RPAGF Chapter 1168 Zeng Yuan Arrives
Chapter 1168 Zeng Yuan Arrives
Commander Kamio Jiro of the 9th Division quickly received orders to immediately assemble the division's troops and hold off Zhang Haiguang's ice attack. Only then could the rest be dealt with. If they couldn't hold him off, given Zhang Haiguang's ability to charge and fight, the 9th Division would likely be in grave danger.
"idiot!"
The commander of the 9th Division, Jiro Kamio, crumpled up the telegram from headquarters and threw it into the mud outside. "Don't I know I should be holding off Zhang Haiguang's army?" he thought.
Do you people really need to notify us about something so trivial? We understand this too, but the problem is, tell me how to stop them? Damn it, all the people at headquarters do is spout nonsense. We lost the war because you guys are useless.
At the forefront was an armored regiment's assault, followed by a large number of heavy armored vehicles. If we were to use our bare hands to hold them off, how many people would die? In less than two days since the start of the war, nearly 10,000 men have already disappeared from the roster. If we were to continue holding them off head-on, the 9th Division would once again become history.
"Reporting to the division commander, the Kurihara Brigade from Jinling has arrived."
The telegram from earlier was thrown into the mud, but the second telegram brought some good news: it was the first army that had been promised to him.
"If you have something to say, just say it."
Seeing that his operations staff officer didn't seem happy, was there something else going on? Ever since we suffered heavy losses, Kamio Jiro has been constantly requesting reinforcements. Now that reinforcements have finally arrived, shouldn't we be happy?
"Reporting to the Division Commander, the Kurihara Brigade is merely a garrison brigade, with fewer than 6000 men in total. They were recently formed, with 3500 men composed of pioneering troops from the Northeast and 1000 new recruits from within the country. The actual combat-ready personnel..."
When he heard the personnel composition, Kamio Jiro almost fainted. This was clearly a scam. You said you sent a brigade, but it was only half a brigade. Even if it was only half, you didn't give me any more combat personnel.
Most of them are composed of new recruits and pioneer groups. Can these people fight on the battlefield? If they encountered a ragtag army from China, they might be able to hold their own for a while. But you're facing their elite troops now. What can an army like yours do?
"Since the military has sent them, I can't possibly not use them. Get them to the front lines immediately. I don't care what methods they use, they must buy me two hours to get all the troops of the Ninth Division together."
"We can't worry about that now," Kamio Jiro said viciously. "Anyway, you guys are just a ragtag army. The higher-ups have already decided that you're sent to the battlefield to be cannon fodder. Only when you guys are cannon fodder can we regroup and have a chance in the next battle. Otherwise, the Ninth Division will just be wiped out."
The operations staff officer hesitated for a moment, but ultimately went to relay the order. If the Kurihara Brigade didn't push forward, then at Zhang Haiguang's pace of advance, they would hear artillery fire on their side in at most half an hour. By then, the entire Ninth Brigade would be in chaos, and the Kurihara Brigade wouldn't be able to hold out either.
"Soldiers, we have achieved an initial victory in the East Asian holy war. What we are seeing now is just a small-scale counterattack by the enemy. Once we suppress this counterattack, we will be able to open up the Jinpu Railway, connecting the lands we occupy in the north and south, and then occupy the entire coastal area of China. What we need to do now is to hold our steel guns and charge towards our enemy. No one is allowed to retreat."
Upon receiving the order, Brigade Commander Kurihara didn't utter a single word of dissent. Instead, he immediately began war mobilization. He only had about 6000 men under his command, and he didn't care much about their ultimate fate. He knew this would be the outcome when he set out from Nanjing. If he could somehow manage to gain some merit through his efforts, he'd have made a fortune for life.
After a day and a night of marching, many were still nauseous, but their brigade commander had already pushed them onto the battlefield. Seeing the scorched earth-like battlefield before them, many had no idea what they had just experienced, nor how many shells had fallen from the sky; craters were everywhere along the way.
"Don't look to the side, and don't listen to what those people are saying. Just know that the road ahead is right under your feet, and it is a road to victory. If you want your family to bring glory to your family, you must hold your breath and charge forward in the battle, charging all the way until you crush the enemy."
Commander Kurihara said with a hint of helplessness that he had to constantly encourage his men along the way. He knew in his heart that this wasn't just about boosting his men's morale, but also about boosting his own. Seeing everything around him, he might very well have given up first.
There hadn't been any fierce fighting here, just two rounds of enemy artillery fire. But on our defensive positions, soldiers lay scattered everywhere, even various human parts were strewn about, mixed in with gun parts, giving it a peculiar feel. Some soldiers, in any case, had practically vomited all their grievances since the start of the advance; what was left was probably just bile.
There was nothing that could be done about it. Most people had seen dead bodies, but they had never seen so many Japanese soldiers die, and die so tragically. To them, this seemed completely different from their understanding of the battlefield.
When Japan first started recruiting soldiers, the recruiting instructors told them not to panic when they arrived in China. They said that their enemies had no fighting power at all, and that as long as they could unite, they would definitely be able to win. They said that the fighting power of those people was at least several times that of their own.
After disembarking on the Huangpu River, seeing the fearful looks in the eyes of the Chinese people around them, their initial worries immediately vanished, and they all straightened their necks, feeling that they should have control over this land.
The confidence that had been built up was quite good, but once on the battlefield, it all vanished, replaced by the same panic as before…