Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 186 Something seems wrong

After Toyama Ryotaro joined the main force, Nara Yukio was not angry after listening to the report. Instead, he laughed and said, "The Eighth Route Army is just like this. The coordination between them is too poor. If it was the Locust Army, this would never happen."

"And the Eighth Route Army must be celebrating their victory now. Now is the perfect time for our army to launch a surprise attack!" Nara Yukio said confidently.

"Order, all troops to launch a surprise attack in the direction of Mafang! I want to catch the Eighth Route Army off guard!"

In his opinion, the Eighth Route Army had won two victories in a row and was probably celebrating wildly. If he led his team to attack from the sky at this time, the Eighth Route Army would surely fall into panic.

In this way, the locust army has already won half the battle without fighting, and the rest will be as easy as chopping melons and vegetables.

After receiving the telegram from Yukio Nara, each unit immediately stopped resting and began to regroup and set off.

Although Nara Yukio was conceited, he did not dare to be careless in the deployment of his troops to prevent the Eighth Route Army from finding an opportunity.

But after working hard for most of the night, when they arrived at Mafang at three or four in the morning, the Japanese found nothing except a hundred or so white-collared devils on the road.

Standing in the deserted stable, Nara Yukio held up his saber and said confidently, "The Eighth Route Army is indeed afraid."

"Don't the Eighth Route Army just want a chance? I'll give him this chance."

"The third battalion will continue to move forward and station in the area of Yanwei Cliff; the fourth battalion will march westward and station in Xiaoxi Village; the fifth battalion will march northward and station in Jihong Village; the rest of the troops will stay with me in Mafang."

"I just don't believe that the Eighth Route Army is not tempted."

These three places are about 5 kilometers away from Mafang and are connected by roads. As long as the Eighth Route Army attacks any one of them, the troops in other places can immediately join forces to encircle and annihilate them.

Yukio Nara didn't believe that the Eighth Route Army would not be fooled.

In response to Nara Yukio's order, the rest of the troops had no choice but to set out again and head to their respective destinations.

By the time they arrived, it was almost dawn.

Chen Chengxing, who had already moved to Shihong Village, was very disdainful after hearing the scout's report.

This trick might fool ordinary people, but it was no less than showing off one's skills in front of Chen Chengxing.

"Ignore them and continue investigating." Chen Chengxing ordered.

If Chen Chengxing had not wanted to lure the enemy, he would have run far away long ago, and the Japanese probably wouldn't even be able to find the New Second Regiment.

"yes!".
After arranging everything, Chen Chengxing looked at Xu Wu beside him and asked, "Where are the New 1st Regiment and the Independent Regiment?"

"It should be over now."

"Kangzhuang? So fast?" Chen Chengxing was a little surprised.

"The New 1st Regiment and the Independent Regiment did not stop at night and are rushing here with all their might," Xu Wu explained.

"Haha. It seems that Li Yunlong and Kong Jie want to eat meat." Chen Chengxing said with a smile.

Even though Li Yunlong always calls Kong Jie a fool, Kong Jie, like Li Yunlong, is a person who would rather eat meat than drink soup.

"Have the troops of the New Second Regiment and the 316th Regiment arrived in place?" Chen Chengxing asked.

"Except for the first battalion, everyone has moved to the Laoyeling area, and the artillery positions are being set up now." Xu Wu said.

"Okay, now we just have to wait for the Japanese." Chen Chengxing nodded and looked in the direction of Mafang.

By noon, nothing had happened, and Nara Yukio felt a little embarrassed.

Moreover, it had started to drizzle, making it even less likely that the Eighth Route Army would attack.

He kept making various judgments along the way, and now it seems more like he is playing house by himself.

Yukio Nara felt that everyone around him was laughing at him. If he had just taken a rest, there wouldn't be so much trouble.

At this moment, the telegraph soldier on the side suddenly stood up and reported: "Commander of the Brigade, we received a telegram from the Third Battalion. They have discovered the main force of the Eighth Route Army and are now stationed in Shihong Village!"

"Shihong Village?" Nara Yukio immediately came to the map.

Shihong Village is located in the southeast of Mafang and just south of Yanwei Cliff. It is 10 kilometers away from Dagai and is connected by a main road.

"Yoshi, the Eighth Route Army must be taking shelter from the rain. Our chance has come!" Nara Yukio said excitedly.

It's November now, and it's very cold and gloomy on rainy days. If you get wet, you will easily catch a cold. The Eighth Route Army certainly didn't expect that the Locust Army would march in the rain!

"The troops will assemble and set off immediately! The 4th and 5th battalions will follow on their own, and the 3rd battalion will set off at the same time to join me in attacking the Eighth Route Army in Shihong Village!" Nara Yukio ordered loudly.

"Ha!"
Yukio Nara excitedly led the team out, but the dirt road soaked by rain gave him a heavy blow.

When the weather is fine, the dirt on the road is dry and there is nothing wrong with it except for the dust, but once it rains, the dirt road immediately becomes a source of pain.

The road was winding and the Japanese trucks were heavy, so they could not move on the road at all. They would often try their best to get out of one mud pit, but would fall into another one.

The journey that used to take half an hour now took two hours and we still hadn’t arrived, even though the fourth and fifth teams had already caught up.

"Baka, you're crushing the road!" Nara Yukio cursed angrily as he watched the truck idling in the mud.

But no matter how much Yukio Nara cursed, the truck was still stuck. Looking at the soldiers who were already covered in mud, Yukio Nara had no choice but to say: "Push the truck aside! Make way for the pack horses and mule carts. Leave two squadrons and a radio station, and set off again after the weather clears!" Existence is reasonable. Faced with such a bad road, the mule and horse carts requisitioned from Wuyi County could barely keep up with the team with the help of people.

When Nara Yukio led his team to Shihong Village in a somewhat embarrassed manner, the village was empty and there was no sign of the Eighth Route Army at all.

"Brigade Commander!" The captain of the 3rd Battalion, Junji Midorikawa, who arrived early, ran over.

"Midorikawa, how many Eighth Route Army soldiers were found in Shihong Village before?" asked Nara Yukio.

"According to the intelligence from the scouts, several thousand Eighth Route Army soldiers were found in this area. They should be the same group of Eighth Route Army soldiers who ambushed Colonel Ishimura before." Junji Midorikawa reported.

In fact, the soldiers below reported that they had discovered traces of the Eighth Route Army, but many people did not know that there were only a few of them investigating here at the time, and it was impossible for them to find out all the circumstances.

But now the main force of the 3rd Mixed Brigade has arrived, and no matter how stupid Midorikawa Junji is, he can't tell the truth.

"Brigade Commander, I have ordered the troops to expand the search range, and we should have news soon." said Junji Midorikawa.

"Yoshi." Nara Yukio nodded and ordered the rest of the troops to rest for a while.

After a few minutes, a Japanese soldier came running towards us in the rain.

"Report, we have found traces of the Eighth Route Army, and they are now retreating towards Laoyeling!"

Upon hearing the scout's report, Nara Yukio immediately ran to a nearby high ground, raised his telescope and looked. Sure enough, he found that the Eighth Route Army was retreating in a panic with mules and horses in the direction of Laoyeling.

"Great! This rain comes at the right time! The Eighth Route Army can hardly move forward in the mountainous area!" said Nara Yukio excitedly.

At this time he stopped cursing God. Although the rain made it difficult for the trucks to move, the Eighth Route Army also had a very difficult time.

"Order the troops to quickly pursue the main force of the Eighth Route Army. I want to finish the battle in one go!" Nara Yukio ordered, holding the telescope tightly.

Finally, he caught this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers. He wanted to use the blood of the Eighth Route Army to wash away the shame on himself!

On the top of the hill, Chen Chengxing, wearing a raincoat he had seized from the Japanese, was standing there watching the situation in Shihong Village through a telescope.

"The devils have been fooled!"

When Chen Chengxing saw the Japanese starting to leave the village and head towards Laoyeling, he knew that the plan was half completed.

"Captain, I just received information from the signalman. The roads of the New 1st Regiment and the Independent Regiment were destroyed by mudslides due to the rain. I'm afraid they won't be able to arrive tonight." Xu Wu whispered on the side.

As the rain got heavier, the road became more and more difficult to walk on. Even though the New 1st Regiment and the Independent Regiment continued to work non-stop, they were beginning to run out of energy.

"Don't worry about them. Even if they can't get there, we still have to beat them!" Chen Chengxing said in a deep voice.

War is not a game, accidents can happen at any time.

However, now all the guerrillas, county brigades, and militia from the entire Zhongyun Mountains have gathered in this area.

Together with the 316th Regiment, Chen Chengxing already has more than people under his command.

Although a large number of them are armed militiamen of local governments, they lack guns and bullets, but they can still come in handy in hand-to-hand combat.

Because the main road was blocked by mudslides, Li Yunlong and Kong Jie could only lead the team to climb the mountain to bypass this section of the road, but the mountain road has now turned into a muddy road.

The soldiers, with their feet covered in mud, couldn't move any faster.

Yukio Nara led his troops in pursuit of the Eighth Route Army that was looming in front of them.

But as time went by, Yukio Nara felt something was wrong. The distance between him and the Eighth Route Army seemed to be neither getting closer nor farther.

"What village is this in front?" asked Nara Yukio while riding on his horse, looking at the village appearing in the distance.

"Brigade Commander, that's Luolu Village. The Eighth Route Army is likely to turn south in front of Luolu Village." Junji Midorikawa reported.

Nara Yukio looked at the sky and ordered, "Stop the pursuit and go to Luolu Village to rest!"

It was getting late, and it was raining too. If we continued chasing, we would probably have to spend the night in the mud.

After stopping in Luolu Village, all the Japanese soldiers breathed a sigh of relief.

Marching in the rain is simply not a job for humans. Physical energy consumption is doubled, but the speed is halved.

In the makeshift operations room, Yukio Nara carefully reviewed what had happened since he entered the mountain.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong, as if the Eighth Route Army was luring him.

"Somebody come!"

"Brigade Commander." The sentry outside the door walked in.

"Inform all troops to strengthen their vigilance! Deploy more visible and hidden sentries!" said Yukio Nara.

He now has more than 4 troops and a large number of artillery, so the possibility of being attacked by force is basically non-existent. The Eighth Route Army can only launch night attacks or ambushes.

However, as long as they are on guard, they can prevent the Eighth Route Army from breaking into Luolu Village. As long as they don't engage in hand-to-hand combat, Nara Yukio will not be afraid of them no matter how many people there are in the Eighth Route Army.

(End of this chapter)