Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 180 Old Comrades Drinking

Ushijima Minoru stared at Chief of Staff Kinemura Hisazo in disbelief: "You mean, our air strike failed?"

"Yes, Division Commander." Colonel Kinemura Hisazo lowered his head. "The Chinese have deployed a large number of anti-aircraft guns in Wild Wolf Valley, more than a hundred in total."

Due to the complex and treacherous terrain of Wolf Valley, our bomber group could only conduct low-altitude bombing. After more than forty minutes of bombing, our group lost a total of three aircraft, with only three returning to base. The remaining twenty-seven were all destroyed.

"Wow..."

Ushijima Minoru slumped into a chair, his face turning deathly pale.

Because he knew that from today onwards, there would be no more support from the Army Aviation Corps.

Kinemura Hisazo forcibly suppressed his shock and comforted him, "Division Commander, why don't we try sending a telegram to Commander Terauchi Hisaichi and request his assistance..."

"it's useless."

Ushijima Minoru shook his head dejectedly: "Nowadays, most of the Imperial Army's energy is focused on the Battle of Wuhan, and those officials won't be paying attention to the battlefield in Shanxi."

"Besides, we just wiped out the entire air force force stationed in Shanxi. Do you think Commander Terauchi would make an exception for a defeated general like me? Most importantly, if we report this to higher authorities, where will that leave Commander Umezu?"

Kishinura Kyuzo remained silent. In any army and in any era, reporting to superiors without authorization is a major taboo. No commander would like a subordinate who reports to superiors without authorization.

If you can get past him today, will you get past me tomorrow?

Kichimura Hisazo hesitated and said, "Then... what do we do? The Shanxi militia is not an ordinary Chinese army. Without air support, it will be difficult to defeat them with just ground troops!"

"We must defeat them, no matter how difficult it is!" Ushijima Minoru suddenly stood up, his face contorted with rage, and slammed his hand on the table, coldly saying, "This Shanxi militia has become the greatest enemy of the Great Japanese Empire in Shanxi. If we do not defeat them, the Empire will never be able to achieve long-term peace and stability in Shanxi."

Therefore, whether for the honor of the 20th Division or for the establishment of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, Su Yaoyang must die!

Tell Takagi Yoshito that Wolf Valley must be taken!

"Hai!"

…………

Yangcun New First Regiment Station

One of the rooms was quite lively, as Li Yunlong was treating his two old comrades-in-arms, Ding Wei and Kong Jie, to drinks.

"Hey Lao Ding, it's been so long since we last met! We're going to drink until we drop today!" Li Yunlong, who was a bit drunk, shouted at the top of his lungs in the room.

Kong Jie, standing to the side, slurred, "That's right, Lao Ding. Li Yunlong is right. Ever since you went to the Jizhong Military Region, we old comrades haven't had a drink together in a long time. If it weren't for your visit to headquarters for this meeting, we don't know how long it would have taken for us to get together again."

Li Yunlong said, "Who says otherwise? The Jizhong Military Region is located far away in the Hebei Plain, quite a distance from Shanxi. Unless there are special reasons, it's really not easy for us to see Lao Ding."

I'm not saying anything more, just drink...

The three took another sip of wine, and Kong Jie suddenly said, "Hey Lao Li, Lao Ding, have you heard? There's fighting again in Wutai County." "Of course, who doesn't know about something this big?" Li Yunlong burped. "This time it's really big. The Japanese have actually transferred the 20th Division there. It seems that old bastard Yoshijiro Umezu is really worried."

"What... the 20th Division?" Ding Wei asked, puzzled. "What happened that made the Japanese mobilize an entire division to deal with this? Are they about to launch another large-scale mopping-up operation?"

Although Ding Wei had been leading troops in the Jizhong Military Region for more than a year, due to the inconvenience of information transmission at that time, he was not very clear about what was happening in Shanxi. Moreover, during this period, most people across the country were focused on the Battle of Wuhan, and they knew relatively little about what was happening in Shanxi.

Nevertheless, he still knew about the 20th Division.

This is a proper 4-4 system, a Class A division of more than 25,000 men. Once such a division is mobilized, the whole of Shanxi will be in chaos. But he saw that his two old comrades-in-arms did not seem to be in a hurry at all. What was going on?

He asked, puzzled, "Old Li, Old Kong, what exactly is going on?"

"Old Ding... here's what happened." Kong Jie briefly recounted what had happened in Wutai County recently.

Ding Wei stared wide-eyed as if he'd heard a foreign language. "Old Kong, you're not kidding me, are you? The Japanese put up such a huge show just to deal with a local militia? Do you think I'm too easy to fool and made up this story to deceive me?"

"Who lied to you!" Kong Jie rolled her eyes at him. "Do you think I'm that kind of person?"

"That's true." Ding Wei trusted Kong Jie's character. This guy was an honest kid who was very disciplined, even in battle.

"You saw Li Yunlong's troops when you came, right?" At this point, Kong Jie's expression became somewhat complicated. "This kid is the one who ran into that Commander Su's troops last time. He just happened to follow behind them and fought a battle. Then he made a fortune and became very wealthy."

Good heavens, four or five hundred guns! If only my independent regiment had those!

At this point, Kong Jie's face revealed an expression of envy, jealousy, and resentment.

Hearing this, Li Yunlong curled his lip and said, "Hey Lao Kong, don't try to play the hindsight game with me."

Want to get rich? It's simple, you have the opportunity now.

You immediately take your independent regiment to Dingxiang County to help Commander Su. If you can help Commander Su repel the 20th Division's attack, I guarantee that, given Commander Su's personality, he will at least give Old Kong a thousand guns.

I reckon we could probably get our hands on a few Type 92 infantry guns, let alone guns. What do you say, Lao Kong, want to pull off a heist?

"Li Yunlong, do you think I'm stupid?" Kong Jie said anxiously, slamming his hand on the table. "That's an entire division! If I really send the Independent Regiment up, it'll probably be wiped out in less than half a day."

"Old Kong, you're being modest. It won't even take half a day." Li Yunlong sneered and held up three fingers. "Three hours... Old Kong, the Independent Regiment you gave us can only hold out for three hours at most before the entire regiment is wiped out."

Faced with Li Yunlong's evaluation, Kong Jie unusually did not refute it, and Ding Wei also picked up his bowl and took a big gulp.

Although Li Yunlong's words were harsh, they were not without reason.

With just over a thousand men and six or seven hundred worn-out rifles with their rifling almost worn down, the Independent Regiment would be lucky to hold out for three hours against Japan's elite field divisions, under the combined assault of aircraft, heavy artillery, and tanks.

(End of this chapter)