Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 310 Study, Study to the Death

"Bag! Bag!"

Hiratsu Yuufu tore the farewell telegram sent by the flanking attack force to shreds.

He never expected that the flanking team would be defeated so quickly.

They were completely annihilated before they even reached their destination.

“Brigade Commander, the New Second Brigade should have been prepared long ago. If we want to defeat them, I’m afraid we have no other way but to launch a frontal attack,” Aoki Yoshi said.

"Damn the Eighth Route Army! The New Second Brigade is indeed troublesome!"

Just as Hirachi Isao and Aoki Yoshi were discussing how to proceed with the battle the next day.

Zhou Weiguo was leading his special forces team, hiding behind a hilltop, sending out telegrams.

"Report to the brigade commander! We have received a telegram from the special operations team!"

Xu Wu, holding the translated telegram, walked into the temporary command post.

Chen Chengxing took it and saw that several coordinate points were written on it.

The Japanese front-line command post, several supply depots, and artillery positions were all recorded.

The Japanese soldiers had no suspicions about Zhou Weiguo, who spoke fluent Japanese.

"Report to the artillery company: attack the front command post first, then the artillery positions, and finally the supply depots."

Chen Chengxing handed the telegram back to Xu Wu.

"Maintain contact with the special operations teams and get them to provide guidance."

The distance from the Erlang Mountain artillery position to these coordinates is more than 12 kilometers.

Although this was still within the range of the cannon battery, the distance was still far, so the margin of error was bound to be large.

Therefore, real-time guidance is necessary.

"yes!".
"One test shot!"

"hair!"

"boom!".
Hiratsu Yuu and Aoki Yoshi, who were discussing how to fight tomorrow in the command post, were startled by the sound of an explosion.

"What's going on?" Hiratsu Yuu asked loudly.

"Brigade Commander, the command post is under artillery fire 80 meters southeast! It's heavy artillery!" the Japanese soldier at the door reported.

The house within a radius of several meters was destroyed by the blast.

Fragments from the shells were flying everywhere.

"What?!" Hiratsu Yuu thought he had misheard.

The forward command post of the Fourth Brigade was nearly 4 kilometers away from the front-line positions of the Eighth Route Army. How did the Eighth Route Army manage to get here?
And how did they know where the command center was?
"Brigade Commander, now is not the time to think about these things, we need to move immediately!" Aoki Yoshi said urgently.

The first shell was just a test shot; the next ones will probably hit the command post.

"Guards! Take the brigade commander away!"

"The rest of you, pack your things immediately and move to a safe place!" Aoki shouted.

Therefore, the most important thing now is to leave this place first.

Without wasting any words, Hiratsu Yuu quickly left the temporary command post, escorted by a small squad of guards.

Less than a minute after Aoki Yoshio and Hirachi Isao left, two shells landed.

"Boom!" "Boom!"

Although these two shells did not directly hit the command post.

However, the immense power still turned the Japanese command post into ruins.

The Japanese soldiers who had not yet escaped were buried under the rubble.

"Boom!" "Boom!"

Half a minute later, two more shells landed.

One of the shots hit the ruins of the Japanese command post, and the sounds of pain and wailing that had been lingering ceased completely.

"Bagaya road!"

After fleeing to safety in a disheveled state, Pinglu Yongfu's eyes were bloodshot.

He never imagined that one day he would be chased and attacked by heavy artillery.

Moreover, they couldn't retaliate after firing, and they didn't even know where the enemy was firing their artillery.

However, before Hiratsu Yuufu could come up with a countermeasure, another explosion was heard in the distance.

"That's an artillery position!" Hirano Yufu realized something was terribly wrong.

The destruction of the command post will affect the issuance of military orders, but it will not have a significant impact on frontline operations.

However, if the artillery positions are destroyed, the subsequent battle will be greatly affected.

The Fourth Brigade is counting on these artillery pieces.

"Quick! Transport the artillery!" Pinglu Yongfu shouted.

Just as Pinglu Yongfu finished speaking, several more explosions came from the artillery position.

There was also a particularly loud explosion, accompanied by a mushroom cloud of fire.

"It's over." Hiratsu Yuu's legs went weak, and he almost collapsed to the ground.

Artillery is made of steel, and unless it is hit by a shell at close range, it will not suffer any major damage.

But if the shells exploded, it would be enough to destroy the entire artillery position.

These are a full twenty cannons!
Hiratsu Yuu had no idea how he was going to explain himself to Shinotsuka Yoshio and the North China Area Army.

But what would truly drive Hiratsu Yuu to despair was yet to come.

That night, the two 105mm cannons kept firing at the coordinates provided by the special operations team.

Sometimes they would even launch a surprise attack, wiping out the Japanese soldiers who were treating the wounded as well.

"This time, those little devils are in for a rough time," Wei Dayong said with a laugh, looking at the Japanese positions engulfed in flames.

The special operations brigade had already taken advantage of the chaos to retreat back into the mountains when the Japanese artillery positions were destroyed.

Right now, they're just watching the show.

"We killed so many Japanese soldiers without firing a single shot."

“Monk, do you think this Japanese is important?” Zhou Weiguo asked from the side.

“Important, very important!” Wei Dayong nodded repeatedly.

You have to admit it.

Although the Japanese soldiers killed this time were not killed by the special forces themselves, Wei Dayong was very clear about their role.

“When you get back, you have to take the lead in studying.”

"Study! Study like there's no tomorrow!" Wei Dayong said through gritted teeth.

Now that Wei Dayong has witnessed the allure of special operations, he naturally cannot allow himself to hold back.

"What's going on with the Fourth Brigade? What is Hiratsuki Isao doing?!" Yoshio Shinotsuka, who was woken up from his bed, exploded after hearing Michifumi Yamaoka's report.

The loss of these twelve Type 94 mountain guns and eight Type 41 mountain guns was enough to make Yoshio Shinotsuka's heart bleed.

After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the army had very few resources left, all of which were deployed to the Pacific theater.

Let alone whether there will be new equipment replenishment, even the existing equipment has been gradually transferred out.

Because of the infamous hot potato that is the Fourth Division.

The eight Type 96 150mm howitzers that originally belonged to the First Army were also transferred away.

At present, Yoshio Shinotsuka only has nine Type 92 105mm cannons and 75mm mountain guns to rely on in his hands.

As a result, they lost less than twenty gates in one battle!

"Sir, Major General Pinglu has requested the deployment of bombers to assist in the operation. What do you think?" Yamaoka Michifumi asked.

Hiratsu Yuufu couldn't swallow this insult; he wanted revenge.

With the assistance of bombers, the artillery of the New Second Brigade will be suppressed.

When the Fourth Brigade advances with its full force, victory is assured.

If that didn't work, Hiratsu Yuufu decided to personally lead the charge.

"Bombers? Where am I supposed to get bombers from?" Yoshio Shinotsuka said irritably.

"Should I fly there?!"

Most of the air force of the North China Area Army has been transferred away.

The remaining aircraft need to be used as a deterrent and should not be deployed lightly.

Every time an airplane takes off, it consumes a lot of fuel, and fuel is what Italy is currently short of the most.

If aircraft are deployed just for a sweep, the North China Area Army's aircraft will soon lose their ability to fly completely.

"Send orders to the Fourth Brigade, instructing them to withdraw from Mount Daiun when the opportunity arises," Yoshio Shinotsuka commanded.

In Yoshio Shinotsuka's eyes, the new Second Brigade was like a rock in a toilet—stinky and hard.

There's absolutely no need for the Locust Army to antagonize them; simply maintaining the blockade is sufficient.

This will not only prevent the influence of the new Second Brigade from expanding, but also curb its expansion speed.

As long as the New Second Brigade is trapped inside Dayun Mountain, even if they expand their troop numbers, it won't have much effect.

How many people could there be in the Dayun Mountain area?
Moreover, without weapons, what use is sheer numbers?

It's worth noting that the New Second Brigade probably didn't capture as many weapons in the entire previous year as they did during this sweep.

Although the Fourth Brigade's attack killed many Eighth Route Army soldiers, in Yoshio Shinotsuka's view, it was a complete loss.

This gave the new Second Brigade another opportunity to develop.

Yoshio Shinotsuka knew very well that what China had in abundance was people.

Seeing that Yoshio Shinotsuka had made up his mind, Michifumi Yamaoka stood at attention and said, "Hai! I'll send the message right away!"

"Brigade Commander, Taiyuan said they couldn't get any support aircraft, so they told us to evacuate Dayun Mountain."

"Moreover, their mopping-up troops have already planned to withdraw, and if we continue to stay here, we may be surrounded."

Aoki Yoshi reported, holding the telegram from the Taiyuan Command.

Once the 4th Brigade is encircled, even with support from other units, their casualties will be considerable.

Hiratsu Yuu sat there with his eyes closed, as if he hadn't heard anything.

However, Aoki Yoshi could still see the resentment in Hirachi Isao's eyes, which were darting around under his eyelids.

This defeat may not threaten Hiratsu Yuu's position as brigade commander.

However, there is probably no hope of promotion in the short term.

The headquarters has been expanding its forces at a frenzy during this period. If we can't keep up now, we'll be even less able to catch up later.

"Aoki-kun."

"Hai!"

"Order the troops to collect the bodies of the warriors and prepare to retreat!" Pinglu Yongfu gritted his teeth and said.

"Hai!"

Although the battle between the New Second Brigade and the Fourth Brigade started strong but ended weakly, the two sides dispersed immediately after a brief clash.

Moreover, according to the Japanese broadcasts, the Fourth Brigade severely damaged the New Second Brigade at the cost of fewer than 500 casualties.

But anyone with a discerning eye knows that things are definitely not that simple.

Otherwise, given the Japanese's tendency to take advantage of any advantage, they would have already advanced all the way in.

"Brother Ligong, I think the Fourth Brigade has definitely suffered a great loss this time."

Chu Yunfei threw the Japanese newspaper onto the table.

"Yes, that's what I think too." Fang Ligong nodded.

"Moreover, according to intelligence reports, when the Japanese 4th Brigade returned to its base, it brought back forty or fifty truckloads of corpses. I estimate that there were at least one or two thousand people."

According to the Japanese army's normal transportation standards, a truck usually transported twenty to thirty corpses.

However, when they actually got to the battlefield, the Japanese would sometimes put forty or fifty bodies on a truck.

"Commander, the strength of the Eighth Route Army is not to be underestimated. In such a short time, the Second New Regiment has developed to the point where it can rival a Japanese brigade."

Fang Ligong's expression was very serious.

The Eighth Route Army was ultimately a major threat to the Kuomintang.

Especially now that the United States has entered the war, Chongqing officials have repeatedly mentioned the threat posed by the Eighth Route Army in their daily remarks.

Some Kuomintang officials even believed that the Eighth Route Army posed a greater threat than the Japanese army.

"The Eighth Route Army's ability to build up its ranks is truly terrifying," Chu Yunfei exclaimed.

When he went to the New Second Regiment before, it was at most a reinforced regiment.

Now it has been transformed into a reinforced brigade.

"Brother Ligong, next you need to pay attention to collecting intelligence on the New Second Brigade and even the Jin-Sui Military Region."

"The 358th Regiment was backed by Dagushan Mountain, and was like a nail driven into the Eighth Route Army's base."

“If anything changes, we’ll probably be the first to be affected,” Chu Yunfei said seriously.

Within the Jin-Sui Military Region, in addition to the 358th Regiment of the Jin-Sui Army, the Kuomintang also had the 321st Regiment and the 217th Regiment of the Central Army.

Even at the most critical moment, these three regiments did not retreat to southwestern Shanxi.

The purpose was to act as the front line in containing the Eighth Route Army.

"Okay, I'll make the arrangements in a bit." Fang Ligong nodded.

Chu Yunfei stood by the window, his gaze fixed on the direction of Dayun Mountain.

Brother Chengxing, I hope we will never meet on the battlefield.

(End of this chapter)