You were tasked with guarding the Sihang Warehouse, and you brought out a Tiger tank?

When a person reaches ten thousand, there is no limit.

Once the tens of thousands of troops of the 33rd Army Corps set out, even if the units departed at different times and along different routes, the roads would still be completely congested.

Lin Feng sat in the command vehicle, constantly maintaining contact with various units via radio.

His worries gradually subsided after learning that the various departments were making good progress.

Why did the Great Xia army during this period tend to engage in head-on confrontations with the Japanese, often gathering together to fight positional battles against them?

Even the elite troops of the Central Army often had to huddle together and rely on city walls or complex mountain trenches for "city defense".

Instead of avoiding direct confrontation and instead employing guerrilla and infiltration tactics?

Because once most of the Nationalist troops left their fortified positions, they were pulled onto the plains for large-scale field warfare.

Often, after walking only ten or twenty kilometers, the organization would fall into complete chaos.

The officers couldn't find the soldiers, and the soldiers couldn't find their company commander.

Once attacked by enemy forces, the camp is highly susceptible to riots, and even large-scale desertions can occur, instantly losing mobility and combat effectiveness, turning them into lambs to the slaughter.

But his 33rd Army Corps did not do so.

Because he infused this army with something different.

Materially speaking, Lin Feng was never stingy.

There was plenty of steamed buns and mixed rice, and meat was served every day. The military pay was never reduced by a single penny.

They were well-equipped with weapons and equipment; each soldier had two sets of military uniforms, three pairs of socks and underwear, and a pair of shoes, with heavy artillery and aircraft supporting them.

You know, in the muddy trenches, clean socks and underwear were always a luxury.

With soldiers well-fed and warmly clothed, they naturally have the confidence and stamina to cope with the high-intensity long-distance march.

More importantly, it's about the spirit.

In the past few months, Zhao Yushu has led a group of political workers to go down to the company level and even the squad level every day.

They tirelessly explained the message to the officers and soldiers, most of whom came from impoverished backgrounds.

Tell them that the 33rd Army Corps does not conscript men and does not fight for territory for warlords.

Tell them that soldiers don't fight to serve the government.

It was to protect our homeland and defend our country.

It is for the millions of Chinese compatriots who are suffering humiliation at the hands of the Japanese invaders.

It was also for their own sake, so that their wives, children, and elderly parents back in their homeland would no longer be slaves of a conquered nation.

This spirit has been deeply ingrained in the very bones of every soldier in the 33rd Army Corps.

This is the source of Lin Feng's confidence to separate his troops and wage mobile warfare against the Japanese on the Sulu Plain!

Lin Feng leaned back in his seat, listening to the deafening roar of engines outside the car, his eyes as cold as knives:

"bring it on!

I'd like to see if it's you beasts who can run the fastest.

"But it's still my pack of heavily armed wolves and tigers that bite the hardest!"

-----

March 14, 1938.

Tangtou Town, Lunan.

This small town, located only 30 kilometers northeast of Linyi and famous for its hot springs, has now been reduced to a burning wasteland.

The gunfire in the town had gradually subsided, replaced by the roar of collapsing houses and the heart-wrenching screams of the wounded people of Daxia.

The streets were littered with corpses, and blood seeped slowly into the roadside drains through the cracks in the bluestone slabs, turning the stagnant water a shocking dark red.

In the center of the town, in the courtyard of a large family that is still relatively well-preserved.

Lieutenant General Seishiro Itagaki, commander of the 5th Division, was sitting in a grand chair.

He was in his fifties, short and stocky, with a shiny bald head, a round face, and round-framed glasses. He looked like a wealthy Japanese businessman from the countryside who was known for his amiable and prosperous lifestyle.

But only those who know him well know what kind of bloodthirsty and cunning ambition lies hidden beneath his kind and benevolent exterior.

This person, along with Ishihara Kanji and others, was known as one of the "Three Crows of Baden-Baden," and was the core mastermind and direct planner of the plot to conquer Northeast China.

He styled himself as a strategist and politician, an imperial general who considered himself highly "cultured" and "classy".

Seishiro Itagaki took out a clean white handkerchief, gently wiped the dust off his glasses, and then put them back on.

He looked at the Japanese soldiers looting the courtyard and nodded in satisfaction.

"Bring me a pen."

Itagaki Seishiro gave a curt instruction.

The adjutant beside him immediately and respectfully handed over a finely crafted fountain pen and a black leather notebook with gold trim.

Seishiro Itagaki removed the cap from his pen, pondered for a moment, and then wrote a traditional Japanese haiku in a flourish in his notebook:

"Spring chill seeps into the Yi River, cherry blossoms dance in the sky at the Martial Games, and swords point towards Pengcheng Road."

After finishing writing, he examined his passable calligraphy and a smug smile appeared on his lips.

"Hmm, not bad. This haiku is just right to record the glorious military achievements of the Imperial Japanese Army on this Chinese land."

Seishiro Itagaki handed the notebook to his adjutant: "Keep it safe. After the war, I'm going to put it in the family's display room."

"Oh, General, your literary talent is as brilliant as the cherry blossoms of Mount Fuji," the adjutant flattered.

That notebook contained a summary of Itagaki Seishiro's battles since the start of the war, as well as descriptions of the local customs and traditions of the countless territories he had occupied in Great Xia. It was the most direct evidence of his and his 5th Division's aggression against Great Xia.

The 5th Division, codenamed "Carp".

The soldiers of this unit mainly came from Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Shimane and other places on Japanese Honshu, and the local people were extremely fierce.

As one of the seven first standing Class A divisions established by the Japanese after the Meiji Restoration, the 5th Division was among the best in the entire army in terms of its superior equipment, rigorous training, and formidable combat power.

They even have a resounding title: "The Steel Army".

Since the outbreak of the full-scale War of Resistance against Japan, the history of this steel army is simply a history of slaughter filled with the blood of the soldiers and civilians of the Great Xia.

Last August, in the Battle of Nankou, they fought a bloody battle against Commander Tang's elite Central Army troops, and managed to break through the Great Wall defense line.

They then marched south with unstoppable momentum.

Although their logistics and supply units were ambushed by the Eighth Route Army at Pingxingguan, resulting in a minor setback, it did not damage their main force.

The Battle of Xinkou and the Battle of Taiyuan followed immediately.

The 5th Division was like a tireless meat grinder, rampaging across the land of Shanxi Province, causing hundreds of thousands of Shanxi troops and Central Army soldiers to retreat in defeat.

Throughout the North China Area Army, the 5th Division was arrogant and domineering, considering itself the best in the world and not taking any of the Xia army seriously at all.

After briefly reminiscing about the past, Itagaki Seishiro stood up, straightened his crisp yellow woolen military uniform, and then with an extremely dashing "whoosh," drew his officer's sword from his waist.

He leaned on his military knife, stood on the steps of the courtyard, slightly raised his chin, and struck what he considered an extremely imposing and commanding pose.

"Photographer, come here."

A photographer from the Japanese Communist Party who was with the army quickly ran over with his heavy camera and set up a tripod.

"Bang!"

The flashbulb emitted a blinding cloud of white smoke.

With a "click," Itagaki Seishiro's "heroic posture" as he occupied Tangtou Town was captured on film.