Reconnaissance Platoon Leader Xu Mao had a bit more time to prepare this time. The fifty-odd men patiently waited for the Japanese cavalry to arrive.

They didn't have to wait long. About ten minutes later, another cavalry squad of a dozen or so Japanese soldiers came.

This time, it was a reconnaissance squad sent out by Ono Kino-suke's cavalry battalion. They saw the fallen warhorses from a distance.

Squad Leader Hiraoka Inu-ta loudly ordered, "Spread out! Spread out a little!"

From the positions of the fallen warhorses, they could tell that the cavalry squad that had just been wiped out had charged in too dense a formation.

Actually, you couldn't blame Squad Leader Yoshikawa Yunosuke, because their target was only a platoon.

A platoon of fifty-odd men huddled together tightly. If the charging cavalry didn't keep their formation tight, they wouldn't be able to break through the infantry platoon's line.

Squad Leader Hiraoka Inu-ta clearly saw this problem as well.

If he wasn't so confident, he would have turned back by now.

After all, they were only there for reconnaissance, not to fight.

However, he already had a well-thought-out battle plan: to kill two birds with one stone.

"Nose-kun! Take four men and flank from the left. Teshigoe-kun, take five and flank from the right.

The rest of you, charge with me!"

Squad Leader Hiraoka's squad only had a dozen or so Japanese soldiers. He divided them into three groups, attacking from three directions simultaneously, perfectly avoiding the embarrassment of having a dozen horses crammed together.

Nose O-o loudly replied, "Hai!"

He spurred his horse and sped off to the left.

Teshigoe Ryunosuke also responded with a "Hai!"

He led four Japanese soldiers and charged to the right.

They needed to ride faster so they could compete with Squad Leader Hiraoka, who was charging straight ahead.

Liu Jia said again, "It would be great if another twenty or thirty Japanese soldiers came. Each of us brothers could have a saber, how impressive!"

This time, no one called him a jinx. Quite a while passed, and there was no sign of any movement.

Platoon Leader Xu couldn't help but say, "I wanted you to be accurate, but you're still off."

The reconnaissance platoon of fifty-odd men cleaned up the battlefield and sent three men back to report that they had encountered a Japanese cavalry reconnaissance squad.

The rest continued forward.

Behind them, the main force of the Thirty-eighth Division was crossing the Bai River.

The three hundred-plus Japanese soldiers of the 20th Cavalry Regiment finally encountered a regiment of the Thirty-eighth Division.

This time, Regiment Commander Utada Tsubasa did not order his troops to advance but instead led them in a retreat straight back to Jiezhuang.

...

When Commander Zhang Zizhong saw the Japanese skeletons and limbs in Luying Town, he ordered them to be protected and forbade anyone from touching them.

He sent a company to guard the headquarters of Katayama Riichiro's Fifth Brigade.

Only then did he send a telegram to Li Zhongren, commander of the Fifth War Area, reporting the situation here.

Commander Li was a clever man and immediately understood: the Japanese were practicing cannibalism, and the National Revolutionary Army had found the evidence of their brutal acts.

His instructions were the same as Zhang Zizhong's: protect the scene!

He immediately reported to Chongqing. When Chiang Kai-shek heard this, he thought it was an excellent opportunity to expose the Japanese brutality.

He immediately organized a war correspondent team in Chongqing, including American, British, and other foreign reporters.

He sent a special plane to fly to Qiantianhuang Village. At this moment, he suddenly thought: this Lin Fan's troops were building airports wherever they fought, which was really convenient!

Inside the Japanese Fifth Brigade headquarters, a group of reporters not only photographed hundreds of skeletons but also forty or fifty cleaned arms and legs.

Many reporters ran out to vomit as they were taking pictures.

They also saw Brigade Commander Katayama Riichiro, whose eyes were gleaming with a green, eerie light.

These reporters only took pictures in Luying Town and were allowed to interview captured Japanese officers such as Katayama Riichiro and Kurihara Shoji, who were at the regimental commander level.

They confirmed that the Japanese were indeed eating people.

And they were eating their own soldiers, some of whom were from the same village and even childhood playmates.

"Beasts! Only beasts could do such a thing."

The photos they took and the articles they wrote would be published the next day.

This time, Zhang Zizhong did not go to Chongqing to escort Katayama Riichiro and the others.

He was going to follow the Thirty-eighth Division to command the attack on the Japanese Sixteenth Division, which was being blocked at Jiezhuang.

Regiment Commander Utada Tsubasa of the cavalry regiment only found out after returning to Jiezhuang that "the Fifth Infantry Brigade in Luying Town had been completely annihilated."

At this time, Okamura Neji had learned from a spy lurking in Chongqing an important piece of intelligence: Brigade Commander Katayama Riichiro of the Fifth Brigade and the four regimental commanders under him had been captured.

They still firmly supported the war.

Commander Okamura Neji handed over the mess caused by Brigade Commander Katayama Riichiro to the domestic authorities for handling. He now needed to focus on the troops of the Sixteenth Infantry Division that had advanced to Jiezhuang.

Now he somewhat regretted not listening to Division Commander Fujie Keisuke's advice.

It would have been better if he had agreed to let the Sixteenth Division return directly to Tanghe instead of continuing to advance toward Xingwan.

Was it still too late to urge them to retreat immediately?

Was it too late?