Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 293 What is the most important thing when going to war?
The Japanese and puppet troops from Ping'an County and Anqiu mobilized in full force, advancing towards the garrison of the Second New Regiment in two columns.

Early in the morning, Chen Chengxing, who was still asleep, suddenly sat up.

"Commander, what's wrong?" Wei Dayong asked hurriedly upon hearing the commotion inside the room.

"Something's not right. I have a feeling a fight is about to break out!"

Chen Chengxing pushed open the door and said with a serious expression.

Although things are calm now, his intuition tells him that something is not right.

However, he couldn't sense where the enemy was coming from.

"Monk, go find Sun Desheng and tell him to send out the cavalry scouts to search in the direction of Anqiu and Taiyuan."

After thinking for a moment, Chen Chengxing said that, according to his estimation, the Anqiu direction was the most likely.

After all, they had just passed through Anqiu.

"Okay, I'm going right now." Seeing Chen Chengxing's unusually serious expression, Wei Dayong immediately rushed towards the cavalry company's encampment.

Because the villages in the mountains are small, the various units of the New Second Regiment were scattered in several villages to rest.

Chen Chengxing led his command post and cavalry company to live in Lijia Gou.

Upon receiving the order, Sun Desheng immediately dispatched two platoons of cavalry.

However, the cavalrymen had not gone far from the village when they discovered that a large contingent of Japanese soldiers had already formed an encirclement.

"Commander, Lijia Gou has been surrounded by the Japanese!"

"The Japanese and their puppet troops number more than 4!" the soldiers reported as they ran back.

"Prepare for battle!" Chen Chengxing shouted.

At this moment, Chen Chengxing had already spotted the Japanese soldiers wearing dung-colored uniforms.

The cavalrymen immediately gathered their horses and hid them in a safer spot at the rear.

The person then enters a combat stance.

Sun Desheng was skilled in cavalry warfare, but his infantry combat ability was also quite outstanding.

Back in the First Regiment, he was the company commander of an infantry company.

"Sun Desheng, fire two shots," Chen Chengxing ordered, holding up his binoculars.

Chen Chengxing was not fighting alone; the rest of the Second New Regiment were also nearby.

As soon as the artillery fires here, troops from other places will naturally come to support.

If things go wrong, you might even make a fortune.

"Yes!"

"fire!"

"Boom!" "Boom!"

As the two shells landed, the Japanese soldiers quickly went into battle.

At the same time, soldiers from other villages also heard the explosion.

"It's heading towards Lijia Gou!"

"Quickly! Emergency assembly!"
Having confirmed that the Eighth Route Army was in Lijia Gou, Nojiri Masakawa shouted excitedly:
"Advance! Advance rapidly!"

We've finally found this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers!
"Order the infantry artillery to fire, and have the Nishikawa Company and the Ohno Company attack Lijia Gou from both sides!"

As the highest-ranking officer present, Nojiri Masakawa was the commander-in-chief.

Upon receiving the order, a group of artillery pieces consisting of six Type 6 infantry guns and two Type 2 mountain guns began shelling.

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

Nishikawa Company and Ohno Company also formed a battle formation and launched their attack from the left and right.

Of course, as an essential mine detector, the puppet troops were naturally ahead of the Japanese troops.

"Spread out! Keep your bodies low to the ground!"

"Are you fucking asking for death?!"

The gold standard kept cursing.

The guards under his command are really incompetent.

Even without professional training, you can't just charge straight up like that; that's practically suicide.

Moreover, people don't even know to separate; those who don't know might think you're going to commit suicide together.

When the cavalry company in Lijia Gou saw the Japanese launching an offensive, the machine gun platoon began to suppress them with several heavy machine guns.

"Da da da" "Da da da".
"Lie down!"

Huang Jinbiao immediately lay down behind the earthen embankment.

"Bang!" "Bang!"
After the puppet troops of the garrison lay down, they also began firing.

Huang Jinbiao saw the newly recruited soldier next to him aiming and firing, and kicked him in the butt.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Huang Jinbiao roared.

"Huh? Isn't it a war?"

"Damn it, how much did the Italians pay you? Why are you working so hard for them?" Huang Jinbiao cursed.

If the garrison kills the Eighth Route Army soldiers, will I still have a good life afterward?

The Eighth Route Army is known for its elusive nature; what if they suddenly shoot you out of nowhere?
"Brothers! We've come out to fight, and there are three things we need to do!"

"Save my life! Save my life! Save my life, my ass!"

"If you die, who will spend the money you earn? Who will sleep with your wife? Who will raise the kids?"

"Have you thought it all through?" Huang Jinbiao gave the newly recruited soldiers a lesson.

"Learn from me!"

Golden Marksman taught the new soldiers the essence of faith shooting.

The firepower density of the Anqiu garrison increased dramatically in an instant.

Seeing the outstanding performance of his subordinates' security team, Nojiri Masakawa nodded in satisfaction.

"Yo-ho! Captain Huang is extremely loyal."

Although Huang Jinbiao usually embezzles military pay and smuggles weapons, he can still hold his own when it matters.

However, Bai Shouye, standing nearby, curled his lip in disdain. Everyone knew who they were. Although the puppet troops were firing indiscriminately, the two companies of Japanese soldiers still put immense pressure on the cavalry company.

In particular, the Japanese infantry artillery never stopped, continuously attacking the cavalry company's firing positions.

Although the cavalry company also had three 82mm mortars, they were still at a disadvantage compared to the firepower of the Japanese.

Just as the Japanese were getting closer and closer, Xu Wu led a battalion to attack from the flank.

"Comrades! Follow me and kill!"

"Kill!"
"Adjust course! Prepare to engage the enemy!"

The Japanese company commander saw the Eighth Route Army soldiers rushing out and immediately shouted.

At this point, we cannot retreat rashly, otherwise it could easily turn into a rout.

However, Huang Jinbiao didn't care about all that. Seeing so many Eighth Route Army soldiers rushing out, he immediately led the way and ran away.

Although Huang Jinbiao didn't shout, the puppet soldiers next to him weren't blind, and they quickly followed.

This isn't the first or second time that Gold Label has pulled this stunt; any veteran member of the garrison knows it.

As for those with poor eyesight, it's just a matter of fate.

If you survive, then rejoin the team on your own; you'll definitely learn your lesson next time.

If we can't survive, then we'll have to hire new people to fill the positions.

However, the retreat of the gold standard had a significant impact, as it directly exposed the Japanese flank.

Xu Wu didn't waste any words and immediately sent a company to launch an attack from the flank.

A Japanese company was already struggling to hold its own against a battalion of over a thousand men.

After being caught off guard by a flanking attack, they were no match for them.

In the end, the Japanese soldiers held out for less than 10 minutes before retreating.

"You idiot! Kurofuji Kizo is a complete waste! The Eighth Route Army is clearly resting in their assigned area!" Nojiri Masakawa shouted angrily, putting down his binoculars.

According to the intelligence reported by Kurofuji Kichizo, the Eighth Route Army was all in Lijia Gou.

Nojiri Masakawa also laid out the encirclement plan based on this intelligence.

As a result, the Eighth Route Army rushed out from the side.

"Colonel Nojiri, something's wrong! There are Eighth Route Army soldiers in other places too!"

"We're surrounded!" said Takeshita Toshi, the Japanese battalion commander in Ping'an County, anxiously.

The current situation looks like it's a case of the problem spreading from the center.

Lijia Gou is very likely a bait set up against them.

"Baka! It's all Kurofuji's fault! He actually fell for the Eighth Route Army's trick!"

When Nojiri Masakawa saw the Eighth Route Army surrounding him, he subconsciously shifted the blame to Kurofuji Norimitsu, who was still in Anqiu City.

"Order the troops to retreat immediately!"

"Hayaku! Hayaku!"

Regardless of the fighting strength of this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers, the important thing is to get out of the encirclement and then reorganize the army.

Nojiri Masakawa felt that with the strength he had, he wasn't afraid of these few thousand Eighth Route Army soldiers.

Currently, the strength of our forces is roughly equal to that of the Eighth Route Army.

Even if we can't defeat them quickly, we can wait for reinforcements to arrive.

According to the telegram from higher command, the Yoshino Regiment from the Mizuki direction is already urgently providing support here.

At their pace, they should arrive by tomorrow morning.

"Commander, the Japanese have retreated to Shangdian and are now regrouping. It seems they are preparing to launch another attack," Xu Wu reported.

Although the battalions had formed an encirclement of the Japanese, there was still a firepower vacuum at the connection points between them.

In addition, Nojiri Masakawa led the Japanese troops to retreat quickly, and the New Second Regiment ultimately only managed to kill less than 300 men.

Moreover, a large portion of them were puppet troops.

The remaining Japanese soldiers all broke out of the encirclement through the connecting point.

"The Japanese have really given us a tough problem," Chen Chengxing said, looking at the map.

The Japanese have now caught up with the Second New Regiment. If the Second New Regiment were to turn east and return at this point...

It is highly likely that the Japanese army will surround and blockade the flat area in the triangular region between Liangshan, Zhongyunshan and Yalushan.

If they hold their ground, the Japanese will continue to reinforce their troops, and the New Second Regiment will find it difficult to hold out for much longer.

If we retreat into the Yalu Mountain area, the artillery regiment and the 772nd Regiment are still there, which would be like inviting trouble and posing a threat to the artillery regiment.

"Commander, what should we do now?"

Xu Wu and the others standing nearby also frowned deeply. It seemed that no matter what the new Second Regiment chose, it would be wrong.

"We'll probably have to bring in reinforcements," Chen Chengxing said.

"Reinforcements? Where are the reinforcements coming from?" Everyone was puzzled.

Within the Hongniwan base area, the New Second Regiment still possessed considerable strength, but contact with them was impossible.
The troops remaining behind still had two radios, but they were both low-powered.

It can only maintain tactical communication within a range of 10 kilometers or so; it becomes unusable beyond 20 kilometers.

The distance from Lijia Gou to Hongni Bay is more than 50 kilometers, making it impossible to contact them.

"What do you mean there isn't? Isn't there a friendly force here?" Chen Chengxing pointed at the map.

"Dagushan? 358th Regiment?"

"Commander, these are the Jin-Sui Army, only nominally friendly forces," Xu Wu said.

Everyone knew the location of the 358th Regiment, since they had just passed through Dagushan.

However, no one believed that the Jin-Sui Army would help.

They're considered to have a conscience if they don't kick someone when they're down.

"Send the message first," Chen Chengxing waved his hand.

Regardless of whether Chu Yunfei is willing to help or not, Chen Chengxing still has other ways to deal with the situation.

Of course, if Chu Yunfei is willing to take action, the new Second Regiment will be able to save a lot of trouble.

(End of this chapter)