Chapter 132 The Company Commander's Shock

"Company commander, the Japanese invaders who broke through have all been wiped out! There were over a hundred of them, and not a single one escaped!" The soldier reported with excitement, his face still etched with shock as he spoke.

"Over a hundred Japanese? Thank goodness, thank goodness they were taken out! Otherwise, our company wouldn't have been able to hold the line!" Hearing this, the company commander felt a wave of relief, but soon, a look of confusion replaced it. "Wait, how were they wiped out so quickly? How many reinforcements did the Independent Brigade send?"

From the moment the soldier first reported the breach to the final confirmation of their destruction, the commander felt as though only the time it took to eat a meal had passed. To eliminate over a hundred enemy soldiers in such a short time—even if an entire battalion had been sent as reinforcements, it would have been a tall order.

Could the Independent Brigade really have that many reserves? The commander was puzzled.

"They only sent about a hundred men!" the soldier replied.

"What? What did you say? A hundred men wiped out over a hundred Japanese? Have you learned to lie, kid?" Hearing this, the commander looked incredulous, his eyes widening.

"Company commander, I’m not lying! It really was just over a hundred men!" The soldier, growing anxious, rushed to explain. "The hundred men I brought are said to be members of the Independent Brigade’s elite Broadsword Team, specifically trained to counter the Japanese bayonet techniques. You remember that night raid on the Japanese barracks? That was them! Only three hundred men went, and they wiped out nearly an entire Japanese battalion!"

The soldier boasted. He hadn't known their true identity before, but after asking around, he had learned the truth, and now he was parroting the impressive tale to his commander.

"Really? Don't be bragging now! I know about the night raid, but three hundred men taking out an entire battalion? I find that hard to believe!" The commander looked skeptical.

"Company commander, I didn't see the night raid, but I saw them fighting those hundred Japanese with my own eyes!" the soldier insisted. "Goodness, there were only about a hundred of them, yet they completely suppressed half a Japanese company. Those hundred invaders had no room to fight back; they were pushed until they were slaughtered. Even the Japanese company commander leading them was cut down by one of our brothers!"

As he recounted this, a look of lingering shock remained on the soldier's face. He had witnessed it personally: a hundred-man force had completely annihilated half a Japanese company, suffering only about twenty casualties. Though the rest were injured, the casualty ratio had reached five to one. The key was that the five-to-one ratio was in their favor!

In the past, to kill over a hundred Japanese, they would have had to pay the price of at least a full battalion. But now, with only twenty-some deaths, they had wiped out half a company. The shock of it washed over the soldier like a storm. Even now, he felt as if he were in a dream. It all felt so unreal—yet the corpses littering the ground were silent witnesses to the truth.

Listening to the soldier and seeing the genuine shock on his face, the commander began to waver in his skepticism.

"Could it really be true?"

At this thought, a hurricane of emotion stirred within the commander’s heart. He was a veteran who had participated in the defense of the Great Wall; he knew exactly how terrifying the Japanese soldiers could be. If what the soldier said was true, then the swordsmanship practiced by this Broadsword Team was truly fearsome.

Setting aside the commander’s shock, on the Japanese side, Jiro Wakizaka watched an opportunity slip through his fingers, his eyes turning gloomy and his temper flaring.

"Baka! A bunch of idiots! You already opened a gap, yet you couldn't break into the city. What use is the Empire's army for you!" Wakizaka roared.

Hearing this, a battalion commander quickly stepped forward. "Colonel, it is not that the warriors are not fighting with their lives; it is that the Chinese force is simply too fierce. Our imperial warriors have exhausted every effort but still cannot push through!"

"Humph! I don't care what methods you use, you must break through! You must enter the city before nightfall, or if the Division Commander blames us, neither of us will escape the consequences!" Wakizaka sneered coldly.

The battalion commander looked troubled, his face grim. "Colonel, the losses among the warriors are too great! Relying solely on infantry to break into the city will cost a price our regiment cannot afford!"

"What? Did I not dispatch the tank company to reinforce you? Why is this happening?" Wakizaka raised an eyebrow, clearly displeased.

"The tank company arrived, but they have not committed their vehicles to the assault. Instead, they are holding back and observing from the rear. Our infantry has received no protection from the tanks at all!"

"Nani?" Wakizaka froze, his voice filled with disbelief. "You say the tank company hasn't engaged? How is that possible!"

"It is the truth! I spoke to Captain Asakusa of the tank company about this, but he remained unmoved. Although I am a battalion commander, our chains of command are different; I have no authority to order him!" The battalion commander looked helpless.

"Baka! That bastard Asakusa! To let the tank company just watch—isn't that simply standing by while our imperial warriors are slaughtered by the Chinese? Where is he now? Bring him to me at once!" Wakizaka said, his annoyance growing.

The arrival of the tank company should have been a cause for celebration, but Asakusa’s lack of cooperation ignited Wakizaka’s fury. In his view, this battle was the key to his promotion to brigade commander. He had been a regimental commander for years and was long overdue for a move up. He would stop at nothing to achieve this goal, and if Asakusa’s non-compliance derailed his grand plan, he wouldn't mind letting him experience the full force of Jiro Wakizaka’s wrath.

As he thought this, a sharp, cold glint flashed in Wakizaka's eyes. The battalion commander caught that look and broke out in a cold sweat, shivering involuntarily.

*It seems Captain Asakusa is in for some trouble,* the battalion commander thought to himself. Having served under Wakizaka for years, he knew him well. Once he wore that expression, it meant he was truly enraged, and his adversary would certainly suffer the consequences.