Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 141 Are they German-equipped engineers?

Su Yaoyang continued, "Every country is like this. There are heroes who die for their country, and there are cowards who are afraid of death. Our Chinese nation is no exception."

It's just that during wartime, this behavior was amplified without restraint, just like in the United States, where the Civil War broke out over the issue of freeing slaves.

“Yeah, that’s just damn human nature!” John sighed helplessly.

Just as Su Yaoyang was about to leave after speaking, Pi Ruoyu asked in a low voice, "Sir... what should we do with these captured puppet troops?"

Su Yaoyang pondered for a moment, "How about this... have someone screen them. Those puppet soldiers who have the blood of innocent civilians on their hands and have committed heinous crimes should be shot on the spot. As for those puppet soldiers who haven't done anything wrong, give them a verbal warning and two silver dollars each to send them away."

"That's the only way." Pi Ruoyu thought for a moment, but couldn't come up with a better solution.

Despite their swift and decisive capture of the bunker complex, everyone knows this is just the beginning, and the Japanese army will likely surge towards them like a relentless tide.

Therefore, their immediate priority was to seize Wutai County before the Japanese reinforcements arrived, making it their first territory in Shanxi.

Thinking of this, Pi Ruoyu said in English to John, who was not far away, "Hey... John... is your tank company ready?"

“It’s all done.” Hearing that familiar Virginia accent, John knew who it was without even turning around.

After Pi Ruoyu joined the militia, John discovered that the new chief of staff spoke fluent Virginia-accented English and was also an alumnus of the Virginia Military Institute. The two quickly became close.

Although Su Yaoyang saw this, he didn't react much. After all, they had studied together, fought together, and even frequented brothels together... those are the three great bonds in life, and they had already shared two of them, so it was only natural for them to have a good relationship.

Pi Ruoyu said to John, "Since you are already prepared, I will not say anything more."

Ten minutes later, you will lead the tank company and the 1st Battalion toward Wutai County. I will have the 4th and 6th Battalions flank from the left and right respectively. The 2nd, 3rd, and 5th Battalions will serve as reserves, ready to intercept any Japanese reinforcements.

“What about the artillery battalion?” John asked again. “If the Japanese put up a tough fight, I need the artillery battalion to blast open a path for our attack.”

“We can’t use the artillery battalion.” Pi Ruoyu shook his head: “Wutai County has a permanent population of over 100,000. If we use heavy artillery, do you know how many people will be killed or injured?”

"Ok."

John thought about it and agreed. He was well aware of the power of the M2A1 howitzer. If he were to use this 105mm gun, the consequences would be dire, and he would inevitably face a court-martial.

With a rumbling roar, nine Chaffee tanks and more than thirty Dodge trucks sped along the highway toward Wutai County.

While Su Yaoyang was mobilizing his troops to attack Wutai County, he was unaware that several miles away in the mountains, a group of Eighth Route Army soldiers in gray uniforms and with simple equipment were resting halfway up the mountain.

The leader was a man with a Mauser pistol hanging from his waist. His square face was marked with two rough knife scars, and half of his left eyebrow was missing, as if it had been gnawed away by artillery shell casing. His skin, exposed to the wind and sun for many years, had a bronze hue, and his wrinkles were still stained with the yellow sand of northwestern Shanxi.

His gray military uniform always had its collar open, and what stood out most were his eyes.

His eyes were bloodshot, but his pupils were a bright black, staring at people like two bullets just fired. His hair stood on end, with a few clumps that were charred and curled up, looking like withered grass that hadn't been completely destroyed on a battlefield.

The man was none other than Li Yunlong, the newly appointed commander of the 1st Regiment of the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army. At this moment, Li Yunlong was leaning against the earthen slope, staring at the distant mountain valley, seemingly lost in thought.

Suddenly, footsteps echoed down the hillside, and a soldier in straw sandals rushed over, running anxiously to the man's side. He cried out urgently, "Commander...Commander...Something...something terrible has happened..."

Li Yunlong turned his head and said nonchalantly, "Tiger...we're so poor, what major incident could possibly happen?"

"No... Commander, something really terrible has happened!" the soldier gasped. "Guess what I saw when I went to scout? The Shizui Village outpost... the Shizui Village outpost has been taken!"

"What...this is impossible?" Li Yunlong stood up instantly, his eyes filled with disbelief. "Tiger...you should know that lying about military intelligence is punishable by death!"

Others may not know, but he does. Shizui Village is a well-known stronghold in the area, consisting of a large group of bunkers and six smaller ones.

To take this stronghold, we can forget about it without using at least two regiments, and we must be prepared to suffer heavy losses.

Who told the Eighth Route Army to be so poor?

"How dare I, Commander!" Tiger said urgently, "If I'm lying to you, you can shoot me right now!"

I saw with my own eyes that all the bunkers at the Shizui Village stronghold were blown up. Around those strongholds were several heavy armored vehicles and a large number of troops, but I'd never seen their uniforms before; they were different from those of the Central Army and the Jin-Sui Army.

"Let's go... and take a look."

Li Yunlong spat out the grass root in his mouth and strode forward, with Hu Zi following closely behind him.

A trail of fine dust rose from the dirt road behind the ravine, and Li Yunlong's cloth shoes even crunched over a few pebbles.

Led by Hu Zi, Li Yunlong and his men rounded a bend in the mountain valley, and Hu Zi pointed into the distance and said.

"Commander, look... that's the team."

Li Yunlong took out his binoculars and looked in the direction Hu Zi was pointing, and couldn't help but gasp.

In the distance, the dilapidated bunkers resembled skeletons gnawed by a giant beast, with charred, exposed concrete and stones scattered everywhere.

Several gray-iron monsters were rolling over piles of rubble along the road, their tracks making a teeth-grinding crunch as they crushed the bricks and stones, and the black smoke billowing from their exhaust pipes was particularly clear in the sunlight.

Li Yunlong couldn't help but complain, "My goodness... which nouveau riche has come to our poor, remote place? Look at this, even Chiang Kai-shek's Central Army wasn't this extravagant."

Tiger couldn't help but ask, "Commander... I've never seen their uniforms before?"

"This..." Li Yunlong said uncertainly, "If I'm not mistaken, they should be wearing German-style uniforms."

Logically speaking, someone with such equipment... could he be Old Jiang's German-equipped division?
"Wait a minute...didn't they say Chiang Kai-shek's German-equipped divisions were wiped out in the Battle of Shanghai and the Battle of Nanjing? How did they end up here?"

(End of this chapter)