Holding the original shares, they fought all the way to the Korean War!

The procession of over a thousand people stretched out as a long, dark shadow, their footsteps sounding exceptionally clear in the quiet night.

Lieutenant Colonel Fukuda rode on horseback in the middle of the column, slightly ahead of the others.

His gaze occasionally swept across the mountain shadows ahead and the bushes on both sides of the road.

The fingers gripping the reins tightened slightly, never completely loosening their grip.

They had been walking for almost three hours.

According to the map, the Filter Valley should be not far ahead.

But the road became narrower and narrower, the vegetation on both sides became denser, and the surface underfoot changed from gravel to mud.

The vanguard at the front would occasionally stop to observe for a moment.

We will only continue forward after confirming that there are no abnormalities ahead.

Lieutenant Colonel Fukuda pulled on the reins and glanced at the ranks behind him.

Although the soldiers were exhausted, they maintained a fairly neat formation, with no one falling behind or making any unnecessary noise.

He turned back, his gaze returning to what lay ahead.

He was wondering what had happened to the 107th Regiment.

A full-strength regiment of over three thousand men vanished without a trace before losing contact, without any prior reports of abnormalities.

He considered several possibilities in his mind, but each one didn't make sense at some point.

If they were ambushed, even if they were completely wiped out, there should still be gunfire and artillery fire.

However, none of the outposts and patrols along the way reported any unusual activity.

This is too bizarre.

The group continued to advance for about two miles.

The vanguard at the front suddenly stopped, squatted down by the roadside, and raised his right fist.

The entire group came to a quiet stop within seconds.

Lieutenant Colonel Fukuda dismounted, strode to the front of the column, and squatted down next to the scout.

Following his gaze, he saw those strange silhouettes in the night.

The road ahead was noticeably wider than before, and the bushes on both sides had become sparser.

A faint scent wafted through the air; it was so faint that it could still be detected in the night breeze.

Lieutenant Colonel Fukuda frowned.

That smells like burning.

He stood up and made several hand gestures behind him.

He ordered the troops to spread out along the roadside to maintain order, and then led them to continue advancing.

After walking about two or three hundred meters, the terrain ahead suddenly opened up.

Lieutenant Colonel Fukuda slowed his pace, his gaze falling on the area ahead, his pupils suddenly contracting.

Equipment and debris were scattered all over the ground.

On the slopes on both sides of the road, one can see soil turned up by artillery fire, with black scorch marks extending from the middle of the slopes all the way to the edge of the road.

The smell of burning in the air grew stronger and stronger.

He continued walking forward for several dozen steps.

Then he saw the piles of ashes scattered on both sides of the road.

The piles of debris, whose original appearance is no longer recognizable, vary in length, and some still retain a certain human-shaped outline.

Lieutenant Colonel Fukuda stopped in his tracks.

"Flashlight."

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a kind of suppressed calmness.

The soldier behind him took a flashlight out of his backpack.

The dim light shone on the area ahead, and Lieutenant Colonel Fukuda finally saw the full picture of the piles of debris.

It was indeed a corpse, but now it was burned beyond recognition.

They were stacked together, one layer after another.

It stretches out along both sides of the road, seemingly endless.

Lieutenant Colonel Fukuda stood there silently, not moving for a long time.

The road in front of him stretched northward from his feet.

Every few steps along both sides of the road there is a pile of scorched earth like that, some of which have collapsed beyond recognition, while others still retain the outline of a human body.

The air was filled with the smell of burning and charred flesh, which mixed together and made one's nose sting.

He turned around and waved to the soldiers behind him.

More flashlights were turned on, their beams stretching out along both sides of the road.

The soldiers of the Third Battalion split into small groups and began to carefully inspect the entire area.

Someone was squatting next to the pile of ashes, searching for any remaining items.

Some people walked along the edge of the road to examine the marks left by artillery fire, while others climbed up the slopes on either side.

About half an hour later.

A squad leader quickly ran back from the middle of the road.

He stopped in front of Lieutenant Colonel Fukuda, stood at attention, and spoke with a cautious tone.

"Commander, we have discovered the remains of the regimental headquarters about 300 meters ahead."

"Fragments of a military knife and parts of a burned command flag were left on the ground."

Lieutenant Colonel Fukuda did not speak immediately.

He followed the squad leader for a while and stopped in front of a pile of ash that was denser than the surrounding area.

There were more than a dozen pieces of metal scattered on the ground, twisted and deformed from the heat, some of which still retained the shape of a saber handguard.

Next to it was a flag that was mostly burned, with most of the flag surface turned to ashes.

Only a small piece of fabric at the base and edge of the flagpole remains barely intact.

Lieutenant Colonel Fukuda crouched down, reached out and picked up the piece of fabric, examining it for a moment.

Then he slowly stood up, held the fragment in his hand, and turned to walk towards the communications soldier behind him.

"Send a message to the regimental commander."

"The 107th Regiment has been confirmed to have been completely annihilated."

"Numerous signs of burning were found throughout the area, and the remaining items and identification markings confirmed its identity."

"Colonel Koichi Abe, the regimental commander, and officers at the battalion and company levels have not found any signs of survivors."

"The regimental structure no longer exists."

Without asking any further questions, the communications soldier squatted down and set up the radio.

The ticking of the key echoed in the quiet night.

Short and clear, it pierced the silence of the battlefield.

Lieutenant Colonel Fukuda stood to the side, listening to the ticking sounds, his gaze remaining fixed on the piles of charred ashes in the distance, unmoving for a long time.

at the same time.

the other side.

Provisional Command Post of the 69th Regiment.

The entire command post was extremely quiet.

Only the occasional sound of sentries changing shifts outside the window broke the silence.

Colonel Ono has already led the Fourth Battalion out, while the two remaining battalions at the front are waiting in their respective positions.

Most of the soldiers in the village had already gone to bed, with only a few communications soldiers on duty still awake.

They stood by the radio station, waiting for any news that might come through.

The moment the communications soldier pushed open the door and strode in, Nakajima Naoki's eyes snapped up.

When he saw the expression on the communications soldier's face.

My fingers involuntarily tightened.

The communications soldier walked to the table, stood at attention, and handed over a translated telegram with both hands.

Naoki Nakajima took the telegram and looked down to read it.

His gaze lingered on the first line of text, as if something had nailed him there.

Then he continued reading.

Read the second line, the third line, the fourth line, until you finish reading the last word.

He put down the telegram and didn't move.

Those few lines of text were so overwhelming that he could hardly breathe.

More than three thousand people, a fully organized regiment.

The entire army was wiped out.

Even their official positions were wiped out.