At dusk, at the entrance of a village abandoned due to war at the foot of Yanshan Mountain, Colonel Hattori Jiro, the commander of the 14th Brigade, held his saber in both hands, facing the cold wind blowing from Yanshan Pass, and stared at the 1st Brigade with a stern look.
The dejected officers and soldiers were winding their way from the mountains.
He looked coldly at the hundreds of corpses and a few wounded people being carried by the team. His thick lips were tightly closed, and the veins on his forehead were prominent. However, his short and fat body contained an inexplicable aura that seemed to burst out at any time.
And out.
The surrounding air seemed to have been condensed by coldness and chill. The officers lowered their heads and did not dare to make a sound. They did not dare to peek at the swollen and swollen cheeks of Major Osamu Hasegawa, the captain of the 1st Battalion.
The corners of the mouth that are constantly bleeding.
That was the masterpiece left by the brigade commander after dozens of slaps.
Your Excellency, the brigade commander, was angry, and very angry.
Anyone who knows him well knows that this is a sign that the violent army commander wants to kill someone.
Just ten days ago, in a small village in Rehe, when a sergeant was enjoying a village woman, her husband, an honest country farmer, used a hoe to cut off half of the Tianling Gai. The same happened to the Colonel.
The veins appear on the tightly closed lips.
He first ordered all the soldiers in the sergeant's squad to slap each other dozens of times, and then issued an order to massacre the village.
All the more than two hundred civilians in this Chinese village, from the elderly to the infants, were all massacred.
The entire village was also burned to the ground.
It is as if this village in Rehe Province in northern China has never existed.
But obviously, the anger of the brigade commander this time has far exceeded the last time. This time, hundreds of soldiers turned into cold and stiff corpses.
Captain Hasegawa Osamu stood with his head bowed respectfully, letting the blood flowing from the corner of his mouth drip on the land covered with thin snow, spreading into a small piece of pink snow mist, just like the cherry blossoms blooming in April in Imperial Kyoto.
But now his heart was beating wildly and uncontrollably. He knew that if he was not careful now, he would be ordered to have a caesarean section to apologize.
Two squadron captains and four squad captains under his command were killed in the battle, and two other squad captains were lying on stretchers, not knowing whether they were alive or dead. The only scapegoat was himself. At this time, he could only wait uneasily for the brigade commander.
Your decision.
"Apologise to His Majesty the Emperor!" These words were stuck in Colonel Jiro Hattori's throat and he almost wanted to burst out, but he held back several times.
It wasn't that he didn't want to, but now that he looked at Hasegawa's swollen face like a pig's head, he suddenly felt murderous. It was this idiot's arrogance that ruined two entire squadrons of imperial soldiers.
Two squadrons!
There are more than 360 strong and brave Hokkaido warriors. Now, including those who have escaped and those who are still lying on stretchers with their lives uncertain, there are only 32 left. It can be said that the 1st and 3rd troops of the 1st Brigade of the 14th Imperial Brigade are left.
This squadron has been wiped out as an organic whole.
How can he not hate, how can he not want to vent his anger.
However, after losing hundreds of officers and soldiers, if another captain is asked to perform a caesarean section to apologize, how can he explain to the military?
This is the first day of departure. Not to mention attacking Lengkou Pass, how to reach Lengkou Pass safely has become a problem.
He now finally understood that the Chinese army on the opposite side was no longer some stragglers of the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army, but a force he had never seen before.
They have very strong tactical literacy and very sophisticated equipment. The most important thing is that although they have always used sneak attacks, which seem to be just harassment tactics, they have grasped the rhythm of the battlefield very accurately. They will attack the 3rd Squadron first.
Fighting the 1st Squadron again, the timing of the two ambushes was perfectly controlled, giving people the feeling of smooth flow.
This kind of sneak attack tactics with the effect of annihilation made Jiro Hattori feel angry and secretly frightened. If he still marched according to the previous plan, how much price would he have to pay to reach Lengkou Pass as scheduled?
He didn't expect that what he thought was a small trouble before would now turn into a big trouble.
First of all, the plan of the entire brigade to arrive at Lengkou Pass tomorrow is no longer possible. It is getting late now. According to the performance of the well-trained Chinese army, if I march overnight according to the original plan, I am afraid that I will be attacked.
Sneak attacks would be more frequent and violent than during the day, and he himself rejected the idea of camping in the Yanshan Mountains for the night.
Today we can only spend the night around this village, and the wounded have to be sent to the Chengde base camp overnight. Otherwise, God knows how many of the dozen wounded will still be breathing after dawn tomorrow.
He could almost imagine how furious the division commander would be when he heard the news about his unfavorable start. He knew that he had no way out.
If he cannot overcome Lengkou Pass in a short period of time and use his military exploits to wash away his shame, the situation he will face later will be even worse than that of Osamu Hasegawa, a pig-headed idiot who is currently anxious.
Thinking of this, the anger in his heart was weakened a lot by the analysis just now.
"Mr. Hase, go back and appease the troops. Let the soldiers have a good night's rest. Everyone can share a glass of sake during dinner. Tomorrow, I will level this mountain range and wash away your shame."
Upon hearing this, Major Osamu Hasegawa secretly let out a long sigh, immediately stood up and nodded and said: "As commanded, Your Excellency, Brigade Commander, please let the 1st Brigade of the Beijing Brigade be the vanguard tomorrow morning. The Beginning Brigade and the 1st Brigade will never let you down.
"
…
In the distance, Gao Xiaoshan, observing the Japanese army from afar through the afterglow of dusk, sighed slightly and said: "It's a bit difficult to handle at night."
After that, he handed the binoculars to Uncle Ma.
Uncle Ma observed for a while and said: "These little devils are really smart. They dug two defensive positions in just one night camp and lit a bonfire 100 meters in front. It's hard to get close!"
This is the strength of the Japanese army during this period. The camping and marching of any unit are strictly in accordance with the provisions of the infantry drill. No matter where the camp is camped, at least two or more rings must be dug around the camp.
For defensive positions, a bonfire or barbed wire fence is also set up about 100 meters in front of the frontmost position.
Moreover, there are countless open and hidden sentries on the periphery. Each brigade consists of several squadrons that rotate to perform security tasks.
The advantage of this arrangement is that the outermost position is also in darkness. You can't see the target clearly even if you want to shoot with a black gun. If you want to get close for a sneak attack, you will be discovered by distant bonfires or various light and dark sentries, making it difficult to get close.