Chapter 978 Big surprise
Xiang Chu led his troops along the mountains and forests, moving towards Yichang.
But before they had gone far, they received a telegram from the Supreme Command:
"34th Division! Please do your best to contain the enemy's forces and cover the retreat of the remnants of the 77th Army. At the same time, effectively slow down the enemy's westward advance."
Liu Zhengxiong said angrily: "It seems that a certain commander has again bypassed his level to command the front-line troops. Does he understand our situation? Really!"
Xiang Chu said sternly: "You can't say that. The situation must be critical for the Supreme Command to issue such an order."
Gan Rong said anxiously: "Commander! Shall we fight eastwards across the Han River?"
Xiang Chu shook his head and said, "No! Let's go north and take Xiangyang directly to completely disrupt the enemy's troop deployment and give Doihara Ken'er a big surprise."
"Go straight to Xiangyang?!"
Liu Zhengxiong and Gan Rong exclaimed.
Xiang Chu smiled and said, "Don't be so loud. Xiangyang is short of troops, but it is not a bad idea. Changsheng! Ask the spy who is monitoring Xiangyang whether Doihara Xian'er has led his troops out of the city."
"Yes!"
Hu Changsheng hurriedly took the order and sent an inquiry telegram.
Not long after, he received a reply from the shadow spy in Xiangyang, who happily reported:
"Commander! The spy monitoring Xiangyang reported that an hour ago, Kenji Doihara led the remnants of two divisions out of the city and rushed to Guan Gong Ferry. Currently, there is a Japanese squadron left in Xiangyang City, as well as a large amount of weapons and supplies."
Xiang Chu was overjoyed, clapped his hands and laughed, "Great! The whole army should march quickly and rush to Xiangyang."
Liu Zhengxiong reminded him, "Commander! Why don't you let Wei Feng and Lan Cheng attack Doihara Xian'er at Guan Gong Ferry? This will prevent him from withdrawing his troops back to Xiangyang immediately."
Xiang Chu nodded and said, "Okay! Send a message to Wei Feng and the others. Tell them we are going to attack Xiangyang, and have them watch Doihara Xian'er on the other side of the river until he is dead."
Liu Zhengxiong shouted, "You kid! I'm your newspaper boy again."
After he finished speaking, he immediately ordered Hu Changsheng to send the telegram.
At Guan Gong Ferry, there was only one guard company and a small number of shadow spies crossing the river.
However, the Guards Company and the Shadow Spy created the appearance of a massive army crossing the river.
There were some tents left on the shore and a large number of fortifications dug.
A large number of wooden gun models were also specially displayed.
There were also a large number of straw men on several ferries, shuttling back and forth on the river.
The purpose of doing this is to attract the enemy's attention while the large force crosses the river.
In the air, dozens of Japanese bombers arrived first and launched a fierce bombing.
They dropped hundreds of heavy aerial bombs, but not satisfied enough, they started machine gunning.
All the boats on the river, tents and fortifications on the river bank were blown up.
Wei Feng led the guards into the dense forest on the right bank of the Han River and said with a wry smile:
"This masterpiece, which took several days of hard work, was razed to the ground by the Japanese planes in less than ten minutes."
Lan Cheng smiled and said, "Brother Wei! Isn't our goal to let the Japanese planes bomb us?"
Wei Feng nodded and said, "Indeed! If so many bombs fall on us, an entire division will be destroyed."
Lan Cheng pointed in the direction of Yanshan Mountain and said with a smile: "Brother Wei! The boss asked us to go back, let's retreat quickly!"
At this time, the radio operator rushed forward to report:
"Captain! The commander called and said that the main force has gone to take Xiangyang. He asked us to harass and monitor Doihara Kan'er on the other side of the river. Do not retreat for the time being."
Wei Feng nodded and said, "Very good! Retreating without fighting is totally inconsistent with the way our Guards Company behaves."
He picked up the telescope and looked carefully at the other side of the river. He saw a Japanese general leading countless Japanese soldiers rushing to the riverside in a menacing manner, pointing at the tents, dummies, and gun models on the ground.
Wei Fengxiao asked: "Lao Lan! Can you snipe the Japanese general at this distance?"
Lan Cheng estimated and nodded: "It should be possible!"
After saying this, he quickly lay down and aimed his sniper rifle at the Japanese general on the opposite bank.
On the other side of the river, Doihara Kenji was cursing:
"What a crappy plane, stupid pilot, wasting the Empire's fuel and bombs."
Takahashi Taisho said with a smile: "Your Excellency the fake general! It's not a waste of your money, why are you so angry?"
Doihara Kan'er shouted loudly: "Taisho! The empire belongs to each of us, we can't waste it, otherwise we can't maintain a long-term war."
At this time, the commander of the Ota Brigade, who was promoted by Doihara Kan'ei because of the death of Kumamoto Nigawa, stepped forward and pointed at Takahashi Taisho and shouted:
"Takahashi-kun! How dare you talk back to the great admiral?"
Takahashi Taisho said angrily, "Ota-kun! When did this aide talk back to me?"
Doihara Kan'er was very satisfied with the performance of Brigade Commander Ohta and said happily:
"Ohta-kun! You are so great, ten thousand times better than Takahashi Taisho."
The commander of the brigade, Ota, was extremely excited. He ran to Doihara Kan'ei, stood at attention, saluted, and said loudly:
"General! General Taisho guarantees it with his life, swearing to the death..."
"Bang!"
A sniper bullet hit the back of his head. As soon as he said the word "die", he was dead.
Needless to say, Lan Cheng's shot was intended to kill Doihara Ken'er, but was interrupted by this guy.
Lan Cheng fired two more shots in quick succession, killing two Japanese soldiers, but he was unable to kill Doihara Kenji.
Wei Feng said anxiously, "Lao Lan! The boss said that if you miss once, don't shoot again. Move away quickly."
"All right!"
Lan Cheng picked up the sniper rifle helplessly and rushed into the forest like the wind.
On the other side of the river, Doihara Kenji fell to the ground and rolled over the moment the gunshot was heard.
However, he rolled down a small slope and was unable to flip over because he was too fat.
Takahashi Taisho rushed over, helped him turn over, and shouted:
"Quick! Cover the pseudo-general and shoot at the enemy."
Little did he know that there was a pit toilet at the bottom of the slope, and Kenji Doihara accidentally fell into it.
The Japanese soldiers were all shooting at the other side of the Han River, and no one saw the pseudo-general fall into the toilet.
Doihara Kenji shouted loudly: "Takahashi Daisho! Pull me out quickly."
However, the gunfire was so intense that no one heard his shrill cries.
Doihara Kenji was helpless and had to climb out by himself.
Needless to say, he was in a mess and smelled terrible, which stunned the Japanese soldiers such as Takahashi Daisho. They immediately covered their noses and hid far away.
Doihara Ken'er pointed at Takahashi Taisho and yelled, "Baka! You actually pushed this general into the toilet."
After saying this, he stumbled into the river and dived into it.
Takahashi Taisho was at a loss. He ran to the slope and looked down. It was just as Doihara Kenji had said.
He hurriedly built a fire for Doihara Kenji by the river, and fetched clean towels, clothes, etc., to make up for the mistake he had just made, otherwise he would have been shot to death by the cruel Doihara Kenji.
He could still vividly remember the explosion that had occurred on the city wall before, in which senior officers of the Anamichi Division had been killed. While no one else knew about it, he was certain that it was done by Doihara Kan'ei.
To show his loyalty, he shouted, "Quick! Cover the pseudo-general while he takes a bath."
After saying this, he was the first to jump into the Han River, standing in front of Doihara Ken'er.
Captain Yamada and other loyal Japanese officers also jumped into the Han River, surrounded Doihara Kenji to take a bath, and fired wildly at the opposite bank.