Chapter 281: Regretting Not Heeding Fujita Ichi’s Advice
Brigade Commander Kawashima and Lieutenant General Kitano Chuji led the troops to nearby Zhao Zhuang.
A Japanese vanguard ran over to report: “Report to Brigade Commander, Zhao Zhuang is ahead, and we’ve discovered a strange issue.”
“What strange issue?” Brigade Commander Kawashima asked.
“The road on the Zhao Zhuang side was originally destroyed, but somehow, the Eighth Route Army has repaired it again.” The Japanese vanguard answered.
Brigade Commander Kawashima was stunned upon hearing this: “Baka, what the hell is the Eighth Route Army doing?”
The road was clearly destroyed by you in advance, and now you’ve repaired it again. What kind of play is this?
It can’t be that you’re desperate for us to deliver the supplies to Kumamoto Division Commander sooner, so that the civilians can be released quickly, and your fellow villagers can suffer less?
Lieutenant General Kitano Chuji asked: “Have they scouted the areas behind Zhao Zhuang?”
“We’ve scouted everywhere, and found no trace of the Eighth Route Army.” The Japanese vanguard replied, “We’ve also checked carefully, and there are no traps or anything like that.”
“That’s really strange, what play is the Eighth Route Army putting on?” Lieutenant General Kitano Chuji and Brigade Commander Kawashima looked at each other, then fixed their gazes on Fujita Ichi’s face: “Mr. Fujita, what do you think of this?”
“There’s an old Chinese saying: anything unusual must have a demon behind it. The Eighth Route Army first destroyed the road, then repaired it, so they must have buried a conspiracy.” Fujita Ichi said directly, “I suggest bypassing Zhao Zhuang.”
Major General Kawashima looked down at the map and said: “If we take a detour, won’t that delay time? Kumamoto Division Commander is already fighting with over a dozen direct lineage divisions, we need to hurry.”
Fujita Ichi said: “The Eighth Route Army excels at tricks, and the less visible something is, the more dangerous it often is. If the troops get trapped here, that would be the most terrifying.”
“What do you think?” Major General Kawashima turned to look at Lieutenant General Kitano Chuji.
Lieutenant General Kitano Chuji thought for two seconds and said: “In China’s《Romance of the Three Kingdoms》, there’s a ploy called the Empty Fort Strategy. Zhuge Liang had no soldiers left and couldn’t defend the city, so he simply opened the gates, had the old and weak sweep the streets, and played the qin on the city wall, ultimately scaring off Commander Sima Yi’s army.”
Major General Kawashima looked at Lieutenant General Kitano Chuji: “You mean, the Eighth Route Army is deliberately laying a smokescreen?”
“The reconnaissance soldiers didn’t spot any issues, I estimate…” Lieutenant General Kitano Chuji’s words trailed off.
Fujita Ichi interrupted, looking at Major General Kawashima: “As I said, the less visible the issue, the more dangerous it is. I still suggest taking a detour.”
Lieutenant General Kitano Chuji said: “Not to mention the time delay for detouring, if we detour and similar situations arise later, how should we respond…”
“Enough, stop talking.” Major General Kawashima interrupted them, making up his mind: “No detour, we’ll go through Zhao Zhuang.”
Fujita Ichi wisely shut up and didn’t advise further.
The troops began marching on the repaired highway through Zhao Zhuang.
Of course, the Japanese weren’t fools; they stayed highly vigilant along the way, strictly guarding against sneak attacks.
But on this highly alert march, nothing happened.
Fujita Ichi muttered to himself: “This doesn’t feel right. The Eighth Route Army wouldn’t possibly help us speed up.”
The sun on the horizon slowly sank, and the sky gradually darkened.
The troops had just reached the Gourd Valley area.
What is Gourd Valley? It’s shaped like a gourd. Once the troops enter, seal the openings front and back, and the troops inside become turtles in a jar.
In short, this Gourd Valley is a natural ambush position!
Any commander with a bit of brains wouldn’t easily let the troops enter.
Looking at this Gourd Valley, Major General Kawashima’s expression was extremely vigilant: “Send people to quickly scout around and inside Gourd Valley to see if there are any Eighth Route Army ambushes.”
“Yes.” The Japanese reconnaissance soldiers quickly went to scout.
Lieutenant General Kitano Chuji said to Major General Kawashima: “General, night has fallen. Are you planning to camp here?”
“Yes.” Major General Kawashima nodded.
Even though Kumamoto Division Commander was fighting direct lineage divisions there, Major General Kawashima needed to rush these supplies over.
But the troops still needed rest when it was time to rest.
To maintain the troops’ combat power, food and sleep couldn’t be neglected.
“The Eighth Route Army definitely has a conspiracy, but it’s impossible for it to be so obvious, making us foolishly walk into Gourd Valley.” Lieutenant General Kitano Chuji questioned.
“Definitely not.” Major General Kawashima shook his head, “The Eighth Route Army’s plan wouldn’t be that simple. I’m no fool; I won’t put the troops in Gourd Valley, or else if the Eighth Route Army seals the openings front and back, my unit would become turtles in a jar.”
Soon, the reconnaissance soldiers returned one after another and reported to Major General Kawashima that there were no signs of Eighth Route Army activity inside or outside Gourd Valley, nor any ambush positions.
Major General Kawashima then ordered: “Have the troops camp outside Gourd Valley, and put the Chinese civilians inside the valley.”
In Major General Kawashima’s view, this Gourd Valley was simply a natural enclosure.
Put the Chinese civilians inside the valley, watch the openings from both sides, and they wouldn’t fear them sneaking away at night.
“What about our supplies? Should we put them into the gourd mouth as well?” Lieutenant General Kitano Chuji asked.
“Of course.” Major General Kawashima nodded and said, “But guard them well to prevent the Chinese civilians from sabotaging at night.”
“Yes.”
The Japanese army drove the civilians into the valley, placed the supplies there, and strictly guarded and watched.
The cooks quickly started cooking. The Japanese invaders and traitors, exhausted from the day, all got food, while the civilians in the valley could only go hungry.
Fujita Ichi checked inside the valley and found no abnormalities. He returned to Major General Kawashima: “General, shouldn’t we give these Chinese civilians some food? They’re hungry; how will they transport supplies and grain for us tomorrow?”
Major General Kawashima’s tone was very serious: “Supplies and grain are so precious; how could we give them to these Chinese people? There are plenty of Chinese people on this land anyway. Have the Puppet Army grab more in the latter half of the night. By dawn, it won’t delay the march.”
Fujita Ichi said no more, but still reminded: “General, the Eighth Route Army excels at night attacks. They’re likely to sneak attack tonight, so you still need to be careful.”
“As long as I haven’t foolishly stayed in Gourd Valley, the Eighth Route Army’s sneak attack is nothing to fear.” Major General Kawashima was quite calm.
“That’s true, but for some reason, I just feel something’s off.” Fujita Ichi thought to himself but didn’t say it out loud.
After eating, Fujita Ichi went to sleep and rest; after all, he’d been marching all day and was exhausted.
……
“Report to Brigade Commander Chen, just as you predicted, the Japanese army has taken our repaired highway.” A Guerrilla Captain came to report to the Brigade Commander, “And they arrived at Gourd Valley right at nightfall. Now they’re indeed camping outside Gourd Valley.”
Repairing the Zhao Zhuang highway was intended to speed up the Japanese advance, arriving at Gourd Valley right at dusk.
“Mm.” The Brigade Commander acknowledged and said, “At midnight, proceed according to plan. Everyone, go sleep and rest now.”
“Brigade Commander Chen, shouldn’t we scout again in advance to see if the Japanese have put the civilians and supplies into Gourd Valley?” a Guerrilla Captain asked.
“No need. That’s the natural warehouse I left for the Japanese; they’ll put the civilians and supplies into Gourd Valley.” The Brigade Commander waved his hand, “Remember, don’t act rashly now, or you’ll alert the enemy and cause trouble.”
“Yes, Brigade Commander.”
……
Time reached the early hours of midnight.
The guerrilla team and the troops brought by the Brigade Commander immediately acted according to plan.
That was to divide into several parts and launch a night attack on Major General Kawashima’s side.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
……
Artillery fire lit up the night, and Major General Kawashima’s troops on the periphery suffered fierce bombardment.
Major General Kawashima was jolted awake from his dream. Looking at the scene, he didn’t panic and calmly ordered: “No problem, the Eighth Route Army can’t break in. Block them according to plan.”
Then, Major General Kawashima calmly went back to sleep.
And sure enough, as Major General Kawashima expected, the Eighth Route Army’s artillery fire was fierce.
But it couldn’t tear open the defensive line at all.
Flares lit up the sky, turning the night as bright as day.
Whenever the Eighth Route Army troops tried to attack, they were as obvious as lice on a bald head and were quickly repelled by the Japanese troops.
Watching the scene, Fujita Ichi scratched his head, thinking: The Eighth Route Army clearly can’t break in, so why are they attacking? Is this a cover?
But what are they covering for?
Or maybe the Eighth Route Army just doesn’t want us to sleep well? Poor sleep means poor rest, low energy, declining combat power, then they’ll find an opportunity to attack?
But that doesn’t seem right either.
Why didn’t the Eighth Route Army start the night attack at dusk? Why wait until the middle of the night?
It wasn’t until the battle raged until 3 or 4 a.m. that intense gunfire and grenade explosions came from inside Gourd Valley.
Then Fujita Ichi suddenly woke up.
The Eighth Route Army’s night attack was definitely covering an operation in Gourd Valley.
But he’d already checked Gourd Valley; there was clearly nothing there.
By the time Fujita Ichi rushed to Gourd Valley, Major General Kawashima and Lieutenant General Kitano Chuji had also arrived.
At Gourd Valley, they witnessed a scene they’d never forget.
The Chinese civilians and most of the supplies in Gourd Valley were gone, and many places in Gourd Valley revealed cave openings.
No need to look; those were tunnels.
These weren’t newly dug tunnels; they’d been dug long ago.
The openings were camouflaged, probably done last year.
Dense grass had grown over them, no wonder they hadn’t spotted the clues.
Lieutenant General Kitano Chuji was shocked: “Did the Eighth Route Army foresee today’s action last year, so they dug the tunnels in advance? That’s too absurd.”
Fujita Ichi, having served in the Gendarmerie and seen similar files, said: “When troops went to clear them out below, they often trapped guerrilla teams in desperate straits, only for the guerrillas to miraculously disappear. The clearing teams carefully inspected the site and finally found escape tunnels dug in advance by the Eighth Route Army guerrillas. The tunnels in this Gourd Valley were dug in advance by the Eighth Route Army, probably for this purpose, as a backup escape route for emergencies. Originally meant as a rear escape, today they used it to rescue civilians and steal our supplies.”
“Baka, the caves inside have been blown up; can’t get in. But so many Chinese civilians couldn’t have gone far in a short time. Drive them out, search; we must find this exit, drag out all those damned Chinese people and kill them, and recover our supplies!” Major General Kawashima flew into a rage, ordering the troops to quickly attack.
Major General Kawashima’s troops’ combat power erupted fiercely; they were indeed no pushovers.
The Eighth Route Army troops outside suffered heavy casualties from the powerful firepower of the Japanese soldiers and finally retreated in defeat.
In the end, Major General Kawashima found the tunnel exit.
But the tunnel exit was a one-man pass impregnable to ten thousand; no matter how Major General Kawashima’s troops attacked, they couldn’t break through.
Finally, before dawn, the Eighth Route Army troops withdrew on their own.
Kawashima rushed over but found nothing.
“Baka, damn it, damn it, damn it!” Major General Kawashima angrily swung his commanding sword, slashing fiercely at the air like a madman.
Now, he suddenly woke up.
Fujita Ichi had been right after all.
The less visible the issue, the more serious the problem.
He regretted not listening to Fujita Ichi’s suggestion to bypass Zhao Zhuang.
Now not only were the supplies for Kumamoto Division Commander lost, but the remaining small portion wasn’t even enough for them.
“General, we don’t have much food left. We should quickly retreat to the nearby county town.” Fujita Ichi suggested.
“Go.” Major General Kawashima didn’t hesitate and immediately ordered a retreat to the nearby county town.
Of course, he also had the signal corps immediately send a telegram to the Commander: supplies lost.
……
“Sorry, folks, we Eighth Route Army couldn’t rescue you in time.”
Brigade Commander Chen’s eyes were red as he apologized to the civilians before him. Most had whip marks on their bodies from beatings by the Japanese invaders and traitors.
A small portion of civilians had forever closed their eyes.
“Comrade, don’t say that. You rescuing us is already a miracle.” The civilians had no blame; instead, many decided on the spot to join the troops to fight the Japanese.
“Folks, if you want to enlist and fight the Japanese, we Eighth Route Army welcome you, but now we still need to chase and kill the Japanese; we can’t let them off easy.” Brigade Commander Chen looked at these lovely people, his tone deadly serious, “You all go back first. After I properly deal with this bunch of Japanese, then we’ll arrange for you to enlist.”
“Alright, alright, we won’t delay you fighting the Japanese. Make sure to beat this bunch of Japanese invaders and traitors to death; don’t let those dog things off easy.” The civilians were understanding, gnashing their teeth at the mention of Japanese invaders and traitors.
“Good.” Brigade Commander Chen nodded, pointing to the supplies seized from the Japanese: “Take these supplies back and share them.”
“No, these are the troops’ things; how can we take them.” None of the civilians took any.
In the end, Brigade Commander Chen sent some soldiers to escort them back and forcibly gave them the supplies.
“Comrades, the folks are rescued. These Japanese invaders and traitors want to run? No way it’s that easy. Now they have little food left; the initiative is on our side.” Brigade Commander Chen’s expression turned cold, “We must drag them on the road at all costs, drag them until they’re completely out of food!”
“Go!” The Guerrilla Captains followed Brigade Commander Chen’s steps and quickly turned around.
