Chapter 106: Emergency Request For Aid
“Slap slap…”
Two loud slaps rang out in the headquarters of the 10th Regiment.
Setsuya Kei glared at Colonel Akashiba Yaegozou in front of him with eyes spitting fire, asking word by word: “Tell me, in less than three hours, more than half of the positions in Tai’erzhuang have been lost. How have you been commanding this regiment?”
Akashiba Yaegozou hung his head, with a hint of grievance and anger in his eyes: “Brigade Commander, the loss of the position this time is my responsibility and has nothing to do with the soldiers below. Please punish me!”
“Punish you… Even if I make you commit seppuku now, what use would it be? Can the dead warriors and lost positions come back?” Setsuya Kei rebuked angrily, and with a backhand slap hit him again.
Having been slapped several times in a row, Akashiba Yaegozou also became anxious and glared back without showing weakness, shouting loudly: “Sir… Losing the position is my fault, but what I want to know is, the Chinese have heavy artillery, tanks, and countless machine guns. The American rifles equipped by the Chinese fire as fast as machine guns.
What do we have? Type 38 rifles and those pitiful grenade launchers?”
“Baka!” Setsuya Kei raised his hand for another slap: “We have invincible imperial warriors and the bushido spirit!”
“In the past, General Nogi Maresuke faced the Russians’ machine guns and heavy artillery, stepping over mountains of corpses and seas of blood to capture Lushun. Why can’t you do it today?”
Akashiba Yaegozou also said angrily: “General Nogi Maresuke had 130,000 troops at his disposal, but I only have 3,000 men in my hands. What can I compare with him!”
“You…”
Setsuya Kei was so angry he nearly spat blood. As a fanatic admirer of Nogi Maresuke, he absolutely could not tolerate anyone slandering his idol.
But at the same time, he was well aware that many officers and scholars in the Japanese military also held negative views of Nogi Maresuke.
In the battle to seize Lushun Port from the Russians, Nogi Maresuke commanded 130,000 Japanese troops to attack the Lushun Port defended by 50,000 Russian troops. It took six months, with 60,000 Japanese troops sacrificed and 15,000 Russian troops eliminated, before barely capturing Lushun Port.
This so-called victory of Japan could not be more aptly described as “killing 800 enemies at the cost of 8,000 of our own.”
So some people gave Nogi Maresuke the nickname “foolish general.”
Seeing Setsuya Kei fall silent, Akashiba Yaegozou said in a deep voice: “Brigade Commander… My regiment suffered heavy losses in the Chinese artillery bombardment and lost most of the position under the combined attack of Chinese tanks and heavy artillery. Now the 10th Regiment only has more than 1,000 men left.
If you want me to retake the position, I will immediately go back to gather the remaining soldiers, personally lead them with the regimental flag held high in a banzai charge. At that time, whether successful or not, I will have lived up to His Majesty’s grace.”
“Baka ya ro…”
Setsuya Kei trembled with anger. If he really allowed Akashiba Yaegozou to do this, the entire regiment would be annihilated in less than half an hour. Once the regimental flag was captured by the enemy, the 10th Regiment would be struck from the Imperial Japanese Army rolls.
If such a thing really happened, as brigade commander, he would not just be transferred back home for debriefing and into the reserves; he would probably have to commit seppuku.
Akashiba Yaegozou was putting him on the fire to roast.
For a moment, Setsuya Kei even wanted to draw his samurai sword and chop the guy down.
But years of military career told him that getting angry at this time would solve no problems.
He took several deep breaths to suppress his raging anger.
“I won’t pursue the previous matter, but you must guarantee that the positions ahead will absolutely not be lost again. Once we are driven out of Tai’erzhuang, the 33rd Brigade will become a laughingstock of the Imperial Japanese Army. Do you understand?”
“Understood.” Akashiba Yaegozou also knew when to stop and quickly bowed: “Sir, I was too rude just now. Please forgive me!”
“Forget it…” Looking at his subordinate bowing to him, Setsuya Kei couldn’t help but feel a bit dispirited and waved his hand listlessly.
He called the communications staff officer and instructed, “Immediately send a telegram to the division commander requesting emergency support!”
Soon, an urgent telegram flew with radio waves to the 10th Division headquarters.
“To 10th Division Commander Isogaya Reisuke:
My brigade is currently under fierce siege by elite Chinese troops, the battle situation is critical, requesting emergency tactical support!
Since 7 a.m. this morning, Chinese artillery suddenly launched a half-hour bombardment on our unit.
Subsequently, their armored forces suddenly broke through our right wing, cooperating with thousands of infantry in a pincer offensive. The Chinese deployed a shocking number of American tanks and 105mm howitzers, implementing saturation bombardment on our positions northeast of Tai’erzhuang, followed by an armored cluster charge.
Current battle situation:
Frontline positions of Infantry 10th and 63rd Regiments completely destroyed, two battalion commanders killed in action, casualties over 2,000.
Field Artillery 10th Regiment observation post destroyed, two Type 92 infantry guns crushed by tanks.
Chinese tanks have broken through to Fan kou Village（ 3 km north of Tai’erzhuang）, threatening the flank and rear of our brigade headquarters.
Emergency requests:
Immediately dispatch air force（ at least 6 Type 97 heavy bombers） to bomb Chinese artillery positions（ coordinates: X-32/Y-15）.
Division heavy artillery unit（ especially 150mm guns） must suppress enemy armored forces within 2 hours.
If reinforcements are not timely, please permit our unit to temporarily withdraw to the Yixian defense line for reorganization.
（ Telegram note: Captured documents show the Chinese unit is Nanjing Security Regiment, whose equipment exceeds Imperial Army expectations!）
33rd Brigade Commander Setsuya Kei bows his head
“Baka ya ro! What is Setsuya Kei doing? Is a brigade’s defense line going to collapse in just a few hours?”
At the 10th Division headquarters in Zaozhuang, about 50 km northeast of Tai’erzhuang, looking at this telegram still smelling of ink, Isogaya Reisuke could hardly believe his eyes.
He could not believe that an infantry brigade of the empire’s most elite A-class division, after being sneak-attacked by Chinese troops, had been forced to request tactical guidance from superiors after just a few hours of fighting.
At this time, Chief of Staff Umemura Atsuro Colonel reminded: “Division Commander, did you notice that the one attacking the 33rd Brigade this time is none other than that man named Su Yaoyang and his Nanjing Security Regiment!”
“Su Yaoyang… It’s him again!” Only then did Isogaya Reisuke notice the small line at the end of the telegram, and he was instantly furious.
That fool Setsuya Kei had suffered a big loss at Su Yaoyang’s hands last time in Teng County, and now he was beaten into fleeing like a rat. It seemed the decision to transfer this guy back home was correct.
As division commander, Isogaya Reisuke naturally knew more information than Setsuya Kei.
High Command had already punished him, but now was a critical period of the Xuzhou Campaign. If a senior brigade commander was rashly transferred back to the homeland, it might affect the upcoming battles of the 33rd Brigade.
So they planned to replace him after the Xuzhou Campaign ended or after capturing Tai’erzhuang, but they didn’t expect such a thing to happen.
Without thinking, he said: “Immediately order the air force to dispatch no fewer than twelve heavy bombers to bomb the Chinese forces in Tai’erzhuang. Also order Field Artillery 10th Regiment and 39th Regiment to proceed to Tai’erzhuang for emergency support to the 33rd Brigade.”
“Hai…”
