Chapter 326: A Naganuma! Does Not Dare to Cross the Yangtze!

Jiujiang, Japanese Army 11th Army, temporary headquarters.

A Naganuma originally intended to return to Wuhan immediately, but after receiving a telegram from the 13th Division, the troop transport ship supporting Wuhan was sunk by the Chinese Air Force in the middle of the night, resulting in countless casualties.

It was precisely this reason that made A Naganuma fearful.

Now the Japanese Army in Central China has lost aerial protection, and A Naganuma has become very cautious.

If, on the way back to Wuhan, the Chinese Air Force discovers us, we'll truly have to meet the Emperor!

The sunlight outside the window was somewhat glaring, but the pressure inside the room was so heavy it was hard to breathe. A Naganuma stood before the massive operational map, the red‑and‑blue pencil in his hand hovering in mid‑air, unable to set down. His eyes, rimmed with blood vessels, stared fixedly at the area on the map reddened by the flames of war, as if he could not believe his own eyes.

What earth‑shattering event could have occurred to make the Huaxia army so mad, daring to launch a brazen counter‑offensive in broad daylight against a strategic stronghold already occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army?

Just yesterday, an urgent telegram from the Yueyang direction arrived like snowflakes; the situation there was on the brink of collapse, and Xue Yue's th War Zone was raging forward as if it had gone mad.

But now, even worse news arrived: the 13th Division from the Yichang direction also sent a distress telegram!

Since when does a Class A Division need to call for rescue from a theater commander?

This is a force of nearly thirty thousand troops, and the attached Independent Mixed 17th Brigade, almost thirty‑four or thirty‑five thousand strong, is defending the Yichang, Dangyang, and Xiao Ting area.

Behind them are Zhijiang and the 39th Division of Jingzhou, such ample troop deployment.

It even forced a division commander to appeal for aid to the Central China theater commander.

The harrowing words on the telegram seemed to mock the Japanese Army's incompetence. What chilled A Naganuma to the bone was that the telegram mentioned all nearby Japanese Army units attempting to reinforce Yichang had been subjected to frantic attacks and bombings by the Chinese Air Force, leaving them unable to move and suffering massive losses.

Massive losses—that is, extremely severe losses.

You idiot!

A Naganuma could no longer hold back; he snapped the pencil in his hand and roared in fury. A feeling of unprecedented humiliation surged in his heart—how could the elite of the Imperial Japanese Army be toyed with by an aerial squadron as if herding ducks?

At that moment, Chief of Staff Mu Xia Yong, standing nearby, let out a startled cry, his voice trembling with disbelief: "What!?"

"Mu Xia, what did you discover?" A Naganuma inhaled deeply, forcing himself to stay calm, and turned to ask.

Mu Xia Yong did not answer immediately, but lowered his head, sinking into deep thought, his brows knit as if untangling an extremely complex knot.

After a moment, he jerked his head up, a cold glint of insight in his eyes: "Commander, the Chinese forces are using a 'pretend to repair the road while secretly crossing the river' tactic! Their true focus of attack is Yichang, and Yueyang is merely a decoy to confuse us and shift our forces!"

"Impossible!" A Naganuma paced back and forth like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, retorting resolutely, "Since when has the Huaxia army been capable of such a multi‑front war? Their logistics, their command system—cannot sustain a massive two‑front offensive!"

"Commander, please hear me out," Mu Xia Yong said gravely, his tone unusually severe, "Is it possible that the earlier Myanmar Campaign was merely to shift our Huaxia forces, drawing all attention eastward? And now they launch a fierce attack on Yueyang, making us think that's the main thrust. In fact, it's a chain scheme! Their real target has always been Yichang!"

But the Zhe‑Gan operation was launched by the Japanese Army themselves, so the Third War Zone was relatively less prepared.

However, it was precisely Jiang Anguo's involvement that led to the Zhe‑Gan battle, and the situation of the east‑west encirclement of the Third War Zone was completely shattered.

A Naganuma halted, his gaze dark and fierce as he looked at Mu Xia Yong, and said slowly, "Mu Xia, even if the tactics make sense, do you know how many units the Huaxia army has attacking Yichang? One division! And it's a Sichuan Army infantry division!"

At this point, A Naganuma's tone was full of contempt and confusion: "Mu Xia, tell me, since when has the Huaxia army dared to use a single division, alone, to assault our fortified Yichang? Is this treating the Imperial Japanese Army's division as paper‑thin?"

Mu Xia Yong was stunned, eyes wide: "One division?"

A Naganuma snorted, handing the freshly translated intelligence to Mu Xia Yong: "Look for yourself; the intelligence is clear—the main forces attacking Yichang are only the Huaxia Air Force and the 150th Division."

Mu Xia Yong took the telegram, skimmed it quickly, his brows furrowing tighter. Yet when his eyes reached the last few characters of the telegram, he jolted as if struck by a bolt of lightning to the heavens.

It mentioned a designation "Independent Regiment."

In the Japanese Army's signal monitoring, frequent frontline telegrams repeatedly featured a strange unit name: Independent Regiment.

Mu Xia Yong's mind raced, the memory gates flinging open. He recalled a person, the commander of the 144th Regiment of the Fifty‑five Division, Nan Se Zhengxiong.

During the third Battle of Changsha, Nan Se Zhengxiong served as operations officer, having once been Mu Xia Yong's direct subordinate.

The two's relationship was still fairly good.

Later, Mu Xia Yong never imagined that the Japanese Army, which had been progressing smoothly on the Southern front, would suffer a disastrous setback in that damned place called Myanmar.

According to ultra‑secret intelligence from the Southern Army, in the Myanmar Tonggu campaign, Nan Se Zhengxiong's regiment suffered an unprecedented crushing defeat, and ultimately the entire 144th Regiment, including Nan Se Zhengxiong, was annihilated.

As for the Japanese Army's Fifty‑six Division, its information was sealed off by headquarters, known only to headquarters and senior officers of the Southern Army.

And according to that painful intelligence, the Chongqing forces that entered Tonggu, besides the famed Dai Anlan's 200th Division, also included another unit.

It was precisely the "Independent Regiment" mentioned in the telegram!

Similarly, in the decrypted secret messages, the unit's name was repeatedly cited, becoming an inescapable shadow for the Japanese Army's intelligence department.

Even now, looking back on the entire Myanmar Campaign, Mu Xia Yong still does not understand why the Chongqing forces dared to retreat into northern Myanmar after defeat and launch a counter‑offensive when the rainy season arrived.

Just as in the present situation.

Mu Xia Yong thrust his head up, looking at A Naganuma, his voice a little hoarse: "Commander, if the forces attacking Yichang truly include that 'Independent Regiment'… the situation would be different."

He pointed to Yichang on the map, inhaling deeply: "That Nan Se Zhengxiong was the one who fell into that unit's hands in Tonggu. If they really arrive, then using a single division to attack Yichang is no longer madness, but possible!"

As a staff officer, Mu Xia Yong must consider every possibility.

He does not believe an obscure, nameless unit would suddenly appear in Yichang and be repeatedly mentioned in the decrypted telegrams.