dead!" Zhang Dayout shouted and cursed despite being tied up like a rice dumpling.

  In fact, Zhang Dajun was not a coward either. He was just foolishly loyal and it was this blind loyalty that led to the loss of so many comrades when the enemy tanks charged in.

  "Xiao Wu! What are you doing?! Put down the gun at once!" shouted Li Bin, who had arrived just in time.

  Wu Congyu was taken aback for a moment, the muzzle of his gun slightly drooping downwards, but he immediately raised it again and aimed at Zhang Dayong's head.

  Seeing Wu Congyu refusing to put down his gun, Li Bin roared: "I order you to put down the gun! Did you hear that?!"

  "Li, big brother! It's this guy who killed our big brother! I want to kill him to avenge our big brother!" Wu Congyu, this iron-like man, could no longer control himself at this moment. He couldn't help but turn red-eyed, with hot tears falling to the ground one by one.

  Li Bin persuaded Wu Congyu, saying: "This person is a Chinese no matter what, he is not a traitor but a loyal and righteous man! He is just foolishly loyal, we Chinese people should not kill Chinese people!"

  Wu Congyu cried out: "Brother Li, this scoundrel has already caused my brother's death. I don't want him to cause your death too! He will really go to General Shao and accuse you!"

  Li Bin shook his head and said, "I'm not afraid of him! I am not a member of the Northeast Army, nor am I under the command of Generalissimo. I am the Chief of Staff of the Righteous Brave Army, a lieutenant colonel appointed by the National Government. They wouldn't dare to do anything to me!"

  Military orders are like mountains. Under Li Bin's strict orders, Fang Juntian and those special forces soldiers had no choice but to untie Zhang Dayong. After the rope was loosened, Li Bin bowed his head to Zhang Dayong and said: "Brother, I'm sorry! I just didn't want to see our brothers die in vain under the enemy's guns!"

  But Zhang Dayong didn't take it kindly at all. After shaking off the ropes on his body, he viciously said to Li Bin: "Ride a donkey and look at the account book! Let's see who comes out on top!"

  After finishing speaking, he waved his hand at those few trusted followers, and several people rode their horses and galloped towards the direction of Jinzhou City.

  The Japanese army's offensive failed again, and after retreating, an emergency meeting was held at the command post set up in the Goubangzi area.

  The meeting, organized by Kantōgun Commander-in-Chief Honjō Shigeru and Chosen Army Chief of Staff Jinzaburō Masaki, was attended by high-ranking officers including Morinaga Kiyoshi, Sakaguchi Kiichirō, Tōyama Ryūichi, Kawamura Saburō, Nishida Ichirō, Nakamura Kōtarō, and Yamazaki Takazo. Even the lowest-ranking attendees, such as Hirata Hikaru and Nakamura Shin, were at least lieutenant generals, with only one, Ishiwara Kanji, being a major general, making his rank stand out among the group of lieutenant generals, major generals, and lieutenant colonels.

  "Hahaha! Great Lieutenant Colonel Nakazō! Aren't you supposed to be the brains of the Kwantung Army? How did you get defeated by those Chinese?" said General Kayamura with a sarcastic tone, speaking to Ishiwara Kanji.

  "Halt, Kajima Village Garrison! Do not be rude to Ishihara-sama!" Shinda Masane restrained his subordinates' impolite behavior. "Ishihara-sama fought very well! If it weren't for the Chinese armored train disobeying that opium-addicted general's orders, we would have succeeded this time!"

  "Alright, everyone be quiet! Let's start the meeting!" Commander Hattori Toshiro stood up and addressed all the generals. "Currently, our brave warriors of the Great Japanese Empire are facing a big problem. The Chinese are holding onto their strong positions, utilizing multiple layers of defense, with armored trains and tanks at the back, and they also have some anti-aircraft capabilities! Due to the arrival of the Chinese armored cavalry, our imminent victory has been turned into nothing! Does anyone have any methods to defeat the Chinese?"

  "We should launch a day-and-night fierce attack! The Chinese troops are short of ammunition and have little heavy firepower! They will definitely not be able to hold on!"

  "Impossible!" Ishihara Kanji stood up and said, "That would result in the unnecessary loss of many Imperial warriors' lives! The fortifications built by that Chinese person are almost perfect! So far, I haven't been able to think of a way to break through this Chinese person's defensive measures! The only option is to use even stronger firepower to thoroughly flatten the Daling River defense line!"

  "More firepower? Where are we going to get more firepower? We've been shelling them for so many days, our own artillery is almost depleted!" General Kashimura sneered.

  "Borrow the navy! We can borrow the power of the navy to blast those Chinese!" Ishiwara Kanji proposed his own suggestion, "Isn't our 8th Division going to arrive at Yingkou by ship? We might as well coordinate with the navy and have them use their battleships and aircraft carriers to lend us a hand! Our fleet is in the Yellow Sea, if the navy is willing to come over, it'll probably take about 48 hours to get to Yingkou!"

  "No way! I object!" General Kashimura stood up and said, "Those naval bastards have always looked down on us in the army! In their eyes, we are good-for-nothings! What do they count for? Our money, our steel, all let them use! If this time we ask the navy for help, I'm afraid it will make them laugh!"

  Konda Kiyoshi also felt that it was not feasible, and he asked: "Can our battleships reach the sea area of the Taedong River defense line? Can the waterway there allow battleships to enter?"

  "This is no problem! The channel of the Bohai Bay has been surveyed long ago! There is a channel with a depth of 16 meters! Our most advanced Nagato and Mutsu can enter the range of the Daling River defense line for bombardment! Not to mention Kongō and Hiei, these two cruisers! As long as the fleet enters, we have a large number of 41cm heavy guns, 36cm heavy guns, and countless 15cm heavy guns and 14cm heavy guns! Plus the 200 aircraft on the three aircraft carriers Akagi, Kaga, and Sōryū, I don't believe we won't intimidate those Chinese people! At that time, not to mention General Daiyuan, I'm afraid even the Nanjing government will be shaken by the mighty navy of our great Japanese Empire!"

  "Hahaha!" Katsumura Daisaburou burst out laughing, "The Chinese have a saying, 'making a big deal out of a small matter!' I think you, Lieutenant Commander, are the one who likes to make a big deal out of a small matter! For the sake of a tiny Jincheng, you're going to beg those naval officers who don't even like us?"

  "No! This is not making a mountain out of a molehill! It's to let those ignorant Chinese people see the true power of our great Japanese Empire! Otherwise, they won't know what it means to be afraid!" Ishihara Kanji said.

  "Honjō Toshiaki stood up and said: 'I think what Ishihara Kanji said is absolutely right! Those Chinese farmers have never seen a real warship before! This time, let them take a look at the invincible fleet of the Great Japanese Empire!'"

  "Will the military department agree to let the navy take action?" asked Kanda Masutane.

  "The military is very satisfied with our great victory on September 18! Most of the Chinese are timid like mice! Only a small part are not afraid to die, and we will kill all those who are not afraid to die, leaving only those who listen to us!" said Ishiwara Kanji.

  "Right, as long as the navy moves out, the Daling River defense line can be breached within 48 hours! Haha!" Ben Zhuang Fan burst into laughter. "After capturing Jinzhou, we can concentrate our forces to deal with Ma Zanshan!"

  "But I still have a question!" Ishihara Kanji said, "That Li Bin, the Chinese advisor, is a great threat to our Great Japanese Empire! If we occupy Jinzhou and he defects to the Nationalist Government, it will have a huge impact on our future plans for a full-scale war against China! I think this person must be eliminated as soon as possible!"

  "What's difficult about getting rid of this person?" Xi Yi proposed a plan, "Our great Japanese Empire has many excellent special agents, and it would be easy to find a few who could take care of him!"

  "I don't think it's that easy!" Tsuchihashi Genji said, "According to our reliable intelligence, this person has specially trained a group of martial arts masters as his personal bodyguards. Those people are armed with submachine guns and pistols, each one is highly skilled in martial arts and ruthless, I'm afraid even special agents won't find it easy to get close to him."

  "Haha!" Ishihara Kaneru's small eyes rolled around, and he thought of another vicious plan. "To get rid of this person, we don't even need our agents to take action! There is someone who will eliminate him!"

  "Who?" All Japanese officers present asked in unison.

  "General Zhang Xueliang, the Big Smoking Ghost!" Ishihara Kanji replied.

  "What did he say?" asked Hidenori Tsuchihashi in puzzlement.

  Ishihara Kanji began to reveal his plan: "It's like this, Zhang Xueliang has no intention of confronting us! As for whether or not to defend Jinzhou, he has been wavering back and forth! Although he commands a powerful Northeastern Army, he has a weak heart! Your intelligence department should know that the reason Zhang Xueliang didn't give the Righteous and Brave Army an official designation is because he's afraid of direct contact between the Chinese regular army and our Great Japanese Imperial Army! And this time, this Li Bin character privately used Zhang Xueliang's armored train to launch an attack on our Great Japanese Imperial Army, which has already violated military discipline. However, since they won this battle temporarily, Zhang Xueliang will not blame him for now."

  Ishihara paused for a moment, took a sip of water and continued: "Now, on the one hand we dispatch our fleet, and on the other hand we give Zhang Xueliang a notice saying that because his armored train attacked our Japanese Empire's anti-bandit forces, in order to retaliate against you, we have dispatched our fleet to assist in the war. I think at this time Zhang Xueliang will not be unafraid! He will definitely be intimidated by the powerful might of our fleet, and then we can use his hand to eliminate Li Bin, that great menace!"