Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Changjin Lake, a Hundred Battles, a Hundred Victories

Chapter 45 Li Yunlong Disobeys Orders Again

After receiving orders from headquarters, Chen Ming led more than 1,200 soldiers of the Independent Second Regiment to move towards Yujialing.

The remaining hundred or so soldiers were responsible for covering the evacuation of non-combatants.

The Japanese are currently waging a large-scale mopping-up operation, and it would be extremely dangerous for non-combatants to be without the protection of soldiers.

Those people are Chen Ming's precious darlings; they cannot be easily lost in the Japanese sweep.

"Reporting to the commander, our entire unit has arrived at the designated combat location."

"Okay." Chen Ming nodded and opened the three-dimensional combat map.

The map shows the entire battlefield layout; ten kilometers in the mountains is different from ten kilometers in the plains.

In plains, his ten-kilometer combat range is not enough, but in mountains, a ten-kilometer combat radius is more than enough.

On the map, on the flanks of the Independent 2nd Regiment's position are the brigade commander's 771st and 772nd Regiments, while in the direction of Cangyunling is Li Yunlong's New 1st Regiment, and in the northeast is Kong Jie's Independent Regiment.

The Independent Regiment suffered heavy casualties in its previous battle with the Sakata Regiment and has since withdrawn.

After observing the entire battlefield situation, Chen Ming had a better understanding of the situation.

"Have you made contact with the new regiment?" Chen Ming asked the communications soldier.

"Reporting to the regimental commander, we have made contact with the 771st and 772nd Regiments, but we haven't been able to contact the New 1st Regiment yet," the communications soldier reported.

"Damn it, is Li Yunlong going to disobey orders on the battlefield again?!" Chen Ming couldn't help but curse.

When I watched TV dramas before, I thought Li Yunlong's behavior of confronting the enemy head-on was very courageous and showed great personal charisma.

But now Chen Ming is the commander of the Independent Second Regiment, a commander.

He disliked Li Yunlong's behavior of disobeying orders on the battlefield very much.

It's understandable that Li Yunlong arbitrarily mobilized his troops to engage in side businesses, since the army needs to develop and can't always rely on the allocation of weapons and equipment from above.

The military needs to develop, but the limited equipment provided by the Nationalist government, along with the weapons and equipment produced domestically, is far from sufficient to meet the needs of its growth.

Therefore, Li Yunlong's side business usually only reaches its limit at the brigade commander level. The brigade commander would congratulate him on his good fortune, and that would be the end of it.

However, disobeying orders on the battlefield has far more serious consequences than arbitrarily mobilizing troops.

The New First Regiment disobeyed orders and attempted to break through the encirclement head-on. What were the regiments responsible for covering the New First Regiment's breakout supposed to do after Li Yunlong's attack?
They couldn't just stand by and watch the New First Regiment be wiped out by the Sakata Regiment, so they were forced to get involved in the battle.

However, headquarters had made arrangements for these troops. After covering the New First Regiment's breakout from the direction of Yujialing, there were still follow-up combat missions.

Li Yunlong's disobedience to orders forced headquarters to transfer other units to replace the New First Regiment's mission, and also to change the battle plan and mobilize troops to cover the New First Regiment's breakout.

A single move affects the whole body!

Since the start of the War of Resistance Against Japan, many battles have been lost because seemingly insignificant regiments or even battalions disobeyed orders on the battlefield, arbitrarily changed or failed to execute combat orders, which led to the collapse of a division or an army.

It's because the brigade commander and division commander protected Li Yunlong, this stubborn fool. In Kong Jie's words, "It's only because of him, Li Yunlong. If it were me, Kong Jie, I don't know how many times I would have been shot."

There's a saying that's very true: "In large-scale military operations, strict discipline is essential!"
To put it bluntly, Li Yunlong's actions were a high-stakes gamble.

The new regiment only has two shells left. To accurately destroy the command post of the Sakata Regiment with those two shells depends on two things: Zhu's performance and luck.

Now that Chen Ming has transmigrated, it's hard to guarantee that his influence won't cause any unexpected events.

"I hope Li Yunlong won't make a fool of himself this time," Chen Ming thought to himself.

This counter-offensive has yielded very significant results. Once these gains are absorbed, the Eighth Route Army will be able to make good progress.

The casualties from a frontal breakout would be too great, and it would also affect other aspects, causing unnecessary losses.

You've already made a lot of money, so you should know when to stop.

The most important thing now is to contain and eliminate the enemy while preserving ourselves as much as possible.

There's no need to send a heavily wounded regiment to fight a Japanese battalion head-on when we're at a disadvantage.

Even if we destroy the Sakata Regiment's command post and eliminate that old Japanese devil Sakata, what difference will it make? These three thousand-plus Japanese soldiers won't survive. The Japanese can replace their commander at any time.

One old Japanese soldier isn't worth the lives of so many soldiers in the New 1st Regiment. "Reporting to the regimental commander, we just received orders from the brigade headquarters. The brigade commander orders the New 1st Regiment to retreat under alternating cover and break through towards Yujialing."

"The 771st Regiment, the 772nd Regiment, and the Independent 2nd Regiment will cover the breakout of the New 1st Regiment."

On the Cangyunling position, a communications soldier informed Li Yunlong of the brigade headquarters' orders.

Li Yunlong was immediately displeased when he heard that they were to withdraw.

He had been fighting the Japanese for so long, and with the Japanese command post arrogantly placed right in front of him, how could he be willing to retreat?

"Retreat? The Sakata Regiment's bayonets are practically pointed at my nose, and they're retreating now? How could they even think of that?"

"Since it's all about breaking through, it doesn't matter where we break through."

"Correspondent, report to the brigade headquarters that the New First Regiment has already engaged the enemy and is unable to withdraw from the battle. In order to cover the brother units and ensure their smooth withdrawal from the encirclement, the New First Regiment Commander Li Yunlong has decided to lead the entire regiment to launch an attack on the enemy."

Li Yunlong shouted to the communications soldier.

The Japanese command post has become so arrogant that it has moved to the front line, right where Li Yunlong can see it. What's the difference between that and taking a dump on Li Yunlong's head?

In Li Yunlong's eyes, the brigade commander was the boss, he was second, and even the Heavenly King himself had to come after him.

That bastard Sakata Brigade dared to shit on his head, how could Li Yunlong tolerate that?

Moreover, Li Yunlong was not acting recklessly without preparation. Since that old devil Sakata dared to move his command post to the front line, he was going to teach him a lesson and avenge the fallen soldiers of the New First Regiment.

“Commander, what you say makes sense, but this is disobeying orders from above. There are other regiments providing cover in the direction of Yujialing, making it easier to break through,” Zhang Dabiao said after a slight hesitation.

"Zhang Dabiao!" Li Yunlong squinted at Zhang Dabiao.

"Have."

"stand at attention."

Zhang Dabiao immediately stood up straight.

"Are you the regimental commander or am I the regimental commander?" Li Yunlong asked.

"You are the regimental commander."

"louder."

"Report, the commander of the new First Regiment is Li Yunlong," Zhang Dabiao shouted loudly.

"Execute the order," Li Yunlong, in his capacity as commander of the New First Regiment, issued the order.

"Yes!"

Helpless, Zhang Dabiao could not dissuade Li Yunlong and had no choice but to assemble his troops according to Li Yunlong's orders.

Under Li Yunlong's command, the soldiers of the New First Regiment launched an attack on the heavily armed Sakata Brigade.

The enemy's frontal firepower was very strong. Many soldiers rushed out of their cover, but without the protection of cover, they fell on the way to the charge.

Even Sakata, the old Japanese soldier, was puzzled by the New First Regiment's actions.

With the few remaining troops of the New First Regiment, they actually dared to launch a frontal assault on his troops!

"What exactly are our adversaries doing, and what is their purpose?"

Sakata asked the surrounding staff officers this question with a puzzled look.

The Japanese staff officers and battalion commander all said they couldn't understand the thought process of the new regiment's commander; it was not normal.

A force with only a few hundred men left dared to charge at the position of an entire regiment; it looked like they were committing suicide.

"Either he's gone mad, or it's a conspiracy. It's just that I can't determine their intentions yet." Sakata, the old Japanese devil, became interested.

"I want to see what the commander on the other side is up to."

Meanwhile, the soldiers of the New First Regiment finally charged to their designated location, and Zhu Zi was already giving a thumbs-up to the Sakata Regiment's command post.

(End of this chapter)