Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

Upon hearing this, Chu Yunfei frowned. Looking at Li Jin, he realized that Li Jin was not joking, which meant that Li Jin actually knew the strength of the Eighth Route Army.

That's why they said that, but how could that be?! On the Eighth Route Army's side, the only ones capable of fighting were the New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment. Could it be that the other regiments were actually just as good?!

Or rather, while the other regiments were not as good as the New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment, they were still better than those of the Jin-Sui Army.

"Commander Mu, what you're saying is misleading. If the Eighth Route Army were really as formidable as you claim, they would have already put up impressive victories."
Instead of only having these two regiments with decent combat records so far," Fang Ligong said directly, expressing his disagreement with Mu Jin's assessment.

He admitted that the New 1st Regiment and the Independent Regiment were indeed quite strong in combat, and could even be said to be much stronger than their 358th Regiment.

However, he felt that no matter what, the combat strength of the other regiments could not compare with theirs.

"I told you, you'll find out later. Brother Yunfei, take me to see the commander now. Could you please get another military truck to help transport my soldiers?" Li Jin didn't explain further, but urged him on.

"Brother Mu, is this matter in such a hurry?!" Chu Yunfei said.

“Yes, it’s better to reach an agreement as soon as possible. If Commander Yan disagrees in the end, I can adjust the plan accordingly,” Li Jin nodded and said.

Whether the Jin-Sui Army participates or not is not a big problem for Li Jin. However, if the Jin-Sui Army participates, they may have a chance to capture Taiyuan, and the results will be very significant.

After all, Taiyuan had never had a chance to be recaptured since it was occupied by the Japanese, and even when it was recaptured, it could not be held for long.

But at least it can prove to those people that their Chinese troops are capable of taking down the cities occupied by the Japanese, it's just not the right time yet.

"Alright, Brother Ligong, send a telegram to have someone bring out a military truck." Upon hearing this, Chu Yunfei immediately instructed Fang Ligong.

"Yes." Fang Ligong turned and left, walking out of the woods.

For a moment, only Li Jin and Chu Yunfei remained in the room.

"Brother Mu, tell me honestly, what were you thinking about this operation?!" Chu Yunfei asked with a serious expression, wanting to know the other party's purpose.

"What else can we do? First, destroy the Japanese command post, then turn around and attack the other Japanese troops, eliminating as many Japanese troops as possible," Li Jin said simply.

"What?! You really intend to attack the Japanese command post?! The Japanese sent the 6th Division here, clearly targeting you!"
"Are you really going to rush off to your death?!" Chu Yunfei said in shock. In his opinion, the Japanese command post was impossible to attack, because it looked like a trap.

Therefore, going to fight the Japanese commander was simply courting death.

"Brother Yunfei, don't worry. I'm not stupid enough to attack the Japanese command post. I'll make sure everything is in place before I act."
"Speaking of which, last time you didn't have a chance to take action against the Japanese division commander. This time you do have the opportunity, so I'll speak to Commander Yan and ask him to send the 358th Regiment to help me." Li Jin replied calmly.

He had told Chu Yunfei before that if they captured the commander of the 16th Division alive, Chu Yunfei should also kill him, but it was not appropriate given the circumstances at the time.

This time it's different. With the help of the 358th Regiment, he'll have a better chance. Although the 358th Regiment is weaker than the New 1st Regiment and the Independent Regiment, it's not too weak and can be of help.

"I can't guarantee that. If Commander Yan agrees, I will naturally come to help, but if he doesn't agree, there's nothing I can do," Chu Yunfei replied.

Although he wanted to help, it depended on Commander Yan's decision. If Commander Yan explicitly said he couldn't help, then he couldn't, otherwise he would be disobeying orders.

"Don't worry, Commander Yan will agree. If he didn't agree to cooperate, he would definitely agree to let you help." Li Jin was quite confident about this.

"Maybe." Chu Yunfei nodded.

"Speaking of which, Brother Yunfei, you seem to be Commander Yan's favorite in the Jin-Sui Army, but in reality, you've always been someone Commander Yan is wary of, haven't you?" Li Jin changed the subject.

"Brother Mu, you're joking. How could that be?" Chu Yunfei smiled, but his expression was somewhat unnatural, lacking his previous nonchalance. Clearly, Li Jin was right.

"Why not?! With the merits you've accumulated, if you were one of Commander Yan's confidants, you'd probably be promoted to division commander by now."
But you haven't even become a brigade commander yet, and that's only because you graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy, making you someone's student.

Similarly, that person also thinks you might really be following Commander Yan, otherwise why would he often speak well of Commander Yan in front of him?!" Li Jin said slowly.

With Chu Yunfei's abilities and military achievements, if he were trusted by that person, he would definitely be promoted, at least to the position of army commander after the Japanese surrender, instead of a division commander.

"How do you know I spoke well of the commander in front of that person?!" Chu Yunfei was stunned upon hearing this. Logically speaking, Mu Jin shouldn't know these things.

"Don't worry about that. You're in a very awkward situation right now. You've made contributions, but you can't get a promotion. You're not pleasing either side."

"If I still don't gain their trust, I might have to stay in the position of regimental commander for a long time," Li Jin said slowly.

Chu Yunfei fell silent. To be honest, he had realized this as soon as he learned that Commander Yan was not going to promote him.

“Brother Yunfei, you are a good soldier, but unfortunately, you lack social skills, which has led to the current situation,” Li Jin continued.

Chu Yunfei shouldn't have spoken well of both sides in front of them, putting himself in an awkward position. Chu Yunfei didn't intend to be a fence-sitter; he was simply speaking well of his former superior.

But in the eyes of Commander Yan and that other person, such behavior was no different from being a fence-sitter, which made his situation in the Jin-Sui Army very awkward.

"Brother Mu, you're not saying all this to try and get me to leave the main force and join you, are you?!" Chu Yunfei said.

What Li Jin said was true, but something about it just didn't sound right; it was as if he was trying to sow discord.

"Brother Yunfei, you've misunderstood. I was just standing up for you. Besides, if you came here, you'd only be a battalion commander. When I have more men under my command..."
"You could become a regimental commander then, but that's probably a long way off." Li Jin laughed. Although he wanted to recruit Chu Yunfei, he knew that Chu Yunfei most likely wouldn't come.

"Please don't mention these things again, Brother Mu. My ambitions lie elsewhere," Chu Yunfei replied firmly.

"Okay!" Li Jin nodded and said nothing more.

"Commander." At this moment, Fang Ligong also ran back.

"A telegram has already been sent to the military camp; someone will be out soon," Fang Ligong reported.

“Very well, Brother Mu, shouldn’t we head out now?” Chu Yunfei said to Li Jin.

"Come out, all of you!" Li Jin called out as he turned around, and twenty soldiers from the reconnaissance battalion suddenly appeared one after another from various directions. "Brother Mu's soldiers are still as elusive as ever," Chu Yunfei remarked. These men were indeed adept at hiding; without careful observation, one would have no idea that so many were lurking nearby. No wonder Mu Jin's soldiers were so formidable!

"Haha, not bad." Li Jin laughed twice and walked towards the edge of the woods. Chu Yunfei and the others followed him out of the woods.

After waiting for more than ten minutes outside the woods, a military truck drove out of the city gate and arrived in less than two minutes!

"Brother Mu, why don't you ride in my car?" Chu Yunfei said.

“Okay, that’s fine. We can chat on the way.” Li Jin nodded in agreement.

"Let me ask the commander if he wants to see you first, so it won't be awkward if I bring you there and the commander refuses to see you." After saying that, Chu Yunfei instructed Fang Ligong to send a telegram.

"It doesn't matter. If he won't see me, then I'll see him," Li Jin said with a smile.

"If someone else had said this, I wouldn't have believed it, but I have no doubt about what you said," Chu Yunfei said with a smile.

He had no doubt that Mu Jin was capable of bypassing all the guards and then easily defeating Commander Yan, but that would probably give Commander Yan a fright.

"But it's better not to do that. If you scare the commander, you'll be the one in trouble," Chu Yunfei added. After all, nobody wants to wake up in the middle of the night to find someone standing in front of them; that could easily make them sick.

.........

Headquarters of the Jin-Sui Army.

Commander Zhang, holding a telegram in his hand, hurriedly pushed open the door and entered Commander Yan's office.

"Commander Chu Yunfei sent a telegram saying that Mu Jin has arrived and expressed his desire to see you. Do you agree?!" Commander Zhang explained the situation.

"Even if I didn't want to see him, that brat Mu Jin would probably find a way to make me!" Commander Yan said with a hint of helplessness.
The enemy can even draw up a defense map of their base, so infiltrating their headquarters shouldn't be too difficult for them.

"Then I'll send a telegram right away and have Chu Yunfei bring him over!" Commander Zhang said.

"Okay, go ahead." Commander Yan waved his hand. He had wanted to see what Mu Jin was up to anyway, so he naturally wouldn't refuse to meet with Mu Jin.

"Yes!" Commander Zhang then left.

After he finished sending the telegram, he returned to his office.

"Commander, the telegram has been sent, and Chu Yunfei has replied, saying they have already set off," Commander Zhang said.

"It only takes about a day and a half to drive from Fucheng to the headquarters, so just wait patiently," Commander Yan said. Their headquarters hadn't been moved too far.

"Actually, I think that if Mu Jin comes to discuss the battle plan, in terms of the overall situation, if it's really as they said before..."
"The Eighth Route Army will be responsible for drawing the enemy's main firepower, and we can take the opportunity to launch a surprise attack on the enemy's undefended county town. This will be very beneficial to us, and our reputation will be even greater," Commander Zhang said.

By successively capturing the counties occupied by the Japanese, the Jin-Sui Army would surely make a name for itself; this was an excellent opportunity.

The main problem lies with Mu Jin. With Mu Jin around, there is actually a guarantee in terms of combat and safety.

"Don't jump to conclusions too quickly. Let's see what Mu Jin has to say." Commander Yan remained relatively calm and didn't seem excited about it.

Ask him again, he's also a theater commander, controlling his emotions is easy for him. If he can't even control his own emotions, what kind of commander is he?

"Yes!" Commander Zhang nodded!
.........

Around 10 p.m., Li Jin and the others rested and ate something. Li Jin also shared the canned food he brought with Chu Yunfei and the others.

"Strange, why does the Japanese canned beef not taste as good as the ones we captured before?!" Chu Yunfei said with a frown after taking a couple of bites of the canned meat, even wondering if there was something wrong with his sense of taste.

"It definitely doesn't taste as good as it used to. When the war first started, the Japanese were relatively well-supplied, and the beef in their canned beef was about 80% meat. Now, the canned beef is only about 60% or 70% meat at most."

This also shows that the Japanese are feeling the pressure, so they've started cutting corners. Just wait and see, in two years, there won't be any canned food left in here," Li Jin said.

Although it was just that the canned food contained less meat, it reflected that the Japanese army had some logistical problems.

If the Japanese were still as wealthy as before, they wouldn't have cut corners like this. After all, less meat means the soldiers wouldn't get enough nutrition, which would reduce their combat effectiveness, and that would have a huge impact.

"Commander Mu is absolutely right. I didn't expect you to be able to see so much from such a small can of food. Impressive." Fang Ligong was also impressed and gave him a thumbs up in praise.

Anyway, he just felt that the canned food didn't taste as good as before, without thinking about why. It was only after Mu Jin said that he realized what was going on.

"Does this mean that the Japanese are actually on the verge of collapse?!" Chu Yunfei asked.

"They won't collapse immediately. After all, the Japanese have been preparing for so many years. As the saying goes, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse."

The Japanese can hold out for at least a few more years, but that also shows that as long as we persevere, final victory will belong to us!

"This war is a protracted one!" Li Jin said slowly.

Although the Japanese were starting to weaken, they were still very powerful, and their overall strength remained superior until the later stages of the war.

This shows that the Japanese army was indeed very wealthy, having developed over many years. Without some resources, the Japanese army would not have dared to launch a war.

However, the Japanese did not expect that not only would they fail to quickly occupy China, but they would also get bogged down in a quagmire and get deeper and deeper.

"That's right. In the end, it's because our country has gone through too much and simply had very few opportunities for development, which is why we've fallen so far behind other countries."

"Even the Japanese devils are bullying us!" Chu Yunfei exclaimed. If they had had time to develop, they certainly wouldn't have been bullied like this by the Japanese.

(End of this chapter)