Chapter 46

"Yes! I will absolutely not fail to live up to the opportunity the Empire has bestowed upon me!" The old Japanese soldier Kuroiwa’s eyes were firm, though the broken blade he clutched in his hand trembled uncontrollably. He had learned that even after mobilizing the entire brigade for an all-out encirclement, they had failed to annihilate the 524th Regiment. Not only had they failed to destroy the unit, they hadn't even managed to inflict heavy casualties, allowing the enemy to escape unscathed. This failure had reached not only the command of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army but had also been reported to the Imperial General Headquarters in Japan. Unauthorized movement of troops might have been forgiven had it succeeded, but since the enemy had escaped, it was a grave crime. "You should thank General Fujita Susumu! If he hadn't succeeded in leading his troops to take the Dachang defense line from the Chinese, our 11th Division would have been attacked from both sides, and we might have even faced a total collapse!"