Bright Sword: I am an undercover agent in the puppet army

After dawn.

Taiyuan City.

Headquarters of the Japanese 1st Army.

Yoshio Shinotsuka exclaimed in surprise, "What? What are you saying? The Eighth Route Army has already withdrawn from Shexian, Licheng, Pingshun, Lingchuan, Heshun and other places?"

The communications section chief, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, respectfully bowed and reported: "Hey, those damned Eighth Route Army guerrillas, they withdrew from all these places before dawn."

"What's going on with the Eighth Route Army? How come this is completely different from what we were doing before?" Yoshio Shinotsuka was full of doubt. He had mobilized tens of thousands of troops and even had all the planes of the First Air Wing take off in order to recapture these lost counties. But as soon as he arrived, he was given this news.

He immediately felt like he had punched cotton, as if he had been played for a fool.

The chief of staff, Hideyoshi Kusuyama, asked in bewilderment, "Could it be that those damned Eighth Route Army guerrillas knew they couldn't hold these counties and, under the tyranny of our Great Japanese Army, took the initiative to withdraw?"

"Yosh, that must be it!"

Yoshio Shinotsuka said, "Now it seems that this is indeed the case. However, although the Chinese Eighth Route Army has withdrawn its troops, it has plundered a large amount of supplies from these counties, which is still a huge loss for the Locust Army."

Hideyoshi Kusuyama added, "In that case, what the Eighth Route Army wants is not the territory, but the resources on it."

They certainly won't give up so easily; they'll definitely have a next step in their plan.

Yoshio Shinotsuka: "Kusuyama-kun, do you mean those damned Eighth Route Army guerrillas will attack other counties?"

Hideyoshi Kusuyama: "We cannot rule out that possibility."

Yoshio Shinotsuka asked with a grim expression, "Then what should we do?"

Hideyoshi Kusuyama said, "There is an old Chinese saying: 'You can only be a thief for a thousand days, but you can't guard against thieves for a thousand days.'"

Therefore, the only way to solve this once and for all is to amass a large army and completely annihilate those damned Chinese Eighth Route Army guerrillas.

Yoshio Shinotsuka frowned: "Kusuyama-kun, you know that our First Army no longer has the strength to wipe out the Eighth Route Army, otherwise we would have already taken action."

Hideyoshi Kusuyama: "This humble servant is certainly aware of this. For now, we can first dispatch more troops, such as the Osaka Division, to strengthen the defenses of Shexian, Licheng, Pingshun, Lingchuan, Heshun, and the surrounding major prefectures."

At the same time, we requested permission from higher authorities to have the army headquarters send troops to provide us with tactical guidance.

"Alright! That's all we can do for now." Yoshio Shinotsuka nodded, then asked Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the communications section chief who was still waiting nearby, "Toyotomi-kun, has the Osaka Division set off for the front lines after receiving orders?"

Toyotomi Hideyoshi: "No."

"What?!" Yoshio Shinotsuka exclaimed, taken aback. "Why is that?"

Toyotomi Hideyoshi said, "According to General Kitano, their Osaka Division achieved considerable success in the previous sweeping operations, eliminating a large number of Eighth Route Army soldiers."

However, they also suffered considerable casualties, especially injuries, with more than 60% of the Locust Army soldiers suffering some kind of injury.

Currently, the Osaka Division is recovering from injuries and is therefore temporarily unable to deploy to the front lines.

After a pause, Toyotomi Hideyoshi added, "However, General Kitano said that once the wounded soldiers of their Osaka Division have recovered sufficiently, they will immediately head to the front lines!"

"Baka!" Yoshio Shinotsuka shouted angrily, his face dark with rage. "Kenzo Kitano is clearly faking his injury and deliberately refusing to carry out military orders!"

"The Osaka Division probably didn't even engage the Eighth Route Army, so how could they have suffered casualties? And even inflicted heavy losses on the Eighth Route Army? Then why did the Eighth Route Army still have the ability to attack major county towns controlled by the Imperial Army?"

Hideyoshi Kusuyama said, "Commander, please calm down. The Osaka Division has a precedent for this. It's not worth getting sick over these idiots."

Shexian, Licheng, Pingshun, Lingchuan, Heshun, Liaoxian, and Qinxian have all been attacked by the Eighth Route Army, and local celebrities and gentry have been extorted by the Eighth Route Army.

If nothing unexpected happens, they will definitely attack the other counties next, instead of these ones.

Therefore, we can focus on defending the surrounding counties, which will barely suffice for our troop strength.

Yoshio Shinotsuka nodded: "Yoshi! That's definitely a good idea."

……

Time flies, and two days have passed in the blink of an eye.

The Eighth Route Army did not launch any further attacks, which finally put Yoshio Shinotsuka's mind at ease.

Little did they know that the Eighth Route Army had already shifted its strategic focus from the counties surrounding the Taihang Mountains to Wusu Airport on the outskirts of Taiyuan.

After leaving the 386th Brigade headquarters, Xu Yang arrived at the secret liaison point of the Independent Third Battalion of the puppet army and successfully met up with Shi Yibiao, Ma Tong, Niu Dazhuang and the others.

Ma Tong asked Xu Yang, "Battalion Commander, are we really going to take these things we have and attack the Japanese airfield?"

The Third Independent Battalion of the puppet army was lightly equipped, carrying only guns and ammunition, but no artillery.

Xu Yang shook his head: "No, use artillery fire. Launch a long-range attack on the Japanese airfield, destroy all the planes inside, and then blow up the airfield completely at close range."

Commander Ma: "But we don't have any artillery. Did you bring artillery with you, Battalion Commander?"

Xu Yang: "No, but can we go buy it now?"

Ma Tong: "Where are we going to buy it? Are we going to the Osaka Division?"

Xu Yang nodded: "That's right."

……

Osaka Division Headquarters.

Xu Yang, disguised and carrying two heavy wooden boxes, went to find Kitano Kenzo.

After the last incident, a rift developed between Kitano Kenzo and Xu Yang, so he didn't have much goodwill towards this uninvited guest. He asked with a stern face, "Mr. Yu, what brings you here?"

Xu Yang laughed and said, "Of course, it's to send money to you, Commander Kitano."

Kenzo Kitano looked puzzled: "Giving me money?"

"Not bad!"

After saying that, Xu Yang gave Ma Tong a wink. Ma Tong understood immediately, lifted the two large wooden boxes onto the table, and opened the lids.

Then, the bright green yen notes inside immediately appeared before Kitano Kenzo's eyes.

The stacks of brand-new yen, just like they'd been withdrawn from the bank, amounted to at least 800 million yen, which completely stunned Kenzo Kitano.

"Mr. Yu, what do you mean by this?"

Xu Yang: "Last time I wanted to continue the deal with Division Commander Kitano, but he said he had military duties to attend to and needed to return to Taiyuan City immediately, so I had no choice but to come to him in person."

Kitano Kenzo asked suspiciously, "I wonder what you're planning to buy this time, Mr. Yu?"

Xu Yang: "20 Type 92 heavy machine guns, 20 Type 92 infantry guns, 20 Type 97 light mortars, 10 Type 41 mountain guns, plus 10 basic loads of ammunition."

Kenzo Kitano: "This amount of weaponry isn't worth that much money."

Xu Yang: "Didn't we reach a deep strategic cooperation agreement? Let's leave the remaining money here for now as a deposit. Otherwise, we won't be able to take all the weapons and equipment we've purchased with us."

Kenzo Kitano: "Does Mr. Yu mean that I don't need to send someone to deliver the weapons and equipment you purchased this time?"

Xu Yang: "I would like to, but the key is that you, Commander Kitano, are unwilling. In order to avoid causing some unnecessary suspicion and affecting our cooperation, I have no choice but to come and pick it up myself."

After a pause, Xu Yang changed the subject and continued, "However, you, Commander Kitano, need to send this batch of weapons and equipment out of Taiyuan City for me. Otherwise, I don't have the ability to transport them out of the city."

Kitano Kenzo stared at Xu Yang, seemingly trying to discern something from his face and eyes, but all he saw was an honest expression. He couldn't help but wonder if he had misunderstood the Eighth Route Army back then. Did they really only want to buy our equipment and supplies, and not have any ill intentions towards our Osaka Division?

Kitano Kenzo quickly said, "Of course there is no problem with that. However, according to reliable intelligence, your Eighth Route Army already has a large number of large-caliber artillery pieces. Why do you still value our Type 41 mountain guns?"

Xu Yang: "I wonder where Commander Kitano got this false information from?"

Kitano Kenzo: "Weren't you the Eighth Route Army the ones who attacked Liaoxian, Qinxian and other county towns in southeastern Shanxi one after another?"

Xu Yang: "How could our Eighth Route Army have such strength? To be honest, we are also very puzzled by this. We have conducted an in-depth investigation into this matter in the past two days and found that it was actually the Jin-Sui Army that attacked Liaoxian, Qinxian and other places."

The reason they are flying the flag of our Eighth Route Army is because they are afraid of retaliation from your Japanese army and want to shift the blame onto us.

"Oh! I see!" Kitano Kenzo nodded in realization. He had a good understanding of the situation in China and knew about Chiang Kai-shek and Yan Xishan's attitude towards the Eighth Route Army.

Given Yan Xishan's personality, he might actually be capable of doing such a thing, especially after the Hundred Regiments Offensive, when the Eighth Route Army displayed unprecedented strength, which would inevitably make Yan Xishan increasingly worried.

After hearing Xu Yang's words, although he didn't completely believe it, he believed it to some extent...

After another round of casual conversation to build rapport, Kitano Kenzo smiled knowingly and earnestly urged Xu Yang to stay, saying, "Boss Yu, a new batch of Kyoto geishas have arrived in Taiyuan City. I've invited them to my division headquarters today to entertain the soldiers of my Osaka Division. Shall we enjoy their performance together?"

Xu Yang waved his hand: "Commander Kitano, I appreciate your kindness, but I have to rush back to report today. Next time, I will definitely take a good look next time."

Upon hearing Xu Yang's words, Ma Tong, standing to the side, looked regretful. Ever since the last "anti-Japanese" incident, he had developed a strong interest in teaching Japanese women a lesson.

Kenzo Kitano: "Since Mr. Yu has important matters to attend to, I will not try to keep him."

……

That night.

12 points in the early hours.

On an open space about two kilometers southeast of Wusu Airport.

Twenty Type 20 infantry guns, twenty Type 20 light mortars, and one Type 1 mountain gun were lined up in a row, their muzzles pointing directly at the airport two kilometers away.

Behind the gun emplacement, shell boxes with their lids pried open were neatly stacked.

Xu Yang led a few scouts to quietly approach and investigate for a while. Perhaps because Taiyuan was the heart of the Japanese 1st Army's controlled area, with at least two brigades of general reserves always deployed, and had not been threatened since its occupation, the Japanese soldiers at the airport developed a habitual mindset that it was impossible for them to be attacked, and became complacent.

There wasn't even a patrol team.

Even the Japanese sentries on duty at the airport gate and on the watchtowers looked drowsy.

However, Xu Yang's attention was clearly not on them.

He focused his attention on the Japanese aircraft's tarmac. With the help of the airport lights, Xu Yang could see all the planes parked on the tarmac, nearly 50 in total.

In particular, the ten Type 10 attack aircraft, with their enormous fuselages, were especially eye-catching, standing out like cranes among chickens in the Japanese fighter planes.

The Type 96 attack aircraft, officially known as the Type 96 medium ground attack aircraft, has a wing area of ​​75 square meters, a weight of 4770 kg, a maximum takeoff weight of 7642 kg, a bomb load of nearly 3 tons, requires a crew of 7 to operate, a maximum speed of 350 km/h, a maximum range of 4000 km, and can perform ultra-long-range bombing missions. It was a strategic bomber of the Japanese army.

These 10 Type 96 attack aircraft were just requested by Yoshio Shinotsuka to be used against the Eighth Route Army, and they landed at Wusu Airport just two days ago.

"Type 96 land-based attack aircraft? The Japanese army in Shanxi had not been equipped with these before. Were they brought in specifically to deal with our Eighth Route Army?"

Xu Yang muttered to himself, then turned his gaze to the houses not far away. He judged that these houses were probably the Japanese airfield command post, canteen, dormitory, as well as repair shop and oil depot.

Xu Yang, along with his scouts, secretly cut the telephone lines connecting the Japanese airport to the outside world.

Then, using the artillery scope, he determined the distance and returned to the artillery position to inform the artillerymen of the data.

The soldiers of the Independent Third Battalion are proficient in all kinds of martial arts, and there are also many artillerymen. Under Xu Yang's careful training, they have mastered remarkable artillery techniques.

Xu Yang didn't even ask for a salvo; he just wanted to destroy all the Japanese planes. As long as the runway was destroyed, the Japanese planes would be unable to take off.

Therefore, they had ample time to bombard the Japanese planes.

"Report! All gun positions are ready. Please give instructions!"

Second Company Commander Ma Tong quickly stepped forward, stood up, saluted, and reported.

"emission!"

"Yes!" Commander Ma responded, then turned around, quickly ran to the artillery position, and took on the role of messenger, waving the command flag in his hand!
The 50 gunners immediately loaded the shells into the breech.

With a series of muffled thuds, flames burst from the muzzle, and a gust of wind swept across the air as 50 high-explosive shells roared out of the cannon, tracing orange-red arcs across the dark night sky.

Xu Yang quickly raised his binoculars and looked towards Wusu Airport, two kilometers away. A few seconds later, he saw clusters of scarlet flames rising from the airport tarmac. One plane after another was torn apart in the flames, with various parts burning fiercely and flying everywhere with the shock wave.

A few seconds later, the deafening explosions, like thunderclaps, rolled in and reached Xu Yang's ears.

Inside the airport dormitory.

All the Japanese airmen were awakened by the explosion and scrambled to get out of bed. Before they could even get dressed and run out of the barracks, the second salvo from the Independent 3rd Battalion arrived as scheduled.

This time, the target was the Japanese airport building.

Some shells landed on the Japanese command post, destroying it on the spot and killing all the Japanese soldiers on duty inside, who perished in the flames.

Some shells also landed on the Japanese soldiers' barracks, instantly hitting the Japanese airmen.

In particular, the shells used to bomb the dormitory were replaced with sulfur incendiary bombs.

In an instant, the Japanese barracks were turned into a sea of ​​fire. Some Japanese airmen were killed on the spot, while others managed to escape from the fire, but they too turned into human-shaped fireballs, with cries of "Dad, Dad, Mom!" rising and falling incessantly.

"Boom!"

"Boom! Boom boom boom boom!—"

The Independent Third Battalion bombarded the Japanese airfield wave after wave, with shells raining down on it like stones falling from the sky.

Dormitories, canteens, repair shops, oil depots, tarmacs, airport runways, and gates were all under the bombing watch of the Independent 3rd Battalion.

Several Japanese airmen who had narrowly escaped the disaster instinctively ran to the tarmac, wanting to take off the planes that were not yet damaged.

If their plan succeeds, they can then operate aircraft to counterattack enemy artillery positions.

Unfortunately, as soon as these Japanese soldiers reached the tarmac, they were either killed instantly by the shells that kept falling on them, or their nearby planes were destroyed.

A Japanese airman managed to climb onto a perfectly good plane, but as soon as he maneuvered the plane onto the runway and prepared to accelerate and take off, he was shocked to find that the once smooth runway had been bombed and was now riddled with craters.

"Ya Butterfly!"

The Japanese air force let out a desperate wail as the landing gear sank into a deep crater, the plane flipped over and exploded with a 'boom'.

The plane crashed and everyone on board was killed!

"Baka! Can anyone tell me what happened?"

Looking at the airport, which resembled a living hell, the Japanese sentries on duty were all terrified and didn't know what to do for a moment... (End of Chapter)