Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 283 Encircling Wei and rescuing Zhao
"beat!"

"Da da da" "Da da da".
"Boom!" "Boom!"
Chen Chengxing concentrated all the firepower of the guard company and fired fiercely at the unsuspecting Japanese soldiers.

After being suddenly attacked, Shinji Kojima instinctively lay down on the ground and immediately shouted:

"Retreat to the foot of the mountain! Retreat! Everyone retreat!"

They were in marching formation when they were caught off guard.

To launch a counterattack, we must retreat to a safe place and regroup.

After leaving behind dozens of corpses, the Japanese soldiers retreated in a sorry state.

"Baga! Baga! Way to go!"

Looking at the Eighth Route Army soldiers on the hilltop, Shinji Kojima felt like his teeth were about to be ground to powder.

He thought he was safe, but then the Eighth Route Army reappeared.

"Order the mortars to fire! First Company, deploy into battle formation!"

The troops had to cross this hill to return to their base.

Otherwise, he would have to continue leading his troops in circles in the mountains.

That would actually be more dangerous.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"
"Kill the chicken and give it to me!"

"Heaven is making trouble with the black card board!"

"Onboard!"
Knowing that their retreat route had been cut off, the Japanese launched a fierce attack as soon as they arrived.

"Let the Japanese devils get closer and attack them!" Chen Chengxing shouted.

"Mortars suppress the Japanese grenade launchers and light machine guns!"

"Boom!" "Boom!"
Despite the overwhelming firepower, the Japanese showed no sign of backing down and continued their relentless assault.

However, once they got within 50 meters, the guard company's grenades proved their effectiveness once again.

A dozen minutes later, the Japanese first wave of attack was repelled.

However, the current situation does not allow Chen Chengxing to be optimistic.

The guard company was severely short of ammunition, with fewer than 1,500 bullets and fewer than 300 hand grenades.

If the Japanese charge in two more waves, we'll probably have to fight hand-to-hand.

However, knowing they had no way out, the Japanese soldiers quickly launched another attack.

The fierce battle raged from morning until afternoon.

To conserve ammunition, Chen Chengxing led the guards in several counter-attacks.

The Japanese commander's swords hanging at his waist were snapped off by the Japanese soldiers' necks.

"Damn it, we have to find a way to hold out until dark," Chen Chengxing said.

This hilltop is too important; we absolutely cannot let it go now.

If they lose the hilltop, the guard company will be on the defensive.

Only when night falls can the guard company once again use the cover of darkness to withdraw from the battle.

"Commander, how about I take a few men and go get some guns and ammunition?" Wei Dayong said.

There were many Japanese corpses a few dozen meters in front of their position, and Wei Dayong wanted to go and retrieve some.

During previous counter-attacks, once the soldiers lost contact with the Japanese, they had to quickly return to their positions.

Otherwise, they would be attacked by the Japanese machine guns and grenade launchers.

During the retreat, the soldiers would at most pick up a few guns.

There was simply no time to retrieve the ammunition pouches from the Japanese soldiers' waists.

"No, we can't just do it blindly." Chen Chengxing refused without even thinking.

Although the Japanese did not launch an attack at this time, their machine gun fire was definitely aimed at them.

If Wei Dayong were to rush out, it's uncertain whether he could even get bullets, and he would definitely be riddled with bullets.

Just as Chen Chengxing was deep in thought, a soldier suddenly ran over.

"Commander, the First Battalion has arrived!"

"The First Battalion? What are they doing here?"

"I don't know, but the battalion commander said he's preparing to outflank the Japanese from the rear, and he wants you to hold on a little longer."

"That kid Xu Wu, he's even starting to boss me around," Chen Chengxing laughed.

"Comrades! Reinforcements have arrived!"

"Give me a good beating later!"

Now that the First Battalion has arrived, there's no need to conserve bullets anymore.

It's time to let the Japanese devils know what overwhelming firepower really means.

"Gentlemen! We have no way out! Only by forging ahead can we achieve final victory!"

"The Great Core Soul will fight here!"

"attack!"

Shinji Kojima shouted as he drew his command sword and pointed it diagonally at the mountain peak.

"Heaven is making trouble with the black card board!"

"Onboard!"
In order to capture the position, Shinji Kojima committed two-thirds of his troops at once.

Apart from the machine gun squadron and artillery platoon, only forty or fifty infantrymen remained as reserves.

"Fire all the shells and bullets!" Chen Chengxing shouted.

"Boom!" "Boom!"
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"
The sudden burst of intense firepower on the position stunned the charging Japanese soldiers.

What's going on? It wasn't like this before.
"How is this possible? How could the Eighth Route Army have such powerful firepower!"

Shinji Kojima could hardly believe his eyes.

Could it be that the Eighth Route Army has come to reinforce us?
Just as Shinji Kojima was frowning and deep in thought, he suddenly heard the bugle call of the Eighth Route Army.

"Beep beep beep beep"

"Kill!"

"kill!".
Shinji Kojima immediately looked up at the mountain and found that the Eighth Route Army soldiers on the position had not yet come out.

Then he suddenly turned around, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

Then he saw seven or eight hundred Eighth Route Army soldiers rushing down from the hill behind him.

"Turn the guns around! Turn the guns around!"

"The enemy is coming from behind!"

"Hayaku! Hayaku!" The heavy machine gunners who were originally providing suppressive fire also saw the Eighth Route Army soldiers surging out from behind.

Everyone hurriedly began to make adjustments.

However, heavy machine guns are different from light machine guns; adjusting the firing arc isn't as simple as just turning your head.

Before the Japanese heavy machine guns could be adjusted, the soldiers of the First Battalion had already rushed over.

Seeing the attacking Japanese soldiers retreating to provide reinforcements, Chen Chengxing immediately gave the order:

"Blow the charge!"

"attack!"

"Beep beep beep beep"

"Kill!"
The Japanese soldiers, who were already unable to withstand the attack of a battalion, were even more powerless to resist when faced with a pincer attack from both sides.

Half an hour later, the Japanese soldiers were all wiped out.

"Commander!" Xu Wu came over and saluted with a grin.

"What are you doing here, kid?" Chen Chengxing asked.

“I’ve been leading the First Battalion around this area. I even ran into the political commissar yesterday. He said you would also break out from this area.”

"Oh, right, the cavalry company also stayed behind, but they went to the village entrance area," Xu Wu explained.

Zhaikou is another road leading to Xiangling Village.

"I see." Chen Chengxing nodded.

"Hurry up and clean up the battlefield."

"Then send a messenger to the cavalry company to order them to return to Xiangling Village."

"Yes!"

The soldiers were all smiles as they cleaned up the battlefield; they had captured quite a lot of spoils in this battle.

Four mortars, eight heavy machine guns, 18 light machine guns, more than 300 rifles, and more than 100 mules and horses were captured.

Moreover, due to the sudden arrival of the First Battalion, the Japanese radios were all captured.

No one expected that breaking through would yield results.

"Old Chen, how are you? Are you alright?"

In Xiangling Village, Luo Ping looked at Chen Chengxing, who was covered in gunpowder smoke, and asked.

"If it weren't for the First Battalion, things really might have turned out differently this time."

Chen Chengxing gestured for the soldiers to rest, while he and Luo Ping walked towards the regimental headquarters.

Ultimately, the problem in this battle was a lack of ammunition; otherwise, the guard company could have easily routed about 500 Japanese soldiers.

"How are the other units doing? What are their casualties?" Chen Chengxing asked.

“We’ve all arrived; you’re in the last wave,” Luo Ping said.

"The main force suffered heavy casualties in the 3rd Battalion, but the rest of the units fared relatively well."

"Because the guerrillas were scattered, they were pursued by the Japanese for a long time, and their casualties were relatively high."

"However, overall, the casualties of the New Second Regiment were less than 20%, and the heavy mortar battalion and mountain artillery company did not lose any of their guns."

During the breakout, logistics and heavy equipment units were given priority, and they suffered the fewest casualties.

Except for the heavy artillery at Erlang Mountain, which was buried on site, the other heavy weapons of the New Second Regiment were brought out.

"Old Luo, let's integrate all the guerrillas into the main forces first. We can reorganize the guerrillas once it's safer," Chen Chengxing said.

“Okay, I have no objection to this.” Luo Ping nodded.

After the Hundred Regiments Offensive, the guerrillas were constantly being redeployed, and now they have suffered heavy losses, so their numbers are not as large as before.

After all the troops are added to the main battalion, there will be a slight overstaffing, but not by much.

Upon arriving at the regimental headquarters, Chen Chengxing had just sat down when Luo Ping hesitated for a moment before saying:

"Old Chen, there's something else. When I was communicating with the military region just now, I learned that the military region headquarters and headquarters have not yet successfully broken through."

"Still haven't broken through?!" Chen Chengxing suddenly stood up again.

Don't let his butterfly effect cause any trouble.

"Although the new Second Regiment is facing three lines of blockade, the last one is actually better than nothing."

“But headquarters is facing four major lines of defense, and they are currently stuck at the last one,” Luo Ping explained.

"What are the higher-ups' plans now?" Chen Chengxing asked.

"Chen Sijin's idea is to see if we can find an opportunity to relieve the siege of Wei by attacking Zhao."

The headquarters and military region are still relatively safe. The Japanese are conducting sweeps in designated areas, and they won't be able to reach them in the short term.

However, if there is no opportunity, then the only option is to force a breakthrough.

"To relieve the siege of Wei by attacking Zhao," Chen Chengxing said, glancing at the map on the wall.

Given the current situation, the strategy of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao" would indeed draw the Japanese's attention.

However, the dangers for the new second regiment will also increase significantly.

This is like dancing on a tightrope.

Luo Ping didn't say anything, just watched Chen Chengxing's back.

This is not an easy decision to make, and success is not so simple either.

The regimental headquarters fell silent.

After more than ten minutes, Chen Chengxing finally spoke up: "We can give it a try."

The Japanese are still conducting continuous sweeps within Dayun Mountain.

The longer the Japanese army's mopping-up operations lasted, the greater the damage they caused to the base areas.

The workers at the arsenal and the Thirty Mile Mountain, in particular, would face dire consequences if discovered.

The arsenal played a crucial role in the success of the Second New Regiment.

Even without matters concerning headquarters and the military region, Chen Chengxing still had to find a way to lure the Japanese away from Dayun Mountain.

"Where should we call? Ping'an? Or Fu'an?" Luo Ping asked.

Their current position is not far from either Ping'an or Fu'an.

Moreover, these two locations are perfect for attracting the attention of the Japanese troops in the outermost blockade of Liangshan.

"It is neither Ping'an County nor Fu'an County."

Chen Chengxing shook his head and pointed his finger at the map.

"But here!"

(End of this chapter)