Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 181 Planning
After expressing his feelings, Ding Wei asked, "Old Kong, do you have any thoughts or purpose in bringing this up all of a sudden?"

Kong Jie, who was a little drunk, grabbed a handful of peanuts and said while peeling them, "Old Ding, I've been thinking about this for the past few days. Last time, Old Li only helped Commander Su with a small favor, and he got four or five hundred guns and more than ten grenade launchers."

This shows that Commander Su was a generous person.

"The fighting there was so intense this time. If we went and joined in the fun, that Su regiment commander would definitely thank us afterwards. Asking him for seven or eight hundred guns shouldn't be too much to ask, right?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yunlong and Ding Wei's expressions changed instantly.

Ding Wei's expression immediately turned serious: "Old Kong, don't be confused. Is this something that small guys like us can get involved in?"

The 20th Division is not comparable to those mixed independent brigades and independent battalions responsible for maintaining order; it is a proper Class A division, and even a hair on its head is thicker than our thigh.

If you rashly get involved, you won't even know how you died.

Li Yunlong also said seriously, "Old Kong, Old Ding's words make sense."

"It's not that I'm trying to boost the enemy's morale while belittling our own, but if you send a thousand men with a few hundred beat-up guns, they'll all be wiped out in a few hours at most. And without the approval of your superiors, if you lead your troops into battle without authorization, even if you win, the consequences will be dire."

Seeing Li Yunlong and Ding Wei taking turns trying to persuade him, Kong Jie glared at the two of them.

"Who said I was going to lead my troops into battle without authorization? Do I, Kong Jie, look that stupid?"

"So what do you mean?" Ding Wei and Li Yunlong exchanged a glance, not understanding what this guy was up to.

“We can try a different approach,” Kong Jie said with a mysterious smile. “We can’t fight the 20th Division, but we can fight somewhere else.”

For example... what do you think of Xinxian County?

"Hiss..." Li Yunlong and Ding Wei both gasped at the same time.

Li Yunlong immediately got off the kang (a heated brick bed), took out a map from the briefcase hanging on the wall, placed it on the kang to examine it, then exchanged a glance with Ding Wei, and suddenly said in unison, "Old Kong, you're a real genius!"

That evening, at the headquarters of the 386th Brigade, Brigade Commander Chen looked at the telegram in his hand and said helplessly to Political Commissar Zhang beside him, "As the old saying goes, 'One who stays near vermilion gets stained red, and one who stays near ink gets stained black.' Kong Jie has become bad after hanging out with Li Yunlong for so long, and he has actually learned to fish in troubled waters."

Political Commissar Zhang smiled: "Old Chen... this is a good thing. It shows that even an honest kid like Kong Jie has learned to be flexible. Our cadres have become more proactive. Isn't that a good thing?"

"Hey...you old Zhang, you've gone bad too." Brigade Commander Chen couldn't help but burst into laughter.

After the two finished laughing, Brigade Commander Chen slowly composed himself and said, "But once we get involved, the nature of the conflict changes. Originally, it was just a major battle between the Shanxi militia and the Japanese army."

But once we participate, it means our Eighth Route Army will also be involved. If we face large-scale retaliation from the Japanese after the war, my small shoulders can't bear the burden."

"Hahaha... Is there anything in this world that you, Chen*, wouldn't dare to do?" Political Commissar Zhang laughed and scolded.

Commander Chen was good at imitating dialects. Back in Whampoa, he often imitated the principal's Zhejiang accent when he gave a speech in public: "Damn it! If you don't work hard, the revolution will fail!" which made the students burst into laughter.

When the principal found out, he was both angry and amused, but because he admired Commander Chen's talent, he did not punish him.

Not only that, but because another elder, Wang Jingwei, liked to raise his pinky finger when he spoke, he imitated his posture in front of the other students in the dormitory, and imitated Wang's Cantonese accent in a high-pitched voice: "Comrades~ Revolution requires manners~", which made even the left-wing students laugh.

So, when it comes to sheer audacity, Li Yunlong is nothing compared to him. Finally, Brigade Commander Chen gritted his teeth, "You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub... I'll immediately send a telegram to the division commander to ask for instructions. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and we absolutely cannot miss it."

"Yes, I agree. My name should be on the telegram too." Political Commissar Zhang slammed his hand on the table. "Why refuse a gift offered to us? Let's do this deal!"

Leaving aside Li Yunlong and his men, who were eagerly preparing to attack Xinxian, the 20th Division was currently enduring a fierce storm from the Shanxi militia...

…………

At the end of July, Wolf Valley was exposed to the scorching sun, and the entire land was as hot as a furnace. Even in such weather, Ushijima Minoru still issued the order to attack.

由步兵第39旅团高木义人亲自指挥77、78两个步兵联队，在隶属于野炮联队的36门九四式75毫米山炮、12门三八式75毫米野炮的支援下发起了进攻。

The heatwave of July, carrying the smell of gunpowder, rolled through the valley.

Soldiers of the 3rd Company, 1st Battalion, 77th Regiment of the Japanese Army lay prone behind scorching rocks, their eyes beneath their helmets fixed on the hillside ravaged by artillery fire. The barrels of their Type 92 heavy machine guns gleamed bluish-green in the blazing sun, and the assistant gunners constantly wiped the overheated parts with oil-soaked towels.

Company Commander Minami Masayasu stared intently at the firing point more than 200 meters ahead, which was spitting fire at them. It was that firing point that had devoured the lives of thirteen soldiers in their company in just half an hour.

"Grenade launcher...fire two shots in that direction!" he shouted anxiously.

"Hai!"

With his command, a Japanese sergeant wearing a cap and covered in sweat growled, "Grenade launcher, ready!"

The two Japanese grenadiers behind him quickly knelt down and began setting up the Type 89 grenade launcher. One of them stabilized the launcher while the other took out a Type 91 grenade from the ammunition pouch, unscrewed the safety cap at the bottom, and inserted it into the launcher.

"put!"

"Tum..."

With a muffled thud, the propellant at the bottom of the grenade launcher ignited instantly, and the grenade was propelled by high-pressure gas, tracing a low parabola as it flew toward the Chinese army's machine gun position.

"boom……"

The grenade landed precisely above the machine gun emplacement that was spewing fire, and exploded in mid-air, instantly engulfing the emplacement in thick smoke.

"Yoshi..."

Seeing this, the sergeant nodded in satisfaction, but before he could speak, the firing point revived and began to spew fire again.

It turned out that there was a layer of rock and soil more than a meter thick above that firing point, and all the shrapnel hit the soil layer.

"Release it again..." the sergeant roared.

"Boom boom..."

Three more grenade launchers flew over. Except for the first one, which missed, the next two hit the firing point accurately. However, after the explosion, the firing point was still undamaged.

(End of this chapter)