Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 326 Rural Cleanup (Additional Chapter 6! Requesting Votes)

"Brigade Commander, according to intelligence from the military region and reports from guerrilla groups in various places..."

"The Japanese are consolidating their forces and focusing on key defenses."

"This area was the key defense zone after the Japanese troops withdrew."

"This area used to be a safe zone for the Japanese, and no fortifications were built there, so the Japanese are now carrying out large-scale construction in these places."

At the brigade's routine meeting, Xu Wu pointed to the map and spoke first.

"Concentrate our forces and focus on key defenses," Luo Ping said with a smile.

"Isn't this just Okamura Yasuji's old trick? He can't come up with any new ideas."

Starting in May, the Japanese had already begun to change the situation of having numerous bunkers.

They began to retreat from the bunkers and pillboxes, concentrating their forces in key strongholds.

According to Luo Ping's knowledge, the Japanese had voluntarily withdrawn nearly a hundred pillboxes from the vicinity of the Zhongyun Mountains alone.

"That's the advantage of having great strategic depth," Chen Chengxing said.

"The greater the strategic depth, the more difficult it is for the Japanese to wage a counterinsurgency war."

As they occupied more and more territory, the Japanese soldiers now typically had one battalion guarding one county.

If there are 10 townships in this county, and each township has its own Eighth Route Army activities.

The Japanese army left a company in the county town as a mobile force.

The remaining troops had to be broken down into small squads or detachments and stationed separately.

Only in this way can the Japanese maintain control over the region.

However, this stretched the Japanese battle lines too far.

The troop strength is severely strained, making it impossible to form a concentrated combat force.

Around strongholds with a large number of troops, the Japanese could not find the Eighth Route Army at all.

Outposts with few troops are easily destroyed.

Mobile forces, on the other hand, act as firefighters, constantly on the move.

Today, Lizhuang was attacked, and the troops had to rush to its aid.

Upon arrival, fighting broke out again in Wangzhuang, and the Japanese had to reinforce Wangzhuang.

Just as Wang Zhuang arrived, another fight broke out in Zhao Zhuang.

The Japanese soldiers ran around on the road every day.

This is just the guerrilla force; if they were to encounter a main force that launched a siege and attack reinforcements, the Japanese would be in serious trouble.

Faced with the ever-growing Eighth Route Army, the Japanese no longer had any good solutions.

Therefore, the only option was to abandon the vast majority of rural areas and concentrate military forces in a few major strongholds.

"This is what the leader meant by 'the vast ocean of people's war'," Luo Ping said with a smile.

From now on, the Eighth Route Army can basically do whatever they want in rural areas.

It's self-evident what this means.

"According to intelligence, a large number of the newly replenished Japanese troops are elderly or children," Chu Yunfei said.

"Even fifteen- or sixteen-year-old children were dragged onto the battlefield."

"This shows that the Japanese army is running out of manpower, and the outcome of this war is about to be decided."

"Yes, the Japanese devils won't last long." Chen Chengxing nodded.

"However, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse, so we still can't be careless."

The Japanese are bleeding every day. Even if we don't attack them, they will bleed to death on their own.

This was already a settled matter after the Battle of Wuhan ended.

Therefore, there is no need to engage in a direct battle with the Japanese in the short term; it is sufficient to continue to wear them down through guerrilla warfare.

Of course, the Japanese themselves couldn't afford to wage any major direct battles.

"The retreat of the Japanese army likely played a crucial role in the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign," Chu Yunfei analyzed.

In April, US bombers bombed Japanese cities such as Tokyo and Nagoya before landing at an air force base in Zhejiang.

This bombing caused widespread fear among the Japanese people.

In an effort to appease the public, the Japanese high command urgently ordered the Chinese Expeditionary Army to open up the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Railway and destroy air force bases in Zhejiang and Jiangsu.

"Even after the battle, the Japanese army might still launch a counterattack, so we cannot let our guard down," Chu Yunfei said.
"Yes, that's certainly one of the reasons." Chen Chengxing nodded.

"However, I don't think this battle will have any impact on us."

"Oh? What does the brigade commander mean?" Chu Yunfei became interested.

He had witnessed Chen Chengxing's tactical command abilities, but he had never seen his predictive abilities.

“As you should know, the Japanese lost their naval advantage in the Battle of Midway last year,” Chen Chengxing said.

"Therefore, the Japanese are now facing a severe impact on their maritime transport routes."

"The Japanese have a force of 50 in Southeast Asia."

"Brother Yunfei, what do you think the Japanese will do?" Chen Chengxing asked.

Everyone present turned their gaze to Chu Yunfei.

Such a high-level question left Xu Wu and Luo Ping with no room to maneuver.

Chu Yunfei's expression grew increasingly serious.

"It seems a major battle is inevitable," Chu Yunfei said in a deep voice.

To prevent 50 soldiers in Southeast Asia from being trapped and dying, opening up land transportation lines was the only option for the Japanese.

"Brigade Commander, should we report our speculations to the higher authorities so that Chongqing can prepare accordingly?"

Chu Yunfei wasn't particularly concerned about Guo Jun; rather, he was considering the bigger picture.

"Hehe, Brother Yunfei, you're overthinking it," Chen Chengxing said with a smile.

"We can all see it, do you think the higher-ups wouldn't?"

According to Chen Chengxing's understanding, the Chinese, American, British, and Soviet countries had definitely already figured this out long ago.

Otherwise, there wouldn't have been the Cairo Conference at the end of the year.

However, no one could have imagined that the Chairman of the Standing Committee, who was about to be promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces in the China-Burma-India Theater, would end up like this. This directly led to the Yalta Conference, where the US, UK, and the Soviet Union expelled Zhong Ge, one of the "Cairo Four."

Just as everyone was having a heated discussion, Zhou Weiguo arrived at the door.

"report!"

"Received a telegram from the 213th Regiment: the Japanese and puppet troops of the 4th Mixed Brigade in Ping'an County and Heyuan County have entered the base area."

"Commander Qin speculated that the Japanese might be carrying out a mopping-up operation."

"Purge the countryside?" Chen Chengxing looked at Chu Yunfei.

"Previously, Hirata Ichiro of Heyuan County dispatched a large battalion and the 5th Regiment of the Locust Army to attack the Dagushan area."

"The strategy they adopted was to proceed step by step and advance gradually."

"However, after Qian Bojun's troops were brought under control, the Japanese and their puppet troops stopped advancing."

"It seems they've changed their target," Chu Yunfei said.

"According to the report from the 213th Regiment, the Japanese are now advancing cautiously step by step," Zhou Weiguo said.

"Should we proceed cautiously, step by step?" Chen Chengxing sensed something was amiss.

"The Japanese troops in Ping'an County and Heyuan County combined number less than a thousand, and with the addition of the Fourth Mixed Brigade of the puppet army, there are only about three thousand people."

"With such a small number of people, it's impossible for them to penetrate deep into Dayun Mountain. At most, they can only sweep through the outer areas."

"What kind of calculated, step-by-step strategy are they playing?"

The previous careful planning was in order to cooperate with Qian Bojun.

But what are they trying to achieve by proceeding cautiously step by step?
Surely there can't be any mutineers in the New Second Brigade?
This is absolutely impossible.

The Eighth Route Army was different from the Kuomintang army; their Party branches were set up at the company level.

No matter which unit it is, it cannot be completely controlled by one or two people.

Everyone around fell into deep thought.

Since the Japanese had no chance of penetrating deep into enemy territory, it was the most normal thing for them to grab a quick loot on the outskirts and leave.

Taking a step-by-step approach is just giving the new Second Brigade a chance to react.

"Is it possible that the Japanese want to expand their territory?"

"Although the Japanese are withdrawing their troops, they may be thinking of leaving some buffer zones to prevent the Eighth Route Army from directly attacking the city."

"Moreover, this will also affect the development speed of the Eighth Route Army," Chu Yunfei said.

During this period, Chu Yunfei went deep into the grassroots to learn more about the Eighth Route Army.

You don’t know until you see it, and it’s really shocking.

Looking at the people in the base area, Chu Yunfei finally understood why the Eighth Route Army had expanded so rapidly.

The people in the base areas were the roots of the Eighth Route Army.

If the Japanese choose to expand their territory, they are essentially undermining the Eighth Route Army.

"Yes, you make a good point." Chen Chengxing nodded.

If the Japanese didn't have any ulterior motives, this is probably the only possibility.

"Weiguo, send an order to the 213th Regiment, instructing them to work with the local armed forces to suppress the Japanese forces' activities and force them out of their base area."

"Yes!"

Just as Zhou Weiguo was about to leave, Chen Chengxing suddenly spoke up again.

"and many more."

"Send a messenger to the Second Independent Regiment to order them to move from Fanli Village to the Ningjia Village area to continue training."

The newly formed independent regiments are currently training in various locations within the Dayun Mountain base area.

Chen Chengxing now felt that the Japanese soldiers' actions were somewhat suspicious.

By having the Second Independent Regiment adjust its local training, the gap left by the withdrawal of the 213th Regiment can be closed.

"yes!".
"Damn it, making the brothers go out to clear minefields in the middle of the night." Huang Jinbiao cursed all the way.

In order to cooperate with Takeshita Shun, the Luye team chose to set off from Anqiu overnight.

Moreover, in order to avoid attracting the attention of the Eighth Route Army, Lu Ye Da Xiang did not even mobilize the Fourth Mixed Brigade of the Locust Army.

It was simply a matter of having over 300 members of the Anqiu garrison cooperate in the operation.

This is also why Huang Jinbiao was complaining.

With such a small number of people, if they were to encounter the Eighth Route Army, wouldn't that be suicide?

"Brother, what are the Japanese thinking? Are they going to make a move tonight?" Lieutenant Ma Yong asked, leaning closer.

Now, apart from the county seat, other places are jointly governed by the Eighth Route Army and the Japanese.

During the day, it was Japanese territory, but at night, the Eighth Route Army was in charge.

Going out so late at night, isn't that just asking for trouble?

"How the hell would I know?" Huang Jinbiao said.

"Ever since this Luye Brigade came to Anqiu, my eyelids have been twitching. It turns out they were waiting for me here."

When Lu Ye's team arrived, they said it was just a temporary encampment, and that they would launch a sweeping operation towards Dagushan a few days later.

As a result, instead of going to Dagushan, we're going to Dayunshan.

Most importantly, they even brought in the security forces.

"Lieutenant Ma, tell the brothers to be on high alert. If anything happens, they should lie down and retreat immediately!" Huang Jinbiao ordered.

Huang Jinbiao has been a traitor for many years and knows the situation of the Japanese very well.

Although the Japanese still held the initiative in Shanxi, things were getting worse year by year.

At this time, it is essential to protect the troops at hand.

This was a crucial bargaining chip for him to secure a minor official position within the Kuomintang after the Japanese left.

After all, Anqiu remains a constant, but the government changes frequently.

As long as you have a gun, you can be trusted and valued no matter who comes.

"Understood, I'll pass the order on to the brothers right away." Lieutenant Ma nodded.

(What about the monthly pass?)
(I told you to unload the ticket!)
(Uninstall again! Uninstall again!)
(End of this chapter)