Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 161 Follow the Rules
By mid-June, looking at the Japanese troop deployment indicated by the system intelligence, Chen Chengxing knew that the best time to attack had arrived.

At the same time, Ma Zhiyuan also came back to report: "Captain, Political Commissar, the Japanese gathered in the Sangong Town area have dispersed."

"The Japanese and puppet troops dispatched a total of about 5 people, with more than 100 trucks and a large number of horse-drawn carriages and sacks. They must have gone to various villages to rob food."

"How many enemy troops are there in Sangong Town?" Luo Ping asked.

"There are about a thousand people in total, most of them are black dogs." Ma Zhiyuan said.

Going to the countryside to raid and rob food was a unified action of the Japanese invaders in the entire North China region. In addition to the Japanese invaders who were replenished from Anyang, Sangong Town also gathered Japanese invaders from several surrounding counties.

However, they are not subordinate to each other, nor do they act as a group, but each of them fights for their own things.

Chen Chengxing knew the garrison in Sangong Town best. Including the cooks, there were a total of 1386 people.

There were not many Japanese soldiers inside, only one infantry company, a machine gun squad and an artillery squad, and the rest were all security forces from various places.

As for the detective teams and locust soldiers, they all followed the devils to the countryside.

Although they are all puppet troops, the North China Guard is different from the Shanxi Huangjinbiao Guard. The North China Guard is highly valued by the Japanese and its combat effectiveness is much higher than that of the Locust Association Army.

Moreover, the weapons of the garrison were different from those of the Locust Association. The Locust Association used captured weapons or miscellaneous equipment, while the weapons used by the North China Garrison were the same as those of the devils, all Japanese weapons.

The guard teams were directly controlled by the local Japanese, with unified organization and centralized training. There were Japanese advisers and instructors at all levels of units. During combat, there would even be Japanese sergeants leading squads to join in.

Therefore, they would not dare to do something like the Locust Association's obvious act of firing into the air. Under the direct command and intimidation of the Japanese, these people's combat enthusiasm would be much higher.

Of course, these people were the ones who committed the most evil, and the people hated them to the core. In addition, all the members of the North China Guard wore black standard uniforms, so the locals called them "Black Dogs".

"Are they all black dogs? We really can't underestimate them." Luo Ping said seriously.

The security team did a lot of bad things, and they were aware of it. When the Eighth Route Army attacked, these people often put up a stronger resistance.

Although these people are not good at field battles and can be easily defeated by the Eighth Route Army in an ambush, they are still a headache when using artillery towers and bunkers in the presence of pre-set fortifications.

"The walls of Sangong Town are not thick, and the Japanese cannot fight on them, so we just need to use infantry artillery to knock down a few artillery towers and bunkers outside the town and then we can blow them up," said Chen Chengxing.

Although the city wall of Sangong Town was just an earthen enclosure, the Japanese built artillery towers at the four corners of the wall, and there were many blockhouses scattered around the periphery (one-story ones were blockhouses, and multi-story ones were artillery towers). If there were no infantry artillery, Chen Chengxing would really have no way to deal with Sangong Town.

(That's about it.)
However, with the infantry artillery, these earthen and brick-wood structure turrets can be easily removed.

The more Japanese troops there were in the artillery tower, the happier Chen Chengxing was.

"Let's give the people some vent this time! Aren't these black dogs hardcore traitors? Let's just follow the devil's rules!" Chen Chengxing said firmly.

The New Second Regiment's rule towards the Japanese was to not leave any of them alive and to send them all back to their hometowns, so as to prevent them from missing home even though they were thousands of kilometers away.

Luo Ping turned a deaf ear to Chen Chengxing's orders.

The soldiers of the New Second Regiment are still counted. If you surrender quickly, the soldiers will not kill the prisoners. If you surrender slowly, it will be difficult for me as the political commissar to deal with it.

At around four o'clock in the afternoon of the next day, Chen Chengxing led the New Second Regiment and local guerrillas to Sangong Town. The 1st Company was the vanguard and was responsible for clearing the way. They had to cut off the telephone lines of all the artillery towers along the way and block the signalmen that might be sent out by the artillery towers.

If the telephone line is cut off at this time, even if the Japanese find out, they will have to wait until the next day to repair it. Otherwise, the Japanese signalmen who come out to repair it will have to spend the night outside, which is a joke with their lives.

After the main force of the New Second Regiment arrived, Chen Chengxing directly fired two shots to destroy the artillery towers in key positions.

The workers still had to transport food at night, and they couldn't do that if the roads were blocked. As for those artillery towers that did not affect transportation, Chen Chengxing only left a few soldiers to guard them.

There were only a dozen puppet soldiers in these artillery towers. Once they left the protection of the artillery towers, they would be like a piece of cake. Four or five soldiers could chase them and kill them.

At 9 o'clock in the evening, the New Second Regiment arrived near Sangong Town. At this time, there were no guerrillas around Chen Chengxing. All the guerrillas dispersed to block possible support from the Japanese.

The Japanese are now dividing their forces to carry out sweeps in this village and that village. It is difficult to gather emergency support, but Chen Chengxing cannot help but be on guard.

The Japanese are likely to gather a small part of their forces and then risk going back to reinforce. There is a lot of food in Sangong Town, enough for a brigade's food for a month. The Japanese will not give up easily.

However, the guerrillas could use the cover of night to entangle the Japanese troops in small, scattered groups.

There is no need to kill many people, just harassing them so that they cannot provide support.

"Commander, the situation in Sangong Town has not changed. The Japanese have now left the guerrilla zone and entered the base." Ma Zhiyuan reported after collecting intelligence from the reconnaissance platoon.

"I understand." Chen Chengxing nodded.

Most of the food in the base has been hidden, and not much food is left in each village or household, and the local government has already explained everything to the people.

When the Japanese come, just say that all the food has been taken away by the Eighth Route Army, and then let them curse the Eighth Route Army and praise the Japanese. Anyway, as long as they can fool them, it's fine.

Looking at his watch, Chen Chengxing spread out the map of Sangong Town drawn by the reconnaissance platoon, on which the locations of various artillery towers and bunkers were marked. Because food was needed to be transported by trucks, no trenches were dug around Sangong Town to divert water. This was good news for the New Second Regiment.

Chen Chengxing pointed to the map and told everyone his plan:
"Our main opponents this time are the Black Dogs. Under the threat of the devils, these guys are more powerful than the Kuomintang's ragtag troops, so I decided to surround them on three sides and leave one side open to give them a way out."

"Five miles south of Sangong Town is Tuhe River. As long as we lock up the bridge, this group of traitors will have nowhere to escape."

Surrounding three sides and leaving one side open has been a tactic for siege warfare since ancient times. Even if they know that there is a high probability of being ambushed when leaving the city, they will choose to try when the situation is hopeless. This can avoid unnecessary casualties in the New Second Regiment.

After hearing Chen Chengxing's words, everyone around him turned their eyes to him. Everyone wanted to take the main attack mission, and no one wanted to guard the bridge.

Seeing everyone looking at him with sharp eyes, Chen Chengxing immediately understood what was going on.

"Look at your lack of ambition. I haven't even told you yet, but you're already nervous? Don't worry, you're not needed. The 1st and 2nd platoons of the guard company, the artillery platoon and two heavy machine guns will block the Tuhe Bridge. Your three battalions will be responsible for attacking the east, west and north sides respectively."

When Xu Wu, Zheng Hua and Qin Sheng heard that they were the main attackers, their faces immediately changed and they became delighted.

Lu Ze didn't say anything about this. The guard company rarely got the main attack mission, so being able to play a supporting role was good enough.

"Don't be too happy. I'll let you take the lead in the attack, but you have to show results. After the meeting, you will each lead your team and disperse. The attack will officially begin at 10 o'clock. You must take Sangong Town within three hours, otherwise don't blame me for scolding you." Chen Chengxing said seriously.

According to the plan, Luoping will set out after dark with the cooperation of the local government to gather civilian workers, and the estimated arrival time is around 1 o'clock. Before that, the New Second Regiment must eliminate the enemies in Sangong Town.

Once time is delayed, the migrant workers will not have enough time to return to the base.

The Japanese have suffered such heavy losses that they will most likely send out aircraft for reconnaissance, and civilians will inevitably suffer casualties at that time. Chen Chengxing must try his best to avoid casualties.

"Captain, you don't have to exert any effort. Even if I have to bang my head against it, I will capture Sangong Town within two hours!" Xu Wu said seriously.

"That's right, don't worry, Captain. If you can't take Sangong Town, I will come to you with my head."

"Just watch!"

Now the infantry artillery of the regiment’s infantry artillery company has been distributed, with 2 guns per battalion. If this still cannot successfully capture Sangong Town, how can the New Second Regiment still have the nerve to call itself elite?
"Okay, then I'll wait for your good news, but you must be careful and guard against the Japanese setting fire to the food. If you find a fire, don't panic, put out the fire if necessary, and chase after those who need to be killed." Chen Chengxing instructed.

If the Japanese become desperate, they will probably set fire to the food supplies. In that case, although the initial plan would have been completed, the results of the New Second Regiment would have been greatly reduced.

"Yes!"

This matter must be planned in advance, otherwise it will be very chaotic. In Sangong Town, these guards behaved very seriously, and there was no situation like the locust army standing guard.

Most of the soldiers in the Locust Army were forcibly conscripted. Their salaries were already low and were constantly delayed and deducted. In addition, the work they did was demanding, so any intelligent creature would be passive and lazy.

But it is different for the security team. Their monthly wages are paid in full without any deduction. Even the lowest-ranking menial soldier gets 15 yuan a month, and for a squad leader it is 20 yuan. What kind of concept is this?
These days, 11 yuan is enough for a family’s monthly expenses, and 15 yuan is enough to buy meat if you don’t smoke or gamble.

Not to mention that they can go to the countryside to conduct raids from time to time, which is another extra income. No one in the security team wants to be kicked out.

At 10 o'clock, the troops began to move forward slowly, and the infantry guns were all pointed at their respective targets. The bunkers were particularly conspicuous on the plain that could be seen at a glance.

Zhang Ergou in the bunker noticed that there seemed to be something outside. After rubbing his eyes and making sure that he was not seeing things, he hurriedly pushed the squad leader next to him.

"Squad leader, squad leader, there seems to be something outside!"

Under Zhang Ergou's shove, Ma San opened his eyes dazedly, his face full of displeasure: "Ergou, what are you doing?!"

"Sergeant, take a look quickly, there seems to be something outside!" Zhang Ergou said anxiously.

After hearing what Zhang Ergou said, Ma San suddenly became alert. He jumped up and lay on the shooting hole to look out.

I saw a lot of figures appearing outside, and they were approaching this side.

"Oh no! It's the Eighth Route Army!" Ma San was shocked.

"Stop sleeping! The Eighth Route Army is coming!" Ma San kicked the soldier sleeping next to him and pointed his rifle outside.

"Bang!" The sound of the gunshot was particularly clear in the silent night.

After hearing the gunshots, Sangong Town immediately became restless. Under the urging of the Japanese advisers, the puppet troops hurriedly took up their combat positions.

Immediately afterwards, the Japanese fired several flares into the air, and the situation around Sangong Town came into the eyes of the Japanese.

Seeing the Eighth Route Army appearing around him, the remaining Japanese captain Saito Hachiro was shocked.

These are not the local Eighth Route Army soldiers commonly seen in central Hebei. The local Eighth Route Army soldiers wore ordinary people's clothes. Now the Eighth Route Army soldiers appearing outside are all wearing gray military uniforms, which is the symbol of the elite Eighth Route Army soldiers.

Moreover, Saito Hachiro also knew that there was an elite Eighth Route Army unit in the Anyang area, the New Second Regiment of the 386th Brigade!

This force has already caused many locust troops to be defeated, and the North China Front Army Command has also raised their threat level very high.

Even because of this new 45nd Regiment, the commander of the th Division where Nagata Tsukimi was stationed was replaced!
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

"Kill the chicken for me! Kill the chicken for me!" Saito Hachiro shouted.

"Da da da", "Da da da", "Da da da".
"Thump, thump, thump." "Thump, thump, thump."
As soon as the Japanese opened fire, their entire firepower configuration was exposed to the New Second Regiment.

Xu Wu looked at the exposed machine gun firepower point in the east and immediately ordered: "Let the infantry artillery fire and destroy the bunker firepower point!"

"Boom!" "Boom!".
With the shells fired by the infantry artillery, the bunkers and fortifications built outside Sangong Town gradually turned into ruins.

"Infantry guns are so useful!" Xu Wu was a little excited as he looked at the bunker that had been reduced to ruins.

Although infantry guns are somewhat powerless against reinforced concrete, this kind of civil engineering structure is like tofu in front of infantry guns and will be extinguished with one shot.

Unlike Xu Wu's excitement, Saito Hachiro's face at this moment was uglier than if his father had died.

Now, except for the south of Sangong Town, there are infantry artillery on the other three sides. This means that all the fortifications built by the Locust Army on the periphery will not only be unable to stop the Eighth Route Army, but will become their own weakness.

There is a squad of guards in each bunker, and this squad can be wiped out by just one shell.

This is worse than having one foxhole for each person. At least the killing effect of the Eighth Route Army's infantry artillery is not that great.

"Order the outer troops to retreat and use the city walls for defense!" ordered Hachiro Saito.

There are more than 300 troops stationed on the periphery. This is a considerable force and must not be abandoned easily.

When the puppet army was retreating in a panic using the communication trench, Saito Hachiro used the last rays of light from the flares to watch the Eighth Route Army outside preparing to attack the city.

Saito Hachiro said unwillingly: "Send a message immediately and request tactical guidance."

Saito Hachiro was well aware of the combat effectiveness of the guard team. Although it was stronger than the Locust Association Army, it was far inferior to the Eighth Route Army, let alone the elite Eighth Route Army.

Relying on the current military strength of Sangong Town, it is nothing but a pipe dream to want to stop the New Second Regiment.

If you don’t believe it, you can ask Jusanro Yamaguchi, Isamu Murakami and Tsukimi Nagata, and they will tell you the answer.

Looking at the puppet troops who were retreating decisively, Chen Chengxing said disdainfully: "Faced with absolute strength, the devils are doing useless work even if they struggle."

"Let the infantry artillery take down the turrets at the four corners first, and then blast the city gate." Chen Chengxing ordered.

For the New Second Regiment, the artillery towers at the four corners of Sangong Town posed the greatest threat. As long as these four artillery towers were destroyed, the Japanese defensive firepower could be reduced by 4%.

Since the regiment commander had given the order, Xu Wu and others did not save the shells and directly let the infantry artillery fire to their heart's content. They fired the four turrets from top to bottom several times, and there were big holes on all the turrets.

In Sangong Town, Saito Hachiro was speechless when he heard the news that the artillery tower was damaged.

Although Saito Hachiro now has two infantry guns in his hands, and they are mounted on the turrets in the northeast and southwest corners, but since Chen Chengxing knows the Japanese's firepower configuration, he will naturally guard against the counterattack of the Japanese infantry guns.

After firing a shot, the artillery of the New Second Regiment immediately pulled the artillery away. By the time the Japanese adjusted the firing angle, the infantry artillery of the New Second Regiment had already run dozens of meters away.

Moreover, it was pitch dark and the Japanese could not see the movements of the New Second Regiment at all. Faced with this situation, the Japanese were unable to move and could only passively take the beating.

Xu Wu looked at the Japanese who were beaten without any chance to fight back and sighed: "It still needs artillery. If we rely on infantry to attack, how long will it take to defeat them?"

Seeing that the Japanese soldiers were beaten so badly that they couldn't even raise their heads, the deputy battalion commander Lin Qingyi said, "Battalion commander, do you want to blow up the east gate of Sangong Town?"

Although the Japanese are still launching sporadic counterattacks, the conditions for blasting have been met.

"Arrange the blasting. We are the first battalion, so we must be the first to rush in!" Xu Wu ordered, putting down the telescope.

"Yes!"

Although the Japanese used earthen platforms inside the city to fire from high ground, the blasting team sent by the first battalion made very smooth progress due to the fire suppression from infantry artillery and heavy machine guns.

"boom!!"

With an explosion, the Japanese city gate shattered.

Although the Japanese set up firepower points inside the city to block the city gates, after the infantry artillery was pushed to the front, several shells went through the city gate into Sangong Town, and the Japanese firepower points immediately went silent.

"Kill!"

The first battalion's spearhead platoon charged into Sangong Town through the city gate. After the spearhead platoon occupied the position around the city gate, the first battalion also rushed into Sangong Town.

(End of this chapter)