Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

"Anyone can say nice things, but since you also attacked the Japanese, I'll spare you for now." Upon hearing this, Blind Cheng naturally knew that this was just something the other party said to save their lives.

But at least the other side killed some Japanese soldiers. If word gets out, Hu Ergou and his men will be killed by the Japanese too.

"Thank you, Eighth Master, thank you, Eighth Master." Hu Ergou thanked him repeatedly, finally relieved that his life was saved.

“Old Zhang, as agreed, we’ll each take half of these prisoners, but…” Blind Cheng paused deliberately at the end of his sentence.

"But what?! You're not going to back out, are you?" Commander Zhang said.

“Am I that kind of person? It’s too early to talk about this now. At least we should take down the Japanese county and get their weapons and equipment first,” said Blind Cheng.

"What do you mean? Alright, alright, let's take the county town first! But taking the county town is easy, I'm worried that the Japanese soldiers inside will blow up all those weapons." Commander Zhang frowned.

Once they attack the city, the Japanese soldiers inside, seeing that the city cannot be defended, will probably go to the warehouse and destroy their weapons immediately. So, this is a big problem.

“What you said makes some sense. If we don’t take care of the Japanese in the city as soon as possible, the weapons won’t be ours.” As he spoke, Blind Cheng also fell into deep thought.

The reason Li Jin and his men were able to breach the city walls and seize weapons from the warehouses in the past was because the Japanese soldiers in the city never expected anyone to be able to breach the county town, so they did not destroy the weapons in the warehouses immediately.

Later, when Li Jin and his men attacked the county town, the Japanese knew they couldn't hold it, so they immediately destroyed the weapons in the warehouse to prevent Li Jin from capturing them.

"Hu Ergou." Blind Cheng suddenly looked at Hu Ergou!
"Eighth Master, do you have any orders?" Hu Ergou was startled and quickly said.

"How many Japanese soldiers and puppet troops are still in the city?!" Blind Cheng asked. Hu Ergou was more familiar with the current situation in the county town.

"The Japanese soldiers in the city numbered only about one small squad, around fifty or sixty men, along with over three hundred puppet troops—no, over three hundred—guarding the city."

These puppet troops are all recruited locally and have not undergone much training. Their combat effectiveness is almost negligible. As long as you attack the city, these puppet troops will not dare to fight back. Attacking the city will be a piece of cake! Hu Ergou quickly told him everything he knew.

This time, almost all the Japanese soldiers in the city were mobilized when they went into the mountains, including the puppet troops who were capable of fighting. So there were basically not many Japanese soldiers left in the city.

"Yes, it's pretty much what I predicted." Blind Cheng nodded. For these people, taking over the county town was as easy as taking candy from a baby.

"Do those puppet soldiers guarding the city gate recognize you?!" Blind Cheng continued to ask.

"They should all know me, but I don't know them," Hu Ergou said. He couldn't even name all the puppet troops under his command, let alone those who weren't under his command.

"Since we know each other, things will be easier. I have a favor to ask you," Blind Cheng said with a smile and a mysterious expression.

"Um... Eighth Master, just let me know if you need anything, as long as it's not something that sends me to my death," Hu Ergou said, his heart skipping a beat as he thought of something bad.

"Ergou, what are you saying? I would let you do dangerous things if you were a prisoner of war. We treat prisoners well, but we treat those who cooperate well. As for those who don't cooperate, you know what happens." Cheng the Blind Man's way of addressing Hu Ergou had changed, and he spoke with a smile on his face.

"I'll cooperate, I'll cooperate, but how do you expect me to cooperate?!" Hu Ergou was terrified, cold sweat pouring down his face. The other party was threatening him.

Those who cooperate will survive, while those who don't will never see the sun rise again. So what choice do they have? Of course, they choose to cooperate.

"My men will pretend to be yours, and a group of them will pretend to be wounded Japanese soldiers. Your job is just to lead us into the city," Blind Cheng said slowly.

Once they entered the city, they would head straight for the Japanese army camp, kill the Japanese soldiers inside, and prevent the Japanese from destroying the weapons in the warehouse. Once they had done that, their mission would be complete.

"This, isn't this too risky?!" Hu Ergou swallowed nervously upon hearing this. The plan sounded good, but it was a bit wasteful of prisoners. Wouldn't he get shot to death in a fight?

"Ergou, don't be afraid, we'll protect you. Anyway, once I get our stuff, your life will be safe, you know? Otherwise, I can only apologize." Blind Cheng patted Hu Ergou on the shoulder, telling him to consider the consequences.

"I'll cooperate, I'll cooperate!" Hu Ergou said immediately, his hair standing on end in fear. Although it was a bit risky, there was still a chance to survive. If he didn't cooperate, he would be sent straight to heaven.

"That's right, a wise man submits to circumstances!" Blind Cheng smiled. If this one didn't cooperate, then he would have to find another one.

In short, this method makes it relatively easy to capture the county town, and it won't come at a great cost.

"Old Cheng, we don't need to send all of us to attack such a poorly defended county town," Commander Zhang said. The county town was only guarded by a few hundred men, and although there were a few dozen Japanese soldiers, sending more than a thousand men would be giving the Japanese too much credit.

“We don’t need too many people. Each regiment can take two companies. The rest of us can escort the prisoners back to the brigade headquarters. But, just to be on the safe side, let’s leave another battalion to provide backup. If anything happens, we can provide immediate support,” Cheng the Blind said after thinking for a moment.

To attack an undefended county town, there's no need for two regiments to be involved. Sending a few thousand men as a token gesture will suffice. Their only goal is to smoothly seize the weapons from the county town's warehouse.

As for eliminating the Japanese devils, that was just a side effect.

"Yes, that's fine." Commander Zhang nodded in agreement. Sometimes it's inconvenient to move around when there are too many people. If something unexpected happens, it will be troublesome to retreat.

"Commander, we captured two radios, but they're broken, and we didn't find any codebooks either," the political commissar reported to Blind Cheng.

He immediately ordered his men to find the Japanese radios. Each Japanese regiment was equipped with two radios, but when the situation turned against them, the Japanese destroyed the radios.

"It's a bit of a pity. Those little devils really don't want to leave us anything." Blind Cheng sighed helplessly.

Radios are relatively difficult to capture because the Japanese don't give you a chance unless you can quickly annihilate the enemy like Li Jin did, leaving them no opportunity.

Of course, even Li Jin didn't manage to capture many radios. Countless Japanese soldiers died at his hands. If they could capture all the radios, each regiment of the Eighth Route Army would probably have two. "As expected, these things are indeed difficult to capture. After all, the Japanese only equip battalion-level units with one. In some ways, this thing is more valuable than a large-caliber howitzer," Commander Zhang comforted them. He understood; if they were surrounded by the Japanese and unable to break out, they would probably destroy any valuable equipment immediately.

"Forget it, forget it all. Let the soldiers strip the Japanese soldiers of their uniforms and put them on!" Blind Cheng said to the political commissar. If they were going to put on an act, they had to go all the way.

Commander Zhang just watched, without ordering his men to strip the Japanese soldiers of their clothes, because they didn't need too many people to impersonate the Japanese.

.........

Meanwhile, the Tanaka team was making rapid progress.

Suddenly, a Japanese telegraph operator rushed up to Captain Tanaka!
"Commander, something terrible has happened!" The Japanese telegraph operator's tone was urgent, and he seemed somewhat flustered, as if something serious had occurred.

"Baka, what's the rush? What happened?!" Captain Tanaka said irritably, as he was anxious to go and support the brigade commander.

"The brigade commander is in trouble. He sent a telegram saying that he was besieged by the 771st and 772nd Regiments and told us not to go to support them anymore and to withdraw from the mountains immediately." The Japanese telegraph operator explained the situation.

"What?! What did you say?!" Captain Tanaka exclaimed in shock, grabbing the Japanese telegraph operator. He could only imagine the scene of the brigade commander's accident.

"Commander, calm down!" The Japanese lieutenant colonel next to him quickly pulled Commander Tanaka away.

"Baka! How is this possible?! The 771st Regiment was attacking us these past two days, how did they suddenly turn against the brigade commander?!" Captain Tanaka said after calming down.

The brigade commander had previously sent a telegram asking if they had been attacked, which probably indicated that he sensed something was wrong, but an unexpected incident still occurred.

"The only possibility is that the enemy attacking us wasn't all the soldiers of the 771st Regiment, but only a small portion. It was a ruse to mislead us and make us think that the regiment was still here."
In fact, they had already set off for the 772nd Regiment. The Japanese lieutenant colonel analyzed the situation and was basically certain that what he said was true.

"Damn enemy, they're so cunning. It's probably too late to get there now. Let's retreat." Captain Tanaka sighed helplessly. They were now almost two days' journey from the brigade commander's position, and the enemy had already launched their general offensive tonight.

The brigade commander and his men estimated that they wouldn't be able to hold out until reinforcements arrived, which is why they sent a telegram ordering them to retreat.

"Yes, sir!" The Japanese lieutenant colonel nodded and immediately went to relay the order.

"Sigh... This operation has really been a huge loss!" Captain Tanaka sighed. Their main purpose in sending out this operation was to confirm that the Northeast Army was not in this area, and secondly, to see if they could eliminate the enemy here.

It has now been confirmed that the Northeast Army is not here, but the battle plan has not been implemented smoothly. Instead, they have suffered heavy losses, and now even their brigade commander is about to be executed.

As the order was given, the soldiers stopped and stopped supporting the Japanese brigade commander. Instead, they headed out of the mountains.

"Commander, are we going to leave the mountain now?! What about the brigade commander's body?! Are we just going to leave it like this?!" the Japanese lieutenant colonel asked. If those soldiers who died on the battlefield weren't cremated and brought back, there would probably be trouble.

"What I'm worried about now is that if we go there, the enemy might ambush us on the way. Even if we manage to escape, we'll suffer heavy losses!" Captain Tanaka said slowly.

The enemy wouldn't be satisfied with just eliminating one regiment; they might be waiting for them to walk right into their trap. Therefore, they absolutely cannot take any risks. The brigade commander has already been killed; they cannot afford to be killed as well, or the brigade will be completely wiped out.

"That's true. We probably would have done the same if we were in that situation." The Japanese lieutenant colonel was somewhat helpless. If they went there, they wouldn't be there to collect corpses, but to wait to die.

"Moreover, the fact that the brigade commander ordered us to retreat immediately indicates that the situation was already extremely urgent when he sent us the telegram, and he may have even chosen to destroy the radio station after sending the telegram!" Captain Tanaka analyzed.

"The regimental commander makes a lot of sense, that must be it. But what about the brigade commander's body? Are we really not going to take care of it?!" the Japanese lieutenant colonel said, still feeling that they should go there.

"I didn't say we wouldn't interfere, but we can't interfere now. At the very least, we have to pretend to come out of the mountains first. When the enemy is watching us, they will naturally choose to leave. The enemies who were ambushing us will also retreat. Then we can turn back to collect the brigade commander's body." Captain Tanaka slowly explained his plan.

He certainly wouldn't ignore the brigade commander's body. It was the body of a general; if they just left it to rot in the wilderness, they wouldn't be able to live either.

"I see, the regimental commander is very thoughtful." The Japanese lieutenant colonel looked enlightened and flattered Regimental Commander Tanaka.

"Alright, let's get out of the mountains first. If we don't leave, those enemies watching us won't feel at ease," said Captain Tanaka. He was somewhat heavy-hearted. This was truly the first time their brigade had suffered such a heavy loss. An entire regiment might be wiped out, and he didn't know if anyone could come to their aid.

.........

Taiyuan, Japanese military camp, command post.

Seishiro Itagata hadn't rested yet; he was on the phone with the commander of the 31st Brigade.

"Ota-kun, as I said, the enemy is likely still in the Arakumo Mountains. If you take men to collect the bodies, you'll probably just be adding a few more corpses to the pile!" Itagaki Seishiro said helplessly into the phone.

He could understand the other party's desire to collect Tani Hisao's body, after all, he was their division commander and a lieutenant general.

The problem now is that we can't be sure if the enemy is still in Huangyun Mountain. If the enemy is still there, those who go into the mountain will probably only have one fate: death.

“Commander Itagaki, I think the enemy is no longer over there. I can send an advance team to check the situation,” Ichiro Ota said.

"Baka! I already said you're not allowed to go! If you want to go, you're disobeying orders, and you're still under my jurisdiction!" Itagaki Seishiro roared in anger.

He was doing all this for the good of the 31st Brigade, so why are these people all courting death? So many have already died, even the 33rd Brigade has had an accident, and they still can't see the situation?! (End of Chapter)