Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

The Japanese regimental commander was also lost in thought. The enemy had anticipated this situation, so how could they have allowed them to break through successfully?

"Brigade Commander, now is not the time to give up. We should concentrate our firepower and try to break through from the front as quickly as possible. If we can break through, the enemy will not be able to encircle us."
"In this way, if we leave one more unit behind to hold off the enemy, we can buy ourselves a chance to escape. As long as we can reach the nearest county town, we'll have a chance to survive." The Japanese regimental commander slowly explained the next part of the plan.

They weren't without a chance to escape; the Northeast Army hadn't surrounded them yet, and that was their opportunity.

"Yoshi, you're right. After all, we're a Class A division. The enemy blocking our way is just a force that doesn't even have the fighting strength of a Class B division. They definitely can't stop us!" Upon hearing this, Nakajima Ichiro's confidence soared. He immediately ordered his troops to build artillery positions and prepare to launch an attack on the enemy ahead.

Just then, a Japanese telegraph operator came to report.

"Brigade Commander, the Division Commander has sent a telegram, instructing us to break out before that Northeast Army forces can encircle us," the Japanese telegraph operator relayed the message.

"Reply immediately and say that I am already preparing for a breakthrough and believe that I will be able to break through successfully soon," said Nakajima Ichiro.

"Yes, sir!" The Japanese telegraph operator immediately turned and left.

……

Li Yunlong and his men also discovered that Japanese soldiers were building artillery positions.

"Old Li, the Japanese are building artillery positions and planning to attack the forward positions to break through. Should we interrupt them?" Zhao Gang asked.

The Japanese were afraid that the special forces regiment would block them from the rear, leaving them with no chance of escape, so they were trying to concentrate their firepower to break through their defenses.

“Of course, the Japanese devils have no chance of breaking through. Order the Gray Wolf Squad to make their move,” Li Yunlong said.

Although the Gray Wolf Squad didn't have the same combat strength as the Special Operations Regiment, they were still a bit stronger than these Japanese soldiers, especially in terms of marksmanship.

He spared no expense in using up a lot of bullets to improve the marksmanship of the Gray Wolf Squad. In terms of marksmanship alone, they were only slightly inferior to the Special Operations Regiment.

"Yes." Zhao Gang nodded, then took out his walkie-talkie and contacted the captain of the Gray Wolf Squad.

"Captain Shi, the Japanese are building artillery positions, have you seen them?!" Zhao Gang asked.

“I saw it,” Captain Shi replied.

"Kill those Japanese devils, don't give them a chance," Zhao Gang ordered.

"Yes!"

Soon, dozens of soldiers from the Gray Wolf Squad began firing at the Japanese soldiers who were building the artillery position. They were very accurate, and with just one round of fire, they wiped out most of the Japanese soldiers building the artillery position.

This situation also made the Japanese side somewhat nervous, as they hadn't expected the enemy to have such intentions.

"Immediately have the engineers build fortifications near the position to stop the enemy's snipers," a Japanese lieutenant colonel hurriedly ordered.

Nakajima Ichiro's face also darkened. If the artillery was constantly being watched by the enemy, that was not a good sign!

Once they fail to establish a defensive position, it will be difficult for them to break out.

"Old Zhao, notify the artillery company and have them aim their cannons at the Japanese artillery positions. I want them to be bombed as soon as they finish building their artillery positions!" Li Yunlong instructed Zhao Gang in the trenches on the mountain.

Although most of the mortars were lent to the special operations regiment, they still had quite a few grenade launchers, and even the grenade launchers from the 358th Regiment were borrowed by him.

"Understood!" Zhao Gang nodded, naturally understanding Li Yunlong's meaning. He quickly took out his walkie-talkie and began to relay the orders.

At this moment, the Gray Wolf Squad saw that the Japanese soldiers were starting to build fortifications, so they didn't sit still. They fired at the Japanese soldiers who were carrying sandbags, while also ordering other soldiers to move to suitable positions to attack the Japanese.

On the battlefield, both sides were engaged in fierce fighting, with constant gunfire. However, due to the distance, they were unable to carry out a large-scale massacre of the Japanese soldiers. Fortunately, they had built positions in advance, so they still held a slight advantage.

Da da da………

Bang bang bang…

Gunfire was intense; almost every second, someone was shot and fell, whether it was a Japanese soldier or a soldier from the New 1st Regiment or the 358th Regiment. They were all desperately trying to hold off the Japanese and buy time for Xu Qingfeng and his men to arrive.

Seven or eight minutes later, the Japanese artillery positions were finally ready. Many Japanese artillerymen brought in shells and were just waiting for orders to fire at the front!
Li Yunlong was naturally waiting for this opportunity, and he ordered Zhao Gang to fire the cannons.

Bang bang bang…

The artillery battery's artillery positions emitted muffled booms as shells flew in parabolic arcs and fell toward the Japanese artillery positions!
Boom boom boom......

In an instant, the area was engulfed in flames, and the Japanese artillery was directly hit, suffering heavy casualties. Some of the Japanese shells were also triggered.

One explosion after another rang out, and the Japanese soldiers near the artillery positions suffered the consequences. They did not die at the hands of the Eighth Route Army, but were instead killed by their own artillery shells.

"Haha, this is going to be a real headache for those Japanese devils!" Li Yunlong on the mountain was overjoyed to see the Japanese devils being bombed. He couldn't have been happier.

"Looking at it this way, it seems that the Japanese Class A divisions aren't all that great," Chief of Staff Zhong couldn't help but say.

Judging from the performance of these Japanese soldiers, although their reaction was indeed faster than that of other Japanese soldiers, it was nothing special. Their marksmanship and other skills were not much better than those of other Japanese soldiers.

"Old Zhong, don't be careless. The Japanese aren't good at night fighting, while our men are specially trained. In this respect, we still have the advantage."

"Don't be fooled by how fierce the fighting is now; in reality, we haven't killed many enemies. Their military skills are far superior to those of the Japanese soldiers in the Class B divisions!" Li Yunlong said with a serious expression.

He knew all too well that if it were daytime, their battle with the Japanese would not have been so easy; he estimated that many people would have been killed or wounded within minutes.

Moreover, they had made preparations in advance and built up their positions, which gave them a slight advantage. This shows that the Japanese soldiers of the Class A division were indeed very strong.

"That makes sense." Chief of Staff Zhong nodded, abandoning his dismissive attitude.

"Next, the Japanese will probably be desperate and do something rash. Old Zhao, you immediately take a battalion of men to reinforce them. The Japanese will definitely try to break through!" Li Yunlong said to Zhao Gang. The Japanese built artillery positions in the hope of breaking through more easily and reducing casualties. Now that their positions have been destroyed, the Japanese will naturally no longer care about the extent of their casualties.

.........

"Baka! The enemy actually blew up our artillery positions!" Nakajima Ichiro was so angry when he saw this that he almost vomited blood.

After enduring enemy fire to finally set up the artillery position, it was taken over by the enemy before they could even fire.

"Brigade Commander, what should we do now?! We've wasted so much time, if this drags on any longer, we won't be able to escape." The Japanese regimental commander was starting to panic.

"Keep breaking through! We absolutely cannot let the enemy surround us!" At this moment, Nakajima Ichiro didn't care how many soldiers would survive; they had to break through first before worrying about anything else.

"Yes, sir!" The Japanese regimental commander nodded.

Subsequently, the 33rd Brigade began to concentrate its firepower on the positions along the main road ahead, enduring enemy fire from the mountains while also being bombarded by artillery shells.

This resulted in heavy casualties for the Japanese brigade, and now they are willing to do anything to break through the encirclement.

However, it was impossible for them to break through successfully. Li Yunlong and his men had already taken precautions and deployed most of their light and heavy machine guns in the direction the Japanese were trying to break through.

Da da da………

Machine guns blasted fire, bullets flying at the Japanese soldiers as if they were free. The closer the Japanese got, the greater their casualties became, but the New First Regiment also suffered heavy losses.

.........

At Mount Aragaki, Tani Hisao took out a map, a map showing the location of the 33rd Brigade, and began to study whether the 33rd Brigade could successfully break through.

"Damn it! If those enemies really wipe out the 33rd Brigade, my losses will be too great!" Tani Hisao gritted his teeth in anger. These were all elite troops he had trained. If they were really wiped out, he estimated he would be so angry that he would vomit blood.

"Division Commander, I think they'll be fine. Although that Northeast Army unit is indeed powerful, don't forget, they only have a few thousand men."

"The 33rd Brigade has over 12,000 men. Even if they're no match for that Northeast Army, escaping shouldn't be a problem, as long as they hold out until Yamamoto's special attack team arrives." The Japanese regimental commander beside him comforted them.

In his view, it was unlikely that the Northeast Army, which did not cooperate with other units, could wipe out one of their brigades in a short period of time.

"Yes, the heavy casualties on Ban Hengjun's side before were only achieved through Mu Jin's cooperation with the Eighth Route Army or the Jin-Sui Army."
"Now the Eighth Route Army's Independent Regiment and New First Regiment are tied up by our people. Mu Jin can't possibly wipe out the 33rd Brigade in such a short time." Upon hearing this, Tani Hisao calmed down.

I was a bit too hasty just now and didn't think it through for a moment. That Northeast Army did have the ability to wipe out one of their brigades, but only if no one came to support the 33rd Brigade.

"Besides, that Northeast Army wouldn't be that stupid. I estimate they'll chase for at most half a day, or even less, before leaving."
"After all, they're worried that if we send reinforcements, it will be difficult for them to escape," the Japanese regimental commander analyzed again.

Based on his research on that Northeast Army, he knew that the enemy would never take such a big risk to annihilate the 33rd Brigade.

"So, according to you, the 33rd Brigade is basically out of danger?!" Tani Hisao's heart also ignited with hope.

"I can't say anything too absolute, but the 33rd Brigade has already temporarily fled, so there should be a chance to withdraw," the Japanese regimental commander said.

"Hmm, your analysis makes a lot of sense." Tani Hisao nodded, also giving his subordinate a higher opinion of him. He hadn't expected that his subordinates were so talented, able to analyze the problem so clearly.

However, just as Tani Hisao was about to say a few words of praise to the other party, a Japanese telegraph operator rushed in.

"Division Commander, a telegram from the 33rd Brigade." The Japanese telegraph operator hurriedly handed the telegram to Tani Hisao for inspection.

Hisao Tani's heart jumped. He took the telegram and examined it, his face turning grim.

"Division Commander, what happened?!" The Japanese regimental commander asked cautiously upon seeing this, already having a bad feeling.

"Damn it! How could this happen!" Tani Hisao slammed the telegram on the table, cursing under his breath.

"Division Commander, what happened?!" The Japanese regimental commander panicked and hurriedly asked.

"The 33rd Brigade was ambushed by the enemy during its retreat!" Tani Hisao said.

"What?! But the enemy had already attacked before?! How could there be extra manpower to ambush them?!" The Japanese regimental commander was shocked upon hearing this.

Previously, Ichiro Nakajima had sent a telegram informing them that the enemy had attacked the sweeping force, and that there was a large force involved. If this wasn't the entire enemy force, could it be that the enemy had grown to tens of thousands of people?!

"It wasn't the Northeast Army that attacked them, but the Eighth Route Army. Nakajima Ichiro said it was very likely the Independent Regiment of the Eighth Route Army's New First Regiment!" Tani Hisao's chest heaved violently, clearly furious.

"How could this be?! Weren't they chasing and encircling the New First Regiment in Qinghe County?! How could they possibly be here?" The Japanese regimental commander was also puzzled.

"Need I say more? Those aren't the New First Regiment over there, but other regiments of the Eighth Route Army. It's all a setup."

The enemy had already begun their preparations when they discovered Yamamoto's special attack force; their preparations began much earlier than ours.
"So we failed to detect the problem immediately, which led to the 33rd Brigade suffering the consequences!" Tani Hisao understood the situation. If the Eighth Route Army wanted to achieve this, they needed to prepare in advance to deceive their intelligence personnel and make them believe that the New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment were still there.

In reality, those two groups had already left and joined up with Mu Jin and his group.

No wonder the enemy only attacked the main force and gave the 33rd Brigade a chance to escape; it turns out they had made preparations long ago.

Because of the ambush by the New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment, the Northeast Army was able to launch its attack with peace of mind. As a result, once the 33rd Brigade was brought close to the ambush zone, it would be difficult for the 33rd Brigade to escape.

"Division Commander, analyzing this now is a waste of time. What should we do with the 33rd Brigade?!" the Japanese regimental commander said hurriedly.

If this analysis continues, the 33rd Brigade will likely be completely annihilated.

"Send a telegram to the 33rd Brigade immediately. They must break out before the enemy can surround them! Otherwise, they will have no chance at all!" Tani Hisao hurriedly issued the order.

The 1st New Regiment and the Independent Regiment were ambushing the 33rd Brigade. If they concentrate their firepower, they should be able to break through. (End of Chapter)