Volume 1, Chapter 23: A Top-Secret Directive from Headquarters! The Japanese General Goes Into a Frenzy!

The Deputy Commander-in-Chief pondered for a moment before issuing orders to his confidential staff officer.

"Send a telegram back to the 386th Brigade immediately! First, commend all officers and soldiers of the Independent Regiment!"

"Second, order Li Yunlong to use this opportunity of capturing the mole as a catalyst to coordinate with the military district's security department. Conduct a thorough sweep of the enemy intelligence network in Northwest Shanxi! We must ensure that evil is rooted out completely!"

"Third..." The Deputy Commander-in-Chief’s tone turned exceptionally grave. Looking at the Division Commander and the Deputy Chief of Staff, he spoke with deliberate emphasis.

"Issue a top-secret order to the entire army: at all costs, ensure the absolute safety of Comrade Lin Mo! His safety is our Eighth Route Army’s top priority! If anyone lets anything happen to him, I will show no mercy!"

The Division Commander and the Deputy Chief of Staff nodded solemnly, both fully aware of the weight of this order. They understood that the value of a man who could create new weapons, grasp advanced tactics, and set a trap so lethal it annihilated the Yamamoto Special Forces could no longer be measured by conventional standards.

He was not just a soldier or a commander. He was hope! He was the spark that the Eighth Route Army had found during its darkest hour—a spark capable of starting a prairie fire.

"Furthermore," the Deputy Commander-in-Chief stood up and paced the room, a look of anticipation on his face, "tell Li Yunlong that in a few days, at the unveiling ceremony for the Spark Arsenal, I, along with the Division Commander and others, will attend in person!"

"We must see for ourselves what this miraculous new arsenal is truly like! And we must meet this brilliant young man in person to see what kind of extraordinary being he is!"

The order was quickly transmitted back to the 386th Brigade. Holding the headquarters' telegram, the Brigade Commander’s hands trembled slightly.

"A top-secret order... ensure Lin Mo’s safety..."

"The Deputy Commander-in-Chief and the Division Commander are coming to Zhaojiayu themselves..."

He looked at his Chief of Staff, his voice filled with excitement. "Old Zhang, look! Just look! In all my years, I’ve never seen headquarters issue such an order! I’ve never seen the top brass pay this much attention to a single regiment!"

"This Lin Mo is no longer just our brigade’s treasure; he is the treasure of our entire Eighth Route Army!"

The Brigade Commander immediately picked up the phone and got through to the Independent Regiment. From the other end came Li Yunlong’s boisterous voice.

"Hello? Is that you, Brigade Commander? Are you calling to commend me, old Li? Let me tell you, the spoils this time..."

"Shut up!" the Brigade Commander interrupted, annoyed. "Li Yunlong, listen to me carefully! Now, in the name of the 386th Brigade Commander, I am officially ordering you! From this day forward, your Independent Regiment has only one mission: to act as Lin Mo’s bodyguards! Twenty-four-hour, close-protection bodyguards!"

"If Lin Mo loses even a single hair, I will have you executed! Do you understand?!"

"Huh?" Li Yunlong was stunned by the dressing-down, but he quickly realized the significance and broke into a wide grin.

"Yes! Brigade Commander! I guarantee the mission will be accomplished! If anyone dares to touch a hair on Brother Lin’s head, I, Li Yunlong, will be the first to hack them to pieces!"

After hanging up, Li Yunlong felt as if he were on cloud nine. Acting as Brother Lin’s bodyguard? This was the finest assignment in the world!

***

In Taiyuan, at the headquarters of the Japanese First Army in Shanxi, the atmosphere was so oppressive it felt as if it could draw blood.

Shinozuka Yoshio sat in his chair, his face ashen, gripping the urgent telegram from Ping'an County so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Every word in the report felt like a red-hot blade stabbing into his heart.

"Yamamoto Special Forces... at Yingchou Ravine... ambushed by the Eighth Route Army... almost completely wiped out..."

"Yamamoto Yoshiki... severely wounded... returned to Ping'an with only a dozen men..."

"Baka! Bakayaro!"

Shinozuka Yoshio could no longer contain his emotions. He stood up abruptly, tearing the telegram to shreds, and then swept all the documents and tea sets off his desk. The crisp sound of shattering porcelain echoed throughout the headquarters. The guards outside the door trembled, not daring to make a sound.

The senior staff officers in the room kept their heads bowed, silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to even breathe. They had never seen Shinozuka Yoshio this enraged. The Imperial Lieutenant General, usually known for his refinement and composure, was currently like a lion driven to absolute fury.

"Trash! Every one of you is trash!" Shinozuka pointed at the operational map, his eyes burning red.

"Over a hundred of the Empire’s most elite special forces soldiers! Equipped with the finest weapons! Sent to raid a local Eighth Route Army regiment headquarters! And yet... yet they were completely wiped out!"

"Can anyone tell me! What exactly happened?! Does Li Yunlong have three heads and six arms?! Can he conjure soldiers out of thin air?!"

An operations officer gathered his courage, stepped forward, and whispered, "General... according to Hirata-kun’s supplementary report, Colonel Yamamoto... seems to have fallen into a trap set by the Eighth Route Army. They used a mole, code-named 'Gecko,' to feed them false intelligence, luring the special forces into a pre-laid minefield and ambush zone..."

"A trap?!" Shinozuka sneered, his laughter filled with endless rage and self-mockery. "Yamamoto Yoshiki, a top graduate of the Imperial Army Academy and the founder of special warfare! He was fooled by a trap set by a bunch of mud-legged peasants? He is the master of traps himself!"

He knew clearly that the matter was not that simple. Ordinary minefields and ambushes could never have prevented the Yamamoto Special Forces from even fighting back. The key to the problem was that mysterious "Mr. Lin!"

"Lin Mo... Lin Mo..." Shinozuka muttered the name repeatedly, the murderous intent in his eyes growing more intense.

He realized he had made a fatal mistake. He should not have sent only Yamamoto. He should not have underestimated the power of this "pale scholar."

This Lin Mo was no longer a simple technician. He was a devil who could perfectly combine technology, tactics, and conspiracy! He could not only create destructive weapons but also lay impenetrable traps and even turn the Empire’s own spy network against itself!

Such a person was too terrifying! If he were not eliminated soon, he would become the Empire’s greatest threat on the North China battlefield! He might even change the course of the entire war!

"General..." a staff officer asked cautiously, "what about... Colonel Yamamoto?"

"Tell him to return to Taiyuan first to continue recruiting and training Imperial special forces warriors!" Shinozuka waved his hand, his tone icy and devoid of emotion.

All of Shinozuka’s focus was now on how to retaliate, how to restore the Empire’s dignity, and how to completely destroy the man named Lin Mo and his arsenal.

"Get me the North China Area Army headquarters!" Shinozuka sat back down, his rage replaced by a dark, chilling calm.

"I want to request air support!"

He pointed to the location of Zhaojiayu on the map and spoke with cold precision. "I want to mobilize an air squadron! Every bomber! Every bomb! Drop them all on that mountain ravine called Zhaojiayu!"

"I don't care what traps or ambushes they have! In the face of absolute air superiority, everything is futile!"

"I want to wipe that place, along with Li Yunlong’s Independent Regiment and that damned Lin Mo, off the map! I want them to know the consequences of provoking the Great Imperial Japanese Army!"

A staff officer warned with concern, "General, the terrain of Zhaojiayu is complex, with high mountains and dense forests; the bombing effect might..."

"Then carpet bomb it!" Shinozuka interrupted him brutally. "If once isn't enough, do it twice! If twice isn't enough, do it ten times! Until every inch of that land has been turned over!"

"Hai!"

The staff officers responded in unison, sensing Shinozuka Yoshio’s desperate, maniacal resolve. Soon, an order for mobilization was sent from Taiyuan, flying toward an airbase of the Japanese military somewhere in North China.