Fourteen

  On the eastern position, Lang did not see any blue light, but saw that the soldiers had already engaged in a battle with the Japanese troops who were rushing up.

  The Japanese army troops came all the way in the dark, frequently encountering fierce enemy counterattacks in the darkness! Moreover, in mountainous and forested areas, even grenade launchers and infantry howitzers were of no use, and even the intense sweeping fire of light and heavy machine guns could only be blindly estimated, fundamentally unable to exert their maximum effect. Everyone felt that this battle was fought with extreme confusion! However, they all had nothing to say, like a dog biting a hedgehog, and could only hastily find cover and counterattack when encountering an ambush, firing their rifles in confusion before anything else.

  The vanguard troops clashed with the enemy again, and Yuan Huiyuan excitedly pointed forward to Banzai Hiroshi, "Commander Banzai, we've finally caught up with the main force of the enemy! I believe that here, we can annihilate the enemy and complete our mission!"

  "Are you done with your task? Do you even know what the final objective of this operation is? You're talking about annihilating the enemy's main force, but where did that main force come from? Judging from intelligence and the situation on the ground, this small unit we've been chasing can't be more than a temporary detachment sent out by the Chinese army! Since our troops clashed with the enemy this afternoon, we've already lost over 200 excellent soldiers of the Great Japanese Empire! And just now, that deafening explosion in the distance was clearly another ambush by the enemy! With all these encounters with the enemy, I can say that I'm thoroughly humiliated! What a joke about annihilating the enemy's main force! It's hard to imagine what would happen if all the commanders of the Great Japanese Empire were like this idiot! How could we possibly conquer the world?"

  "Alright, former squadron leader, I order you to personally command your troops on the front line and annihilate the enemy forces before us! Be careful not to harm non-combat personnel!" Hamazaki Hiroto said, ignoring Hikawa's salute, and walked forward. He wanted to personally get in touch with this troop, to feel this troop, this small troop that could annihilate an entire Imperial squadron!

  Yan Wei pulled Lan Gang back and squatted down, pointing to Li Shan beside him: "He said that two miles east-north direction is a small mountain peak terrain! You immediately lead the previous decoy troops to retreat and find a position to set up an ambush." After finishing, he looked at Li Shan: "You lead the way, and when you arrive, quickly return to support us!"

  The Japanese army, which had been struggling with the unfavorable charge, suddenly felt that the enemy's firepower in front of them had weakened instantly! Each of the battle-hardened and bloodshot Japanese soldiers shouted to their companions in Japanese: "The enemy is running out of ammunition! Seize the opportunity and charge!"

  Watching the Japanese army rushing up in a frenzy, Yan Wei smiled and said to himself: "If you had done so earlier, it seems that there is no need to set an ambush on any mountain peak again!"

  The two armies clashed in the midst of a downpour of bullets, an obviously foolish and stupid move! Using tanks would be somewhat acceptable! But attempting to shorten the distance between the front lines with human lives is simply suicidal!

  If the enemy's position is heavily guarded, even if we can successfully charge to the front of the enemy's formation by piling up thousands of corpses, what's the point? Isn't it just like a small boat crashing into a vast ocean filled with warships? Even if we break through, won't we still end up dead? If the enemy's position has limited troops but is easy to defend due to favorable terrain, then what's the use of being fierce? Since ancient times, military strategy has said: "A strong army can surround the enemy!" Isn't it better to surround and attack, waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out? Why must we charge forward with millions of casualties and deaths? Even if we win by doing so, what significance does this victory have?

  Why must we risk everything to attack this defensive unit head-on in an environment where the enemy situation is unclear, the terrain is unfamiliar, and the lighting is unfavorable? If we're worried about the target escaping, can't we just leave a portion of our troops to confront them while sending another route to pursue? Is it really the case that on this vast mountain, there's only one path forward?

  Yan Wei thought about it and couldn't help but want to laugh, but still raised his gun at a Japanese soldier who was rushing up with a fierce expression and pulled the trigger.

  In less than two minutes, Yuan Hui-chuan found that if this continued, he would lose his entire army! He immediately stopped the troops from charging and ran to report to Shimizu no Kiyotsune.

  "Report to Commander Hanzaki, enemy's weapons are advanced and their marksmanship is extraordinary! Our attack is unfavorable, please instruct."

  Hamazaki Hiroto was not interested in the report of the original Kawaguchi, he was calculating the situation of this pursuit. Judging from the sniping on the peripheral road, the enemy is by no means determined to make a desperate resistance and fight to the death! The blocking battle that chased here earlier seemed to be delaying time waiting for something. If the ambush in the low valley earlier was the enemy's ultimate goal, then what is this battle now? Is it possible that the commander of the Japanese army in front of him really wants to fight a decisive battle with his weak troops? From the obvious weakening of firepower earlier, his hypothesis seems unrealistic.

  No good! The enemy is intentionally blocking our pursuit step by step, and the target person must have already transferred! After Hamaoka Hiro made this judgment, he immediately ordered the original Kawahigashi: "Strengthen the attack and break through the troops in front of us immediately!"

  Gen Nakagawa, after a standing bow, gritted his teeth and prepared to lead the charge himself, determined to die for the Emperor. However, miraculously, they encountered no further resistance! Apparently, Yan Wei had ordered a withdrawal during the Japanese army's contraction of forces!

  Witnessing this situation, Hanzawa Hiroshi was greatly shocked! He immediately ordered his troops to deploy on the spot and search, determined to catch up with this unit!

  Fortunately, Yan Wei led the team himself and waited nearby. When the first batch of Japanese troops searching in the northeast direction approached, they immediately opened fire to signal the enemy to the entire Japanese army! Otherwise, in this dark and vast mountain forest, I'm afraid the Japanese army would have lost their way and been chased away!

  After a round of shooting, Yan Wei was not affected by the crazy consumption of bullets by the Japanese machine gunner. He loudly ordered a full retreat. He believed that if this couldn't lure the Japanese over, then he would be fighting deaf people!

  They had just run out for a few hundred meters when they saw Li Shan, who had sent off Lan Gang, returning to meet them. Yan Wei said to Li Shan while running: "You kid can really run!" After saying one sentence, he didn't dare to speak again. These years of being an official have taken their toll, and with the growth of age, his physical strength is no longer like when he was 18 or 19!

  "Sir, if I weren't leading you guys, I could run for half a day on this mountain! Once I was hunting deer alone, unfortunately, I missed the shot and only wounded it. I had no choice but to chase after it desperately. Firstly, the deer was injured and couldn't run at full strength, secondly, I was furious that time and just kept chasing after it! From dusk till sunset, I finally caught up with the beast! That time, I ran so far that I lost count, anyway, afterwards, I carried the deer back home slowly, didn't return until midnight! My dad was so angry that he beat me up!"

  Yan Wei thought to himself, "If I were given the gun, I'd probably have to walk till dawn before returning home! No way! I wouldn't be able to catch up with that deer anyway, and I wouldn't even try. So I won't be walking till dawn to get back home. Most likely after firing the shot and seeing it didn't hit its mark, he'll just pick up his gun and head back home, without even thinking of chasing after it."

  Yan Wei, who had already hidden behind a small peak, saw more and more Japanese soldiers gathering at the foot of the mountain, which was already within the effective range of his rifle. He said to Lan Gang, who came forward to ask for instructions: "This time we don't need to rush, here three sides are surrounded by mountains, there is no way out, even if the Japanese devils are blind, they can't find their way! Let's wait and see how many more Japanese soldiers will come up."

  Hamasaki Hiro stood under the small peaks, looking at the terrain that had no road to walk on except for his own back, and once again felt that the enemy was cunning and he had been deceived again!

  Actually, I had a bad feeling about this from the beginning! With such rapid and continuous transfers, it's already a wonder that the soldiers can keep up. But how can these children possibly manage? Matsumoto Hiroshi was convinced in his heart that this group of soldiers would never be able to catch up with the children. He must have fallen into their trap and been led further and further away from the target! However, Matsumoto Hiroshi didn't seem particularly angry about it, because he knew that this entire area had already become a lost territory for the Great Japanese Empire. In these vast mountains, it was impossible for the Chinese military to send another regular army unit to provide support. Therefore, resolving the current situation with this unit was key. As long as their armed forces were defeated, catching up with those children would be effortless! The problem now was that judging from the terrain, this unit of enemy soldiers must have fled into the mountains in front of them in a state of panic. If he ordered his troops to enter the mountains and pursue them, who knows how long it would take to completely resolve the battle?

  But apparently Hamazaki Hiroto once again underestimated his opponent.

  When Yan Wei roughly saw the number of Japanese troops under Xiaofeng, he estimated that it should be possible to annihilate this group of about 100 Japanese troops! So he ordered the whole army not to rush, aiming at the target and making precise shots! After Lan Gang transmitted the order, he led by example again, with the disappearance of a Japanese life as the signal for this battle!

  It wasn't until then that Hamazaki Suehiro seemed to have realized why the poor platoon of Tsushima's unit, which was in charge of intercepting this group of children earlier, had been annihilated!

  This army will utilize everything around them that can be used to their advantage in battle! In their ideology, there is no concept of retreat!

  They must have brought a guide who is extremely familiar with this place before rushing over! After Hama Saki Hiro made this judgment, he immediately believed it without a doubt! The troops that followed behind all the way were completely at a disadvantage because of this!

  "Former team leader, immediately order the soldiers to set up the Type 97 infantry mortar and continuously bombard the enemy's mountain peak!"

  Hamazaki Hiro's puzzlement was that after his orders were conveyed, he had not seen the firing of their own Type 97 infantry mortar! Just as he was wondering about this, a lieutenant ran over and saluted: "Reporting to the commander, due to the enemy having excellent snipers participating in the battle, our troops are unable to complete the mortar firing..." He hesitated for a moment before continuing: "We've already had several batches of gunners replaced, each one dying after the last! No one can even get close to the mortar!"

  In fact, the battle had reached this point, even if following Hamazaki Hiroshi's orders, it would be impossible to successfully retrieve the two Type 97 infantry mortar guns that were specially allocated from the battalion before departure and bring them back to the rear for firing. Seeing that Lieutenant General Harukawa himself was shot dead while rushing forward to retrieve the cannons and was carried back by his soldiers, Hamazaki Hiroshi realized that today he would definitely follow in the footsteps of the afternoon's defeat of Tsushima Island's infantry regiment, with the entire army being annihilated here!

  "Order immediate cessation of attack and retreat all troops!" Hamao Shimizu issued the most reluctant command since he joined the army!

  However, the order was given, but if you want to withdraw and come back safely, it's not an easy task! Seeing that the Japanese army had the intention of withdrawing, Yan Wei immediately ordered the whole army to carry out a clearing-style shooting at the Japanese army! Strive to solve this Japanese army unit in one fell swoop without leaving any future troubles!

  Looking at the less than twenty wounded soldiers retreating back, Hama-saki Hiro-matsu let out a long sigh to the communication soldier beside him: "Send a telegram to Lieutenant General Okamura of the 11th Army, with the following message: Our unit has caught up with the target unit, but after making contact, due to my own poor command, we fell into the enemy's trap! Our entire combat force is now almost completely annihilated! We are no longer capable of taking any action against the target! Request that Lieutenant General Okamura provide new instructions and highest punishment! Hama-saki Hiro-matsu."