Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 327 Falling from the sky
"Commander, the garrison reports that they have entered the Dayun Mountain area."

The security detail asked whether they should continue advancing.

"Arrived already?"

Lu Ye Da Xiang reached out to the side and took the map.

After examining the map, Lu Ye Da Xiang nodded in satisfaction.

They traveled north from Anqiu, passing through Sanwan Town and then taking a shortcut, and have now arrived at Dayun Mountain.

"Yoshi. The Eighth Route Army in this area has been transferred away. Colonel Takeshita's plan has succeeded."

"Pass on my order: have the garrison halt their advance and wait in place."

"The First Brigade, speed up, take over the mission from the garrison, and advance to Ma Yaoshan!"

The Eighth Route Army could not have planted mines in its core area, so the garrison's mission was complete.

What we need now is for the troops to launch a rapid assault. If we continue to let the garrison drag their feet, the Eighth Route Army will realize what's happening.

"Hai!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
As soon as it got light, the various units of the Second Independent Regiment began their morning exercises.

Due to ammunition shortages, the main focus of training for the various units was still bayonet fighting.

Qi Ze, the commander of the Second Independent Regiment, stood on a high place and looked through binoculars at the Third Battalion, which was training in Ningjia Village. He nodded in satisfaction.

Just as Qi Ze was about to offer some praise, something vaguely appeared in the morning mist in the distance.

Qi Ze immediately looked over.

A group of soldiers wearing helmets and khaki uniforms were seen moving towards Ma Yaoshan.

"Oh no! Japanese devils!" Qi Ze shouted.

Just by looking at the Japanese soldiers' positions, Qi Ze could tell that they were planning to encircle them from right to left.

"Pass on my order: the 7th Company of the 3rd Battalion, immediately seize Mayaoshan and block the Japanese troops."

"The 8th Company shall be on alert and block the enemy towards Dalanggou, and the 9th Company shall be on alert and block the enemy towards Pingkou!"

"Immediately go to Yantou Village and Fanjia Village to relay orders to the First and Second Battalions, instructing them to quickly engage in combat!"

"Yes!"

"The Japanese devils have sneaked in from Ningjia Village?"

Chen Chengxing was somewhat surprised when he heard the report.

Regardless of where these Japanese soldiers came from, they could only have marched here stealthily at night.

The fact that the Japanese could enter the mountains in one night means that it must have been a light-arms operation, and they probably didn't bring any mountain guns.

What would a unit like this be doing in Dayun Mountain?
"Brigade Commander, the Second Independent Regiment reports that the Japanese offensive is very fierce. Since the start of the battle, they have launched several strong attacks in succession."

"The Second Independent Regiment suffered heavy casualties," Xu Wu said.

The Second Independent Regiment was, after all, a local regiment that had not yet completed its training, and it was quite different from the Japanese field troops.

"Order the Fourth and Fifth Independent Regiments to immediately support Ningjia Village."

"Order the 213th Regiment to send a battalion to outflank the enemy from the rear."

"The 212th Regiment and the Independent Regiment are also moving towards Hongniwan," Chen Chengxing ordered.

No matter what the Japanese are planning, if they dare to venture deep into enemy territory alone, they must be left behind.

"Yes!"

Meanwhile, Takeshita Shun had already led his special forces team to parachute into a mountainous area.

"Reporting to Colonel, all twelve men of the first squad have landed safely! They have now assembled," the squad leader of the first squad reported to Takeshita Shun.

"Yosh, assemble and stand by!" Takeshita Shun commanded.

Soon the squad leader of the second squad also ran over.

"Report! The second squad of twelve men has assembled!"

"Stand by!"

Before Takeshita Shun could even breathe a sigh of relief, the situation reported by the third squad leader made him frown deeply.
"Colonel! The third squad of eleven men has assembled! One man is still missing!"

“Some team members saw that after he jumped out of the plane, his parachute failed to open properly.”

"Baka. Has the body been found?" Takeshita Shun asked.

Faced with this situation, Takeshita Shun could only accept his bad luck.

After all, no one can guarantee that the parachute won't malfunction.

Paratroopers frequently fall to their deaths during training.

"The body has not been found yet, but the third team is searching."

Takeshita Shun pondered for a moment, then ordered, "The search mission is canceled immediately! Assemble the troops."

With such a large area covered by the airdrop, finding a body in the mountains is no easy task.

And they don't have time to waste right now.

Besides, they are all dressed as Eighth Route Army soldiers now, so even if someone finds a body, they will only assume that something happened to an Eighth Route Army soldier.

They will not be exposed in the short term.

At that moment, Takeshita Shun was unaware that the special forces soldier who hadn't opened his parachute had fallen headfirst into front of someone.

As food supplies gradually became more plentiful in the Dayun Mountain base area, many people chose to raise some livestock.

Old Liu from Niuzhuang was one of them.

Old Liu gritted his teeth and bought four lambs, and he went out to herd them every day before dawn.

He was only thinking about selling the sheep when they grew up to get money to help his son find a wife.

That morning, Old Liu drove his sheep into the mountains to graze, as usual.

As soon as they arrived at the destination, something fell from the sky.

With a "thud," it landed less than 10 meters away from him.

This sudden situation almost scared Old Liu to death.

After Old Liu calmed his heart, which was pounding in his throat, he slowly approached.

A large pool of red blood appeared in front of him.

Amidst the blood, there lay a mangled corpse.

It looks like a watermelon that has been smashed to pieces.

Although the corpse was unrecognizable, Old Liu recognized the clothes on it.

"The Eighth Route Army?!"

"How come there are Eighth Route Army soldiers here?" Old Liu looked up and around.

Having found nothing, Old Liu gritted his teeth and decided to give up herding sheep and rush back to the village to report the news.

"Captain Niu, something's happened!"

A dozen minutes later, Old Liu returned to Niuzhuang, panting heavily.

"Uncle Liu, don't rush, put the sheep down first and catch your breath." Captain Niu quickly poured him a bowl of water.

Old Liu was carrying a lamb under one arm and another in each hand. Luckily, the lambs were small; otherwise, even if Old Liu could lift them, he wouldn't be able to carry them all.

"Why are you panting? Hurry up, something's happened on the ridge."

Old Liu let go of the lamb, put it on the ground, and pulled the cow captain to the place where he grazed his sheep.

"Uncle Liu, could you please tell me what's going on?" Captain Niu said helplessly.

"Ah, yes, yes, yes." Old Liu patted his forehead.

"I was herding sheep when suddenly someone fell from the sky. I went over to look and saw it was a member of the Eighth Route Army!"

"The Eighth Route Army? They fell from the sky?" Captain Niu exclaimed in shock.

"How badly are you injured?" Captain Niu asked anxiously.

"He's fallen so badly he's unrecognizable, and he's injured!"

"Hurry up," Old Liu said.

"Alright, alright, we'll go right away!" Captain Niu followed Old Liu.

"Xiao Wu, go to the brigade headquarters and inform them to have Brigade Commander Chen send a few people to take a look."

Captain Niu shouted as he walked out.

"Yes!"

"Brigade Commander, we received a report from the militia that an Eighth Route Army soldier fell from the sky and died on a ridge."

Upon hearing the report from the guard company soldiers, everyone in the brigade headquarters looked up.

They had never heard of such a situation before.

"Bring them in," Chen Chengxing said immediately.

"Yes!"

"Brigade Commander!" Militia member Xiao Wu walked in and saluted.

"Have you been to the scene? What's the situation?" Chen Chengxing asked.

“I didn’t go to the scene; it was Grandpa Liu, who was herding sheep, who saw it.”

“Our captain has already gone. He asked me to come and tell the brigade headquarters,” Xiao Wu explained.

"How could the Eighth Route Army suddenly appear out of nowhere?" Luo Ping asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Let's go take a look first," Chen Chengqi said, getting up.

When Chu Yunfei arrived at the ridge and saw the body, he was somewhat surprised.

Submachine guns? We have that kind of equipment?

According to Chu Yunfei's understanding, even the most elite Eighth Route Army units would be lucky to have a pistol squad, let alone submachine guns.

"Yes, there is, but it's obvious that it shouldn't be here."

"Sun Desheng, bring over the bag from the corpse's back," Chen Chengxing gestured.

“Yes!” Sun Desheng immediately stepped forward.

In addition to removing the backpack from the corpse's back, they also laid out all the weapons and equipment it was carrying on the ground nearby.

"Old Chu, do you understand now?" Chen Chengxing asked.

"Parachute? Are these paratroopers?" Chu Yunfei frowned.

He knew the Japanese had paratroopers, but was it worth it to deal with the New Second Brigade?
"Captain Niu, did you hear any airplanes today?" Chen Chengxing asked, turning his head.

"Yes!" Captain Niu nodded and said:
"As dawn was breaking, a plane flew by, and judging from the sound, it was flying very low."

"It seems we have guests at Dayun Mountain," Chen Chengxing said.

"Sun Desheng, order the cavalry to disperse and search the surrounding area for any suspicious places."

"The focus should be on bushes or freshly turned soil," Chen Chengxing ordered.

"Yes!"

Sun Desheng waved his hand, and the cavalrymen who came with Chen Chengxing immediately began to disperse and search.

The militiamen and villagers nearby also joined the search.

Several hundred people searched the mountain together, and in less than half an hour, they discovered the anomaly.

Looking at the excavated parachute, Chen Chengxing's expression turned somewhat serious.

"36 parachutes, which means 36 Japanese soldiers entered Dayun Mountain."

"Send orders to the militia in various places, be alert to Eighth Route Army detachments of thirty or so men or a dozen men!"

"Remind the militia that this group is well-equipped. If they are spotted, do not act rashly; report it immediately!"

"Yes, sir!" The messenger immediately mounted his horse and went to deliver the message.

"Sun Desheng, the cavalry battalion will conduct a dispersed search, organized by platoon."

"yes!".
Watching the cavalry battalion rumble away, Chu Yunfei asked with some confusion:
"It's just a dozen or so men, a small squad of Japanese soldiers. Is it worth making such a fuss?"

“I’m sure this team is extraordinary,” Chen Chengxing said seriously.

Unlike Chu Yunfei, who had never seen one, Chen Chengxing was well aware of the threat posed by an elite special forces team.

What Chen Chengxing didn't expect was that even though Yamamoto Ichiki was so thoroughly dead, Shinotsuka Yoshio could still produce another one.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Chengxing said, "I'm sure this team is aiming for Hongniwan."

"The Japanese soldiers in Ping'an, Heyuan, and even Lijiacun are very likely cooperating with this small team."

The Japanese troops, who had been advancing cautiously step by step, were probably trying to lure out the 213th Regiment.

The Japanese soldiers in Lijia Village were probably there to cooperate with this special forces team.

Upon hearing Chen Chengxing's explanation, Chu Yunfei's expression also turned serious.

An elite squad disguised as Eighth Route Army soldiers was so well-known that most people couldn't tell the difference.

If the surprise attack succeeds, Hongniwan will inevitably descend into chaos.

When the surrounding troops launch their attack, the New Second Brigade will inevitably suffer a major blow.

"Should we arrange for the people of Hongniwan to evacuate immediately?" Chu Yunfei said.

"No." Chen Chengxing shook his head.

"It's easy to be a thief for a thousand days, but you can't be on guard against thieves for a thousand days."

"Now that we've discovered them, let's take this opportunity to eliminate them," Chen Chengxing said.

Since the Japanese special forces were coming for Hongniwan, they should set up an ambush there.

After all, no matter how elite the Japanese troops were, they were still lightly armed and had no power to resist heavy weapons.

If we can't kill them here, once the Japanese turn their attention to ordinary guerrillas, the guerrillas will be no match for them.

Just as the troops near Hongniwan began to move, Takeshita Shun was leading his special forces team along a small path toward Hongniwan.

"Colonel, the vanguard has reported that they have arrived at Cross Ridge." A communications soldier ran back.

"Yoshi, order the troops to speed up." Takeshita Shun nodded.

From the top of Shiziling Mountain, he could use binoculars to see the situation in Hongniwan.

(End of this chapter)