Chapter 195: Captured A Big Fish
Amid the overwhelming chaos and despair, a more ironic scene was unfolding.
Ushijima Mitsuoki… this highest commander of the Japanese army’s 20th Division was in no better situation than any ordinary soldier under his command at this moment, and even more disheveled.
His Toyota sedan, which served as his command vehicle, had just been directly hit by a precise 75mm shell, blasted into a twisted, burning heap of scrap metal.
The blast wave from the explosion had thrown Ushijima Mitsuoki and his chief of staff Konomura Hisakazu to the ground, leaving them dazed and disoriented with a constant ringing in their ears.
Ushijima Mitsuoki’s hat had flown off to who knows where, his originally immaculate uniform was covered in dirt and ashes, and half of the golden tassel on his shoulder had snapped off, dangling pathetically.
Konomura Hisakazu was even worse off, his left arm completely shattered by the blast.
Now Ushijima Mitsuoki was supporting his own chief of staff, staring blankly at the apocalyptic scene around him, utterly at a loss for what to do for the moment.
“Sir! Sir, I finally found you!”
Just as Ushijima Mitsuoki was at a loss, his adjutant finally located him, accompanied by two guards.
His adjutant was a bespectacled, scholarly-looking middle-aged major wearing round-framed glasses; at this moment, he too was covered in dirt and grime, one lens of his glasses shattered, having cut his cheek and drawing thin traces of blood.
He ran over gasping for breath, ignoring his own injuries, and anxiously moved to support the equally badly fallen Ushijima Mitsuoki.
Ushijima Mitsuoki, this former major general who had been full of vigor and commanding presence at many military conferences, now had a face ashen with rage, his eyes filled with shock and incredulous fury.
He had never imagined that his proud elite division would be beaten into total rout in such a short time, in such a humiliating manner.
“Ono-kun… my command saber…”
Ushijima Mitsuoki gasped roughly, his voice hoarse. His command saber had flown out of his hand in the earlier explosion and was now nowhere to be found. For a senior Japanese officer, losing one’s command saber was the utmost disgrace.
“Division commander sir, this is not the time to look for the saber! We must leave here immediately! Tanks… the Chinese tanks are charging over!” The adjutant anxiously pulled at Ushijima Mitsuoki, trying to drag him away from this dangerous area.
All around were Japanese soldiers retreating like a tidal wave. They cried and screamed, shoving each other, completely ignoring these two officers who had once been high above them.
In the face of the instinct for survival, rank and dignity became worthless.
Ushijima Mitsuoki staggered along, supporting Konomura Hisakazu, staring blankly at all this.
Now… he was witnessing the dire state of his own troops with his own eyes:
Soldiers crushed into meat paste by tanks, corpses torn apart by shellfire, and routed soldiers with vacant stares fleeing in all directions like walking corpses.
A young soldier ran past him, two streaks of desperate tears on his face, mumbling “Mama… Mama…” over and over.
“Baka! Pull yourselves together! You are soldiers of the Empire!”
Ushijima Mitsuoki tried to berate the routed soldiers with his hoarse voice, but his words were quickly drowned out by the roar of tanks and explosions; no one paid him any heed.
His face, distorted by anger and humiliation, looked especially ferocious in the glow of smoke and firelight.
His adjutant was relatively calmer; he knew that any attempt to rally morale now was futile.
As adjutant, his most important task now was to protect the division commander, and even if there was only a slim chance, to break out.
However, fate seemed not to favor them.
Just as they tried to pass through a relatively sparse grove, several Shanxi militia soldiers carrying M1 Thompson submachine guns, along with several Sherman tanks that had flanked from the side, suddenly appeared before them. These soldiers belonged to 1st Battalion, 1st Regiment, which had participated in this assault.
“Hands up! On your knees! Now!” a tall sergeant bellowed, his black gun muzzle pointed straight at Ushijima Mitsuoki and Konomura Hisakazu.
The tank turret slowly turned toward them, its thick 75mm gun barrel exuding an icy breath of death.
The adjutant instinctively shielded Ushijima Mitsuoki behind him and shouted in Japanese: “We are…”
“Shut up! I said hands up!” The sergeant impatiently cut him off, racking the bolt with a crisp metallic clack.
Ushijima Mitsuoki’s body stiffened.
He stared at the gun muzzles pointed at him, at the faces of those young, cold Chinese soldiers, and an unprecedented sense of humiliation and despair surged in his heart.
He, Major General of the Imperial Japanese Army, commander of the 20th Division Ushijima Mitsuoki, was actually to end his military career as a captive!
He slowly raised his hands; those hands that had once commanded thousands of troops now trembled slightly with anger and unwillingness.
His adjutant also despairingly raised his hands.
Several soldiers cautiously approached, roughly searching them for any possible weapons（though they already had nothing left）, then binding their hands behind their backs with rope.
This young sergeant, upon seeing the collar and shoulder insignia denoting major general rank on Ushijima Mitsuoki’s uniform, was first stunned, then broke into an ecstatic grin.
He hurriedly turned his head and shouted loudly: “Company commander… company commander… we’ve caught a big fish, this old guy’s a major general!”
Soon, a captain ran over, carefully examined Ushijima Mitsuoki’s rank insignia, glanced at the arm patch on his shoulder, and could no longer suppress his joyous laughter.
“Hahaha… we’re rich… we’re rich…”
Unable to contain his beaming joy, he patted Ushijima Mitsuoki’s cheek and said in broken Japanese even the Japanese could barely understand: “Yoshi, General sir, your war is over!”
Ushijima Mitsuoki tightly closed his eyes, his cheeks flushed red with humiliation. He knew what awaited him was endless interrogation and display as a trophy.
His brilliant military career had ended with a shameful full stop in a way he could never have dreamed of. And the 20th Division he had once commanded had utterly vanished on this foreign soil.
Soon, John, who was pursuing the Japanese army, also received this news.
He, who had never dreamed of encountering such good fortune, didn’t hesitate at all and immediately called for the signalman.
“Quick… send a telegram to the Commander-in-Chief right away, report this good news to him!”
After issuing the order, John could no longer suppress his delight and murmured: “God, you still pity your servant; now I’m going to get rich!
I really need to think carefully: once my bounty comes through, should I buy a ranch after the war and become a rancher?”
Although sporadic fighting was still continuing, John’s thoughts had already wandered off to who knows where…
