In the early morning of the next day, in the temporary headquarters of Endo Kanan, a devil officer came to Endo Kanan with a bitter face, lowered his head and said: "Report to Your Excellency General, according to the latest information provided by the major teams, the martial arts team suddenly disappeared. ”

"Nani?" Endo Kanan couldn't help frowning, and asked with a puzzled expression, "What do you mean by suddenly disappearing?" Can they still put on wings and fly to the sky? ”

The devil officer hurriedly replied: "The major teams reported that no trace of the martial arts team was found. ”

"Yaga!" Endo Kanan couldn't help but scold angrily, and said thoughtfully: "Could it be that they have already passed the Jinpu railway line, and their speed can't be so fast?" ”

"Report to Your Excellency General, the troops along the railway line sent a telegram saying that a large number of Eighth Route Army troops had not been found to have crossed the Tianjin-Pudong railway." The devil officer hurriedly said.

"That's right, judging from the distance, it is impossible for them to cross the Jinpu railway line so quickly." Kanan Endo nodded and said.

At this time, a devil officer next to him spoke: "Your Excellency, I think this may not be, when the military engineering team crossed the Jinpu railway line and rushed to the Jilu area, the defenders along the railway did not find anything abnormal, which led to the defeat of the Watanabe brigade being completely annihilated. ”

Endo Kanan nodded and said, "Although this is good, in terms of distance and time, it is not very likely that the martial arts team will cross the Jinpu railway line. Dirt Eight Roads have always been cunning, and I'd rather believe that they're mostly hiding somewhere now. ”

"Hello! Your Excellency the General is wise. According to the time, this dirt road should be in the vicinity. A devil officer hurriedly said.

Endo Kanan frowned and groaned slightly, and then ordered with a serious face: "Immediately notify the army aviation side, let them send reconnaissance planes to closely reconnoiter all areas within a radius of dozens of miles, and no matter what, we must find out this hateful martial arts team." In addition, I ordered all the brigades to immediately launch a careful search operation on the spot, and even if I dug three feet into the ground, I must dig out the martial arts team. ”

"Hello!" A devil officer next to him hurriedly answered, turned around and ran to deliver the order.

Time passed minute by minute, and it was noon in a blink of an eye, but the Japanese troops still made no progress, and the martial arts team seemed to have evaporated from the world.

The report telegrams of the various units of the Japanese army continued to fly to the headquarters of Endo Kanan one after another, but without exception, the contents of these telegrams were almost identical, and no trace of the military engineering team was found.

Kanan Endo has also gradually lost his patience, and now this old devil has begun to wonder if the martial arts team has really broken through.

Endo Kanan frowned deeply, his eyes fell on the huge map on the table, and several devil staff officers next to him were marking on the map, those are the places that have been searched, those are the places that are being searched, and the current location of the main forces of each army, all of them are clearly marked and clear at a glance.

"What went wrong?" Kanan Endo muttered to himself, "We must have overlooked something? It is absolutely impossible for the martial arts team to disappear out of thin air? ”

A hint of anxiety appeared on Endo's face, and he knew very well in his heart that the more time passed, the greater the chance that the martial arts team would escape. He must find the martial arts team as soon as possible, otherwise this mission may really fail, which is a scene that Kanan Endo absolutely does not want to see.

Kanan Endo frowned and said, "Let's deduce the previous things in detail, we must have overlooked something?" ”

"Your Excellency, when did you start the exercise?" A devil officer next to him hurriedly asked.

"Since last night, when the martial arts team began to retreat?" Kanan Endo said hurriedly.

"Hello!" The devil officer responded, and then pointed to the map and said: "Yesterday afternoon, the Wugong team must have learned the news of the imperial army's reinforcements, so they suddenly retreated from the Guanzhuang stronghold, first retreated to Yanzhuang Village, and then set out from Yanzhuang Village and began to retreat to the northwest, that is, in the direction of Qingxian. Later, the scout in charge of surveillance by the Imperial Army was exposed and killed by the Martial Engineer Team, and the Martial Engineer Team has been lost since then. ”

Kanan Endo nodded slightly, recalling everything that happened yesterday, and it was indeed like this.

Then the devil officer continued: "Judging from the speed and direction of the Tuba Road, it stands to reason that they should have rushed to the vicinity of Qingxian early this morning, but after dawn, the troops did not find any trace of the martial arts team, and it is speculated that they should have discovered the encirclement of the imperial army in advance, so they changed the direction of travel, and suddenly hid in an extremely hidden place before dawn." ”

"Hmm!" Endo nodded, as if asking himself, as if asking someone else, "Where are they hiding?" ”

Then the devil officer continued: "Since this morning, the imperial army has carried out a careful search of the surrounding area, within a radius of dozens of miles, but still no trace of the military engineering team has been found, and the reconnaissance planes of the imperial army are also constantly reconnoitring this area, and they have also found nothing. ”

Kanan Endo suddenly had a flash of inspiration in his mind, as if he suddenly thought of something, the old devil pointed to the map and asked, "Have you clearly marked the areas searched by the imperial army?" ”

A staff officer next to him hesitated, turned around and took a closer look at the map, and after confirming that it was correct, he replied respectfully: "Haiyi! All the areas that the imperial army has searched have been carefully marked clearly, including the areas being searched, all of them are clearly marked, and there is absolutely no mistake. ”

Endo Kanan nodded, then leaned over, stretched out a finger, pointed on the map, and asked with a frown, "What about this area?" Has the Imperial Army searched it? ”

The devil staff officer glanced at Kanan Endo's finger and replied very affirmatively: "Report to Your Excellency General, there is no search in this area. ”

"Why didn't you search here?" Kanan Endo asked with a frown.

The devil staff officer hurriedly replied, "Well...... I don't know what to do. He really didn't know, because he was just a small staff officer, and it was not up to him to control where the troops searched and where they didn't.

At this time, a devil officer next to him hurriedly replied: "Your Excellency General, I thought that the martial arts team would definitely not hide in this vicinity, so I didn't send troops to search here, and there was a unit of the imperial army near here, and they didn't find anything abnormal, so the martial arts team shouldn't be hiding here." ”

(End of chapter)