Chapter 286: The Tough Neck’s Weakness
“Li Yunlong, these Jin Sui Army guys are too shameless.”
Gao Liujin said angrily to Li Yunlong: “The 358th Regiment and 321st Regiment are sticking right by our side. Wherever we go, they follow. Won’t they just snatch food from our bowl then?”
The Jin Sui Army’s large force headed toward the Taiyuan rear area, while Li Yunlong’s troops lazily trailed behind, not in a hurry to act.
Meanwhile, the Jin Sui Army’s 358th Regiment and 321st Regiment troops were tailing them like plasters, making Gao extremely angry.
Li Yunlong was very calm: “Gao Liujin, why are you in such a hurry? I’m telling you, it won’t be long before they roll off on their own.”
“Roll off on their own? How?” Gao Liujin asked suspiciously.
These 358th Regiment and 321st Regiment are clearly planning to stick to us to the death.
“Just watch.” Li Yunlong didn’t explain.
……
Jin Sui Army 358th Regiment
“Regimental Commander, the Eighth Route Army troops are dawdling along. It looks like they’re really just watching and waiting,” Chief of Staff Fang Ligong said to Regiment Commander Chu Yunfei. “Could it be that our large force heading to the Taiyuan rear won’t go smoothly?”
“Hard to say. After all, this Shinozuka Yoshio little devil…” Chu Yunfei didn’t finish his words.
Ding-a-ling-ling!
The telephone on the table suddenly rang.
Chu Yunfei picked up the microphone: “This is Chu Yun…”
Chu Yunfei’s words were interrupted by the superior on the phone: “Chu Yunfei, have your 358th Regiment and the other 321st Regiment come over immediately to reinforce.”
Hearing the superior’s urgent order, Chu Yunfei still asked one more time: “Division Commander, what’s happened? Is something wrong?”
“This damned Shinozuka Yoshio used poison gas shells. A large number of our troops are besieged,” the Division Commander cursed. “Hurry over and link up with me to rescue the main force.”
Fortunately, Chu Yunfei’s division commander’s troops were reserves and hadn’t directly participated in the military action toward the Taiyuan rear.
Otherwise, they would be trapped right now too.
Hearing this, Chu Yunfei didn’t hesitate: “Yes, Division Commander. My unit and the 321st Regiment will come urgently right away.”
After the call ended, Chu Yunfei immediately shouted to the orderly: “Pass my order immediately: the 358th Regiment assembles urgently at once. Notify the 321st Regiment side too.”
“Yes.” The orderly hurried off to pass the order.
Fang Ligong quickly asked: “Regimental Commander, has something big happened with the main force heading to the Taiyuan rear?”
“This damned Shinozuka Yoshio used poison gas shells. The main force is trapped,” Chu Yunfei cursed. “The superior wants us to go reinforce immediately.”
“These damned little devils!” Fang Ligong jumped in anger.
Angry as they were, they still had to hurry to rescue the main force.
The 358th Regiment and 321st Regiment troops assembled quickly and set off in a hurry.
Seeing this scene, Gao Liujin immediately laughed: “Li Yunlong, you really nailed it. These Jin Sui Army 321st Regiment and 358th Regiment really rolled off quickly.”
Ding Wei came over and said to Li Yunlong: “Old Li, looks like the Jin Sui Army main force has taken a big loss.”
Although Ding Wei and Li Yunlong had sent people to scout intelligence at the Japanese Invaders’ Taiyuan rear, they hadn’t returned yet.
For now, they could only judge that the Jin Sui Army had taken a big loss, but exactly what kind was still unclear.
“Haste makes waste. The Jin Sui Army taking a big loss was something Old Li had foreseen long ago,” Li Yunlong said calmly, then with a tone of some surprise: “But even the 358th Regiment and 321st Regiment rushed over so quickly. Looks like the Jin Sui Army took a real hard hit.”
In Li Yunlong’s view, these 358th Regiment and 321st Regiment would roll off from his side sooner or later.
He just hadn’t expected them to roll off so fast and so urgently.
Meanwhile.
Li Yunlong still felt a bit fortunate in his heart.
Good thing they used Yan Kai to pull in the Jin Sui Army. The Jin Sui Army tested the depths of Shinozuka Yoshio for us.
Otherwise, we’d be the ones taking the loss now.
Gao Liujin gloated on the side: “Taking a big loss is good. These shameless Jin Sui Army who do despicable things deserve it!”
Ding Wei and Li Yunlong’s intelligence officers returned and quickly reported: “Regiment Commander, this Shinozuka Yoshio little devil used poison gas shells on a large scale. The Jin Sui Army suffered heavy losses and is besieged!”
Poison gas shells!
Hearing this term, Ding Wei and Li Yunlong immediately gritted their teeth in hatred.
They had already tasted the power of this thing before.
The inhumane Japanese Invaders using this kind of biological weapons was bullying them for lacking protection.
Fortunately, the Japanese Invaders hadn’t used many poison gas shells against them before. Otherwise, they would have been done for long ago.
But now!
The Japanese Invaders used a large number of poison gas shells against the Jin Sui Army. This was a very dangerous signal.
Shinozuka Yoshio had plenty of poison gas shells. Though the Taiyuan rear’s troops were weak, grabbing a share wouldn’t be that easy.
Unless!
Unless their Border Region Arsenal could provide gas masks in time.
Of course, that was nonsense.
Xiao Li’s side had no equipment at all. How could they provide any?
Gao Liujin cursed: “This damned Shinozuka Yoshio is going to ruin our chance to grab profits and get rich!”
Though Gao craved to go to the Taiyuan rear and grab a big haul, the words “poison gas shells” weighed him down. Even this fierce tiger had to lie low.
It was just like having no anti-aircraft weapons and having to cower on the ground like grandsons when seeing Japanese aircraft.
Immediately after, Gao Liujin looked at Li Yunlong: “Li Yunlong, should we pull back right away then?”
“Not yet.” Li Yunlong waved his hand and said: “We need to see if the Jin Sui Army can break out. If they can’t, we’ll still have to go help them.”
“Li Yunlong, we have no protective equipment. Facing the Japanese Invaders’ poison gas shells, how can we help?” Gao Liujin asked.
Li Yunlong turned to Ding Wei: “Old Ding, what do you think?”
“If the Jin Sui Army gets wiped out by the little devils, it’ll be a major blow to their strength. The situation in Northwestern Shanxi will be even tougher afterward. That’s the overall situation!” Ding Wei analyzed, then continued: “But the Jin Sui Army heading to the Taiyuan rear is still quite numerous. I reckon Shinozuka Yoshio used a lot of poison gas shells, but he probably doesn’t have many left. Chu Yunfei and them going to help should still be able to rescue the main force. Of course, if Chu Yunfei and them aren’t strong enough, then we go in.”
“Haha, makes sense, makes sense.” Gao Liujin burst out laughing immediately. “The Jin Sui Army’s army is huge. Shinozuka Yoshio must have consumed a ton of poison gas shells. He definitely doesn’t have many left. Absolutely not many. Haha.”
Shinozuka Yoshio not having many poison gas shells left—what did that mean?
It meant the Jin Sui Army main force could break out.
It meant their chance to get rich still existed.
Li Yunlong, Ding Wei, and Gao Liujin sent out reconnaissance soldiers to continue scouting the battlefield situation.
All three regiments were fully ready for combat.
Once battle was needed, they would charge without hesitation.
……
Taiyuan First Army Headquarters
“Your Excellency Commander, look, these are the battle results.”
The statistician handed a document to Shinozuka Yoshio with both hands.
Shinozuka Yoshio took it and looked, a smile appearing on his face: “Banzai. The Jin Sui Army has over ten thousand casualties. Not bad.”
The Jin Sui Army’s over ten thousand casualties weren’t all from poison gas shells. The poison gas shells just pinned them down at the key moment.
What truly wounded the Jin Sui Army was conventional weapons.
Even more importantly, a large number of Jin Sui Army troops were encircled.
Soon, a staff officer rushed over to report: “Report to the Commander. Another group of Jin Sui Army has appeared. They’re attacking the encirclement, trying to rescue the troops inside.”
“Another group?” Shinozuka Yoshio was stunned for a moment and asked, “How many troops?”
“About two divisions,” the staff officer answered.
“Any Eighth Route among them?” Shinozuka Yoshio asked.
For these Eighth Route, Shinozuka Yoshio still itched with hatred.
If the Eighth Route had come to the Taiyuan rear first, they’d be the ones pinned by poison gas shells now.
Compared to the Jin Sui Army, Shinozuka Yoshio still preferred to deal with this hateful bunch of Eighth Route first!
Unfortunately, these Eighth Route were much slyer than the Jin Sui Army.
The Yoshino Regiment was defeated, and the Eighth Route seemed to vanish without a trace.
But Shinozuka Yoshio knew the Eighth Route definitely hadn’t disappeared. They were just hiding in the shadows, waiting for a chance to strike.
Now with a large Jin Sui Army force trapped and two divisions of Jin Sui Army coming to rescue, this bunch of Eighth Route probably wouldn’t stand by, right?
“No trace of the Eighth Route has been found for now,” the staff officer answered.
“Pass the order: hold the positions at all costs. Try not to let these two Jin Sui Army divisions succeed,” Shinozuka Yoshio said solemnly. “Also, send more people to monitor and control. Report immediately if any trace of the Eighth Route is found.”
“Your Excellency Commander, though we’ve besieged the Jin Sui Army, we still relied on the trick of poison gas shells,” the staff officer said. “Now with two Jin Sui Army divisions coming to rescue, and the inside ones linking up to break out, our troops are still insufficient. Without more poison gas shells to suppress, I’m afraid the Jin Sui Army will still escape.”
“No!” Shinozuka Yoshio waved his hand and said, “We used too many poison gas shells earlier. Not many are left now. We absolutely can’t use them casually. Save them to guard against the Eighth Route.”
These Eighth Route hiding in the shadows were like venomous snakes, sure to strike when the chance came.
With the Taiyuan rear’s troops already weak, if the poison gas shells ran out, how would they defend against the Eighth Route?
Or rather!
These remaining poison gas shells were specifically reserved to wipe out this bunch of Eighth Route.
The staff officer was stunned: “Commander, you mean if the Jin Sui Army breaks out, we just let them go?”
“Weaken their living forces as much as possible,” Shinozuka Yoshio said, still a bit helpless.
Troops being weak was a hard weakness.
If the Kumamoto Division weren’t tied down by the Direct Line Army and Eighth Route, and the Kumamoto Division main force came over, not one of these Jin Sui Army would get out alive.
Unfortunately, the Kumamoto side couldn’t break free.
The staff officer thought of something and asked: “Can we ask the Kwantung Army 731 Unit for more biological weapons?”
It was hard enough to trap this large Jin Sui Army force. Letting them go just like that would be too easy on them.
“What do you think?” Shinozuka Yoshio didn’t answer the staff officer’s question directly.
Biological weapons were so effective, even better than conventional weapons.
It wasn’t just Shinozuka Yoshio who wanted more.
All the other frontline units wanted more too.
Only pity, not enough to go around.
If Shinozuka Yoshio could get another batch, that would be thanks to Commander Okamura’s face.
Asking for more now wouldn’t be easy.
The staff officer said no more and withdrew.
“If the Jin Sui Army successfully retreats, the Eighth Route definitely won’t go back easily. I want to see if you’ll get a chance to enjoy this last batch of poison gas shells!” A ferocious glint flashed in Shinozuka Yoshio’s eyes.
