Bright Sword: Japs, times have changed

This batch of supplies from the Japanese was transferred from Anhua County to Laiyuan County to replenish the consumption on the battlefield in recent days. Most of them were grain, rice, flour, canned food, and a small amount of bandages and medicines.

To be honest, Lin Qiang doesn't like these supplies.

Although he looked down on it, now that he knew about it, he couldn't let the Japanese get what they wanted, so he told Li Yunlong the news.

Li Yunlong is an old regiment commander and is much more organized in combat than Lin Qiang. Therefore, Lin Qiang is too lazy to worry about how the subsequent plans will be carried out.

Besides, now that Zhang Zizai and Ma Dashan have cooperated, the plan will be implemented with much greater efficiency.

Early the next morning.

When Lin Qiang was thinking about how to bring back the more than 2,000 people from Xingfu Village, he received a call from Li Yunlong.

On the phone, Li Yunlong was very happy and said that this operation not only seized a large amount of supplies and medicines, but also wiped out half a squadron of Japanese troops and eliminated a lot of puppet troops.

He made this call specifically to thank Lin Qiang and said he would send some food to Lin Qiang.

However, Lin Qiang refused because the independent camp had no shortage of food.

The two talked for a few words and then hung up the phone. Lin Qiang put down the phone with a bad look on his face.

Li Yunlong said in person that he had eliminated a lot of puppet troops. According to the previous reports of Zhang Zizai and Ma Dashan, the puppet troops in Anhua County and Laiyuan County were already his own people.

In other words, those whom Li Yunlong eliminated were actually his own people.

However, he soon received intelligence from the county town, which not only explained that the plan was completed perfectly and he had not been blamed by the Japanese, but also informed Lin Qiang that the puppet troops that were eliminated were actually fake.

These people were bandits, traitors, and opium addicts that Ma Dashan had captured over the years. None of them were good people. They burned, killed, robbed, and betrayed their own people. They would even kill their own parents just to smoke opium.

Ma Dashan captured such people and threw them into prison, feeding them with the Japanese's supplies so that he could use them one day.

After hearing the news, Lin Qiang's expression finally returned to normal.

…………

Taiyuan, headquarters of the Japanese First Army.

After receiving the rescue telegram from Haradaira Koizumi, Commander Yoshio Shinozuka was very angry.

Not only was he angry at Koizumi Harahira's incompetence, but he was also angry at the fact that he had tens of thousands of troops under his command but was unable to take down a small independent battalion.

What made him even more angry was that he was actually inflicted huge losses by the same team in the same place. Not only did the team lose more than half of its troops, but they also lost three major generals in succession.

This was the biggest loss since the war began and was considered a great shame for all the Japanese devils. It was also a huge shame for Harahira Koizumi and Shinozuka Yoshio.

It is even a shame for the entire island and the Japanese army!

However, the 4th Brigade (after Harahira Koizumi took over the command, he incorporated all the troops into the 4th Brigade) was the most powerful team of the 1st Army, but it was unable to defeat an independent battalion of the Eighth Route Army.

Once the news spreads, it will not only be a shame, but will also seriously undermine the morale of the Japanese army and units.

What scared Shinozuka Yoshio the most was that once the news spread, resistance sentiment would continue to rise in various places, and the peace in northwestern Shanxi that he had managed to maintain for many years would be completely broken.

Is Harada Koizumi guilty?

Of course there are.

But even if he is guilty, he cannot be allowed to follow in the footsteps of several brigade commanders. Instead, we should wait until the battle is over and then decide whether to send him to a military court based on the circumstances.

What is more important than punishing Harahira Koizumi at the moment is to break through the defense line of the Eighth Route Army Independent Battalion and end this battle as a victor.

So, despite his anger, after hearing the call for help, Yoshio Shinozuka still ordered reinforcements.

The Japanese plane that survived in Xiaowangzhuang last time took off again after receiving the order, and its target was still the independent battalion position in Xiaowangzhuang.

…………

At this moment, Lin Qiang did not realize that the Japanese bombers had taken off. He knew that the Japanese would definitely use bombers again, but he was not sure when.

He expanded the air defense team to more than 340 people, who took turns to guard the artillery positions 24 hours a day.

The Japanese deployed tens of thousands of heavy troops in front of the position, but only sent out one battalion to charge. On the previous occasions, Lin Qiang even ordered to cooperate with the Japanese exercises.

In the end, the soldiers of the second company simply gave up and even made a bet to see how far the Japanese could rush before retreating.

If you win, you will get the supreme evaluation - you are awesome.

I don’t know if it was because they had tried many times or had a new plan, but the Japanese did not retreat after rushing forward this time, and of course they did not continue to charge.

Instead, he stayed outside the Second Company's optimal shooting range, and it seemed that he wanted to stay there.

This made Qiangzi, who had been holding back for a long time, feel itchy in his palms. He immediately took out the 98k sniper rifle he had received from Lin Qiang and aimed at the Japanese captain.

Since this was not a sniper attack during combat, Qiangzi had enough time to adjust his breathing and slowly pull the trigger.

"Crack~"

After a gunshot, the Japanese captain fell to the ground and his blood flowed on the dark red soil.

As expected, the Japanese retreated quickly. This scene made them look like a lost dog, which made all the soldiers of the second company laugh.

However, the soldiers soon stopped laughing.

Because the Japs launched another large-scale charge, and this time the tanks took the lead.

The Second Company’s firepower is very strong and it has no problem dealing with the Japanese infantry.

But no matter how powerful the firepower is, it is useless against the Japanese's iron turtle.

After being hit by several shots from the Japanese tanks, the anti-tank guns on the rear position finally shot down the Japanese tank in the front.

However, what followed was a blanket bombing by the Japanese artillery, which came very suddenly, causing the Second Company to have no time to retreat into the cat ear cave, and many soldiers were injured and sacrificed.

The Japanese attack was very sudden, but after only one round of artillery fire, the Japanese artillery positions were counterattacked by the independent battalion's howitzers.

Under the blanket bombing, it is impossible for a single artillery piece to remain intact.

Just when everyone thought that the Japanese would withdraw their troops, an unexpected scene occurred.

The Japanese tanks suddenly advanced at full speed, so fast that the infantry could hardly keep up.

They also moved in curves on the battlefield to avoid the independent battalion's anti-tank artillery.

This effect was surprisingly good because the soldiers were not familiar with the use of anti-tank guns. Even though several anti-tank guns fired in turns, they still failed to destroy the Japanese tanks.

Just as the Japanese tanks were about to break through the blockade of the Second Company's position, a huge shell finally flew from the howitzer position and fell into the Japanese charging team.

It was a 150mm caliber howitzer. The huge shock wave produced by the explosion made the soldiers of the second company hiding in the cat ear cave feel like a major earthquake had occurred.

Many soldiers were even shocked to the point of temporary deafness, unable to hear any sounds from the outside world at all.

This is why 150mm caliber howitzers are rarely used at close range. They are too powerful and can easily cause accidental injuries.