Chapter 50: One-Third

Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
……

Several hundred puppet soldiers charged halfway when they stepped on the numerous landmines Zhang Dabiao had laid out for them.
"Ah, my foot! My leg is broken!"
"Save me, please save me! My stomach has been torn open by shrapnel!"
……

The injured puppet soldiers wailed miserably, and the charging puppet soldiers abruptly ground to a halt.
No one is immune to the fear of death, and the moonlight was not bright enough for them to discern how many more landmines were buried in the road ahead.
"Sir, the Communist Eighth Route Army must have set up a minefield barrier. Our advance has been blocked," a puppet regiment commander reported to Jiang Deshui. "Should we still push through by force?"
"No need," Jiang Deshui waved his hand dejectedly. The Eighth Route Army setting up a minefield was obviously meant to buy time for them to withdraw their heavy machine guns.
At this moment, it was impossible to tell how many landmines the Eighth Route Army had buried, and forcing a charge was not a wise move.

"Sir, the casualty figures are out." A puppet regiment commander tallied the casualties and walked over to report to Jiang Deshui. "With the light and heavy machine gun fire, we had fifteen dead, twelve heavily wounded, and six lightly wounded. During the infantry charge, they hit the landmines, resulting in nineteen dead, eleven heavily wounded, and eighteen lightly wounded. The total number of casualties is eighty-one."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Deshui was so furious he yanked out a handful of his own hair.
They had clearly been the ones ambushing the Eighth Route Army, but in the end, they were once again schooled by the Eighth Route Army instead.
Now, the casualty rate had genuinely reached one-third.

Fujimura Noichi walked over, yawning, and looked at Jiang Deshui. "Why didn't you pursue them just now?"
"Your Excellency, you saw it yourself—the Eighth Route Army set up a minefield. If we had forced a pursuit..." Jiang Deshui did not finish his sentence.
Fujimura Noichi interrupted him with a slap. "Baka! You idiot, didn't you know the Eighth Route Army brought six heavy machine guns with them? They certainly couldn't move fast. Even if you had charged by force and lost half your men just to close in and entangle them, it would have been worth it! Such a great opportunity, and you squandered it for nothing!"

Hearing this, Jiang Deshui naturally understood that the only reason Fujimura Noichi said such things was because he completely disregarded the lives of the puppet soldiers.
In the eyes of the Japanese, as long as their objectives were met, they did not care how many puppet soldiers died.
They might not care, but Jiang Deshui certainly did.
As the highest-ranking officer of the puppet troops, if he did not cherish his soldiers' lives, he would end up being shot in the back.
Though his command tactics did not particularly look like he cherished his soldiers' lives either.

"Your Excellency, please rest assured. Daybreak is coming, and in broad daylight, I will certainly make the Eighth Route Army pay the price," Jiang Deshui did not dare to argue with Fujimura Noichi.
"Do not disappoint me."
"Certainly, certainly."
……

Three days later.
The 386th Brigade Headquarters.
"Brigade Commander, these are the battle results reported by the New Regiment today." A staff officer handed the newly compiled documents to the Brigade Commander.

The Brigade Commander took them, looked them over, and smiled. "This fellow Li Yunlong is truly something. With today's results, he's already worn down half of Jiang Deshui's forces."
"Yes, Jiang Deshui's casualties have reached the equivalent of a regiment and a half," the staff officer nodded, adding, "However, the New Regiment's operational area has been compressed by another third. Soon, Jiang Deshui will likely root out Li Yunlong's main force."
"After being tempered over these past few days, the combat effectiveness of Li Yunlong's New Regiment should be about ready. Combined with Kong Jie's Independent Regiment, if we wear Jiang Deshui down for a few more days, Li Yunlong might actually be able to resolve this crisis," the Brigade Commander mused.
He understood Li Yunlong well; when it came to positional warfare, Li Yunlong was also adept at it.
"Call the New Regiment back and tell Li Yunlong not to be arrogant. That squad of Japanese soldiers is our greatest threat—he shouldn't capsize in a gutter," the Brigade Commander instructed the staff officer.
"Understood."
……

The Independent Regiment.
"Regiment Commander, I just received a call from the Brigade Headquarters," Xing Zhiguo, the deputy regiment commander, told Kong Jie just as the latter returned to the regiment headquarters after inspecting the troops.
"Does the Brigade Headquarters have any instructions?" Kong Jie asked.
"The brigade wants us to prepare to support the New Regiment," Xing Zhiguo replied.
"How is the situation on Li Yunlong's end?"
"The New Regiment hasn't suffered heavy casualties, but Jiang Deshui's forces have already sustained fifteen hundred casualties," Xing Zhiguo said. "It seems our previous worries were completely unfounded. If Li Yunlong had a large enough territory, his New Regiment could probably wipe out the remaining enemy forces all by themselves."

Previously, Xing Zhiguo had worried that Li Yunlong's eight hundred men, maneuvering against more than three thousand Japanese and collaborators, would end up getting the New Regiment trapped in an encirclement.
Now, he genuinely admired Li Yunlong's capabilities.

Kong Jie, however, did not agree with Xing Zhiguo's assessment. He said solemnly, "Let me tell you, you mustn't think like that. That's only because you don't understand this fellow Li Yunlong."
"What is it, Regiment Commander? Do you think something unexpected is still going to happen?" Xing Zhiguo asked skeptically.
"Whether something unexpected happens or not, I can't say, but until the very end, no one can ever quite read Li Yunlong's pulse..." Kong Jie's words trailed off.

The telephone on the desk rang.
Xing Zhiguo picked up the receiver, and Li Yunlong's voice came through: "I am Li Yunlong, commander of the New Regiment. I want to speak with Old Kong."
"Regiment Commander, it's a call from Li Yunlong for you," Xing Zhiguo handed the phone to Kong Jie.
"Old Li, I'm Kong Jie," Kong Jie took the receiver.
"Old Kong, you must have had a pretty good rest these past few days," Li Yunlong's smiling voice came through the line.
"Li Yunlong, I must congratulate you on your recent smooth operations," Kong Jie offered a word of congratulation before cutting straight to the point: "Are you brat getting ready to close the net? Are you calling to have me bring my troops over to you?"
"Those who know me best are Old Kong," Li Yunlong said. "My territory has been squeezed severely, and I reckon that little Japanese devil Fujimura Noichi is about to take the field himself to hunt down the New Regiment's main force. I'm preparing to fight a final decisive battle with them. I've already laid out the positions; all I'm waiting for is your troops to arrive, Old Kong."
"Where is the location of these positions? Have you reported it to the Brigade Commander?" Kong Jie inquired.
"Of course I reported it to the Brigade Commander. He asks every single day—would I dare not report it?" Li Yunlong said with a straight face. "As for the location, you'll know once you get here. Don't worry, Old Kong, this time old Li here absolutely won't cause trouble. Bringing your Independent Regiment over here is basically coming to pick up free gains."
"Cut the crap," Kong Jie scolded. "Fighting a war alongside you, Li Yunlong, I've never once picked up any free gains."
"Old Kong, you can't just talk with your eyes wide open and tell lies. Last time you helped me fight at Qiujiazhang, didn't you get weapons and ammunition from Qiujiazhang..." Li Yunlong began.

Before Li Yunlong could finish, Kong Jie interrupted him with a curse: "Li Yunlong, stop pulling that nonsense with me! The Brigade Commander came to my Independent Regiment and told me to hand over that batch of weapons and ammunition. By the time I hand them over, I'll still owe your brat a batch—tell me what free gains I've supposedly picked up!"
"Old Kong, how could the Brigade Commander be that kind of person? Don't wrong him like that," Old Li feigned doubt.
"Fine, I'm done bantering with you. I'm assembling the troops right now and heading over. Once we meet, you'd better hand over my IOU, or I won't let you hear the end of it!" Kong Jie slammed down the phone and said to Xing Zhiguo, "I'm taking the Second and Third Battalions with me. You take the First Battalion and guard the base."
The Independent Regiment could not empty out its entire camp; someone had to be left behind to keep watch.
"Understood, Regiment Commander," Xing Zhiguo acknowledged.

Kong Jie immediately set out with the Second and Third Battalions of the Independent Regiment.