Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

"That's possible, but something feels off." The leader initially agreed, but then shook his head.

"The intelligence says the train station was suddenly sealed off, which means the arrival was unexpected. If it were those two division commanders, they would have given prior notice."

"If we were going to lock down, we probably would have done it already, not suddenly!" the leader began to analyze.

"It's also possible that they didn't announce their arrival in advance!" the political commissar explained, believing that the Japanese in Taiyuan hadn't known about the arrival of the two division commanders.

"No, no, no, logically speaking, their positions are all roughly the same, so they wouldn't do something like this. Therefore, the person who came is likely not at the division commander level, but at a higher level!" the commander said with a serious expression.

The Japanese had a clear hierarchy. Itagaki Seishiro was, after all, a Class A division commander and the commander of Taiyuan. In fact, he was in a higher position than the other two division commanders. Their arrival was not like a superior informing a subordinate.

"You mean, the person who comes might be the Japanese commander?!" Upon hearing this, the political commissar immediately understood what his superior meant.

"That's right, it's highly likely that the Japanese commander has arrived, and to avoid his whereabouts being exposed, he set off suddenly without informing anyone beforehand." The commander was basically certain that the person who came was the Japanese commander.

Because of Li Jin's presence, the Japanese commander dared not let anyone know his whereabouts to avoid being attacked.

"If it's the Japanese commander who's coming, does he have to come and take command personally?!" The political commissar frowned, feeling that things might be getting serious.

"If he were to personally take command, it would actually be a good thing for us, or rather, a good thing for Li Jin."

After all, the Japanese commander didn't know Li Jin and his men very well. If he took command personally, more weaknesses would emerge, and Li Jin wouldn't let that opportunity slip by.
"Perhaps Li Jin still has a chance to kill this Japanese commander!" the commander said slowly.

The best way to deal with a powerful enemy is to let the commander who is familiar with that enemy continue to take command, rather than changing commanders on the eve of battle. This is a major taboo in military strategy!
"If that's the case, then that's definitely a good thing." The political commissar's eyes lit up after hearing the analysis. He had previously thought there might be trouble, but now it seemed he had been overthinking it!
"Not necessarily. This Japanese commander is no ordinary person. He must know the taboo of changing commanders on the eve of battle. So, he may not be here to personally take command!" the commander continued.

Few Japanese soldiers who could become theater commanders were simple-minded, so their arrival was definitely not for a replacement.

"Then why did he come?! To supervise the battle?!" The political commissar frowned, feeling that things were getting more and more complicated.

"That's possible. He came because this operation is very important, and even if he's not personally commanding it, he wants to be there to oversee it."

"Another possibility is that he instructed the commander in Taiyuan on some matters," the commander continued his analysis.

The Japanese commander arrived not to give orders, but to observe how the commander in Taiyuan would command.

"What would he instruct us to do?! To make sure the commander in Taiyuan annihilates Li Jin's troops?!" the political commissar said.

"Well, besides that, there's probably another one: us. If they can't annihilate Li Jin's force, they might concentrate their forces against us."
"After all, the Japanese's primary task is definitely to annihilate Li Jin, and only then do they consider us," the commander said. Li Jin had already become a significant threat to the Japanese.

If Li Jin is not eliminated, the Japanese will be unable to continue their plans in this area, which will have a significant impact. However, the Japanese are not very confident in annihilating Li Jin.

So the Japanese came up with another plan: to target them. If they could inflict heavy losses on them, Li Jin would be unable to cooperate with other units in large-scale operations, which would indirectly solve the problem.

"Good heavens, the Japanese are really thinking things through!" The political commissar gasped.

"In short, we've run into them in battle. We originally planned to launch a preemptive strike against the Japanese, but we can't be sure they'll attack us first."
"In this way, we can have other units take action in advance, strike the Japanese before they are prepared, and catch them off guard!" The commander said with a smile.

"The arrival of this Japanese commander has actually helped us," the political commissar said happily!
The arrival of the Japanese commander did not cause them any trouble; on the contrary, it provided them with unexpected assistance.

"Now, Li Jin's plan should be able to proceed smoothly," the leader continued.

"Yes, sometimes luck is also a reason for victory. Who would have thought it would go so smoothly?" the political commissar said. If he didn't know that the Japanese commander was Japanese, he would have thought that the other party might be an undercover agent they had planted.

"Go and tell the commander-in-chief about the cooperation between the Jin and Sui armies. I'll study the follow-up operations. I need to go to headquarters later to discuss this matter," the commander instructed.

"Yes." Only then did the political commissar get up and leave.

The commander took out a map and began to study it. Although the arrival of the Japanese commander had helped them, they still couldn't be careless, lest they suffer losses later.

Not long after, the political commissar returned.

"The boss said this matter is indeed very helpful to us, and I just spoke with Li Jin about it. I believe the kid understands what I mean," the political commissar reported.

"Yes, you can study it with us too," the commander said, pointing to the map.

“Okay.” The political commissar nodded and joined in, and the two began to study the subsequent battle plan.

Actually, the plan has already been set and there haven't been any major changes. It's just that we might need to act a little earlier than planned.

"This operation might start a little earlier, but not too much earlier. We need to produce more tear gas and distribute it to other units first," the commander said.

Tear gas is one of their secret weapons, and they definitely need to make sure that every unit has it, otherwise how can they kill more Japanese soldiers?

“Indeed, we need at least a lot, if not enough,” the political commissar agreed. Tear gas not only allows troops to easily take down pillboxes but also reduces unnecessary casualties, making it a top priority.

.........

Around 8 p.m. the following day, Li Jin and his group returned to Fucheng.

The car was parked about a few hundred meters outside the city gate.

"Brother Mu, are you sure you don't need me to see you off?!" Chu Yunfei said, looking at Li Jin in front of him.

"No need, thank you for your kind offer!" Li Jin shook his head and declined, as he didn't want Chu Yunfei to know the direction of his base!
"Alright then." Chu Yunfei didn't insist upon hearing this, and he also knew that Mu Jin was being wary of him. Chu Yunfei wasn't angry about it and could understand it.

"Brother Mu, why don't you stay here for the night and set off tomorrow?" Chu Yunfei continued.

"Never mind, I'm in a hurry and have a lot to do. As for the rendezvous time, I'll let you know in advance. Please don't leave the unit without permission, Brother Yunfei, so you don't miss the deadline," Li Jin continued to politely decline. He had many things to do, so he didn't have time to stay in Fucheng.

"Okay, I'll wait for your message." Chu Yunfei nodded.

Li Jin then led Lü Changgong and the others away. Chu Yunfei watched Li Jin leave until he disappeared into the woods before turning his gaze away.

"Commander, it seems Mu Jin is still wary of us. He hasn't given us a chance to escort him. Is he worried that we'll figure out the location of his base?!" Fang Ligong said.

“That’s normal. If it were me, I would also be on guard. After all, no other troops can come to his base quickly, so we need to avoid exposing the base as much as possible,” Chu Yunfei replied.

“That’s true. I always felt that Mu Jin was only wary of us, but I don’t think he would be like that with the Eighth Route Army.” Fang Ligong said with a frown. Mu Jin’s differential treatment made people feel a little uncomfortable.

"You'll get used to it, especially since we caught a Japanese spy here before, which makes Mu Jin even more wary of us."
"They didn't even mention the specific battle plan. It seems they plan to tell us only after we meet up with them, or even before the battle." Chu Yunfei said with some helplessness.

"Damn it, it's all that traitor's fault, making us lose face too!" Fang Ligong gritted his teeth in anger when he thought of that traitor.

The other party was in a high position, yet he went to betray his country and join the Japanese. He was an ungrateful wretch with no sense of national righteousness whatsoever.

"Alright, it's all in the past, let's not talk about it anymore. The division commander will be here in a couple of days, and he will join us to meet up with Mu Jin. Be prepared to welcome him." Chu Yunfei clearly didn't want to continue talking about the spy, so he changed the subject.

"Huh?! Is the division commander coming too?!" Fang Ligong was stunned. Why didn't Chu Yunfei tell him about this on the way?

"Yes, this is the premise for the commander's cooperation with Mu Jin. They need someone they can trust to determine whether the main force of the Japanese army has been drawn away by the Eighth Route Army. The division commander is that person," Chu Yunfei explained.

"I see. So why won't you let us confirm? Does that mean you don't trust us?" Fang Ligong said, realizing what was going on.

Their 358th Regiment was acting alongside Mu Jin, but the commander didn't send them to confirm; instead, he sent the division commander, which was practically an open declaration of distrust.

"You can't say that. The commander was just worried that we might be deceived and unintentionally give out false information, so he sent the division commander to oversee things," Chu Yunfei explained.

"Commander, do you even believe what you're saying?" Fang Ligong retorted.

Chu Yunfei immediately fell silent. He naturally knew that the commander did not trust him, but what could he do?

"Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's go back and have them come to a meeting to tell them what happened." After Chu Yunfei finished speaking, he got into the car, and Fang Ligong followed.

Half an hour later, conference room.

All the battalion commanders of the 358th Regiment have come here.

Chu Yunfei glanced at everyone before slowly revealing his cooperation with Mu Jin!
"Commander, the Commander really cooperated with them?!" Qian Bojun said in surprise. He really didn't expect the Commander to agree.

"Well, overall, this operation is still beneficial to us, especially with Mu Jin and the others involved. So, given that it's advantageous to us, the commander agreed to cooperate."

"Of course, that's assuming things are truly in our best interest," Chu Yunfei added. "If the division commander ultimately decides that it's not beneficial to them, then the cooperation will end."

"We finally have control of this competition in our Jin-Sui Army. Even Mu Jin has a day when he needs our help," the Second Battalion Commander said happily.

In the past, our cooperation with Mu Jin was out of necessity; now it's Mu Jin's turn to take the initiative to seek cooperation.

"How can you talk like that? This is for the purpose of cooperating to fight the Japanese and driving them out of China as soon as possible." Chu Yunfei frowned and reprimanded him. No matter what, Mu Jin's original intention was to kill more Japanese, which was a good thing for the country.

"Commander, I misspoke!" Upon hearing this, the Second Battalion Commander quickly admitted his mistake, realizing he shouldn't have been so gloating.

"Commander, what is our battle plan then?!" Qian Bojun asked.

Chu Yunfei only stated the conditions for cooperation, but their 358th Regiment was supposed to fight alongside Mu Jin, and they didn't know the specific battle plan yet.

The others also looked at Chu Yunfei, wanting to hear what he had to say!
"Don't rush to reveal the specific battle plan. We'll know it once we meet up with Mu Jin," Chu Yunfei said. He knew the plan, but couldn't disclose it beforehand for fear of...
"Commander, you don't even know the specific plan, do you?" Qian Bojun said.

"Huh?! Mu Jin didn't even tell you the specific battle plan?! Is he really cooperating with us?!"

"Yeah, what kind of cooperation is this? They don't even tell us their plans, what kind of partners are they!"

"Exactly. If you ask me, we should just stop cooperating with them. They probably don't take us seriously anyway."

Others also started discussing it, feeling that they were being disrespected.

"Shut up, all of you. Mu Jin told me the specific plan, but it's not time to tell you yet. We have to wait!" Chu Yunfei snapped.

Seeing this, everyone immediately shut up to avoid being scolded later!
"I'm not going to talk about the plan because I'm worried that one of you might let it slip. If it gets out and the Japanese find out, the plan will be ruined. Some of you tend to talk nonsense when you've had a few drinks!" Chu Yunfei's gaze swept over everyone.

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment and did not pursue the matter further.

"In short, stay put for the next few days. Nobody wanders off. Anyone who does will be dealt with according to military law, without mercy! Understand?" Chu Yunfei ordered sternly.

"Understood!" everyone responded.

"Alright, everyone, go down." Chu Yunfei waved his hand, dismissing everyone, but Fang Ligong did not leave.

"Brother Ligong, is there anything else you want to say?!" Chu Yunfei asked.

(End of this chapter)