Bright Sword: Japs, times have changed

Unexpectedly, the three brigade commanders who met this time did not mock Harahira Koizumi and Aki Ino. After observing the battlefield, they knew that even if they commanded the battle themselves, they would not be able to achieve better results.

It is even possible that he is not as good as the two of them.

Commander Hirano Wataru of the Japanese 3rd Brigade watched the retreating troops and turned to Harahira and Koizumi. "Harahira-kun, I understand you. The strength of this independent battalion of the Eighth Route Army exceeded anyone's expectations. With such powerful firepower, you were able to close within 500 meters of the enemy positions. You've already done your best."

"More importantly, this independent battalion had an excessively abundant supply of ammunition. Even though the two sides were only 500 meters apart, their light and heavy machine guns were firing at full force, and the artillery fire was non-stop."

"Such powerful firepower, even the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army and the Central Army, who were considered strong enemies, did not have such extravagance."

"So, the failure of both of you, Harahira-kun and Akeno-kun, is understandable."

After a pause, Hirano Wataru continued, "I wonder if you have noticed that there are sniper experts in this independent battalion, and there is more than one."

Harahira Koizumi immediately nodded and continued, "Hirano-kun is right. I've noticed that these snipers are very accurate. They're targeting machine gunners, grenade launchers, and officers."

Finally, Harahira Koizumi didn't forget to make amends, angrily saying, "If it weren't for these snipers sniping and disrupting the situation, leaving the battlefield without a leader, perhaps our troops would have already attacked the Eighth Route Army's front line."

Lin Qiang did not deploy very powerful firepower defense at the front line. If the Japanese were to fight to the death to seize the position, they might not be able to hold it with only the little firepower on the position.

The reason why Lin Qiang dared to take the risk was because he had been prepared in advance. He sniped the Japanese officers, leaving them leaderless. Even if some Japanese knew to seize the front line, the others would not obey orders.

Hirano Wataru nodded in agreement. In his opinion, it was possible to seize the independent battalion's forward position. Once occupied, subsequent operations would be much more convenient.

Hirano Wataru stood up, paced back and forth, and said, "Since a frontal assault won't work, we can only resort to strategy."

Everyone looked at him, waiting for him to reveal his plan.

"We can feign defeat, lure them into pursuit, and then set up an ambush along the way."

Yuan Ping Xiaoquan's eyes lit up. "That's a good idea, but the Eighth Route Army is always cautious. How can we lure them into taking the bait?"

Hirano Wataru sneered, "We can deliberately leave behind some supplies and some seemingly confidential documents, containing false information such as the Japanese army's lack of manpower. They will definitely be tempted when they see it."

Just when everyone thought this plan was feasible, Ming Jingye stood up and said, "Everyone, I don't mean to oppose this plan. You all know that I previously cooperated with Kawashita-kun to attack the independent camp but failed, and Kawashita-kun died there."

"What I want to tell you is that Lin Qiang will never leave his position to pursue us. Even if other areas are devastated, he will not lead his troops away from Xiaowangzhuang."

Ming Yejing's words were like a bucket of cold water, successfully extinguishing the fire of hope that had just been ignited by Harahira Koizumi and others.

Hirano Wataru frowned and asked, "Then what do you think we should do?"

Ming Jingye's eyes were cold and emotionless as he spoke slowly, "From what I understand, Lin Qiang is extremely loyal. We can capture some villagers from nearby villages and threaten to kill them all if he doesn't send troops to rescue them. He'll be caught in a dilemma. If he doesn't, it will be exactly what we want. If he doesn't, he will be blamed and his army will be destabilized."

"As far as I know, some of the independent battalion's troops come from nearby villages. If their relatives were arrested, what would Lin Qiang do?"

"Hahahaha!"

Harahira Koizumi smiled happily: "Well, Akeno-kun is indeed smart enough."

"There's an old Chinese saying that goes, 'Those who achieve great things don't get bogged down in trivial matters.'"

Akenoi said, "Even if I am criticized in the future, it will be borne by me alone. It has nothing to do with you."

Everyone was silent for a moment, and then Hirano Wataru said, "Although this plan is cruel, it is a viable option. However, the Eighth Route Army excels at guerrilla rescue operations, so we must be careful."

So, the Japanese army sent a small team to sneak into the surrounding villages to capture people.

However, what the Japanese didn't know was the situation inside the independent battalion's base. Everyone who hadn't been there thought that Heiyun Village was just a tiny place on the top of the mountain.

Not to mention the common people in the area within a radius of dozens of miles, even the refugees encountered on the roadside, Lin Qiang had already sent people to pick them up before the war.

In the past, many people were unwilling to leave the place where they lived, so Lin Qiang sent militia, guerrillas and other teams to protect them.

But this battle was different from the previous ones. Lin Qiang ordered that the civilians must be kidnapped and taken to the base. Afterwards, he would just have to apologize to each of them one by one.

Therefore, the Japanese plan was doomed to fail.

Not only did they fail to capture any civilians as hostages, but even after entering the village, the Japanese couldn't see a single living creature.

Any useful supplies had already been taken away, because Lin Qiang knew very well the nature of the Japanese and knew that they would definitely set fire to the village if the plan failed.

The same is true.

After the Japanese plan failed, Harahira Koizumi was furious and ordered the burning of all nearby villages.

Ming Jingye saw that his plan failed and came up with another one. He said coldly: "Since the people nearby have all fled, we can also arrest the people inside the county..."

"no!"

Hirano Wataru flatly refused: "Commander Okamura Ningji has repeatedly ordered that the people in the county town are the symbol of our maintenance of peace in the occupied area, and they must not be killed at any time."

"Mr. Akeno, doing this will destroy the three years of hard work the headquarters has put in. Commander Okamura Neiji will absolutely not agree to this!"

Although Ming Jingye was unwilling, she had no choice but to give up.

At this time, the atmosphere in the Japanese military camp was depressing.

Hirano Wataru said, "I think we should take advantage of their strategy and spread the word that many villagers have been captured, so as to attract the Eighth Route Army to rescue them."

Everyone's eyes lit up after hearing this. Hirano Wataru thought it was worth a try. After all, there was no better way at the moment and there was nothing to lose by giving it a try.

Hirano Wataru sent out a Japanese soldier who could speak Chinese, holding a white flag and slowly walking towards the independent battalion position.

Soon, Lin Qiang learned that the Japanese were coming with white flags.

After carefully checking and confirming that there was no danger, the monk brought the Japanese soldier to see Lin Qiang.

"Captain Lin, I'm here to speak to you on behalf of the 3rd Brigade of the Japanese Army."

Lin Qiang said disdainfully: "I met you to see what tricks you can come up with. As for who you represent, I don't care. Even if you represent your shitty locust, I will kill you anyway if I'm not happy."

This devil did have some understanding of Chinese civilization. He remained calm and said, "There's an old Chinese saying that goes, 'When two countries are at war, envoys should not be killed.' I believe in the character of Mr. Lin Qiang."

"Stop talking nonsense to me, if you have to fart, fart now!"

The Japanese soldier organized his words and said, "Captain Lin, you don't know that under the leadership of the 9th Brigade Commander Ming Yejing, he has captured dozens of civilians as bargaining chips..."

bang~

Before the Japanese soldier could finish his words, Lin Qiang raised his hand and shot him dead.

"You are just a messenger from Gouba."