Chapter 28: The Furious Tōjō Hideki in the Defense of Xinghe County

  After the battle, Wang Hansheng ordered his troops to retreat immediately. By the time Japanese reinforcements arrived, all that was left were corpses scattered all over the ground and mountain gun parts strewn about everywhere.

  "What did you say, Nani? The Chinese troops launched a surprise attack on the artillery position, and the entire Ito and Aoki detachments annihilated themselves?" Commander Tōjō Hideki of the Chahar Expeditionary Force was extremely shocked and asked the reporter.

  "Hai, yes sir. Commander, I just received a telegram from Honda Taisha. When they arrived, the Chinese had already retreated. The entire Ito and Aoki detachments annihilated themselves, not one survived!" The communications officer replied with a bow.

  "Hah! This is impossible, how could the Chinese possibly annihilate two artillery battalions and one infantry company of the Great Japanese Empire in such a short period of time? This is impossible!" Tōjō Hideki bellowed.

  Seeing the commander's ferocious expression, all the officers in the command center couldn't help but shiver. Sakei Tōji, a lieutenant general on the side, spoke up: "Commander, it is not impossible to annihilate two artillery battalions and an infantry company of the Great Japanese Empire in a short period of time, but it is absolutely not in Shanbei, let alone here. According to the intelligence from the Tokko Department, there are no regular Chinese troops near Tianzhen except for Li Fuchen's 61st Army. This matter may have other circumstances, and I think the command center should send out a search party to investigate while ordering Commander Honda to return to the command center to report on the situation."

  "Yo, immediately dispatch a battalion search party to the north for firepower reconnaissance. Also, immediately contact the Pingtian detachment of the Xinping fortress and have Honda return to headquarters to report."

  "Hi!"

  Soon, a Japanese army major in his forties hastily returned to headquarters.

  "Humble officer, Commander of the 1st Regiment of the 2nd Mixed Brigade, Hontani Shin'ichi, has arrived as ordered. Please instruct, Your Excellency!"

  "Honda, what's the situation with the artillery positions? Report quickly!" shouted Tōjō Hideki.

  "Hai! Commander, forty minutes ago we received a call from headquarters and immediately rushed to the artillery position. Twenty-five minutes later, I and an infantry battalion arrived at the artillery position, but the battle was already over, the Chinese had retreated, and the Imperial Army's artillery position was completely destroyed. The Ito Battalion, Aoki Battalion, and Infantry Third Company were all annihilated."

  "What kind of person does this?" Toujou Enji asked in a furious tone.

  "Is it the Chinese army?"

  "Hakka, I want to know which Chinese army it is and who the commander is. I will annihilate them all and use their heads as an offering to the spirits of our imperial heroes." Tojo shouted angrily.

  "Commander, the troops that raided our artillery position are a group of about 800 men wearing strange yellow and green uniforms. They're heavily equipped with mortars. However... however..." replied Honda Shin'ichi.

  "Come on, don't be hesitant, just say it quickly!"

  "Commander, we've just surveyed the battlefield and found that although the entire artillery battalion was annihilated in relation to the Chinese forces, the main reason was actually due to the self-detonation of their own ammunition which triggered the explosion." replied Shin'ichi Honda.

  "Higa, didn't those two fools Ito and Aoki do it according to the Imperial Artillery Manual? Didn't they know that the ammunition depot can't be too close to the big gun?" Tojo shouted.

  "Hai, according to the heavily wounded soldier's account, the Chinese artillery blew up the piled-up shells in the center of the position, causing a massive explosion. More than 800 artillerymen and all the guns were destroyed. The Chinese only had to sweep the battlefield after entering the position." answered Shin'ichi Honda.

  "Hah! Ito and Aoki, those two bastards are good for nothing, they don't deserve to be artillery officers. And you're the same, the Chinese have already arrived at our doorstep, yet you don't even know the enemy's unit number, all of you are useless!" Tojo Hideki shouted in anger.

  "Ah, yes!" In the face of Commander Tonda's anger, Honda Shin'ichi and others could only lower their heads in submission.

  "Reporting to Commander, the 5th platoon of Heita's unit in Heibao has lost contact." The communications officer reported.

  "It must be those mysterious Chinese who did it!" said Lieutenant General Sakai Kōji in a low voice.

  "Has the search party set out?" This time, Tōjō Hideki did not get angry. He knew that the infantry squad in Shinpeibao was probably doomed. As a high-ranking military officer, Tōjō Hideki still had the quality of a soldier.

  "Report to the Commander, they have departed. It is the direct-affiliated motorized infantry company of the army corps and the 2nd battalion of the 3rd regiment of the Imperial Guard Cavalry Division. I think there will be results soon." answered Sakai Kōji.

  "Commander, a telegram has arrived from the search party. They have discovered large-scale fortifications built by the Chinese army along the Shifosi Temple line, and also found a large number of Chinese troops." The signalman stood up again to report.

  "Nani, Sekibutsu-ji?" Tōjō Hideki quickly looked it up on the 1/300,000 map, and soon his face turned extremely ugly.

  "Alas, the Japanese have already arrived right under our noses, and we still know nothing about it, alas the road!"

  "How many Chinese troops are there? Have the search party report back immediately!" Lieutenant General Sakai Koji's face was equally unsightly, they had just found the small place of Sekibutsu-ji Temple on the map.

  They didn't know until they saw these high-ranking Japanese military officers, who suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. They were less than 15 kilometers away. At such a close distance, yet they had not detected anything, what kind of danger was this?

  "Reporting to the Commander, the search team has sent a telegram. There are over 1,000 Shina troops on the front line of the Stone Buddha Temple, and apart from the blue sky white sun flag of Shina, there is also a flag with a wolf head painted on it, with the number of this Shina troop." The reporter stood up to report.

  "What is the number of the Chinese army?" Tōjō Hideki asked hastily.

  "Xinghe County Security Team!"

  "Nani, are you saying that the security troops are doing the job? Not the regular Chinese army?" asked Tōjō Hideki in surprise.

  "Hey, on the battle flag of the Chinese people is indeed written Xinghe County Security Regiment."

  "Hachiko, the security unit actually dared to launch an attack on our Great Japanese Imperial Army, and even destroyed two artillery battalions and a infantry company. What a shame! A great shame! Honda, order your troops to counterattack immediately, you must annihilate this damn security unit, not a single one can be left alive." Tojo Hideki gave the order in anger.

  "Hi!"

  When Dongtiao Yingji was furious, Chenfeng's side was overjoyed. Before Wang Hansheng had time to respond, he heard the voice of the intelligent spirit: "Annihilate the Japanese infantry battalion, the host wins the title of Battalion Terminator and is rewarded with a lottery draw; Annihilate two Japanese artillery battalions, the host wins the title of Battalion Terminator and is rewarded with a lottery draw; Eliminate over a thousand Japanese soldiers, the host wins the title of Thousand-Man Slayer and is rewarded with a lottery draw! Does the host want to conduct the lottery immediately?"

  "No!"

  "Host choosing save data, saving data...data saved."

  Chen Feng didn't expect that in less than a day and night, he would get four chances to draw lots. Grandma's, it seems that eliminating the little devils isn't too difficult after all.

  "Commander, we've won a great victory! The three battalion commanders have returned, and they've annihilated two Japanese artillery battalions and an infantry company, over 1,000 enemy troops. Our casualties are less than 100 men." Regimental Chief of Staff Yang Yixi rushed in with a joyful smile on his face to report.

  "Haha, Wang Hansheng did a good job! Let's go and welcome them." Chen Feng said, walking out of the temporary command center with big strides.

  "Report to the commander, Security Regiment 1 Battalion 3 Company has successfully completed its mission, destroying the Japanese artillery position and annihilating two Japanese artillery battalions and one infantry company. Our army suffered 32 deaths and 77 injuries, with a total of 109 casualties. Please instruct." Wang Hansheng reported.

  "Very good, your three battalions have done a great job this time, but now is not the time to discuss merits and rewards. The little devils' nature is to seek revenge, they will soon find their way here, your battalion must immediately enter the front-line position." Chen Feng said.

  Yes

  Soon, a Japanese army motorized infantry company and more than 200 puppet cavalrymen appeared on the front line of Shifo Temple.

  Shifo Temple is not just a single temple, but a small village. The village has a relatively small temple with several large stone carvings of Buddha statues, hence the name Shifo Temple.

  The entire village of Shifo Temple was built on the mountain, a five-meter-wide stone road divided the whole village into two parts, which is the only way from Tianzhen to Xinghe.

  Chen Feng ordered the troops to build defensive fortifications along the mountain, and the entire front-line position consisted of flank positions on both sides of the mountain slope and a frontal position outside the village. Chen Feng set up the forward command post with the security battalion headquarters in the village.

  "Commander, Wang Hansheng called to say that the 3rd Battalion has all entered the reserve position. He placed one infantry company on each of his left and right flanking positions, and also placed one company in the front position. In addition, he and the battalion headquarters as well as the guard platoon are serving as the reserve force." Yang Yi reported as he came in.

  "Have the artillery regiment and machine gun regiment reached their designated locations?" Chen Feng asked.

  "The artillery battalion has already built its position behind the mountain and can support the infantry battle at any time. The machine gun company also divided into three according to the commander's order, supplementing the three battalions."

  "Chief of Staff, tell Wen Hao that we will relocate our position every 20 minutes to avoid being discovered by the Japanese air force and retaliated against. We currently do not have anti-aircraft weapons and cannot deal with those Japanese warplanes, let them worry about it themselves."

  Yes

  "In addition, let the guard regiment, reconnaissance regiment and logistics regiment make preparations. If the battle ahead does not go smoothly, they will immediately reinforce as the reserve force of the entire army."

  Yes

  This was the first time that the Security Regiment and the Japanese army had engaged in a face-to-face battle, and Chen Feng was very worried. On the one hand, it was because the Japanese army was indeed very powerful, and once they put aside their underestimation of the enemy, the little devils were still very formidable, after all, in terms of individual soldier quality, the Security Regiment's warriors were slightly inferior.

  In addition, the Japanese army was also much stronger than the security team in terms of heavy firepower, with not only aircraft and artillery but also a large number of tanks, while the security team did not have anti-tank guns or other heavy weapons to counter the Japanese tanks, which was also one of Chen Feng's major concerns.