Bright Sword: From Soldier to Brigade Commander

"Shoot, three test mortar rounds, aim at that bunker!" Colonel Iwagami roared, waving his saber with his right hand as usual.

The infantry battalion commander next to him, Major Shindo, was quite dissatisfied with Colonel Iwagami's command.

You are the commander of a cavalry brigade, with strong limbs and a simple mind. Do you understand infantry artillery?

"Your Excellency, Colonel, our regiment's artillery squadron can directly bomb strong targets such as bunkers. The caliber is larger, the power is stronger, the effect is better, and we have acoustic detection technology, so there is no need for three test shots!" Major Shindo raised an objection in a respectful but cunning manner.

Colonel Iwagami was of course somewhat happy, as the infantry had gained more knowledge about artillery, and the Empire's artillery technology had improved a lot.

But how could he admit his mistake?

"I want to test whether there are a large number of enemy infantry lurking near the blockhouse. Is this a problem?"

The infantry battalion commander, Major Shindo, was not one to give in easily. He hinted, "Colonel, we can fire flares, or use high-powered searchlights to scan! Our infantry battalion carries 120 flares and five searchlights."

Colonel Iwakami was completely enraged!

He knew of those things, of course. However, whether firing flares or scanning with searchlights, they would reveal themselves as soon as they spotted the enemy. This group of Eighth Route Army soldiers possessed direct-fire infantry guns that could easily destroy Japanese blockhouses! Moreover, they had numerous light and heavy machine guns and mortars. Such a force was rarely encountered in the security operations and mopping-up campaigns in North China in recent years. He worried that the Japanese army would become arrogant and suffer heavy losses from the Eighth Route Army's artillery fire!

As a commander, he couldn't take any risks.

Moreover, he cannot show weakness to the Eighth Route Army.

"Major Shindo, do you want the enemy we worked so hard to find to be scared away by your dirty tricks? Do you think it's easy to find the Eighth Route Army?"

This sentence choked Major Shindo so much that he was speechless. He could only straighten his clothes and stand at attention to salute.

"Colonel, that's brilliant!"

Colonel Iwagami's "brilliant" command ensured the safety of Su Fei's infantrymen on the blockhouse of the Dahuang Village stronghold!

Su Fei and the battalion commander's plan was to use the blockhouse's firepower to strafe the enemy, expose themselves, and attract the enemy's ground attack. When the enemy infantry cluster launched a charge, especially when it rushed under the blockhouse stronghold, our soldiers hidden in the trenches outside the stronghold could strike head-on and kill a large number of enemies.

If searchlights and flares are used directly, the trenches outside our stronghold may be exposed.

Of course, the enemy's position will be exposed...

Boom boom boom.

Three mortar shells rose into the air from the darkness over the Japanese positions, making sharp noises in the air, like the grin of invisible ghosts and the god of death!

In just a few seconds, explosions occurred in front of and behind the blockhouses in the Dahuang Village stronghold, and lightning and smoke disrupted the night.

Japanese artillery and commanders quickly discovered the exact location of the blockhouse.

"Regimental artillery company, get ready. Major Shindo, your battalion artillery squadron should also be ready to attack, right?" Colonel Iwakami asked proudly.

"Hayi!"

A minute later, the Japanese army launched a devastating bombardment on the bunkers in the Dahuang Village stronghold. The four mountain guns of the regiment artillery company and the two infantry guns of the Xindao Infantry Battalion fired more than 100 artillery shells.

The earth shook, thunder and lightning roared, and the blockhouse, built of blue bricks and stone slabs, collapsed under the indirect fire of the 5.71 kg grenade from the Type 41 75 mm mountain cannon and the direct bombardment of the 3.8 kg high-explosive shell from the 70 mm Type 92 infantry gun, and eventually turned into a pile of rubble with billowing smoke and dust.

"Yaoxi, now, use the independent mortar squadron to completely clear the area!"

After Colonel Iwagami's order was conveyed, the Japanese mortar group assembled nearby launched a frenzied bombing.

A reinforced independent mortar squadron has 18 mortars and nearly 200 soldiers, including gunners, assistant gunners, commanders, ammunition handlers, and transporters...

90mm caliber, superior performance, and huge power of concentrated fire, it swept the entire Dahuang Village stronghold's walls and some areas outside without any blind spots!

The village wall continued to collapse, and the entire stronghold, the size of a basketball court, was engulfed in flames.

It’s over, the Dahuang Village stronghold was completely razed to the ground!

Hee hee hee.

Hey hey hey.

The Japanese military had strict discipline and prohibited noise, but whispers and excitement were difficult to suppress.

Colonel Iwagami was trembling with excitement, his voice changing: "Continue the attack, the Imperial Army advances quickly, and try to capture a few wounded soldiers for interrogation."

Under the command of the Japanese military advisory officer and the loud military bugle call, the second and third companies of the Imperial Army accelerated their advance. "Charge, brothers!"

They instinctively thought that the Eighth Route Army would concentrate in the stronghold, relying on the protection of the blockhouses and the wall. Now that it has been bombed, the battle is over, and all that is left is to do some archaeological research in the rubble! Haha!

Passing over the fire spots spread by the three incendiary bombs fired by the three Su Fei units, some Imperial Army soldiers contemptuously used their rifles to pierce the still-burning flames. The Eighth Route Army did not actually fire the white phosphorus incendiary bombs, known as the "heel ghost", into the air or at the Japanese hidden positions in the distance. This was also naive.

There is almost no threat at all.

They quickly rushed to the ruins of the stronghold.

Including the remnants of the first company, there were more than 300 people.

The eyes of those remaining soldiers were red.

They swore in tears that they would skin alive all the captured Eighth Route Army soldiers.

The corpses of dozens of accomplices aroused their grief and bad nature, and hatred towards the Eighth Route Army!

"Kill, kill, kill!" They were filled with animal instincts and rushed forward like a group of wild boars and dogs.

Over a thousand meters to the north, the Japanese troops, including Colonel Iwagami and Major Shinmichi, were listening in with great satisfaction. "Illuminate the flares, guide the Imperial Army along the way, and help them find the enemy prisoners!"

Five flares were fired one after another by artillery fire. The time fuse was ignited, igniting the illuminating agent, and the parachute and illuminating agent were ejected. The parachute carried the illuminating agent and descended and burned at a speed of 6 meters per second, releasing a strong light!

Green stars with a brightness of 8000 candlelight, red stars with a brightness of candlelight, and white stars with a brightness of candlelight bloomed in the night sky one after another, illuminating an area within a range of at least 3 kilometers!

All the Japanese officers raised their binoculars, and all the Japanese soldiers stared with wide eyes, admiring the spectacular scene. While they were praising the advanced technology of the Empire, they were also using foul language to insult the Eighth Route Army.

More than 300 Imperial Army soldiers instantly saw the road ahead clearly, and sincerely admired their master's strength. They jumped and cheered loudly.

Four kilometers to the south, Lieutenant Colonel Tomohito Kamei, deputy commander of the Japanese Cavalry Regiment, led his officers and soldiers to admire the battlefield scene.

"The good days of the Eighth Route Army are over! It is your sorrow that you are targeted by our Iwagami Cavalry Regiment and Kuranaga Infantry Regiment!" Kamei, who is known for his literary talent, was full of passion and composed and recited long and elegant verses, which won waves of applause.

To the east of the Dahuang Village stronghold, more than 400 meters across the road, in a deserted village also within the Japanese encirclement, Su Fei's troops were also closely watching the enemy's movements. The fierce Japanese artillery fire made him nervous, and the Japanese flares made him laugh.

"Oh my God, isn't this delivering meat to your door?"

Sure enough, the next moment, a loud bugle call from the Special Operations Brigade Cavalry Regiment and a radiating, deafening metal jet instantly changed everything!

Su Fei's newly formed infantry battalion of nearly 400 people, and two machine gun platoons and two artillery platoons of the cavalry battalion hidden outside the stronghold, suddenly half of them came out of the trenches, stretched out 5 light machine guns, more than 200 rifles, and more than 50 pistols, and fired crazily at the Imperial Army's Ergouzi infantry cluster within the area of ​​5 meters as close as possible and 30 meters as far as possible.

The cavalry battalion commander commanded.

The destruction of the bunkers and the village wall was expected.

Deliberately exposing the blockhouse was to attract and mislead the enemy's firepower. After the concentrated fire, the machine gunners and others quickly went downstairs and hid in the tunnel below to avoid being killed by the enemy's artillery fire.

The damage caused to them by the Japanese mountain artillery and infantry artillery bombardment was negligible.

Coming out of the tunnel, they hid in the ruins of the village wall, listening and observing at all times. When they discovered the enemy's flares, they immediately blew the bugle.

In just a few seconds, the arrogant Imperial Army Infantry Battalion suffered a second heavy blow, this time it was devastating, with more than half of them killed or wounded on the spot.

Under the light of flares, the Imperial Army was a sitting duck in the barren wilderness of Shanxi in late autumn!

Even if they quickly crawled to the ground and rolled into the shallow grass and gullies, it would be of no avail.

After firing an average of three shots, the Su Fei infantry immediately returned to the trenches and individual pits, and then further drilled into deeper tunnels or the cat-ear holes in the side walls.

They were wary of enemy artillery retaliation.

After the Type 99 light machine gunner had used up all 25 rounds in the clip, he also retreated.

In the blink of an eye, calm returned to the battlefield.

Very magical and weird.

Those who came out of the ground to fight and shoot seemed to have never appeared.

The remnants of the Imperial Army, with lumps all over their heads, never dreamed that their opponent would counterattack so fiercely. They took advantage of the gap in the battle and turned around and ran away.

"Brothers, run!"

More than 100 Imperial Army soldiers fled in panic.

Half of these people were injured and stumbled.

Under the flares, the stunned Colonel Iwagami, Major Shindo and others soon became angry and frustrated. They ordered the regiment artillery company and the independent mortar company to bomb fiercely, bomb, bomb, bomb, blow all the Eighth Route Army into ashes!

Four 75mm mountain cannons and 18 90mm mortars fired accurately in succession, and the sky collapsed and the earth cracked. Taking advantage of the area illuminated by the flares, they carried out intensive bombing on the outskirts of the Dahuang Village stronghold and the ambush locations of the Eighth Route Army outside the village wall.

Fire the flare again.

The Japanese army fired more than 500 artillery shells.

Under the flares, the ruins of the wall of the Dahuang Village stronghold were in a mess, the ground had collapsed, the trenches had collapsed, and the air was filled with the strong and bitter smell of gunpowder.

Fire the flare again.

"Sakurai Infantry Squadron, attack!"

Colonel Iwagami, feeling confident and with his anger gradually subsiding, ordered an attack.

This time, we should win, right?

Major Shindo, the infantry battalion commander, wanted to fight in person but was stopped.

Sakurai's squadron immediately assembled in the darkness and charged forward quickly.

An infantry company of more than 170 men, a huge mass of soldiers, rushed rapidly towards the ruins of the stronghold.

Colonel Iwagami also dispatched several cavalry scouts to immediately set out, following the main road southward, searching for any further traces of the Eighth Route Army Special Operations Brigade. The bombing and flares had revealed no traces of Eighth Route Army cavalry or horses, raising a question in Colonel Iwagami's mind. Could it be that the enemy's stronghold contained infantry, and the cavalry had already fled? And why was there no news of Kamei's troops intercepting them to the south? Wasn't this too suspicious?

Soon, the Japanese Sakurai Infantry Company arrived there in a fan-shaped formation. Without any hesitation, they still formed a skirmish formation and quickly reached the ground bombing area outside the stronghold wall. They vigilantly threw a large number of grenades. After the bombing, there was complete silence.

"Kill them! Charge into the ruins of the village wall and seize the commanding heights of our stronghold!"

Captain Sakurai waved his command sword with great confidence.

The fruits of victory that the Imperial Army Infantry Battalion had paid for with their blood were reaped by him. How cool!

The Japanese soldiers rushed forward, scrambling to cross the collapsed trenches and gullies and rush towards the ruins and rubble of the village wall.

Standing on the rubble, in the glow of flares, the Japanese Sakurai Squadron shook their rifles and cheered loudly.

To the north, on the Japanese position, Colonel Iwagami and Major Shinmichi proudly made pig-like squeals.

At this moment, suddenly, a terrible phenomenon happened!

The volcano has erupted!

The ruins of the entire stronghold, the watchtowers, the village walls, and the ruins of the houses within the walls all erupted like a revived volcano, spewing out fiery magma!

The magma was brilliant, quickly surrounding and engulfing all the more than 170 officers and soldiers of Sakurai Squadron who had gathered together to celebrate the victory.

Under the glow of the flares, all the Japanese troops in the rear could see clearly!

In just a few seconds, almost all the elite infantry officers and soldiers of the Sakurai Company of the Japanese Army were killed!

What Sakurai's company never knew was that when the enemy bombed the positions outside the village wall, Su Fei's newly formed infantry battalion hid in the tunnels. Many people moved inside the village wall, dug and opened passages, and were ready to attack when the time was right with a bugle call!

25 light machine guns.

There are also pistols and rifles.

In the first second, one-third of Sakurai's squadron suffered casualties!

After 5 seconds, they all fell down.

A few lucky wounded soldiers tried to escape in the north, but were shot in the head by bullets from the trenches in the north.

Sakurai Infantry Company was completely wiped out!

Witnessing this tragedy with their own eyes, Colonel Iwakami and Major Shindo were shocked and angry, and ordered the artillery fire while crying.

This time, all the Japanese artillery fire was directed at the ruins of the stronghold. The four 75mm mountain guns, the two infantry guns of the battalion artillery squad, the 18-gun mortar squadron, the more than ten mortars of each squadron of the infantry battalion, and the tank guns and machine guns of the tank squad all roared together.

Flares continued to be fired to provide guidance.

This time, it should succeed, right?

Colonel Iwagami and Major Shinmichi had no idea that after the bombardment began, amid the thick smoke and coughs of officers and soldiers, when he ordered the remaining three infantry squadrons to charge forward, not only did the Japanese infantry suffer a devastating Waterloo, but he himself also reached the end of his life...