Chapter 177: Jiang Anguo

Jiang Anguo arrived in front of the enemy's position.

th Battalion Commander Song Mengqin, with two guards behind him, excitedly held a person who looked like a high‑ranking officer.

Song Mengqin still stood at attention properly, but did not salute; he knew how severe the punishment for saluting on the battlefield could be.

"Regiment Commander, we captured a Japanese officer; it looks like a major." th Battalion Commander Song Mengqin said with a snarl.

Mi Long watched the Four Regiments enviously from the side, thinking the Japanese officer was almost caught by him.

This also surprised Jiang Anguo, because the Guard Company was the main force of this battle, yet the Four Regiments managed to intercept and capture a Japanese Army commander.

Jiang Anguo examined the Japanese man, who was not young and whose rank insignia indeed bore three stars. He stepped forward, patted Song Mengqin's shoulder, and said, "Well done, Song Mengqin, you truly have skill; this is indeed a Japanese major."

"Who are you?" Jiang Anguo asked, looking at the Japanese officer before him.

The Japanese officer inhaled deeply and answered in stiff but standard Chinese, "I am the Imperial Japanese Army's 56th Division, Infantry 146th Regiment Commander Jin Gang Zong Si Lang. I demand fair treatment according to the Geneva Convention."

"Fair treatment?" Jiang Anguo was startled at first, hearing the most ridiculous joke. "Hahaha… the Geneva Convention? When you massacred three hundred thousand in Nanjing, did you ever think of the convention? When you burned, looted, and slaughtered prisoners in Huaxia, did you ever utter the word 'fair'?"

Jiang Anguo's retort left Jin Gang Zong Si Lang speechless; he lowered his head.

Meng Fanle ran over at that moment, "Regiment Commander, this is the Little Devil's 146th Regiment."

Meng Fanle, looking at the Japanese major kneeling before Jiang Anguo, continued, "Regiment Commander, it's him; we have likely captured the commander of this unit, Jin Gang Zong Si Lang."

Having captured a major, Jiang Anguo felt this pursuit was worthwhile; they actually caught a high‑ranking Japanese officer.

Jin Gang Zong Si Lang had already prepared to gut himself, but Song Mengqin's Four Regiments charged so quickly that even Song Mengqin wasn't sure this was a big fish.

He only saw Jin Gang Zong Si Lang kneeling on the ground, holding a knife to commit suicide, and kicked him with his foot.

"Song Mengqin, what's up with this Japanese officer's face?" Jiang Anguo, seeing Jin Gang Zong Si Lang's face flushed red, asked curiously.

"Hehe." Song Mengqin scratched the back of his head.

Someone nearby said, "Regiment Commander, Officer Song kicked the Little Devil."

Jiang Anguo understood, but he had no time to deal with the Little Devil; the major was indeed significant, yet not as exciting as Watanabe Masao would be for Jiang Anguo.

"Did we find Watanabe Masao?" Jiang Anguo asked hurriedly.

Meng Fanle shook his head and said, "Regiment Commander, we searched all around and found nothing."

"A major, a dignified regiment commander, willing to die to cut off the rear, could never be merely covering ordinary stragglers. He must be looking for Watanabe Masao! Send people immediately, using squads as units, to spread out in all directions! Ten per squad, split into two groups, fifty meters apart, carpet‑style sweep!" Jiang Anguo had not found Watanabe Masao on this pursuit, nor seen Jiang Fei's men.

"Yes."

To ensure safety, squads were the main search force: ten per squad, divided into two teams, fifty meters apart, and they dispersed.

Jiang Anguo, leading the remaining troops, took a brief rest and then headed straight to rescue Jiang Fei.

About half an hour later, the search party found Yan Zicheng, another soldier, and the old Japanese Watanabe Masao in the jungle; all three were in bad shape, their bodies swarmed with leeches, and the horse carrying Watanabe Masao had collapsed, its skin covered in leeches that had sucked all its blood, plus flesh‑eating termites.

Yan Zicheng and his comrades entered the jungle to evade Jin Gang Zong Si Lang, almost being caught by his pursuit team.

They had been in the jungle for less than an hour, showing how terrifying the jungle was.

Not only Yan Zicheng, Jiang Anguo himself felt miserable; after a while, he would have to pick off all the leeches from his body.

It was also because the Small Road existed; if he truly entered the jungle to pursue, Jiang Anguo wouldn't even dare to imagine how harsh the environment was.

Not having time to see the old Japanese Watanabe Masao, Jiang Anguo directly assigned a Platoon of soldiers to escort Yan Zicheng and Watanabe Masao back to Lashu.

Watanabe Masao was the commander of the Japanese 56th Division, holding the rank of Lieutenant General, a big fish, a truly big fish.

Jiang Anguo, who had been pursuing ahead, learned that Watanabe Masao had been captured and breathed a sigh of relief; this time his efforts were not in vain.

Jiang Anguo hadn't expected this pursuit to cost him so much.

Jiang Anguo followed the scouts to the front position.

He arrived late.

He gently brushed Jiang Fei's eyes, his angry, wide‑open eyes slowly closing.

Jiang Anguo dared not look, but he saw bodies littering the ground; the entire Special Forces Unit had been wiped out, including Li Defa's whole logistics detachment. Only Yan Zicheng and another soldier survived.

He removed Jiang Fei's chest badge, still stained with blood, and clutched it tightly in his palm; blood dripped from his hand onto the ground.

"Bring Jin Gang Zong Si Lang up!" Jiang Anguo's voice was low as thunder, suppressing a raging fury.

Guard Company soldiers quickly hauled Jin Gang Zong Si Lang over; the Little Devil was in a sorry state.

Jiang Anguo took the officer's sword of Watanabe Masao from Xiao Si's hand; this was also seized by Jiang Fei's team during their raid on the Japanese camp, and Yan Zicheng had brought it out together.

"Die."

Crack!

Jiang Anguo slashed at Jin Gang Zong Si Lang's neck; his head fell to the ground, and even in death he could not believe why the Chinese officer had killed him.

Jiang Anguo lifted Jin Gang Zong Si Lang's head and placed it before Jiang Fei.

He whispered, "Jiang Fei, I have avenged you; brothers, I have avenged you."

He hadn't expected that his pursuit order would sacrifice his elite troops; Jiang Fei could have withdrawn, but it was because of the old Japanese Watanabe Masao.

"Meng Fanle." Jiang Anguo's eyes reddened as he roared.

"Understood."

"Prepare the coffins of Jiang Fei and the Special Forces Unit! Notify Lashu's 2nd and 3rd Regiments to converge on me at top speed; the Four and Five Regiments, pursue the Japanese Army with me. I will take revenge; I will strike Tonggu." Jiang Anguo said furiously.

Meng Fanle thought he misheard and repeated, "Regiment Commander, what did you say, to strike Tonggu."

"Is there a problem?" Jiang Anguo said without turning his head.

Meng Fanle stood beside Jiang Anguo, seeing two terrifying words in the commander's gaze.

He dared not look directly at the commander's eyes.

"Yes." Although Meng Fanle didn't understand why the Regiment Commander wanted to strike Tonggu, he could feel the commander's intense anger.

The 3rd Regiment was actually at Lashu, while the 5th Regiment held the rear, and earlier orders had been given for both units to move toward him.

Meng Fanle could read the map; his question stemmed from worry, because Tonggu was still far away, and he feared the retreat route might be cut off. Now the Japanese had taken Mandalay, indicating their main forces were resting there.

Attacking Tonggu at this moment would be extremely dangerous.

It's like you gave up the front battlefield, i. e., Mandalay, and attacked Tonggu directly from the middle road.

And the enemy's main troops have no restraint; counting on Du Lvming's Expeditionary Force to block the Japanese Army at Mandalay is clearly impossible, especially since the Expeditionary Force's main body is resting.

The crucial point is that the Expeditionary Force's position offers no advantage—Bamo, Myitkyina—both are mountainous.

At a time like this, Jiang Anguo was thinking of attacking Tonggu; this idea is extremely reckless and dangerous.

Jiang Anguo could be said to have lost his composure; he only thinks of avenging Jiang Fei, and this loss is simply too great.

"Gather all the soldiers' bodies and bring them back to the rear."

The Special Forces Unit members' corpses were all gathered and burned on the spot; in such scorching weather, transporting them back to the rear for processing is clearly impossible.

Their bodies were also covered with leeches and termites.

Jiang Anguo could no longer bear it; jungle warfare is truly arduous.

Finding a quiet spot, Jiang Anguo looked into the depths of the dense forest, where darkness was devouring everything around.

"Xiao Si, do you think I shouldn't have sent Jiang Fei to pursue?" Jiang Anguo muttered to himself.

Xiao Si stayed by Jiang Anguo's side, never straying a step, holding an MP40 submachine gun and keeping watch around.

"Young Master, wars always require sacrifices," Xiao Si said.

"Yes, wars inevitably claim lives."

Jiang Anguo said slowly.