Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Li Zhengying led the suicide squad and the officers and soldiers of the special service battalion to the vicinity of the first defensive position of the new 100th Division just after dark. Their mission was to eliminate the Japanese garrison here without being discovered by the Japanese troops in front, and then cut off the Japanese supply lines.

A regiment borrowed from the new 210th Division would detour from the east to take over the defense here after the suicide squad and special service battalion officers and soldiers occupied this position, blocking the Japanese army's escape route to the south.

Li Zhengying ordered the troops to stop advancing three kilometers away from the position. At the same time, he also sent a team of suicide squads to conduct reconnaissance to see how many Japanese troops were left here and their deployment. Then he would arrange the subsequent action plan based on the actual situation.

An hour later, the suicide squad officers and soldiers responsible for reconnaissance returned to the army's rest area one after another. They also reported the reconnaissance information to Li Zhengying and Hao Jian.

"Battalion Commander, the Japanese army actually only has a small team of soldiers defending here. This is a rare opportunity. It seems that the Japanese army has lost a lot of troops in order to occupy the two defensive positions in front. The defending force is obviously not enough." After summarizing the information obtained from the reconnaissance, Hao Jian said happily to Li Zhengying.

Li Zhengying was also looking at the Japanese defense sketch that Hao Jian had just drawn with excitement. The Japanese defense of the rear was so lax, which made him more confident about the success of this operation. He pointed to the west of the Japanese position and said, "The Japanese army has only one squad of troops defending here, and the defense in the west is the weakest from the reconnaissance point of view. There are only a few sentries on duty here. At ten o'clock in the evening, we will get rid of these Japanese sentries, and then we can quietly enter the Japanese position. At that time, I will lead the team to deal with the people in the Japanese position. Deputy Ying Hao, you are responsible for leading people to kill all the Japanese sentries around, and try to get rid of these Japanese without shooting. I think if all goes well, the battle can be resolved within 30 minutes."

After hearing Li Zhengying's battle plan, Hao Jian nodded and said, "I think it's okay. From a time point of view, we still have time to touch the Japanese field artillery units, and maybe we can also destroy some of the Japanese field artillery units. In this way, the Japanese firepower will be greatly reduced tomorrow, and it will be difficult for them to break through."

Li Zhengying also nodded. This was what he had planned before. Although the order given to him by the division headquarters was to try to destroy the Japanese artillery units if conditions permitted, this was not a task that had to be completed. But Li Zhengying did not think so. He and his troops had been waiting here for so long just to play the greatest role at the critical moment.

Judging from the defensive strength of the Japanese army here, the Japanese army has already withdrawn all its troops to the front to prepare for a frontal attack. The defensive power of the Japanese artillery unit should not be too strong. Even if our own troops cannot completely destroy the Japanese artillery unit, they can still cause certain losses to the Japanese artillery unit, which can more or less scare the Japanese army into withdrawing troops from the front to protect their artillery. Of course, it would be even better if the Japanese artillery could be completely destroyed.

"Chen Sanpi, it will be up to your team soon. If you do a good job this time, I will invite you to have some fun at the brothel after the battle." Li Zhengying said to Chen Sanpi in front of him.

When Chen Sanpi heard that the battalion commander could actually treat people to a brothel after the war, he immediately patted his chest and assured: "Battalion commander, don't worry. The Japanese army has only a few sentries. My team will definitely kill them all. If anything goes wrong, I will accept military punishment."

When Li Zhengying heard Chen Sanpi's half-literate answer, he rolled his eyes at Chen Sanpi. He didn't know which opera troupe this kid learned this answer from. How could he, who could barely read, learn to be a scholar? This felt so awkward.

"Okay, just do your job well. Although there are not many Japanese soldiers here, you should not be careless, okay? Let the brothers cheer up." Li Zhengying still reminded Chen Sanpi not to be careless. Although there are not many Japanese soldiers, once the Japanese soldiers open fire, it will have a great impact on their subsequent sneak attack on the Japanese artillery unit.

At 9:50 in the evening, the suicide squad led by Chen Sanpi had already lurked near several Japanese sentry posts on the west side. They were now waiting for the time to come so that they could eliminate the Japanese sentry posts here and open a gap for the troops behind.

When the time came to ten o'clock, the officers and soldiers of Chen Sanpi's team jumped up from all directions of the Japanese sentry posts almost at the same time. Before the Japanese sentries could see what these black shadows were, their mouths were covered by a pair of big hands covered with mud. Their throats immediately hurt, and their breathing became difficult, and they could not even make a sound.

After receiving the news that Chen Sanpi had succeeded, Li Zhengying led his troops to run towards the Japanese position with their backs bent. When passing by Chen Sanpi, Li Zhengying whispered, "Well done, Sanpi. I'll invite you to the brothel after the war. Now you should go to the front for alert and reconnaissance as planned."

After hearing Li Zhengying's order, Chen Sanpi took his team members and rushed to the north of the Japanese position. His team needed to conduct reconnaissance forward, and it would be best if they could find the camp of the Japanese artillery unit.

The Japanese troops in the position were actually officers and soldiers of the field artillery regiment's guard company. Since the infantry regiment suffered heavy losses, the defense of the rear and the guard of the supply line fell to the field artillery regiment's infantry guard company. This was also the adjustment made by the division commander, Lieutenant General Anriyoshi, in order to concentrate troops tomorrow and quickly defeat the Chinese army's defensive positions in front.

Although the division commander, Lieutenant General Anriyoshi, also felt that the defense forces on his supply lines and rear routes were a bit weak, he did not think that the Chinese army would attack his rear routes and supply lines. Now the Chinese army was in a clear defensive posture. They probably wanted to do a good job of defense. Moreover, in the previous battles, the losses of the Chinese army should not be small. They would not send a large number of troops to attack their rear routes, otherwise the Chinese army's frontal defense force would be greatly weakened.

Except for the soldiers on guard duty at the sentry posts, all the other officers and soldiers of the infantry guard squadron of the artillery regiment were sleeping in the positions. They had always been responsible for guard work around the artillery. Having fought in China for so long, they have always been in a very stable state. The Chinese army has never sent troops to launch a sneak attack on their artillery units from the rear, which made their defense status very lax.

When the officers and soldiers of the suicide squad approached the position, they also admired the Japanese soldiers on duty. Although this is the rear of your Japanese army, isn't it a bit too much for you to sleep so peacefully and safely on the position? Do you really think you are here for sightseeing and vacation?

Since the soldiers of the Japanese garrison squad were so cooperative, the officers and soldiers of the suicide squad would gladly accept this great gift.

Ten minutes later, all the Japanese soldiers on the garrison position died quietly in their sleep. The only one who put up some resistance was their team leader. However, after his throat was cut in his sleep, the team leader could only kick his short legs hard on the ground, making bursts of "ho ho" sounds.

After waiting for five minutes, Hao Jian, who was in charge of other Japanese outposts on the periphery, also led his men into the position. Those sentinels on the periphery were also killed silently by Hao Jian and his men.

"Battalion Commander, the Japanese sentries outside have been eliminated. You can notify the new regiment of the 210th Division to come over." Hao Jian came to Li Zhengying and reported with a happy face.

Li Zhengying looked at Hao Jian, who looked very happy, and said to the signalman beside him with a smile: "Send a telegram to the division headquarters. The Japanese troops in our first defensive position have been completely eliminated by the officers and soldiers of the suicide squad and the special service battalion. Let the division commander notify the troops of the new 210th Division to come over. Also tell the division commander that our unit has sent officers and soldiers to scout the position of the Japanese artillery unit and try to create some trouble for the Japanese artillery unit tonight."

"Battalion Commander, I will also take people to the front to look for the Japanese artillery unit. We should try to find the Japanese artillery unit as soon as possible. This way, we will have more time to fight and the possibility of success will be greater." Hao Jian also volunteered to go to the front to look for the Japanese camp.

Li Zhengying also nodded. He felt that what Hao Jian said was quite right. The sooner they found the Japanese army and had more time to prepare, the better the combat effect would be. He was about to agree to Hao Jian's request when he suddenly thought of something and said quickly, "Deputy Hao Ying, take a look at what is written in this little notebook of the Japanese army. This is what we found on the only Japanese officer on this position just now."

Hao Jian took the small notebook handed over by Li Zhengying and started to look through it. After turning a few pages, Hao Jian excitedly said, "Battalion Commander, this is the notebook of this Japanese officer. It says that he is a squad leader of the infantry escort company of the Fifth Division Field Artillery Regiment. His troops took over the defense here in the evening. The Japanese troops originally guarding here have been reinforced to fight in the front."

When Li Zhengying heard what Hao Jian said, he immediately became excited. It turned out that these Japanese troops were from the artillery unit. No wonder they were so lax in guarding. This was a good thing, as it meant that the guarding power of the Japanese artillery unit would not be very strong now, which would be very beneficial for his future sneak attack on the Japanese artillery unit.

"Great! The Japanese army is short of manpower. We must report this news to the division commander immediately. It seems that the Japanese artillery unit will be ours tonight. Haha, they should not have many infantry on guard now." Li Zhengying also quickly thought of reporting this news to the division headquarters. This news is very critical and will play a big role in the subsequent use of troops and offensive means.