Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 122 The Arsenal was Discovered

After arriving at Jingzhuang, the local people were very enthusiastic to see Chen Chengxing.

After all, since the arrival of the Eighth Route Army, their lives have become much better than before.

While dealing with the situation, Chen Chengxing took the boss and the brigade commander around the village.

"Look, boss, the pigsty and horse trough over there can be used as entrances and exits of the tunnel. The bottom of the stone mill can be made into an observation port, and a machine gun can be mounted there to make a bunker," Chen Chengxing introduced.

"Xiao Luo, take note of it quickly." The boss said to the clerk beside him while listening.

"Yes!"

After Chen Chengxing gave a brief introduction to the outer entrances and exits, he came to a house.

"Auntie Zhang, excuse me for disturbing you. I need to go down the tunnel for a while." Chen Chengxing said.

"Okay, okay, please come in, Captain Chen!" said the landlady enthusiastically.

"In order to prevent the Japanese from suddenly entering the village, each household generally has its own entrance and exit, which can be large or small. You can choose according to the actual situation." Chen Chengxing explained.

The reason why Chen Chengxing brought everyone to Aunt Zhang's house was because the exit of Aunt Zhang's house was built by the engineering company. In order to facilitate the digging of tunnels in and out, the exit was made relatively large.

Aunt Zhang brought everyone to the kitchen. Everyone was extremely surprised as they could not find where the entrance to the tunnel was.

"Boss, Brigade Commander, where do you think the exit is?" Chen Chengxing said with a smile.

The two looked around and it didn't look like there was any authentic tunnel.

"Don't keep us in suspense. Hurry up." The brigade commander said unhappily.

"Monk." Chen Chengxing gestured.

"Eh!"

Wei Dayong hurried forward and took the pot down, then took down the grate inside and swept out the ashes.

Finally, he lifted up the stone slab underneath with great effort.

"Please come in." Chen Chengxing gestured.

This stove was rebuilt after the tunnel was completed. There is a staircase underneath. Although it is quite steep, everyone can get in by just bending over.

Of course, after entering, everyone has to walk with their backs bent.

According to Chen Chengxing's requirements, the tunnel is generally 2 meters wide and 1.5 meters high, and the thickness of the soil on the top must be more than 2 meters.

"Disguising the entrances and exits in unexpected places will help the troops launch surprise attacks from the exits."

"In this way, if there are many enemies, the guerrillas and the villagers can hide in the tunnels at any time and make the Japanese return empty-handed. If the number of Japanese is small, they can be eaten at any time." Chen Chengxing said.

Chen Chengxing led everyone around in the winding tunnel. The curved tunnel has the same principle as the trench. It can reduce the killing effect of explosives, and can also use the turns to carry out ambushes.

The boss looked at the sign on the wall of the tunnel and asked in confusion, "Why don't you mark the route clearly? Aren't you afraid that the Japanese will follow the clues to find you?"

"Let's not talk about whether the Japanese will be ambushed after coming in, even these signs can be misleading in many places. Generally, only the locals know about them. The roads I just took you to are the main roads, and I don't know where other places will lead to, but there will definitely be traps." Chen Chengxing explained.

Although the engineering company and guerrillas of the New Second Regiment provided guidance to every village, they only directed the digging of a few main roads. The rest of the places were dug by the villagers themselves using their divergent thinking, and there were traps everywhere.

Upon hearing that there was a trap, everyone who had originally wanted to explore immediately gave up the idea.

Chen Chengxing led everyone down to the second floor to take a look. However, due to the short time of construction, the second floor was not well built, and occasionally villagers could be seen digging.

Chen Chengxing also introduced some measures to prevent water, fire and poison, mainly flaps, small doors and U-shaped bends, which can be used not only for protection but also for killing enemies. After a circle, Chen Chengxing did not return the same way, but chose another way.

After everyone climbed out, they realized that they had just crawled out of a grave.

"The tunnel must also have several hidden exits outside the village, which will not only allow for surprise attacks on the Japanese, but also provide an escape route for the common people," said Chen Chengxing.

The position where they were standing now allowed them to see the situation at the entrance of the village.

"Not bad! Very good!" said the boss happily.

The perfection of this tunnel far exceeded his imagination. According to the current situation, it can be directly moved to Ji Zhong and used, and then some minor improvements can be made during use.

"Have you written everything down?" The boss looked at the clerk next to him.

"I wrote it down and drew a simple diagram," the clerk reported.

"Good, very good, Chen Chengxing, you have done a great job!" said the boss with a smile.

"As long as it can be used." said Chen Chengxing.

The idea of this completely underground warfare was brought here by Chen Chengxing from Central Hebei. Now that he can appear in Central Hebei in advance, there will be fewer casualties among the Eighth Route Army and civilians.

"Hahaha. Let's go back." The boss waved and walked towards the village entrance. Their horses were still there.

Taiyuan, First Army Headquarters.

Naosaburo Okabe walked to the door of Seiji Kazuki's office and said, "Report!"

"Mr. Okabe, please come in." Kazuki Seiji said as he put down the documents in his hand.

"Sir, according to the report from the mopping-up team, they learned the whereabouts of the equipment in Ryogou Village during the mopping-up operation," said Naosaburo Okabe.

"Oh? Where is it?" asked Seiji Kazuki.

"According to intelligence, the troops attacking Lianggou Village were the New 386nd Regiment of the th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army. All these equipment were also transported to Dayun Mountain. The other side should have established an arsenal in the Erlang Mountain area." said Naosaburo Okabe.

In order to obtain this information, many spies from the intelligence department have lost their lives. The anti-espionage awareness of the civilians in the entire Dayun Mountain is so strong that the spies will be caught on the spot if they are not careful.

"The New Second Regiment? The straight-line distance between Dayun Mountain and Lianggou Village is more than 80 kilometers. Even if you go by mountain road, it would be at least 140 to 150 kilometers. How did they appear in Lianggou Village without being discovered?" said Katsuki Seiji.

Although the Zhongyun Mountains are a mountainous area, the Locust Army is not without strongholds. There are three east-west roads running through the entire Zhongyun Mountains. These three roads are under the control of the Locust Army. How did the Eighth Route Army manage to cross three roads with more than 3 people without being discovered?

"Sir, according to reconnaissance, what appeared in Lianggou should be only a reinforced battalion of the New Second Regiment, with a total of more than 1 people, and the rest of the troops are local Eighth Route Army." Okabe Naosaburo explained.

According to the classification of the Locust Army, the Eighth Route Army soldiers who were fully dressed in military uniforms were considered regular troops, and their combat effectiveness was no worse than that of the elite Guo Army. As for those who only wore military uniforms on the upper body, or only a military cap, or even had no military uniforms at all, they were collectively called Local Eighth Route Army soldiers.

Although there are many types of organization of the Eighth Route Army, these people mainly engage in guerrilla warfare and usually have small numbers of troops, with a maximum of three to five hundred people acting in groups.

"It's just the strength of a reinforced battalion, cooperating with the local Eighth Route Army, they can take down the Lianggou Village stronghold and even engage in a head-on confrontation with the Tamura Battalion. This is simply terrifying." Katsuki Seiji exclaimed.

Although Tamura Yukio suffered heavy casualties after breaking out, he mostly blamed the Eighth Route Army for the large number of troops, and simply glossed over the fact that he was beaten to a bloody pulp by more than a thousand people on the opposite side.

"Okabe-kun, we must strike hard at this new second regiment and never let them develop freely." Katsuki Seiji said sternly.

The new Second Regiment is already so difficult to deal with now. What good will it do with an arsenal?
"The General Staff should immediately draw up a combat plan for the new Second Regiment and dispatch a brigade to sweep Dayun Mountain!" ordered Katsuki Seiji.

"Hai!"

(End of this chapter)