Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 155 should be here.

Wutai County?

The deputy commander stood up, leaned over to look at the map for a while, and then suddenly tapped the map with his right index finger.

"Yes... the sir is right, the Japanese target is Wutai County!"

At this point, he scratched the back of his head and said, "Good heavens, the Japanese have been making a lot of noise in Shanxi these days. It turns out their target is Wutai County."

I just don't understand, what exactly is this Wutai County that the Japanese would mobilize such a large force for it?

"You just don't understand," the officer beside him laughed. "But it's not your fault. You've been busy with the anti-mopping-up operations these days and haven't had the energy to pay attention to anything else, so it's not surprising that you don't know."

Just two months ago, a force claiming to be a Shanxi militia suddenly launched an attack on Wutai County. Within half a day, they captured Wutai County seat, Longquan Pass, Shizui Village, Shahe Town, and other strongholds, and then established a base there, where they remain to this day.

"Oh... you took the entire Wutai County in just half a day?" The officer was greatly surprised. "As far as I know, there are six or seven hundred Japanese and puppet troops stationed in Wutai County, plus several other strongholds in the surrounding area, which brings the total number to more than a thousand."

"With such a tight defense, it would take us at least four or five main regiments to attack, and it wouldn't be able to take it down in less than a few days. How did that Shanxi militia that suddenly appeared manage to do it?"

"What else could they do?" The deputy chief of staff smiled helplessly. "They used the most foolish method, directly deploying more than ten tanks and dozens of large-caliber heavy artillery pieces, and managed to bomb all the strongholds in Wutai County to the ground."

"tank?"

A collective gasp rippled through the command center.

It's no wonder they were surprised; tanks are still a high-end item in China today, and apart from the Northeast Army of yesteryear and the Central Army of today, very few forces possess them.

Even if we manage to get a few tanks, they will quickly break down due to a lack of spare parts, fuel, ammunition, and ground maintenance personnel.

As senior generals of the Eighth Route Army, they understood all too well how rare it was to possess tanks.

"What's their commander's name?" the officer couldn't help but ask.

The deputy chief of staff said, "Their commander is named Su Yaoyang. According to our intelligence, he is from Rehe Province and comes from a landlord family."

His entire family was killed by the Japanese settlers, and only he, who was still studying in Chengde, escaped with his personal maid.

During the Battle of Nanjing last year, the two of them were also in Nanjing. For some reason, he gathered a team and formed the Nanjing Security Regiment.

They then went on a killing spree in Nanjing and released poison gas, causing heavy losses to the 6th Division, which has yet to recover.

Immediately afterwards, he led his men out of Nanjing and participated in the Battle of Xuzhou. He was ordered to defend Taierzhuang and inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese 10th and 16th Divisions under repeated attacks. He was commended by the Chongqing Military and Political Department.

However, because his contributions were so significant, Chongqing didn't know how to reward him, so they gave him the position of head of the Shanxi militia and a military rank, and sent him to Shanxi.

Listening to the deputy chief of staff's words, everyone felt as if they were listening to a historical novel.

"My dear..."

The deputy commander finally laughed after a long pause. "Why do I feel like I'm listening to a myth?"

“Who says otherwise?” The deputy chief of staff also sighed. “When I first saw his intelligence, I thought I was seeing things. I ordered the intelligence personnel to inquire again, but after several checks, the result was still the same. Only then did I have to believe that there was such a formidable person.” At this point, the deputy chief of staff suddenly laughed. “Speaking of which, some of our troops have also had contact with Su Yaoyang.”

"Oh...who is it?" the officer asked curiously.

"It's Li Yunlong, the commander of the New 1st Regiment under the 386th Brigade."

"Oh...it's him, I know him." The officer laughed, "Back when we were crossing the grasslands, this kid actually ordered his troops to plunder grain, which made me so angry that I stripped him of his entire rank back then. I didn't expect him to rise again now?"

"Hahahaha..." Everyone burst into laughter.

"Tell me, how did Li Yunlong get to know that person?"

“I do know that,” said Political Commissar Ping, who had been smiling and smoking to the side.

When everyone's eyes turned to him, he explained, "Didn't Li Yunlong lead the New First Regiment to relocate two months ago?"

When they were halfway there, they saw Su Yaoyang leading his men to attack Wutai County. Seeing that the enemy was strong and well-equipped, the kid went up to them and offered to help.

So he led his men under the guise of helping out in a blocking action, cooperating with the Shanxi militia, and almost annihilated an entire enemy battalion at the cost of dozens of casualties.

Afterwards, this guy shamelessly demanded half of the spoils, managing to snag over five hundred rifles and dozens of light and heavy machine guns. Following this battle, the New 1st Regiment, this core regiment, leaped to become a force comparable to the main regiments of the 386th Brigade.

After hearing this, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment, and then the command post erupted in even louder laughter than before.

The officer laughed until tears almost streamed down his face. "I believe... that stubborn guy Li Yunlong is indeed capable of doing something like this."

After laughing, everyone pondered for a moment, and Political Commissar Ping said thoughtfully, "Judging from this incident, Su Yaoyang actually has goodwill towards our Eighth Route Army."

"Indeed."

The deputy commander nodded in agreement, "If he didn't have a good impression of our Eighth Route Army, he wouldn't have let that shameless guy Li Yunlong take half of the spoils."

The deputy chief of staff suddenly had a brilliant idea: "In that case, why don't we send someone to inform Su Yaoyang and remind him to be prepared?"

Ask him again if there's anything he needs our Eighth Route Army's help with.
We can offer him some help within our capabilities; it's a way of forming a good relationship.

Which of the leaders present wasn't an exceptionally intelligent person? They immediately understood the deputy chief of staff's idea.

A powerful and generous force has appeared near them, and it happens to be friendly towards them. It would be foolish not to befriend such a force.

"I think it's a good idea." The officer waved his hand. "Uniting everyone who can be united has always been our policy. It's rare to encounter someone who is kind to us, so we have no reason not to lend them a hand."

"Alright then, Deputy Chief of Staff, you immediately send someone to contact the Shanxi militia, deliver the Japanese intelligence to them, and also tell them that if they need any help, they should just ask; it's all for the sake of resisting Japan."

"Okay... I'll take care of it right away."

(End of this chapter)