Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 148 needs to be expanded.

More than half an hour later, the battle finally ended, the battlefield became quiet, and the two groups finally met.

Li Yunlong and Liang Zefeng walked together, surrounded by their respective soldiers. They looked each other over and saw a mixture of wariness, surprise, and admiration in each other's eyes.

Finally, Liang Zefeng spoke first: "I am Liang Zefeng, the battalion commander of the Sixth Battalion of the Shanxi Militia. I was ordered by my superiors to block the Japanese reinforcements. I never expected to receive your support. I am truly grateful."

"Shanxi militia?" Li Yunlong muttered to himself, a look of surprise in his eyes, but he quickly said, "We are the New First Regiment of the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army. I am the regimental commander, Li Yunlong."

"This was merely a coincidence. Seeing that you dared to attack Wutai County, I respected you as men of courage, which is why I stepped in to help."

"You are the Eighth Route Army?" Liang Zefeng suddenly realized. "I was wondering why your fighting style was so flexible and unconventional, so different from the Central Army's. So you are the Eighth Route Army."

Just as Li Yunlong was about to speak, he saw his bodyguard Hu Zi running towards him, carrying several Type 38 rifles on his back and several packages in his arms, shouting loudly as he ran.

"Commander...Commander...We're rich...We're rich...What have we found? Type 38 rifles, all in excellent condition, and these...Grenade launchers..."

Tiger excitedly showed the things to Li Yunlong as he spoke.

Li Yunlong: …………

Liang Zefeng: …………

Seeing Hu Zi's jubilant appearance, Li Yunlong felt ashamed. He then looked at Liang Zefeng's ambiguous smile and couldn't help but kick him in the butt. "What are you yelling about? Can't you see I'm talking to this Nationalist officer? You're so happy just because you found a few broken guns. You're making me look bad."

After saying that, Li Yunlong chuckled at Liang Zefeng: "Sorry, I made you laugh, Brother Liang. It's just that country folk are used to being poor, and they can't help but show off when they see something nice."

"Oh, right, this battle is finally over. Look at these spoils..."

"That's easy to say." Liang Zefeng waved his hand. "This battle is fought by both of our teams, so the spoils will naturally be split 50/50. What do you think, Commander Li?"

"How could I possibly accept this!" Li Yunlong was taken aback for a moment, then his weathered old face broke into a wide smile, as if afraid that Liang Zefeng would change his mind, and he quickly added, "Then it's settled."

To capture four or five hundred guns in a single battle is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, no wonder Li Yunlong was grinning from ear to ear.

Li Yunlong was overjoyed to have the weapons in hand, and asked with some curiosity, "Brother Liang, you Shanxi militia are so powerful, you should have been famous in Shanxi by now, but I've never heard of you."

Liang Zefeng said, "It's normal that Commander Li doesn't know us. We just came from Xuzhou."

As for the designation "Shanxi Militia," it was only recently appointed by the Military Commission, so it's understandable that you don't know it. Our original designation was the Nanjing Security Regiment.

"Oh... so they came from Nanjing, no wonder." Li Yunlong nodded repeatedly as if he suddenly understood, but he made up his mind that he would definitely ask around and learn more about this unit when he got back.

After dividing the spoils, the two sides bid each other farewell, and a smug Li Yunlong led his troops away. Meanwhile, in Wutai County, although the Japanese army deployed aircraft to bomb the county, they were forced to retreat in disappointment after losing three planes due to the fierce counterattack of the anti-aircraft battalion.

After occupying Wutai County, Su Yaoyang immediately began posting notices to appease the people and officially announced that Wutai County had returned to the embrace of his own people.

After the initial panic, the people of Wutai County changed their emotions from fear and worry to joy. After all, Shanxi had only been under Japanese control for less than half a year, and the people naturally recognized the rule of the Nationalist government more.

After doing all this, Su Yaoyang had someone send a telegram to Yan Xishan, the commander of the Second War Zone and chairman of SX Province, to report on what had happened that day.

After completing all this, Liang Zefeng and the Sixth Battalion, who had been sent to intercept the Japanese reinforcements, returned and reported the day's battle to Su Yaoyang. Liang Zefeng also reported on his encounter with the New First Regiment and Li Yunlong that day.

Upon hearing the familiar yet unfamiliar names of Li Yunlong and the New First Regiment, Su Yaoyang was momentarily stunned.

"Goodness gracious... Didn't I just enter the storyline of The Flowers of War? How come 'Bright Sword' has popped up here too? Isn't this all messed up? Or is that big-headed doll playing a trick on me?"

For a moment, Su Yaoyang felt like his brain wasn't working properly.

"Oh well... what's done is done. I've already encountered something like time travel, so encountering a few more story missions isn't unacceptable." Su Yaoyang reluctantly accepted reality.

Perhaps intimidated by the fierce firepower and overwhelming force of the militia, the Shanxi militia had occupied Wutai County for more than a week. However, during this week, the Japanese army miraculously made no move, which greatly surprised Su Yaoyang, Pi Ruoyu, and others who had been closely monitoring the movements of the Japanese army.

"Commander... what are the Japanese up to?"

At today's battalion-level meeting, Sixth Battalion Commander Hou Tianyou couldn't help but ask a question.

"I'm not a god, how would I know what that old bastard Yoshijiro Umezu is thinking?" Su Yaoyang glared at him irritably before slamming his hand on the table.

"Alright, now that everyone is here, let's get down to business. Now, please let Chief of Staff Pi speak."

Upon hearing Su Yaoyang's words, the officers who had been chatting and smoking while drinking tea quickly threw away their cigarette butts and sat up straight.

Unlike when he was thin and frail when we first met in Xuzhou a few months ago, Pi Ruoyu's health has improved considerably after several months of recuperation, and he is much more energetic.

Wearing the same Type 36 German military uniform, with the rank of colonel on his shoulders and black-rimmed glasses on his nose, he exuded a refined yet solemn air.

He glanced at everyone and waited until they calmed down before saying, "Everyone, we have been in Shanxi for more than a week now. Thanks to everyone's efforts these past few days, Wutai County has fallen into our hands, and the Japanese army has not made any major moves for the time being."

But don't think we can rest easy. I can tell you clearly that the Japanese will not let us off easily. The current calm is just the calm before the storm.

Given the immense strength of the enemy we face, it is necessary for our militia to undergo a round of expansion.

(End of this chapter)