Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 66: The Battle of Northwest Shanxi (Two more copies, why don’t you vote for the monthly ticket?)

Even though the field artillery seized by Chen Chengxing this time was complete in accessories, the newly formed field artillery platoon was simply unable to operate it, even after more than half a month of trial and error.

Facing Chen Chengxing's request, the brigade commander said unhappily: "Artillery? Where can I find artillery for you?"

Now the artillery battalion directly under the brigade headquarters only has 3 infantry guns and 5 82mm mortars. No one knows how to use heavy artillery such as field guns and mountain guns.

"How about this, I'll talk to the boss and ask you to send a few people to the headquarters artillery regiment to study in a few days, and then send them back after they have learned it." The brigade commander said after thinking for a while.

The headquarters artillery regiment has both mountain artillery and field artillery, and you can learn how to operate artillery there.

"Thank you, Brigade Commander!" Chen Chengxing said with a smile.

Although we won’t send people directly to the New Second Regiment, it is fine if they can go to the Artillery Regiment to learn. At the very least, the artillerymen of the New Second Regiment can learn to operate these two artillery pieces.

"Stop talking nonsense and go into the conference room quickly. The communicator has already gone to inform the division commander and political commissar." The brigade commander called.

Seeing the brigade commander striding back, Chen Chengxing hurriedly followed him.

In the conference room, the division commander looked at the regiment commanders and brigade commanders present and said:

"As you know, in February, the two regiments of the 2th Division of the Japanese Army, with more than 20 troops, and more than 2 puppet Mongolian troops, attacked from Suxian, Beihe and other places from the north and south.

Because the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army did not resist, the Japanese and puppet troops successively occupied seven counties, including Wulong, Shuiquan, Qifeng, Xiaoxian, and Anqiu. "

The map hanging on the wall has marked the enemy's marching route.

"According to the speculation of the Central Committee and the headquarters, the main purpose of the Japanese army should be to block the Yellow River crossing and cut off the connection between the Eighth Route Army and the Central Committee."

"However, the Japanese army still has a tendency to cross the river and advance westward, so we must cut off this plan of the Japanese army. The border area must not be threatened!" said the division commander firmly.

For the Eighth Route Army, the border area is their base camp.

Now no one knows how the war between China and the Japanese army will develop. Once the situation in Shanxi changes, the Eighth Route Army will still have a way to retreat as long as there is a border area.

Afterwards, the division commander asked the division staff to explain the battle plan on the map.

Because the 385th Regiment of the 770th Brigade stayed in the border area, and the 769th Regiment and two other guerrilla detachments were active in the triangle area of Suicheng, Suxian and Yuncheng, the early stage of this battle was mainly based on the 2th Brigade and the division's teaching regiment, supplemented by local troops.

Of course, the 385th Regiment of the 769th Brigade and other units will participate in blocking and attacking reinforcements when the 386th Brigade attacks.

Moreover, although the more than 7 Japanese troops successfully occupied county towns, they also completely dispersed their limited forces, with each county town having only one battalion of troops.

This was not a difficult task for the 386th Brigade.

According to the battle plan, the first wave of attack targets of this campaign were Shuiquan and Xiaoxian.

Among them, Xiaoxian was under the charge of the division commander who commanded the division's direct troops, the teaching regiment and the 771st Regiment, while Shuiquan was under the charge of the brigade commander who commanded the 772nd Regiment and its three subordinate core regiments.

As for the time of attack, it was set at three days later. These three days were to give the troops time to move into place.

After the divisional staff officer finished explaining the battle plan, Chen Chengxing heard a voice from the system.

[Side quest released: Capture the city. ]

[Mission objective: Recapture the seven counties newly occupied by the Japanese army]

[Task Reward: 0-7 Research Institute Papers (the number depends on the number of counties captured by the New Second Regiment).]

Research volume of the research institute? Chen Chengxing looked at the panel in a daze.

My research institute hasn't been activated yet, so how come I received the research coupon?

Could it be that the progress of his mission was too slow and the system couldn't stand it? After the meeting, Chen Chengxing did not stay to reminisce, but returned to Hongni Bay as quickly as possible.

After returning to Hongni Bay, Chen Chengxing convened an emergency meeting.

After informing everyone of the division headquarters' decision, Chen Chengxing said:
"Stop training for the supplementary battalion and immediately assign all soldiers to the main battalion. I will lead the first, second, third battalions, the special forces company, as well as mortars and infantry artillery in this battle. The rest of the personnel will stay in Hongni Bay."

"Also, send a message to the guerrillas, asking them to move closer to the base area and not let the Japanese steal our homes."

"Political Commissar, do you have anything else to say?" Chen Chengxing turned his head and asked.

"I have nothing to say." Luo Ping shook his head.

This battle was initiated by the division headquarters and commanded by the brigade commander, so he had no right to speak.

"Okay, then let's adjourn the meeting. Everyone go back and get ready. We'll set off in the evening," said Chen Chengxing.

The New Second Regiment is now in the Zhongyun Mountains, while Shuiquan is in the northwest of the Yalu Mountains.

If the New Second Regiment wanted to join the war, it would first have to cross the Japanese strongholds around Dayun Mountain.

Therefore, taking action at night is the best option.

As for why they didn't bring Italian cannons, the reason was very simple. In addition to not having learned how to use them, the most crucial reason was that the march was long. Not only was the distance more than 200 miles, but they also had to walk on several mountain roads.

If they took the Italian artillery, the New Second Regiment might not arrive by the time the battle of Shuiquan was over.

After everyone left, Chen Chengxing said, "Lao Luo, I'll leave the house to you."

"Don't worry." Luo Ping nodded.

Once the battle starts in the seven northwestern counties, all the Japanese's attention will be drawn there. Even if Dayun Mountain is short of troops, the Japanese are unlikely to invade.

"Well, Lao Luo, how is the land reclamation going?" Chen Chengxing asked.

The previous war had directly wiped out the supply battalion, so during that period the land reclamation work was mainly done by the comrades in the Political Department and the local people in the base area.

Even though the supplementary battalion was rebuilt later, it didn't last very long and probably didn't see many shots.

"It's okay. Although people were not very interested in the beginning, after I distributed land deeds to the people who were reclaiming the land, everyone's enthusiasm was aroused. At the current rate, we will definitely be able to complete the goal of reclaiming 5 acres of land before May." Luo Ping said.

"But after the goal is achieved, do we still need to continue to open up new land?" Luo Ping asked.

The two of them need to reach a consensus on this matter first, and then communicate with the local government.

"If the people are willing to open it, then open it, but it must be regulated, and try to allocate wasteland to people with less land." Chen Chengxing said after thinking for a while.

For Chen Chengxing, the more arable land, the better.

"Yeah, that's what I mean. I'll communicate with the local government another day." Luo Ping nodded.

Now, each village in the base has established a village office, and above the village office are the district government and the county government. The work of coordinating with the local governments is basically done by Luo Ping, and Chen Chengxing only participates in it on very rare occasions.

After dark, Chen Chengxing led a large force out of the base from Jingcun to the north.

After passing Zhangjiahui and Jiaozhen, we turned west, then walked north along Taifu Highway for more than ten miles, and entered the Yalu Mountains west from Xinbao Town.

It was two days later when Chen Chengxing arrived at Dayao Township, south of Shuiquan.

PS: It’s the end of the month, I’m begging for a monthly ticket

(End of this chapter)