"Wait a moment!" Tanikawa Kazuma said, then quickly got up and went out to find the telegraph operator to send the message. Such important information could not be delayed for even a moment; it had to be sent out immediately.
After quite some time, he returned, looking much more relaxed than before. Sitting opposite Akita Akihito, he sighed softly, "This is the best news we've had in a while. Once we destroy the Chinese artillery positions and complete our main mission, there's no point in us staying here any longer. I plan to leave and infiltrate the western area of Lujiazui. That area was originally Kobayashi's unit's responsibility, tasked with attacking the Chinese army's supply lines. But now that Kobayashi's unit has been wiped out, we'll take over that mission. We'll try to cut off their supplies and weaken their fighting capacity to help us in our later battles."
Akita Akihito's expression turned grave upon hearing this; the annihilation of Kobayashi's squad had instilled a sense of foreboding in them.
Having operated behind enemy lines for so long with such ease and without incident, and with the Chinese army's repeated encirclements and suppressions all ending in failure, this was the first time they had suffered such a heavy loss.
Recalling the extremely unpleasant expression on Tanikawa Kazuma's face when he came in, Akita Akihito let out a long sigh and asked, "Has it been confirmed?"
"It's confirmed!" Tanikawa Kazuma nodded heavily, his words filled with undisguised sorrow. "I sent Matsumoto with his men to search along the supply line's ambush points. We found the bodies of Kobayashi's squad on a high ground near Nishimawei. After counting, there were a total of 106 men, all of whom were killed in action."
Akita Akihito's face showed a hint of fear as he asked, "It seems that the incident occurred while we were preparing for the ambush. Our activities have attracted the attention of the Chinese army, and they have begun to assemble a large force to encircle and suppress us again. However, this time headquarters did not warn us in advance. It seems that we must be careful about our movements in the future. Once we are surrounded by the enemy, it will be a disaster."
"No, it wasn't the main force!" Tanikawa Kazuma interrupted Akita Akihito, his face solemn as he said, "Matsumoto is an officer with rich combat experience. According to his report, the entire battle area was concentrated on that high ground. No traces of fighting were found nearby, and there were no shell craters or explosion points around. All the bodies of Kobayashi's squad had gunshot wounds, many of them in the back, and many others in the head. Kobayashi Haruki himself was shot between the eyebrows."
The battle area was small, and this unit didn't use heavy weapons, relying entirely on rifles for casualties. Therefore, it wasn't a large force. Since a sharpshooter was involved, according to his analysis, this was likely a small, highly capable special forces unit that attacked Kobayashi's squad from the rear, resulting in the complete annihilation of Kobayashi's unit!
"That can't be right, can it?" Akita Akihito said doubtfully. He was also a senior intelligence officer and knew a lot about intelligence investigation in China. At present, the Chinese military has not established a special combat unit, and even if it did, it would never appear on the right flank battlefield.
The Japanese already knew the unit numbers of the Chinese army's right wing. Apart from the heavy artillery brigade, these units had no noteworthy highlights. The plainclothes team had made good progress behind enemy lines in Pudong. If such a unit existed, the Chinese would have sent it to deal with them long ago.
"Could it be a newly transferred unit?" Akita Akihito asked again, confirming the question.
After pondering for a long time, Tanikawa Kazuma finally waved his hand and said, "It seems that the Chinese have dispatched a special force to deal with us. This is definitely not good news for us. We must be more cautious in our future operations. In any case, we have now completed our main mission."
Akita Akihito nodded and said, "Yes! All our hard work has finally paid off. It's only right that we move out as soon as possible. I heard from the investigators yesterday that some Chinese students are still asking to join our relief team, which means we have indeed stayed here for too long. We will move out immediately after this is over."
“Okay!” Kazuma Tanikawa nodded in agreement.
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