Comrade, Your Ingredients Are Too Complicated

Chapter 43 The doubts of the Chief of Staff of the First Army

 After getting rid of all the Japs in the hospital, Li Yunlong used a signal gun to call in a group from outside.

 At the time of departure, the company had a total of 152 men.

 After the rescue mission was completed, the entire team consisted of 203 people, including 30 rescued prisoners and 25 doctors.

Since they did not carry any extra weapons and equipment, everyone searched for a long time before piecing together twenty 38-piece caps and two crooked handles and gave them to the thirty soldiers.

Four comrades from the secret service company stayed here forever. In order to prevent the Japanese from venting their anger on the bodies of the soldiers, Li Yunlong ordered them to be taken away.

As for the corpse of the Japanese, if Zheng Yingqi hadn't stopped him desperately, Staff Officer Li might have burned it directly.

Considering that they will definitely be chased and intercepted by the Japanese on the way back, everyone can only try to carry some medicine.

Although Li Yunlong did not have clear statistics, he estimated that it was about half a ton.

 After doing all this, Zheng Yingqi directed the soldiers to burn the remaining medicines and hospitals. Even if these strategic materials could not be taken away, they could not be left to the enemy.

 The fierce fire shot into the sky, and half of the sky was dyed red.

Zheng Yingqi took out his pocket watch. During the fight with the Japanese Major, the mirror of the pocket watch that had been with him for many years was broken.

This is simply more uncomfortable than losing a weapon. After all, this watch was a gift given to him by the deputy division commander in 2027. It also symbolizes their struggle over the years and carries extraordinary significance.

He looked at the time by the light of the hospital's burning fire.

 It was already 3:20. The battle went much smoother than expected. It was time to retreat.

Amid the flames, the soldiers and doctors carried all their belongings and evacuated towards the base area.

The Japanese's first wave of supporting troops, the railway patrol, arrived belatedly after a full two hours.

 Railroads were important to modern warfare.

 First of all, transportation along railway lines was easy during the war.

 The road conditions in Jin Province are very poor, and trucks have limited capabilities in this terrain. Railways can effectively reduce logistical pressure.

  Secondly, after mastering the railway, both the offensive and defensive sides will be able to dispatch troops more quickly. They can quickly deploy or withdraw troops along rail lines.

 Finally, modern railway trunk lines mainly connect economic centers, industrial centers or areas rich in mineral resources.

 These are strategic locations, and military activities along the railway lines can make it easier to capture these areas.

The Japs attached great importance to railway patrols and formulated a strategy to occupy important surrounding cities along the railway lines.

After the defenders in the nearby county discovered that the hospital was missing, they immediately contacted the nearest railway patrol team.

 However, these people are not very interested in anything outside the railway, after all, it is not within their jurisdiction.

They came here just to keep their mouth shut. Facing the burning hospital, they just conducted a symbolic search and rescue operation.

 After getting nothing, these Japs even started preparing breakfast on the spot, not even bothering to take care of the corpses of the hospital guards.

After the garrison troops from surrounding counties appeared, these proud patrols reported the situation and left.

　　Looking at the tragic situation in front of him, the commander of this unit, Nagano Nakazu, was about to explode.

Although it is not his defense zone, he did not do anything when he came here in the first place, and he will definitely be held accountable when the time comes.

Thinking of the traditional army battle, his vision almost went dark and he immediately ordered the battlefield to be dealt with.

 After a while, his soldiers came to report the details.

“Report, the entire hospital was completely blown up by the enemy, and all the medicines in the warehouse were burned.”

"Probably all the soldiers and doctors stationed at the garrison were killed. We don't have a list, so we can't be sure. So far, no survivors have been found." This news made Lieutenant Commander Naganuma almost collapse. Unlike the grassroots soldiers, he still knew about it given his status. Inside information about this hospital.

Although we don’t know whether the doctors under house arrest here are dead or alive, if they are rescued and surrender to the enemy, the garrison in the nearby county will be unable to survive.

 After a similar incident occurred in the Kwantung Army that year, a major general was dismissed, and all officers and soldiers of the entire brigade were centralized for ideological training.

That's not all the punishment, the brigade was even demobilized.

He is just a small lieutenant commander who has been trained through years of fighting. He has no background and no room for advancement.

 If the blame comes, I will definitely be the first to take the blame.

  Little people will always explode in critical moments. Naganuma Kakuei angrily slapped the soldier who came to report, and then pulled out his command sword.

 “Fool, go find them quickly! No matter they are humans or ghosts! We must find them!”

 “Don’t kill them all, remember to leave a few alive for me, I will interrogate them myself!”

He is extremely resentful now, hating why the upper-level officials didn't arrange more troops to guard this place. They all know how important this place is.

What Naganuma didn't know was that after discovering someone escaping, the garrison of the hospital did not report it to their superiors in order to save their lives, and they hid the matter internally.

In the eyes of the senior leaders of the First Army of the Japanese North China Expeditionary Force, this hospital is extremely safe, and increasing the garrison strength will actually attract more attention.

The weather was good, and the heavy snow perfectly covered the whereabouts of the spy company, leaving not even a single footprint for the Japanese.

Kakuei Naganuma could only send out all his soldiers, even if it was to try his luck aimlessly.

At the same time, he first contacted the garrison chiefs of several nearby counties.

He concluded that the attacking enemies were most likely the Eighth Route Army. After all, only they would care about the doctors, and only those beggars would take the trouble and risk to attack a hospital.

No matter what, these enemies will retreat towards the so-called base area. As long as you are lucky enough, you will definitely find something.

And the weather is so bad now, they will definitely not be able to walk fast!

 Subsequently, he took the initiative to contact the Chief of Staff of the First Army and reported the current situation.

"You are very smart and informed in time. I will send the cavalry unit of the First Army to conduct reconnaissance, and the planes will also be dispatched when the snow lightens up."

“It seems like these insects have great ideas, I’m going to make them pay the price!”

The chief of staff's tone was unexpectedly calm, and he did not get angry. Although his tone was calm, strong murderous intent seemed to come from the other end of the phone.

 After hanging up the phone, the chief of staff of the First Army in Taiyuan immediately held a meeting.

If it was just an ordinary hospital, then he definitely wouldn't care.

 At most, some medicines will be missing and some people will die. This kind of thing happens every day.

What he wondered about was why it was the hospital where leftist doctors were placed under house arrest.

If such a big scandal occurs in his own jurisdiction or even in the hinterland, he will no longer be scolded or ridiculed, he may even be removed from office.

 After all, he is just a major general.

No matter how hard he thought about it, he would never have guessed that a few little people would cause him so much trouble in order to survive.

Does anyone know who the chief of staff of the First Army stationed in Shanxi was in March 1940? I've been looking for it for a long time but couldn't find it.

I feel like I’m almost healed and will be back to normal on the 21st update time.

At that time, I will gradually revise the plot of Chapter 10 to Chapter 17 of Volume 2. I read it myself today and there are a lot of bugs.

 (End of this chapter)