Chapter 29: Shocked Kunizaki Noboru
“Baka… That idiot Hasegawa can’t even take a church, yet he has the nerve to request reinforcements?”
In an office in the former NJ city government building, Kunizaki Detachment’s supreme commander Kunizaki Noboru flew into a rage at the communications soldier who had come to request reinforcements on orders, and slapped him several times.
Kunizaki Noboru was born in 1886, graduated from the 32nd class of the Army University, and at fifty-three years old this year, he was a genuine veteran general.
This man had a cruel and arrogant personality, and was extremely concerned with saving face. Today, he had just received a friend when he heard from his subordinate that his deputy had led a company of soldiers to the church to capture women but failed, instead suffering heavy losses, and he became furious on the spot.
“Hai… Hai…”
Facing the enraged Kunizaki Noboru, the communications soldier could only endure the burning pain on his face and kept bowing in apology.
“Kunizaki-kun… Don’t be too harsh on Hasegawa-kun.”
At this time, another man wearing the rank of lieutenant general who was sitting in the office spoke up.
This man had a Danren mustache and wore round glasses, appearing gentle and scholarly at first glance, but upon closer observation, one could see cruel and murderous glints occasionally flashing in his eyes. This man was the current commander of the 6th Division, Tani Hisao.
Three years older than Kunizaki Noboru, Tani Hisao graduated from the 24th class of the Army University, but he got along quite well with Kunizaki Noboru, and the two had a very close private friendship.
Today was the day the Japanese army prepared to hold a victory banquet after capturing Nanjing, so Tani Hisao had specially come to have tea and chat with this old friend.
But he had just sat down and hadn’t even had a sip of tea when he saw the communications soldier arrive with the request for reinforcements.
Tani Hisao stopped his old friend who was about to flare up again and said, “Kunizaki-kun, don’t get angry first,”
then asked the communications soldier, “Which Chinese unit are those people in the church from?”
The communications soldier hesitated for a moment, “Your Excellency General, we… we didn’t capture any prisoners, so we don’t know their identity.”
“Baka!” Kunizaki Noboru flew into a rage again and raised his hand, but it was grabbed by Tani Hisao before it could come down.
At this point, Tani Hisao’s face no longer showed the earlier ease, but instead was grim as he said, “Kunizaki-kun, it’s not too late to hit him after we get the facts clear.”
With that, he asked the communications soldier again, “What are the characteristics of those people, and how many are there?”
“The number of troops in the church is unknown, but Colonel Hasegawa estimates it’s no less than a company. As for characteristics…” The communications soldier thought for a moment and quickly added, “Right, all those people are wearing German uniforms and German-made helmets on their heads…
Right, they also have five or six mortars, with very fierce light weapons firepower. They even laid mines around the church, making our attack extremely difficult.”
“German-equipped division!”
Now, Kunizaki Noboru and Tani Hisao’s expressions became grave. In this period, the German-equipped division was synonymous with China’s elite troops.
“Kunizaki-kun, it looks like you need to mobilize your troops immediately.”
Tani Hisao thought for a moment and said sinisterly, “I estimate those Chinese troops in the church are the last remnants of the German-equipped division.”
“Good… I’ll immediately order the 11th Regiment to set out for reinforcements.” Kunizaki Noboru unhesitatingly picked up the phone and issued the order on the spot.
It should be noted here that the Japanese army’s combat units originally did not have a “detachment” organization.
It was only during World War II that the Japanese army temporarily established this special organization for specific combat missions.
Take the Kunizaki Detachment as an example: this unit was mainly composed of the 9th Brigade of the 5th Division missing one infantry battalion, including the 11th and 41st Infantry Regiments and other units, with about seven thousand men.
Now, Kunizaki Noboru had dispatched half of his forces at once, showing how seriously he was taking this matter.
After the phone call, Kunizaki Noboru still felt uneasy. He frowned and said to Tani Hisao, “Senior, although the troops have been sent out, I still feel that those Chinese troops in St. Paul’s Church won’t be easy to defeat.”
Tani Hisao snorted lightly, “That depends on Hasegawa-kun. The 11th Regiment you sent out is missing one battalion but still has two infantry battalions. If they can’t even take a small church, you can suggest to 5th Division Commander General Kitagaki that his deputy detachment commander position be revoked.”
………………
While Su Yaoyang was hurrying back with the newly recruited men, Li Gaoyuan, who was leading over a hundred stragglers to hold St. Paul’s Church, also faced his first fierce battle.
Half an hour ago, the reinforcement troops sent by Kunizaki Noboru finally arrived.
As Tani Hisao had said, although the 11th Regiment was missing one infantry battalion, it still had two infantry battalions, one artillery company of combat troops, and complete logistical and communications companies.
As soon as the 11th Regiment arrived, the regimental commander, Colonel Nagano Yuichiro, saw Hasegawa.
As the deputy detachment commander of the Kunizaki Detachment, Nagano Yuichiro was naturally familiar with Hasegawa.
But as soon as they met, Nagano Yuichiro was startled.
The usually gentle and elegant Hasegawa, always in a neat uniform, now looked disheveled, with his uniform torn in several places and a scratch on his face.
“Hasegawa-kun, what exactly happened? How did you end up like this?” Nagano Yuichiro quickly asked.
“Nagano-kun, you’ve seen me in a laughable state.”
Hasegawa managed a smile, “This morning, I heard there was a group of Chinese female students in St. Paul’s Church, so I brought a company to take them back to the detachment headquarters. Unexpectedly, we ran into the Chinese German-equipped division and were caught off guard, so we had no choice but to request tactical guidance.”
“German-equipped division?” Nagano Yuichiro was slightly surprised. Having come in a hurry, Kunizaki had not told him that the church defenders were German-equipped troops.
“Yes, it should be the German-equipped division.” Hasegawa nodded. “I observed through binoculars that the defenders in the church are all wearing German helmets and German uniforms.
But what puzzles me is that the equipment they’re using isn’t German-style, but more like American-style. Especially their rifles, which can fire continuously with an astonishing rate of fire. The company I brought has already suffered over half casualties.”
“There’s such a thing?”
A hint of curiosity appeared in Nagano Yuichiro’s eyes, but he then said arrogantly, “Hasegawa-kun, don’t worry about it. You’ll know once I annihilate those Chinese stragglers.
You rest here for now, and watch me avenge you!”
With that, he strode out to begin deploying the troops.
Watching Nagano Yuichiro issuing orders to the two battalion commanders not far away, Hasegawa’s gaze turned cold.
