A million times unwilling, Lieutenant General Fujie Keifu of the Sixteenth Infantry Division of the Japanese army clearly saw the tragedy that was about to unfold.

But he could not resist it, nor could he prevent it.

However, Division Commander Fujie Keifu was absolutely unwilling to be buried with the Sixteenth Division by the Special Operations Brigade.

So he also learned from Division Commander Yamawaki Masataka of the Third Infantry Division, and quickly returned to Tanghe with a squadron of Japanese soldiers.

Better a dead division than a dead division commander!

While Division Commander Fujie Keifu could find a reason to leave the division and return to Tanghe to remotely command the entire division's operations, Brigade Commander Kawakita Taro of the Nineteenth Infantry Brigade did not have such treatment: he had to lead the entire brigade to act according to the orders of Okamura Neji, commander of the Eleventh Army of the China Expeditionary Army.

As a result, after the division commander left, the Sixteenth Infantry Division immediately formulated a plan to speed up the march the next day.

According to the new plan, the Nineteenth Infantry Brigade and the Sixteenth Engineering Regiment would advance from Xiezhuang to Xingwan the next day. The Thirtieth Infantry Brigade, the Twentieth Cavalry Regiment, the Twenty-second Field Artillery Regiment, the Sixteenth Transport Regiment, the Signal Corps, the Ordnance Service Company, the Medical Team, and four field hospitals would follow behind.

Brigade Commander Kawakita Taro commanded the Ninth and Twentieth Infantry Regiments. Although these two infantry regiments had suffered many casualties on the battlefield;

However, after each reduction in personnel, they were immediately replenished.

Now the two infantry regiments were still fully staffed, each with four infantry battalions.

According to the plan, the vanguard of the entire brigade tomorrow would be the Kitano Taro Battalion of the Ninth Infantry Regiment.

The next day, after dawn, the vanguard of the Sixteenth Division was still the Sawajiri Kuzuo squad.

Squad Leader Sawajiri Kuzuo walked in the middle of the formation, accompanied by Sergeant Major Eikura Nanuo and Sergeant Major Kato Taiichi.

Sergeant Major Kato Taiichi complained, "Squad Leader! What's been going on these past few days? Why is our marching speed so slow?"

As the lowest-ranking Japanese soldier, Sergeant Major Kato Taiichi did not know about the heavy losses suffered by the Third Infantry Division these past few days.

He only felt that the marching speed of the entire team was different from when the operation started on May 1st.

Sergeant Major Eikura Nanuo guessed, "Is it because the division commander is considering that the army is tired from continuous operations?"

Kato Taiichi immediately said, "We are not tired! As long as we can move freely on this continent, we are not tired at all!"

From May 1st to now, in just over half a month, he had personally burned down at least twenty houses.

This Japanese soldier was always particularly excited when it was time to set fire to houses.

Even if he looted some supplies, it was only a few dozen yuan, at most that was it.

But the officers were different! They could directly empty the stores and seize the factories as their own.

However, when the factory's machines were shipped back to Japan, taxes had to be paid.

"Aren't you guys also looting stores?" Squad Leader Sawajiri Kuzuo asked suspiciously.

"We can only rob a few things, if we rob too much, the officers will confiscate it," Sergeant Major Kato Taiichi said with some frustration.

"That's right!" Squad Leader Sawajiri Kuzuo thought to himself, but did not say it out loud.

Officers must have more and better supplies than ordinary soldiers, and they must have greater power than ordinary soldiers.

However, he said, "What if we can attack Chongqing this time?"

"The commander will definitely let us act like we did in Nanjing again," Sergeant Major Kato Taiichi said confidently.

"What about Wuhan? Why doesn't anyone mention Wuhan?" Squad Leader Sawajiri Kuzuo asked strangely.

"When we entered Wuhan, the entire city was already in ruins. We couldn't find a grain of rice, nor could we find any stores with goods. They moved everything away," Eikura Nanuo said with frustration.

"The National Government calls this 'clearing the fields.' They've also learned to be cunning and no longer leave us with any useful supplies," Sergeant Major Kato Taiichi said with the same frustration.

Squad Leader Sawajiri Kuzuo was silent, thinking that even if they attacked Chongqing, it might be the same as in Wuhan.

The dream of becoming a millionaire was shattered so quickly, and his mood suddenly became depressed.

The squad leader's sudden bad mood did not affect the speed of the entire squad's advance.

According to the battalion commander's order, they were going to set up camp in Xingwan today.

Along the way, not a single house in the villages on both sides of the road was intact, and all of them had traces of fire.

Obviously, among the teams that had passed by before, there were quite a few Japanese soldiers who had the same hobby of arson as Kato Taiichi.

Sergeant Major Kato Taiichi did not feel like he was alone in his ways. On the contrary, he was very angry. "Yaga! They are too bad.

Like locusts, they completely destroy everything they pass by."

Sergeant Major Eikura Nanuo knew what this Japanese soldier was really thinking, so he didn't try to dissuade him, but just looked at the desolate fields, thinking, "If this land could be ignited, Kato-kun would definitely set the whole land on fire."