Chapter 16 The Moonless Night of Murder

Tonight, there was no moon, only wind!

It was the perfect night for a murder – dark and windy!

The soldiers of the Lunan Detachment had long been sharpening their knives, ready to slaughter the Japanese devils. They noticed that the surrounded Japanese soldiers no longer showed muzzle flashes, and there were no more gunshots or shouts of battle.

It seemed that the Japanese infighting had subsided. Now, they would see what actions the Japanese would take!

Colonel Asou Isoji and Colonel Nakajima Ayumu jointly sent a telegram to Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake: "Your subordinates lead over a thousand warriors, trapped between Lilou and Zhao Village.

"The autumn days are hot, and there is no water during the day. Your subordinates have decided to break through towards Xuzhou at night."

Upon receiving the telegram, Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake felt helpless. He had no troops at his disposal and couldn't possibly send reinforcements.

Moreover, he knew that there were over a hundred *li* from Lilou to Xuzhou. He wondered if the thousand-plus Japanese soldiers, in their current situation, could even escape.

Despite this, Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake forwarded the two colonels' telegram to Commander Yamasawa Jiro.

Commander Yamasawa Jiro, still on the train, received the telegram and replied with only three words: "Understood!"

After those three words, there was no further communication, which completely extinguished the last glimmer of hope in Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake's heart.

"I knew it would be like this!" Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake roared in the command post.

If he had sent a regiment to reinforce the Nakajima Regiment in the morning, that reinforcing unit could have continued to advance tonight, to meet the troops attempting to break out.

Now, it was impossible to assist them; the distance was too great, and his reach was too short!

Having sent out their final farewell telegram, Colonels Asou Isoji and Nakajima Ayumu silently ate dry rations with blood on their faces in the darkness.

Their warhorses had long been lost somewhere. Tonight, during the breakout, they, like ordinary Japanese soldiers, could only rely on their legs to run.

The Japanese soldiers of the two regiments had finished suppressing the rebellious wounded by nine o'clock.

There was only one hour left until the breakout. Now, those sixty minutes felt like a year.

Not only did the ordinary Japanese soldiers sitting beside the corpses feel like the days were dragging on, but Colonel Asou also felt the same.

He had looked at the time on his wrist for the fifth time: it was only half past nine. On average, he checked his watch every six minutes.

Was it tension, anxiety, or fear? Colonel Asou couldn't say. He just felt that time was passing so slowly for the first time.

Sergeant Major Kamikata Taiichi stared at the dark night sky, muttering to himself, "Why hasn't the time arrived yet?"

"Why hasn't the time arrived yet?" Yamashita Takuma repeated.

These Japanese soldiers had given up on the future. Now, they only felt like a knife was hanging over their heads. Rather than being so apprehensive, they would rather have a quick death.

Launch the attack sooner, break out sooner, die sooner, and be reborn sooner!

They weren't the only ones with such thoughts; many Japanese soldiers thought the same way.

The Japanese soldiers' already low morale was further damaged by the recent suppression.

They had just witnessed their colleagues who had participated in suppressing the rebellion immediately switch sides after being injured, transforming from suppressors to rebels.

What an absurd army this was. Just now, these lucky Japanese soldiers who hadn't been injured or killed heard that the colonels had formed a supervision team.

This shattered all the little schemes in these Japanese soldiers' hearts: the original plans to feign death, slip away during the attack, and fake a charge were all abandoned.

Tonight, these Japanese soldiers had only one way forward: to charge!

Ten o'clock!

The time had finally arrived. The two Japanese infantry regiments began to move quietly.

Taking advantage of the darkness, they cautiously moved forward.

The Nakada Jiro Battalion, leading the advance, had already moved two hundred meters, but the defending Lunan Detachment had not reacted in any way.

This gave the Japanese soldiers of the two regiments a glimmer of hope: perhaps they could break out!

At this moment, Chen Changsheng, the company commander of the First Company of the Fifth Regiment of the Lunan Detachment, had already discovered that the Japanese soldiers were charging.

Following the orders of the regimental commander: "The entire company retreats in an orderly manner!"

Three hundred meters!

Captain Watanabe Shunichi, leading the advance, jumped into an empty trench, trembling with excitement: "The Lunan Detachment surrounding them is actually putting on an empty-fort strategy!"

Colonel Nakajima Ayumu, upon receiving the news, was so excited that he almost shouted: "Heaven is helping me!"

Fortunately, he was still sober: now was the time to break out, escape quietly, no shooting, no noise!

Just then, "Bang! Bang! Bang!" several gunshots rang out.

Several flares soared into the sky, followed by a dense series of explosions.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The explosions echoed one after another. Not only was the Watanabe Squad, which had rushed into the empty trench, being bombed, but even the regimental headquarters in the middle of the breakout formation could not escape the attack of countless fragments.

The supervision team at the rear of the breakout formation was also covered by directional mines, causing these Japanese soldiers to crawl on the ground, trembling.

The Watanabe Squad, which had rushed into the trenches, suffered no survivors in the explosion. When Chen Changsheng's company retreated, they had deliberately left enough explosives in the trenches.

This was to ensure that no Japanese soldier who rushed into the trenches would survive.

In the darkness, countless machine guns began to sweep the Japanese soldiers exposed in the open.

Lin Fan had originally planned to keep these Japanese soldiers alive for a few more days.

He hadn't expected these Japanese soldiers to actively seek death. They wanted to break out under the cover of darkness, so the Lunan Detachment could only annihilate them.

This time, the encirclement and annihilation of this force of less than a thousand Japanese soldiers no longer required the full participation of all six infantry regiments.

Tonight, only Shan Huacan's Third Regiment and Anping's Fifth Regiment participated in the battle. Lin Fan had already issued the order to annihilate this force of Japanese soldiers completely.

According to Lin Fan's plan, if these Japanese soldiers did not break out, they would encircle them without attacking. If they broke out, they would directly annihilate them.

One plan, two preparations!

Since there was no longer any need to spare the Japanese soldiers' lives, the Fifth Regiment fought much more fiercely.

The entire regiment's heavy machine guns were pushed to the front, taking the brunt of the Japanese soldiers' bullets.

They pressed forward, enduring the hail of bullets, to completely compress the Japanese soldiers' living space.

Colonels Asou Isoji and Nakajima Ayumu, who already knew they had been tricked, knew it was a trap, but they still ordered the Japanese soldiers to continue charging.

"Charge! Charge!" Colonel Asou Isoji waved his command knife, suddenly stood up, and charged forward.

The colonel personally leading the charge immediately restored some morale to the collapsing Japanese ranks.

Some Japanese soldiers followed Colonel Asou in charging forward. Since Asou had started charging.

The battalion commanders under Colonel Nakajima Ayumu also couldn't hold back. They knew very well that if they didn't break out tonight, even if the Lunan Detachment didn't attack tomorrow.

The entire regiment of Japanese soldiers would die of thirst!

Suddenly, all the senior commanders of the two regiments stood up amidst the hail of bullets and charged towards the north.

Colonel Nakajima Ayumu had no choice but to stand up and follow. If he didn't follow at this time, what if the vanguard managed to break through?

Wasn't he just waiting to die if he stayed where he was?

With the commanders leading the charge, those Japanese soldiers who had survived the directional mine attack were all excited.

They shouted and charged forward, these Japanese soldiers leaping over the First Company's position, completely ignoring the corpses of those Japanese soldiers from the Watanabe Squad lying in the trenches.

They didn't even want their own lives now, so why would they care about those corpses?

Battalion Commander Nakada Jiro and his guards had now become the sharpest knives leading the entire regiment's charge.

Battalion Commander Nakada Jiro once again felt the same way he had when he first came out of school to lead troops: at that time, he would always be at the very front of the squad whenever a war started.

Since becoming a real squad leader, he had never been at the front of the team again.

Not to mention later, as his rank gradually rose, and he became a battalion commander, he did even less charging.

Reliving the feeling of charging tonight felt like going back to his younger days. This feeling was great.

These Japanese soldiers had broken through the Lunan Detachment's first line of defense and had advanced two hundred meters.

Ahead was darkness again, and nothing could be seen! If this road didn't lead directly to Xuzhou, Battalion Commander Nakada Jiro wouldn't even be able to find his way.

Behind him, the gunfire was still fierce, and the flares were brightly hanging in the air. His current situation was completely two extremes: light and darkness.

"We've broken through!" Battalion Commander Nakada Jiro shouted excitedly.

Yes! They had rushed three hundred meters past the trenches, and they hadn't encountered any attacks along the way. What else could this be but a breakout?

There weren't many Japanese soldiers around him. He could only sense a dozen or so. Looking back, there weren't many Japanese soldiers struggling under the flares either.

Those Japanese soldiers were all charging in his direction.

Battalion Commander Nakada Jiro didn't know if Colonel Nakajima and Colonel Asou had broken through.

In such a chaotic situation, it was impossible to count which Japanese soldiers had broken through, or even to get an estimate of how many.

They were still too close to the battlefield! They needed to continue sneaking under the cover of darkness, and at least run another five kilometers to be truly safe.

Just as Battalion Commander Nakada Jiro was thinking this, "Bang! Bang! Bang!" several gunshots rang out.

Several flares abruptly rose from his side, shooting into the high sky like arrows, hanging high in the air for a long time without falling.

The pale light illuminated the area around Nakada Jiro and his men. These Japanese soldiers heard the familiar explosions, which were deafening, and the ground was shaking. This feeling was terrible.

Most of the Japanese soldiers who had just been grateful for their survival fell down.

This time, Battalion Commander Nakada Jiro could no longer be lucky. He was pushed back several steps by the violent explosive blast, and countless shrapnel hit his body.

He fell! He died silently. No Japanese soldier paid attention to him anymore.

Even Battalion Commander Nakada Jiro's guards died in the explosion!

Colonel Nakajima Ayumu, who had been charging with the main force, was once again attacked by directional mines.

Just now, he actually had thoughts similar to those of Battalion Commander Nakada: he believed that they had passed the Lunan Detachment's first line of defense.

Here, the night was quiet, and no bullets were flying over! He thought they were temporarily safe.

What he didn't expect was that just as those thoughts surfaced, they were met with a fatal disaster.

Behind them, along the path they had charged through, soldiers of the Lunan Detachment were already clearing the battlefield.

The Japanese soldiers of the two regiments were all gathered on this road that was less than three hundred meters long and less than twenty meters wide.

Colonel Nakajima looked at the troops after being attacked by the bombs again: only a few Japanese soldiers were able to stand, less than twenty.

If his despair before the breakout was already in the eighteenth level of hell, now he clearly understood that the eighteenth level of hell was just the beginning. Below that, there was another eighteenth level.

Colonel Nakajima Ayumu once again raised his command knife, towards Xuzhou: "Charge!"

This time, his voice was full of grief and despair! It even had some sobbing in it.

Anping's Fifth Regiment was responsible for blocking the north, and Shan Huacan's Third Regiment was chasing after the Japanese soldiers' tails.

This night, the surrounded Japanese soldiers all knew: if they couldn't break out, they would die.

Therefore, the Japanese soldiers left behind for the Third Regiment were only the wounded and corpses. All the Japanese soldiers who could still run had followed the main force and broke out towards the north.

It was just that after being bombed by directional mines twice in a row, the number of Japanese soldiers left standing was actually less than twenty.

In the end, those dozen or so Japanese soldiers, under the command of Colonel Nakajima, desperately charged towards the north.

These Japanese soldiers no longer had any hope of breaking out successfully. They only had one obsession: to charge towards Xuzhou.

Company Commander Chen Changsheng watched as the last dozen or so charging Japanese soldiers fell one after another under the heavy machine-gun fire.

He excitedly ordered the entire company to immediately clear the battlefield. Anping, the commander of the Fifth Regiment, looked at the battlefield where not a single Japanese soldier was standing.

He said with some regret, "I even prepared another battlefield in the rear; it's completely useless now."

The flares in the sky had just gone out when new flares immediately ascended, and the soldiers of the Lunan Detachment on the ground earnestly cleared the battlefield.

As long as they were Japanese soldiers, they would all be given an extra stab; this was the rule of the Special Operations Brigade!

Lin Fan walked on the battlefield, examining the Japanese soldiers' conditions by the light of the flares.

When he saw that every Japanese soldier's lips were cracked and dry.

He shook the water bottles he picked up from the ground. Many were empty, and some could make some noise. When he poured them out, he found that they were filled with blood.

This wasn't red water; the strong smell of blood could be distinguished by everyone present.

Looking at the traces of blood still on some Japanese soldiers' lips, Lin Fan finally understood: "These Japanese soldiers desperately wanted to break out because they were short of water.

"People can last a few days without food, but without water, in such hot weather, they really can't last a few days."

"It's all my fault; I didn't think it through thoroughly enough! Such a good plan to encircle and strike reinforcements was ruined by the lack of water." Lin Fan said with a smile to the Third Regiment Commander Shan Huacan and the Fifth Regiment Commander Anping beside him.

The two regimental commanders and the surrounding soldiers all laughed. To them, what the brigade commander said was just a joke.

Surround the Japanese soldiers and still send them water?

Lin Fan also went to the Japanese soldiers' previous position to inspect, looking at those Japanese soldiers lying in the middle, with many bandages wrapped around their bodies.

It turned out that before the breakout, the Japanese soldiers wanted to kill these wounded Japanese soldiers, which caused the wounded soldiers to resist, and that was why they had infighting.

Looking at the teeth marks and deep, long knife wounds on these wounded soldiers' bodies, combined with the blood he had just seen in the water bottles.

How could Lin Fan not understand: those Japanese soldiers who could break out used these wounded soldiers as water bottles.

In the early morning, the soldiers of the Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Regiments were nervously digging large pits.

They had to bury these dead Japanese soldiers in the ground; otherwise, if these Japanese soldiers were left out for another day, they would stink terribly!

Fortunately, the Japanese soldiers had dug quite a few large pits in their search for water. The soldiers expanded these large pits and buried these Japanese soldiers in them.

When Hou Wentian led the artillery regiment to Zhao Village, the battle was completely over, and even the battlefield had been cleared.

Today, Lin Fan did not order the troops to take any new actions. The Lunan Detachment had gathered seven regular regiments and two security regiments here.

After nearly ten days of continuous combat, annihilating more than fourteen thousand Japanese soldiers, the soldiers of the Lunan Detachment should rest.

The soldiers of the seven regiments advanced a distance towards Xuzhou and set up camp next to Lilou.

This place was by the river, making it convenient for the soldiers to bathe in the river.

Last night, Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake had been ordering his signalman to contact the Nakajima Ayumu Regiment and the Asou Isoji Regiment since eleven o'clock.

All the calls were like stones thrown into the sea, without receiving a single response. He even tried to call the Fukagawa Hiroshi Battalion, but he didn't get any reply.

This calling continued until dawn, and there was no answer.

The sun rose again, and Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake opened his bloodshot eyes and finally despaired: he understood that his two infantry regiments had been completely wiped out, and there was no saving them.

This result had been determined from the moment Commander Yamasawa Jiro ordered the entire Xuzhou Special Task Force to be complete before setting out to rescue his two infantry regiments.

Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake, with bloodshot eyes, looked at Brigade Commander Saito Takeo, who had just walked into the yard for a walk.

Brigade Commander Saito Takeo had a very pleasant night. Brigade Commander Manda Yuto's hospitality was very attentive.

This made Brigade Commander Saito feel very good, and he greeted with a smile, "Inoue-kun! Good morning!"

Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake had not yet emerged from his despair. He clenched his fists tightly, barely restraining the thought of rushing up and beating this hateful Japanese soldier to death.

In the end, he just "hmph"ed, turned his head, ignored that hateful villain, and walked into his command post.

He asked again不死心地, "Any response to the calls?"

Several Japanese soldiers looked at each other. They didn't dare to report, fearing that they would anger the brigade commander, who was already on the verge of exploding.

Inoue Munetake's bloodshot eyes swept over these Japanese soldiers, and finally his chief of staff had to respond, "Reporting to the brigade commander! No reply!"

What a helpless answer this was!

Hearing this answer, Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake spat out several large mouthfuls of blood in succession and fell backward.

Falling to the ground, Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake could hear the entire command post in chaos, with many Japanese soldiers shouting, "The brigade commander has fainted!"

"The brigade commander has fainted!" suddenly reminded him that this time he had lost troops and generals, and as many as ten thousand Japanese soldiers had been buried by him.

Wanting to be promoted to division commander was already impossible. How to keep the position of brigade commander was the most important thing.

Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake suddenly thought of a way: "Sickness!" He was sick, and this time the operational command was under the command of Commander Yamasawa.

Perhaps, maybe he could go through channels with the Headquarters and have Commander Yamasawa take the blame this time.

He could still make a comeback. After understanding this, Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake's fainting this time was a bit long.

He had been concerned about the war ahead these past few days and was already exhausted. At this time, he suddenly relaxed and fell asleep at once.

In his dream, Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake dreamed that he had taken over the position of Commander Yamasawa and, in the ensuing battle, he commanded decisively and won a great victory. The Xuzhou Special Task Force was even ordered to go to Wuhan to continue its mission.

...

"Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake has fallen ill!" Commander Yamasawa Jiro, who had just gotten off the train, received such unfortunate news.

Next, even more unfortunate news came up: "After the Asou Regiment and the Nakajima Regiment sent out telegrams of breakout last night, they have not sent out any more news.

"All calls have gone unanswered, and the Fukagawa Hiroshi Battalion has also been out of contact for almost twenty hours."

Commander Yamasawa Jiro's footsteps on the flat road suddenly faltered. He understood the meaning of these reports:

"That is to say that the Asou Isoji Regiment and the Nakajima Ayumu Regiment have been completely wiped out, and the Fukagawa Hiroshi Battalion has also been completely annihilated.

"The complete annihilation of the two regiments has had too great an impact on him. This is the first time Commander Yamasawa Jiro has had real power and has the strength of fifty thousand Japanese soldiers in his hands.

"This is not a good thing, no matter how you look at it, to have lost the main combat power of a brigade before even starting the expedition."

In any case, Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake was ill, and Commander Yamasawa Jiro had to go and see him to express his condolences.

When he arrived at the hospital, he looked at Inoue Munetake, who was still lying unconscious in bed, and asked the attending doctor worriedly, "When will Inoue-kun be able to wake up?"

"The patient's heartbeat is sometimes fast and sometimes slow. He has been lying in bed for four hours, but there is no sign of him waking up. It is impossible to determine when he will be able to wake up!" the doctor dared not guarantee.

Commander Yamasawa Jiro could only look regretfully at this subordinate who had been so high-spirited a few days ago and had challenged him.

Shaking his head, he walked out of the ward and instructed the director and the doctors that they must use the best doctors and the best medicine to save Brigade Commander Inoue.

A Japanese soldier would definitely need to stand up and take responsibility for the failure of this frontline operation.

Colonel Asou Isoji and Colonel Nakajima Ayumu had already died in battle, so they did not need to take responsibility.

As the direct superior of these two infantry regiments, Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake was of course the first person responsible.

However, this could only be pursued after he was conscious.

Therefore, Commander Yamasawa Jiro was really very concerned about Brigade Commander Inoue's condition. He really hoped that Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake could wake up immediately.