Chapter 65: The Devils Launch a Large-scale Mop-up Operation Again
"Matsumoto, I know you don't want to believe it, but this is the fact. I learned from the intelligence department that the commander of the Chinese army is Chen Shaoqin. He is a military expert who was sent by China to study at the Munich Military Academy in Germany and was once valued by the Chinese government. On his way back to China with several other team members on a special plane, he was discovered by our North China Dispatched Army's flying squadron and accurately hit the target. Only Chen Shaoqin escaped among the nine people on board; this man is not only good at sniping, but also excels in special operations and strategic deployment. His escape is a great enemy of our Great Japanese Empire, and our Imperial Army has been chasing him everywhere without success!" Nomura explained to Matsumoto.
He was too familiar with Chen Shaoqin, in his eyes, Chen Shaoqin was a man who never suffered losses. Every time he fought against Chen Shaoqin, the troops he led were either defeated or annihilated. This time, in pursuit of Chen Shaoqin, not only did he fail to capture him, but his army became smaller and smaller, even his own military rank was demoted to Da Wei because of Chen Shaoqin, otherwise, he wouldn't have appeared in front of this guy Song Tian being looked down upon.
"Chen Shaoqin!" Matsuda clenched his fist and slammed it heavily on his desk, "Baka, this is your incompetence! Do you know or not, because of your incompetence, the great Japanese Empire's warriors have suffered how many losses?!"
"Hey, I may have failed this time, but I guarantee that if you give me a battalion of Imperial troops, I'll be able to capture Chen Shaokuan!" Nomura was scolded by Matsuda and naturally felt resentful, but after all, Matsuda was his superior officer, so he couldn't say much in front of him. Therefore, he asked for permission to lead a unit out again and have a final showdown with Chen Shaokuan, and he didn't believe that Chen Shaokuan could really make himself unbeatable.
"Nomura, previously you lost an entire squad of Imperial soldiers under your command and didn't even bring back Chen Shaokan. Now you think you can catch him? Do you know what it means to brag in the military?" Hashimoto's words were piercing, and he immediately spoke up in front of Matsuda, looking at Nomura with a disbelieving expression.
"Hakka, are you doubting my abilities?" Nomura indignantly turned to face Matsumoto and shouted, "I swear on the honor of the Nomura family that if we can't eliminate Chen Shaohui this time, I'll commit seppuku in front of the Emperor's portrait!"
"The North China Expeditionary Army Headquarters has issued the latest order, requiring us to quickly eliminate the remaining Chinese enemy forces near our garrison as soon as possible, in order to launch a large-scale autumn sweep against the Chinese army in Yunwu Mountain. However, the troops stationed in Xuzhou are only one regiment of the Empire, and need to prevent the Chinese army from counterattacking outside the city, while also being responsible for eliminating anti-Japanese elements within the city. The military strength is limited, and I am only temporarily acting as the commander of this regiment. In a few days, Major General Hamada will arrive in Xuzhou to take over as the Commander-in-Chief of the Xuzhou City Defense. I don't want to use too much force at this time and affect the defense of Xuzhou. At least not before Major General Hamada arrives. Therefore, I can only give you two small teams of Imperial troops and one battalion of the Royal Collaborative Army, but you must guarantee me that you will eliminate Chen Shaocen's remnant bandits cleanly!" After some thought, Song Tian finally made a decision.
"Hai!" Nomura had been waiting for the day to avenge Chen Shaoqin for too long. After Yamamoto Taro was injured and demoted, he hadn't had the chance until now. Matsuda gave him two squads of Japanese soldiers and a battalion of puppet troops. This was naturally an opportunity that came once in a lifetime for him, so he didn't think twice before immediately agreeing, "I guarantee to complete the mission!"
"Alright!" Matsumoto saw Nomura's confident appearance and seemed to have gained some confidence. After all, Chen Shaoqin had also faced him head-on, and he hadn't gained any advantage, but instead lost a lot of troops. Therefore, he really admired Chen Shaoqin's tactical command. Now that Nomura was willing to take on this thorny character, he was overjoyed, which is why he gave Nomura these troops. "I wish you a triumphant return, I will personally report the battle report to the North China Expeditionary Army Command and ask for credit for you!"
"Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel!" After bowing, Nomura immediately turned around and walked away.
As Nomura left Matsuda's headquarters in Xuzhou, a large number of motorized vehicles such as motorcycles and cars were mobilized from the garrison location of the Xuzhou Kempeitai. A group of Japanese soldiers led by Nomura and Suzuki came to the blocking position in Xuzhou, because Nomura understood that only from here could he search for Chen Shaokuan's trail.
At the forefront of the position, Nomura led his troops to climb up the position full of shell holes, stopped and sniffed something in the air with his nose, which made Suzuki very confused. Suzuki walked to Nomura's side and asked: "Nomura-kun, why aren't you leading the team to search for Chen Shaobin's trail? What are you smelling here?"
"There's a smell of earth having been dug up!" Nomura concluded after a while, "I dare to say that Chen Shaoqin and the others must have done something here!"
"You few, dig open the mud on the edge of these trenches!" Suzuki heard Nomura say this and ordered the devils beside him to start doing things. He wanted to verify in the first time whether what Nomura said was true or not, after all, it was related to the big thing of finding Chen Shaoqin's whereabouts, he didn't dare to be careless.
"It's here! It really is here!" Several Japanese soldiers immediately threw off the soil covering the ground after hearing the order, and a large amount of bloodstains appeared before them. This made Nomura feel shocked and extremely contradictory joy. He was shocked that his speculation was correct, there had been a fight and killing here, and many people had died. From his own feelings, he could judge that these dead people had an inseparable relationship with him. On the other hand, he was also glad that his judgment was correct, because with this evidence, he could completely determine that Chen Shaobin had been here, and it wouldn't be far from them.
"Nomura, this is a Chinese army trench. It's no wonder there's blood!" Suzuki didn't think anything was wrong with that.
"That's right, there is blood on the battlefield, but it's not surprising that the blood was buried so deeply. It can't help but make people suspicious!" Nomura seemed to understand that everything wasn't as natural as Suzuki said. After all, all the bodies and blood on the battlefield were exposed outside, even if they were covered with dust blown up by explosions, it wouldn't be possible for them to be buried so deep. This was a clear case of trying to cover something up, a classic example of "protesting too much".
