104: Chapter 104: Tank 59 Appears! The Brigade Commander is Stunned!

After a month, Shen Wang finally arrived!

"Mr. Shen, you..."

The Brigade Commander, who had come out to greet him, suddenly choked up mid-sentence.

Standing on a dirt slope at the village entrance, his gaze bypassed Shen Wang and stared straight behind him.

Not just him; Li Yunlong, Zhao Gang, Zhang Dabiao, the Second Battalion Commander, and the others who arrived immediately after were all as if struck by a freezing spell. They stood rooted to the spot, mouths agape and eyes wide with shock.

What did they see?

A cluster of tanks that stretched as far as the eye could see!

Densely packed, they covered the ground for as far as the eye could reach!

"This... this..."

The Brigade Commander pointed behind Shen Wang, his finger trembling slightly as he even began to stutter: "Mr... Mr. Shen... these... these are all..."

Li Yunlong rubbed his eyes vigorously and pinched his thigh hard. The sharp pain made him wince, finally convincing him he wasn't dreaming.

"My... Good Lord... Mr. Shen, old Li here has never seen so many tanks in his entire life!"

Zhao Gang had also completely lost his composure. Usually steady, he could not hide his horror at this moment: "Mr. Shen, just... just how many are there?"

Shen Wang couldn't help but smile as he looked at this group of battle-hardened generals who were now staring like stunned children.

He waved his hand, temporarily interrupting their shock: "Brigade Commander, Regiment Commander Li, Political Commissar Zhao, everyone, it's been a long time! How has everyone been this past month? Did the devils cause any trouble?"

Reminded by Shen Wang, the Brigade Commander and the others barely managed to tear their eyes away from the shocking tank cluster, though their hearts were still pounding wildly.

The Brigade Commander took several deep breaths, trying his best to calm down, and replied: "Thanks to you, Mr. Shen, for the past half month after you left, we've been... fairly stable."

"That Old Devil Tada Shun, due to his repeated failures and the total destruction of the heavy tanks in Bao County and the loss of He County, was reportedly so furious he fell ill and was recalled to the country by their Imperial General Headquarters."

"Shinozuka Kazuo seems to be making adjustments as well and hasn't dared to make any big moves immediately. We took the opportunity to step up training for the troops and familiarize ourselves with the equipment. The arsenal in He County is almost completed."

At this point, the Brigade Commander's expression suddenly turned solemn, and his tone shifted: "However, just three days ago, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse!"

"The Mountain City faction, through some unknown channel, leaked the news that we might have captured a regimental banner! Now the whole country knows!"

Li Yunlong chimed in, gritting his teeth: "Damn it! This has completely put us on the hot seat! The little devils certainly couldn't sit still after that!"

Zhao Gang quickly added in a heavy tone: "Latest intelligence shows that the Japanese First Army is mobilizing on a massive scale!"

"The 36th Division, the 37th Division, and the Independent Mixed 3rd Brigade are pressing in from the directions of Spring City, City Name, and Jincheng respectively!"

"The Japanese Aviation Corps in Taiyuan is also mobilizing. Just the main Japanese forces alone are estimated to be sixty to seventy thousand!"

"Adding in the Puppet Army, the total enemy strength currently gathering around He County is likely... no less than a hundred thousand!"

"A hundred thousand troops?" Shen Wang felt a chill in his heart upon hearing this.

"Didn't they say Tada Shun was recalled to the Imperial General Headquarters? Does Shinozuka Kazuo have this kind of resolve?"

The Brigade Commander's face was grim as he explained: "Mr. Shen, you might not know, but although that old beast Tada Shun is gone, someone even more difficult to deal with has arrived!"

"It wouldn't be... Okamura, would it?" Shen Wang's throat felt a bit dry.

"Indeed, it is the former Commander of the Central China 11th Army, Okamura Yasuji!" Zhao Gang nodded and said.

"Hiss—!" Shen Wang couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air!

Okamura... has arrived?

According to the normal course of history, Tada Shun was indeed recalled to the Imperial General Headquarters at this time.

But Okamura wasn't supposed to arrive until July!

There should have been a window of several months in between!

This was the reason why Shen Wang hadn't been in a hurry to come!

But now, Okamura had actually taken office in North China several months early...

Could it be because of the mess he caused in North China?

Damn, good thing I came in time! Shen Wang felt a lingering fear in his heart.

If he had been a few days later, facing this mountain-crushing offensive, even if the Eighth Route Army had the previous equipment, they would likely have paid an unimaginable price!

As for the Mountain City faction leaking the news... he wasn't surprised; it was consistent with that person's usual style.

However, seeing the deep gravity and worry on the faces of the Brigade Commander, Li Yunlong, and the others, Shen Wang smiled.

"A hundred thousand troops? It sounds quite intimidating."

"However, everyone, there's no need to worry too much!"

Shen Wang spoke in a relaxed tone, pointing to the steel torrent behind him.

"This time, I've brought us an entire tank regiment—exactly 80 tanks!"

"What?"

"Eighty tanks?"

"A tank regiment?"

Although they had long suspected the number was staggering, hearing the exact figure still made them suck in cold air again, their hearts racing.

Li Yunlong couldn't wait any longer and quickly asked: "Mr... Mr. Shen! These eighty... are they all like the 14 before (referring to the 99A)... invincible heavy tanks?"

If it were a full 80 99As, let alone a hundred thousand devils, Li Yunlong would dare to charge directly towards Taiyuan!

The Brigade Commander, Zhao Gang, and the others also instantly held their breath, looking at Shen Wang with great anticipation.

If they were truly eighty monsters of the 99A level, this seemingly desperate defensive battle might actually turn into an earth-shattering counterattack!

However, Shen Wang shook his head: "That's not it! The tanks I brought this time are type 59 medium tanks. In terms of performance... they are a bit inferior to the previous 99As."

"Huh?"

The excitement on Li Yunlong's face instantly collapsed by more than half, and a clear sense of disappointment flashed in the eyes of the Brigade Commander and the others.

Medium tanks... they weren't even heavy tanks, let alone invincible heavy tanks!

Shen Wang took in their expressions and immediately shifted his tone: "However..."

"Although the Type 59 is a medium tank, its frontal armor equivalent protection is about 120mm! Its main gun is a 100mm rifled gun!"

"What?"

"120mm armor?"

"100mm gun?"

The emotions of the disappointed crowd were thrown back to a high point like a roller coaster!

This motherfucker is called a medium tank?

The Japanese type 95 heavy tank only had 35mm of frontal armor and its main gun was only 70mm!

And yet, your medium tank has 120mm armor? A 100mm main gun?

But then they thought about it; if the 99A was considered a heavy tank, then it was perfectly fine to call the Type 59 a medium tank.

"Good! Excellent! With 80 such tanks, our confidence is much stronger!" Zhao Gang said joyfully.

Although the Type 59 wasn't as abnormal as the 99A, it was a completely crushing existence on this current battlefield!

Li Yunlong and the others were also exceptionally excited!

With these 80 'medium' tanks, they had more cards to play in the upcoming defensive battle.

However, amidst the joy, as a higher-level Commander, the Brigade Commander's brow was still slightly furrowed:

"Mr. Shen, the protection and firepower of this Type 59 are indeed amazing, enough to look down on the Japanese invaders in North China! But..."