Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 172: Hardship 103rd Regiment
"Sir, Major Noguchi has led his team back to Zhengfeng Town smoothly. Colonel Mizuhara's offensive was not successful. All the troops have retreated to Shanmenkou Village and are now relying on the houses and terrain in the village for defense." Yamaoka Michifumi reported.

"I see."

After his attack was blocked, Hidehito Noguchi sent a telegram to Taiyuan, and his retreat was also approved by Yoshio Shinozuka.

If they did not retreat, with the Noguchi Battalion and the 103rd Regiment's heavy weapons units, once they were ambushed, it would be basically difficult for them to fight back.

"Mr. Yamaoka, which mopping-up force is closest to Dayun Mountain now?" asked Yoshio Shinozuka.

"The 3st and 1nd Battalions of the 2rd Independent Mixed Brigade are marching towards Zhengfeng Town. They still have about a day's journey to go."

"Two battalions are not enough." Yoshio Shinozuka shook his head.

There are tens of thousands of Eighth Route Army soldiers in Dayun Mountain now, and even if two battalions of troops go there, it will be a waste.

After thinking for a while, Yamaoka Michifumi said, "Then it's only the 312th Regiment near Xiji. The other troops can't reach Zhengfeng Town within two days."

The focus of this mop-up is the Liangshan area. Most of the troops have already penetrated deep into Liangshan, and now only these troops are left outside Liangshan.

"One regiment plus two battalions, plus the troops from Zhengfeng Town, should be enough," said Yoshio Shinozuka.

All the troops added up numbered more than 6 people, so it would be no problem for them to engage in a head-on battle against to Eighth Route Army troops.

"Send a telegram to the 312th Regiment immediately and assemble at Zhengfeng Town as quickly as possible," Shinozuka Yoshio ordered. "Also, send a telegram to the North China Command in my name and request the dispatch of transport aircraft for support. The 103rd Regiment has not eaten for a day, so we must give them some airdrops."

"Hai!"

At almost five o'clock in the afternoon, the soldiers of the New Second Regiment, who were actively preparing for a night battle, suddenly heard the rumbling sound of an airplane.

When the soldiers looked up, they saw four large planes flying towards them.

Chen Chengxing also heard the sound and came out.

"Commander, the Japanese are about to start a large-scale war. They have actually dispatched four large bombers!" Zheng Hua, who was standing by, raised his binoculars and looked at the plane in surprise.

As far as he knew, the Japanese had no bombers in Shanxi now, not even fighter planes. The four bombers that appeared at this time must have been transferred from North China.

Looking at the planes in the sky, Chen Chengxing's expression became somewhat solemn. The bomb load of a bomber is not comparable to that of a reconnaissance aircraft.

鬼子最常见的九七式重暴击机一次能带弹1吨，50公斤级的航弹能带20颗，4架就是80颗。

One round of attack was comparable to more than ten minutes of continuous salvo fire from a field heavy artillery battalion of the Japanese.

"Sound the alarm, comrades, hide immediately!" The deterrent power of a bomber is not comparable to that of a reconnaissance aircraft. They must disperse and hide immediately.

After receiving the order, the soldiers of the service platoon immediately rang the captured hand-cranked air defense alarm.
"Woo~~~" a shrill alarm sounded.

After hearing the alarm, the soldiers who were still watching immediately scattered like birds and beasts and hid themselves.

However, a few minutes later, Chen Chengxing, who was squatting in the trench, felt something was wrong.

The trapped Japanese 103rd Regiment at this time did not have any intention of cooperating with the operation, and the planes in the sky did not seem to be planning to bomb.

Looking at the plane hovering in the sky through binoculars, Chen Chengxing realized something and suddenly said, "No, this is not a bomber, it's a transport plane!"

The most commonly used transport aircraft by the Japanese was modified from the Type 97 bomber. Although the two are different in appearance, you cannot tell the difference without careful comparison.

"Transport plane? What do the Japanese want to transport?" Zheng Hua was a little surprised.

"What are you transporting? It must be to airdrop supplies to the 103rd Regiment." Chen Chengxing said firmly.

Then Chen Chengxing immediately walked into the temporary command center and picked up the phone: "Connect me to the Fourth Battalion!"

"Qin Sheng? Didn't Li Chishui from the 13th Company make a big Japanese plaster flag? Let him wave it at the Japanese planes!"

"Yes, now! It would be even better if it were in the village."

The people around looked at Chen Chengxing as he explained the task and said they didn't understand what he was doing.

Chen Chengxing did not explain this. He didn't know whether it would succeed or not. It would not be too late to talk about it if it could succeed.

Although Li Dabenshi didn't understand what the order was for after receiving it, he immediately found a wooden stick, picked up the Japanese plaster flag and waved it in the ditch.

Fortunately, the Japanese chose to withdraw their troops, otherwise there would be no other villages for them to use in this area.

The Japanese plane that was circling in the air preparing to communicate with the 103rd Regiment on the ground also noticed the plaster flag waving on the ground.

"Target found, prepare for airdrop!" shouted the observer on the Japanese plane.

Following the action of the first plane, other planes also noticed the flag shaking on the ground and began to follow suit.

The Japanese soldiers of the 103rd Regiment who were eagerly waiting at the mountain gate were immediately excited when they saw a few small white flowers appearing behind the butt crack of the plane in the sky.

"It's an airdrop! We have supplies!"

"Everyone get ready!"
But as the airdrop got lower and lower, the Japanese found something wrong. Why was the airdrop still flying forward? If it continued to fly, it would fly out of Shanmenkou Village!

One minute later, the Japanese soldiers who watched the airdrops fall into the horse ditch a few hundred meters away had red eyes and started cursing.

"Baka! Are these airmen all idiots? Where should they go?"

"These damn red deer, they should all commit seppuku! Seppuku!".
Mizuhara Kosuke was so angry when he saw the only airdropped supplies being delivered to the Eighth Route Army. It was already late, and even if they immediately redistributed the supplies and prepared for the airdrop, it would be too late.

The 103rd Regiment will definitely not get any supplies today.
"Send a telegram to headquarters immediately! I want to complain about these damned sika deer!"

When Yoshio Shinozuka received the telegram from Kosuke Mizuhara, he was completely helpless. He never thought that such a thing would happen.

However, no matter how angry Mizuhara Kosuke was, Shinozuka Yoshio had no choice. These planes were transferred from North China, and he couldn't reprimand them even if he wanted to.

"Send a telegram to the North China Command, requesting that the planes stay at Taiyuan Airport tonight and resume airdrops tomorrow morning." Yoshio Shinozuka took off his glasses, pinched his forehead and said helplessly.

Even if the plane landed immediately, it would be too late to reload supplies. By the time everything was ready it would surely be dark, and by then it would be impossible to reach Shanmenkou Village.

The only thing we can do now is to make the 103rd Regiment suffer a little more.

Unlike the Japanese soldiers from the 103rd Regiment who were grief-stricken, the soldiers in Ma Gou were very excited as they gathered around several tightly bandaged airdrops.

"Wow, just wave the flag and the devils will give you something? From now on, we will wave it every day!"

"Are you dreaming? This is just a coincidence. If the captain hadn't reacted quickly, I think all these things would have ended up at the mountain gate."

Listening to everyone's discussion, Li Chishui interrupted and said, "Don't be idle, open it and see what's inside!"

"Yes!" The soldiers with the Japanese bayonets pulled out their bayonets and began to cut the packing ropes with smiles on their faces.

"can!"

"Rice!"

"And bullets! This bag is full of bullets!"

The soldiers shouted as they divided the food, and everyone was happier than during the Chinese New Year.

"Okay! Let's count them quickly and report to the head of the group!" Li Chishui laughed. This was truly an unexpected windfall. "Okay! Okay! I've written it all down!"

Inside the temporary command center, the operations staff put down the phone and reported to Chen Chengxing: "Commander, the 13th Company successfully intercepted the enemy's airdropped supplies. This is the inventory of supplies they have taken."

Chen Chengxing casually took the document from the operations staff and glanced at it. He smiled and said, "Not bad. 47600 rounds of Type 38500 ammunition, rounds of Type ammunition, and so much food."

Although these bullets were less than the standard carrying amount of a Japanese infantry battalion, they were a complete surprise for the New Second Regiment.

"Tell the comrades! The attack will officially begin at 9 p.m. When the battle is over, we will kill the pigs!"

Through the Japanese airdrops, Chen Chengxing knew that the 103rd Regiment was probably out of ammunition and food, and a night attack today would definitely wipe them out.

"Yes!"

At night, the soldiers began to surround Shanmenkou Village from all directions.

The Japanese in the village also sensed something was wrong.

Looking at the darkness outside the village, Mizuhara Kosuke swallowed his saliva with a gulp.

Mizuhara Kosuke thought for a moment and ordered, "Heavy machine guns, conduct fire reconnaissance outside the village!"

Now, apart from the roaring heavy machine gun, nothing could calm Mizuhara Kosuke's uneasy mood.

"Da da da" "Da da da".
When the Japanese opened fire with several heavy machine guns, it was like poking a hornet's nest, and countless tongues of fire suddenly erupted from the periphery.

"Thump, thump, thump." "Thump, thump, thump."
Although the heavy machine guns of the New Second Regiment did not participate in the attack, the sudden outbreak of dozens of light machine guns greatly suppressed the Japanese.

"Kill!"

"kill!".
The machine gun fire from both sides was like pressing the switch of battle, and deafening shouts of killing rang out.

Mizuhara Kosuke's eyes almost popped out of his head in shock. Just from the sound, he could tell that the attacking Eighth Route Army had at least 8,000 soldiers.

This was something that the 103rd Regiment could not stop at all.

"Kill the chicken for me! Kill the chicken for me!"

"Everyone prepare for hand-to-hand combat! The flag guard team immediately burns the regiment flag! The communications team burns the documents and sends a farewell telegram!"

"Gentlemen! Let us fight until the last man standing!"

"It's dark, get on board!" Mizuhara Kosuke shouted after he came to his senses.

"Onboard!".
The Japanese soldiers around immediately took out the moon cloth belts they had prepared long ago and tied them around their heads, ready for a fight to the death.

A few minutes later, the soldiers of the New Second Regiment rushed out of the darkness and rushed towards the Japanese positions.

"kill!".
"ah!".
After seeing the Eighth Route Army, the Japanese soldiers also jumped up and rushed out, and the two sides collided with each other.

Although the Japanese had a certain advantage at the beginning, as more and more soldiers joined the battle, and coupled with the Japanese's own lack of physical strength, they soon fell into a disadvantage.

In the end, they were no match for the New Second Regiment even in a one-on-one fight.

"I saw this devil first! He belongs to me!"

"Bullshit! I was the first one to see it! It should belong to me!"

"Bang!" The platoon leader next to him suddenly shot and killed the Japanese soldier.

"Next time, don't quarrel, just fight directly. Whoever kills the person owns the property." The platoon leader said with a smile.

Seeing that it was the platoon leader who did it, the soldiers could not say anything even though they were unwilling in their hearts, because it was their own fault for being slow.

Taiyuan.

Putting down the farewell telegram in his hand, Yoshio Shinozuka sighed silently.

"Mr. Yamaoka, tell the aerial reconnaissance team to also make the Eighth Route Army in the Dayun Mountain area an important reconnaissance target. Pay more attention to them during routine reconnaissance."

"Also, order all mopping-up teams to stop the mopping-up and return to their respective bases when the opportunity arises," ordered Yoshio Shinozuka.

If possible, Yoshio Shinozuka would like to dispatch a large force to sweep Dayun Mountain, but the timing is not right now.

As the mopping-up troops were away for longer periods of time, other places had begun to become somewhat unstable, with many strongholds and artillery towers reporting attacks.

The time has come for the mopping-up force to withdraw. For the First Army, stability is more important than anything else.

The purpose of the mopping-up operation is to make the rear more stable. If the mopping-up operation causes unrest in the rear, it would be putting the cart before the horse.

Yoshio Shinozuka was well aware that the sporadic attacks were tests by the local Eighth Route Army. If reinforcements did not appear for a long time, the danger of the strongholds and artillery towers would increase greatly, which would be extremely detrimental to the locust army's rule.

As for the Eighth Route Army in Dayun Mountain, they can only be dealt with during the next mopping-up operation.

Yoshio Shinozuka had only been the commander of the First Army for a short time, but he already understood Seiji Katsuki.

Dealing with the Eighth Route Army is not an easy job.

Although the equipment of the Eighth Route Army was far inferior to that of the Guo Army, they were much more difficult to deal with than the Guo Army on the front battlefield.

Yoshio Shinozuka had a premonition that he might be entangled with the Eighth Route Army in the future.

Looking at Yoshio Shinozuka who was having a headache, Michifumi Yamaoka stood at attention, bowed his head, and left the office.

After receiving the retreat order, the Japanese troops began to retreat overnight.

They had long been fed up with playing hide-and-seek with the Eighth Route Army in these endless mountainous areas. They gained nothing except fatigue and the constant threat of sniper guns and landmines.

In Shanmenkou Village, the outcome of the battle between the New 103nd Regiment and the rd Regiment was decided, and the Japanese army was completely wiped out.

Even Kosuke Mizuhara was killed by a grenade in the melee.

"The lighting is not good now, so ask the comrades to be more careful when cleaning and pick up everything that can be picked up." Chen Chengxing instructed.

For the Eighth Route Army, cleaning up the battlefield is an extremely important task.

Even the New Second Regiment, although they seem to be very heroic when fighting, they also have a hard time storing supplies.

Bullet casings on the battlefield can be reloaded with bullets, damaged guns can be disassembled for parts, or recycled into other things, and even the larger fragments produced by the explosion of mortar shells should be picked up if possible.

These are all important metal resources.

"Don't worry, Captain. The group will definitely arrange the reconstruction of the houses and conduct a detailed investigation of the area." Sun Xun said.

This area originally belonged to the activity area of the Third Company and the First Guerrilla Team, and the reconstruction work will definitely be the responsibility of the Third Battalion.

Chen Chengxing nodded without saying anything more. It was not the first day for everyone to clean up the battlefield, so they were familiar with these things.

(End of this chapter)