Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

“After all, a lot of resources have been spent. If we don’t train anyone, the commander will lose face,” Itagaki Seishiro replied.

Commander Shinotsuka faced immense pressure in training the Yamamoto Special Attack Corps, using resources sufficient to train numerous soldiers to train a force of only two thousand men.

If, in the end, this unit fails to demonstrate its true value, the commander will likely be severely reprimanded by headquarters.

"I heard that Commander Shinotsuka didn't initially train this many people?!" Tani Hisao asked, as he did know something about the Yamamoto Special Attack Corps.

"Yes, it was because of the sudden appearance of this Northeast Army that the commander made up his mind to train more soldiers." Itagaki Seishiro nodded in agreement.

If it weren't for this Northeast Army, the number of Yamamoto's special attack force would probably not have exceeded one hundred, but now it has reached two thousand, a twenty-fold increase.

"I think their strength is definitely no worse than that of the Northeast Army," Tani Hisao commented. After seeing the combat capabilities of this unit, he believed that the enemy was no match for Yamamoto's special attack force.

Not to mention that Yamamoto's special attack force also possessed advanced equipment, making it no easy task for them to defeat that Northeast Army.

“That’s natural. In a situation where the numbers are equal, the Northeast Army would definitely be no match for Yamamoto’s special attack force. But the problem is that the enemy’s numbers are several times that of Yamamoto’s special attack force, so it’s still a bit tricky,” said Seishiro Itaga.

"It's alright. Although they outnumber us, we have even more. With the Yamamoto Special Attack Team and other units working together, once the enemy falls into the trap, they definitely won't be able to escape!" Tani Hisao remained confident.
.........

386th Brigade, Conference Room.

The political commissar rushed in with a telegram.

"Commander, we received a message from Taiyuan that the Japanese 6th Division and the 25th Combined Division have arrived in Taiyuan." The political commissar relayed the message.

"Hmm, judging by the time, they should be arriving soon. The only remaining Japanese units missing are the 6th Division and the 25th Mixed Division."
"They won't get involved immediately upon arrival. They'll most likely let their soldiers adapt to the environment before taking action." The commander nodded and then said.

When troops arrive in a new environment, it is important to help them become familiar with it as much as possible to avoid them experiencing acclimatization issues that could affect their combat effectiveness.

"Yes, the Japanese want to divide our various bases and cut off their communication, but fortunately we have the walkie-talkies provided by Li Jin, so we can still keep in touch," the political commissar said upon hearing this.

The Japanese troops have been mobilizing recently, trying their best to blockade their various bases, which makes communication between their bases somewhat difficult.

Fortunately, Li Jin provided walkie-talkies, which enabled the various units to communicate. However, it was a bit troublesome to set up several contact points.

But this is the best solution. Very few regimental-level units in their unit have radios. Although walkie-talkies don't have a long enough range, they can establish more contact points, which is a solution to the problem.

"The walkie-talkie that Li Jin developed has indeed made a great contribution." The leader also agreed with this statement. Without the walkie-talkie, it would have been very difficult for the leaders of those base areas to know the specific plans.

"Should we inform Li Jin about the arrival of Japanese reinforcements?!" the political commissar asked.

"Although Li Jin has withdrawn his intelligence personnel from Taiyuan, I reckon he has left some outside the city, especially those monitoring the train station. Just in case, let's give him a heads-up," the commander said.

It's normal for Li Jin to evacuate people from the city for the safety of his intelligence personnel. That Yamamoto Special Attack Team is no simple matter, and the intelligence personnel inside the city could easily be discovered.

“Okay, then I’ll send a telegram to Li Jin to let him know,” the political commissar replied.

"Oh, by the way, how's the troop rotation between Li Yunlong and the Independent Regiment going?! When will it be settled?!" The commander asked, remembering the situation with Li Yunlong and Kong Jie.

In order to prevent the Japanese from noticing the troop rotation between the New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment, the rotation was carried out secretly, with only a few hundred men being rotated at a time.

"It should be almost done by tomorrow. Today is the last batch. Li Yunlong will also be leaving for the 772nd Regiment's garrison tomorrow," the political commissar said hurriedly.

"Yes, after they are relieved, they must be ready at any time. Once Li Jin sends them a telegram ordering them to depart, they must act immediately and not waste any time." The commander nodded in satisfaction and gave further instructions.

The New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment are weak in combat. They can exert stronger combat power by following the Special Operations Regiment. At the same time, they can also help Li Jin solve the problem of insufficient manpower. Therefore, these two regiments cannot be really blocked by the Japanese.

"Understood! Speaking of which, the commander said that the New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment haven't been given tear gas yet. Should we give it to them first?!" The political commissar hesitated for a moment before saying.

"We don't need to worry about that. They're with Li Jin. Li Jin will prepare tear gas and such for them. Besides, Li Jin might not even need the tear gas."

"Our job is simply to deliver them to other units. However, we must be careful during the transport process. If we encounter the Japanese, we must destroy them immediately. We can't let the Japanese get their hands on them," the commander said slowly.

Based on his understanding of Li Jin, he knew that the other side would definitely prepare tear gas for the New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment in advance, so the brigade headquarters didn't need to worry about it.

"That's natural." Upon hearing this, the political commissar said nothing more and turned to leave the meeting room.

The commander couldn't help but take out another map and start looking at it. The map marked the detailed locations of their troops' bases, and the most remote of these was the base of the special operations regiment, which was completely out of reach of the Japanese.

.........

On the outskirts of the Tianli Mountains, Li Jin and his group finally arrived. They were now only a day or two away from their base and took a short rest in the mountains.

"Commander, have you told Chu Yunfei about our plan targeting the Sixth Division?!" Liu Changshun took out a pack of cigarettes, offered one to Li Jin, and then asked.

“I did want to tell him, but he said there was no rush and we would know when we met up, so I didn’t insist on saying it,” Li Jin said.

"What's wrong with Chu Yunfei?! Doesn't he want to know the plan to fight the Japanese in advance?!" Liu Changshun frowned and said upon hearing this.

If he were Chu Yunfei, he would probably need to know the plan immediately. This is about fighting the Japanese, which is life-threatening. What if there are problems with the plan?

"He probably thinks that even if he knew now, it wouldn't make any difference, since he can't tell his subordinates anyway."
Moreover, during our last collaboration, I told him the specific plan, but he ultimately chose to keep it from his subordinates. I guess he felt somewhat guilty towards them.” Li Jin could probably guess that was the reason.

“That makes sense. It’s really not right to know the plan but not tell your subordinates.” After Li Jin’s explanation, Liu Changshun roughly understood Chu Yunfei’s situation.

"Commander! The political commissar has sent a telegram." At this moment, the telegraph operator rushed over and handed a telegram to Li Jin.

"What's wrong with the political commissar?!" Liu Changshun was very curious, but instead of going closer to look at the telegram, he asked.

"The Japanese reinforcements have arrived in Taiyuan," Li Jin said directly. "What?! These little devils have already arrived?! Does that mean we can start moving soon?!" Liu Changshun's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he quickly said.

These days he's been thinking about how to fight the Japanese, especially that secret Japanese unit. It sounds formidable, and if he could wipe it out, it would probably infuriate the Japanese.

"Don't rush, we need to wait a bit longer. The Japanese won't act so quickly," Li Jin said. The soldiers of those two divisions won't act easily until they've fully adapted to the environment here.

"Sigh, those Japanese devils are really troublesome. By the way, just how powerful is that secret Japanese unit?! Can it compare to ours?!" Liu Changshun sighed and asked again.

"It's hard to say. They probably won't be much worse than us, so we still need to be careful, otherwise we could easily fall into a trap!" Li Jin said with a serious expression.

"Is it really that powerful?!" Liu Changshun was somewhat skeptical, wondering if the regimental commander was being overly cautious.

"Yes, so we have to be careful. Don't forget, they were specially trained in Germany, and their weapons and equipment are probably more advanced than ours."

"In terms of individual firepower alone, they might overwhelm us. If we're careless, we'll be completely defeated," Li Jin said with a serious expression.

He wasn't really sure how powerful Yamamoto's special attack team was now, considering that the enemy's numbers had increased twentyfold.

The Japanese side had plenty of resources to train these soldiers, but it was certain that their training time was not as long as theirs.

If he wasn't mistaken, the reason the Japanese increased their numbers was because their presence made them feel a deep sense of crisis.

"Understood!" Upon hearing this, Liu Changshun abandoned his contemptuous attitude and dared not be careless anymore.

"Commander, should we distribute some of these tear gas canisters we made to the 358th Regiment?" Liu Changshun asked.

"No need. We can take down the Japanese pillboxes without even needing this thing. If we give it to the 358th Regiment, there's no guarantee they won't take it and study it."

"It's fine if they take it to study, but I'm afraid the tear gas will fall into the hands of the Japanese. Besides, the Japanese intelligence personnel are not to be underestimated. If the Japanese get their hands on it and figure it out, wouldn't other units be in trouble?" Li Jin shook his head and said.

The reason he introduced tear gas was simply to make it easier for ordinary troops to attack Japanese pillboxes.

As for them, they are completely useless. But that's not to say they are useless. It's still necessary to carry some of them. They might come in handy later and catch the Japanese off guard.

"Understood." Liu Changshun nodded quickly.

While the two were talking, another telegraph operator came over and told them that it was a telegram from the brigade headquarters, and that the content of the telegram was related to the support of the Japanese.

"Commander, it seems the higher-ups are quite well-informed. They probably get the intelligence even faster than we do," Liu Changshun remarked.

They had just received a reminder from the political commissar when the brigade headquarters also sent one, and it's likely that the brigade headquarters had discussed it at length before sending it over.

"What do you think? The commander is quite skilled in this area," Li Jin said, not at all surprised.

Li Jin then instructed the telegraph operator to send a reply to the leader, indicating that he understood.

.........

The new regiment headquarters.

When Li Yunlong learned that the commander of the 772nd Regiment had arrived, he personally went to the village entrance to greet him. After all, this troop rotation required the 772nd Regiment to withstand the pressure from the Japanese, so he had to give Cheng the Blind Man some face!
"Commander, I heard that the commander of the 772nd Regiment used to be a soldier under you?!" Zhao Gang asked.

"That's right, I was the one who taught him how to fire a gun back then." Li Yunlong said with a proud look.

"Then why is he the commander of the main force regiment, but you aren't?!" Zhao Gang laughed.

Previously, the 772nd Regiment was the main force regiment and had the authority to receive military pay from the Nationalist Army.

"Hey, damn it, why do you always bring up the most awkward things? Why didn't I become the commander of the main force regiment? It's because I made too many mistakes. Otherwise, this kid wouldn't have gotten the position." Li Yunlong said irritably.

Just thinking about it made his teeth ache with anger. He was clearly more senior than Blind Cheng. When he was the regimental commander, Blind Cheng was just a battalion commander. But after he made a few mistakes, his position as regimental commander went up and down several times, and eventually he lost the qualifications to be the commander of the main force regiment.

"Haha, I was just asking, don't be angry," Zhao Gang said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Deputy Regiment Commander Qian and Chief of Staff Zhong couldn't help but smile, finding it amusing.

"Hey, they're here." Chief of Staff Zhong quickly pointed to the distance.

Then a troop appeared from a bend in the mountain not far away, led by a middle-aged man with dark skin who was riding a horse.

Upon seeing Li Yunlong waiting at the village entrance, Blind Cheng rode his horse quickly over, the sound of hooves growing louder as he approached.

"Old Li!" Blind Cheng dismounted and stepped forward with a big smile.

"Old Cheng, it's been a long time." Li Yunlong stepped forward with a smile.

"Last time, the commander sent the 771st Regiment to relieve us, but I didn't expect to be sent here this time!" said Blind Cheng.

When Li Yunlong went to fight the Japanese 20th Division, the commander sent the 771st Regiment instead!
"This shows that the commander thinks the 772nd Regiment is more powerful. Old Cheng, the pressure your 772nd Regiment will face this time when you are rotated out of the city is not small." Li Yunlong said with a serious expression.

The Japanese have deployed significantly more troops to the New 1st Regiment than to the Independent Regiment, so the 772nd Regiment will face considerable pressure.

"Damn it, they're just little devils. If they dare come any closer, I'll beat them up!" Blind Cheng said nonchalantly.

(End of this chapter)