Bright Sword: Japs, times have changed

With the addition of the DShK anti-aircraft machine guns, the Japanese charging troops were like a tall building that had lost its support, and collapse was a matter of a moment.

The hope that had been ignited with great difficulty was shattered again. Kawashita Hide stared at the protruding DShK machine gun with his two big eyes like cow eggs.

"Damn the Eighth Route Army, why do they have such powerful weapons?"

This sentence was said by Kazuo Yoshida in an attempt to wake up the shocked Kawashita Hide.

But he failed. It seemed as if Kawashita Hide was acupunctured. He remained in the same position without moving, not even blinking.

If it weren't for the heaving of his chest, Yoshida Kazuo would probably have used his fingers to feel whether Kawashita Hide was still breathing.

It was not until the team that was charging at the heights retreated with more than half of its troops lost that Chuanxia Xiucai came to his senses and sat down on the ground.

"The intelligence is wrong, the intelligence is wrong!"

Kawashita Hide roared and called the radio operator: "Send a telegram to Taiyuan Headquarters and have Shinozuka Yoshio mobilize the surrounding troops to conduct a comprehensive sweep of the Xiaowangzhuang area!"

"Tell him that the 7th and 9th Brigades have completely surrounded the New 1st Regiment, New 2nd Regiment, Independent Regiment, and Independent Battalion of the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army at Xiaowangzhuang. They're encountering stubborn resistance during the encirclement and suppression. The intelligence is incorrect. The Eighth Route Army has strong firepower, making it difficult for the troops to advance. Air support must be dispatched!"

"Also, tell Shinozuka Yoshio why the intelligence doesn't contain any information about the Eighth Route Army's weapons and equipment. Ask him to give me a reasonable explanation!"

……

Eighth Route Army Headquarters.

The technicians intercepted the telegram sent by the Japanese to Taiyuan, and after deciphering it, they passed it to the boss.

After reading the contents of the telegram, the general manager handed it to the chief of staff who was drawing the diagram: "Look, the Japanese are really angry this time. They are about to use bombers to deal with Li Yunlong and his men. It seems that the battle of Xiaowangzhuang has caused great losses to the Japanese!"

The Chief of Staff read the contents of the telegram in detail, then laughed and said, "Boss, you weren't very optimistic about Lin Qiang that Old Chen mentioned back then. What do you think now? Were you wrong?"

After the brigade commander learned about Lin Qiang's situation from Li Yunlong, after considering all the conditions, the brigade commander did recommend that Lin Qiang's team be reorganized into a regiment.

The commander of the 129th Division also knew about this matter and strongly supported the reorganization.

However, when it came to the boss, he flatly refused.

It's not that he looked down on Lin Qiang, but he thought that Lin Qiang lacked command experience, the team was growing too fast, and the fighters lacked combat experience. Such a team would sooner or later suffer a great loss.

The main reason for the heavy casualties in several large-scale mopping-up operations was that the team grew too quickly, the soldiers were insufficiently trained, and lacked combat experience.

The boss is worried that after Lin Qiang's team expands, he will be eager to achieve results and neglect the team's training, which will eventually lead to a short-lived success.

Finally, after repeated criticism from the division commander and the brigade commander, the general finally agreed to the establishment of the independent battalion.

From the boss's own perspective, his decision was undoubtedly correct.

However, the chief of staff and his men knew more about Lin Qiang's situation during this period, including winning two battles against the Japanese encirclement and suppression, ambushing the Japanese, and a series of other battles.

That's why the chief of staff asked the boss with a smile if he had made a mistake.

"Don't tell me, this time, I really made a mistake."

The general admitted it openly, saying, "After more than a decade of fighting, which military officer under my command was not discovered by me? The only one I misjudged was Lin Qiang."

"You can't say that."

The Chief of Staff said, "No one would have thought that Lin Qiang would develop so rapidly. Giving him an independent battalion was not a mistake."

"But after this battle, your boss must personally issue the order, otherwise, Old West Yan will snatch the food from the tiger's mouth!"

After a few casual words, the boss took in the overall situation and said, "From the perspective of the entire battlefield, if these two Japanese brigades suffer losses, they will inevitably need to mobilize reinforcements from other directions."

"Let's do this. Notify the 129th Division and mobilize all available troops to completely block the enemy's reinforcement route. We must prevent the enemy from sending reinforcements until Lin Qiang finishes the battle!"

"Since the Japs intend to use these two brigades as bait to launch another sweep of the entire base, let's make sure the Japs from these two brigades never return!"

"Order Li Yunlong and his men to kill as many Japanese as possible. If their resources are depleted, headquarters will replenish them!"

The chief of staff quickly stood up and said, "I'll go give the order right away!"

…………

The order from headquarters was quickly passed down to the 771th Brigade. Upon learning the news, the brigade commander immediately contacted the 772st and nd Regiments and mobilized all the anti-Japanese armed forces in the base area to block the routes that the Japanese might provide support.

The various regiments quickly launched actions, mobilizing local armed forces, district squads, county brigades, militia, and all available forces.

A high density of mines were laid along both sides of the road, and blocking positions were set up based on favorable terrain.

The direction of the New 1st Regiment was the most likely direction for the Japanese to advance. Although there were troops from the Independent Regiment rushing to assist in the defense, the deputy regiment commander and the chief of staff considered it over and over again and decided to blow up all the bridges in the defense zone.

Not only that, even the communications squad of the regiment headquarters joined the battle, and the local people spontaneously formed a team to be responsible for the logistics of the troops.

Everything was going on in an orderly manner, but the speed of the Japanese was faster than they expected.

As for Ping'an County, troops from all the strongholds and artillery towers in the area, plus a mixed regiment of puppet troops, a team of several thousand people quickly set out, heading directly towards Heiyun Village.

The first to engage in firefight with the Japanese were the 772nd Regiment. Their mission was not only to block the enemy, but also to relieve the pressure on the defense zone of the New st Regiment.

This was the decision made by the commander of the 772nd Regiment himself.

But the consequence of doing so was that the pressure on the 772nd Regiment doubled, and their weapons and equipment were relatively backward, not as good as the equipment of a battalion of the New nd Regiment.

Fortunately, with the assistance of the independent regiment's dispersed development teams, the strong combination temporarily repelled the Japanese troops who came to reinforce.

Headquarters of the 386th Brigade.

The chief of staff found the brigade commander and reported: "Brigade commander, look at this, the Japanese Fourth Brigade set out from Taiyuan and is heading towards us!"

This news made the brigade commander look solemn. He looked at the map again and again. "This time, the Japanese are probably not just sending reinforcements. It seems that they want to complete their plan and use the independent battalion as a breakthrough point. Not only will this eliminate the danger of the howitzers, but they can also carry out a large-scale sweep of the entire base area."

"Look, the entire northwest of Shanxi is in chaos. This situation has never happened before. The total number of troops deployed by the Japanese exceeds 50,000, while our entire 129th Division has less than 30,000."

"That's not even counting the disparity in weapons between the enemy and us. It's hard to imagine such a large-scale battle breaking out without any warning!"

"I guess those old guys in the Second War Zone are dumbfounded. I guess Yan Laoxi is scolding our boss again!"

The Chief of Staff suddenly remembered a piece of intelligence and said, "Oh right, the latest news from the front is that the independent battalion has stabilized the Japanese offensive. Also, the 358th Regiment of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army in the Dagushan area has also joined the battle and is blocking the Japanese reinforcements from Laiyuan County."

"Oh?"

The brigade commander seemed to have heard some particularly unusual information and asked with a smile, "This Chu Yunfei actually offered to help?"

"This guy doesn't have any good intentions. He's taking action, most likely to curry favor with Lin Qiang."