Chapter 258: Not To Be Underestimated
The Brigade Commander did not answer the Staff Officer with words, but directly made it clear with action: “Fire for me!”
As the Brigade Commander gave the order, a squad’s patrol team pretended to patrol here, they discovered the Japanese Invaders and immediately took the lead in firing at the Japanese Invaders.
Of course, given that this small unit of Japanese Invaders had combat power that could not be underestimated, the squad’s patrol team did not directly show themselves and fight head-on.
Instead, after firing, they quickly relocated and sought cover.
Boom!
Boom!
The Japanese Invaders’ reaction was extremely fast; almost as soon as the squad’s soldiers had just relocated, several grenade launcher rounds accurately landed at the position where they had fired earlier.
Moreover, one soldier was a bit slow in his movements and was grazed by shrapnel, injuring his skin.
Seeing this situation, the Brigade Commander and the Staff Officer both instantly had their pupils contract.
Fast!
Really too fast!
The ones firing the grenade launchers were merely the Japanese Invaders’ vanguard; after being attacked, in just a few seconds, the grenade launchers’ counterattack arrived.
Moreover, it was fired so accurately.
This accuracy was like a muscle instinct, not even needing to aim; they directly loaded the cannonball and fired.
Soldiers with such formidable combat power— no wonder in the former Yang Village battle, Kong Jie was shaved two hundred to zero by the Bald One.
Not only was their reaction ability top-notch, but their combat power was also elite.
At the same time, the sudden exchange of fire also made Special Agent Captain Yamamoto Ichiki pause instantly.
He had not expected that even with the vanguard being so cautious, they still encountered the Eighth Route Army’s guerrilla team.
Although the opposing guerrilla team’s numbers were only one squad.
But here, as soon as they exchanged fire, the combat opportunity was gone.
This was just like when Yamamoto Ichiki had previously raided Daxia Bay; after fighting a regiment of the Eighth Route Army in Yang Village, going to Daxia Bay had no meaning.
Now it was the same; once they exchanged fire here, the special operations team was exposed.
The Eighth Route Army’s troops would continuously send reinforcements.
Although the special operations team had very strong combat power, the essence of special operations lay in surprise and precise hunting.
Not in fighting a war of attrition with large numbers of enemy troops.
“Baka, damn it!” Yamamoto Ichiki stomped his foot hard, but without hesitation, he decisively ordered: “Withdraw!”
On the Brigade Commander’s side, seeing Yamamoto Ichiki decide to withdraw in just a few seconds after the combat opportunity disappeared, he immediately ordered: “Cheng Xiazi, open fire for me!”
“Yes, Brigade Commander!” Cheng Xiazi nodded and immediately had the artillerymen open fire.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
……
The infantry gun and Hell Cannon roared together.
Cannonballs whistled down onto the heads of Yamamoto Ichiki’s special operations team.
The Yamamoto special operations team’s reaction was also very fast; they quickly dispersed.
Of course, no matter how fast their reaction, the Hell Cannon’s lethality was no joke.
After several explosions, over ten special operations team members were killed or wounded.
“Hurry and withdraw!” Taking advantage of the gap while reloading the cannonballs, Yamamoto Ichiki shouldered one of the wounded special operations team members and quickly retreated.
The other special operations team members also reacted extremely quickly, shouldering their wounded or fallen comrades and swiftly following Yamamoto Ichiki’s footsteps.
By the time the Brigade Commander was preparing to fire again, this group of Japanese Invaders had already run over the hill; bombarding again would have no meaning.
Cheng Xiazi was directly dumbfounded: “Brigade Commander, are these people? It feels like they aren’t human at all; their reaction ability and speed are too fast. Once they find themselves at a disadvantage, they don’t entangle at all and quickly disengage.”
A troop this elite.
Even if they were surrounded, completely annihilating them would probably not be easy.
Only by preparing sufficiently in advance and covering them with artillery fire.
The Staff Officer also had a solemn expression: “In the past, they fought an encounter battle with Regiment Commander Kong and still took out two hundred of Regiment Commander Kong’s men. Now, if not for your order not to engage them head-on, Brigade Commander, our casualties probably wouldn’t have been much better than Regiment Commander Kong’s.”
“Let’s go, we’ll go take a look.” The Brigade Commander suppressed the shock in his heart and walked out from the hiding place.
“Brigade Commander, aren’t you afraid this group of Japanese Invaders might return? How about scouting first.” Some Staff Officer was uneasy about letting the Brigade Commander go directly.
“This Japanese Invaders’ commander is no ordinary man; he knows what exposure means, and since he quickly slipped away, he won’t return.” The Brigade Commander said as he strode over.
The Brigade Commander arrived at the shelled area and saw that not even a single hair of the Japanese Invaders was left here… well, except for footprints and bloodstains, this group of Japanese Invaders left nothing behind.
The Brigade Commander still sighed: “Although this group of Japanese Invaders is extremely hateful, one has to admit their soldiers’ battlefield qualities are truly exceptional. Who knows when we can produce such a troop.”
Although the Brigade Commander recognized this unit’s powerful combat power, he could also figure it out.
Cultivating such an elite unit would probably not be that simple.
“Sigh, Brigade Commander, it’s still a bit of a pity.” Cheng Xiazi sighed on the side, “The death trap we set for this group of Japanese Invaders, they didn’t step into it.”
According to the original plan, the Japanese Invaders “accidentally” discovered the fake tungsten ore, and after passing the message to the main force via their radio, they would definitely continue leading the military dogs to track the scent.
And several kilometers away from here, the Brigade Commander had actually prepared sufficient artillery fire in advance.
As soon as this group of Japanese Invaders stepped into that area, they would be covered by artillery fire and blasted into cannon fodder.
Unfortunately, they discovered the buried things here but ignored them, choosing instead to continue tracking.
The Brigade Commander was forced to implement the backup plan.
That was to have the infantry gun and Hell Cannon, with pre-set firing angles, open fire.
The purpose of this pre-set artillery was mainly not to kill the Japanese Invaders, but to blast openings in the ground.
The fake tungsten ore buried below was blasted out, scattering into the Japanese Invaders’ pockets or onto their bodies; when they carried it back and examined it slightly, they would discover that the black sand in their pockets and on their bodies was no ordinary thing.
Once the Japanese Invaders quickly analyzed that this was tungsten ore, their main force would immediately swarm over.
This way, the Brigade Commander’s goal of using fake tungsten ore to attract the Kumamoto Division’s sweeping army would truly be achieved.
“On the battlefield, there’s no such thing as absolutes.” The Brigade Commander quickly adjusted his emotions and said: “The Japanese Invaders will soon have a big move; you also hurry and have the transportation team come to dig.”
Cheng Xiazi’s words were indeed quite regrettable.
But there was no way; this Japanese Invaders’ commander was no pushover, and he didn’t fall for it at all.
In this first clash, the Brigade Commander also witnessed this man’s prowess.
The Brigade Commander’s fighting spirit still rose.
If I can’t get you this time, next time, I don’t believe you can still escape!
“Yes, Brigade Commander.” The Staff Officer nodded.
Having the transportation team come to dig was naturally also for the Japanese Invaders to see.
After all, the Japanese Invaders knew we buried something here, guarded by Hell Cannon; they could easily guess that important supplies were buried here.
Soon, they would use the radio to call reconnaissance aircraft here.
When the Japanese Invaders’ reconnaissance aircraft came and saw our transportation team hurriedly digging and transferring things, and then analyzed the black sand scattered in Yamamoto Ichiki’s team members’ pockets, it wouldn’t be hard for them to judge that what was buried on Yang’er Mountain was the tungsten ore we seized from the military train.
……
Yamamoto Ichiki led the special operations team to successfully disengage from the danger and arrived at an uninhabited secluded spot for a brief rest.
The military doctor hurriedly treated the wounded; Yamamoto Ichiki said to the radio operator: “Immediately send a telegram to Army Aviation: Yang’er Mountain is suspected to have important supplies buried by the Eighth Route Army! Send them Yang’er Mountain’s coordinates and have them dispatch reconnaissance aircraft to reconnoiter Yang’er Mountain immediately.”
“Yes, Colonel.” The radio operator quickly organized Yamamoto Ichiki’s words into code, corresponding to the codebook, and rapidly transmitted.
A team member came before Yamamoto Ichiki: “Colonel, this is still a bit strange; our vanguard clearly scouted no enemies, yet the enemies seemed to appear suddenly, and they had heavy cannon prepared in advance, with the heavy cannon pre-aimed at us— it looks too unreasonable.”
“On the battlefield, there’s no such thing as reasonable or unreasonable.” Yamamoto Ichiki shook his head and said: “Since there are important supplies buried by the Eighth Route Army there, their defenses are definitely extraordinary; no matter how careful our vanguard was, they would surely be discovered. As for how they were discovered, that’s not important.”
Immediately after, Yamamoto Ichiki said: “What’s important is that they used heavy cannon to protect it, so this batch of supplies is definitely not ordinary.”
“Colonel, what supplies could it be?” The team member judged, “Machinery and equipment robbed by the Eighth Route Army from us, or military industrial raw materials?”
“If I’m not mistaken, it’s military industrial raw materials!” Yamamoto Ichiki stated firmly.
“What military industrial raw materials are worth the Eighth Route Army going to such…” The team member didn’t finish, his eyes suddenly widening round: “Colonel, could it be the strategic metal tungsten ore lost from our military train?”
“See what’s in your pocket.” Yamamoto Ichiki pointed at the team member’s pocket.
Yamamoto Ichiki had noticed this detail on the withdrawal route.
He saw the black sand particles scattered in his pocket, so he quickly made a short stop here, then had the radio operator urgently send a telegram to Army Aviation to have reconnaissance aircraft reconnoiter.
As long as the reconnaissance aircraft spotted the Eighth Route Army hurriedly digging and transferring things, it could basically be confirmed.
Of course, the reason for using “basically” was that Yamamoto Ichiki still needed to quickly find a military industry expert for final confirmation.
The team member felt his pocket and took out some scattered black sand particles.
These black sand particles were clearly not ordinary sand at a glance; the team member was moved and surprised: “Team Member, this is probably tungsten ore; this is most likely the tungsten ore lost from our military train. No wonder the Eighth Route Army’s defenses were so tight, no wonder they prepared heavy cannon in advance for protection— turns out tungsten ore was buried there.”
Immediately after, the team member said: “Then hurry and send a telegram to Kumamoto Division Commander to have him rush to Yang’er Mountain immediately.”
“The radio has only one unit; after the telegram to Army Aviation is sent, then send to Kumamoto Division Commander and Commander Shinozuka respectively.” Yamamoto Ichiki wanted to send to all at once, but there was no way; with only one radio, they had to send one by one.
“That’s true.”
The scene was very quiet; no one spoke, only the beeping of the transmitter.
The atmosphere also seemed a bit off.
The operation to track by leading military dogs with scent failed, but they unexpectedly seemed to have discovered the tungsten ore robbed by the Eighth Route Army; this could also be considered a twist of fortune.
