Chapter 156: Earning Fifty Thousand Points!

"Chen Qingzhi, I, Yoshika Ryosuke, swear we shall never co-exist!"

After letting out a cry of anguish, Yoshika Ryosuke was consumed by fury, coughed up a mouthful of blood, and fainted on the spot.

Fortunately, Inosho Noritoki had quick reflexes and caught him just in time. However, with Yoshika unconscious and the Ninth Division suddenly left without a leader, the Japanese soldiers present were thrown into complete panic, utterly at a loss for what to do.

Hearing the battle cries of the Chinese troops approaching from not far away, Inosho Noritoki, as the highest-ranking surviving officer of the Ninth Division present, had no choice but to order a retreat.

Yoshika Ryosuke was unconscious, Chief of Staff Nakagawa Hiroshi was dead, 6th Brigade Commander Akiyama Yoshiyuki was dead, and Hannya Shuzo was dead. In the span of a single moment, Inosho Noritoki was the only one left to command the entire Ninth Division.

Under such circumstances, how could the Ninth Division possibly hold their ground? Inosho Noritoki could only retreat in disarray, avoiding the enemy's sharp edge, and wait until Yoshika Ryosuke regained consciousness to formulate a new plan.

"Quickly now, retreat!"

Urged on by their officers, the Japanese soldiers of the Ninth Division scrambled away in a disorderly retreat, hastily fleeing the area.

...

"Charge!"

Our soldiers pursued the fleeing Japanese troops all the way to the enemy headquarters before finally coming to a halt.

Wang Yachuan looked at the area surrounding the headquarters, which was pockmarked with huge craters from explosions, and the collapsed main building itself. A smile involuntarily spread across his face.

Although there wasn't a single Japanese soldier left inside the headquarters, the clear signs of excavation and devastation indicated that several high-ranking Japanese officers must have been blown to pieces right here.

However, exactly how many had died and who they were remained unknown.

Still, Wang Yachuan could deduce with certainty that high-ranking Japanese officials had been killed by the blast—it was even possible the Japanese divisional commander himself had perished!

Otherwise, the Japanese would never have fled in such a panic.

Of course, this still needed to be verified!

At this thought, Wang Yachuan turned to the soldiers beside him and asked, "Did we capture any prisoners for interrogation?"

"Commander, I knew you'd want a live tongue, so I've already prepared one!" Hearing this, a battalion commander nearby chuckled and replied.

"Did you find out anything? Which Japanese officers were actually blown up?"

"The one we caught is a Japanese sergeant, his rank is too low so he doesn't know the specifics, but he heard that Nakagawa Hiroshi, Chief of Staff of the Japanese Ninth Division, and Akiyama Yoshiyuki, Commander of the 6th Brigade, were both killed in the blasts. As for whether Yoshika Ryosuke was killed, he has no idea!" the battalion commander reported excitedly.

"The Chief of Staff and a Brigade Commander were both blown to kingdom come?" Hearing this, Wang Yachuan's face also lit up with excitement.

Even if they couldn't confirm whether Yoshika Ryosuke was dead, just wiping out these two Japanese brass hats meant they had made a massive profit this time!

Eliminating two high-ranking Japanese generals in a single stroke was an extraordinary military achievement. Even without confirmation of Yoshika's death, Wang Yachuan was already more than satisfied.

He waved his hand to summon a soldier and said in a deep voice, "Quick, head back and report to the Brigade Commander. Tell him the situation here so he can share in the joy!"

"Yes!"

The soldier saluted smartly, then turned on his heel and sprinted back toward Dingyuan City.

...

Inside the headquarters in Dingyuan City, upon receiving the report, Chen Qingzhi merely nodded to acknowledge the news, showing little surprise.

In fact, long before the artillery battalion finished its bombardment, Chen Qingzhi had already received notification through the system prompts.

Nakagawa Hiroshi, that colonel, had contributed ten thousand merit points to him, while Akiyama Yoshiyuki, commander of the 6th Brigade, had yielded a full fifty thousand points. As for Yoshika Ryosuke, since there was no system prompt regarding him, Chen Qingzhi could conclude with certainty that the man had not been killed by the explosions!

Even so, this was more than enough to gladden Chen Qingzhi's heart.

Just eliminating Nakagawa Hiroshi and Akiyama Yoshiyuki left Chen Qingzhi thoroughly satisfied!

Furthermore, following this battle, the sheer number of casualties Chen Qingzhi had inflicted on the Ninth Division meant he had accumulated well over three hundred thousand merit points in total!

Opening the system interface, he could clearly see the merit point tally listed under his personal profile:

Host: Chen Qingzhi
Merit Points: 521,630

A full five hundred and twenty thousand!

Seeing this figure, a look of profound astonishment crossed Chen Qingzhi's face. He had unconsciously amassed over half a million points.

In truth, even Chen Qingzhi was stunned by this number, but upon a moment's reflection, he realized it was not exaggerated at all.

One had to remember how many units of the Ninth Division had been decimated throughout the course of this entire battle.

The Shuanglong Valley Ambush wiped out the Japanese 7th Regiment and killed its commander, Isao Kazuo.

The Defense of South City held firm against the Japanese 36th Regiment, killing its commander, Wakizaka Jiro, and destroying a major portion of the Japanese 9th Mountain Artillery Regiment.

Coupled with the preceding urban street fighting, where the 1st Regiment stood its ground with fewer than a thousand men and fought to the death against nearly a full Japanese regiment, wiping out over three thousand enemy soldiers!

During the counter-charge, they subsequently annihilated the majority of the Japanese 35th Regiment, leaving fewer than a single battalion of Japanese troops to flee!

Finally, the artillery bombardment on the Japanese headquarters took the lives of numerous Japanese officers. Adding it all together, they had virtually wiped out half a Japanese division. Earning five hundred and twenty thousand merit points was entirely normal!

While it was regrettable that Yoshika Ryosuke had not been blown up, his overall plan had nonetheless succeeded. With the upper echelons of the Ninth Division suffering heavy casualties and losing more than half their manpower, mounting another offensive would be no easy feat for them!

Moreover, given Yoshika Ryosuke's stubborn and arrogant personality, under the present circumstances, the likelihood of him launching a relentless pursuit was rather slim!

As these thoughts drifted through his mind, Su Zuxin's voice reached his ears: "Brother Chen, congratulations! You've orchestrated yet another masterpiece. I truly have to hand it to you!"

Following the direction of the voice, he saw Su Zuxin walking over from nearby, smiling as he spoke.

Chen Qingzhi smiled and replied, "Brother Su flatters me too much!" Then, changing his tone, he added, "Brother Su, I may need to be away on a trip for some time. The defense of Dingyuan will have to be entrusted entirely to you!"

"Oh?" Hearing this, Su Zuxin looked somewhat surprised and couldn't help asking, "Brother Chen plans to leave? What for?"

"Naturally, to execute the next phase of my plan!" At this, a cold glint flashed in Chen Qingzhi's eyes as he said in a low voice, "Right now, the Ninth Division has been crippled by us and is temporarily incapable of posing a major threat to Dingyuan! Under these conditions, Brother Su's 135th Division is more than enough to hold Dingyuan. Naturally, my Independent Brigade must venture out and deal the Japanese devils a heavy blow!"

"Just taking beatings without striking back is not the style of our Independent Brigade!"

Hearing this, a sharp gleam flashed in Su Zuxin's eyes. He knew that Chen Qingzhi's grand plan was finally about to surface!

With considerable curiosity, he asked, "How does Brother Chen intend to proceed?"