Bright Sword: From Border Region Manufacturing to Major National Heavy Industry

Chapter 138 The military train is gone? Are you kidding me!
Japanese Military Police in Heyuan

"Captain, news has come from Zhangjia Village."

The confidant reported to Fujita Ichiji, "Captain, you'd better be prepared, because you might not believe what I'm about to say."

Even his trusted confidants, upon learning this information, completely disbelieved it.

Many of the rails and sleepers were missing, which we can understand; they must have been dismantled by the Eighth Route Army.

But the military train mysteriously disappeared, and two armored trains also vanished without a trace.

This is really intriguing.

These armored trains and military trains are big targets; how could they disappear overnight?
This is simply a fantasy!
"Could it be that the ashes of the fallen soldiers were taken away by the Eighth Route Army?" Fujita Ichiji asked suspiciously.

As for the outcome for the military trains and armored trains, Fujita Ichiji had already prepared for the worst.

It must have been destroyed by the Eighth Route Army.

This is beyond doubt.

Fujita Ichiji is now concerned about whether the Eighth Route Army respected the dead.
When his confidant saw the ashes of Fujita Ichiji's prematurely killed soldiers, his face immediately began to twitch involuntarily.

Those damned Eighth Route Army soldiers, don't they always say that the dead are the greatest?

Although they did not take away the ashes of the fallen soldiers, they defiled them with filth, which was an utter disgrace to the Emperor's army!
This is intolerable!

I feel sorry for my fellow villagers.

Seeing his confidant's strange expression, Fujita Ichiji felt a heavy weight lift from his heart: "What's wrong? Could it be that the Eighth Route Army took the ashes with them?"

"Captain, the Eighth Route Army didn't take the ashes with them." The confidant shook his head.

"Since the Eighth Route Army didn't take the ashes with them, why do you look so upset?"

"The Eighth Route Army left a large amount of excrement on the ashes," the confidant said through gritted teeth. "The stench was unbearable, and all the ashes were contaminated and could no longer be retrieved."

"Baka! What did you say? The Eighth Route Army left a large amount of excrement on the ashes!" Upon hearing this, Fujita Ichiji jumped up as if there were nails in his buttocks, glaring at his confidant. "Is that really true?"

If the Eighth Route Army had taken the ashes with them, there would still be room for maneuver.

If we have the chance in the future, we can get the ashes back.

Now, the Eighth Route Army has contaminated the ashes, leaving absolutely no room for maneuver.

This time, the Emperor's army's reputation was truly nailed to the pillar of shame.

"Captain, these ashes have been contaminated by the Eighth Route Army. This is an insult to our army's spirit!" The confidant suppressed his emotions and continued, "What I'm about to say will probably be even more unacceptable to you."

“What could be more unacceptable than the desecration of the ashes of fallen soldiers?” Fujita Ichiji wondered.

“Our military train has disappeared,” the confidant said.

The military train has disappeared?
Fujita Ichiji looked bewildered and asked his confidant, "The military train is gone? What does that mean?"

"The military train is gone," the confidant replied. "There's nothing left in Zhangjia Village. Our military train has vanished without a trace, and even the two armored trains that were sent as reinforcements are gone."

"Baka!" Fujita Ichiji's mouth gaped open wide enough to fit an adult's stinky foot. He stared at his confidant in disbelief. "You mean the Eighth Route Army took the military train and armored train with them?"

This is a complete international joke!

How could the Eighth Route Army possibly take away such large targets as military trains and armored vehicles?
Are you Eighth Route Army soldiers all giants tens of meters tall?
"Captain, the men below have searched carefully over there and confirmed that the military train and armored train have not been hidden. The only explanation is that they were probably taken away by the Eighth Route Army..." The confidant didn't finish his sentence.

bump!
Fujita Ichiji stomped his foot angrily: "Baka! This is impossible! The Eighth Route Army has no ability to take away our military trains and armored trains. This is absolutely impossible!"

The fact that the ashes of fallen soldiers were contaminated was already enough to cause an emotional outburst.

The military train and armored train were unexpectedly lost; this is simply unacceptable.

How did the Eighth Route Army manage to do that?

Could it be that they took away the military train and armored train with just their bare hands?

how can that be!

This is a military train, an armored train, not a child's toy car!
It's not something that can be lifted by human power.

"Captain, I don't believe the Eighth Route Army has that capability either, but our military trains and armored trains really don't have..." The confidant didn't finish his sentence.

Fujita Ichiji jumped up: "Send more men to me immediately. We must find the military train and the armored train. Maybe they escaped and are just hiding somewhere."

"Yes, Captain, I'll send someone else to investigate." The confidant could only nod.

The disappearance of military trains and armored vehicles is a serious matter that must be thoroughly investigated again.

"There's something else." The confidant didn't leave.

"What's wrong?" Fujita Ichiji had a bad feeling.

"The section of the Zhengtai Railway near Zhoujiazhuang was attacked, and a troop transport vehicle..." The confidant didn't finish his sentence.

Fujita Ichiji couldn't help but say, "Don't tell me that the troop transport vehicle is gone too, is it?"

“No,” the confidant shook his head and said, “Although the troop carrier was severely damaged, it is still intact.”

This is also something that his confidants couldn't understand.

If the Eighth Route Army had the capability to take away military trains, why did they only take the trains from Zhangjia Village, while destroying and not taking the troop transport vehicles from Zhoujiazhuang?

“Therefore!” Fujita Ichiji said decisively, “The military train and armored train that we lost in Zhangjia Village must be hidden somewhere. Find them.” The Eighth Route Army did not take the military train from Zhoujia Village; they simply destroyed it.

What does this mean!
This shows that the Eighth Route Army was not capable of taking the military train with them; we were overthinking things.

The military trains and armored trains from Zhangjia Village must have escaped. If they were intercepted by the Eighth Route Army, they would have destroyed them and abandoned them there.

"Yes, Captain, I will definitely investigate thoroughly." The confidant did not expose Fujita Ichiji's bubble of hope.

If the military trains and armored trains from Zhangjia Village escaped, what about the ashes of the fallen soldiers who were insulted?
"Why aren't you leaving yet?" Fujita Ichiji asked, noticing that his trusted aide hadn't taken a step.

"The Yuehua Station was attacked by heavy artillery from the Eighth Route Army, resulting in huge losses. The exact extent of the damage is still being tallied," the confidant said.

"Don't worry about that. Focus on finding the military trains and armored trains for me!" Fujita Ichiji suppressed the matter.

Yuehua Station was defended by the 16th Brigade.

We can't worry about the losses over there.

"Hai!" The confidant then quickly withdrew.

"Damn it! All the reinforcements chased and intercepted us all night, but the Eighth Route Army still managed to escape. This can't go on!" Fujita Ichiji slammed his fist on the table.

After a night of harassment, the troops below suffered heavy casualties and lost a great deal of supplies.

In other words, it is impossible to launch another encirclement and suppression of the Eighth Route Army in the short term.

and so!
The only last chance is my own fishing trip.

As a result, something even more despairing happened to Fujita Ichiji.

Another trusted confidant rushed over and said to Fujita Ichiji, "Captain, something bad has happened! We've lost our bait."

Did you lose the bait?

Fujita Ichiji paused for a moment upon hearing this, then looked at his confidant: "The bait is lost? What does that mean?"

"A group of Eighth Route Army soldiers suddenly appeared from the 115th Division and stole the bait," the confidant explained.

"Baka! A bunch of Eighth Route Army soldiers from the 115th Division came and stole the bait?" Fujita Ichiji's eyes widened. "Wasn't the bait hidden?"

“They found it,” the confidant said.

"Aaaaaah..." Fujita Ichiji lost control of his emotions, grabbing his hair and unleashing a fit of impotent rage!
Damn Eighth Route Army soldiers, you swallowed my bait again! What am I supposed to fish with now?

Oh no!

With this crucial part missing, I'm afraid I won't be able to continue as the military police captain.

The trusted aide did not disturb Fujita Ichiji and quietly withdrew.

The team leader was severely reprimanded for the previous equipment loss, but Taiyuan still gave him a chance.

Now that this part is lost, Taiyuan may not give them another chance.

The captain has it tough. He came to Heyuan County to be the military police captain, and he hasn't had a single good day. It's really miserable.

……

As dawn broke, Comrade Zhang led his transport team successfully into the mountains.

"Well, once we're in the mountains, we're safe now." Zhang Wanhe breathed a long sigh of relief and turned to look at the brigade commander: "Old Chen, we didn't see a single Japanese reinforcement on our way back. How exactly did you have Li Yunlong and Ding Wei cover us?"

"Old Zhang, you don't understand warfare, so don't ask this." The brigade commander shook his head.

The fact that the Japanese reinforcements didn't come means that Li Yunlong and Ding Wei must have successfully lured them away.

The brigade commander was still very worried about Li Yunlong and Ding Wei.

These two men had pulled all the Japanese reinforcements over there, and now they were at the center of the vortex, in a very dangerous situation.

Zhang Wanhe sensed the pressure from the brigade commander and reassured him, "Old Chen, once our arsenal's power system is up and running, we'll definitely treat your 386th Brigade well."

“Old Zhang, that’s what you should be saying.” The brigade commander’s stern expression softened into a smile. “I don’t need to wait until the power plant is up and running. We’re at the arsenal today. As for the rewards, just give us a generous share, even if it’s just a little more.”

"That depends on how much Xiao Li can give you," Zhang Wanhe said.

Although, the train was arranged by the 386th Brigade at Li Muzhi's request.

But now that the items have been retrieved, we still have to give them a thank-you gift.

If Li Muzhi gives too much... well, we don't need to worry about that. We have to trust Li's abilities.

If Li Muzhi gives too little, we'll add half a percent more, which will also be considered fulfilling our promise.

"You old Zhang, you're already scheming again," the brigade commander scolded.

I knew it; you, Lao Zhang, couldn't be generous.

Your stinginess is ingrained in your very bones.

"You've misunderstood, you've really misunderstood. Managing a household isn't easy."

……

(End of this chapter)