Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 135: The center blossoms, turning defeat into victory
As soon as the Japanese left the city, the scouts guarding nearby immediately sent a signal to the rear.

"The Japanese have taken the bait." Luo Cheng said excitedly as he looked at the signal.

"Hey, you know what, this trick is really useful." Li Chishui said with a smile.

This was just a last-ditch effort on his part, but he didn't expect the Japanese would actually fall into his trap.

"The Japanese have fallen into the trap, we should retreat!" said Li Chishui.

Along the way, the 13th and 14th companies continued to carry out small-scale attacks on the Japanese troops leaving the city.
After all, the Japanese have four wheels and they have two legs. If they don't stop them, the Japanese will catch up with them.

However, the soldiers responsible for blocking the enemy simply beat the Japanese off the car and then immediately ran away.

By the time the Japs got off the car and prepared for battle, they had already run far away.

During the retreat, the soldiers, under the command of Li Chishui, continued to throw away unnecessary small items.

Things like broken military caps, food bags, leggings, etc. were all within the scope of disposal. As long as they could eat this group of devils, they could exchange them for captured spoils.

Yoshikawa Shunxiang looked at the food bags, leggings and other things that appeared on the ground from time to time and laughed: "The Eighth Route Army really overestimates their own capabilities. With such little combat power, they dare to attack the county town?"

"Speed up the pursuit! We must kill all of this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers today!" Yoshikawa Shunxiang gave the order after getting back on the truck.

The Japs immediately began to speed up their pursuit, not wanting to let this group of Eighth Route Army escape the Locust Army's pursuit.

"Here they come, here they come, Commander, the Japs are coming, with 15 trucks, two infantry guns and a mountain gun." The scout ran over to report.

"Okay, the pigs are here, let the comrades prepare to slaughter them!" Chen Chengxing ordered, raising his telescope.

Yoshikawa Shunsho had no idea that he had already fallen into a trap. He only wanted to quickly catch up with the Eighth Route Army and kill them. Only by chopping off the heads of these Eighth Route Army could he wash away the insult suffered by Tianhuang.

At the front battlefield of Dongting Village, Xu Wu saw the aggressive Japanese trucks and immediately waved to the soldiers next to him.

The soldier received the signal and immediately pulled the rope in his hand hard.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!".
A series of mines went off.

The leading truck was immediately blown up, and half of the squad of Japanese soldiers on board were buried with the truck.

At the same time, the soldiers on the position also opened fire at full capacity.

"Da da da", "Da da da", "Da da da".
"Thump, thump, thump." "Thump, thump, thump."
A large number of bullets were fired at the devils.

After being attacked suddenly, the Japanese soldiers in the remaining cars hurriedly jumped out and prepared to counterattack.

"Kill the chicken for me! Kill the chicken for me!" Yoshikawa Shunsho half-knelt beside the heavy machine gun, pulled out his command knife and shouted.

The troops are now under sudden attack and must suppress the Eighth Route Army with firepower. The deployment of the troops will take time.

Especially mountain artillery and infantry artillery, they are useless if hung on a vehicle.

"Da da da", "Da da da", "Da da da".
The heavy machine guns carried by the Japs began to fire continuously at the Eighth Route Army.

The rest of the troops began to deploy quickly, using trucks, pits, etc. as cover to continuously fire at the New Second Regiment.

A few minutes later, after receiving the news that the artillery had been deployed, Yoshikawa Shunxiang immediately ordered: "The artillery will immediately fire at the Eighth Route Army positions in front!"

"First Squadron, assault as soon as the bombardment ends! Heavy Machine Gun Squadron 1 will provide support!"

Yoshikawa Shunsho wanted to quickly break through the Eighth Route Army's frontal defense and then destroy this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers.

But Yoshikawa Shunsho obviously thought too much.

When the Japanese infantry began to attack under the cover of four heavy machine guns, they found that this group of Eighth Route Army was different from the ones they had encountered before.

The combat effectiveness is terrifyingly high, especially the equipment, which is completely different from what was expected.

Even the regular troops of the Eighth Route Army had at most a few heavy machine guns in a regiment. But now there were only seven or eight hundred people on the battlefield, but there were six roaring heavy machine guns.

The First Squadron launched several attacks in succession, but not only did they achieve no results, they also suffered heavy casualties.

Even several light machine guns were destroyed by the Eighth Route Army using indirect fire. Until the end, the Japanese didn't know whether the Eighth Route Army used grenade launchers or mortars.

"Damn it. Where on earth did these Eighth Route Army soldiers come from?" Yoshikawa Toshitoshi looked at the First Squadron that retreated again, his face looking extremely ugly.

"Captain, what should we do now? Do you need me to lead the second squadron to participate in the attack?" asked the captain of the second squadron.

Yoshikawa Shunsho did not agree to the Second Squadron's request to join the attack, but instead ordered:
"A frontal attack is not appropriate. You should immediately take an infantry squad and two heavy machine guns to encircle Dongting Village from Majiazhuang in the southeast."

Outflanking has become a doctrine of the Japs, sacred and inviolable. No matter when and where, they will always make outflanking moves.

However, when Chen Chengxing knew that the Japanese only had this set of attack tactics, how could he not make preparations?

The Second and Fourth Battalions, which were responsible for the pincer attack from both wings, were responsible for this task.

As soon as the Japanese moved to the vicinity of Majiazhuang, before they even entered the village, they were suddenly and fiercely attacked by the Second Battalion.

"Da da da", "Da da da", "Da da da".
"Thump, thump, thump." "Thump, thump, thump."
After being suddenly attacked, the Japanese squadron leader realized that something was wrong.

How many people are there in the Eighth Route Army?

However, the Japanese squadron leader still wanted to launch an assault. If he could defeat the Eighth Route Army that was blocking them, he could make a roundabout attack on the Eighth Route Army that was blocking them head-on, and in that way, Yoshikawa's battalion would be able to turn defeat into victory.

"Taoci, give it to me!" the Japanese squadron leader drew out his command knife and shouted.

The Japanese soldiers immediately launched an attack, but when they approached to within 100 meters, the firepower in Majiazhuang increased greatly, and the Japanese were directly pushed back.

"Baga!" The Japanese squadron leader had a very ugly look on his face. There were at least several hundred Eighth Route Army soldiers here, and their firepower was stronger than his. It was impossible for him to break through in a short period of time.

"Retreat to headquarters!" ordered the Japanese squadron leader.

There is no benefit in persisting any longer, so it is better to withdraw quickly and then concentrate on finding a solution.

After suffering more than twenty casualties, the Japanese were pushed back into the depression again.

Seeing the Japanese retreat, Chen Chengxing immediately ordered: "Let the second and fourth battalions attack and squeeze the living space of the Japanese."

After listening to the report, Yoshikawa Shunsho realized that something was wrong and he might have been ambushed.

However, Yoshikawa Shunsho did not want to retreat in such an embarrassing manner, he wanted to fight again.

"Order the first squadron to change the direction of attack and attack the northeast corner of Dongting Village. Infantry artillery and mountain artillery will provide full support!"

"Also, send a telegram to your superiors immediately and tell them that my unit has already entangled a main force regiment of the Eighth Route Army and request tactical guidance," Yoshikawa Toshihide ordered.

Yoshikawa Shunsho believed that as long as he could hold out against this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers for a stalemate, he could open fire from the center and turn defeat into victory after the reinforcements completed the blockade of the outer perimeter.

After seeing the Japanese's actions, Chen Chengxing immediately understood what they were thinking.

Chen Chengxing agreed with this, but he had already predicted the devil's choice.

When the Japanese forcibly occupied several houses on the edge of the village and prepared to hold their ground, they also led other troops into the village to continue the attack.

Chen Chengxing has issued the latest order: "Infantry artillery, fire!"

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"

These houses can block mortars or grenade launchers, but they have no ability to resist direct-fire artillery at all.

After 4 artillery shells, several houses occupied by the Japanese were directly destroyed, and the Japanese who were preparing to defend themselves inside were buried on the spot.

Seeing this scene, Yoshikawa Shunxiang's eyes almost popped out: "The Eighth Route Army has artillery!"

After learning that the Eighth Route Army had artillery, and four pieces at that, Yoshikawa Toshihide immediately realized that he could not wait any longer and had to break out immediately.

Normally, the Eighth Route Army troops who can use artillery must be elite, and their number must be indispensable.

The reason why a general offensive has not been launched now is probably because the encirclement is being tightened.

He now has no strategic location to defend. If a large number of elite Eighth Route Army troops really come, the five or six hundred men he leads will not be able to withstand it.

The Old Eighth Route Army and the Local Eighth Route Army are two completely different troops.

"Get in the car! Get in the car! Turn in! Turn in now!" Yoshikawa Shunsho shouted.

After hearing the order, the Japanese immediately mounted their heavy machine guns on the truck, ready to shoot while running.

The rest of the soldiers also climbed onto the truck quickly, as if they were slow they would not be able to get on.

The Japanese immediately turned the car around and fled towards Heng County.

Looking at the devil's actions, Chen Chengxing said disdainfully: "What were you doing earlier? You know how to shake it off with snot running down your mouth?"

"Concentrate your firepower, aim at the Japanese trucks and hit them hard. Order the guard company to attack quickly and block the Japanese route!" Chen Chengxing ordered.

The Japs are now hiding in the carriage, so this is a good opportunity to shoot them, as there is no room for maneuver on the truck.

Not to mention maneuvering, the Japanese have already stepped on the accelerator to the bottom. If you don't hold on tight, you might fall off the car.

Faced with the continuous barrage of bullets, the Japanese soldiers could only lower their bodies as much as possible and squeeze in, trying to let others serve as meat shields.

Faced with the obstruction of the guard company, the Japanese found that they could not break through in a short time and wanted to change direction again, but at this time the New Second Regiment had completed the encirclement.

The 15th and 16th companies had already rushed to a mound at the northern entrance of the ambush circle, completely blocking the entrance of the "pocket".

After 20 minutes of fierce fighting, the Japanese were surrounded in the center of the old course of Shahe River, a large oval-shaped sand pit.

Most of the Japanese trucks were stuck in the sand and could not move forward just by turning the wheels.

Yoshikawa Shunsho had no choice but to order the Japanese soldiers to abandon the trucks and concentrate their firepower on attacking the 15th and 16th companies that were trapped in the trap, in an attempt to open a gap and escape.

"Taoci, give it to me! Taoci, give it to me!" Yoshikawa Shunsho kept shouting.

But under the powerful firepower of the New Second Regiment, the Japanese launched four consecutive sudden attacks, but were eventually defeated.

Seeing that they could not break out, Yoshikawa Toshitoshi could only order his troops to retreat to the vicinity of the trucks, preparing to use the trucks as cover and hold on until reinforcements.

According to the telegram from his superiors, he only needed to hold on for two hours before the first batch of reinforcements would arrive.

Seeing the Japanese retreat on their own initiative, Chen Chengxing felt that the time had come.

"Let the mortars fire continuously. Five rounds in rapid fire, or three rounds in rapid fire." Chen Chengxing ordered.

Although the new Second Regiment was fully equipped with mortars, its ammunition was less than half the base amount.

According to the standard, each 82mm mortar is equipped with 120 rounds of shells, but now each gun can't even get 60 rounds.

We don’t know how many more battles we will have to fight in the future. If we waste too many artillery shells, we will be in trouble later.

And three rapid shots are not a small number. 3 mortars add up to 18 rounds, which is enough to give the Japanese a hard time.

After receiving the order, the three mortar companies immediately conducted test firing and adjustments.

"Three rapid shots!"

"put!"

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!".
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!".
Hearing the whistling of artillery shells and the continuous explosions, Yoshikawa Shunsho was in despair.

Where on earth did these Eighth Route Army soldiers come from? If you are so good at fighting, go and attack Changshan. Why are you attacking a little bastard like me?
But now obviously no one cares about Yoshikawa Shunsho's thoughts.

After the shelling ended, Chen Chengxing immediately ordered a general attack.

"Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick" the charge horn sounded.

"Comrades! Follow me and kill!"

"Kill!" "Kill!"

The Japanese, who had just been through a round of artillery fire, had no power to resist at all when faced with the New Second Regiment, which was nearly 10 times their number.

If anyone runs slowly at this time, he can only watch others beat the Japanese.

"It's only been half an hour since the war started. Even if the Japs react quickly, it's too late." Luo Ping looked at his watch and smiled.

"With just these few devils, we are not even able to fill our teeth." Chen Chengxing said confidently.

If the Japanese were to defend the county town, it would be difficult for the New Second Regiment to capture it in a short period of time.

But if they get out of the city and get ambushed, the New Second Regiment can take as long as they want to defeat them.

If it weren't for the desire to minimize casualties, the battle would have ended long ago.

Chen Chengxing handed the telescope to Wei Dayong and said, "Let's go and take a look."

When Chen Chengxing and his group arrived at the battlefield, the soldiers were already cleaning up the battlefield.

"Commander, Political Commissar, we have won a great victory! We have wiped out all the Japanese with less than 50 casualties, and also seized one mountain cannon and two infantry cannons!" Xu Wu said excitedly.

"All the cannons have been seized? Great, great!" Luo Ping was very happy.

For the New Second Regiment, mountain artillery is better than Italian artillery.

Although the Italian artillery has a long range and great power, the mountain artillery can move with the infantry, which is something that field artillery cannot match.

"How many heavy machine guns and light machine guns were seized?" asked Chen Chengxing.

"There were 4 heavy machine guns, 12 light machine guns, and the rest were destroyed." Xu Wu said.

"The machine guns will be assigned to the 4th Battalion, and you can distribute the grenade launchers among yourselves. Take 200 rifles to the logistics department as inventory, and the rest will be handed over to the local government. Old Luo, do you think this allocation is okay?" Chen Chengxing said.

Grenade launchers are not standard weapons in the New Second Regiment. After all, there is too little ammunition. If any squad or platoon wants to carry one, they should go to their battalion commander themselves.

A lot of equipment was seized this time, and the New Second Regiment could not take it all with it. It was only natural to leave some for local troops.

Apart from anything else, at least they provided the New Second Regiment with a day's worth of food, which was a lot of food.

"Let's settle it this way." Luo Ping nodded.

Those who are successful should help the world. Since the New Second Regiment has the ability, it should help its comrades.

Just as Chen Chengxing and Luo Ping decided on the distribution of supplies, they heard shouting from not far away.

"What's going on?" Chen Chengxing asked.

"Commander, the soldiers found five wounded Japanese soldiers behind Dashagang," someone reported.

"Wounded soldiers? Go and take a look." Chen Chengxing said.

Seeing that Luo Ping also wanted to catch up, Chen Chengxing hurriedly stopped him and said, "Hey, Lao Luo, you just stay here to clean up the battlefield, and I'll go there."

"Haha. Old Chen, Old Chen." Luo Ping just laughed.

Who doesn't know your temper, Chen Chengxing? I don't understand what you mean by not letting me go?

"Pay attention to the impact." Luo Ping said and turned away.

Luo Ping also felt that the dead Japanese were the good ones, but his duties as a political commissar restricted him.

Since Chen Chengxing didn't let him go, he might as well just ignore it and just mention it briefly when writing the battle report.

Seeing Luo Ping leave, Chen Chengxing smiled but said nothing. He liked such a reasonable political commissar.

When they arrived behind Dashagang, they saw the soldiers forming a circle and surrounding four Japanese soldiers and a traitor translator.

Chen Chengxing saw the Japanese's military rank at a glance: "Major? Is this the leading Japanese officer?"

The rank of the Japanese battalion commander is generally major.

"Hey! That traitor, ask the Japanese whether they want to surrender?" Chen Chengxing said casually.

The Eighth Route Army is a regular army and must follow the necessary procedures.

"Baga! How could anyone in the world be so careless as to surrender to our locust army!" After hearing the translation, Yoshikawa Toshiaki was furious.

"He said he was unwilling to surrender, but he had one request before he died, which was to spare his interpreter, me.

I have an 80-year-old mother and a 3-year-old child. They all depend on me, and I have never done anything bad." Cheng Sanshi's desire to survive was full at this time.

"Isn't that right? This is what the Japanese meant?" Although Chen Chengxing didn't understand Japanese, the Japanese only said a short sentence. How did you translate it into a long string?
"Almost, almost." Cheng Sanshi smiled apologetically.

"Okay, it's not impossible to agree to his conditions, but you have to tell me all the information about Heng County." Chen Chengxing said.

A traitor translator has minimal influence on the Eighth Route Army. I will not kill him myself. I will just hand him over to the local government when the time comes. It has nothing to do with me whether the local government kills him or not.

"Want to know the intelligence of the locust army? That's just wishful thinking!" Yoshikawa Shunxiang shouted.

"He said his name is Yoshikawa Shunsho, he is 32 years old and from Kumamoto."

"If you have the guts, fight me one-on-one like a samurai!" said Yoshikawa Shunsho.

"In addition to the dead, Heng County also had an infantry squadron, a machine gun squad, three mountain cannons, a transport squadron, and a Locust Corps of more than 1 people."

"The warriors of this empire are invincible! The locust army will kill you all sooner or later!"

"The locust army has planned a new sweep and is now allocating supplies. It is expected that there will be action within half a month!"

"Come on!" Yoshikawa Shunsho raised his command knife and shouted.

"He asked you to kill him!" Cheng Sanshi really didn't dare to let Yoshikawa Shunxiang say any more.

"Hey, this little Japanese is really loyal to their damn Sky Locust." It was the first time that Chen Chengxing saw a Japanese soldier who voluntarily sought death. The Japanese soldiers in the past all wanted to exchange their lives for others.

Chen Chengxing raised his hand and was about to order to open fire.

Wei Dayong said hurriedly: "Captain, let me do it. I haven't killed any Japanese devils today."

Being a guard does have a lot of hidden benefits, but since Chen Chengxing is not on the front line of the battlefield, Wei Dayong will have a hard time getting a chance to fight the Japanese.

This opportunity is not easy to come by.

Looking at the enthusiastic Wei Dayong, Chen Chengxing didn't want to discourage his enthusiasm.

"Okay, you go ahead." Chen Chengxing said casually.

"Hey! Thank you, Captain." Wei Dayong said excitedly.

"You, get out of the way." Wei Dayong pointed at Cheng Sanshi and said.

"Okay, okay." Cheng Sanshi cooperated very well and ran to the side and asked the soldiers to control him.

"Come together, all of you." Wei Dayong waved his hand.

Although Yoshikawa Shunsho and others didn't understand what Wei Dayong said, they could understand what he meant.

After looking at each other, several people decided to act together. Although this was not Bushido, they would try to save as many people as possible.

"ah!"

Yoshikawa Shunsho was in the front, and the other three Japanese infantrymen were on the flanks, forming a small coordinated formation and rushed towards Wei Dayong.

Wei Dayong expressed his disdain for the attacks of several people. With such skills, he would not even be able to chop firewood in Shaolin Temple. The most he could do was to dig manure.

With just one move and a quick dodge, Wei Dayong killed two Japanese soldiers.

Yoshikawa Toshisho and Wei Dayong were so skilled that they immediately signaled to the Japanese soldier next to them to take over.

The Japanese soldiers took his orders and immediately rushed forward to block Wei Dayong's sight, creating an opportunity for Yoshikawa Toshisho to launch a sneak attack.

However, the Japanese were obviously too confident. With a height of one and a half meters, they couldn't even stop a fart in front of Wei Dayong, a 1.9-meter-tall strong man.

Wei Dayong had already seen Yoshikawa Shunsho's sneaky action of taking out the gun.

Wei Dayong pushed the red tasseled spear in his left hand forward, and while stabbing the Japanese soldier to death, he pulled out the short-barreled Mauser pistol that was stuck on his waist with his right hand.

"Snapped!"

Before Yoshikawa Shunsho could even pull his gun out of the holster, he was shot in the head.

"it is good!"

The soldiers around applauded Wei Dayong's amazing skills.

"Hehehe" Wei Dayong bowed to everyone around him, looking very proud.

"Okay, stop gathering here and hurry up to clean up the battlefield!" Chen Chengxing ordered.

"Yes!"

While the soldiers were quickly cleaning up the battlefield, Chen Chengxing opened the system and took a look.

[The battle is over, battle evaluation: great victory!]

【Obtained 2212 honor points. 】

[Current Honor Points: 30139/100000.]

This time, because it was a total annihilation, even though there were only about 500 Japanese soldiers, we still won a big victory and obtained more honor points than the battle with the Sakata Regiment.

Chen Chengxing likes this kind of battle, because not only are the casualties small, but the gains are also great.

We had fought with the Sakata Regiment for five days, but we didn't gain much equipment from the battlefield. The Japanese basically took all of it away when they retreated. The New Second Regiment only gained a large number of bullet shells, and the rest was basically a pure loss.

When the battlefield was almost cleaned up, Xu Wu looked at his soldiers stripping off the Japanese's loincloths and said unhappily, "Don't be so greedy at this time. You want a loincloth too?"

"Captain, this is top-quality cotton cloth. Didn't we all want it before?"

In the past, the New Second Regiment always cleaned the battlefield very thoroughly without leaving any thread ends. This loincloth can be used to make shoe soles.

"In the past, someone would cleanse us after we returned to the base. Now we are fighting in a different place. Who will clean us? I tell you, you have to strip yourself and clean yourself." Xu Wu said unhappily.

"I wash it? Then I don't want it." When the soldier heard that he had to wash it himself, he was so angry that he threw it on the Japanese's face.

On the other side, Chen Chengxing looked at the truck next to him with a feeling of regret. If it was in Dayun Mountain, he would have found a way to tow it back. But now time was very tight and there was no time even to disassemble the parts.

"Blow up the truck and retreat!" Chen Chengxing ordered.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!".
After several explosions, the Japanese truck was engulfed in flames.

The New Second Regiment quickly evacuated under the flames.

When the Japanese troops from Changshan and Baoding arrived to support, all they saw were Japanese corpses and scrap metal that had been burnt into skeletons.

The Japanese reinforcements quickly sent out reconnaissance teams in all directions, trying to find any traces of the Eighth Route Army.

However, the New Second Regiment had already been running for more than an hour, and the Japanese did not notice it at all.

In desperation, they could only send a message to their superiors, then collect the bodies and return.

(End of this chapter)