Chapter 184: Difficult Retreat
In the telescope of Kari Tomoyuki, the Chinese army’s tactics were simply insanely mad.
One after another 20mm high-explosive rounds（HE） or high-explosive incendiary rounds（HEI） exploded continuously on the mountainside.
The shell impact points were no longer the small pits from machine gun bullets, but instead blossomed into clusters of flowers of death mixed with firelight, black smoke, and dirt.
Every Japanese soldier hit by shrapnel was accompanied by horrific scenes of limbs shattering and dirt and stones flying.
Whether the warhead exploded on impact with the ground or directly formed sheets of shrapnel storms in the air, they all brought fatal damage to the Japanese soldiers.
The hail-like barrage was like an invisible and enormous flaming scythe, tearing apart, interrupting, and shattering the khaki tide wherever it passed! The dense assault formation instantly became riddled with holes, and screams were drowned in the continuous gunfire.
“We can’t keep fighting like this.” Kari Tomoyuki watched his soldiers advancing inch by inch under the artillery fire, his heart aching like a knife twist—that was the elite of the 77th Regiment.
Now these soldiers were struggling in the Chinese army’s artillery fire like a bunch of cheap ants—how could he not feel heartbroken?
He said to the chief of staff: “Order the bugle to sound immediately and withdraw… withdraw…”
For him, who was always known for his composure, saying “withdraw” twice in a row showed how anxious he was inside.
The chief of staff was stunned for a moment and asked: “Regiment commander, shouldn’t we request instructions from the brigade commander?”
“No need for instructions. I’ll take responsibility if there’s any issue.” Kari Tomoyuki said firmly.
“Hai!” Seeing that his own regiment commander had put it this way, what more could the chief of staff say? He quickly ordered the signalman to sound the bugle.
Soon, the mournful bugle call rang out on the battlefield. The soldiers of the 77th Regiment, who had been struggling forward under the artillery fire, were stunned upon hearing the retreat signal, then quickly began alternating retreats as if granted a great amnesty.
But as the old saying goes, advancing is easy but retreating is hard. Su Yaoyang, who could see everything clearly from the midway point up the mountain, how could he let the Japanese army withdraw so easily?
He immediately ordered the entire army’s artillery to bombard from the mountainside to the foot of the mountain. In an instant, 60mm mortars, 107mm heavy assault guns, M2 75mm howitzers, and various other artillery pieces covered the Japanese army, filling the entire valley with smoke and dust.
After the 77th Regiment had fully withdrawn, Kari Tomoyuki counted the numbers and nearly passed out from anger.
“Casualties… casualties of one thousand two hundred sixty-seven?”
“Yes.” The chief of staff suppressed his shock and answered softly.
The 77th Regiment was a standard infantry regiment, with 3,820 men at full strength.
Before launching the attack today, although their regiment was not at full strength, there were still over three thousand three hundred men. Now, in just half a day, they had lost one thousand two hundred sixty-seven men.
In other words, the 77th Regiment now had just over two thousand men left who could still fight.
Such losses could already be described as crippling.
“By the way, how is the 78th Regiment doing now?” Kari Tomoyuki suddenly remembered something and quickly asked his chief of staff.
“Regiment commander, right after you ordered the withdrawal, Major Kobayashi Tsuneo also ordered the retreat bugle to be sounded.”
“That’s good.” Kari Tomoyuki let out a long breath. As the old saying goes, the law does not punish the crowd. Since Kobayashi Tsuneo had made the same choice as him, even if he was punished, it would be lighter, and at least someone would share it with him.
“Regiment commander, Brigade Commander Takagi orders you to come to the brigade headquarters!” Soon, the communications staff officer relayed the brigade commander’s order.
With the two infantry regiments withdrawing one after another, the 39th Brigade’s offensive came to a complete halt.
Kari Tomoyuki and Kobayashi Tsuneo happened to meet right in front of the regimental headquarters door.
The two exchanged a glance and saw the bitterness in each other’s eyes.
Neither spoke, silently entering one after the other.
Once inside, they immediately felt the oppressive atmosphere in the headquarters.
Although all the staff officers were busy, aside from the ticking of the radio transmitter, there was no other sound in the entire headquarters—it was eerily silent.
Brigade Commander Takagi Yoshito stood quietly in front of the sand table, staring silently at it, his tense face appearing especially stern.
The two came before Takagi Yoshito, saluted, and said loudly: “Brigade Commander, Kari Tomoyuki（ and Kobayashi Tsuneo） reporting as ordered.”
Takagi Yoshito was silent for a moment, then finally raised his head to look at them, his sharp eyes staring fixedly at the two, and slowly said: “Kari, Kobayashi, do you two have anything to say?”
The two immediately felt a chill in their hearts—they knew that one wrong answer could bring in the military police soon after.
But they also understood that at this moment, any evasion would be meaningless and would only invite ridicule.
Kari Tomoyuki shook his head and said: “Brigade Commander, I have nothing to say. It was I who ordered the troops to stop the attack.”
Takagi Yoshito stared at him unblinkingly: “Do you know what the consequences are for ordering a retreat without my command?”
“I know!” Kari Tomoyuki said frankly: “《Army Penal Code》 Article 35 stipulates that the crime of disobeying orders in front of the enemy… can be punishable by death.”
“You knew and still dared to withdraw on your own?” Takagi Yoshito exploded in anger: “Do you know that because of your unauthorized withdrawal, the 39th Brigade’s decades of honor has been ruined by your hands? Can you bear such consequences?
Once the news reaches the homeland, your families will be disgraced as well!”
The Japanese army’s punishment for unauthorized withdrawal was extremely severe, with consequences far beyond ordinary military discipline.
Generally, there were five methods: first, on-site execution by firing squad; second, military court trial.
Third was systematic humiliation and implication, such as revoking military family pensions, hanging「House of Non-Nationals」（Home of Traitors） signs on the doorstep back home, etc.—social death.
Fourth was forced suicide（in lieu of execution）, that is, ordered to commit seppuku.
The fifth was for extreme cases, also known as medical experiment punishment or labor to death.
For example, the Kwantung Army’s Unit 731 had received “disobedient soldiers,” nominally for treating wounds but actually for live experiments（as confirmed by declassified archives）.
The Japanese government and army high command tried to use these cruel methods to intimidate or suppress lower officers and soldiers from disobeying orders or withdrawing without authorization.
Facing Takagi Yoshito’s outburst of anger, Kari Tomoyuki was mentally prepared. He calmly said: “Brigade Commander, as I said, I will take full responsibility for my actions.
I only hope you will allow me to end it with this samurai sword in my hand, and give me one last bit of dignity.”
“Brigade Commander, same for me.” Kobayashi Tsuneo also stepped forward and said.
