Bright Sword: The brigade commander is shocked! You call this a county brigade?

After the Japanese spy learned the secrets of the county brigade from the old man, he immediately became excited and quickly rushed to the county brigade’s headquarters in the direction indicated by the old man.

When he arrived, his eyes were first attracted by the dozen or so trucks on the training ground.

He looked carefully and felt ecstatic. Yes, these trucks were exactly the vehicles of the convoy that was ambushed.

The doubts in his mind disappeared at this moment, and he was sure that he had found his target.

The middle-aged man did not dare to stay any longer. He hurriedly left Lijiazhuang, jumped on his horse, and with a wave of the whip, the horse galloped towards Ping'an City.

Inside the Japanese headquarters in Ping'an City.

As soon as the Japanese spy stepped through the door, he went straight to the office directly below the mountain pass.

"Reporting to Chief Yamaguchi, I have successfully found the troops that ambushed our transport convoy!"

Upon hearing this, Yamaguchi Zhixia stood up abruptly, with a fierce light flashing in his eyes.

"Tell me quickly, which unit is it!"

"Report, Section Chief!"

"According to my investigation, it was the Ping'an County Brigade that ambushed and robbed our transport convoy."

Yamaguchi's eyes widened, and he asked in disbelief, "What did you say? The county brigade? Are you kidding me?"

"I'm not kidding, Chief."

The spy bowed deeply and explained, "I saw our transport trucks that were ambushed with my own eyes at the county brigade's training ground. Those trucks were ours, there was no way I would mistake them."

"This is impossible! How could a county brigade defeat a squadron of our soldiers?

This is simply a fantasy. It must be that other main forces of the Eighth Route Army wiped out our soldiers and deliberately drove these trucks to Lijiazhuang. Yes, it must be so! "

He muttered to himself: "However, no matter which unit robbed the transport convoy, since those trucks appeared in Lijiazhuang, the Ping'an County Brigade must be involved. As long as we catch the county brigade in one fell swoop, we can find out the truth of the matter."

Thinking of this, Yamaguchi Naoshita immediately made up his mind.

He turned to the Japanese soldier next to him and ordered, "Go send a telegram to the headquarters and tell them that we have found the unit that ambushed the imperial transport convoy - the Ping'an County Brigade. Request the headquarters to mobilize troops immediately to wipe out this county brigade!"

"Hi!" The Japanese soldier responded and immediately turned around and left the office to send a message.

…………

Inside the Taiyuan First Army Headquarters.

"What did you say?"

"The empire's transport convoy was robbed by a county brigade?"

The adjutant stood in front of Shinozuka Yoshio and respectfully presented a telegram:

"Yes, Commander, this is the news just sent back by the Intelligence Department."

Yoshio Shinozuka took the telegram, quickly glanced through its contents, and then slammed it hard on the table.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "I think this incident was definitely not done by the county brigade. The main force of the Eighth Route Army is the mastermind behind it. They deliberately hid the car in Lijiazhuang after the robbery in order to confuse our sight."

"They thought we would underestimate the capabilities of the county brigade and would never have thought that they would rob the transport team. But in any case, since we have found these transport trucks, our important supplies must be hidden near Lijiazhuang."

Yoshio Shinozuka's voice was full of confidence.

He seemed to have seen through the truth of the matter and nodded secretly at his own analysis.

Finally, he looked up and said to his adjutant, "Go down. I understand."

The adjutant saluted respectfully and then left the command post.

After the adjutant left, Yoshio Shinozuka pondered for a moment, then he picked up the phone on the table and gently dialed the number of the headquarters of the Independent 4th Mixed Brigade with his fingertips.

After the call was connected, "This is Shinozuka Yoshio, please transfer to your brigade commander immediately."

"Hi, Commander, please wait a moment." A respectful reply came from the other end of the phone.

A moment later, Kawamura Kaoru's voice came over the phone: "Hello, Commander, what instructions do you have?"

"Kawamura-kun, I discovered an armed force of the Eighth Route Army County Battalion in Lijiazhuang, Ping'an County. Although this team is small, it must not be underestimated. I request that your Fourth Brigade immediately dispatch troops to completely eliminate this county battalion."

Yoshio Shinozuka explained the cause of the incident in detail, and Kaoru Kawamura listened very carefully on the other end of the phone.

After listening to Yoshio Shinozuka's story, he finally understood why a county brigade would attract so much attention from the commander.

"Hey, Commander, I understand what you mean. I will immediately mobilize a battalion of elite soldiers to conduct an all-round encirclement and suppression of the county battalion in Lijiazhuang to ensure that they have nowhere to escape."

After hanging up the phone, Kaworu Kawamura turned to the adjutant next to him and said, "Notify Captain Hirano to come see me immediately."

Upon hearing this, the adjutant took immediate action and quickly conveyed the order.

Not long after, Hirano Ichiku's figure appeared at the command center.

"Brigade Commander, what emergency call do you have?" Hirano stood in front of Kawamura Fumio and asked respectfully.

Kaworu Kawamura nodded slightly and looked directly at the scene in Hirano:

“Hirano-kun, I summoned you here today because I have an extremely important mission for you.

I order you to lead your Pingye Brigade to set off immediately to Ping'an County and launch an all-out encirclement and suppression campaign against the Ping'an County Brigade in Lijiazhuang.

Your mission is not only to destroy the county brigade, but more importantly to find the hidden supplies of the Imperial Transport Team.

These materials are extremely important to us, and we must ensure that they are all recovered.”

On the way to the headquarters, Pingye was still wondering how difficult the upcoming mission would be.

However, when he heard that they were going to encircle and suppress a county brigade of the Eighth Route Army, the pressure in his heart instantly dissipated, as if a huge rock had been lifted off his shoulders.

For him, such a task was as easy as going on a vacation in the wild.

"Hey, Your Excellency, the Brigade Commander, please rest assured. I will lead the Pingye Battalion immediately to set off and completely encircle and wipe out the Ping'an County Battalion and find the supplies they stole."

After hearing this, Kaworu Kawamura nodded with satisfaction: "Yoshi, Hirano-kun, I believe your Hirano Brigade will be able to complete this mission brilliantly. Now go down and prepare."

Hirano saluted respectfully, then turned and left the command center.

After returning to the camp, he immediately summoned officers of all levels of the brigade, conveyed the combat mission in detail, and ordered all troops to assemble.

Hirano was very confident. As the elite force of the 4th Brigade, Hirano Battalion had more than 1500 soldiers.

包括4个步兵中队、1个机枪中队（装备着12挺重机枪）、1个运输中队以及1个炮兵小队（配备着2门70毫米九二式步兵炮）。

He believed that the Pingye Brigade would be able to quickly wipe out the Ping'an County Brigade.