You are ordered to support the War of Resistance against Japan; China enters Level 1 combat readines

"Hey!"

A Japanese general immediately echoed this sentiment.

"Your Excellency is wise! The enemy tanks may be formidable, but their mobility is inevitably limited by the terrain! Once the roads are cut off, they're nothing but scrap metal!"

"That's right!"

Another general chimed in, "No matter how strong its defenses or how fierce its firepower, its fuel and ammunition will eventually run out!"

"Our hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the North China Front Army will use manpower and lives to wear them down on this land!"

"It only has one vehicle, while we have countless strongholds and soldiers! With layers of defense and obstacles at every step, it has no chance of escape!"

"You are all right!"

"Your Excellency Tada is wise!"

"Immediately mobilize all outposts along the route!"

……

Inside the meeting room, the previously somber atmosphere seemed to be ignited by Tada Shun's "last-ditch counterattack" plan.

The beasts spoke one after another, each more arrogant than the last.

Yes, no matter how awesome it is, there's only one!

We were caught off guard before, but now that the Imperial Army is serious and has mobilized the entire occupied territory, surely they can handle a single tank?

Looking at the renewed "fighting spirit" of his subordinates and listening to their flattery and sycophancy, Tada Shun felt that the anger that had been building up in his chest for so long was finally released, and his expression softened considerably.

He admitted that he had underestimated his opponent before, but now he was using his true strength!

Dozens, or even hundreds, of strongholds along the way will operate simultaneously, wearing down the enemy until they are exhausted!

"Gentlemen!" Tada Shun's voice regained some of its former authority.

"This operation concerns the face of the Imperial Army and the overall security of North China! We must go all out!"

"I will absolutely not allow a fourth operational meeting to be held over this one tank! This is the last time!"

"Hey!!"

The generals responded in unison, and morale seemed to rise again.

It's just a tank, but the fact that the top brass of the North China Army held three meetings over it shows that they "respected" it enough!

There must not be a fourth meeting!

Tada Shun wouldn't allow it, and neither would these high-ranking Japanese generals!

"All outposts along the Pingshi Line should be immediately ordered to dig at least three anti-tank ditches, each more than three meters deep and five meters wide, along the main access routes within 24 hours!"

"Order the troops stationed along the line to raise the alert level and send out reconnaissance units to closely monitor the movement of that tank!"

"If necessary, a large number of Chinese laborers can be conscripted to speed up the project!"

Orders were quickly drafted, and communications staff busily took notes before distributing this operational plan, which embodied the "wisdom of the Imperial Army," to various units.

Tada Shun watched this scene, nodded slightly, and felt that the tightness in his chest had indeed eased a lot.

However, at that moment, the communications officer responsible for relaying orders returned unexpectedly.

"Reporting...reporting to Commander!"

"Commands...command issuance blocked! Multiple outposts are out of contact; communications are completely down!"

"Um?"

Tada Shun frowned: "Which bases can't be contacted?"

The staff officer swallowed hard. "Xiao...Xiaowangzhuang stronghold, Beiling stronghold, Heiniushan stronghold, Li...Lijiazhuang stronghold...According to preliminary statistics, there are...more than a dozen strongholds that have lost contact!"

"What?!"

"More than a dozen outposts simultaneously lost contact?"

"How is this possible?!"

A murmur of surprise and uncertainty instantly filled the conference room.

If a base loses contact, it could be due to a communication equipment malfunction or some other unexpected event.

But all of the dozen or so outposts lost contact around the same time?

This is absolutely abnormal!

Tada Shun's heart sank suddenly, and he had a bad feeling.

"Immediately! Contact all available units near the outpost and order them to send men to investigate! I need to know what happened!"

"Hey!"

The communications officer scrambled out of the room.

Inside the command center, the atmosphere that had just warmed up instantly plummeted back to freezing, becoming even more somber and tense than before.

"Baka yarou!"

"What's wrong with this year...?"

"What a run of bad luck!"

The senior generals whispered among themselves, "This year is really abnormal."

Tada Shun was extremely uneasy.

The Hundred Regiments Offensive launched by the Eighth Route Army six months ago caused him to suffer heavy losses and lose face in front of the headquarters, making his position precarious.

Now, right under his nose, in the core area controlled by the North China Front Army, such a bizarre and heinous event has occurred!

It's like when it rains, it pours!

Tada Shun prayed frantically in his heart, praying that the loss of contact with these bases was only due to some unknown technical reason, and that it was absolutely not related to that damned tank!

If it really was that tank that did it... he couldn't even imagine what that meant!

Forget about being transferred back to headquarters to take a sinecure; he probably can only wash away this utter disgrace by committing seppuku in front of the emperor!

Time passed by, second by second.

The headquarters was brightly lit, and no one had left or spoken.

Everyone tacitly agreed that as long as the meeting hadn't been declared over, it was still considered the "third meeting."

It went on until late at night.

The communications officer rushed in again, this time almost collapsing to his knees.

"Report...report! The reconnaissance team...reports back..."

"Xiaowangzhuang stronghold, Beiling stronghold, Heiniushan stronghold, Lijiazhuang stronghold, Zhangjiabao stronghold... all... all destroyed! The defending troops... all the defending troops were killed in action! Not a single one survived!"

"Initial confirmation... a total of eighteen outposts were destroyed this afternoon!"

"Furthermore, tank track marks have been found around these outposts!!"

"boom--!!"

This news, like a thunderclap from the heavens, exploded in the deathly silent conference room!

Eighteen outposts?

An afternoon?

Everyone was killed in action?

Tank tracks?

Each keyword was like a heavy hammer, striking hard into the hearts of Tada Shun and all the Japanese generals!

"This is impossible! How could eighteen strongholds be captured in just one afternoon?"

"A devil! That's a devil!!"

The color drained completely from Tada Shun's face in an instant.

His worst fears have come true!

And it happened in a way that was many times worse than he had imagined!

"puff--!!"

Tada Shun could no longer hold back and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Then everything went black, and I fell straight backward!

"Commander!!"

"Medic! Quickly!!"

Inside the headquarters, chaos erupted!

The third operational meeting surrounding the mysterious tank ended in such an absurd way.

As for the fourth meeting...

Then we'll see when Tada Shun wakes up, or even... whether he can wake up at all...

. . .

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away.

Shanxi Province, headquarters of the Eighth Route Army.

The lights were also on full display.

The deputy commander stood with his hands behind his back in front of a huge military map, his eyes fixed on the Pingshi Line area.

"Based on the timeline, that idiot Li Yunlong should have already made contact with the other side."

The chief of staff sighed and interjected, "Yes, making contact with the higher-ups is only the first step. I'm just worried about Li Yunlong's stubborn temper; if we disagree on something, he might..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but everyone understood what he meant.

The executives exchanged glances, all of them somewhat uneasy.

Just then, a report suddenly rang out from the doorway:

"Report! Urgent military situation from the North China Area Army..."