Chapter 129: Rout
Dusk was falling, and a village thirty li north of Tai’erzhuang was shrouded in the dim yellow afterglow.
This was originally a quiet and peaceful village, but now all the villagers had been completely slaughtered by the Japanese, and now stationed here was the 16th Division headquarters.
Now the originally quiet village was startled by the distant roar of engines.
Nakajima Imaichi stood in front of the courtyard gate, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the scabbard of the saber at his waist, his gaze fixed like a hook on the winding dirt road at the village entrance.
Soon, a convoy drove in from the direction of the village entrance, the kicked-up dust spreading into the air like a yellow snake.
The windshield of the lead black Toyota sedan reflected the blood-red sunset, stinging his eyes so that he squinted.
Soon, the convoy arrived at the courtyard gate.
“Isogai-kun…”
Nakajima Imaichi stepped forward two steps to greet him, the gravel kicked up by his leather boots rolling into the dry ditch by the roadside.
The moment the car door opened, a man with two general’s stars on his shoulders stepped down from the car.
The two first saluted, then shook hands.
“Isogai-kun… long journey, you’ve had it rough.”
“Nakajima-kun… long time no see!”
The visitor was none other than the 10th Division commander Isogai Renisuke.
Logically speaking, Nakajima Imaichi had already come to Tai’erzhuang to take over the 10th Division several days ago, and Isogai Renisuke should have come to meet him no matter what, but in fact, today was their first meeting.
The reason was not complicated: the 10th Division had fought very poorly this time, no one likes to be mocked by colleagues, and if it weren’t for the urgent situation this time, Nakajima Imaichi would never have come.
After shaking hands, the two entered the courtyard together.
Isogai Renisuke’s expression was very serious. “Nakajima-kun… you’ve surely received Commander Terauchi’s telegram, so I won’t say any nonsense.
I’m here this time to ask, do you plan to advance to Linyi with us?”
“I have no objection.”
After these days of bloody lessons, Nakajima Imaichi had also put away his previous arrogance.
As a senior officer, you can be mad arrogant, or bloodthirsty and murderous, but you must not be stupid（ of course, that famous grass-eating general excepted）.
Now a hundred thousand Chinese troops were pouncing toward Tai’erzhuang, about to form an encirclement; what were they waiting for if not to run now?
“Since our opinions are aligned, next we should discuss the withdrawal issue.”
Isogai Renisuke casually pulled the map on the table over and pointed: “There’s only one highway from Tai’erzhuang to Linyi.
What we need to do now is withdraw immediately, have the troops provide alternating cover, and strive to reach Linyi by noon tomorrow to link up with the 5th Division.
As long as our three divisions unite, even if the Chinese come in greater numbers, there’s no need to fear.”
“Just withdrawing like this won’t do.” Nakajima Imaichi shook his head.
“That Nanjing Security Regiment is extremely cunning and treacherous; once they see us withdrawing, they’ll definitely chase closely, and if they entangle us, withdrawing will be extremely difficult.”
“So to withdraw safely this time, we must get support from Army Aviation.”
The two exchanged words and roughly formulated the withdrawal plan.
“Woo… boom…”
Just as the two were almost done discussing, an explosion suddenly sounded in the distance, and then Chief of Staff Nakazawa Sanzo Colonel hurriedly came to report.
“Your Excellency General, just ten minutes ago, the Nanjing Security Regiment launched a counterattack from Tai’erzhuang against us, and with them was the Chinese 31st Division.”
“The Chinese have started counterattacking, and we must speed up our actions.” Isogai Renisuke stood up and said solemnly: “No time to lose, let’s go now!”
With that, he had already quickly left the courtyard and gotten into the sedan, which soon drove back the way it came.
“Baka, this cowardly coward who fears death!”
Seeing Isogai Renisuke come in haste and leave in haste, Nakajima Imaichi cursed angrily.
But after cursing, he didn’t linger either; after giving some instructions, he also departed toward Linyi under the escort of a company, by car.
With the departure of Isogai Renisuke and Nakajima Imaichi, and the withdrawal of the 10th and 16th Divisions, the Chinese army also launched a pursuit against these two divisions.
On the more than one hundred kilometers from Tai’erzhuang to Linyi, there were shouts of killing everywhere.
Although the Japanese army provided alternating cover and resisted fiercely, facing the vengeful pursuing Chinese army, the two divisions suffered extremely heavy losses.
When they retreated to Linyi and the two divisions tallied their losses, Isogai Renisuke and Nakajima Imaichi felt heartbroken to the point of suffocation.
Especially the 10th Division, which had already lost more than half after successive engagements with the 31st Division and the Nanjing Security Regiment, and with the rout along the way, upon tallying in Linyi, the losses reached an astonishing two-thirds.
The 16th Division’s situation was somewhat better, but since it bore the main blocking task on the withdrawal route, the casualties were not light either.
In the end, the tally showed that the two divisions’ total casualties exceeded 32,000, with over 28,600 killed in action, not to mention the lost weapons and supplies.
When this loss figure came out, the entire North China Area Army fell silent.
Including the North China Area Army and Central China Area Army, no one had expected that just the battle of Tai’erzhuang would result in such heavy losses.
This battle directly crippled the two divisions; it would take at least half a year to recover combat effectiveness.
This incident not only ruined the reputations of Nakajima Imaichi and Isogai Renisuke, but even Terauchi Juichi faced doubts from high command.
“Pa…”
With a crisp sound, a newspaper was slammed onto Terauchi Juichi’s desk.
This was a freshly airlifted Asahi Shimbun from Japan proper, with the headline boldly written in thick lines on the front page《 Imperial Army’s Defeat in Xuzhou》.
For such an article to appear in Japan’s top newspaper like Asahi Shimbun was almost unimaginable.
But now, it had appeared so blatantly.
If there wasn’t some heavyweight pulling strings behind this, Terauchi Juichi was willing to dig out his own eyeballs and step on them.
“Commander, sir.” Chief of Staff Okabe Naojiro looked at the furious Terauchi Juichi and consoled: “Although the Xuzhou Campaign suffered a slight setback, the overall situation is still good; for Asahi Shimbun to report so recklessly and shift the blame onto you is unfair.”
Terauchi Juichi stared at the newspaper for a while, then suddenly sneered: “Heh… they think doing this can drive me out and advance his career?
Dream on, I’m not so easily toppled.”
“Commander, sir, the person you’re referring to is…” Okabe Naojiro hesitated, asking curiously.
“Who else… isn’t it that private?” Terauchi Juichi’s eyes flashed with anger mixed with a hint of disdain.
