Anti-Japanese War: From Becoming Chu Yunfei to Rising

Chapter 552 Suppressing Bandits in Baiyun Mountain; Chu Yunfei Intends to Reorganize the Sichuan Army (Please Subscribe)

Western Henan, Baiyun Mountain bandit stronghold
Deep in Baiyun Mountain, in a strategically important mountain valley.

That was the lair of "Sky Leopard" Li San.

now.

The hall was filled with smoke, the smell of alcohol, sweat, and the pungent odor of tobacco, making it nauseating.

Li San, the bandit leader who had roamed western Henan for many years and killed countless people, was shirtless, revealing his scarred chest, with one foot on the table, as he gulped down a bowl of strong liquor.

"brothers!"

He wiped his mouth, slammed the porcelain bowl to the ground with a loud cracking sound, and yelled, "Drink! You all better drink as much as you want!"

"Everything the Japanese promised has been brought into the mountain stronghold. This gold and silver is enough for the brothers to live a carefree life for the rest of their lives!"

"In a few days, when the official appointment letters from the mountain city arrive, the brothers will be damned Nationalists. At that time, who will dare to cause us any trouble?"

"Brother is mighty!"

"Follow Master Leopard, and you'll live the high life!"

A group of bandits responded with strange shouts.

Li San looked at the scene before him with considerable satisfaction. He turned to the small-eyed advisor beside him and said, "Advisor, before we made our move, weren't you always worried that we would be surrounded and annihilated by the Nationalist army and betrayed by the Japanese?"

"A whole day has passed, and nothing has happened yet?"

The clerk with small eyes was quite puzzled: "Could it be that the National Revolutionary Army is really being suppressed by the Japanese and has no time to spare?"

Li San scoffed: "I've always heard that the National Revolutionary Army annihilated countless Japanese soldiers in various places. If that were true, would the Japanese have been able to occupy most of China?"

The shrewish advisor sighed: "The Kuomintang parasites only know how to oppress the people and force everyone to have no way to survive. Now that we've become bandits because we have nowhere else to go, our lives are actually much better than before."

"But, Leopard, are you really planning to accept Shancheng's appointment as the Commander-in-Chief of the Western Henan Guerrilla Forces? That would be going against the Japanese."

"I don't have the guts to go against the Japanese, but I do have the guts to take advantage of this opportunity to get something from Chiang Kai-shek."

While talking.

Li San pointed to the group of bandits not far away: "That's just how the brothers are. The supplies the Japanese gave us probably won't last long."

The shrewd-eyed advisor said meaningfully, "Boss Leopard, we need to find an opportunity to lead the brothers on another heist. We can't just be the ones making all the money while the rest of the crew don't get much."

Li San gave the advisor a deep look and slowly nodded: "You're right, there are still too many brothers, making us too big a target."

"We need to find another opportunity to pull off another heist."

Not far away, some of the bandits were playing drinking games and gambling, while others were wiping the various firearms in their hands, all with excited expressions on their faces.

In this age when human life is as cheap as grass.

For these bandits, it was perfectly normal for some familiar faces to die.

The more people die, the more wine, meat, and money they get.

A young bandit who had recently joined the gang said to the older bandit beside him with some worry, "Sixth Uncle, I heard that a lot of brothers died this time. Did we run into some tough nut to crack?"

The old bandit, known as "Uncle Six," took a sip of his murky, earthy liquor and scoffed dismissively, "What's there to be afraid of!"

"If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up. No matter how powerful those Nationalist soldiers are, can they fly into this godforsaken mountain valley?"

"Brother Leopard said that the main force of the National Revolutionary Army is fighting the Japanese to the death, so they don't have time to care about us."

The young bandit ate the dried meat on the table: "Sixth Uncle, I have a feeling that the National Army will definitely retaliate."

The old bandit didn't care at all: "This Baiyun Mountain is high and the road is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Even if they come, they'll skin me alive!"

however.

He didn't finish his sentence.

A strange and terrifying roar suddenly came from the distant horizon.

The sound grew louder and louder as it approached from afar, like some giant beast roaring through the sky as it rapidly drew near!

"what sound?!"

The clamor in the Hall of Gathering Righteousness instantly ceased.

All the bandits instinctively stopped what they were doing, their faces showing confusion and unease.

Li San also frowned and listened intently.

The sound was almost within reach, carrying a chilling sense of oppression.

"It's a Japanese iron bird!"

A bandit who had once seen the world in the city pointed at the sky, his face ashen and his voice trembling.

Everyone rushed out of the assembly hall and looked up.

Several black dots emerged from the clouds, leaving long trails, and swooped down toward their mountain pass at an incredible speed!

The next second, destruction struck.

“Da da da da—!”

Six machine guns simultaneously spewed out devastating flames!

The thick tracer bullet chain covered the entire valley in an instant with a brutal and unreasonable manner!
Those bandits who were just shouting didn't even have time to let out a scream before they were riddled with bullets and turned into blood mist and pieces of flesh.

The rudimentary wooden and stone fortifications were as fragile as paper under the strafing of aircraft machine guns, and were instantly torn to shreds.

"Blue sky and white sun! It's the National Revolutionary Army!"

"It's a Nationalist army iron bird!"

"Run! Run!"

Fear spread like a plague among the bandits.

They never imagined that one day they would face an attack from the sky.

This completely incomprehensible and irresistible force instantly shattered all their psychological defenses.

Li San was also stunned by the sudden air raid.

He scrambled behind a huge rock, yelling hoarsely, "Take cover! All of you, find somewhere to lie down!"

A trusted aide stepped forward, grabbed Li San's arm, and loudly urged, "Brother Leopard, we should go now. If we don't leave now, it may be too late."

"Bullshit! My business, built up over a decade ago, is all here in Baiyun Mountain. How could I possibly give it up so easily?"

Boom!

Boom!

The sound of explosions was endless.

At some point, the shrewd advisor also ran up to Li San's side and advised, "Brother Leopard, the Japanese can't be trusted, and that so-called special envoy is probably no good either."

Before the small-eyed "advisor" could finish speaking...

Suddenly, a raging fire broke out in a room not far away.

Li San was extremely surprised: "Oh no, the people from Shancheng are still in the room."

“Brother, those guys are probably no good either. At least the Japanese gave us real money, but they only offered a letter of appointment.” As they were talking, the small-eyed advisor suddenly realized, “The title of commander of the western Henan guerrilla force doesn’t fall into our laps so easily. This is probably bait. They might not even be from Shancheng!”

"what do you mean?"

"Hey, Leopard, as long as we're alive, we can always make a comeback! Let's get out of here!"

Li San gritted his teeth, glanced at the fleeing bandits, and made his final decision: "Go!"
-
Outside Baiyun Mountain.

Chu Yunfei raised his binoculars and looked at the Sichuan army troops attacking not far away.

The company commanders of each unit were on the front line, personally leading their teams in the attack.

The battalion commander, on the other hand, was at the forefront, using his loud voice to direct the troops' attack.

The 125th Division of the Sichuan Army did not have any specific attack formation.

Aside from being fearless and appearing quite brave, there doesn't seem to be anything commendable about him.

"Commander Chu, what do you think of our troops?"

Wang Shijun seemed quite proud. He pointed to the attacking troops in the distance and said, "These Sichuan soldiers under my command will carry out the attack order without hesitation or compromise."

Upon hearing this, Chu Yunfei put down his binoculars and said without hesitation, "Deputy Commander Wang, if I may be so blunt, the soldiers are good soldiers, but the officers' command ability is a big problem."

"Their attacks lacked any coordination or cover. They could certainly gain an advantage against such ragtag bandits by relying solely on their courage, but if such a force were to engage the Japanese army, they would likely be utterly defeated."

Wang Shijun was also taken aback, never expecting Chu Yunfei to speak so bluntly: "Commander Chu, we..."

“I know that your Sichuan Army is extremely cautious about even sending soldiers to the Army University for further studies. As for the junior officers, few of them are graduates of Whampoa Military Academy. Even those who are from Whampoa are basically greenhorns with little combat experience.”

"We, this generation, were forged in the crucible of war; we are now the officers of the Whampoa Military Academy."

Chu Yunfei shook his head, quite emotional: "Military skills are getting worse year by year, while political education is increasing year by year. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing."

Wang Shijun wisely kept his mouth shut.

Soon, the adjutant Sun Ming stepped forward: "Sir, we have just received news from the Burma direction that the Siam offensive began yesterday. The Fifth Army, as the main force of the attack, has performed exceptionally well. Its vanguard, the 200th Division, has already broken through the first line of defense of the Japanese army, and it is estimated that more than a thousand enemy soldiers have been killed. They are also launching an attack on the Ban Na line."

"Banner Line?"

Chu Yunfei raised an eyebrow: "Then they're less than eighty kilometers away from the Banlongda Prefecture line, right?"

"Yes, the current progress of the battle is almost exactly as you previously predicted."

Sun Ming was slightly worried: "The Banlong-Dafu line is the decisive battleground that the Japanese army has planned in advance. Terauchi Hisaichi, that old devil, is very likely to follow our army's strategy and tactics and fight the Fifth Army under Commander Zheng in the Dafu line."

"The 50-kilometer defensive line was slowed down, coupled with the special terrain."

"It might indeed cause considerable trouble for our army."

"Even if we win the battle, we will not be able to break through the Japanese defensive positions along the Chao Phraya River."

Chu Yunfei's demand that the troops learn river assault tactics was not without reason.

The breakthrough along the Salween River in Myanmar was purely due to the Japanese army's deliberate abandonment of their defenses.

If the 55th Division had not been nearly annihilated at Biaoguan, the 18th Division would not have suffered heavy losses.

Terauchi Hisaichi could easily have deployed defenses along the river.

However, at that time, the Japanese still wanted to turn the tide, defeat the Nationalist army, and successfully occupy the Yenangyaung Oilfield, the only oilfield in Southeast Asia.

Now, the Japanese military is focused on building up its national defense perimeter.

Breaking through the Japanese defenses would not be so easy.

Wang Shijun asked, puzzled, "Commander Sun, is the situation in Myanmar not optimistic?"

PS: Sun Ming's military rank was the same as Wang Shijun's, but his position was slightly higher. Sun Ming was only thirty years old at the time, which could be considered as young and promising.

Sun Ming turned around and explained, "Commander Wang, the situation in Burma is currently extremely optimistic. However, it will be difficult for us to annihilate the main Japanese forces in the Siam region in a short period of time. This is why Your Excellency is focusing your efforts on reorganizing the troops."

far away.

The battle cries were deafening, and the Sichuan Army soldiers easily defeated the bandit troops who attempted to resist.

Chu Yunfei handed the binoculars in his hand to Sun Ming, who was standing next to him, and asked earnestly:

"Commander Wang, what do you think your division's combat effectiveness is compared to the rest of the 22nd Army?"

Wang Shijun confidently replied, "Naturally, they are the main force."

"Would Commander Wang be willing to pursue further studies at the Army University and advance his career?"

Wang Shijun hesitated slightly.

He's already a Deputy A-level Commander, and that's the next step.
It is indeed necessary for the establishment of the Army General Class.

"Commander Chu, what do you mean?"

Chu Yunfei frowned and continued, "I don't know how strong the Second Army Group is now, but judging from today's battle, your army's combat strength is indeed rather low, and its performance is truly unacceptable. It is even inferior to the 122nd Division of the Sichuan Army at the beginning of the War of Resistance."

Wang Shijun fell silent.

Chu Yunfei seemed to be talking about the bandit suppression operation, but he was actually alluding to something else.

Previously, much of the weapons and equipment that front-line troops had replaced were distributed to various theater commands.

Although the 22nd Army was assigned to the later batch of reinforcements, it still received some domestically produced weapons.

The 125th Division today is much better equipped than it was at the beginning of the War of Resistance against Japan.

But judging solely from the performance in this battle...

The 125th Division not only failed to make any progress, but its combat effectiveness even declined compared to before.

This is not a problem of equipment, nor is it a problem of supplies.

This is a problem of command by officers, and a problem of morale.

The current state of the Sichuan Army is not a supplementary issue to what Zhao Weibin mentioned.

It is not just about mutual trust, but about genuine trust.

Chu Yunfei already had a corresponding plan for organizing things.

First and foremost, there needs to be mutual trust among the top leadership; at the very least, Sun Zhen, Wang Mingzhang, and Wang Shijun need to understand this.

They are not discarded pawns of military reform; they simply need to accelerate their pace and keep up with the modernization of the National Revolutionary Army.

Instead of sticking to the old ways and using the tactics and methods from the previous warlord wars.

Even if such troops did have outstanding performances and merits in the War of Resistance Against Japan, they should be dispersed and supplemented to other units, or even directly disbanded.

"Commander Chu, does the Shancheng government intend to withdraw our troop designation and send us back to Sichuan?"

Chu Yunfei shook his head, his face serious: "No, if that's the case, then it wouldn't be me, Chu Yunfei, who came to the Fifth War Zone, but Commander He, or perhaps Commander Chen."

"Perhaps you will suffer heavy losses in a certain battle and will be unable to replenish your forces in a short period of time. In this case, Commander Chen of the Ministry of Military Affairs will have no choice but to revoke your 'unit designation'."

"Commander Wang, if I may be frank, your army may need a comprehensive replenishment and reorganization."

"I want to give you a chance."

Wang Shijun paused, his face grave. "Please enlighten me, Commander Chu."

(End of this chapter)