Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 288: Each Doing Their Own Business
"Baka yarou! How could this happen!"

Yoshio Shinotsuka could no longer maintain his composure as he looked at the report sent by Michifumi Yamaoka.

The Black Island Cavalry Regiment was the only rapid mobility unit in the First Army.

Their complete annihilation means that, for a short period of time, Yoshio Shinotsuka has no power to stop the New Second Regiment from continuing its advance.

"Where is the Fourth Brigade now?" Yoshio Shinotsuka asked anxiously.

"According to the latest telegram, they have just passed Shangguanzhuang and should now be in the Yangping Village area," Yamaoka Michifumi said.

"Why are we only at Yangping Village now?" Yoshio Shinotsuka complained.

This is too slow. At this rate, even if Zhonghe Town is captured, reinforcements might not arrive by then.

"The Eighth Route Army used the terrain to repeatedly block the enemy, and the Fourth Brigade could only advance little by little."

“According to the telegram from the commander of the Pinglu Brigade, they have already been ambushed seven or eight times,” Yamaoka Michifumi explained.

Michifumi Yamaoka estimated that even if the Fourth Brigade were given a few more days, they would have a hard time leaving the mountains.

After all, the roads in Dayun Mountain become increasingly difficult to travel the further east you go.

"Sir, should we call in other units for support?" Michifumi Yamaoka suggested.

Yoshio Shinotsuka remained silent regarding Michifumi Yamaoka's suggestion.

If troops need to be transferred, then the number cannot be small; after all, the Eighth Route Army is not made of clay.

However, if one or two regiments are transferred out, the encirclement of the Eighth Route Army will not be as complete.

An imperfect encirclement is not much different from having no encirclement at all.

"Send orders to the Fourth Brigade, instructing them to do everything in their power to break through the Eighth Route Army's defenses. I will send planes to provide support!" Yoshio Shinotsuka commanded.

He still couldn't bear to give up the encirclement and suppression of the Eighth Route Army.

Although significant progress has been made, no high-ranking officials of the Eighth Route Army have yet been captured.

Yoshio Shinotsuka didn't know if the high-ranking officers of the Eighth Route Army had already broken through, but he still wanted to give it a try.

"Hay."

After thinking for a moment, Michifumi Yamaoka decided not to try to persuade him further and instead left the office.

"The Japanese show no signs of retreating?"

Luo Ping looked at the telegram from the military region with some surprise.

Yoshio Shinotsuka is really good at keeping his composure.

"The Japanese probably still have their hopes on the Fourth Brigade."

"Third Battalion reports, aircraft are involved in the attack," Chen Chengxing explained.

As they gradually retreat, the Third Battalion is now employing small-unit, high-frequency blocking tactics.

Although the Japanese bombing raids were very large, the casualties of the Third Battalion were not that high.

“Since the Japanese aren’t moving, let’s give them a little something extra,” Chen Chengxing said.

"Order the First Battalion to attack the Tuanqiao stronghold and the Second Battalion to attack Guojiayao."

"I refuse to believe that the Japanese will be able to sit still after the Second New Regiment has surrounded Zhonghe Town!"

When the artillery of the new Second Regiment reached Zhonghe Town, Yoshio Shinotsuka finally couldn't sit still any longer.

Two regiments were drawn from the troops that were originally tasked with besieging the Eighth Route Army headquarters in Liangshan and quickly returned to Taiyuan to provide reinforcements.

Taiyuan must not be attacked, otherwise Yoshio Shinotsuka's position may be in jeopardy.

With the withdrawal of these two regiments, two large gaps immediately appeared in the previously tight blockade line.

Many of the trapped Eighth Route Army soldiers took advantage of this opportunity to break through the encirclement and hide in the deep mountains.

"Old Chen, urgent report from the military region: two Japanese regiments are rushing towards Taiyuan day and night."

"Because the troops have been scattered, it is now impossible to effectively intercept them."

"Commander Si told us to make plans as soon as possible." Luo Ping hurriedly walked into the headquarters of the Second New Regiment.

The Japanese encirclement had a breach, and the Eighth Route Army was no longer in such a predicament.

The new Second Regiment has already gained a considerable advantage; it's time for them to leave.

"Order the First and Second Battalions to retreat immediately. We will retreat through Xiguan back to Dayun Mountain."

"Fourth Battalion, withdraw from the battle on your own after dark," Chen Chengxing immediately ordered.

The Fourth Battalion is currently blocking the Japanese 22nd Regiment in the vicinity of Shangcha Village.

The primary objective of the 22nd team is to return to their base, so they cannot afford to recklessly pursue them.

Therefore, the Fourth Battalion can head directly west into Zhanshan.

As for the Third Battalion, they will have to hold off the enemy for a while longer, and can only withdraw from the battle after the main force of the Second New Regiment has passed through Xiping.

Otherwise, the new Second Regiment might be trapped in the mountains by the Fourth Brigade.

Although it is less than 50 li from Xiguan to Xiping, due to road problems, even if the Second New Regiment marches forcibly, it will take them until the next day to arrive.

"Sir, the 22nd Regiment has called; they have recaptured Nantun Town," Yamaoka Michifumi reported.

"Yoshi. Looks like the new Second Regiment has run away."

"Have you found Kuroshima-kun's body?" Yoshio Shinotsuka asked.

Kuroshima Morita was a member of the imperial family, so we had to find his body and bring it back to Japan no matter what.

"The 22nd Regiment has found the battlefield, and the Eighth Route Army has not buried it."

"The bodies of all the soldiers in the Black Island Cavalry Regiment are currently being transported back to Taiyuan," said Michifumi Yamaoka.

“Yes.” Yoshio Shinotsuka nodded.

"Yamaoka-kun, we must rebuild the Xiguan stronghold and Nantun town next."

"And it must be poured according to standards, using reinforced concrete!"

One such mistake is enough; Yoshio Shinotsuka definitely doesn't want to suffer it again.

As long as the Xiguan stronghold and Nantun Town remain intact, the Eighth Route Army will be unable to threaten Taiyuan.

"Hai! I'll contact them and arrange the supplies right away!" Yamaoka Michifumi said, standing at attention.

The threat to Taiyuan this time instilled a sense of crisis in all the high command of the First Army. After all, those artillery shells don't discriminate when they fall.

As all the Eighth Route Army troops broke out of the encirclement, the Japanese were forced to end their mopping-up operation two days later.

However, the Japanese also took the opportunity to build a large number of pillboxes and strongholds.

Many base areas became grid-like, reverting to a guerrilla-like state.

Even the densely populated and flat areas around Dayun Mountain were occupied by the Japanese.

Numerous puppet regimes were established.

"Old Chen, should we try to fight a battle? The Japanese are still frantically building strongholds and pillboxes."

"The pillboxes were built closer and closer, so close that you could piss on the Japanese soldiers' beds."

Luo Ping walked into the regimental headquarters indignantly.

After the Second New Regiment returned to Hongdayun Mountain, it was busy restoring production in the base area.

Seeing that the New Second Regiment was not making any moves, the Japanese soldiers and puppet troops became increasingly emboldened.

"Old Luo, calm down." Chen Chengxing poured Luo Ping a glass of water.

"Let the Japanese build it if they want to. Are we afraid of a few small pillboxes?"

Although the Japanese built pillboxes to strengthen the blockade, it did not pose a significant threat to the New Second Regiment.

Unless the Japanese are willing to use large quantities of concrete, it will cause considerable trouble for the New Second Regiment.

But would the Japanese be willing to do that?
Even if he were willing to part with it, he wouldn't have that much.

As for these newly built brick watchtowers, Chen Chengxing didn't even need to deploy mountain guns.

All it takes is to bring over a 120mm heavy mortar; one shot is enough to destroy the pillbox.

Is this a pillbox? It's practically a living coffin.

"Sigh, I know that's the situation, but seeing the Japanese swaggering around like that makes me feel terrible!"

Luo Ping picked up the water glass and gulped it down in one go.

It was as if this could extinguish the fire in his heart.

“Old Luo, you only see one side of the story, not the other,” Chen Chengxing said with a laugh.

"Which side?" Luo Ping asked, intrigued.

"The more pillboxes the Japanese build, the more dispersed their forces become," Chen Chengxing said.

"This is actually a kind of regression, from large-scale field warfare to counterinsurgency warfare."

"Just like the Qing Dynasty back then, there were groups of people scattered here and there. Once a large-scale battle broke out, they would be overwhelmed."

"If the Japanese want to launch another sweep, they will first have to transfer people from their various strongholds and pillboxes."

The Eight Banners Army in the early Qing Dynasty relied on its ability to conduct large-scale mobile warfare.

In the course of fighting against the Ming army and the Southern Ming army, the Eight Banners army actually suffered many initial defeats.

However, speed is of the essence in war, and the Eight Banners reinforcements always arrived in time, mobilizing all their forces and traveling day and night.

Quickly concentrate superior forces and arrive at the battlefield in a timely manner.

They outnumbered the enemy, turned the tide of battle, and ultimately surrounded and defeated them.

In modern terms, that would be considered a sophisticated campaign of mobile warfare, blitzkrieg, and annihilation warfare.

But what about later on?

After the Eight Banners were dispersed throughout the country, they quickly became corrupt, and could only rely on the Green Standard Army for fighting.

This is pretty much the same procedure as the Japanese.

"Old Luo, the Japanese have one division, 3 regiments, 9 battalions, 27 companies, and 81 platoons."

"But how many watchtowers are there?"

"There are already more than 300 just around the Zhongyun Mountains, and no less than 2000 in the whole of Shanxi, and they are still under construction."

"After deducting the Japanese troops stationed in major county towns, how many people could the Japanese put in a single pillbox?"

"I'm afraid there isn't even a single platoon; at most, it's just three or five Japanese soldiers plus some puppet troops."

"Such pillboxes can only pose a threat to militia guerrillas who lack the ability to attack fortified positions."

If Chen Chengxing wanted to, he could pull out dozens of them in one night.

Moreover, Chen Chengxing estimated that once the number of rocket launchers increased, the guerrillas would be able to take control of these pillboxes.

"Yes, you make a good point." Luo Ping nodded.

After Chen Chengxing's analysis, it really made sense.

Without the ability to break through enemy lines, so many pillboxes would indeed be a troublesome problem.

But for the new Second Regiment, these obstacles could be removed whenever they wanted.

"As long as they don't touch our core base, we'll ignore them for now," Chen Chengxing said.

The Japanese pillboxes were mainly built in the former guerrilla areas.

As for the deep mountains, the Japanese couldn't even transport many bricks in.

Moreover, the Second Regiment has been extremely busy during this period.

In addition to resuming production and helping people rebuild their homes, the engineering corps also returned to the mountains to begin constructing tunnels and cellars.

After so many plantings, the high-yield potato has enough parent stock, and this year should bring a bumper harvest.

Storage will be a big problem then.

Cellars are the most suitable way to store potatoes; if done properly, they can be stored for 6-8 months.

With food supplies, the new Second Regiment can develop properly.

Because of the Second New Regiment's disregard, the entire Zhongyun Mountain area has calmed down.

The Japanese soldiers and the Second New Regiment began to go about their own business.

However, this peace was broken with the arrival of a telegram after the start of the new year.

(End of this chapter)