Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 149: Windfall (5K)

After the reconnaissance platoon had been out investigating for more than ten minutes, they saw Ma Zhiyuan hurriedly returning to the regiment headquarters.

"Commander, Political Commissar! The Japanese in Zhangzhuang are gone!" Ma Zhiyuan said immediately when he saw everyone was looking at him.

"Are you scouting around?" Luo Ping asked.

"We've conducted reconnaissance and found no one in the surrounding villages or in the wild. In addition, we found new tire tracks on the road east of Zhangzhuang, which should have been caused by the Japanese trucks," Ma Zhiyuan explained.

"Old Chen, you're amazing! How did you know that the Japanese had retreated?" Luo Ping said excitedly.

Luo Ping is now full of admiration for Chen Chengxing.

"Haha. Just a trifle, just a trifle." Chen Chengxing said with a smile.

I won’t pretend anymore. I’m going to reveal my cards. I have a cheat!

"Then let's go to Xiaojia Town and meet these Japanese invaders." Luo Ping affirmed.

Since Chen Chengxing said that he would go find this group of Japanese devils, then let's go find them. Chen Chengxing has an inexplicable intuition. Now it seems that there is an 80% chance that there will be benefits in going to Xiaojia Town!

"Okay, everyone, assemble immediately and hand over the wounded to the local government. Let them return to the team on their own after they recover!" Chen Chengxing ordered.

The distance from here to Xiaojia Town is not short, at least forty or fifty kilometers. It is impossible for the New Second Regiment to march a long distance with the wounded.

Regardless of whether the New Second Regiment can bear it, the wounded themselves can't bear it.

"Yes!"

Everyone immediately filed out.

"Lao Luo, leave some money and food for the local government when the time comes. The wounded need nutrition. We can't let the local government and the people provide both manpower and money. They are not rich either." Chen Chengxing said.

"Don't worry, there are routine procedures." Luo Ping nodded, and then immediately went to arrange the matter.

The troops are about to set out, so we must hurry. The local government has already moved, and they are not close to here.

After receiving Chen Chengxing's latest order, the soldiers of the New Second Regiment immediately began to get busy.

There is a lot of work to do when switching from a wartime state to a marching state. All kinds of supplies need to be loaded onto trucks or carried on horses.

In other words, the New Second Regiment consumed a lot of ammunition this time, otherwise, with the newly captured supplies, the carriages might not be enough.

Although no artillery was captured in this battle, the 3st and 4th Battalions also seized a number of rifles and light machine guns at the Nanwang position, in addition to three Type heavy machine guns and nearly rounds of ammunition.

Although most of the supplies in Zhangzhuang were burned, the third and fourth platoons of the guard company also snatched a lot of grenade launchers and Type 92 infantry artillery shells, which were urgently needed by the New Second Regiment.

The preparations required for the new Second Regiment were extremely complicated, and were basically completed at around 3 a.m.

After the troops were ready, Chen Chengxing immediately led the New Second Regiment across the Ping River and headed straight for Xiaojia Town.

After receiving the mopping-up order, the 403rd Regiment immediately split into two groups, setting out from Baoding and Zhongshan respectively.

The troops that set out from Zhongshan were led by Yoshino Kotaro, deputy commander of the 403rd Regiment. It was a reinforced battalion with a total number of nearly 1600 people.

Since leaving Zhongshan, they have been constantly attacked by local forces and guerrillas.

They were annoyed by the cold guns and landmines.

By the time they arrived at Xiaojia Town, the local people had already fled under the organization of the guerrillas and local government.

Moreover, the Japanese had very little supplies left at this time, so Yoshino Kotaro simply ordered his troops to replenish them on the spot nearby, that is, to rob food.

The area around Xiaojia Town is densely populated, with more than a dozen villages within a 5-kilometer radius and a population of more than 2.

As a result, the Japanese looted a large number of chickens, ducks, pigs, oil and other supplies, which made the tired and hungry Japanese ecstatic.

"Yoshi." Yoshino Kotaro couldn't stop smiling as he looked at the supplies all over the ground.

"Order the kitchen team to fry the chicken! I want to reward the empire's warriors well!" Yoshino Kotaro ordered.

Although they brought canned beef and fish, the taste of these canned foods was obviously not as good as freshly cooked food.

And fried chicken is Italy's top national delicacy.

"Onboard!".
When the Japanese soldiers heard that there was fried chicken to eat, they shouted excitedly.

During the days of the raid, they had not had a proper meal.

The Japanese cooks were very skilled and the fried chicken they made was very delicious and even had a special aroma.

However, after just over ten minutes, Yoshino Kotaro felt something was wrong and he had an extremely violent feeling of ejaculation.

When Yoshino Kotaro rushed out of the house and prepared to go to the toilet, he found that the entire Xiaojia Town was filled with a foul stench.

All the Japanese soldiers in Xiaojia Town began to vomit and have diarrhea, and the symptoms were extremely severe. Every Japanese soldier turned into a jet fighter.

Seeing this scene, Kotaro Yoshino realized that something was wrong. They were now on a sweep, and if the guerrillas discovered them, they would be wiped out.

But when Yoshino Kotaro's brain reacted, he was unable to control his body and evolved directly on the spot.

The moment he knelt down, Yoshino Kotaro felt a darkness in front of his eyes.

Because the outbreak was so sudden and violent, the Japanese signalmen all ran out to grab the toilet. There was no one in front of the radio station at this time, so no one could send a distress signal to their superiors.

The New Second Regiment set out at three in the morning and was rushing all the way.

This is a gift package from heaven, and Chen Chengxing is a little worried about whether this group of devils can be rescued.

That would be a big loss.

At 12 noon, the New Second Regiment, which had not rested along the way, arrived 2 kilometers outside Xiaojia Town.

"Ma Zhiyuan, take the reconnaissance platoon in to investigate." Chen Chengxing ordered.

"Yes!" Ma Zhiyuan waved his hand and led the reconnaissance platoon forward cautiously.

"The rest of you, rest here! Stay alert!" Chen Chengxing ordered.

They had been traveling for nearly 10 hours at a stretch. Although it was just a normal march, they were all very tired. They took the time to rest so that they could respond in time if any situation occurred.

Half an hour later, Ma Zhiyuan came running back.

"What's the situation? Are the Japanese still in Jiajia Town?" Luo Ping asked immediately.

"Yes, yes." Ma Zhiyuan said with a heavy breath.

"Did you engage in a firefight?" Luo Ping asked anxiously. There were dozens of people in the reconnaissance platoon, and now only one of them came back. It was not normal no matter how he thought about it.

"There was no exchange of fire. Xiaojia Town is very strange!" Ma Zhiyuan said, panting.

"Oh! Hurry up and tell me, you're going to make me die of anxiety."

Unlike Luo Ping's anxiety, Chen Chengxing was relieved. It seemed that the Japanese reinforcements had not arrived yet, and the new Second Regiment was about to be launched!
"The Japanese in Xiaojia Town are very strange. Most of them are lying on the ground or crawling around on the ground. They look extremely weak!" said Ma Zhiyuan.

This was a sight he had never seen before. More than a thousand Japanese soldiers wearing shit-yellow clothes were moving around on the ground. Ma Zhi looked from a distance and couldn't tell whether the ground was shit-yellow or the Japanese soldiers' clothes were shit-yellow.
"What does this mean?" Luo Ping was a little stunned after hearing Ma Zhiyuan's words. He couldn't imagine what this scene was.

He said he was a little out of touch.

"Don't worry about what it is, let's just go up and try it." Chen Chengxing said directly from the side.

Now is an unprecedented good opportunity. The sooner you act, the sooner you will feel at ease.

"Xu Wu!"

"have!

"You lead the first battalion as the vanguard and attack Xiaojia Town!" Chen Chengxing ordered: "Pay attention, if the devils have no combat effectiveness, try to capture them, especially those technical soldiers and officers, understand?
"Yes! We promise to capture as many prisoners as possible!" Xu Wu blinked to show that he received the message.

After Xu Wu led a battalion two miles away, Chen Chengxing also followed with a large force.

Halfway through the journey, Chen Chengxing heard sporadic gunshots coming from Xiaojia Town, but they were very sparse and did not sound like a fierce battle.

Chen Chengxing and Luo Ping looked at each other and then ordered the troops to speed up.

As soon as he arrived at Xiaojia Town, Chen Chengxing smelled an indescribable smell in the air.

"Damn, what are the Japanese doing?" Luo Ping said, pinching his nose.

The smell wasn't so strong when he used the dry toilet.

Seeing the large army coming, Xu Wu immediately ran over. "Commander, Political Commissar, the First Battalion has taken control of Xiaojia Town, but the Japanese fought desperately when they were extremely weak, so we had to kill them all. However, we still captured those who had no power to resist."

"There were a total of 1586 Japanese devils in Xiaojia Town. We captured 234 of them, killed 1352 of them, and all their supplies were seized!" Xu Wu said excitedly.

Xu Wu had never fought such a battle before. It was easier for the First Battalion to kill these Japanese soldiers than to kill chickens. He just said that the Japanese soldiers fought desperately, but in fact, only a few of them could get up, and only one in a hundred could pull the bolt.

And he followed the instructions and 'tried his best' to capture the prisoners.

Xu Wu ordered all those Japanese soldiers who were obviously technical soldiers and officers to be tied up.

"Good! Very good!" Chen Chengxing laughed.

"Everyone! Clean up the battlefield immediately!" Planner Chen ordered with a functional wave of his hand.

"Yes!" The soldiers immediately ran into Xiaojia Town excitedly.

At this moment, they could no longer smell the stench in the air.

While the soldiers were cleaning up the battlefield, Chen Chengxing and Luo Ping were also wandering around Xiaojia Town.

Looking at the filthy Japanese corpses on the ground, Luo Ping said with regret: "It's a pity that these clothes can't be taken with us."

If it is only stained with blood, it doesn't matter. Just pack it together and wash it when you have the chance.

However, after the shit-yellow clothes were stuck with these indescribable things, it became difficult for the New Second Group to pack them up and move.

No one can bear this.

"We don't lack military uniforms now, so just don't take them." Chen Chengxing said casually.

The monthly output of family weaving in Dayunshan is not small, enough for the daily consumption of the new second group.

In other words, Luo Ping was not willing to spend money, otherwise the guerrillas would have been able to wear new uniforms.

"Well, this is the only way." Luo Ping nodded, and then said: "But speaking of which, what are these devils doing? Are they just eating croton for fun?"

It was hard for Luo Ping to imagine what could have knocked down all the Japanese devils in such large numbers.

"With so many devils being attacked at the same time, it must be water or food. I think the possibility of food is the greatest." Chen Chengxing pretended to speculate.

It is unlikely that the devils would drink water at the same time, but if there is no danger, there is a high possibility that they would eat at the same time.

"Then let's go and take a look." Luo Ping said.

If there is a problem with the food, then the New Second Regiment must also be vigilant, as the seized supplies are likely to be poisonous.

The two men walked to a mess room and saw the soldiers carrying out boxes of things.

When they went in, they didn't find anything unusual. The food was all fresh. They also found a lot of chicken and duck feathers on the ground, which showed that they were slaughtered on the spot. They searched everywhere but didn't find anything poisonous.

Chen Chengxing glanced around and set his sights on the oil barrel next to him.

The system said that there was something wrong with the fried chicken nuggets, so it was either the chicken, the noodles, or the oil.

The chicken was freshly slaughtered; Chen Chengxing also checked the noodles and found no problems; the problem was most likely with the oil.

He picked up the kitchen knife next to him and pried open the oil barrel. A barrel of golden oil appeared in front of everyone.

"Is this tung oil?" Luo Ping asked in surprise.

Sichuan is one of the main producing areas of tung oil. As a Sichuanese, Luo Ping has known tung oil since he was a child.

"The Japs used this to fry the chicken?" Luo Ping reacted and looked at the oil pan beside him.

The color of the oil in the wok had changed a lot because it had been used to fry a lot of chicken nuggets, which was why Luo Ping didn't recognize it.

"What is tung oil?" Wei Dayong and others on the side said they had never heard of it.

Although Chen Chengxing knew that tung oil was not edible, he did not understand the details, so he looked at Luo Ping.

"Tung oil is not simple. It is a strategic material that is very useful in anti-corrosion and military equipment maintenance. In the past, wooden boats relied on tung oil for corrosion prevention. Boats without tung oil cannot survive in the sea for long. Even now, Western countries are purchasing large quantities of tung oil in China," said Luo Ping.

Luo Ping knew all this, but what he didn't know was that the Americans even signed a 2500 million US dollar loan agreement with the Guo Party specifically for tung oil.

In other words, at this stage, the money that the Fruit Party spends on shopping all over the world is basically exchanged for tung oil.

According to the price agreed upon between the United States and the Kuomintang, 700 tons of tung oil can be exchanged for a fighter jet, and it is a new fighter jet that the United States has marked up at a significant premium.

“Although tung oil is very important, it cannot be eaten. If you eat it, you will be like the Japanese devils outside.” Luo Ping pointed outside.

"Monk, pass the order quickly. Throw away all the cooked food. The seized oil must be identified by the political commissar before it can be used." Chen Chengxing said.

"Hey." Wei Dayong hurriedly walked out and asked the communications squad to pass on the message.

This is no small matter. If any soldier is greedy, it will be troublesome.

At 2 p.m., after cleaning up the battlefield, the New Second Regiment immediately left Xiaojia Town and moved to a nearby village.

The smell of Xiaojia Town is really strong.

"Have the seized items been counted?" Chen Chengxing asked in the temporary regiment headquarters. He really wanted to know how much this unexpected fortune was.

"Haha...let me read it." Luo Ping took a folder from the side and opened it.

"Everyone knows the rough amount of supplies captured in the previous battle with the Japanese 42nd Regiment. The actual count is not much different, so I will not go into details. I will directly read out the supplies captured in Xiaojia Town.

92式步兵炮4门，炮弹160发；重机枪16挺，子弹13万发；步枪832支，轻机枪54挺，子弹11万发；掷弹筒36具，专用榴弹864发；再有就是手枪103把，子弹2千余发。

I have contacted the local government and asked them to arrange to return the food that the Japanese had stolen from the people."

As for those things that were snatched from landlords and local tyrants, Luo Ping didn't even mention them.

After listening to Luo Ping's reading of the captured supplies, everyone burst into laughter. Who could have thought that the New Second Regiment could pick up so many supplies.

"Okay, okay. With this batch of supplies, our New Second Regiment can become an all-Japanese-equipped regiment." Chen Chengxing took the document from Luo Ping and said with a smile.

Although the Third Battalion is now hundreds of miles away in Dayun Mountain, the New Second Regiment will have to go back sooner or later. When the whole regiment is reorganized by then, it will be a big deal.

According to Chen Chengxing's idea, the new Second Regiment would mainly use three calibers: 6.5mm for rifles, Czech-type 7.92mm for light machine guns, and Type 7.7 mm for heavy machine guns.

The reason is very simple. This can maximize the utilization of ammunition. No matter what caliber of bullets are captured, the New Second Regiment can use them.

Of course, this will also make logistical supply more troublesome, but the Eighth Route Army is not in a position to negotiate for trouble now, and maximizing utilization is the most important thing.

At this time, the New Second Regiment had enough weapons except light machine guns, and they were just waiting to return.

"Old Chen, we have made such a fortune, what do you think?" Luo Ping pointed upwards.

Luo Ping's words made Chen Chengxing react all of a sudden.

Yes, the brigade commander will definitely come to congratulate the new 2nd Regiment for such a huge harvest when he knows about it. Even if the brigade commander doesn’t congratulate the division commander, he might do so, because this is the equipment of most of the regiment, especially a large amount of heavy equipment.

"Qin Sheng, you will organize the Fourth Battalion to change its equipment later. Replenish the 8 heavy machine guns of the machine gun company, replace the rifles with Type rifles, and use the Type rifles to replace the light machine guns." Chen Chengxing ordered immediately.

Chen Chengxing was not too worried about the rifles, as the brigade commander would not come to ask for them. The New Second Regiment just needed to make preparations.

The most important thing now is the heavy equipment. Chen Chengxing needs to think carefully about how to shut the brigade commander up.

"Yes!" Qin Sheng smiled happily.

When the 4th Battalion went out, it was still a newly reorganized unit of the Supplementary Battalion. There were not even one light machine gun per platoon, let alone any heavy machine guns.

After a round, hey! It became a reorganized battalion!
Ignoring Qin Sheng, whose face was as smiling as a lotus, Chen Chengxing waved his hand and said, "Alright, if you have nothing else to do, disperse. You should replenish the ammunition of each battalion according to the standard."

"Yes!" Everyone stood up and left. They had a lot of things to do.

After everyone left, Luo Ping said, "Old Chen, what do you think of the next step for the New Second Regiment?"

The current position of the New 386nd Regiment can be said to be the best in the entire th Brigade. It can attack or retreat.

Moreover, after defeating the Japanese in this group, the 386th Brigade also had the opportunity to break out of the encirclement.

"I have arranged for the communications squad to go to the brigade headquarters to see if the brigade commander has any arrangements. If the brigade commander has no arrangements, the New Second Regiment will return to Anyang." Chen Chengxing said.

Luo Ping had no objection to Chen Chengxing's idea.

Whether the New Second Regiment should participate in the anti-mopping-up operation should be considered from the overall perspective. If the brigade has already prepared a response plan, the New Second Regiment's disturbances may have a counter-effect.

(End of this chapter)