Bright Sword: Japs, times have changed

Early the next morning.

Hu Zi and others were sent out to carry out the mission, and the task of training new recruits was completed by Lin Qiang.

Although the team is small, Lin Qiang has arranged all the necessary positions.

As the bugler blew the wake-up call, the originally quiet village suddenly became lively.

Soon, a team of about a hundred people gathered in front of Lin Qiang. Judging from the overall teamwork, yesterday's short training was quite effective, at least there was no chaos.

The training ground is temporarily set up in the courtyard of the mountain stronghold. Yesterday, many wooden dummies were erected to train the soldiers in bayonet fighting.

Lin Qiang took the rifle from a soldier, walked to the center of the team, fixed the bayonet, and said, "Do you know why when we fight the devils with bayonets, we often suffer the greatest losses?"

Veterans who had participated in many battles knew this clearly, but Lin Qiang was explaining this to the new recruits: "The Japanese bayonets are longer than ours. This is one thing, but the Japanese have also been trained for a long time. Therefore, in hand-to-hand combat, our losses are far greater than theirs."

Every word Lin Qiang said next was true. It was a fact that the Eighth Route Army soldiers were slightly inferior in bayonet fighting.

First of all, the Japanese bayonets are longer than ours. Combined with the length of the Type 38 rifle, the Japanese have an advantage in hand-to-hand combat.

As the saying goes, an inch longer is an inch stronger. Even when facing the swinging of our army's swords, the Japanese were not afraid.

Secondly, unlike the Eighth Route Army soldiers whose skills were crude, the Japanese had all undergone systematic training and were superior to our army in terms of physical fitness and bayonet skills.

In many hand-to-hand combats, three Japanese soldiers standing back to back could effectively resist the bayonet attacks of seven or eight of our soldiers.

Lin Qiang waved his rifle as he remembered, saying, "I'm telling you this to let you know the difference between us and the Japs in bayonet fighting. You can't charge blindly. Of course, I'm not trying to intimidate you. The Japs also have two shoulders to carry one head, and a bayonet will still draw blood."

"So, when fighting with bayonets, you should look not at the bayonets in the devil's hands, but at the devil's eyes. What if you really can't win?"

Lin Qiang stopped, pointed the gun downwards, and cocked the gun: "It's simple, just shoot that bastard!"

The new recruits at Wulipo raised a question at this time: "Platoon leader, I've seen the Japanese fight with bayonets. They seem to believe in some kind of Bushido spirit. They always eject bullets during bayonet fights."

After listening, Lin Qiang smiled and said, "Do you want to know why?"

"Think about it, Platoon Leader."

"Well, I tell you, that's not some bullshit Bushido spirit at all."

Lin Qiang removed the bullet from the gun, handed it back to the soldier, and then said, "The reason the Japanese ejected the bullet during the bayonet fight was because they were worried about accidentally injuring one of their own!"

"When fighting with the devils with bayonets, there are not so many routines. There is only one way: aim and stab. If you miss, just rush past the devil."

"If the Japanese attack first, wait until they thrust their bayonets and then dodge. Don't give them a chance to adjust. If you're not afraid of death, then simply don't dodge and stab them back. But you're not allowed to use this stupid method of exchanging lives for lives!"

"Our lives are our lives, and those little devils are just shit."

"Hahahaha!"

Lin Qiang's words made the soldiers below laugh, and the previous tense atmosphere became much more relaxed.

If the current situation continues, Lin Qiang firmly believes that the team will not have the opportunity to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Japanese.

Why would a commander order hand-to-hand combat when he knew it would be disadvantageous?

That was because the team did not have enough ammunition, so they had no choice but to charge in and win by numbers.

The team started a new day of training. In addition to bayonet fighting, physical fitness was also a training that Lin Qiang attached great importance to.

This is the benefit of having sufficient food, so that the soldiers don’t have to go without a full meal.

The veterans lead the new recruits, and the entire team is carrying out training in an orderly manner.

At this time, Zhang Yuntian, who had been out gathering intelligence the previous night, returned and hurried to Lin Qiang, saying, "Platoon leader, good news! I've got information about the Japanese transport team!"

Lin Qiang couldn't help but get excited when he heard this. No matter what supplies the Japanese were transporting, they were very important to the platoon at this stage.

Throwing away the cigarette in his hand, Lin Qiang suppressed his inner excitement and asked, "Have you figured out what the Japanese are transporting? Have you figured out their troops and weapons?"

Zhang Yuntian nodded and said, "We've figured it all out. The Japanese transport team came from the direction of Ping'an County, transporting food and pork, as well as weapons and ammunition. There were four trucks in total, with about a squadron of troops."

A squadron of Japanese devils, this is not good news for Lin Qiang.

The Japanese squadron had three infantry squads under its command, with a strength of between 194 and 250 people.

The standard squadron consisted of a 19-man squadron headquarters, a squadron leader, an executive officer, three sergeants, four medics, an officer's orderly, a bugler, eight signalmen, and three squads of 54 people, totaling 181 people.

In terms of firepower configuration, there are 139 rifles, 9 light machine guns, and 8 grenade launchers.

As for the reinforced squadron, two to four heavy machine guns will be added to the standard squadron, and even one or two mortars or Type 92 infantry guns will be equipped.

The number of Japanese infantry companies is larger than that of our companies but smaller than that of our battalions, but they are well-equipped and their combat effectiveness far exceeds that of a battalion of our army. With this configuration of troops and firepower, they can even defeat a regiment of our army.

After listening to Zhang Yuntian's report, Lin Qiang frowned and said, "This is a tough guy!"

Then he asked, "Is this information accurate?"

This information came too quickly. Zhang Yuntian only spent one night to get this information, which made Lin Qiang feel a little lucky.

Zhang Yuntian replied with certainty, "I'm sure. This information was told to me by a fellow villager of mine. He's a puppet soldier, just like me. But he's in the county town, responsible for interrogating the civilians entering and leaving the county town for the Japanese."

As if worried that Lin Qiang might suspect him, Zhang Yuntian continued, "Platoon Leader, there's something else I need to report to you. It's about a fellow villager of mine."

Lin Qiang's frown relaxed upon hearing this, and he probably guessed what Zhang Yuntian was going to say: "What's the matter?"

"My fellow countryman has more than 20 people under him and is in charge of a supply warehouse of the Japanese in the city."

Zhang Yuntian lowered his voice and said, "I asked him last night with a try-it-out attitude. I didn't expect that after he knew I had defected to the Eighth Route Army, he also wanted me to act as a go-between and bring the people and supplies in the warehouse to us."

"We'll talk about this later."

Lin Qiang didn't respond immediately, and ordered: "You must confirm this information yourself. If it is true, then we can only abandon this plan for now."

Even if all the people in the row were put together and put into battle, it would still be difficult to quickly eliminate all the Japs.

Once the Japanese reinforcements arrive, we will not only fail to steal the chicken but also lose the rice.

Zhang Yuntian was somewhat puzzled and offered his own analysis: "Platoon leader, our current manpower and firepower are similar to the Japanese squadron. If we ambush them, we still have an 80% chance of defeating them. I think this is an opportunity."

Lin Qiang looked at Zhang Yuntian and asked, "What is the purpose of our ambush on the devils?"

Zhang Yuntian answered without hesitation: "Of course it's for supplies!"

"Well, let me ask you, how can we ensure that the supplies are intact, end the battle before the Japanese reinforcements arrive, and take away all the supplies?"

Lin Qiang looked at Zhang Yuntian, who was at a loss as to how to respond, and said, "The Independent Regiment has a rule: we can't do anything that loses money. Using all our weapons will certainly kill the Japanese, but there's no guarantee that our supplies and trucks won't be destroyed."

"You're not thinking of carrying all the supplies on the truck back by ourselves, are you?"

Lin Qiang laughed and said, "Even the production team's donkeys couldn't move four truckloads of supplies in such a short time!"

This was an opportunity, but Zhang Yuntian obviously didn't think too much about it. To be precise, he didn't consider that Lin Qiang not only wanted to wipe out the Japanese, but also wanted to take away the supplies and trucks.

Through this incident, Zhang Yuntian also realized the gap between himself and Lin Qiang, and his admiration for Lin Qiang increased a little more. "I am not as thoughtful as you, platoon leader, on this matter. But my fellow countryman, platoon leader, it's not that I'm anxious, I just want to make a small contribution to the team. Don't worry about you laughing at me. I used to be a puppet soldier, and after all, I'm worried that the brothers will have opinions about me."

Lin Qiang smiled. It was the first time he saw Zhang Yuntian so embarrassed. "Don't be like a woman. If you want to prove yourself, there's no need to rush. You'll have your chance later."

"But I think your fellow countryman would be more useful to us if he stayed with the devils for the time being."

Zhang Yuntian's mind raced this time, and he said, "Platoon Leader, are you planning to empty the enemy's warehouses once transportation becomes more convenient?"

"That's right!"

Lin Qiang said: "You are responsible for this matter."

Zhang Yuntian stood up and said, "Then I'll go and tell him about this now."