Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

In just a few minutes, the battlefield was cleared. All the defenders of Qingyuan Bridge were killed in action, and a number of rifles and bullets were captured, along with several grenade launchers and light and heavy machine guns.

At this moment, on the bridge, the soldiers were placing explosive charges. In order to blow up the bridge, they had used almost all the explosive charges they had brought.

"Commander, the explosives have all been planted, but judging from the situation, it's unlikely we can blow up the entire bridge," a squad leader reported to Blind Cheng.

The bridge is quite long, and it's unlikely that you can destroy it without carrying enough explosives.

"Yes, as expected. It's alright, just blow up as many as you can." Blind Cheng nodded. In fact, he had anticipated this and knew that blowing up such a long bridge would be quite difficult.

When Li Yunlong and his men blew up the bridge, they used a lot of explosives to destroy it, but they didn't carry enough explosives.

"Yes." The squad leader nodded, and then Blind Cheng went to the location where the detonator was placed. It was about several dozen meters away from the bridge, which was relatively safe.

"Have the soldiers on the bridge return immediately after they finish placing the explosives, and prepare to detonate them," Cheng the Blind ordered. There were still soldiers on the bridge placing the explosive charges.

After waiting for a few minutes, all the soldiers on the bridge left. Without hesitation, Blind Cheng pressed the switch of the detonator.

Boom boom boom......

Soon, one explosive charge after another detonated, flames shot up from the bridge, the ground trembled, debris flew everywhere, and the entire bridge shook.

As more and more explosive charges detonated, the bridge trembled more and more violently. One section of the bridge even developed a huge crack, and then section after section of the bridge plunged into the water with a series of splashes.

When the explosions stopped, only half of the bridge, which was over a hundred meters long, remained; the rest had fallen into the water.

Although only half of the bridge remained, many cracks appeared on the surface of that half, making it a dangerous bridge. Even if the Japanese wanted to continue using it, they dared not. In the end, they had no choice but to blow up that half of the bridge and rebuild it.

"That's fine." Blind Cheng nodded in satisfaction. He didn't believe the Japanese would dare to continue building on the broken bridge unless they weren't afraid that the bridge would collapse and cause the train to sink to the bottom of the river.

"Oh, right, notify the soldiers of the Second Company that we are retreating," Cheng the Blind said. He only asked the soldiers of the Second Company to lay landmines on the main road where the Japanese came from the transit station. As for how many would be killed, he didn't care.

In short, they're retreating, so let the Japanese suffer in fear.

"Commander, do you think the Japanese will send troops to surround us?!" The company commander was worried, wondering if the Japanese would come and surround them.

If they really come over, their small force won't be able to hold off so many Japanese soldiers.

"Don't worry, they won't dare come over. They're more afraid we're setting a trap for them. The Japanese are probably wondering if that Northeast Army is involved," Blind Cheng said with a smile.

"That's true. So, Li Jin and his men really scared the Japanese." The company commander couldn't help but laugh as he finished speaking.

Seeing how much the Japanese soldiers feared their troops, he felt a surge of joy.

"Of course! Li Jin and his men have inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese in such a short time, even taking down the commander of the 16th Division. How could the Japanese not be afraid?" Blind Cheng thought it was only natural that the Japanese were afraid.

"That's true. Let alone the Japanese, if we encountered an enemy like Li Jin, we'd probably be terrified too," the company commander nodded and said.

Li Jin's special operations regiment was terrifyingly powerful; even the Japanese were no match for him, let alone them.

"So, thankfully, these people are on our side," Cheng the Blind said as he walked. A few minutes later, the soldiers from the Second Company also came to join him.

"Commander, the landmines are all planted. If the Japanese dare to come over, they're definitely in trouble," the second company commander said.

"Okay, let's retreat and return to the New First Regiment's base." Blind Cheng ordered, leading everyone into the mountains and taking a detour towards the New First Regiment's base.

.........

The reinforcements sent from the transfer station to Qingyuan Bridge are less than seven or eight miles away and will arrive in no more than ten minutes.

Suddenly, a huge explosion was heard in the distance, which caused the convoy to stop.

"Damn it, Qingyuan Bridge still couldn't be held, it was blown up by the enemy!" A Japanese lieutenant got out of the car. Hearing the continuous loud explosions, he immediately knew that only a powerful explosive charge could produce such a loud sound.

Since the soldiers at Qingyuan Bridge didn't have a chance to use the explosives, the only option left was the enemy!

"Lieutenant, that's unlikely. Only a dozen minutes have passed since we received the distress call."

"Qingyuan Bridge has been captured by the enemy?!" a Japanese lieutenant exclaimed, somewhat incredulous. The garrison at Qingyuan Bridge numbered at least two companies, more than 120 men. How could it have been captured in such a short time?

“Nothing is impossible. The new 1st Regiment has far more men and firepower than the defenders of Qingyuan Bridge, and their combat effectiveness is not much weaker than the defenders. Plus, they launched a surprise attack. Under these circumstances, do you think the defenders can hold out?” the Japanese lieutenant said.

He felt it was impossible with any other group, but with a new group, he felt it was very likely.

“This…” The Japanese lieutenant fell silent.

"The new First Regiment is growing too fast. It might not be long before their combat power surpasses ours," the Japanese lieutenant worried.

Given this situation, it's entirely possible that the new First Regiment could surpass them. At that point, will they still be able to deal with the new First Regiment?

"I'm wondering if the regimental commander has already sent men to surround them. After the New First Regiment blew up the bridge, they can only retreat into the mountains. If the regimental commander sends men, there should be a chance they can be stopped," the Japanese lieutenant said after thinking for a moment.

"Do you think the New First Regiment would dare to do this without leaving any backup plans? Don't forget, that Northeast Army unit that has a very good relationship with the New First Regiment might have been waiting for the regimental commander to send someone to attack," the Japanese lieutenant analyzed.

To put it bluntly, they didn't dare gamble that the Northeast Army wasn't there, so they could only let the New First Regiment blow up their bridge.

"Yeah, that damned New First Regiment. They bombed Qingyuan Bridge twice already, and that wasn't enough, they came to bomb it again! They're not treating us like human beings at all." The Japanese lieutenant couldn't help but curse.

The repeated bombings of Qingyuan Bridge made him feel very uncomfortable.

"Sigh... Who told them to have such powerful external support? We should be thankful that the enemy didn't attack the transit station at the same time, otherwise the losses would have been even greater," the Japanese lieutenant said. He remembered that the New First Regiment not only blew up the bridge, but also captured the transit station, looted a lot of supplies, and burned all the supplies that couldn't be taken away. It was said that two howitzers were also destroyed, resulting in extremely heavy losses.

"Lieutenant, what you've said suddenly makes me a little worried about the transit station. Could this be a diversionary tactic by the enemy, so they can take advantage of our absence to attack the transit station?" the Japanese lieutenant quickly said.

"Baka! What you said makes sense, let's go back quickly." The Japanese lieutenant cursed and was about to get into the car when the sound of a motorcycle came from behind, attracting his attention.

This made his heart skip a beat. Could the enemy really have attacked the transit station? Was this a message from the captain ordering them to go back and provide support?
"Lieutenant, the captain wants you to go back immediately and not go to Qingyuan Bridge." The motorcycle stopped in front of the Japanese lieutenant, and he quickly explained his purpose.

"Is the captain worried that the enemy will attack the transit station, which is why he's calling us back?!" the Japanese lieutenant asked.

"No, the captain was worried that you might be ambushed by the enemy on the way, so he sent me to call you back," the Japanese soldier said, shaking his head.

As soon as the words were spoken, the Japanese lieutenant fell silent. He was worried about the transit station, while the captain was worried about them, and it sounded very likely.

If they continued towards Qingyuan Bridge, they might actually be ambushed by the enemy.

"Lieutenant, you should hurry back to the transit station. No matter what the enemy is thinking, ensuring the transit station remains safe is more important," the Japanese soldier said.

"Hmm." The Japanese lieutenant nodded, got into the car, and immediately ordered the troops to return to the transit station.

A dozen minutes later, the convoy entered the transit station. The journey was peaceful, and they did not encounter any enemy attacks.

The Japanese captain paced back and forth in the open space of the transit station, waiting anxiously. When he saw the convoy return, he breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried that the soldiers he had sent to provide support might also have encountered trouble.

"Captain, if we just come back like this, won't the regimental commander blame us if he finds out we didn't go to provide support?" The Japanese lieutenant got out of the car, saluted the Japanese captain, and said.

When Qingyuan Bridge was attacked, they chose to remain still for fear of being attacked by the enemy, which ultimately led to the destruction of Qingyuan Bridge. They will probably be punished by the regimental commander.

"Don't worry, Qingyuan Bridge is too dangerous. There's a good chance someone will ambush you on the way, so it's safer to retreat. This is also the order from the regimental commander," the Japanese captain said. If the regimental commander hadn't called to inform him, he wouldn't have sent someone to call back the soldiers who were supporting Qingyuan Bridge.

"I have a strange feeling about tonight. Is the New First Regiment really only targeting Qingyuan Bridge?!"

In the past, we probably would have been attacked long ago, and even the transit station would likely have been no exception. Why does the new regiment give me this feeling tonight?

"They seem short-handed, but their ability to annihilate the defenders of Qingyuan Bridge in such a short time clearly indicates they are from the New First Regiment." The Japanese lieutenant frowned and began to analyze.

Thinking about it carefully, it really wasn't right. Along the way, there were several places that were suitable for an ambush, but they weren't ambushed.

Moreover, the fact that the transit station has remained intact so far indicates that the enemy has not targeted it at all. This suggests that the enemy's numbers are not large enough to simultaneously target the garrisons in several locations.

“What you said makes sense. If that’s the case, then the enemy doesn’t actually have that many people at all!” The Japanese captain nodded and said.

"Yes, I think that's it, but we can't rule out the possibility that they did it on purpose, making us think that's all the men they have, so that we'll report to the regimental commander. If the regimental commander sends men, they'll probably fall into a trap!" The Japanese lieutenant changed his tone and contradicted what he had said earlier.

Ultimately, whether or not they would take action always depended on whether the Northeast Army was involved.

This Northeast Army has become a psychological shadow for them. If they cannot get rid of this Northeast Army, their psychological shadow will continue to exist.

"Damn it! This is really troublesome. Oh well, we'll just stay in the transit station. We don't need to tell the regimental commander about your guess." The Japanese captain was somewhat helpless. No matter what they did, there might be problems. The best thing to do was to do nothing and say nothing.

"Yes, sir!" The Japanese lieutenant nodded.

Then, the Japanese captain went to the communications room and made a phone call to the Japanese regimental commander.

"How is it?! Have the soldiers we sent out been called back?!" the Japanese regimental commander asked anxiously.

"They're back, and nothing happened," the Japanese captain replied.

"That's good. Once it's light, send some men over to check the situation. Remember, send an advance team to scout ahead, just in case we get attacked by the enemy." The Japanese regimental commander gave the order.

Qingyuan Bridge cannot be defended, so we can only try to minimize the losses.

"Yes, sir!" the Japanese captain replied.

"That's all for now." The Japanese regimental commander hung up the phone.

"Captain, what did the regimental commander say?!" the Japanese lieutenant asked.

"The regimental commander told us to go at dawn..." The Japanese captain recounted the instructions given by the regimental commander.

"I understand. Speaking of which, when I was still more than ten minutes away from Qingyuan Bridge, I heard a loud explosion over there. It was clearly the sound of a bomb exploding," the Japanese lieutenant recounted.

"What?! So, the enemy who attacked Qingyuan Bridge took out the garrison there in just over ten minutes?! And they even planted explosives on the bridge?!" The Japanese captain was shocked upon hearing this.

He hadn't expected the enemy that attacked the Qingyuan Bridge garrison to be so powerful.

"Yes." The Japanese lieutenant nodded.

"Could it be that the Northeast Army was involved?" the Japanese captain wondered.
"It shouldn't be, it's the New First Regiment. After all these years of development..." The Japanese lieutenant repeated what he had said earlier.

"Tsk, what a hassle. That Northeast Army was already a headache, and now the New 1st Regiment is growing so fast!" The Japanese captain was irritated. He just couldn't understand why this was happening!
They have suffered one defeat after another in the past two years, and countless soldiers have died in battle.

"I'm going to rest for a while. You can set off for Qingyuan Bridge around seven o'clock. Remember, send an advance team to scout ahead!" After saying this, the Japanese captain covered his head and left the communications room, heading towards his own room.

(End of this chapter)