Sergeant Eita Odagiri was one of those rare Japanese soldiers who valued their warhorses more than their own lives.

In the evenings, he would lead his horse, Tatsuyuki (Trampling Snow), to the riverbank, carefully groom its coat, and feed it until it was full.

He would also spend a good while talking to it, chatting away until dark before finally leading Tatsuyuki back to its stall and securing the reins.

After meticulously checking that the reins of the neighboring horses wouldn't be long enough to harass his Tatsuyuki, he would finally return to his quarters with a sense of peace.

Sergeant Eita Odagiri was jolted awake from his sleep by the "rumbling" sound of explosions, and in his panic, he rushed out without even bothering to put on his clothes properly.

The first thing he thought of upon regaining his senses was Tatsuyuki, his horse!

Sergeant Eita Odagiri could already hear the terrified neighs of countless horses, and he thought he could distinguish the cries of his own horse, Tatsuyuki, among them.

Before becoming a Japanese soldier, Sergeant Eita Odagiri was just an ordinary mountain hunter in his homeland, completely removed from the world of horses, which were considered precious creatures.

It wasn't until he joined the ranks of the Japanese army and was assigned to Hyakutai Munefumi's 4th Cavalry Brigade that he acquired his first horse.

He cherished this warhorse as if it were his own life, always keeping it meticulously groomed. Because this warhorse had some white hair on its hooves, he had given it the special name Tatsuyuki.

Sergeant Eita Odagiri, now completely disregarding his disheveled appearance, hurried toward the location of the warhorses.

As he ran, the sounds of the horses' terrified neighs, the sounds of them struggling to stand up after being injured and kicking at the ground, and the uneasy stomping of their hooves all flooded his ears.

By this time, he had already rushed into the stable and smelled the strong scent of blood. Sergeant Eita Odagiri knew that this blood was all flowing from the injured warhorses.

He had seen at least a dozen warhorses lying on the ground along the way. Fortunately, after checking with the dim light of a torch, none of them were his Tatsuyuki.

Eita Odagiri anxiously blew his whistle again, hoping that his Tatsuyuki would take the initiative to come to him.

In the past, whenever he blew his whistle, Tatsuyuki would always come to him. Could it be that it couldn't hear his voice tonight?

Just as Eita Odagiri was lost in thought, he heard Tatsuyuki's neighing reply.

Eita Odagiri had etched this sound into his very bones. Hearing it, he immediately ran toward the source of the sound, torch in hand.

Along the way, he saw even more warhorses lying on the ground, many of their bellies ripped open, their intestines spilling out.

They lay on the ground, struggling and kicking incessantly. When they saw Eita Odagiri approaching with a torch, a look of joy flashed in their eyes, but it quickly faded when they realized he wasn't their master.

Even those warhorses that hadn't been injured were now neighing loudly, desperately trying to break free from their reins and escape.

But it was impossible for them to break free from the knots that their masters had carefully tied. The hopeful gazes of these warhorses fell upon Eita Odagiri.

However, Eita Odagiri couldn't concern himself with them for the time being. He was only focused on finding his Tatsuyuki.

Just as Tatsuyuki's neighing grew clearer, countless more red dots appeared in the eastern night sky.

It was the four rocket artillery companies of the Lu Nan Detachment, which, after a period of silence, had reloaded their shells and were firing again.

Sergeant Eita Odagiri felt the air above his head tighten, emitting a sharp whistling sound after being compressed.

Under normal circumstances, one should have been lying prone to reduce the chance of being hit by the shrapnel produced by the explosion.

Eita Odagiri did not lie prone, but instead seized the last opportunity to continue rushing forward, wanting to find Tatsuyuki before the shells landed.

Ultimately, Eita Odagiri's pace could not keep up with the speed of the shells streaking through the sky. Another barrage of rockets landed in the stable area.

This time, the firelight produced by the rocket explosions lit up the area all at once.

This light was much brighter than the torch in Eita Odagiri's hand.

Using the light, Eita Odagiri finally saw his Tatsuyuki: the warhorse had long since fallen to the ground, on the verge of death.

The warhorse was still at least fifty meters away from him!

Eita Odagiri could not escape the shrapnel flying around during the rocket explosion either. This rocket launcher had been specially designed and manufactured by Lin Fan in conjunction with the industrial level of the Jurong base area.

The rockets were loaded with a large number of iron pellets. Each rocket released thousands of iron pellets upon explosion.

With the point of explosion as the center, everything within a radius of seventy-five meters was within the effective kill range. Although Eita Odagiri was more than a hundred meters away from the point of explosion, he was still hit by iron pellets.

He finally fell to the ground unwillingly, crawling toward the Tatsuyuki that had already fallen to the ground.

A trail of blood marked his path, but it was soon disturbed by the stream of blood flowing from the other warhorses.

Fifty meters was still too far for him. Eita Odagiri bled his last drop of blood without reaching Tatsuyuki's side.

Commander Yamabo Jirō was panicked at the first moment of the attack. It never occurred to him that the main force of the Xuzhou Task Force, consisting of forty thousand Japanese soldiers, would be attacked near Xuzhou.

However, he quickly realized that this was not the time to think too much, but the time to face the situation.

Commander Yamabo Jirō immediately ordered the two infantry brigade commanders: "Immediately send out a tank squadron to search and attack to the east."

The attacking artillery fire came from the east. The Xuzhou Task Force's station had been exposed, and it was considered to be in the open.

There was no way to avoid such bombardment. Now, the only way was to let the tank squadron launch a quick attack and rush out to drive away the artillery team that was carrying out the sneak attack.

The first order was issued to the 3rd and 4th Independent Mixed Infantry Brigades, and Yamabo Jirō's second order was issued to the 4th Cavalry Brigade.

He ordered Brigade Commander Hyakutai Munefumi: "Immediately organize the entire cavalry brigade to attack to the east, and be sure to find and annihilate the attacking team."

Such intensive artillery fire could be inferred from the sound of the shells exploding: "At least dozens of heavy artillery pieces are firing, and hundreds of mortars have joined the attack."

"When did such a powerful Chinese artillery force hide outside Xuzhou City?" Yamabo Jirō began to feel afraid just thinking about it.

Dozens of heavy artillery pieces were already the firepower of a Chinese heavy artillery regiment. Hundreds of mortars meant that the Chinese had at least one army's worth of infantry to be equipped with such powerful firepower.

The more he guessed about the strength of the team attacking the camp tonight, the more frightened he became.

What to do?

Although the order had been issued, Commander Yamabo Jirō's mind as a staff officer was still thinking.

Should he explain the situation to Commander Terauchi Hisaichi and retreat back to Xuzhou City to defend Xuzhou and quietly wait for the result of the Battle of Wuhan?

Doing so would definitely be much safer, but in that case, there would be no need for the Xuzhou Task Force to exist, and he, the commander of this task force, would have no value either.

Thinking of this, Commander Yamabo Jirō decided to wait and see: The Xuzhou Task Force still had forty thousand Japanese soldiers. That should be enough to fight a good battle with the attacking team, right?

Although he had made up his mind, Commander Yamabo Jirō was even more dissatisfied with Brigade Commander Manda Yūto, who was stationed in Xuzhou City.

There were tens of thousands of Chinese troops lurking just thirty miles outside Xuzhou City, and they didn't even know it! He really didn't know how the Japanese soldiers in Xuzhou City were doing their intelligence work.

Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake received Commander Yamabo's order: The tank squadron would immediately set off to search and advance eastward, find and destroy the enemy's heavy artillery position.

There was nothing wrong with this order itself! If the brigade in his hands was still the same brigade as before, he would definitely have sent infantry to go with them.

But today was different from the past. The tank squadron was the last bit of elite force in his hands. If there was any loss, Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake felt that he would not be able to survive either.

Despite his reluctance, he still had to send out the tank squadron led by Captain Ishiki Ryōsuke, which he regarded as a treasure.

When Captain Ishiki Ryōsuke was about to set off, Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake was still instructing him: "Be sure to preserve your strength!"

The 3rd Brigade's approach was to preserve its strength at all costs.

After receiving the order, Brigade Commander Saitō Ōsuke of the 4th Independent Mixed Infantry Brigade immediately forwarded the order to Tank Company Commander Nunomura Yūki.

And he ordered: "Be sure to find the attackers' artillery position and annihilate them!" Brigade Commander Saitō Ōsuke was in high spirits at the moment.

Among the entire Xuzhou Task Force, his brigade was the most powerful. If he could fight a few more good battles and make meritorious contributions, a promotion and salary increase would be in sight.

Captain Nunomura Yūki accepted the task and set off much more decisively. Upon receiving the order, eighteen tanks immediately started up.

In fact, if his tank squadron did not start up again, Brigade Commander Saitō Ōsuke was afraid that these tanks would be bombed by shells flying from the sky.

At that time, it would be too late to say anything. In any case, the two tank squadrons, totaling thirty-six tanks, finally rushed out of the camp and into the vast night.

Looking at the bright headlights of the tanks in front, they were like sharp bayonets, piercing fiercely into the pitch-black night sky.

Commander Yamabo Jirō, although in the command post that was being heavily bombed, was also excited: If these tanks could wipe out the Chinese heavy artillery regiment.

Then these losses tonight would be nothing.

After receiving Commander Yamabo's order, Brigade Commander Hyakutai Munefumi also immediately issued the attack order.

As a cavalry brigade commander, he originally didn't want to stay in place and wait to be bombed when he was attacked.

Now that he had the commander's order, he of course carried it out immediately, and the entire brigade moved out.

This was Brigade Commander Hyakutai Munefumi's order, but this time, there were not many Japanese soldiers who could carry out his order.

In the entire 4th Cavalry Brigade, there were more Japanese soldiers still alive, but fewer warhorses still alive.

The artillery fire organized by Gu Xiuming tonight was not very accurate.

But the rocket launchers were meant to cover a wide area, and one rocket launcher happened to be aimed at the Japanese stable.

This caused the warhorses to suffer heavy casualties. Of the nearly ten thousand horses of various types, less than five hundred were rescued.

Many of them were packhorses, which could not be used in combat at all.

The scene of thousands of cavalrymen launching an attack that Brigade Commander Hyakutai Munefumi had planned ultimately turned into less than three hundred Japanese soldiers riding warhorses into the darkness.

These three hundred Japanese soldiers, led by Regiment Commander Dōgen Sōshin, followed behind the thirty-six tanks and charged in the direction from which the shells were flying.

The thirty-six tanks turned on the lights in the front, and the light that shone out illuminated a large area of the dark night.

Regiment Commander Gu Xiuming led his team and was preparing to wait for an opportunity to launch an attack.

But before the team could set off, they saw a large area of light coming from afar, and Regiment Commander Gu was overjoyed.

He immediately called the artillery company that was bombing the Japanese camp. Kong Heze, the rocket artillery company commander of the 1st Regiment, received the location given by the regiment commander.

He immediately began to calculate, and the rocket launchers, mortars, and infantry guns of all four regiments were here.

Upon receiving the regiment commander's order, these artillery pieces all fired at the latest location.

Hundreds of shells suddenly fell from the sky. Some shells missed, and some exploded in open spaces, but some shells did hit the target after all.

Sergeant Mitsumura Hidetomo, who was driving the tank at top speed, suddenly felt the tank shaking. Although it was driving on a plain, the tank shouldn't be bumping so much, right?

At this time, he didn't know that the bumping was actually caused by the shock waves generated by the shells exploding on the ground.

Captain Ishiki Ryōsuke watched the sudden flashes of fire in front of him and listened to the explosions.

He was so frightened that he quickly ordered: "Turn off the lights! Turn off the lights!"

In order to save costs, Japanese tanks were not equipped with calling systems at all.

Although the tank in which Captain Ishiki Ryōsuke was located had turned off its lights, there were still lights shining in front of and behind it. In such a dark night, the tank was still as dazzling as a firefly in summer.

Despite the smoke and dust filling the battlefield, the lights of the Japanese tanks still penetrated the hazy smoke and dust, stubbornly guiding Regiment Commander Gu to the target.

What else could Regiment Commander Gu do at this time? It wasn't like this was the test firing of a single artillery piece, so he couldn't give the artillery any advice on whether it had hit the target or not.

He could only say: "Some shells are exploding in the Japanese tank formation. Continue bombing."

At this time, they could only rely on mass bombing to strike at these charging Japanese tanks.

With the lights of the Japanese tanks as a guide, Regiment Commander Gu Xiuming and the soldiers of the 1st and 2nd Regiments could all see them.

They also saw that some tanks had stopped, motionless and burning in place, acting as torches in the dark night.

The tank in which Sergeant Mitsumura Hidetomo was located only felt the bumping and then, less than a minute later, heard a loud "thud," followed by a violent shock wave mixed with countless pieces of metal flying over.

His whole body collected at least ten pieces of shrapnel, and the tank stopped in place, unable to move any further.

What Regiment Commander Gu and the others could see were the tanks. There were also some Japanese soldiers hidden in the darkness who suffered even greater losses in the bombing just now than the tank squadron.

Although the armor of the Japanese tanks was thin, it was still metal protecting flesh. If the shells exploded a little further away, the shrapnel produced would only send deafening booms into the ears of the Japanese soldiers inside the tanks, but it would not be able to kill them.

But the shrapnel produced when these shells exploded caused much greater damage to the Japanese cavalrymen who were following behind the tank squadron.

The kill radius of a rocket shell was seventy-five meters, which translated into an area of more than seventeen thousand six hundred square meters. A rocket launcher could fire twelve such rocket shells at a time.

It could cover an area of two hundred thousand square meters at once. Regiment Commander Dōgen Sōshin was out of luck this time.

He didn't know how many shells his cavalry had been bombed by. In any case, he had already fallen to the ground first and was unable to count.

The three hundred or so cavalrymen led by Regiment Commander Dōgen Sōshin silently fell in the darkness. The two tank squadrons in front of them had no idea that a cavalry force behind them had been wiped out.

While ordering the driver to turn off the lights, Captain Ishiki Ryōsuke also urged them to speed up and break through.

He had clearly seen the situation: In this situation, if they didn't break out of this bombarded area, their fate would be doomed to be annihilated.

In order to struggle for survival, Captain Ishiki Ryōsuke's brain, like the tank under him, was running at full power.

Captain Nunomura Yūki also thought of turning off the lights a while after being bombed.

But although he could order the tank under him to turn off its lights, he couldn't order all the tanks in the entire tank squadron.

There was no communication system between the tanks, and there was no way to make the Japanese soldiers on the other side hear the order by shouting.

He had no choice but to have a Japanese soldier open the top cover, wave a flag, and send out a flag signal, ordering all the tanks to turn off their lights.

In any case, Gu Xiuming's calling for the artillery to bomb the Japanese tanks finally allowed the Xuzhou Task Force's camp to breathe a sigh of relief.

Commander Yamabo Jirō, hearing that there was no sound of shells exploding around him, quickly led his guards out of the command post.

He quickly retreated to the distance! The order to retreat for the entire army had been issued: The entire army would retreat in the direction of Tasan Town.

As the commander of the Xuzhou Task Force, he retreated quickly and swiftly. It was not so easy for the other brigade commanders to retreat.

So many of their Japanese soldiers were injured and had to be rescued. If Regiment Commander Asō Isoroku or Regiment Commander Nakajima Ayumu could return to life.

They would definitely try to dissuade the brigade commanders from making this unwise decision, but unfortunately, that was not possible.

Therefore, the Japanese soldiers of the three brigades were now lighting torches and beginning to rescue the wounded.

Brigade Commander Saitō Ōsuke had already left the team and gone with Commander Yamabo. He left the chief of staff behind to command the team.

Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake did not dare to leave. His two infantry regiments had just been reorganized.

At this time, it was time to win people's hearts and put on a good performance. Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake personally walked into the team, kindly comforting the injured Japanese soldiers and encouraging those who were still left to rescue the wounded.

The brigade commander was with the Japanese soldiers, which greatly boosted the morale of these Japanese soldiers of the Independent Mixed Infantry Brigade.

Just now, when they were bombed suddenly and turned dizzy, they didn't know what to do at all.

Now, seeing Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake personally carry a stretcher for a distance, the Japanese soldiers were overjoyed.

The wounded man who was being carried by Inoue Munetake struggled to get down and walk by himself, unable to bear such treatment.

Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake's show achieved unprecedented success, which made him very happy.

The confidence and courage he had lost during this period seemed to be gradually returning from the grateful gazes of his subordinates.

The Japanese soldiers who were still alive in the two tank squadrons had all turned off their lights, and now they were groping forward in the darkness.

Without the guidance of the lights, there was no target, and Regiment Commander Gu could only order the artillery to continue bombing the Japanese camp.

While they were bombing the Japanese tanks, the Japanese camp had already been brightly lit, and many Japanese soldiers were lighting torches to search for the wounded.

At the same time, they needed torches to see the road, and they also needed torches to treat the wounded.

These torches in the dark night became the best guide for the Lu Nan Detachment to bomb the target.

Shell after shell, like moths to a flame, flew toward the Japanese camp.

Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake, who was still in the camp, listened to the endless explosions and felt the vibration of the ground.

His heart was bitter, and he also had some regrets: Although his show in the camp had boosted the morale of the Japanese soldiers, it had also put himself in a difficult situation.

Now, in such artillery fire, whether each Japanese soldier could survive depended on luck.

The shells would not avoid him just because he was a brigade commander.

Brigade Commander Hyakutai Munefumi was the same, regretting that he had not run away immediately when Commander Yamabo ordered the retreat.

He stayed behind mainly to have his cavalrymen look for their respective warhorses. Brigade Commander Hyakutai Munefumi hoped that those warhorses had only been startled and ran away.

They could come back after a while, back to where they were!

That was why he insisted on going to the stable to see. He didn't know if his warhorse was dead or had run away.

Hyakutai Munefumi did not find the warhorse, nor did he find the body, and was once again bombed by artillery fire.

At this time, Commander Yamabo Jirō had already run out of the Lu Nan Detachment's artillery fire zone.

He stood in the shadows, watching the constant flashes of fire behind him and listening to the constant explosions.

Looking at the eastern night sky again, he saw shells dragging red light across the sky. Based on the caliber of those mortar shells, Commander Yamabo Jirō estimated that the Chinese troops attacking the camp were no more than four kilometers away from his camp at the farthest.

The cavalry and tank squadrons he had sent out should have arrived at the battlefield by now.

Why was the artillery fire attacking his camp still so dense, almost the same as the intensity of the initial bombing?

Fortunately, with him, the commander, taking the lead, the Japanese soldiers of the entire Xuzhou Task Force all knew to escape in this direction.