Chapter 42: What a thrill! Absolutely exhilarating!

The "Yamato Spirit" commandos quickly scattered and dropped to the ground.

Immediately afterward—

"Boom—!"

"Boom—!"

"Boom—!"

Three artillery shells landed, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Yoshio Yamamoto was shaken to his core, struggling to lift his head from the ground with dirt covering his face, and scanned his troops with lingering fear.

Fortunately, the shell impacts were slightly off target, causing no new casualties.

"Retreat! Fall back quickly! Get out of this damn place immediately!"

Yamamoto could no longer afford to think about much else; he only wanted to get out of here as fast as possible.

The Eighth Route Army here was completely different from the Eighth Route Army he used to know!

He even began to doubt his worldview!

What the hell, were these really troops of the Eighth Route Army?

...

On the other side, the first platoon had just finished a round of shelling when the company commander rushed over with his men.

"That's enough! Stop firing! Save some shells!" The company commander waved his hand to stop them.

In the pitch black, firing was just shooting blindly.

The company commander turned to the platoon leader: "Did you see clearly? How many enemies are there? Are they Japanese troops?"

The platoon leader immediately reported: "Report! There are about a hundred of them, wearing rather strange clothes. It's uncertain whether they are Japanese."

The company commander knitted his thick brows, a cold glint flashing in his eyes: "You take the first platoon and continue holding this position. Second and third platoon, follow me!"

"I'd like to see which monsters and ghosts have actually sneaked right up to our Independent Regiment's doorstep..."

With that, the company commander waved his hand and led the soldiers of the two platoons in pursuit.

"After them! Bite into them, don't let the bastards run away!"

Ahead, Yamamoto heard the commotion from behind and knew the Eighth Route Army had given chase.

He glanced back and, aided by the moonlight, caught a dim glimpse of the pursuers.

There were only sixty or seventy of them!

An unprecedented sense of humiliation instantly engulfed Yamamoto.

"Baka Yaro!"

If hundreds of people were chasing them, that would be one thing, but the enemy had sent only sixty or seventy men—it was a sheer insult to him!

"Stop the retreat!"

Yamamoto waved his hand, and the Japanese soldiers quickly halted.

"Establish a defensive position right here! Make these arrogant, foolish Chinese pigs pay in blood!"

The Japanese soldiers immediately utilized the terrain to construct makeshift defensive fortifications, preparing to annihilate this pursuing enemy force in one fell swoop.

Yamamoto was filled with fierce determination!

His earlier prompt decision to retreat was not out of fear of that platoon's heavy firepower.

In fact, Yamamoto was confident he could break through that defensive line of fire.

However, there was no need!

Even if he wiped out those six machine gun nests, regardless of the cost in casualties, it would certainly consume a considerable amount of time.

By then, the headquarters personnel would have long since vanished without a trace, and the attack would have been entirely in vain!

Therefore, Yamamoto had ordered the retreat without hesitation.

But now, those detestable Chinese had blindly given chase, and Yamamoto swore to make them pay a heavy price.

"First, second, and third squads, outflank from the left! Fourth, fifth, and sixth squads, encircle from the right! Seventh and eighth squads, suppress from the front! Kill every last one of these Chinese, leave none alive!"

"Hai!"

The commandos replied in deep voices, a burning anger trapped inside their own chests as well.

...

Meanwhile, seeing the Japanese troops halt, the pursuing company commander also quickly ordered his men to a stop.

"Stop! The bastards want to turn and bite back! Set up the machine gun nests for me immediately!"

"Yes!"

The soldiers reacted swiftly.

Soon, twelve MG42 machine guns were erected.

When the Japanese soldiers crept closer, what greeted them were twelve streams of fire.

"Baka! Heavy machine guns! Heavy machine guns again!"

"Retreat! Fall back quickly!"

Yamamoto hurriedly ordered the frontline troops to pull back.

The phrase he said most often today was: Retreat!

Yamamoto simply could not fathom how the Eighth Route Army managed to transport twelve heavy machine guns here.

But now was not the time to ponder that.

Yamamoto took a deep breath.

"Fall back! Return to Taiyuan!"

The mission was an absolute failure, but Yamamoto had uncovered two major pieces of intelligence.

First, there was a traitor within the headquarters! Furthermore, the traitor's rank was not low!

Second, the Eighth Route Army must have mastered some advanced technology; otherwise, it would have been impossible for merely sixty or seventy men to deploy twelve heavy machine guns.

These two intelligence reports were enough to shake the entire North China Area Army!

He had to bring them back to Your Excellency筱冢 (Shinozuka) as soon as possible!

Before long, the Japanese soldiers vanished like a puff of smoke into the night.

The company commander led his men all the way to the edge of the cliff.

"Company commander, why aren't we pursuing anymore?"

The company commander shook his head.

"It's pitch black down there. If the bastards have laid down a few guns in ambush, going down there would make us sitting ducks!"

"Damn it! We let those bastards off easy!" The soldiers spat in frustration.

Yet the company commander burst into hearty laughter, clapping the shoulder of the soldier beside him firmly:

"Haha, be content!"

He pointed back along the path of pursuit: "I counted all the way along our charge just now! The bastards left at least thirty-odd corpses behind!"

With a total of just over a hundred Japanese soldiers, losing thirty-odd men could be considered heavy casualties.

"Most importantly, this time our troop strength was one-on-one!"

The more the company commander spoke, the more excited he became, feeling a sense of long-overdue vindication.

"The little Japanese left us over thirty dead, but not a single one of our brothers even got a scratch, hahaha!"

"Hurry back and report to the regiment commander, let him share the joy!"

"Let's move!"

...

Independent Regiment Headquarters.

Kong Jie pinched his tobacco pipe, his mouth splitting almost to the roots of his ears.

"Utterly thrilling! Thrilling!"

Kong the Stubborn downed three consecutive bowls of sweet potato liquor.

"Wiping out over thirty little Japanese with zero casualties—you brothers did a fine job! I'm putting you in for commendation!"

Previously, watching that brat Li Yunlong annihilate brigades and receive massive shipments of equipment, Kong the Stubborn had felt a burning jealousy inside!

Now, he too had fought a brilliant battle!

Though the enemy casualty count wasn't massive, those three words—"zero casualties"—were enough for him to brag about for quite a while.

...

Two days later.

Yamamoto and his eighty-odd special forces commandos fled back to Taiyuan in disarray.

As soon as he entered the city, Yamamoto stormed furiously into Shinozuka Yoshio's command headquarters.

At that moment, Shinozuka Yoshio was kneeling behind his desk, sipping fragrant tea.

Seeing Yamamoto barge in, Shinozuka hurriedly asked: "Yamamoto-kun, were you able to capture the leader of the Eighth Route Army alive?"

Capture alive? I almost got captured alive!

Yamamoto glared at Shinozuka: "Your Excellency Shinozuka, the intelligence was leaked, the mission failed, and the Yamato Spirit Commando... suffered heavy losses!"

"Nani!"

Shinozuka instantly stood up, staring at Yamamoto in sheer disbelief.

Yamamoto continued: "Your Excellency Shinozuka, as soon as our side arrived at the designated location, we encountered the enemy's overwhelming firepower—a full twelve heavy machine guns, plus mortars."

"Imperial warriors... heroic sacrifice... thirty-eight men!"

Listening to Yamamoto's words, Shinozuka Yoshio's expression gradually darkened.

Failing the mission was one aspect, but more importantly, the intelligence had actually been leaked?

Shinozuka likewise believed that if the Eighth Route Army hadn't received advance warning, how could they have arranged so much heavy firepower waiting for Yamamoto to walk right into the trap?

Yet, apart from himself and Yamamoto, only a few absolute confidants knew about this operation.

If these people were the ones who leaked the secret...

A cold glint flashed in Shinozuka's eyes.

"Yamamoto-kun, you've worked hard. Go back and rest!"

"Hai!"

Yamamoto bowed slightly, but instead of withdrawing, he went on to say:

"Your Excellency Shinozuka, I have one more important matter to report. The Eighth Route Army seemingly has mastered some kind of advanced technology!"

"I saw with my own eyes that a mere sixty-odd men of theirs were able to deploy a full twelve heavy machine guns!"

Shinozuka Yoshio was deeply shocked!

"Baka Yaro!"