Chapter 95: Less than ten months remain before the little devils launch their full-scale offensive!

With the advantage of favorable terrain in the Jiangbai region, launching a sweeping manhunt was child’s play for them. Especially now that they had military support, the enemy spies found themselves in an exceedingly perilous position.

Under such circumstances, the enemy spies were forced one after another to flee or were captured, and some even died under mysterious circumstances. Faced with the public hunt for their agents, Muto had no choice but to seek another course, hoping to halt intelligence operations for the time being and restore them after the storm had passed. If they continued as planned, the losses would only grow worse.

Although the enemy intelligence network had been forced to suspend operations, that did not mean they would cease all activity altogether.

At that moment, the newly appointed ambassador to China, Ichiro Shindazawa, escorted by soldiers, made his way to the Grand Marshal’s residence, hoping to meet the old marshal in person and demand an explanation. But he was informed that the old marshal had gone out and would not be returning any time soon.

The old marshal had anticipated from the very beginning of the counterespionage campaign that the other side would not give up easily, and so he had long since found an excuse to leave, avoiding a direct confrontation.

This left the enemy unable to find the old marshal, and equally unable to challenge Jiang Bai outright. After all, even they were deeply wary of Jiang Bai’s abilities.

With no other options, Ichiro Shindazawa could only take his leave under some pretext.

As Jiang Bai’s power expanded rapidly, the enemy could not confront him directly. Especially now, with the international situation growing ever more complex and every nation preparing for war, they were unwilling to invite any further trouble.

Though these actions were carried out in secret, the Jiangbai side would never admit any connection to the deaths of enemy personnel. Thus, the struggle between the two sides could only be waged in the shadows.

Assassinations grew increasingly fierce.

Several high-ranking enemy intelligence officers were killed, and Jiang Bai’s side also suffered many losses among its own agents. Such was the inevitable cost of a clash of powers. Compared with the sacrifices of the battlefield, the losses in intelligence warfare were relatively small.

"Mr. Yang, the imperial court is extremely concerned about the current public order in Chengyun!"

"In just a few days, several of our people have died in bizarre ways!"

"I believe this is a deliberate campaign against our personnel, and I must demand a satisfactory explanation from you!"

"Otherwise, the imperial court may at any moment dispatch troops stationed abroad to enter Chengyun"

"and take over the city’s security."

Unable to vent his anger anywhere else, Ichiro Shindazawa sought out Yang Ting.

Although Yang Ting also had misgivings about Jiang Bai’s actions, on the larger strategic level he still stood with Jiang Bai.

In this exchange, Yang Ting spoke to Ichiro Shindazawa with a friendly and sincere air:

"Mr. Shindazawa, I must admit that order in Chengyun is indeed somewhat chaotic at present."

"But please rest assured, we have already begun taking measures to rectify the situation."

"I believe that once the hidden criminals are swept up in a single net, the city’s security will improve greatly!"

"As for your proposal that your imperial forces take over Chengyun’s security work, I’m afraid that would be difficult to sustain."

"After all, just outside the Chengyun garrison lies the training ground where two elite units under Corps Commander Jiang are stationed."

"Any rash move would undoubtedly trigger a fierce counterattack from the Seventh Field Army."

"Once both sides clash, the result would only be mutual loss. I urge your side to consider the gravity of such consequences carefully!"

Yang Ting’s words clearly caused the other man to waver.

After a series of complicated changes in expression, Ichiro Shindazawa finally issued a grave warning:

"Mr. Yang, I will say this here and now: if any more of our citizens suffer misfortune, then the responsibility will rest squarely on your shoulders."

With that, Ichiro Shindazawa turned and left in displeasure and fury.

Watching him disappear into the distance, Yang Ting immediately let the kindly smile fade from his face. A cold sneer curled at the corner of his mouth as he cursed inwardly: what a man, always fearful of the strong and bullying the weak!

Time moved forward to the year 190029, and the world situation grew ever more tense.

With the rise of the Emperor of the Forge, a frenzied arms race was launched in quick succession, and the demilitarized status of the region was revoked, with troops dispatched to garrison it.

Having suffered grievous losses in the previous bloody war, the imperial court was too frightened by war to muster the courage for another offensive. It could only hasten the construction of fortifications along the border while lodging protests in words alone.

The Eagle Court’s attitude was ambiguous. They condemned events verbally, yet in truth took no substantive action at all.

Almost everyone could feel it: the clouds of war had once again gathered over the Eastern lands, and no one knew when a new conflict would erupt.

As time passed, Jiang Bai visited the lower ranks of the army more and more often to inspect combat readiness. At his call, military drills among the various units became increasingly frequent.

Though they consumed vast resources, the troops’ fighting capability rose markedly.

On the Water Front, Yan Sang and his opponents became locked in a prolonged stalemate. To avoid greater losses, the two sides had nearly reached a state of partial ceasefire, though small-scale clashes still broke out from time to time in limited areas.

Faced with the shifting world situation, these two great military powers seemed utterly unconcerned.

After a period of adjustment and recovery, the combat strength of the troops under Jiang Bai’s command had improved significantly compared with the enemy. With the aid of their overwhelming firepower, fighting the enemy on the battlefield would be easy enough.

At present, less than ten months remained before the enemy launched a full-scale offensive.

At this time, Jiang Bai once again visited Island Gourd, inspected the submarine base under Shen Honglie’s command, and attended the commissioning ceremony of the second batch of Ghost-class submarines.

The naval port was now equipped with thirteen combat submarines. Although the combined displacement of these vessels might not even equal that of a light cruiser from the enemy side, Jiang Bai firmly believed that once war broke out in full, these submarines would inflict enormous losses on the enemy navy.

"Corps Commander, the second batch of Ghost-class submarines has now all been delivered," Shen Honglie reported. "Our submarine force’s combat strength has risen greatly. If the enemy navy dares to provoke us, we will make them pay dearly."

Shangguan Ming, the submarine force commander, also showed great interest and excitement.

Over the past period, Jiang Bai had taught Shen Honglie and his team every submarine tactic he knew, and had guided them in training the submarine force. After long months of training, these submarines had become true underwater predators, and once unleashed, they would give the enemy navy a splitting headache.

If fortune favored them, they might even use heavy torpedoes to blow enemy battleships to pieces in a single stroke.

Thinking of this, Jiang Bai asked, "How many submarines are still under construction? The fleet we have now may not be enough to endure a prolonged war of attrition. If we truly want to crush the enemy navy, we need more submarines."

"Corps Commander, there are still fifteen Ghost-class submarines under construction at the shipyard," Shen Honglie replied. "Building them from scratch takes considerable difficulty and time. At the same time, we are also trying to develop new types of vessels, bringing in Western engineers and military experts to help us improve the submarines. Soon, we should begin to see results."