Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 247: Why are you, Brigade Commander Chen, here to join in the fun? (Seeking monthly votes)

"Captain, I received a telegram that a reconnaissance plane has found traces of the Eighth Route Army in the area of Yelanggou."

"And the marching speed is slow." Takahashi Ryosuke reported.

"Yelanggou? Why are there Eighth Route Army here?"

Ishihara Takuhito looked at the map and couldn't figure out which Eighth Route Army this was.

According to previous intelligence, the retreating Eighth Route Army should have reached the Jiao Town area no matter how slowly they moved.

Moreover, the marching direction is also wrong. If we go south, we should not pass through Yelanggou.

“The specific reason for this is still unclear.”

"According to intelligence, this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers is quite large. The General Staff has inferred that this should be a logistics force."

Takahashi Ryosuke could not explain the reason for the appearance of the Eighth Route Army.

But the Eighth Route Army was indeed discovered in Yelanggou, and there were quite a few of them.

After looking at the map and reading the telegram, Ishihara Takuhito decided to give up the Eighth Route Army's attack on Liushuping.

This group of Eighth Route Army soldiers was extremely tenacious and they also had the advantage of terrain.

The 108th Regiment had no advantage at all when fighting against them.

The regiment has now suffered more than 500 casualties, but Ishihara Takuhito estimates that the casualties of the Eighth Route Army will not exceed 300.

This is simply a losing business.

"Takahashi-kun, pass on my order to stop the attack and withdraw the troops."

"And make a move to turn toward Fu'an."

"Turn in?" Takahashi Ryosuke was a little confused.

The order given to them by their superiors was to attack, and now the 108th Regiment had neither been defeated nor received new orders.

If they withdraw like this, all the senior leaders of the 108th Regiment will probably be punished.

"Haha. It's just a fake move."

"It's already past 4 p.m. By the time we break away from the Eighth Route Army, it should be dark."

"Then we will turn around and raid the Wild Wolf Valley!"

Ishihara Takuhito slammed the map heavily with his right hand.

"Sweep Daisunai." Upon hearing Ishihara Takuhito's analysis, Takahashi Ryosuke's eyes lit up.

Yes, if I can’t defeat your main force, I can’t defeat your logistics force?

"Captain, report from the front line, the Japs have retreated."

"Retreat? Retreat at this time?" Chen Chengxing asked a little confused.

"Is there any information about other Japanese invaders in the telegrams sent to the military district? Especially in the area along the Zhengtai Line."

The Eighth Route Army's massive raid was comprehensive, and the Japs' counterattack should also be comprehensive.

It can't be that only your 108th Regiment is special, right?
"Although there is no special instruction, the rest of the Japs show no signs of retreating," the combat staff officer nearby reported.

"This is strange, what does the 108th Regiment want to do?" Xu Wu touched his chin, puzzled.

Everyone in the regiment thought about it for a long time but still couldn't figure out the Japanese's plan.

"If you can't figure it out, forget it." Chen Chengxing said.

"The Japs fight the Japs, and we fight ours."

"We should still follow our established goal and evacuate southwards under cover of darkness at night."

According to Chen Chengxing's original plan, they were to retreat south tonight.

Now that the Japanese have retreated first, the New Second Regiment no longer needs to act stealthily.

At night, Chen Chengxing took advantage of the cover of darkness and led the cavalry company and the first and second battalions to leave Liushuping and retreat southward.

However, when they advanced to the Dayaoyan area, they suddenly received a report from the Cavalry Reconnaissance Platoon.

"Captain, there's a situation!"

"There are people marching in the ravine on the left. There are torches all over the place, and there are a lot of horse hoof sounds."

"In the ravine on the right, there were also shouts and neighs of horses, and a series of flames."

Ma Zhiyuan said that he had never encountered such a situation before and he had no idea whether the two sides were enemies or friends.

Upon hearing this, Chen Chengxing immediately ordered: "Stop marching."

Just when Chen Chengxing was planning to send more scouts, the outer guard post suddenly brought over a man with a bandage on his head.

"Captain, this wounded soldier said he was from the Eighth Route Army and came here by accident."

"Are you the Eighth Route Army?" Chen Chengxing walked up to the man.

But when Chen Chengxing approached this person, the wounded man recognized Chen Chengxing.

"Captain Chen? That's great." The wounded man breathed a sigh of relief.

The situation on the battlefield is unclear now. Although Chen Chengxing and his men are wearing the uniforms of the Eighth Route Army, they are still unsure of the identities of the wounded.

The Eighth Route Army often disguised themselves as Japanese invaders and puppet troops, and the Japanese invaders also disguised themselves as the Eighth Route Army.

However, the injured person knew Chen Chengxing. After all, he was the key target of Chief Chen's order to take advantage of him.

"Do you know me?" Chen Chengxing was a little surprised.

"I'm from the military district guard company. I've seen you before."

"Military District Guard Company? Then what are you doing here? And what's on your head?"

Chen Chengxing gestured to the bandage on the wounded man's head.

The wounded did not dare to easily believe the identity of the New Second Regiment, and Chen Chengxing did not dare to believe his identity either.

"Oh, I was injured when fighting the Japanese and received treatment at the military field hospital. When I was retreating from the field hospital, I got sidetracked and ran into the reconnaissance comrades."

Unlike the wounded who downplayed the incident, Chen Chengxing almost jumped up.

"Field hospital? Are you saying that the field hospital in the ravine on the left is being relocated?!"

Chen Chengxing pointed to the ravine on the left and said in disbelief.

How could the military's field hospital be here? How could they be here?!
"Yes, it's the field hospital, and there are quite a few wounded." The wounded didn't know why Chen Chengxing reacted so strongly.

"Oh my god! Sun Desheng!" "Here we are!"

"You must lead your cavalry company to seize the Maerling Heights on the right immediately!"

"Everyone else, follow up!"

Since the field hospital on the left is being relocated, the ravine on the right is most likely to be occupied by the Japanese.

If the New Second Regiment had arrived a little later, the two sides might have collided!

However, even if the cavalry company set out immediately, it would still be a step too late.

The Japanese in the ravine on the right have also discovered something unusual.

Although the Japanese didn't know who was in the valley on the left, they immediately sent troops to seize the high ground.

Therefore, when the cavalry company was advancing towards the Maling Heights, 500 Japanese soldiers suddenly rushed out from the ravine on the right.

Although it was dark now, Sun Desheng was the first to see the large group of 500 dark figures.

"Get ready for battle!" Sun Desheng shouted.

It goes without saying that these devils are here to seize the high ground.

The Maerling Highlands are the commanding heights of the surrounding area. Whoever can occupy it will have the initiative.

There was no way Sun Desheng would let the Japanese take him away like that.

After rushing all the way to the high ground, the soldiers of the cavalry company quickly dismounted and formed a battle formation.

The scattered horses were gathered by 6 rows of soldiers.

While Sun Desheng led the cavalry company to rush up to the high ground, the Japanese also ran up from the other side.

As soon as the two sides met, the fight started immediately.

"kill!"

"ah!"

The soldiers of the cavalry company rushed towards the Japanese with bayonets in hand.

However, excluding the Cavalry Reconnaissance Platoon and the 6th Platoon, the Cavalry Company only had 4 platoons of soldiers left, with a total number of only 200 people.

Facing 500 Japanese soldiers, they had no advantage at all.

In just half an hour, the cavalry company was pushed off the hill by the Japanese.

After occupying the hill, the Japanese did not choose to pursue the victory, but directly switched to on-the-spot defense.

"Heavy machine guns! Mortars! Set them up!"

"Cavalry Company! Prepare to attack!" Sun Desheng ordered loudly.

Although the cavalry company did not win the hand-to-hand combat just now, Sun Desheng also knew the opponent's situation.

In order to seize the high ground, the Japanese came with light infantry and did not bring heavy weapons.

This is the cavalry company's opportunity.

"Da da da" "Da da da".
"Boom!" "Boom!".
After the heavy machine guns and mortars were ready, they began to attack the Japanese on the hill.

"Spread out! Row 2, row 3, attack from both left and right wings!" Sun Desheng ordered.

In a formal skirmish attack, you cannot rush in at once, as that would be courting death.

On this high ground, the deployment of two platoons is already the limit.

The Japanese soldiers who were hit by heavy weapons behaved extremely tenaciously, and fought desperately with rifles and light machine guns.

Within 10 minutes, the cavalry company attacked twice but failed to capture the Japanese position.

When Sun Desheng wanted to launch another attack, the Japanese reinforcements had already arrived.

However, a few minutes later, Chen Chengxing also arrived at Maling with the first and second battalions.

Chen Chengxing looked at the high ground in front of him and just felt a little headache, when another even more headache came.

"Captain, the military district's communicator is here."

"Bring it here." Chen Chengxing was not aware of the situation at this time.

When the communicator arrived, the next sentence surprised Chen Chengxing.

"Captain Chen, the military command is now with the field hospital."

"Commander Chen ordered the New Second Regiment to recapture Maerling and cover the evacuation of the headquarters and hospital!"

"What did you say?!"

Chen Chengxing didn't know whether he had broken the broom of the jinx.

How could this happen?

The field hospital alone is not chaotic enough, why are you, Chief Chen, here to join in the fun?
"I ask you, why are you here?!" Chen Chengxing asked anxiously.

"The military region received an order from the higher-ups to launch an attack on the Xinkou area. Later, the Japanese launched a massive counterattack, and Commander Chen led us to fight and retreat at the same time."

"To break up the raid? We can't just go to the military district headquarters, right? What about the other troops?" Chen Chengxing asked.

"The Cavalry Battalion and the Special Service Battalion have already covered the artillery regiment and the civilians and evacuated first."

"The New 22st Regiment is now fighting the nd Regiment of the Japanese in Mashi Mountain. The Japanese in Juanyanggou appeared suddenly."

During the day, there were no Japanese soldiers in this area, but suddenly they appeared at night.

"What is Ding Wei doing? The Japanese have already found his way behind him, and he doesn't even know?"

Chen Chengxing had no idea at this moment that the Japanese soldiers in Juanyanggou were from the 108th Regiment that had gone south at the same time as him.

The two sides were separated by 2 kilometers and marched together for more than 20 kilometers.

This is because Chen Chengxing has special characteristics, otherwise he would not be able to catch up with the 108th Regiment which set out early and was busy on the journey.

If the Japanese invaders had marched straight in, the consequences would have been disastrous.

However, since the situation has already happened, there is no point in thinking about it any more. Chen Chengxing can only decide to go for it.

"Pass on my order. All units must not retreat a single step. Hold your ground until the last moment!"

The soldiers of the New Second Regiment also knew that the military region was behind them.

Therefore, everyone was prepared for a final fight and decided to retake Maerling at all costs.

(End of this chapter)