Chapter 47 The Little Japanese Surrender! Astonishing!

The news reached the 386th Brigade headquarters, where the Brigade Commander sat with his head bowed in deep silence.

The Japanese... retreated?

According to the original combat plan, even when ambushed, those little Japanese devils were supposed to mount several desperate, suicidal charges, leaving behind piles of corpses before eventually falling back.

Yet the moment their vanguard was blown to pieces, these sons of bitches simply bolted?

What happened to your Bushido spirit? Did you feed it to the dogs?

The Brigade Commander suddenly recalled what Mr. Lin had said about the Japanese devils when they were sharing drinks a couple of days ago:

"They understand petty courtesies but possess no sense of grand righteousness; they obsess over minor details while lacking great virtue; they prioritize trivialities and disregard honor and shame; they respect might but feel no gratitude for kindness; when strong, they act as thieves and bandits; when weak, they grovel and submit."

The Brigade Commander slammed his fist heavily onto the table. "Mr. Lin's assessment is dead-on!"

Following that, he remembered the tactics of "tactical infiltration and firepower saturation" that Mr. Lin had proposed over the dinner table, filling him with a fresh wave of admiration.

Was not the classic "besiege the stronghold to reinforce the allied forces" unfolding right before his eyes the absolute, textbook realization of that theory?

The only regret was that they had ultimately overestimated the backbone of the Japanese devils, managing to annihilate only their vanguard.

Still, the harvest from this battle was by no means small. The three leading Japanese regiments were practically wiped out in their entirety!

That was over ten thousand Japanese troops!

And if one added the 36th Division to the tally...

The Brigade Commander narrowed his eyes, unable to suppress his growing excitement.

"Pass down the order! All forces, press forward at once! Halt the feigned attacks!"

"Tell Li Yunlong, Kong Jie, Cheng the Blind, and the rest of them: stop hiding your cards, you bastards! Unleash full firepower! Charge right in! Annihilate the damn 36th Division completely! Leave not a single one alive!"

***

Upon receiving the news, Li Yunlong, Kong the Second-Blockhead, Cheng the Blind, and the others acted as if they had been injected with adrenaline, howling with excitement.

"Hahahaha! Did you hear that? The Commander has spoken! Hit 'em like you mean to kill 'em!" Li Yunlong bellowed inside his temporary command post, beside himself with glee.

"Old Li! Don't you even think about hogging all the glory this time!" Kong Jie's voice was hoarse and cracking over the walkie-talkie. "Men of the Independent Regiment, if you've got any spine, charge forward! Show the little devils of the 36th Division who's boss!"

"Men of the 772nd Regiment! Target, Luxian! Tear it wide open for me!" Cheng the Blind also turned vicious.

His numerical regiment was a genuine backbone force, entirely different from under-strength outfits like the Independent Regiment or the New First Regiment.

Soon enough,

Huxian was breached!

Guanxian was breached!

Luxian was breached!

These three satellite county towns guarding the prefectural city had initially housed only a single infantry regiment, numbering just over 3,000 men.

Yet they were facing fifteen 107mm rocket artillery pieces—a full 180 launch tubes.

After several rounds of bombardment the previous night, fewer than 500 men were left capable of holding a rifle.

Every single survivor was terrified out of their wits, completely drained of all fighting spirit.

They stood no chance against the all-out assault of backbone forces like the 771st and 772nd Regiments.

The moment they scrambled onto the city gate towers, the 107mm rockets came raining down—how the hell were they supposed to fight under those conditions?

"Comrades! Charge! Avenge our fallen fellow villagers!"

"Kill the devils! Leave none alive!"

***

In the prefectural city, at the headquarters of the 36th Division.

Lieutenant General and Divisional Commander Maishun Nan sat kneeling on the tatami mat. On the low table lay the telegram sent moments ago by Kazuo Shinozuka:

"Reinforcements are blocked and cannot arrive. Hope you will... meet your end with honor and loyalty."

The last shred of hope in Maishun Nan was utterly extinguished.

Behind him, his Chief of Staff, a major general, held his military sword with slightly trembling hands, his face as pale as white paper.

Maishun Nan slowly opened his eyes and drew his wakizashi.

He gripped the hilt with both hands, pointing the tip directly at his own abdomen, his body shivering faintly from extreme terror and agony.

Maishun Nan had thought he wouldn't be afraid, but when the moment actually arrived, fear still gripped him.

Behind him, the Chief of Staff drew his long sword. "Your Excellency Maishun, please... die with dignity!"

Maishun Nan sighed, gritted his teeth hard, and roared:

"Tenno Heika, Banzai!"

The highest commander of the 36th Division, a lieutenant general and divisional commander, ended his sinful life in the most "dignified" yet pathetic manner possible.

It let him off too easily!

On the other side,

when the Japanese soldiers on the city walls learned that their divisional commander had committed ritual suicide and that reinforcements could not arrive, their fighting spirit instantly evaporated.

"His Excellency the Divisional Commander... has fallen with honor!"

"It's over! Everything is over!"

"We've been abandoned! Abandoned!"

"Damn it! How could they abandon us!"

"Surrender! We demand to surrender!"

It was unclear who shouted it first, but it acted like a spark hitting a powder keg!

On the city walls, the surviving Japanese soldiers no longer cared about any "warrior's dignity" and hastily cast aside their weapons.

Some frantically tore off their white undershirts, tied them to their rifle barrels, and waved them desperately toward the outside of the city!

One, two, ten...

More and more white flags rose dazzlingly over the battered ramparts of the prefectural city!

Outside the city, at the New First Regiment's position.

Li Yunlong, who was peering through his binoculars to observe the enemy situation and plotting the route for the final general assault, froze stiff!

He rubbed his eyes hard, wondering if the gunpowder smoke had played tricks on his vision.

The little devils were raising white flags?

That was a first since the world began!

"Damn it! Monk! Monk! Come take a look! On the city wall... is that... is that a white flag?!" Li Yunlong's voice cracked into a pitch filled with utter shock and disbelief.

The Monk rushed over to the binoculars, took a look, and was dumbfounded as well. "Reg... Regiment Commander! It's white flags! So many white flags! The little devils... the little devils are surrendering?"

"What?!" Zhao Gang, Zhang Dabao, Kong Jie, and the others swarmed over in a rush, fighting for turns at the binoculars.

"My good lord! The little devils... they're really surrendering?!"

"Did the sun rise from the west today?!"

"This is a first! A first in history!"

Kong Jie looked at Li Yunlong, green with envy. "Old Li, I'll be damned if you aren't a lucky bastard! How does every single bit of good fortune always fall into your lap?"

First a total annihilation, then a surrender, and on top of that, he had hooked up with a wealthy benefactor—it was truly infuriating.

Li Yunlong chuckled. "Want to surrender, my ass? No way in hell! Pass down my order: kill them all, leave none alive!"

This frightened Kong Jie and the others out of their wits.

Zhao Gang hurriedly stopped the messenger, stepped forward, and said to Li Yunlong with a stern expression:

"Old Li, you can't do that! Absolutely not!"

Li Yunlong cast a sideways glance at Zhao Gang. "Old赵, has reading too many books rotted your brain? What kind of benevolence and morality are you trying to talk about with these beasts?"

Zhao Gang's expression remained dead serious, and he refused to yield an inch: "This isn't about being soft-hearted! This is about principle! It's policy, and above all, strategy!"

"Since the enemy has raised white flags, if we massacre prisoners at this moment, once the word gets out, will any Japanese troops trapped in a desperate situation ever choose to surrender again?"

"They'll only fight like cornered beasts to the bitter end! How many of our soldiers' lives will we have to sacrifice to fill that gap?!"

Kong Jie quickly chimed in, "Old Zhao is right! Li Yunlong, don't you dare go losing your mind! You can't kill them!"

Li Yunlong lowered his head and pondered for a moment. What Zhao Gang said did indeed make sense.

"Fine, fine, fine! We'll do it your way! Damn it, letting these bastard beasts get off easy!"

Only then did Zhao Gang and the others breathe a sigh of relief.

If this stubborn mule Li Yunlong had really slaughtered prisoners on the battlefield, the consequences would have been unimaginable!

Li Yunlong snatched the tin megaphone from his guard's hand and shouted loudly toward the city wall:

"Listen up, you little devils inside! Lay down your weapons and come on out! I give you my word not a single one of you will be killed!"

Following Li Yunlong's words, the heavy, bullet-riddled city gates of the prefectural city were slowly and laboriously pushed open a crack from the inside under countless watchful eyes.

Then, the gap widened further and further...

Kong Jie split his mouth in a wide grin:

"Heh heh, the little devils raising white flags and letting you, Li Yunlong, take a main city without spilling a drop of blood—damn it!"

"This battle was fought with real style, thoroughly satisfying!"