Chapter 98: Sato Masaru and Sun Tzu's Art of War

After dark, the 17th Regiment, which was feigning an attack on Ximu City, also stopped its attack. Sato Masa was very dissatisfied with his job and strongly requested that Osako Naotoshi replace him to the front line of Yushubao.

It was said that Yamamura Ken attacked Yushubao last night, but eventually suffered heavy losses and even committed suicide out of shame.

This made Sato Masa more interested in Wei Jichen, thinking that his 17th Regiment, as a pioneer in the invasion of China, had always won battle after battle, invincible and invincible.

"Colonel, there seems to be some unusual movements in the Qing army in the city!" Captain Zheng Shizhen walked in and reported to him softly.

"Oh, what are the unusual movements of the Qing army in the city?" Sato Masa became interested, sat up straight, looked at him and asked.

"It seems to be moving around, and the specific actions are unknown." Zheng Shizhen said with a slight bow.

Sato Masa frowned and said, "Feng Sheng'a has always been timid and afraid of death. If we don't look for him, he will burn incense and worship Buddha, secretly happy. I don't think he has the courage to trouble us."

Zheng Shizhen nodded and said with a smile, "Maybe I am too worried. The Qing army in the city may be mobilized normally."

"Yeah!" Sato Masa smiled and stood up and said, "In any case, pay more attention. There may be troops in the city who want to support Yushubao."

"Is there any new progress in the Imperial Japanese Army in Yushubao?" Sato Masa paused and asked again.

Zheng Shizhen thought for a moment and replied, "I heard that we have broken through the enemy's second line of defense, but our casualties are also heavy."

Sato Masa asked in disbelief, "Is that Wei Jichen really that powerful?"

Zheng Shizhen said solemnly, "This man is the strongest opponent my 3rd Division has encountered since entering China."

"I hope to have a chance to fight him, but unfortunately he is destined to have no chance this time." Sato Masa said confidently. The city was surrounded on all sides, and even if Wei Jichen had wings, he would not be able to escape.

In Ximu City, all the armies were ready to retreat, except for Ma Jinxu's Yi Army, which was still staying on its defensive line without any movement.

Ma Jinxu had someone send a letter to Wei Jichen, but it was estimated that by the time Wei Jichen got the news, Feng Sheng'a would have gone far away.

Feng Sheng'a was wrapped tightly all over, and there were even more personal soldiers surrounding him. When he rode his horse past the west gate of the city, he couldn't help but look at the direction of the government office with some regret.

There were several young and beautiful singers there, but unfortunately they were going to escape this time, so he had to reluctantly abandon them.

Forget it, women are like clothes, you can buy beautiful new ones wherever you go. Feng Sheng'a calmed down and turned to the people waiting for his orders.

"Let's go!"

Even if Feng Sheng'a retreated, he would not stay in his army and retreat last. He led his personal guards to go ahead and handed over the rest of the army to Nie Guilin.

Soon after Feng Sheng'a escaped from the city gate, the city was boiling. Nie Guilin commanded the army to rush to the city gate, and there were crowds of people for a while.

Nie Guilin also ordered that torches should not be lit. In this way, after hearing the retreat, everyone was afraid that they would be caught up by the Japanese at the end, and they all rushed to the city gate one after another. People came and went, and some were knocked down and could never get up again.

At this small city gate, the Chinese army trampled on each other, and dozens of people were crushed and trampled into meat paste, which was jaw-dropping and speechless.

"Get out of the way for me." Nie Guilin was riding on his horse, sweating profusely. The development of this situation seemed to be beyond his control. He was actually separated from his personal soldiers by the crowd.

Nie Guilin looked at the chaotic city gate and had no choice but to raise his dagger and stab the horse's butt hard. The horse was stimulated by this and immediately screamed wildly and ran forward madly.

Bang, bang!

"Ah!"

"My feet!"

In the darkness, countless figures were knocked out by his military horse. Nie Guilin finally escaped from the city gate with great effort. He looked back with lingering fear, raised his whip without hesitation, and quickly followed Feng Sheng'a to escape alone.

As a result, two out of three generals who could command these troops in Ximu City had already left. The remaining one, Ma Jinxu, of course had no time to care about other things. He also had to contact Wei Jichen and the two armies broke through together.

The rest were all small shrimps and millets, and they could not control the situation at all. When these people saw it, those who had horses rode horses, and those who had no horses quickly grabbed horses. In short, they used all kinds of martial arts, took their own soldiers, and fled in panic like dogs who had lost their homes.

Nearly 3,000 soldiers were divided into groups without order, and became groups of defeated soldiers, crying and shouting towards the main road.

It was originally a premeditated retreat, but Feng Sheng'a did not make the order clear. Some soldiers who did not know the situation thought that the city gate had been breached by the Japanese and the Japanese were chasing them from behind, especially since no one came forward to explain what happened here to them.

The speed of the Qing soldiers who ran away was really amazing, leaving a lot of disabled people groaning on the ground.

The Japanese spy soon reported the situation to Sato Masaru.

After receiving the news, Sato Masaru was speechless for a long time. The battle was going well during the day, but why did the Chinese seem to abandon the city and flee at night?

"What is the situation of Ma Jinxu's Yi Army?" Sato Masaru did not dare to draw conclusions lightly, especially at night when it was unclear and the intelligence might be wrong.

"There is no movement in the Yi Army's defense area, and there are soldiers patrolling back and forth." The spy replied conscientiously.

What's going on? Sato Zheng became more and more confused.

"That is to say, the Qing army in the west of the city seems to be escaping, but the Yi army opposite us is normal." Sato analyzed slowly.

Then he slammed the table hard as if he suddenly realized it, and said: "Unexpectedly, unexpectedly, I underestimated Fengsheng'a opposite. It must have been Ma Jinxu who gave him some advice. A part of the Qing army in the city pretended to escape, luring our army to pursue it, and then Encircle our army together with Yijun. Humph, I, Sato Masaru, am not easily deceived. No matter what the Qing army does tonight, don't worry about it. According to the battle plan of the division staff, we are just here to pretend to attack Ximu City. Yes, don’t be greedy for success.”

The captain Zheng Shizhen next to him also had his eyes lit up and said in admiration: "Qing people just like to play some intrigues. Unfortunately, I didn't expect that the colonel was more skilled and did not fall into the trap. I am very impressed by my subordinates."

Sato was taking out a copy of Sun Tzu's Art of War from the table and said with a smile: "Some things from the Chinese are still very useful."

In the Elm Fort, Wei Jichen's face was very gloomy. The signal corps sent by Ma Jinxu had already told him the news.

Feng Sheng'a, an old man, can be such a bastard. It would be much easier if the two armies supported each other and retreated at the same time. Now Feng Sheng'a leads the army and escapes first, but treats Wei Zi's army as an abandoned son, and has no choice but to The abandoned son who worked for him.

If I can get out alive this time, I will never spare you, an old man like you, Wei Jichen cursed secretly in his heart.

According to the time calculation, Fengsheng'a should have taken action at this time. Wei Jichen was lucky and hoped that Guitaro would mobilize the army to chase him.

After calling the sergeant who was sentrying at the front of the position and asking about it, he was disappointed to learn that the enemy had not taken any action.

All conspiracies and tricks are heretical. Let you see the true strength of Wei Zijun. Wei Jichen shook his hand and no longer had hope for anyone.

"When did your master say we would break out of the encirclement?" Wei Jichen was very grateful to Ma Jinxu who sent people to report the news again and again and refused to abandon his army and escape alone.

"My lord means that the faster the better. I have brought fireworks as a signal. Once you lead your troops to break through, I will light the signal. My lord has been sending people to pay attention here. Once the signal is discovered, troops will be sent to follow. In the end, the two The armies of the family met on the main road and retreated to Haicheng together." The signal soldier took out the fireworks and told Ma Jinxu's plan.

"Tonight, let us Wei Zijun and Yijun unite and rush to Haicheng." Wei Jichen no longer waits until Zishi. If the Japanese confirm the news of Feng Sheng'a's retreat, they will definitely be on guard everywhere, and they will be lost by then. the possibility of a sneak attack.

Although the Japanese soldiers may not have fallen asleep yet, they can no longer control that much. It is best to take action as soon as possible before the Japanese understand the situation.

Fortunately, everything in his army is ready.

Wei Jichen walked out of the door and learned that the generals who had advanced the attack were ready and waiting for his order.

Huzi led two hundred soldiers as the vanguard, standing motionless at the front. What is amazing is that these soldiers are all wearing Japanese military uniforms. If it were not for the white towel tied on the left side of his arm, the night would have been completely different. There is no enemy or friend.

When Wei Jichen saw the swelling around the waists of those soldiers, he couldn't help but smile with relief. They were all filled with grenades. As an assault forward, how could Wei Jichen not take more care of them.

Wei Jichen walked up to Hu Zi, looked at this old subordinate who had been following him, and patted his shoulder wordlessly. There was no need for any words to express between them, everything was in silence.

"Let's go!" Wei Jichen said softly.

Huzi gave a serious military salute, then raised his hand, and the two hundred soldiers acting as the vanguard quickly ran forward.

Following closely behind the vanguard was Ma Yucuo's Yijun. Ma Yucuo also gave a serious military salute to Wei Jichen, then waved his hand, and the three sentry troops silently followed the vanguard.

Yijun also has two sentinel cavalry commanded by Zhang Zuolin. The center serves as a mobile unit and can quickly support the front and rear.

Li Yunfei, Mengzi, and Zhang Zuolin silently saluted Wei Jichen one after another, and then quickly dispatched.

"Old Cheng, it will be our turn to leave soon. When gunshots ring out in front, it's time for us to take action." Wei Jichen found that only those who had been cut off from the rear were left here, as well as Wang Shizhen's artillery brigade.

At the position of the 7th Japanese Infantry Regiment, most of the Japanese soldiers were lying in the trenches to rest out of boredom. Only groups of patrols passed by inside and outside the trenches from time to time.

"When do you think we can break through the Qing army's position on the opposite side?" A patrolling soldier asked, looking for words.

"Who knew that the army on the opposite side, worthy of the god of death, Wei Jichen, could withstand the attack of our Imperial Japanese Army for two days and one night. If the other Qing armies were there, they would have collapsed." Another little Japanese soldier replied helplessly.

"Well, as long as we survive this battle."

The patrolling soldiers gradually faded away, and their voices slowly disappeared into the night sky.