The battle on Kyushu Island has fallen into a stalemate, and the Thunder Troops, who had originally taken the initiative, have escaped into the mountains and played hide and seek with the Kwantung Army troops, and the mixed forces that had cleared the remnants of the resistance in the southern part of Kyushu Island have also been reduced to pieces and assembled in the central mountainous area. Seeing that the 64th Wing had suffered heavy casualties, he simply ordered the two infantry wings that followed up to catch up and advance in a group, and as for the baggage wing and the field artillery wing that were attacked, he was ordered to stay behind and serve as the divisional rearguard.

Rushing to Saga is the greatest wish of Shakuihara at present, half of the supplies transported by the baggage wing were destroyed by the other party, and the remaining materials were not enough for the entire division, and only by rushing to Saga to control the airfield there could the 23rd division continue to receive supplies. "Damn Thunder, it's so damnable." On the way from Karatsu Bay to Saga, the 23rd Division could hardly find a place to resupply supplies, and some were just dazed and helpless hungry people, and the damned thunder not only destroyed the crops in the fields, but also robbed the farmers' families of food.

At this time, the ruler Ihara was full of resentment against the thunder, but he seemed to have forgotten the three-light policy implemented by the Japanese army in China, and Zhao Zhi's move was just to return the body of his people, not to mention that Zhao Zhi also ordered not to rob the livestock of the farmers' homes, compared to the Japanese army's three-light policy, the thunder troops on Kyushu Island have been merciful like God. Anger is a double-edged sword, people who can control their emotions can turn anger into motivation, people like Shakuihara who can't control their emotions can only be carried away by anger, otherwise how could he order three infantry wings to advance in a group, and he himself is in the sequence of advancing troops.

Zhao Zhi's 500 mercenaries plus more than 100 people withdrawn from the motor squadron, there were already more than 600 mercenaries on the ambush line in the east, and all the heavy weapons captured by the Japanese army after landing on Kyushu Island were arranged here by Zhao Zhi, and there were so many weapons that the people who used them were almost not enough, and even Zhao Zhi himself had to fiddle with a 75 mountain cannon. 150 Thor revolver guns were the main combat weapons of the ambush, and half of the 2 km wide ambush line belonged to Thor's revolver, with an average of 6 meters to have one Thor revolver.

There were more than 100 Japanese light and heavy machine guns, as well as a number of grenadiers, mortars and bazooka rocket launchers for medium-range fire, and 4 75 mountain guns and 6 92 infantry guns were placed by Zhao Zhi on the back of the ambush line, which were all the heavy weapons in Zhao Zhi's hands. Zhang Jinquan selected the most elite 200 people from his snipers to form a sniper team, and their mission was to scatter on both flanks to shoot the Japanese troops who tried to break through the ambush line. Tang Lei took a 100-strong Qingfeng force to the west of the ambush line in the east, waiting for the opportunity to copy the rear road of the 23rd Division.

All the manpower was assigned tasks by Zhao Zhi, and the American officers who were parachuted in by the US transport planes were naturally not excluded, and the big-nosed officers headed by James were formed into a separate team by Zhao Zhi, and their task was to be in charge of the telecommunications room and contact the fighter unit to help the war according to the data transmitted by the forward artillery observers. In the eyes of James and others, Zhao Zhi is now a little stubborn, and he doesn't have the qualities that a commander should have, and when everyone was busy, Zhao Zhi actually moved a rattan chair to nest on the side of the shell box to bask in the sun.

"James, you know what, what I want is to be able to live the rest of my life comfortably, without worrying about money, without anyone to bother me, without strife, without war, without death." asked Luo Ying to bring another rattan chair, and the lazy Zhao Zhi motioned to James who came to persuade him to sit down and talk. After getting acquainted with these American officers, Zhao Zhi didn't hate James as much as he did at the beginning, after all, people came to help him after all, and James was not a battlefield white man who didn't know anything.

James pouted at the life that Zhao Zhi longed for, such a life is what everyone wants, but in fact, this kind of utopian life will never be realized, because where there are people, there will be strife, and if there is strife, there will be war, and if there is war, there will naturally be death. "Zhao, I don't agree with your thoughts, you must know that you are a mercenary, if there is no war, you mercenaries will be unemployed, so you should hope that the war will not stop, otherwise what will you do to raise your children?"

James shook his head and Zhao Zhi laughed, this dull guy who pays attention to it all day long is really incomprehensible, and he doesn't even give himself a little space for reverie. "James, I sometimes wonder if your boss sent you here specifically to embarrass me, I haven't seen you laugh in the past few days, aren't you born to laugh?" Zhao Zhi, who was accused by James, naturally would not suffer, and when he fought back, he showed a big smile and signaled James to follow him to learn how to laugh.

"Okay, okay, I know now you're a person who can't laugh." After working for a long time, seeing that James still didn't smile, Zhao Zhi had no choice but to spread out his hands and admit his failure. "I'm curious, don't you officers in the U.S. Army usually don't laugh? I've heard that your troops who landed in France always use military supplies to seduce French girls near the station, are all the officers sent to Asia like you, or are they deliberately pretending? Do you want me to send someone to find you a few Japanese women? ”

"Zhao, you are a commander, you should maintain the quality of a commander, not play a clown here for everyone's fun." Although Zhao Zhi's words just now were a private conversation with James biting his ears, Zhao Zhi's voice was really not small, and all the people around him heard it. James accused Zhao Zhi with a rigid face, and the mercenaries who carried the cannonballs couldn't stand the laughter with a serious look, and the helpless Zhao Zhi had to give up the idea of continuing to make James laugh.

"Relax, relax, James, I'm just seeing that the big war is coming, let's have fun with everyone, don't be so annoyed." Feeling out his cigar and handing one to James, Zhao Zhi continued, "Although the 23rd Division has been attacked by our peripheral troops for several days, their current strength will definitely not be less than 10,000, we only have less than 700 people, this battle will be very hard, maybe many people will die, I just want to make the people around me relax before the war." ”

"Zhao, I know you're worried about your soldiers, but the ambush plan has already begun to be implemented, which means that all this has become irreversible, and we can only continue to implement it according to the plan now. You are the commander, you can't hide here deliberately from the development of the situation, for the kind of life you want and these soldiers under you, I hope you can cheer up and command them to fight this battle well. It was rare that James did not accuse Zhao Zhi, maybe it was Zhao Zhi's demeanor when he spoke just now that moved this rigid guy, or maybe James also felt the same way as Zhao Zhi's words just now.

The ambush plan was developed by Zhao Zhihe and his staff officers over the course of two days, and the rudimentary sand table had been used countless times for war games, and the map of Kyushu Island had been drawn unsightly, and the intricate arrows and circles made the whole map look like ghosts. James has always looked at the efforts of Zhao Zhi and others, even if he doesn't look down on Zhao Zhi's hanging, but this does not prevent James from admiring Zhao Zhi's command ability.

"Sir, the forward scout has just sent back the information, the forward troops of the 23rd Division have appeared, and they are still 5 kilometers away from our ambush line." While reporting the situation, the intelligence staff officer who came over quickly marked the current location of the 23rd Division on the map. Before Zhao Zhi and James could get up from their rattan chairs, the staff officers carrying the shells had already surrounded them, and they also planted small yellow flags representing the 23rd Division in the corresponding positions of the sand table.

"Looks like these guys can't wait to run to their deaths." Zhao Zhi put aside the information he had carefully read, walked to the sand table and bowed his head silently. The intelligence of the forward scout said that the Japanese army had at least more than 8,000 troops, and Zhao Zhi did not expect that the 23rd Division would gather three infantry wings together to advance in a group, and after being overjoyed, Zhao Zhi began to worry about whether the hundreds of mercenaries on the ambush line could withstand the counterattack of the three wings of the 23rd Division.

"Since the 23rd Division has come, then we will fight." The 23rd Division has already appeared 5 kilometers away from the ambush line, and now it is too late for Zhao Zhi to retreat, those machine gun mortars are okay, but the artillery positions that have been established on his side cannot be withdrawn in a moment and a half. Moreover, the 23rd Division gathered its three infantry wings together and marched together, obviously trying to use superior forces to encircle and suppress the Thunder troops here in Saga, once they were entangled, other Japanese troops who landed on Kyushu Island would also rush to Saga, and by that time, the situation might be even worse.

"Sir, this is the war report that has just arrived in China." The intelligence staff officer who came to deliver the battle report didn't look very good, but there was still James standing next to Zhao Zhi, and the intelligence staff officer could only fold the battle report in half and hand it to Zhao Zhi. Zhao Zhi, who sensed that something was wrong, took the battle report and moved to avoid James who was observing the sand table, no wonder his intelligence staff would have such an expression, the 74th Army that went north to meet the Japanese army was pushed back to Binzhou by the two Kwantung Army divisions that suddenly appeared, and the forward troops of the Kwantung Army had already moved east to take Dongying, and were trying to avoid the 74th Army going south to Shouguang and approaching Jiaodong.