Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 228 There Will Be No Problem Here

After the Japanese set up their position in Hululing, they prepared to deal with the Eighth Route Army's surprise attack.

In the eyes of Yukio Nara and Ryotaro Toyama, tonight is the Eighth Route Army's last chance. If they want to cause trouble, the Eighth Route Army will definitely take action.

At around 2 a.m., Chen Chengxing led the main force of the New Second Regiment and sneaked into the vicinity of Anzhuang under the cover of darkness.

After Xu Wu set up camp with the 3rd Mixed Brigade, he gave up harassment and brought his main force over.

Taking advantage of the night, Chen Chengxing conducted a careful reconnaissance in front of the stronghold.

Anzhuang is the largest village in the surrounding area. The road runs directly through the village, dividing it diagonally into two parts: northwest and southeast.

The Japanese stronghold was built with the residential area on the southeast side as the core.

The houses around the stronghold have been demolished and the materials have been used in the construction of the stronghold.

In addition to the stronghold, the Japanese also built artillery towers on the hills on both sides.

The Anzhuang stronghold was indeed easy to defend but difficult to attack, but Chen Chengxing had no intention of attacking it this time, so he didn't pay much attention to it.

After returning from the reconnaissance, Chen Chengxing set up a temporary command post on a hill less than 2 miles away from the highway, from where he could see the entire highway.

At the same time, Chen Chengxing also set up observation points on the surrounding hills.

Any slight disturbance on the road would be reported to Chen Chengxing immediately.

At the pre-war meeting, Chen Chengxing spread out the map.

"Everyone has seen it. This area is densely forested and overgrown with weeds. It is a perfect place for an ambush."

"The only drawback is that it is too close to the Anzhuang stronghold, so the troops must be extremely careful when moving."

"An ambush is all about taking the initiative. If the Japanese find out in advance, all our efforts will be wasted." Chen Chengxing said, pointing to the map.

"Don't worry, commander. Even if we poop, we will poop in our crotches!" everyone assured.

Each unit has fought many ambushes and knows all the precautions regarding ambush warfare.

Chen Chengxing nodded, and then arranged the positions of each battalion according to the Japanese's inertia.

After entering their designated positions, each unit hid itself, neither building fortifications nor moving, preparing to wait and see what would happen.

In the early morning, Yukio Nara and Ryotaro Toyama stood on Hululing and looked at each other.

They were a little confused. Are the Eighth Route Army sick?

Yesterday we wanted to block every mountain pass, as if we wanted to keep the 3rd Mixed Brigade in Dayun Mountain forever.

But after nightfall, there was no movement at all, not even any harassment. It seemed wrong.

"Mr. Dongshan, what conspiracy is the Eighth Route Army planning?" Nara Yukio frowned and said that he really couldn't understand.

"I haven't figured this out yet. It's really a bit unbelievable." Toyama Ryotaro shook his head.

"However, no matter what the Eighth Route Army is doing, we just need to strengthen our vigilance and advance step by step," said Toyama Ryotaro.

The 1900rd Mixed Brigade now has people. As long as they avoid being ambushed, the Eighth Route Army will not be able to do anything to them.

If the Eighth Route Army intends to engage in a head-on confrontation, Luyang can send reinforcements at any time.

"Yes. Pass the order down. Strengthen the alert of the troops. Do not dismantle the heavy machine guns and artillery for transportation. Ensure that they can provide fire support at the fastest speed at any time."

Since he couldn't figure it out, Yukio Nara didn't think about it any more. As long as the 3rd Mixed Brigade remained stable, there would be no problem.

When Nara Yukio led the team to set off, Chen Chengxing was lying on the top of the mountain, observing the situation of the Anzhuang stronghold with a telescope.

Since the Japanese invaders entered Anzhuang, the people of Anzhuang had all fled. Those who had relatives went to seek refuge with their relatives, and the New Second Regiment also accepted many people who had no relatives.

In order to ensure maximum concealment, the New Second Regiment did not stay very close to the highway.

In order to prevent the Third Mixed Brigade from forcing its way into the stronghold, Chen Chengxing specially sent the three infantry platoons of the guard company to the village northwest of Anzhuang last night.

The guard company, which has completed its equipment change, is now the strongest in the entire New Second Regiment in combat.

At this time, the soldiers of the guard company were hiding in the house at the entrance of the village, which was quite close to the Japanese stronghold, less than 400 meters away.

Just as Chen Chengxing was checking the deployment of troops in the stronghold, Wei Dayong beside him suddenly said, "Captain, there's something wrong! The devils are coming out!"

Chen Chengxing quickly adjusted his direction and looked towards the gate of the stronghold.

The gate of the stronghold suddenly opened and the drawbridge of the moat was lowered.

Then a team of about a hundred Japanese soldiers marched out.

"What are the Japanese doing?" Wei Dayong asked puzzledly as he looked at the Japanese soldiers lined up in neat rows.

After hearing Wei Dayong's words, Chen Chengxing put down the telescope and turned to look at him.

Wei Dayong, who was a little frightened by being stared at, touched himself and found nothing unusual before he asked cautiously, "What's wrong, Captain?"

"Monk, I suddenly remembered that you have followed me for a long time and killed a lot of Japanese devils, but I don't think you got a promotion." Chen Chengxing looked at Wei Dayong and smiled.

"Well, commander, what's the big deal? I'm willing to be your guard." Wei Dayong scratched his head and smiled foolishly.

Being a guard for the regiment commander is a good job. You are just a small soldier in front of the regiment commander, but once you leave the regiment headquarters, who wouldn’t call him a brother?
"A guard is a guard, and a promotion is a promotion. There is no conflict."

"It just so happens that the platoon leader of the service platoon has been transferred to the second battalion. You can take on the role of platoon leader for now."

In addition to security work, Wei Dayong also undertakes various service tasks.

But Wei Dayong was a troublemaker, and no one in the guard company or the service platoon could control him. "Service platoon? Commander, please spare me, I'm fine as a guard." Wei Dayong said with a headache.

Although there are only 20 people in the service platoon, there are a lot of things to deal with, and they are all trivial matters. These are what Wei Dayong fears the most.

Normally, guards should be under the management of the guard company. Wei Dayong would be willing to serve as the platoon leader of the guard company as it would be less work.

"The deputy platoon leader will help you with the duties, so you just need to take care of the daily training." Chen Chengxing said, "You will be lazy all day and won't even notice the Japanese soldiers are doing exercises."

Although Wei Dayong also exercised on weekdays, it was basically when Chen Chengxing was dealing with work that he would casually exercise at the door. He never went for morning or evening exercises.

After listening to Chen Chengxing, Wei Dayong finally understood what was going on.

However, Wei Dayong still wanted to fight for it. He really didn't want to be the platoon leader, and he didn't want to lead the team in exercises every day.

"Captain."

"This is an order." Chen Chengxing raised the telescope again without even turning his head.

Let Wei Dayong work for a while first, and then transfer him away, and let the deputy platoon leader become the platoon leader.

"Oh" Wei Dayong hung his head. From now on, his good days were over.

Chen Chengxing's eyes were always following the movements of the Japanese.

After leaving their stronghold, the Japanese ran along the road into the area northwest of Anzhuang, and then began running along the alleys in the village.

The soldiers of the guard company hid in a house not far away.

Hearing the sound of running and the Japanese's orders a few meters away, the soldiers all gripped their rifles tightly.

"TND, the devils must not enter the house, otherwise this time our efforts will be in vain."

It would be too unfortunate if I were exposed because of such a small thing.

Fortunately, the Japanese were probably already accustomed to such drills, so after running around the village a few times, they returned directly to their base.

This made Chen Chengxing breathe a sigh of relief.

On the other hand, even though they did not discover any enemy along the way, the Japanese Third Mixed Brigade still cautiously advanced forward to conduct reconnaissance, with no intention of advancing rashly.

Both Nara Yukio and Toyama Ryotaro were well aware of the Eighth Route Army's elusiveness.

The Japanese Third Mixed Brigade took more than three hours to walk the 10-kilometer distance. It was almost 10 o'clock when they finally got out of the mountain pass.

"Huh" Toyama Ryotaro turned his head to look at Dayun Mountain behind him and let out a long sigh.

"Brigade Commander, we are now less than 3 kilometers away from the Anzhuang stronghold. We should be safe." Toyama Ryotaro said happily.

The area within a few kilometers is completely within the monitoring range of the Anzhuang stronghold. If the Eighth Route Army marches in large numbers, it will definitely not be hidden from the defenders of the stronghold.

"Yoshi." Nara Yukio also breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey, New Second Group, wait, I will be back!"

Nara Yukio sneered as he looked at Yamaguchi behind him. He decided to take revenge after returning to Wuyi County, advancing into Dayun Mountain village by village until all the unruly people in Dayun Mountain were killed.

"Mr. Dongshan, send a telegram to our superiors and tell them that we want to take a short rest in Anzhuang and let the defenders search the area around the stronghold first." Nara Yukio turned around and said.

Although Yukio Nara felt that there should be no Eighth Route Army activities in this area, he still decided to proceed with caution.

Anyway, the search by the defenders will not affect the march of the 3rd Mixed Brigade.

"Hai!"

"Commander, Commander, the Japanese are coming out again." Wei Dayong ran into the temporary command post and reported.

Chen Chengxing looked at his watch and said, "The Third Mixed Brigade should be coming. Let's go out and take a look."

After Chen Chengxing led everyone to the top of the mountain, he watched the Japanese's every move with a telescope.

This time, not all the Japanese soldiers in the stronghold came out, but only a dozen of them, probably a training team.

The Japanese first patrolled the area southeast of Anzhuang, and then headed northwest.

After seeing the movements of the Japanese, everyone became nervous. It would be troublesome if they were exposed.

"Mr. Kobayashi, adjust the direction and patrol along the highway first!" Just as the Japanese detachment arrived at the village entrance, the detachment leader suddenly said.

According to the call they received, the 3rd Mixed Brigade would be here soon, and they didn't have time to patrol all places.

They just did some exercises here this morning, so there will be absolutely no problem.

Moreover, the Japanese squad leader did not think that the Eighth Route Army would appear near the stronghold. The current patrols were more of a formality, and the patrols were for the Third Mixed Brigade to see.

Seeing the Japanese soldiers turning northeast along the road, Luo Ping said with lingering fear: "It was a close call. Fortunately, the Japanese soldiers didn't go in to check."

In order to ensure a quick assault, the soldiers of the guard company hid in houses along the highway. The Japanese only needed to push open a door to see the dark crowd.

Not long after the Japanese patrol passed by, one of them suddenly ran back quickly.

"coming!"

This Japanese soldier must have come back to report the news, which means the 3rd Mixed Brigade has arrived.

Whether the ambush will succeed will be clear in a few minutes.

(End of this chapter)