Even if I'm a useless bum at Whampoa Military Academy, I'll be invincible in the War of Re

Zaozhuang, the headquarters of the 10th Division, the news of the Furong Detachment's crushing defeat was like a bolt from the blue, and the 322nd Brigade's high-profile pursuit only made matters worse.

The old devil Isogai completely lost his composure and cursed angrily:

"You idiots, a bunch of useless trash!"

"A disgrace to the Empire! A disgrace to the Imperial Army!"

"That good-for-nothing Fu Rong is utterly useless. I must have been out of my mind to have placed such high hopes on him."

Colonel Tsutsumi, his face dark, said:

"Several thousand Chinese and a large number of cavalrymen rushed straight towards Zaozhuang. They were no longer pursuing the remnants of the Furong Detachment, but were heading straight for the division headquarters."

Lieutenant General Isogai's expression changed drastically. He knew Zaozhuang's combat strength better than anyone else. Although there were still several thousand men, they were mostly supply, engineering, administrative, and field hospital personnel. The real combat strength was a battalion of the 10th Infantry Regiment.

The supply regiment had over a thousand men left, the engineer regiment had over a thousand men, and the 10th Regiment had over 1,500 men, so the total number of combat-ready soldiers was no more than four thousand.

Thinking of this, Lieutenant General Isogai asked anxiously:

"How long until that bastard Fu Rong arrives in Zaozhuang? How many people does he have left?"

"The division commander, along with the cavalry regiment, numbered about 1,500 men, many of whom were non-combat personnel from the regimental headquarters."

The newly defeated army was severely weakened, and only the cavalry regiments were truly of any use.

Five thousand five hundred soldiers may sound like a lot, but they were a newly defeated army, and they were facing the fierce Zhao Yunwen. Lieutenant General Isogai had no confidence at all.

If it were any other Nationalist army, even if tens of thousands of main forces came, they wouldn't think of running away.

"Di Bujun, this force is far from enough. Zhao Yunwen's troops are too powerful!"

Immediately send a telegram to Sei Take-kun, ordering him to abandon the siege, withdraw from Yicheng, and rush to the aid of Zaozhuang.

Lieutenant General Isogai, concerned that the two regimental commanders in the castle might "insubordinately rebel," added:

"This is a strict order; no one may delay, or they will be court-martialed!"

It wasn't that Lieutenant General Isogai was afraid of death. With the battle at this point, Yicheng was already beyond capture, and there was no point in continuing to hold out. This gave him an excuse to abandon the siege and save his life.

Colonel Tsutsumi understood immediately and memorized the last four words, which were the kind of awareness a chief of staff must have.

As Lieutenant General Isogai watched Colonel Tsutsumi's disappearing figure, a flicker of panic crossed his eyes; this was the first time he had ever felt fear.

At his level, none of that bullshit "Bushido" or loyalty to the Emperor mattered as much as his own life.

South of Yicheng, amidst the ruins, dozens of Japanese soldiers were cautiously searching for the garrison. They belonged to the 3rd Battalion of the 10th Infantry Regiment, but the unit had long been scattered, and Major Takamatsu only had these few men left.

The small city of Yicheng had been turned into a bloodbath. The Third Battalion, with reinforcements from the Huihui, advanced along the main road, fighting from north to south. It looked like they were about to break through the entire city, but Major Takamatsu was not happy at all.

Countless people died along the way; the city was fraught with danger, with gun barrels everywhere.

After being attacked several times and splitting up to pursue, the Gaosong Brigade was soon becoming isolated.

Captain Nakatani bent his body almost to the ground, and would lie down at the slightest sound, relying on his "survival skills" to survive until now.

Suddenly he stopped in his tracks, his eyes instantly filled with fear, his neck was covered in fine beads of sweat, his legs trembled, and he said in a trembling voice:

"Don't come any closer, there are landmines!"

Captain Nakatani was very experienced; he was certain he had stepped on an anti-personnel mine. If it had been someone else careless, the mine would have been detonated long ago.

The Japanese soldiers in his squad were so frightened by the landmine that they all lay down on the ground. Inoue Jiro hurriedly crawled over and tried to help Captain Nakatani clear the landmine.

Inoue Jiro had previously served in an engineering regiment and knew some mine-clearing techniques. He was skilled and daring, and volunteered to take on the mine-clearing task.

He crawled up to Captain Nakatani and, sure enough, found an anti-personnel bounding mine at Captain Nakatani's feet. Susumu carefully pressed it down with both hands, signaling to Captain Nakatani that he could lift his foot.

Nakatani still couldn't believe Inoue Jiro. If he loosened his foot, the landmine would pop up and explode, blowing them both to pieces.

"Nakatani-senpai, trust me! Everything will be alright!"

Inoue Jiro gave Nakatani confidence in a firm tone. Even if Nakatani's legs continued to tremble, he could still detonate a landmine if he didn't let go. He believed in his expertise.

Captain Nakatani decided to trust Inoue Jiro this once, and just as he was about to lift his foot, a gunshot rang out.

Sniper Deng Yun lost interest in continuing the game and shot Inoue Jiro dead. Without the latter pressing the button, Nakatani had just raised his foot when the landmine was detonated.

With a muffled explosion, Corporal Nakatani was blown to pieces, and the other Japanese soldiers were also stunned, their heads buzzing, and they were terrified.

"You bastard! You despicable Chinese, you're not a true warrior!"

One of the Japanese soldiers was so frightened that he turned and ran away. Gunshots rang out again, and the Japanese soldier fell to the ground.

The one who fired the shot was Major Takamatsu, who would not allow anyone to undermine morale.

"You bastard, coward! Die, die!"

The other Japanese soldiers dared not retreat any further, and Deng Yun also spotted Major Takamatsu and slowly moved his gun towards him.

Major Takamatsu, a seasoned battlefield veteran, seemed to sense danger and instinctively rolled to the side, the bullet grazing his body.

The Japanese sergeant shouted in terror:

"There's a sharpshooter!"

The machine gunner, relying on instinct, fired two short bursts toward where Deng Yun was hiding, the bullets kicking up dust and nearly hitting him.

Deng Yun breathed a sigh of relief; he had almost died here.

The Japanese soldiers fired aimlessly, failing to hit Deng Yun and inviting retaliation.

Many soldiers from the 107th Division were hiding nearby. They were drawn by the gunfire and then joined the battle.

That's how street fighting works. When you hear gunfire, both sides send reinforcements, and the fighting gets bigger and bigger until they end up in a chaotic melee.

The Japanese soldiers had been unable to find anyone before, but after the two sides exchanged fire, Major Takamatsu was horrified to discover that the city was full of Chinese people.

Yang Guai, the company commander of the isolated battalion, was among them. He also had only about twenty men left by his side, but his organization was strong and his squads cooperated skillfully. They quickly gained the initiative and chased the Japanese soldiers around.

Major Takamatsu was trying his best to stabilize the situation, but as other Japanese reinforcements arrived, the battle gradually reached a stalemate.

Just as the two sides were locked in a fierce battle, a bugle call, sounding like funeral music, rang out from the north of the city. Yang Guai had no idea what it meant and could only wait and see.

Major Takamatsu breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the order to retreat, and led his remaining troops back the way they had come.

Yang Guai quickly realized what was happening and roared:

"Trying to run? No way! Brothers, after them!"

The soldiers formed a triangular attack formation and chased after the Japanese soldiers. More and more people joined in along the way, and the commotion grew bigger and bigger.

At first, the Japanese soldiers retreated in an orderly manner, but as the number of pursuers increased, the Japanese soldiers began to panic, and some of them started to run for their lives.

Along the way, there were occasional ambushes, all spontaneous, ranging from three to five people to a dozen or even dozens of people. They were all brothers scattered from the 324th Brigade, and the sound of gunfire was their command.

Like wolves drawn by the scent of blood, they bared their sharp fangs and pounced on the Japanese soldiers, tearing off pieces of flesh as they went.

The Japanese soldiers were fleeing in a panic, and no one was willing to stay behind to cover their retreat. They were only thinking about running faster than others, preferring to die for their own cause.

The battalion and regimental officers of the 647th and 648th Regiments also noticed the anomaly, and they all chose to sound the charge.

In an instant, the resounding bugle call echoed among the ruins and rubble. The soldiers of the 324th Brigade were in high spirits, their battle cries shaking the heavens, as if tens of thousands of soldiers were hidden in the city.

The Japanese soldiers no longer had the courage to fight and suffered a complete rout, fleeing for their lives.

The battle ended dramatically, and the Japanese army's defeat became unstoppable. The defending troops pressed their advantage and slaughtered the Japanese, leaving behind a trail of corpses.