Chapter 192: Providing Support
“Commander-in-Chief… good news… good news!” The operations staff officer almost ran into the command post with bandages still on, shouting loudly to Su Yaoyang: “The Eighth Route Army… the Eighth Route Army raided Xincounty last night… Xincounty… Xincounty has been taken!”
“The Eighth Route Army has taken Xincounty?”
Su Yaoyang, who had been dozing off on the camp bed, jumped up, his face full of surprise.
He raised his hand to check his watch. The watch showed that today was June 10th, which meant the Eighth Route Army had only spent two days preparing before capturing Xincounty city in one fell swoop. This action was too fast, wasn’t it?
He had also once set his sights on Xincounty, but was threatened by the Japanese using the people of Xincounty, forcing him to withdraw in the end. Yet now the Eighth Route Army had successfully done it.
This matter seemed simple, but it encompassed a unit’s reconnaissance ability, action ability, and execution ability, while also reflecting a unit’s overall capability.
“It seems the path for the Shanxi Militia to grow stronger is still long and arduous!” Su Yaoyang pondered inwardly.
“Commander… what should we do now?” the operations staff officer asked.
“What to do?” Su Yaoyang sneered: “While he’s sick, hit him to take his life. If we miss this good opportunity, we’ll be struck by heaven’s wrath.
Pass my order: the entire army prepares. Once the devils start withdrawing, hit the drowning dog for me!”
“Understood!” the operations staff officer responded loudly.
He naturally understood Su Yaoyang’s meaning. The 20th Division, now without the ammunition depot’s support, had only one way out: withdrawal. Otherwise, staying here would mean the two armies starving to death alive.
So they had to withdraw and could only withdraw. Since that was the case, wasn’t beating the drowning dog the most natural thing?
…………
Deep in a pine forest, pine needles rustled in the wind, like countless fragmented whispers.
Sunlight filtered through the dense canopy, casting dappled shadows on the ground like a broken net.
Under the dense forest, Sherman tanks lay quietly in the shadows, their tracks deeply embedded in the soft humus soil, with pine needles and tiny insect corpses covering the gun barrels.
Soldiers leaned against tree trunks in groups of two or three; some boredly carved the bark with daggers, others stared blankly at their watches, each tick of the second hand like a cut on their taut nerves.
The air was filled with the bitter scent of pine resin and the pungent smell of diesel.
A layer of thin dust had accumulated on the camouflage nets of the anti-aircraft guns, kicking up choking dust with every gust of wind.
Infantry sat around shallow pits dug on the spot, helmets casually tossed aside. They mechanically chewed dry rations, their eyes occasionally glancing toward the open ground outside the forest, where the sunlight was blindingly bright.
John squatted on a protruding tree root, map spread across his knees, pencil marks blurred by sweat.
He felt his throat tighten, as if something was stuck there, unable to be spat out or swallowed.
A sharp metallic clang came from afar, followed by muffled cursing. Everyone stopped what they were doing and pricked up their ears, but soon silence returned.
The tank battalion, 1st Battalion of 1st Regiment, and anti-aircraft battalion—nearly two thousand men—had been lurking in this nameless dense forest for ten days. In those ten days, they ate and slept every day. This life was fine for the first few days, but as time passed, what was once thought to be leisurely turned into restlessness and anxiety.
He couldn’t hold back anymore and said to Li Qingxiang, the battalion commander of 1st Battalion of 1st Regiment not far away: “Li… has there been no news from the boss yet? Shouldn’t we send a telegram to the boss to ask?”
“No!” Li Qingxiang said firmly: “The Commander-in-Chief said we must maintain radio silence. Unless absolutely necessary, we can’t initiate contact with headquarters. If our position is exposed, all previous efforts will be wasted.”
“But ten days have already passed. Aren’t you anxious at all?” John asked urgently.
“Nonsense, who isn’t anxious?” Li Qingxiang rolled his eyes at him. “But orders are orders; we absolutely cannot violate them.”
John said helplessly: “I really don’t know who you learned this rigid personality from.
Aren’t Chinese supposed to be the most flexible and adaptable? How are you not as good as me, a foreigner?”
But his complaints only earned another eye-roll from Li Qingxiang.
Growing more frustrated, John went to a nearby tent. It wasn’t large, with only two radiomen chatting idly inside.
John reached the tent entrance and saw the two idle radiomen; the words he was about to say were swallowed back.
“Eh…”
He sighed lightly and was just about to turn back when the radio in the tent suddenly emitted a series of urgent beeps, with the red light flashing.
The two chatting radiomen changed expressions and quickly put on their headsets, starting busy operations.
Five or six minutes later, as a radioman stood up with the telegram, he saw John rushing over. “How is it? Whose telegram? What did it say?”
The radioman didn’t answer and simply handed him the telegram.
The message on the telegram wasn’t long, just a short sentence: “The 20th Division is preparing to withdraw. Your unit stand ready at all times and await orders to strike!”
“Good!”
John was overjoyed. “These damned Japanese monkeys are finally retreating. It’s our turn to strike!”
Just as the Shanxi Militia geared up to give the supply-less 20th Division a head-on blow, Meizun Meijiro was also raging in his office.
“Incompetent… idiots… trash… a bunch of trash…”
He never imagined that the ammunition depot would be completely wiped out by the Eighth Route Army.
Logically, this should have been absolutely impossible. Ammunition depots were usually heavily guarded, making it hard for enemies to break in. Even if enemies attacked in force, they could at least detonate the depot and perish together with the enemy. How did they let the enemy seize it?
This Ushijima Satsu was no longer fit for the division commander position, Meizun Meijiro thought to himself.
But that was a matter for later. The urgent task was how to safely withdraw the 20th Division.
He didn’t need to think to know the Shanxi Militia was surely rubbing their fists, ready to beat the retreating 20th Division like a drowning dog. But they underestimated the Imperial Army. Did they really think the Imperial Army became a drowning dog without the ammunition depot?
Thinking of this, he sneered: “Someone come… pass my order: immediately order the Independent Mixed 2nd Brigade to assemble at once and rush through the night to Wild Wolf Valley to cover the 20th Division’s withdrawal.
Also, wire the 20th Division: tomorrow morning, immediately conduct relief withdrawal. I have ordered the Independent Mixed 2nd Brigade to go support them. Tell them to be extremely careful!”
“Hai!”
