Chapter Thirty-One: The Frantic Terauchi Juichi

Old Yan stamped his feet in frustration, his heart heavy with regret; it was all ruined now!

...

Changzhi was immersed in a sea of joy that night. Almost everyone was celebrating the great victory the New First Division had achieved during the day. For the past two months, they had heard nothing but tales of how formidable the Japanese devils were and how many casualties the Great Xia army had suffered. Today, however, they had finally vented their pent-up rage. How could the local people not be overjoyed? Many restaurants in Changzhi even began distributing free food to commemorate the triumph.

Faced with Old Yan’s underhanded tactics, Liu Jianguo immediately held a press conference upon Li Yunlong’s return. He did not bother to clarify the smears against him; instead, he simply showed the crowd three items: a corpse, a cavalry saber, and a flag.

Most of the journalists who dared to remain at the front lines were well-versed in the situation between Great Xia and the Japanese. Although the corpse was somewhat mutilated, its face was still recognizable. Coupled with the mustard-yellow uniform bearing the rank of Colonel, some in the crowd immediately identified the body: Sakata Nobutetsu!

The cavalry saber, with its distinctive orange tassel at the hilt, was also recognized by sharp-eyed observers. It was a saber that only members of the Japanese Imperial family were entitled to wear! In the Southern Shanxi region, there was only one Japanese officer qualified to carry that blade: Heidao Morita of the Heidao Cavalry Regiment.

As for the final item, the flag, no one present could possibly mistake it. It was the regimental flag of a Japanese infantry regiment! The chrysanthemum crest emblazoned upon it was exceptionally striking.

Following this, Liu Jianguo displayed enlarged photographs that Li Yunlong had taken on the battlefield earlier that day: masses of Japanese corpses riddled with bullets, heaps of standard-issue Japanese equipment, and the mangled remains of warhorses.

That was it. No one cared about the nonsense Old Yan had spouted anymore! If the Japanese were to use an reinforced infantry regiment, a cavalry regiment, and a regimental flag—which was more precious than life itself—as bargaining chips to deceive the people of Great Xia, everyone present would have been willing to accept it.

Of course, such a thing was impossible!

During the victory parade that followed the press conference, the soldiers of the New Second Regiment, who were responsible for security, apprehended quite a few Japanese agents. Without exception, they had all received strict orders from Terauchi Juichi: the Sakata Regiment’s flag must be destroyed at all costs! Even in the dead of night, some Japanese operatives had tried to infiltrate the warehouse to destroy the flag, but before they could act, they were caught by Meng Fanliao, who had been lying in wait.

...

"Sakata Nobutetsu, you baka! Baka!!!"

The furious Terauchi Juichi could no longer count how many times he had cursed today. He had originally thought that losing the Sakata Regiment and the Heidao Cavalry Regiment was his greatest loss. He hadn't even finished dealing with the fallout regarding the Heidao family and the Imperial household when he realized the late Sakata Nobutetsu had left him with an even greater catastrophe. The Sakata Regiment’s flag had actually fallen into the hands of the Great Xia people. Since the founding of the Japanese Imperial Army, no regimental flag had ever been captured by the enemy—let alone one personally bestowed by the Emperor. If this matter was not handled well, Terauchi Juichi would likely be sent back to Hokkaido to dig potatoes!

"Bakayaro!!!"

Glaring at the accountability order just sent by the Japanese High Command, Terauchi’s rage, which had only just subsided, flared up again.

"Someone!"

"Hai!" A Japanese signalman appeared immediately.

"Have the combat supplies for two divisions gathered in Taiyuan, along with all chemical shells, sent to the front immediately!"

"Order the 109th Division, which is currently in a standoff with the Jin-Sui Army, to move to Southern Shanxi at once to reinforce the 108th Division!"

"I will destroy Changzhi in one fell swoop and wash away this disgrace!" After taking a deep breath, Terauchi added through gritted teeth, "And bring Yamamoto Ichiki and Takeshita Shun to me!"

...

It was past midnight, and the land of Shanxi was already shrouded in darkness. Under the cover of the night, dark shadows lay in ambush along a section of the Zhengtai Railway. Tan Ziwei lay beneath a hillside, observing the tracks with unwavering focus.

One must despise the enemy strategically but take them seriously tactically. Upon returning to the New Third Regiment's base, Tan Ziwei and Gu Zidi had gathered all the officers to conduct extensive tactical discussions. Liu Jianguo had been absolutely right.

Ambushing a Japanese supply train was not as simple as the railway guerrillas pulling apart tracks as seen in the dramas. It was not as easy as dismantling a rail and surrounding the train. Aside from regular freight trains, Japanese supply trains were always escorted by specialized armored trains. An armored train was not merely a wheeled armored vehicle with a few plates of iron attached; it was a true steel monster, known as a "land cruiser." Equipped with Type 14 100mm dual-purpose guns, large-caliber heavy machine guns, and Type 88 75mm anti-aircraft guns, they were formidable. Furthermore, being in occupied territory and guarded by over two hundred Japanese soldiers, they could easily hold out against a typical ambush until reinforcements arrived, potentially leading to a counter-encirclement of the Great Xia troops. That was exactly why few dared to target the Japanese supply trains.

Tan Ziwei licked his dry lips, a smirk curling on his face. "Fortunately, we received a batch of new equipment from logistics—this makes things much simpler!"

*Rumble, thud, clatter... Whoosh! Woooo...*

Hearing the sound of the train in the distance, Tan Ziwei suddenly looked up toward the north. Bathed in the moonlight, a conventional wheeled armored vehicle was slowly approaching the tracks. From time to time, Japanese soldiers shone flashlights to inspect the area around the railway. The mission of this armored vehicle was to scout the path, clearing the way for the armored train behind it by checking for hidden bombs or tampered rails.

Tan Ziwei had discovered a young soldier in his regiment named Shunliu who was an incredibly accurate marksman. He possessed natural night vision that allowed him to see as clearly in the dark as he could during the day. For this reason, Tan Ziwei had specifically included Shunliu among the eight hundred men chosen for this operation.

Positioned on a northern hill, Shunliu peered through his binoculars, scanning the armored train and the supply cars trailing behind it. Without turning his head, he spoke quietly into the radio carried by the signalman beside him.

"Confirmed. This is indeed the Japanese supply train."

Tan Ziwei, receiving the message, nodded. Tonight, he would let the Japanese see the true power of their New Third Regiment!

"Krupp, if you can take out that Japanese armored vehicle with one shot, I’ll give you three cans of beef when we get back!"