Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 75: Wulong's devils retreated, Jiuqu's devils came again
As the Japanese support from all sides was withdrawn, the Japanese in Wulong County were completely isolated.

At the same time, throughout northwest Shanxi, other anti-Japanese forces were actively cooperating with the siege of Wulong County.

The 385th Regiment, Cavalry Battalion, Shanxi North Detachment and other units of the 769th Brigade continuously harassed the Japanese traffic lines in Suxian, Baijing Town, Xichang Town and other places in order to cut off their supplies to Wulong County.

Just after the 386th Brigade completely isolated the Japanese in Wulong County, the area around Wulong County fell into a strange calm, but beneath the calm there was a strong undercurrent surging.

Around the northern part of Shanxi, the Japanese and the Eighth Route Army were constantly testing and attacking.

Five days later, inside the Wulong County Command Post.

Matsui Takuto asked: "What did the commander say? When will the reinforcements arrive?"

There are Eighth Route Army troops everywhere outside the city now, and it seems that there are more and more of them. If this continues, the city will be broken by the time the Eighth Route Army is ready.

"According to the latest telegram, the various units of the regiment are now moving towards Fu'an, and there is no plan to support Wulong County for the time being." Iwata Yuji reported.

Otsuka Masasuke, who had come out from Fu'an to provide support, also returned to Fu'an with the troops from Jingchi Town. There were only less than 200 Mongolian cavalrymen left in Jingchi Town.

At this time, Naosuke Chida had already sensed the danger. This group of Eighth Route Army soldiers in northwestern Shanxi might be targeting Fu'an as their final target.

Fu'an's geographical location is extremely critical and must not be lost.

After hearing the report from Iwata Yuji, Matsui Takuto realized that he could not wait any longer, as the longer he waited, the more dangerous it would be.

"Send a telegram to the regiment commander, requesting a transfer, and order the troops to prepare for the transfer!" Takuto Matsui ordered.

With the withdrawal of the regiment, Wulong County will soon become a virtual isolated island. Once the troops have withdrawn, even if Matsui's battalion moves out of the city, it will be surrounded and annihilated by the Eighth Route Army.

The only way is to quickly move to Fu'an while the Eighth Route Army is still dealing with various troops.

"Hai!"

After receiving the transfer telegram from the Matsui Battalion in Wulong County, Naosuke Chida agreed after just thinking about it.

The regiment was shrinking, so there was not much point in Matsui Battalion continuing to hold on.

Upon learning that his request was approved, Takuto Matsui did not hesitate for a moment and immediately ordered the entire army to abandon the city.

Matsui Battalion acted decisively and swiftly. Although the 386th Brigade responded, the Japanese directly used trucks to transport heavy weapons, which made it impossible for the regiments to catch up.

"The Japs run so damn fast, it's a pity that they don't let me make money." Li Yunlong felt regretful when he saw the flying dust raised by the truck.

"Haha. Even without the Matsui Battalion, we still have other battalions. We have only surrounded two county towns. Why are you in such a hurry?" Chen Chengxing said with a smile.

"No rush? Now the division headquarters has already led the 771st Regiment and the Teaching Regiment towards this side. To the north are the 385th Regiment of the 769th Brigade, the Jinbei Detachment, and a large number of local troops. With so many people to share, how much can the New st Regiment get?" Li Yunlong said helplessly.

According to the latest telegram, the division headquarters has already captured Xiaoxian and Anqiu, eliminating the enemy's threat to the flank of the 129th Division. They are now leading their troops here day and night, and I'm afraid they will arrive when the siege of the next county begins.

There are too many wolves and too little meat, so what can they eat? Not to mention that the new group is still a little wolf among them.

"Hahahaha." Looking at Li Yunlong's face, everyone present laughed. There were not many times when he could be humiliated.

However, the plan did not change quickly. On the same night that Matsui's battalion abandoned the city, the brigade commander received the latest developments.

The brigade commander immediately asked someone to call Chen Chengxing and the other four over.

"Something's happening! The Japanese in Shanguan, Jiuqu and Qifeng counties have all retreated eastward today. Judging from the timing, they must have colluded with the Japanese in Wulong. Now the local forces have recaptured these three counties." said the brigade commander.

"What?" Everyone was shocked.

Especially Chen Chengxing, he was almost angry to death. The mission was 7 county towns, and the division was assigned 2. He originally thought it would be good if he could get 5, but now you tell me it’s over?
But then Chen Chengxing became confused. All seven counties had been recovered, so why hadn’t the mission been completed yet?

However, Chen Chengxing's doubts were immediately dispelled by the brigade commander's words.

"According to the intelligence, the Japanese in Jiuqu County did not take the Beisu Highway to Su County. Instead, they went east to Sanshan Town and are now spending the night in Sanshan Town," said the brigade commander.

"I judged that they were likely to gather forces along the way and then enter Fu'an."

"The division commander has sent a telegram asking us to immediately pursue and destroy this enemy group to avoid a major impact on subsequent operations."

The brigade commander stood up and pointed at the map and gave orders.

"The 772nd Regiment and the Independent Regiment set up an ambush in the Tianjiawa Village area. If the Japanese take the highway, they will have to pass through this village."

"The New 1st and 2nd Regiments will be on standby at Fengshan Village east of Jingchi Town. On the one hand, they will prevent the enemy from Sanshan Town from escaping to Jingchi Town and then joining the escape attempt. On the other hand, they will prevent Fu'an from sending troops to support them." "Do you understand everything?" asked the brigade commander.

"Understood!" Several people stood straight.

"Let's go." said the brigade commander.

"Yes!"

In order to ensure that they could stop the Japanese, they had to set out overnight, otherwise the Japanese would run away by daybreak.

After arriving at the designated location overnight, the New 1st and New 2nd Regiments were busy digging fortifications and laying mines.

Although the Tianjiawa area is a place that the Japanese must pass through, the terrain is not dangerous. If the Japanese choose to leave quickly, the 772nd Regiment and the Independent Regiment will definitely not be able to completely annihilate them.

At that time, it will depend on the new first and second regiments.

Li Yunlong looked at the small pit dug by the New Second Regiment and asked in confusion: "Old Chen, what are your people doing? What can they do with such a small pit?"

"This is laying mines." Chen Chengxing said casually.

"Nonsense, don't I know about landmines? Your pit is not even as big as a fist, it's hard to bury a grenade there." Li Yunlong didn't believe Chen Chengxing's words at all.

"You don't know?" Chen Chengxing was a little confused.

The matter of bullet mines was clearly reported, and when the New Second Regiment guerrillas were fighting outside, they also saw other guerrillas using bullet mines.

"what do you know?"

"It's the bullet mine. Didn't the headquarters issue production instructions?" Chen Chengxing asked.

"Bullet mines? That's true." Li Yunlong nodded: "Are you burying bullet mines?"

"Bring me a bullet grenade." Chen Chengxing called out.

After taking the bullet grenade from the soldier, Chen Chengxing handed it to Li Yunlong.

"Bullet mines can easily injure the Japanese's feet and slow down their speed." Chen Chengxing explained.

"The headquarters has issued production instructions, why don't you do it? This thing is so simple, it only takes a bullet or a small nail." Chen Chengxing asked.

"Are you reloading this bullet?" Li Yunlong did not directly answer Chen Chengxing's question.

"Of course, who would be willing to make trouble for the original one?" Chen Chengxing said.

Even if the ammunition is reloaded, those with less reload times and good equipment will be distributed to the rifles, and those with poor equipment will be used to make bullet mines.

"Several of our regiments are responsible for protecting the safety of the headquarters. We have been moving all the time and have no chance to build our own repair shop." Li Yunlong said helplessly.

The bullet shells of the New 5st Regiment had to be exchanged at the Eighth Route Army Logistics Arsenal, and five bullet shells were needed to exchange for one reloaded bullet. Li Yunlong was really reluctant to make the bullets into bullet bombs.

Now Li Yunlong is becoming more and more envious of Chen Chengxing.

"Old Li, I'm not saying anything bad about you, you just don't know how to adapt."

"I remember that Minister Zhang of Logistics is also from Dabie Mountains, right?" Chen Chengxing said.

"Yes, we are fellow villagers." Li Yunlong nodded.

"You can ask him for a few men and some manual reassembly equipment, and then you can set up the framework. By then, equip the repair shop with mules and horses, and you can do it while moving, or even while fighting on the battlefield." Chen Chengxing said.

You know, the environment of the New Fourth Army was even worse than that of the Eighth Route Army. Therefore, the New Fourth Army, from the military headquarters to the various detachments and guerrillas, all organized this kind of small "horseback repair shop".

Even in such an environment, they still produced and assembled hundreds of rifles.

"Let me think about it." Li Yunlong seriously considered Chen Chengxing's proposal.

The more Li Yunlong thought about it, the more he felt that it was a good idea. If he couldn't do a big one, he could do a small one.

In this way, the repair shop can move with the troops at any time, and when the new regiment has a base in the future, the repair shop can expand rapidly at any time.

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(End of this chapter)