Chapter 176: Passing Intelligence
Year 27 of the Republic, October 6th.
In order to rescue the 106th Division trapped at Wanjia Ridge, the Japanese Army resolved to take a risk by air-dropping officers to help the remaining soldiers of the 106th Division reorganize an effective offensive.
In order to save back this Japanese Army unit that had already been surrounded to death, the Eleventh Army had already gone mad with desperation.
Okamura Commander submitted a plan codenamed “Wind” to the Expeditionary Army Headquarters.
This plan first required air-dropping officers to Wanjia Ridge to stabilize the situation.
Then withdrawing the 44th Regiment under Maruyama Masao’s command from the 9th Division from the north, turning their guns to attack the weak points in the 66th Army’s defenses.
Afterward, the 101st Division would launch a frontal assault on the Fourth Army positions. If they could not capture them, Okamura suggested using a large number of poison gas shells to destroy the Fourth Army’s positions.
But doing so would result in one extremely serious consequence.
That is, it was very likely to accidentally injure the 106th Division inside the encirclement.
This time, due to Matsuura Junroku’s overconfidence in choosing a light load, their troops basically had no gas masks for defense against poison gas shell attacks.
If poison gas shells were used in a risky attack on the Fourth Army positions, then the soldiers of the 106th Division’s 111th Regiment trying to break out from the rear were very likely to be accidentally injured.
The proposal was quickly delivered to the Expeditionary Army Headquarters by special envoy Takada…
Shanghai, Expeditionary Army Headquarters third floor meeting room…
Tada Shunroku’s fingers traced over the contour map of Wanjia Ridge, and a thick bloody stench seemed to surge on the cold blueprint.
The blue circle representing the 106th Division had been torn to pieces by the red arrows representing Xue Boling’s troops.
The center was marked with the shocking words “Leiming Guliu Village, remnants within a 1500-meter radius”.
“Matsuura Junroku’s farewell telegram.” Chief of Staff Kawabé Saburo gently placed the telegram on the table, the edges of the paper stained with sweat marks…
“If reinforcements do not arrive before dawn, he will burn the division flag according to war formation doctrine.”
The temperature in the operations room dropped sharply. The Imperial Army had been established for seventy years without a division flag ever falling into enemy hands.
“I propose executing Okamura Commander’s ‘Operation Wind’…” War Operations Section Chief Takeda Isao suddenly slammed his fist down on the Jianjuling Ridge position, causing the red frame of the poison gas coverage area to tremble slightly, “Cover the Fourth Army’s defense line with special shells; the southwest wind will clear the path for us!”
Special Affairs Office Colonel Kobayashi Mitsuhiro, however, raised an aerial photograph.
Magnesium lights condensed into pale spots on the photo paper: on the steep east slope of Jianjuling Ridge, Japanese Army soldiers in khaki military uniforms were interlocked in close combat with gray figures of the Blue Army, bayonet reflections scattering like shattered diamonds across the ridgeline.
“The 111th Regiment is engaged in bayonet fighting here.” Colonel Kobayashi’s fingertip poked at the blurry human vortex on the photo, “Takeda-kun, the straight-line distance is only just under 200 meters; that poison mist doesn’t recognize unit insignia. What, do you also want the Empire’s soldiers to know how powerful the special shells we’ve developed are?”
“Colonel Kobayashi is absolutely right…” Biological warfare advisor Nakayama Shin silently opened the photo album in front of him.
As the pages flipped, they passed over festering soles of feet, bulging eyeballs swollen like ripe peaches, finally stopping at a certain experiment record: “This is a record collected by the Military Department; living subjects contaminated with mustard gas had their leg bones melt into pink meat paste within 72 hours.”
“Yellow agent persists on grass for seven days.”
“If breakout troops step into the contaminated area.”
“I can only say, the consequences are unimaginable.”
“Baka, you’re cowards afraid of battle. I believe the 3rd Air Group’s aviators can deliver precise bombing!” Takeda Isao still did not want to give up!
But his argument was quickly cut off sharply by Kobayashi: “Takeda-kun, get this straight: that area is primeval forest!”
“The poison gas will flood into the rat holes like a torrent; do you want Imperial soldiers to rot in their own poison gas?”
“This…” Takeda Isao was left speechless, and the office fell silent as all eyes gathered on Tada Shunroku.
Tada Shunroku paced to the window and stopped, slowly turning around. His gaze swept over the faces in the meeting room, the glass reflecting his twitching corner of the mouth: “The League of Nations investigation team is right here in Shanghai; six thousand corpses would fill the newspaper headlines.”
“The 111th Regiment can shatter like jade, but they absolutely cannot turn into toxic sludge! This is the last decency of the Imperial Army!”
Takeda Isao stood up and said: “Commander Your Excellency, if you oppose executing Operation Wind, then what about Okamura Commander’s suggestion regarding air-dropping officers?”
Tada Shunroku pondered for a long time, “Order the 9th Division’s 44th Regiment under Maruyama Masao’s command to immediately support the 106th Division and attack Ye Zhao’s 66th Army to provide assistance to the 106th Division.”
“The 101st Division under Ito Masayoshi will attack the Fourth Army positions with full force and open the aid corridor as soon as possible.”
“Notify the Southern Transportation Department to open a priority supply channel for materials supporting the 106th Division.”
“Permit Okamura Commander to draw low-level officers for the air-drop operation to Leiming Guliu Village.”
“As for the proposal to use ‘special shells’,” Tada Shunroku paused silently for a moment and resolutely said: “Rejected.”
“Hai.” The officers present stood up one after another, slightly bowing in salute.
Tada Shunroku and Chief of Staff Kawabé Saburo picked up the documents on the table and left first.
The remaining few were still voicing various opinions on the previously discussed “Operation Wind”.
Abe Mitsuhiro of the General Staff Department complained to the middle-aged man beside him while organizing the records.
“Mr. Nakamura, do you think General Matsuura can still get out this time? An entire intact division annihilated by the enemy.”
“This is a moment of shame unprecedented in the seventy years since the Army was established.”
“If such a thing really happens, I’m afraid General Matsuura can only wash away the humiliation with seppuku.”
Nakamura Isao wrote the final stroke in his work diary, then inserted the steel pen into his chest pocket and sighed: “General Matsuura’s action was not the result of careful consideration to begin with.”
“Moreover, the responsibility now is not just his; even Okamura Commander is likely to be implicated.”
Abe Mitsuhiro’s expression changed slightly: “Mr. Nakamura, did you receive some intelligence? Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
Nakamura Isao glanced around, confirming that only the two of them remained, then said softly: “The Special Affairs Office received the battlefield distress signals earliest; the first signal they sent was that there was an error in the military map they were using.”
“After Kobayashi-kun received the message, he immediately came to me to verify, and fortunately, this map was not provided by our Southern China Association.”
Nakamura Isao’s Southern China Association was the full name 《China Southern China War of Resistance Forces and Resources Investigation Committee》!
Its main mission was to investigate southern mineral resources, anti-Japanese elements, and geographical locations in various areas, draw up detailed information, provide it to the War Operations Section for analysis and use in war simulations.
This time, the military map of Wanjia Ridge was not provided by the Southern China Association, but stolen by Okamura more than a decade ago from the Five Provinces General Sun Chuanfang.
Many geographical locations had already deviated, and more fatally, there were magnetite veins under Wanjia Ridge.
Abe Mitsuhiro seemed to think of something: “Mr. Nakamura, do you mean the map General Matsuura used was provided by the Eleventh Army General Staff Department?”
Nakamura Isao nodded, a complex expression appearing on his face: “Abe-kun, if General Matsuura can break out this time, I think this postwar report will be hard to explain.”
“Alright, I have something else to do; I’ll head out first.”
Abe Mitsuhiro nodded: “Mr. Nakamura, take care.”
The black Buick Car drove out of the headquarters gate, crushing sycamore leaves, and turned into an alley full of the smell of smoke and fire.
Nakamura Isao in the back seat lowered the car window, thoughtfully watching the crowd of street vendors along the alley.
The 「Chaoyang」 brand cigarette clamped between his fingers had red embers faintly glowing where the tobacco strands burned.
Nakamura Isao had a heavy smoking habit; just a few puffs and he had finished one cigarette. He took out the cigarette case from his chest pocket and suddenly discovered that there was only one cigarette left inside.
“Nishihara, stop the car for a moment.” Nakamura Isao lit the cigarette and knocked on the partition between the front and rear seats.
The sedan driver jolted and slammed on the brakes, stopping the car in front of a mobile roasted chestnut stall.
The lame old man pushing the wheelbarrow was truly startled by the car, his old face turning deathly pale under the distant lights.
“Go buy me a pack of smokes; mine are finished.” Nakamura Isao tossed two military scrip notes to the driver Nishihara Castle.
He casually crumpled the Chaoyang brand cigarette case in his hand into a ball and tossed it out the car window; the cigarette case arced and rolled under the wheelbarrow.
“Hai.” Nishihara Castle pushed open the car door, walked up to the old man: “Hey, got any smokes to sell?”
Seeing Nishihara Castle’s fierce demeanor, the old man appeared somewhat panicked, but he quickly reacted, nodding and bowing repeatedly as he lifted the thick cotton cloth covering the purple-red wooden box beside him.
Opening the box, rows of neatly stacked cigarettes were inside…
The old man stammered: “Ta, Taijun, you, you, what smokes do you want?”
“We have the new Hongshan, Hard Gate, Camel…”
Nishihara Castle rummaged a bit and took out a box of Camel Cigarettes and a box of Chaoyang brand cigarettes from below.
He casually tossed one military scrip note, didn’t wait for the old man to speak, got back into the driver’s seat, closed the door, and handed the Chaoyang brand cigarettes to Nakamura Isao.
Then, he stuffed the Camel Cigarettes into his pocket and floored the accelerator to speed away.
The old man behind dragged his lame leg and kept shouting: “Ta, Taijun, n-not enough…”
But Nishihara Castle paid no mind and instead accelerated away from the scene.
The old man could not possibly catch up to the car’s speed and watched helplessly as it disappeared from sight.
“Alas…” The old man sighed deeply and returned to behind his stall; the people around looked at him with sympathetic gazes.
The old man squatted down, seemingly regretting, but actually stepped on the cigarette case that Nakamura Isao had just thrown out.
The next second, the cigarette case was pocketed by him, without attracting anyone’s notice.
After standing up, the old man pushed the wheelbarrow forward with long sighs, complaining while walking that he had worked for nothing again tonight.
At this time, Camel Cigarettes were hot commodities, equivalent in value to two packs of current 100-yuan Hetianxia.
The other side had taken away two packs of cigarettes with just one military scrip note that wasn’t even enough for Chaoyang brand cigarettes.
It had really screwed the old man over badly.
The old man dragged his lame leg pushing the wheelbarrow through the crowd, turned into an alley, and about ten minutes later, a figure in a long gown with a black felt hat on his head emerged from the other end of the alley.
If looked at closely, one would discover that although this person had changed everything, his walking posture was still somewhat different from ordinary people.
Although no longer appearing lame, one of his feet always felt a bit unsteady.
That figure seemed to know his weakness could easily attract attention, and upon exiting the alley, immediately got into a rickshaw waiting there.
“Mr., where to?” The rickshaw puller asked politely.
“Albert Road, Hefuji.”
“Got it, Mr., sit tight…” The rickshaw puller responded, exerted force with both hands, lifted the shafts, and quickly vanished into the night…
