Bright Sword: Starting from the Improved Grenade

At eight o'clock in the evening, outside the arsenal, the first battalion led by Zhang Dabiao and the factory security team sat on the ground in groups of three or four to rest.

There were six large pots on the side, constantly cooking corn paste.

"It's a little late today, there's nothing good to eat, so I can only eat some corn paste to fill my stomach, but it's very sweet with sweet potatoes in it."

Li Yuncai said to Zhang Dabiao apologetically.

Today, thanks to the help of the First Battalion, the fire in the residential area might have been out of control.

We should have treated the brothers from the first battalion well, but unfortunately all the food and drinks had been moved up the mountain, and they only left a few bags of corn meal and a bag of sweet potatoes.

"That's enough. It's such a wonderful thing to be able to eat sweet potato and corn paste!"

Zhang Dabiao waved his hand nonchalantly. They usually ate this in the morning.

"Captain Zhang, why don't you see Lao Li?"

At this time, Zhao Tianyang, who had just inspected the residential area to see if there was any hidden fire, walked over and asked Zhang Dabiao curiously.

"The leader probably won't be here today."

Zhang Dabiao thought for a moment and replied, "The battle has just ended. We will have to be busy for a while, whether it is finishing the work or preventing the Japanese from counterattacking."

"Then he'll be busy for a while."

Zhao Tianyang's tone was a little gloating. Li Yunlong's New 1st Regiment had no political commissar, so he had to take care of everything, especially the report that had to be written after the battle. This would probably give him a headache.

At the same time, a meeting was being held at the headquarters of the North China Front Army in Taiyuan.

A group of senior officers of the North China Front Army looked at Chief of Staff Naosaburo Okabe with his hands behind his back in front of the map with serious expressions.

"Report, Major Suzuki has arrived."

Hearing the guard's report, Okabe Naosaburo, who had been pretending to be cool with his hands behind his back, turned around and said, "Let him in."

"Hi."

"Reporting to the Chief of Staff, Suzuki Taro has been ordered to come."

Suzuki, wearing a brand new military uniform, walked into the meeting room with his head held high and saluted.

"Haha, our hero is here."

Okabe Naosaburo smiled and pointed to the chair at the end: "Sit down."

"Hi."

Under the watchful eyes of a group of senior military officers, Suzuki carefully pulled out a chair and sat down upright.

"Everyone, the commander cannot make it here because of the attack on Xuzhou, so I will preside over this meeting in his place."

Naosaburo Okabe first explained that not only he but also the commander attached great importance to this meeting.

Then he glanced at the whole room and saw that no one spoke. He felt very satisfied. It seemed that his authority was on par with the commander's!

"Can someone explain to me why the ground troops did not attack Xingjiazhuang?"

In fact, what Naosaburo Okabe, who was in charge of the headquarters, didn't know was that the reality was even uglier.

Not only did they fail to capture Xingjiazhuang, they didn't even see Xingjiazhuang, and were caught up in the guerrilla warfare of the Eighth Route Army.

Groups of elite soldiers of the Imperial Army were first trapped in the mountains by the Eighth Route Army for a few days. When they were exhausted, the Eighth Route Army concentrated their superior forces to encircle and suppress them.

This forced them to order the Army Aviation Squadron to set out directly to start the bombing mission. Of course, this also meant that they had no way to wipe out the Eighth Route Army's arsenal.

It is also impossible to be sure whether the bombing is actually effective.

"Chief of Staff, it's not that our army didn't work hard, it's just that the Eighth Route Army was too cunning!"

In the silence, a man with the rank of colonel stood up carefully under the threat of his boss.

"The Tubalu are cunning?"

Okabe Naosaburo looked at the man with a half-smile in his eyes: "You mean... the Tubalu are more powerful than the Imperial Army?"

"no."

The man shook his head in fear: "I mean the Tubalu are too treacherous, yes, they are treacherous."

"treacherous?"

Seeing that his men were about to become incoherent, the Japanese brigade commander who had threatened him to stand up could only speak.

"Reporting to the Chief of Staff, the combat behavior of the Tubalu is difficult to predict. They are familiar with the terrain and can often emerge from unexpected places."

"They are good at ambushing in mountainous areas. Our army suffered a great loss from them at Pingxingguan. This time when we entered Taihang Mountain, our army suffered a loss because we were not familiar with the terrain."

"Not familiar with the terrain?"

Okabe Naosaburo said angrily: "Didn't I prepare 2,000 Imperial Army soldiers for you? They are all locals!!"

"Two thousand Imperial Army!"

The Japanese brigade commander also showed an angry expression on his face: "Don't talk about them, it makes me angry. Those people are not worthy of being a member of the Imperial Army."

"When they heard the gunshots, they ran around like frightened rabbits, almost disrupting our army's deployment several times. When they saw the Eighth Route Army charging, they didn't even put up the slightest resistance, just dropped their guns and ran away."

There is one thing the Japanese brigade commander didn't say, which is that according to his regiment commander, those Imperial Army troops actually dared to run faster than the Imperial Army!

Look, isn’t this the reverse of Tiangang?

"What we have gained is true."

Okabe Naosaburo nodded and smiled: "So the failure of this battle was caused by the Imperial Army's cowardice."

"But our army was not afraid of difficulties and attracted the attention of the main force of the Eighth Route Army, allowing the Army Aviation Squadron to successfully bomb the Eighth Route Army's arsenal."

"That's right!"

"The Chief of Staff is right. It's all the Imperial Army's fault."

"What Imperial Army? I think they are just Chinese pigs and are useless."

After hearing Naosaburo Okabe's summary, the officers present echoed him.

That’s absolutely right. It seems that not only are they innocent, they have also made contributions!

Look, we successfully bombed the Tubalu arsenal, effectively curbing the development and growth of the Tubalu. We must ask for credit!

"Cough cough..."

Okabe Naosaburo coughed twice, interrupting their discussion: "Okay, I will write the report and submit it to the headquarters. You can go down first. Don't worry, I will ask for credit for you."

Of course the greatest credit goes to me, Okabe Naosaburo thought secretly.

"Hey, Chief of Staff, I'll take my leave now."

..............

The next day, Xingjiazhuang Arsenal.

Employees who came down the mountain one after another were cleaning up the ashes on the ground in the residential area. After discussion, this place would be developed into farmland.

In the future, the arsenal will be disguised as a village. The large factory building will be demolished and a small factory building will be rebuilt. As for the blast furnace ironmaking area, it will be disguised as a charcoal burning site.

"We worked so hard to build this factory, and now we have to tear it down, I really feel bad!"

Zhao Tianyang sighed as he stood in front of the factory.

"Okay, don't be sad. The old must go before the new can come. This time you not only saved the arsenal, but also destroyed four Japanese planes. Your reputation will spread to Yan'an. The higher-ups will definitely reward you!"

Old Liu patted Zhao Tianyang on the shoulder and comforted him.

What Mr. Liu didn't know was that the details of how Zhao Tianyang destroyed four Japanese planes had been sent to Yan'an at full speed.