Chapter 12: Archenemy

  In a grove of trees about 400-500 meters away from the North University, the commander of the second battalion of the Japanese Kwantung Army's Independent Guard Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Shōichi Shimamoto, looked calmly at Captain Minoru Koizumi, who had been promoted to frontline commander just an hour ago.

  After walking back and forth, Shimamoto Masakazu took a step forward to stand in front of Koizumi Kojirō, who was standing with his hands hanging down and his head bowed. He reached out to remove a leaf from Koizumi's shoulder, then patted him on the back. "Koizumi-san, you've worked hard, go take a rest!"

  Koizumi stepped forward with both feet, then loudly said, "Commander, I was incompetent in command, resulting in the death of an entire squad of soldiers at the hands of the Chinese, please punish me!"

  "Haha, this isn't your fault!" Island Motomasa said with his right hand pinching the tip of his left hand's white glove. "I've carefully examined everything that has happened since the start, and I found that this army is either the strongest one I've encountered so far or at least on par with our Kanto Army's elite special forces - the Nobunaga Corps!"

  "What?!"

  All the officers of the second unit present were shocked, they knew too well the terror of Nobunaga's unit, it could be said to be a group of devils!

  Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese daimyo who lived during the Sengoku period and is best known for his role in the unification of Japan. He successfully controlled the central region of Honshu, which included the Kinai region, making the Oda clan one of the most powerful clans in late Sengoku Japan. Due to his cruel and ruthless nature, he was also known as the "Sixth Heaven Demon King".

  Nobunaga's Special Forces, the fact that it can be named this way shows that the creator of this special forces is a hardline militarist who hopes to achieve great achievements through bloodshed and slaughter.

  Those selected for the Special Attack Units were mostly elite members of the Japanese Army, or those with special skills. These individuals were concentrated in a secret base and underwent almost cruel training. Often, out of 100 people who went to participate in the training, fewer than 20-30 could successfully come out alive, with an elimination rate of up to 70%.

  In the Kwantung Army of Japan, whenever the Shinpuku Special Attack Corps is mentioned, soldiers have a complex feeling of reverence and fear. This special forces corps not only carries out missions such as assassination, raids, and infiltration against enemies with cold-bloodedness but also shows no mercy when dealing with targets within their own country or even within the Kwantung Army itself.

  It's now said that the opposing team's combat strength is comparable to that of the terrifying Nobunaga Special Forces, and all the officers of the second battalion are half-believing and half-doubting, thinking that their battalion commander is exaggerating.

  It seems that he noticed the doubts of the people, and Shimamoto Masakazu beckoned to everyone, then came to the front of Kawashima's corpse, who was killed by Luo Xiang, stretched out his hand and pointed at his body, saying "What do you see?"

  All the Japanese officers carefully observed and found that except for a bullet hole on the head of Kawashima, who was shot dead, they couldn't find any other clues.

  Shimamoto let out a sigh and then said, "You see, Kawashima was shot dead by someone 400 to 500 meters away. The opponent didn't use the Czech-style rifle equipped by the Northeast Army, but a special-caliber rifle!"

  "So, Captain, what model of gun is this person using?" someone asked.

  Shimamoto shook his head and said, "I don't know, as far as I can remember, there hasn't been such an advanced rifle in the world so far?"

  "But that doesn't necessarily mean he's a special forces member of the Chinese army, maybe he's just a godly marksman with a modified rifle!" Someone raised a different objection, seemingly overturning Shimamoto Seiichi's conjecture.

  Shimamoto Masakazu didn't look displeased at all, but rather seemed pleased, "Hmm, you guys have started thinking, and what you're saying seems to make some sense, however..."

  As he spoke, he pointed to the other corpses, a dense mass on the ground, "Look at the wounds of these people, and you will find that most of them died from weapons with similar performance to those used by that person, and it wasn't one person, but a group!"

  "What does this mean?"

  Everyone fell silent, and Shimamoto immediately made a conclusion. "This shows that this team is not the Northeast Army's 7th Brigade stationed in Beidaying, but a mysterious special forces team!"

  Perhaps others may not believe it, but Shimamoto Masakazu was quite certain that this was a special forces unit, for he had once been a member of the Nobunaga Special Assault Team, and had only been transferred here to serve as commander due to necessity.

  From the opponent's way of fighting and equipment, he smelled a strong special forces flavor, extremely exquisite special forces skills, flexible and changeable, unpredictable, like a goat hanging its horns, leaving no trace to be found!

  "Looks like a formidable enemy!" Shimamoto Seiichi muttered to himself, but his excitement outweighed his worries. "But this is good, with an opponent like this, the game will be even more fun, hahahaha!"

  Next, Shimamoto gave the order to suspend the attacking troops and regroup, waiting for the other two battalions of the Independent Guard Brigade to arrive before making further plans.

  Although dissatisfied with the suspicious behavior of the battalion commander, his officers still strictly executed orders and suspended the attack, waiting for the arrival of the other two battalions.

  …………

  Time passed minute by minute and second by second. At this time, more than four hours had passed since the devils launched the Liutiaohu Incident at 7 o'clock on the evening of the 18th.

  During this period, the Kwantung Army headquarters in Japan received a call from the Independent Guard Brigade and immediately convened an emergency meeting. Commander Honjō Shigeru and his subordinates discussed and analyzed the phenomenon of more than 9,000 Northeastern Army troops fleeing without fighting at Beidaying, feeling that this was an opportunity for the Kwantung Army to take a tougher stance and launch a comprehensive campaign to expel the Northeastern Army from Manchuria.

  The Kwantung Army Headquarters decided to launch a comprehensive attack on the three northeastern provinces, attacking various cities such as Fengtian, Changchun, Harbin and Jinzhou, engaging in all-out combat.

  For a time, the Japanese war machine roared into high gear, with one detachment after another of the crack Kwantung Army troops bursting out of their garrisons and racing towards the Northeastern Army's positions.

  As for Luo Xiang and Duan Ying, Cheng Tianlei and others who were in the Beidaying camp, the Kwantung Army headquarters didn't take them seriously. In their view, the desperate resistance of these few hundred people would have no effect, so they just ordered the three battalions of the Independent Guard Brigade to join forces to annihilate them. The ambition of the Kwantung Army General Staff was to control the entire Northeast, and then occupy Beijing and Tianjin, and eventually all of China.

  Although the Japanese army did not attach great importance to the resistance of these hundreds of people in Beida Camp, they still dispatched the first detachment of Ogawara Hiroshi and the third detachment of Iwata Fumio to rush to support the second detachment of Shimamoto Masakazu.

  In this way, the two crack Japanese troops rushed to the North Camp, and if the three troops merged, the total number would exceed 3,400, which was several times that of Luo Xiang's team.

  The situation seems even more severe!

  …………