Chapter 175: Collision in the Rainforest

The torrential rain in northern Myanmar's jungle gave Jiang Anguo a hard lesson.

No general would conduct operations in this weather; it's not only a test of the soldiers' will, but also a host of logistical and supply issues that become exposed in the downpour.

"Meng Fanle, how long has it been since we got a telegram?" Jiang Anguo's voice was low, nearly drowned by the rain.

He dared not raise his voice, fearing enemies might appear in the jungle.

Meng Fanle, leaning on a slick tree trunk, gasped heavily; hearing the words, he stopped, wiped the rain from his eyes, glanced down at the old, already blurred wristwatch, and said, "Regiment… it's been over an hour."

Over an hour.

Before that, Jiang Fei sent a brief telegram every twenty minutes, each one invariably a farewell: "The position still holds," "Ammunition running low," "Three more brothers have fallen"… each word like a knife, each sentence bloodied.

Each transmission meant the front deteriorated a bit more. But now, for more than sixty minutes, the radio only crackles with rain noise, no echo at all.

Jiang Anguo's heart sank sharply, a foreboding feeling coiling in his mind. He hammered his fist into the wet tree trunk beside him, mud splashing everywhere. "Damned jungle!"

He now regretted deeply. Originally, sending Jiang Fei's special squad to infiltrate was only meant to harass and fix the 56th Division's main force in this jungle, buying Jiang Anguo's main pursuit units time.

Who could have imagined these audacious men would slip into the Japanese Army's core camp and capture the 56th Division commander Watanabe Masao! It was like a pie falling from the sky, but the price… might be the lives of the entire special forces unit.

Anxiety and exhilaration clashed violently in his chest.

He was elated at catching such a "big fish," yet anguished over Jiang Fei and the others' lives. In the chaos, he even overlooked an important fact: as the holder of the WarSystem, he could have checked his own units' status at any time to confirm whether Jiang Fei had fallen!

But he forgot. Or rather, he never thought of it.

After all, before the transmigration he was just an ordinary office worker, at most watching anti‑war documentaries and military shows in his spare time, with no real battlefield sense. He had no professional military training, understood no tactical coordination, and lacked the resolve for split‑second decisions. Confronted with this sudden massive shift, he felt at a loss, as if standing on a cliff, unsure whether to advance or retreat.

Chanda, Lashu, Bamo, Myitkyina—each city's battle, each Little Devil killed, was teaching Jiang Anguo to become a true commander.

"Give the soldiers a ten‑minute rest on the spot," he forced his emotions down and ordered, "then continue the pursuit."

He glanced behind; even the Guard Company soldiers, marching hard, were fatigued, many with blood blisters on their feet, yet they gritted their teeth and kept up. He knew that if they kept forcing a march regardless of stamina, even if they caught the Japanese, they'd be a heap of exhausted bodies, useless in combat.

In fact, as soon as he received Jiang Fei's first telegram, he had already issued an urgent order: command the th Battalion Commander Song Mengqin of the Four Regiments and the th Battalion Commander Meng Shan of the Five Regiments to rush to his side. Since the Japanese main force was in chaos after the division commander was captured, he would strike while the iron is hot!

He would use the Guard Company as vanguard reconnaissance, the Four and Five Regiments as the two wings for the main assault, opening the formation to cling tightly to the 56th Division's retreating tail, giving it no breathing room.

Just now, passing a small village, he had readjusted the pursuit order: the Four Regiments on the left, the Five Regiments on the right, Guard Company pushing forward to scout.

At this moment, they were deep in the jungle's interior, less than five kilometers from Jiang Fei's last reported position.

"Xiao Si, find a place to rest as well," Jiang Anguo said to a young communications man beside him.

Before the words finished.

"Bang!"

A crisp gunshot ripped through the rain!

Jiang Anguo felt a sudden jolt overhead, as if struck by a hammer, stumbling back two steps. His M35 steel helmet now bore a dented bullet hole, smoke curling from its edge.

His soul seemed to scatter in an instant.

Had he not been wearing that German‑made M35 steel helmet, his brain might have burst now! Cold sweat mixed with rain streamed down his temple, his heart pounding.

Death had almost come down on his head again.

But the instinct to survive overrode fear. Relying almost on muscle memory, he lifted his hand, steadied the Mauser Kar98k sniper rifle, his gaze like a hawk locking onto the source of the shot, a massive tree a hundred meters away.

Thanks to the system‑granted "Gunmanship Proficiency" skill, he needed no scope; in the downpour the scope was useless, yet he fired by experience alone.

"Bang!"

The bullet whistled out, piercing the rain curtain.

Behind the tree, a Japanese sniper was about to pull the bolt for another shot when a sudden chill hit his brow. In the rain, a burst of crimson blood mist exploded.

His eyes widened, his body slumped backward, mud quickly staining his uniform red; this Emperor's "loyal brave warrior," without even leaving a name, went to meet his "Tian Zhao Da Shen."

"Ambush! All conceal!" Jiang Anguo barked, his voice cutting through the rain, "Jiang Fei! Guard Company, prepare to engage!"

At that moment Jiang Anguo even forgot that Jiang Fei was still ahead pursuing the Japanese; he just blurted it out.

The soldiers quickly spread, using tree trunks and rocks to build a makeshift Defensive Line. Jiang Anguo swiftly organized a fireteam to suppress forward, preventing a second sniper shot.

"Machine Gunner, provide fire cover!" Jiang Anguo shouted.

The MG42's roar instantly ripped the battlefield air, bullets pouring like rain; wherever the flame swept, the Japanese silhouettes turned to hellfire.

Countless branches struck by 7.92mm were instantly torn and fell.

At that moment, on a dense forest ridge four hundred meters away, Jin Gang Zong Si Lang held a binocular, coldly watching the Chinese troops below taking a brief rest.

He had led his unit in pursuit for nearly two hours, yet still hadn't found Watanabe Masao. As doubts weighed, a scout reported: to the northwest, a small Expeditionary Force detachment, not many, about a hundred men, was rapidly infiltrating.

"A small reconnaissance unit of the Expeditionary Force?" Jin Gang Zong Si Lang squinted. Through the binoculars he saw the opponent well‑equipped, orderly, though weary, discipline strict, certainly not a rout. He mistakenly thought it was merely a forward recon post of the Expeditionary Force, perhaps a feint covering the main force's movement.

He did not know that the commander of this "detachment" was Jiang Anguo himself, the regiment leader of the th Division Independent Regiment.

"Hmph, a mere hundred men dare to provoke me?" Jin Gang Zong Si Lang's mouth curled a cold smile. He had intended to skirt the fight to avoid exposure, but then thought, if he could swiftly annihilate this squad, it would boost morale, gather intel, and perhaps lead him to the division commander's whereabouts.

More importantly, a pent‑up fury boiled within him. Jiang Fei's hundred‑man team had already shamed him; if he wouldn't even strike this "small enemy unit" before him, what right did he have to call himself an Imperial warrior?

Jin Gang Zong Si Lang even forgot the casualties Jiang Fei inflicted on the 56th Division and the 146th Regiment…

"Orders!" He lowered the binoculars, his voice cold, "First squad flank from the left, second squad feign a frontal attack, third squad loop around to cut off retreat. In ten minutes, launch a raid, annihilate all, no survivors!"

Japanese soldiers quickly dispersed, slipping into the jungle, silently encircling Jiang Anguo's position.

At that moment Jiang Anguo, having just dealt with the sniper threat, whispered over the radio to the Four Regiments: "Song Mengqin, advance your unit three hundred meters to the left wing, watch the flank. Meng Shan, you take the Five Regiments to hold the rear, prevent enemy infiltration."

The rain fell harder.

Mist rose among the trees, the view growing ever blurrier.

Jiang Anguo gripped his Mauser sniper rifle tightly, the unease in his heart not only unchanged but growing stronger.

He looked up toward the deep forest ahead, as if feeling a pair of murderous eyes staring intently at him.

The real showdown had only just begun.