Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

"Commander Kong, you should go and take on the mission of annihilating the Japanese mopping-up troops. I will send a battalion and a company to assist you," Xu Qingfeng said.

With a battalion and a company, the number of people reached more than 800. With the addition of Kong Jie's independent regiment, it would not be a problem to deal with the Japanese mopping-up troops.

Moreover, the Japanese mopping-up troops were not a single unit, but were divided into several units, so eliminating them was not a big problem.

"Okay." Kong Jie nodded in agreement.

Seeing this, Li Yunlong's lips twitched. Xu Qingfeng's arrangement was almost identical to his own. Old Kong was really bored.

"Commander Li, Commander Chu, your two regiments will be responsible for blocking the Japanese retreat routes, while I will lead the men in a frontal assault on the Japanese."

"At the same time, you should also allocate your artillery to me." Xu Qingfeng continued to give instructions. He and the remaining men, along with enough artillery, were more than capable of putting pressure on these Japanese soldiers.

Once the Japanese choose to leave, their plan will be considered a success. To be honest, he still hoped that the Japanese would choose to retreat, so that their casualties could be reduced.

“No problem,” Li Yunlong and Chu Yunfei said in unison.

"Well, I'm a little worried. What if the Japanese not only don't fall for the trap, but instead launch an attack on you?!" Commander Zhang said at this moment.

They were only thinking of forcing the Japanese to retreat, but the Japanese not only didn't retreat, they even launched an attack.

"Don't worry, even if the Japanese launch an attack, I can stop them. Then you can come to their aid and completely surround them, or..."
"I'll retreat immediately, feigning defeat, to lure the Japanese away, then launch a counterattack! You guys will need to surround them," Xu Qingfeng said, having already devised a plan for this.

"Then I have no problem!" After hearing this, Commander Zhang said no more.

"Alright, proceed as I say. Once my commander sends a telegram, we'll prepare to take action." Xu Qingfeng finalized the plan.

He then looked at the reconnaissance soldier Xiao Zhang and said, "Keep an eye on the Japanese mopping-up troops, record their positions, and then tell Commander Kong."

"Understood!" Xiao Zhang nodded in agreement.

After the plan was finalized, Xu Qingfeng told everyone to go and rest.

.........

At this moment, in the command post of the 33rd Brigade.

Brigade Commander Nakajima Ichiro summoned all his officers for a meeting.

"How's the recent sweep going?!" Nakajima Ichiro asked, his gaze sweeping over the various Japanese soldiers.

"It's still the same. All the villages we find along the way are deserted, with no supplies at all," one of the Japanese regimental commanders said.

The troops they sent to sweep through the area barely saw any enemy, and couldn't even find a single villager.

"Alright, since we can't find the enemy, let's hold off for now. They've hidden in the mountains, so it's really difficult for us to move around." Nakajima Ichiro shook his head and decided not to let the troops continue the sweep.

"Hey!" the Japanese soldiers responded in unison.

"Brigade Commander, compared to sweeping up the Eighth Route Army, I'm more concerned about that Northeast Army unit. Several days have passed, but nothing has happened at the command post."

"I wonder if that Northeast Army unit has really realized this is a trap?" The Japanese regimental commander was somewhat worried about this.

They came here to make the Northeast Army think that after attacking the command post, other troops would not be able to provide quick support, thus launching an attack and being bogged down until they were surrounded.

"We don't know the situation yet, but I think the enemy will definitely fall for it!" Nakajima Ichiro said slowly with a hint of confidence in his voice.

"Why is the brigade commander so sure?!" the Japanese regimental commander asked, puzzled.

"Because this Northeast Army is very strong, in their eyes, as long as other troops cannot support the command post, taking down the command post is a piece of cake for them!" Nakajima Ichiro explained.

In his view, the Northeast Army was so powerful that it naturally had an invincible confidence, which was actually a kind of arrogance.

The more the enemy looks down on them, the more likely they are to attack the command post. In that case, once the enemy attacks the command post, they will definitely not be able to escape.

"I see, the brigade commander is right." The Japanese regimental commander nodded repeatedly.

In fact, before encountering this Northeast Army, their division was in a similar state. After all, they were the most elite Class A divisions of the empire, capable of easily dealing with an enemy army group of over 100,000 men.

"Brigade Commander, what I'm more worried about now is whether the command post is really safe?! Can that Yamamoto Special Attack Unit really stop the attack from that Northeast Army?!" A Japanese lieutenant colonel expressed some doubts.

He still didn't quite believe that Yamamoto's special attack force could stop that Northeast Army. After all, the Northeast Army's combat power was evident to all; it was able to easily capture the 16th Division's command post in a short period of time with roughly the same number of troops.

The key point is that it wasn't all of that Northeast Army; it was at most about half.

“I also think that if they can’t hold out for that long, the enemy will probably run away before we can complete the encirclement, or even take over the command post and run away.” Another lieutenant colonel questioned, feeling that Yamamoto’s special attack team might be able to hold off the Northeast Army for a while, but not necessarily until they could complete the encirclement.

Their division commander will be in danger then.

“There’s no need to worry about that. After these days of research, we’ve found that this Northeast Army is extremely cautious. Once they realize that they can’t take the command post, they will realize that it’s a trap and choose to retreat,” said Nakajima Ichiro.

The enemy would never risk being surrounded by a direct assault.

"Uh... if the brigade commander and the others retreat in advance, how are we supposed to encircle them?!" the Japanese regimental commander couldn't help but say.

"Needless to say, Yamamoto's special forces are naturally responsible for holding them off and preventing them from escaping so easily. With their strength, although they can't annihilate the enemy, they should be able to keep them pinned down and prevent their escape."
"Then we'll be able to surround them," Nakajima Ichiro said.

Besides protecting the division commander, another mission of Yamamoto's special attack team was to hold off the enemy when they realized it was a trap and were about to retreat, thus giving other units a chance to encircle them.

"At that time, if we can't encircle the enemy within a certain time and let them escape from our side, we'll be guilty of a crime. So, once the enemy falls into the trap, you mustn't hold them back."

"If I get dragged into this and get scolded, you won't escape either!" Nakajima Ichiro threatened. The enemy could escape, but they couldn't escape through their territory; otherwise, they would be held fully responsible. "Yes, sir! Mission accomplished!" the Japanese soldiers replied.

.........

The following afternoon around 5 p.m., Li Jin and his men arrived at a mountain about 120 miles east of the Japanese command post. This location was the ambush point that Li Jin had chosen after looking at the map.

Once Yamamoto's special forces are sent to provide support, they will inevitably pass through this area, so Li Jin prepared an ambush here in advance.

"Commander, is this our ambush point?!" Liu Changshun asked Li Jin as he approached.

"Mm." Li Jin nodded.

"Then I'll send a telegram to the political commissar to inform them," Liu Changshun suggested. Xu Qingfeng had sent them a telegram last night, telling them the specific plan.

"Remind them to attack as fiercely as possible, and make the Japanese feel the sense of crisis that they will be annihilated if no reinforcements come!" Li Jin said.

If the Japanese think that even without sending Yamamoto's special forces, other units can provide support, then his plan is doomed.

Therefore, it was necessary to let the Japanese division commander know that only by sending Yamamoto's special forces could they provide rapid support and have a chance to hold them off, allowing other units to arrive and provide support.

"Yes!" Liu Changshun nodded and immediately turned to leave.

Li Jin quickly took out a map and began to study it. Currently, all units are avoiding the Japanese advance and trying to avoid engaging in combat with the Japanese to prevent heavy casualties, so his mission here is still very important.

Only by eliminating a Japanese brigade and the headquarters of the Japanese 6th Division can the Japanese be forced to deploy more Class A divisions to target him.

In this way, the pressure on other units will be greatly reduced. Although they will still face soldiers from Class A divisions, their numbers will be much smaller.

Therefore, the subsequent combat plan went more smoothly, and the casualties of the troops were reduced!

"Commander, the telegram has been sent to the political commissar, and he replied that he understands," Liu Changshun said.

"Hmm." Li Jin nodded. He still had more faith in Xu Qingfeng's abilities. With him around, the 33rd Brigade of the 6th Division would definitely not be able to escape.

"I almost forgot, send him another telegram, telling them not to wipe out the 33rd Brigade too quickly. At the very least, they shouldn't be wiped out within half a day. It will take at least half a day for the Japanese reinforcements to arrive." Li Jin slapped his forehead and quickly gave the order.

If the 33rd Brigade had been annihilated too quickly, Yamamoto's special attack team might not have been able to arrive so quickly, or even at all. That would have cost him the opportunity to destroy the Japanese command post.

"Okay." Liu Changshun sent another telegram to Xu Qingfeng.

Li Jin then continued studying the map.

.........

On the other side, Xu Qingfeng also told Li Yunlong and the others about the telegram sent by Li Jin.

Upon learning that Li Jin had instructed them not to eliminate the Japanese too quickly, Chu Yunfei's expression became somewhat strange.

"Commander Mu, do you really think we can wipe out this entire Japanese brigade in half a day?!" Fang Ligong couldn't help but ask.

That's a top-tier brigade of the Japanese, not some nobody. How could they be wiped out in half a day?! Isn't Mu Jin too confident in them?

"Brother Mu is right. We can't wipe them out too quickly. What if the Japanese don't come to our aid? Wouldn't our plan to destroy the command post be ruined?!" Li Yunlong agreed, thinking that Li Jin was right. We couldn't wipe them out too quickly, lest the plan fail!
Upon hearing this, Fang Ligong was completely bewildered and wanted to say, "Do you even want to listen to what you're saying?!"
“He doesn’t need to worry too much about that. I feel we probably can’t wipe them out that quickly,” Chu Yunfei said at this moment. He also felt that it was unlikely to wipe out the Japanese brigade within half a day.

As for Kong Jie, they had already set off to avoid missing the deadline, since it would take a considerable amount of time for the troops to reach their designated locations.

"Brother Yunfei, you've underestimated us a bit. Just wait and see!" Li Yunlong said.

"Commander Li, Commander Chu, it's about time you made your move," Xu Qingfeng reminded them. These two regiments were still tasked with blocking the Japanese retreat.

Furthermore, we need to build defensive positions; otherwise, if we directly engage the Japanese, we will suffer a great loss.

"Yes, yes, we should get moving too. Xu Qingfeng, I've given you this cannon, so don't lose it, or I'll never forgive you." Li Yunlong reminded him. He had given Xu Qingfeng almost all of his cannons, including infantry guns and small mountain guns.

He had worked so hard to accumulate this fortune, and if Xu Qingfeng were to lose the cannon, he would be furious enough to vomit blood.

"Don't worry, Commander Li, I won't lose this cannon even if I lose it," Xu Qingfeng replied. He couldn't help but chuckle when he recalled the reluctant look on Li Yunlong's face when he delivered the cannon earlier that day.

"Brother Chu, let's set off then." After hearing this, Li Yunlong finally showed Chu Yunfei and the others how to proceed.

In contrast, Chu Yunfei didn't give Xu Qingfeng any special instructions. Although he lent Xu Qingfeng all the cannons from the artillery battalion, he still cared more about Xu Qingfeng.

.........

"Deputy Regimental Commander, our firepower this time is absolutely incredible! Mortars, infantry guns, small mountain guns, and numerous grenade launchers. If we were to fire at the Japanese positions, we'd give them a real beating," the Fifth Battalion Commander said with a broad smile as he approached Xu Qingfeng.

Although they had captured more cannons in the past than all of these today combined, they did not actually possess this many.

Of course, he was referring to the current number of personnel and the number of artillery pieces they possess. If it were the entire special operations regiment, the combined number of artillery pieces would be no less than this.

After all, the number of their artillery pieces was roughly comparable to that of a Japanese brigade.

"Of course, as long as we seize the opportunity, annihilating this brigade is not a big problem." Xu Qingfeng said calmly. He had never taken this Japanese brigade too seriously, but for safety's sake, he still had to be cautious. After all, arrogance can be deadly.

"To be honest, I didn't expect the 358th Regiment to lend us their artillery. I thought they would be stingy and refuse," the Fifth Battalion Commander continued.

"Commander Chu has a great sense of the big picture. He understands that lending us artillery is also good for them. The more Japanese we kill, the fewer casualties they'll suffer," Xu Qingfeng praised. Chu Yunfei, frankly, is quite a good person; no wonder Li Jin has a good impression of him. (End of Chapter)