Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

Chapter 149 Confident Itagaki!
"Then who is our captain?" asked an old soldier.

"He is your captain, Xiong Shanglin, Company Commander Xiong from the Independent Regiment of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army. No, now it should be called the 1st Independent Division of the Eighth Route Army." Li Yunlong introduced Xiong Shanglin next to him to everyone.

"Why can he be our captain?"

The person who spoke was Wu Qingzhang, who was good at light skills. This guy's words sounded very sharp.

"Why?" Li Yunlong narrowed his eyes. "I'll tell you why. The battle to force the crossing of the Dadu River, veterans have all heard of it, right? Xiong Shanglin led his soldiers on a forced march of 240 miles in one day and one night, fighting several small battles along the way. He rushed to the mouth of the Dadu River and led 16 soldiers to successfully force the crossing, despite the firepower of an entire enemy battalion. This was not only a miracle in world military history, but also a miracle of mankind challenging its limits."

"Can any of you do that?"

Those folk masters were fine, as they didn't know the significance of the five words "forced crossing of the Dadu River", but the veterans from each regiment looked at Xiong Shanglin with changed eyes.

This is the real master, the king among kings of soldiers.

Xiong Shanglin stood beside Li Yunlong with his hands behind his back, like an insurmountable mountain.

"Disband."

After Li Yunlong dismissed everyone, he called Xiong Shanglin aside.

"Xiong Shanglin, have you finished reading that book about special forces?"

"Report, Commander." Xiong Shanglin nodded excitedly. "I've finished reading this book. It's really good. It not only covers special forces training and combat methods, but also sniper, precision shooter, and machine gunner training methods. It also covers various martial arts training methods, such as hard qigong and the Eighteen Hands of the Black Dragon. It also covers dagger fighting, assassination tactics, and decapitation tactics—all of them are killing techniques!"

If one person can master it, he will be the best among all soldiers. But if a group of people can master it, what will happen?

"Study it a few more times after you've read it. You're the captain, and you're also the instructor of this group of people. Before you teach them, you have to learn it yourself first."

"Training will officially begin tomorrow. You must make a training plan in advance. During training, your Blade Commando Team will have the best food."

Li Yunlong, who has rich experience in leading troops, knows very well that with the amount of training for special forces, if there is not enough oil, water and meat, people will be trained to death.

Fortunately, the food provided by Boss Lin included 30 tons of local pork, which was enough to support the training of the special forces and meet the nutritional needs of the training.

"Among these sixty-odd people, there are folk martial arts masters and backbone elites from various regiments. They are not ordinary people, so some troubles are inevitable. There is nothing to be surprised about. You have to let them know what a special forces king is. Their few moves are enough to meet the training requirements, but they are still far from being special forces. The real professional training has not yet begun." Li Yunlong instructed.

"Yes, I will definitely complete the task." Xiong Shanglin stated.

"You talk to them. I'll go to the warehouse in the back mountain to check."

Li Yunlong patted Xiong Shanglin on the shoulder.

"Yes."

After saying that, Li Yunlong led his guards to the back mountain.

"Huzi, do you want to be a special forces soldier?"

"Do not want to."

"Why? You don't want to eat meat every meal."

"I want to eat meat every meal, but I want to stay with the leader more."

"What?"

“You can learn a lot by staying with the leader.”

"Oh? What did you learn?"

"I've learned to curse. Damn it, son of a bitch, son of a bitch..."

"?????"

……

"I just saw someone who seemed to be dissatisfied with me?"

Then, Xiong Shanglin took out a Mauser pistol and opened the fuse. Everyone looked confused and didn't know what he was going to do.

"boom!"

"Boom!"

The first gunshot startled two sparrows on the branches outside the yard. The second and third gunshots were short and consecutive, and the two startled sparrows were instantly killed.

Staring at all kinds of feathers and bone fragments falling down.

All the masters and soldiers, including Wei Dayong and Lu Yingjun, widened their eyes.

What a great shot!

"Is there anyone else who is dissatisfied?"

Xiong Shanglin glanced at everyone like an eagle, his sharp gaze seemed to be real, piercing everyone and causing them some pain.

No one dared to say a word.

He took off the safety of the Mauser pistol and put it back into the holster. Xiong Shanglin snorted coldly.
"Let's talk about discipline."

"Everyone, you must exercise self-discipline from now on. I won't use the rules and discipline of ordinary companies to demand you, but you must not take advantage of me."

"Let me be frank. If anyone bullies me again, let me know. No question about it. It's up to me whether I punish you or not."

"If there are any conflicts between you guys in the future, you can practice it individually on the training ground, or go to the battlefield to see who's the winner."

"Comparing who killed more devils, comparing who killed more devils with higher-ranking officials, what's the point of being a bully in your own backyard?"

The civilian masters and the army's top soldiers all became serious and shouted, "Yes."

"Formal training will begin tomorrow. Complete the building today. If you don't complete the task, no one will be allowed to eat dinner."

"Disband."

Everyone dispersed and began to build the wall busily.

Not far away. Li Yunlong, who had turned back and secretly witnessed this scene, curled his lips slightly and walked towards the warehouse with Hu Zi at ease.

……

Taiyuan.

Japanese Army Headquarters.

"General, this is a telegram from the Black Island Cavalry Regiment, confirming that the Eighth Route Army is recruiting in southeastern Shanxi."

Major General Toshiji Miura, commander of the 21st Brigade, handed the telegram to Seishirō Itagaki.

The 21st Brigade is the elite unit of the 5th Division and is known as the Flower of the Army. It fought all the way from the Peiping-Tianjin area to Taiyuan and defeated more than a dozen divisions of the Chinese army.

However, in the Pingxingguan battle, more than a thousand officers and soldiers of the 21st Brigade's supply team were wiped out by the Eighth Route Army, which was regarded as a shame by the Japanese officers and soldiers of the 21st Brigade.

"It seems that the Eighth Route Army intends to develop its influence in southeastern Shanxi for a long time."

Itagaki Seishirō looked at the information and narrowed his eyes slightly.

This is not good.

According to intelligence, the Eighth Route Army had already established the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei base in northern Shanxi and was preparing to establish the Shanxi-Western base in the Luliang Mountains. Now it has also set up a base in the southeastern Shanxi.

Although the Japanese army had captured Taiyuan, they did not completely capture Shanxi Province. They did not even capture half of the territory of Shanxi Province, let alone conquer the entire province.

"Based on the experience of the Eighth Route Army in establishing bases during the Red Army era, this group is very good at demagoguery. They are bound to grow stronger in a short period of time."

Itagaki Seishirō narrowed his eyes, revealing a murderous look.

"Nishimura-kun, how long will it take to prepare the war supplies for the attack on southeastern and southern Shanxi?"

"Your Excellency, Division Commander, it will take about half a month!"

Chief of Staff Colonel Tomo Nishimura replied:

"Recently, the Zhengtai Road, Beitongpu Road, and Pingsui Road have been attacked one after another. Military trains can only transport 50 to 100 tons of combat supplies each time."

"Yoshi!"

Itagaki Seishirō nodded:
"As soon as the combat supplies arrive, we will immediately attack the Eighth Route Army in southeastern Shanxi. The Locust Army must launch an attack before the Eighth Route Army can gain a firm foothold, completely annihilate the Eighth Route Army, and strangle the newly established anti-Japanese base in its cradle. How is the battle plan going?"

The commander of the 21st Brigade, Toshiji Miura, also looked at Nishimura Toshion.

The combat plan for attacking southern and southeastern Shanxi was naturally formulated by the General Staff.

"Reporting to the division commander, the staff has already formulated a preliminary battle plan and attack direction."

"Oh?" Itagaki Seishirō said in a deep voice, "Tell me about it."

"Hi."

Nishimura Towin lowered his head, pointed at the map with a slender bamboo pole, and began to report the preliminary battle plan:
"According to intelligence, the Eighth Route Army in southeastern Shanxi is currently operating primarily in Heshun, Liaoxian, and Wuxiang, developing its so-called base."

"Then the first step for the locust army is to concentrate its forces to capture the county towns in southeastern Shanxi, compressing the Eighth Route Army's retreat into the Taihang Mountains to ensure the safety of the locust army's logistical supply lines."

"The second step is to concentrate our forces to sweep deep into the mountains and completely annihilate the Eighth Route Army."

Miura Toshiji asked in a deep voice: "Nishimura Army, can't the Locust Army destroy the Eighth Route Army in the first step?"

"The Eighth Route Army's tactical characteristics are guerrilla warfare. They will never engage in direct combat with the locust army."

Nishimura Riwin said in a deep voice:

"The Locust Army is undermanned and unfamiliar with the terrain. They must not rashly enter the Eighth Route Army's core area."

"So it's simply impossible to eliminate the Eighth Route Army in the first step."

Miura Toshitoshi didn't take it seriously, thinking that with the combat effectiveness of the Locust Army, it would be too easy to completely wipe out the Eighth Route Army.

Itagaki Seishirō nodded in agreement: "Tell us about your General Staff's specific plans and emergency plans."

Colonel Nishimura Riwin continued:
"Concentrate parts of the 14th, 109th, and 20th Divisions of the Locust Army, and with the support of aircraft and tanks, attack southeastern Shanxi in three directions."

"The first locust army will set out from Taigu and Qixian, attacking from west to east; the second locust army will set out from Shouyang and Jinzhong, attacking from north to south; the third locust army will set out from Pingding and Yangquan, attacking from north to south, aiming to annihilate or drive out the Eighth Route Army in one fell swoop and destroy the so-called southeastern Shanxi base area."

Originally, Itagaki Seishirō planned to attack the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei base area first.

The Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei base area posed a greater threat to the Japanese army's transportation lines in Shanxi Province, and could directly threaten the Pingsui Road, Beitongpu Road and Zhengtai Road.

Even if the Eighth Route Army in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region could not be eliminated, they had to be driven into the mountains to ensure the safety of the transportation lines.

However, the Eighth Route Army in southeastern Shanxi repeatedly caused trouble. First, they ambushed the 20th Division and killed the commander of the 20th Division. Then they launched a surprise attack on the 1st Independent Mixed Brigade and the field gas team stationed in Taigu.

This made the Eighth Route Army in southeastern Shanxi, especially Li Yunlong, a national hero of China, but also a thorn in the eyes of the Japanese army.

That's why Itagaki Seishirō first concentrated his forces to attack the Eighth Route Army in southeastern Shanxi. After capturing and destroying southeastern Shanxi, he would then turn back to deal with the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei.

The locust army defeated even the 20 main forces of the Second War Zone. Could it be that they couldn’t destroy the Eighth Route Army of just to troops, which had logistical problems?

"Yoshi!"

Itagaki Seishirō nodded with satisfaction:

"Following this line of thought, we will continue to formulate operational plans and emergency response plans."

Being able to become the chief of staff of the 5th Division of the Steel Army, even though his rank was only colonel, Nishimura Toshion's level was among the best among the chiefs of staff of various divisions of the Japanese Army.

"Hi."

Nishimura Towin suddenly lowered his head.

(End of this chapter)