kingnovel Chapter 1083 Abandoning Comrades
Chapter 1083 Abandoning Comrades
"Please wait a moment, please wait a moment..."
"Get out of my way, you bastards! Remember this: no one can be pitied now. If you pity them, none of you will ever go back. We still have a lot to fight on the road ahead, and we have a lot to do. We can't afford to care about these people. Do you understand?"
Chief of Staff Takagi saw a wounded soldier pulling a healthy soldier along, so he kicked the wounded soldier. The wounded soldier rolled over several times and then didn't even have the strength to lift his hand.
"Did you understand? You bastard, go catch up with your troops right now."
Under Takagi's reprimand, the soldier who had been hesitating earlier jogged after him. He dared not meet his superior's gaze. As for his wounded comrades, they could only pray to Amaterasu, hoping that they could leave with a little more peace of mind.
Chief of Staff Takagi glanced back at the wounded and sick around him, his eyes cold and devoid of any warmth. He knew these people were all a burden; if it weren't for their official ranks, he could have simply dumped them here without bothering to carry them on stretchers.
However, the Japanese army also had its rules. If an ordinary soldier was wounded, you could leave him behind, and no one would praise you for being a good fighter and knowing how to make sacrifices.
But officers are a different story, especially those of major rank and above. Unless they are seriously injured, they all have to be brought back. Otherwise, the written self-criticisms alone would be endless, and everyone above and below would be demanding an explanation. And that's not even considering the people who became officers. Only a small portion rose through their own abilities; the majority were children of nobles and officials. If you didn't bring these people back, could you afford to offend them?
Chief of Staff Takagi knew that a brigade commander had been dismissed because one of the noblemen's sons had not been brought back. However, he had brought back most of his men. Bringing back so many people in such a desperate situation was a great achievement.
But what was the final result? Because the young nobleman died on the battlefield, and his father and grandfather had great influence, they managed to dismiss and investigate a meritorious brigade commander. He was eventually sent to a military academy in Japan, where he reportedly died in a muddled way.
That's how Japanese society is. The lives of the powerful and influential are extremely important. No matter the circumstances, these people have priority to escape. Even if there's only one passage, you have to let them go first.
As for the ordinary people who died, so be it. You don't need to be afraid of the death toll being too high. As long as you can bring those nobles back, someone will naturally speak up for you. Even if you have some crimes on your hands, they will be cleared up sooner or later, and you will not bear any responsibility in this matter.
Chief of Staff Takagi understood this, which is why he just ordered his men to check all the wounded and sick soldiers. Anyone with any status was taken away; those without would have to carry out rearguard duties. In Chief of Staff Takagi's words, wounded and unwound soldiers alike were warriors of the Japanese Empire. They should all perform battlefield duties; no one would protect them, they had to rely on themselves.
A dozen minutes later, an infantry company searched the area and found Japanese wounded soldiers lying all over the ground. Under the orders of their company commander, the soldiers raised their guns and began to slaughter the wounded. For areas that were difficult to find, they simply threw a few grenades.
Don't expect us to take back the wounded and sick soldiers you don't want. As for those so-called international conventions, you Japanese have never abided by them, so don't expect to use such things to restrain us. The number of prisoners of war you've killed in our country is astronomical, so we don't need to abide by those either; let's just fight fire with fire.
As the infantrymen slaughtered the wounded, all the artillery they carried also opened fire. The shells landed on the tails of the fleeing Japanese soldiers, making them think that troops were coming from the east. In fact, there were only two or three infantry companies in the east. They were just creating a false impression to make them speed up their westward advance and rush into Ma Leizi's encirclement.
By now, Ma Leizi had come to terms with it. A brigade of about 10,000 men was a lot of meat. If he could wipe them all out, he would have made a name for himself.
When Ma Leizi first arrived in the provincial capital, he had a huge appetite, wanting to wipe out an entire division at the drop of a hat. But things are different now compared to when the war began. Back then, the Japanese soldiers seemed brainless; whenever they encountered our troops, regardless of their army, they would charge forward defiantly, and even after being killed, more would keep charging.
So Ma Leizi envied the people of that time, like Liu Xiaoshan and his comrades, who were all decorated with great military achievements. Now the Japanese have learned to run away as soon as they can't win, and they run away faster than his cart wheels. So it's really difficult to wipe out an entire division again.
Fortunately, we're in luck these days and have managed to surround an infantry brigade.
"Reporting to the division commander, this is a telegram from the Fifth War Zone Command, instructing us to first surround this infantry brigade and see if we can lure out other troops from the provincial capital."
When his men came to report, a few words popped into Ma Leizi's mind: besiege the point and attack the reinforcements.
"A telegram was sent to the Fifth War Zone Command: The local situation is complex, the number of troops mobilized is small, and the conditions for besieging the enemy and attacking reinforcements are not met. Our side will launch an attack at 4 p.m. today, and the battle will end in about two hours. All personnel should be quickly recalled to the provincial capital."
Ma Lei shook his head. What was the situation with his men? He knew wiping out this infantry brigade wouldn't be a problem; there were three or four regiments deployed this time. If other troops came out, it wasn't that his men weren't capable, but there absolutely couldn't be any unexpected changes. But on the battlefield, could you really say there wouldn't be any changes? If something did happen, their hard-won victory would be gone.
So in this situation, what you eat is meat. As for other things, let's put them aside for now. Don't open your mouth so wide, or you might just swallow some air, which will not only fail to fill your stomach but could also give you diarrhea.
Chief of Staff Takagi was of course unaware of all this; he was still directing his troops to move westward at high speed, into the encirclement of Mareiko.