Chapter 153: Finally Becoming a Mortal Threat!

Japanese 9th Division Headquarters

Despite his anger over the failure of the operation, Lieutenant General Rensuke Isoya did not fly into a rage. Instead, sitting quietly within the command post, a contemplative expression settled upon his face. "If I had not witnessed it with my own eyes, I truly could not have imagined it! It is almost impossible for me to fathom that within a weak nation like China, there exists a force with such unyielding fighting spirit and resilience, a tenacity that rivals—and perhaps even surpasses—the warriors of our Great Imperial Japanese Army!"

Gazing into the distance toward Dingyuan City, Isoya said in a deep, solemn voice, "Isolated and completely unsupported, facing the onslaught of an entire division of our Great Empire, they held their ground to the bitter end. With fewer than a thousand men, they fought to the death and practically decimated nearly an entire regiment of our troops that broke through their lines!"

"With their bayonets, they defended their positions, inflicting such agonizing losses upon us. No words can adequately describe this Chinese force!"

A profound look of emotion crossed Isoya's face as he said with lingering shock, "Had I not seen it with my own eyes, I genuinely would not have believed it! They actually used the bayonet, our proudest form of close-quarters combat, to stop the warriors of our Great Empire in their tracks!"

"Your Excellency, the Chinese were merely acting out of sheer madness. When it comes to actual bayonet techniques, ten Chinamen are no match for us!" interjected Colonel Hidezo Hitomi, commander of the 19th Infantry Regiment.

Hearing his divisional commander praise a Chinese military unit so highly left Hitomi somewhat unconvinced and secretly resentful. Could the warriors of the Empire truly be inferior to this ignorant and lowly bunch of Chinese?

"Foolish!" Isoya scolded upon hearing this. Seeing the lingering defiance on Hitomi's face, the general let out a cold snort. "They may not compare to the Empire's warriors in overall terms, yet on the battlefield, with fewer than a thousand men, they routed an entire regiment of ours! And they did so in our proudest form of hand-to-hand combat! Is this not a supreme disgrace to our 9th Division?"

"Hajime! Your Excellency, I understand!"

Hearing this, Hidezo Hitomi finally grasped the underlying meaning behind the divisional commander's words and hurriedly bowed his head in admission of his mistake.

Hitomi now understood what Isoya was truly getting at. On the surface, Isoya appeared to be commenting on the reckless desperation of the Chinese army, but the hidden implication was far more damning: the warriors of the Great Imperial Japanese Army were lacking in blood and bravery compared to the Chinese!

Yet, Hitomi could find no argument against it. They had all witnessed the raw ferocity of the Chinese troops firsthand. To be honest, when Hitomi had first seen how fanatical the Chinese soldiers were, a cold sweat had drenched his entire body.

Ever since he began fighting in China, he had never encountered an enemy as fierce and unyielding as this. In the past, the enemies they faced would almost invariably turn tail and flee in panic the moment their artillery barrage commenced.

Yet now, the actions of the enemy had deeply shaken Hitomi to his core.

Coupled with the words of Divisional Commander Isoya, Hitomi finally understood the root of the problem!

In the past, the Empire's warriors possessed a resilience and combat spirit that were second to none, entirely matching the tenacity of the force before them. However, ever since they began campaigning in China, the resistance they encountered along the way had been overwhelmingly feeble. This had lulled the imperial soldiers into a false sense of security, stripping away their raw ferocity and vigilance. As a result, a proud and full-strength regiment had been repulsed in hand-to-hand combat by fewer than a thousand Chinese. One had to admit, this was a dangerous and alarming signal!

"The Divisional Commander is sounding the alarm for us all," Hitomi thought to himself gravely.

Just as he was lost in thought, he heard Isoya continue, "Hitomi-kun, have you carefully considered this? Ever since we began our offensive against Dingyuan—leaving aside the destruction of the 7th Regiment in the Shuanglong Valley ambush—let us think only of the troops they stationed outside the city who initially halted the advance of an entire brigade. Do you remember?"

Hitomi nodded. Although his 19th Regiment had not participated in that specific engagement, Hitomi had observed the battle from the sidelines and naturally remembered it well.

He nodded to indicate his understanding, then looked expectantly at Isoya, waiting for him to continue.

"Since you observed the battle, Hitomi-kun, I wonder if you noticed how adept this Chinese force is at tactical deployment? I am certain that the commander of this Chinese force is a master of defensive warfare, and an exceptionally brilliant one at that. The arrangement of his circular defense positions possesses a unique ingenuity; the integration of trenches and foxholes is remarkably methodical, and the deployment of light and heavy machine guns is executed with exquisite precision!"

"Above all, every single soldier under his command is fiercer than the last. Granted, judging by their tactical execution, they appear raw and unpolished—one might even say they are green recruits. But that is precisely what makes them so terrifying! To be able to forge a group of raw recruits into a ferocious wolf-pack of a military unit... Our 9th Division has lost nearly half its effective strength at his hands thus far. It is simply incredible!"

At this point, a look of profound shock appeared on Isoya's face. He closed his eyes tightly, drew a deep breath, and said, "For some reason, I constantly feel that the enemy commander on the opposite side is destined to become a grave and mortal threat to our Great Imperial Japanese Army!"

"If he is not eliminated soon, I fear our Great Empire will face endless harassment from him in the future!" As soon as Isoya finished speaking, even he was slightly startled by his own words.

This thought had sprung entirely from his subconscious, yet now that he had voiced it aloud, even he found it difficult to believe.

Could this Chinese commander truly pose such a monumental threat to the Empire?

A part of him wanted to dismiss the notion, but when he recalled the various tactical maneuvers employed by the enemy commander during the battle, coupled with the fact that this same officer had previously commanded a single battalion to defeat the Empire's 115th Regiment during the Defense of Nanjing—and had even slain General Kesago Nakajima—it made Isoya hesitate.

"Nani?"

Hearing Isoya's words, Hidezo Hitomi suddenly widened his eyes in disbelief, a look of sheer astonishment crossing his face as he stammered, "Your Excellency, how can you think such a thing? Is this Chinese military really that formidable?"

"If he is not eradicated as soon as possible, he will inevitably become a mortal enemy of the Empire!" Isoya replied this time with absolute, unyielding conviction.

"Hiss..."

Hearing such a resolute declaration from Isoya, Hitomi instinctively drew a sharp breath.

If things were truly as the Divisional Commander stated, then this Chen Qingzhi had to be eliminated at all costs; otherwise, their Great Empire would face endless future disasters!

With this thought in mind, Hitomi opened his mouth to speak. At that very moment, however, an imperial soldier came stumbling forward in a panic, shouting in terror, "Your Excellency the Divisional Commander! Your Excellency Colonel Hitomi! This is terrible! Colonel Fuji's 35th Regiment has been routed by the Chinese forces! The Chinese are pressing the attack relentlessly, biting at their heels in hot pursuit, and are now less than three Li away from our position!"

"Nani?" Isoya's expression darkened with immediate alarm. He hurriedly raised his binoculars, and sure enough, he spotted a chaotic mass of retreating imperial soldiers in the distance, closely pursued by a horde of advancing Chinese troops. A look of profound puzzlement crossed his face as he muttered, "What on earth are these Chinese plotting?"