Bright Sword: From Border Region Manufacturing to Major National Heavy Industry

Chapter 248 Double Happiness
"Damn it, those damned Japanese devils actually used poison gas!"

"Damn it, those little Japanese devils are shameless."

"Damn it, those Japanese devils are too ruthless."

……

Li Yunlong, Ding Wei, Gao Xigang, and Gao Liujin's four regiments followed the plan to dismantle the railway along the Zhengtai Line. However, the 10,000 Japanese soldiers transferred by Yoshio Shinozuka were ruthless and used poison gas in the first encounter.

Li Yunlong's four regiments gathered together, and the regimental commanders were so angry that they cursed.

"Li Yunlong, should we hurry up and break out?" Gao Xigang asked Li Yunlong. "The encirclement of these 10,000 Japanese soldiers is not yet complete. We still have a chance to break out."

“We’ve fought our way out, how can we drag the Jin-Sui Army in!” Li Yunlong solemnly shook his head. “If we don’t leave, this ruse must continue. And also…”

Li Yunlong paused for a moment, then continued, "And another thing, didn't you notice? Although the Japanese used poison gas against us, they used very few. What does that mean?"

Ding Wei pointed out incisively, "This shows that the Japanese have a very limited supply of poison gas bombs."

Li Yunlong nodded in agreement, saying, "That's right. The Japanese don't have many poison gas shells. Even if we are surrounded, we can still fight our way out."

Then, Li Yunlong added, "The fact that the Japanese used poison gas increases its credibility to some extent. Think about it, it seems a bit unbelievable that we were trapped by 10,000 Japanese soldiers. Even if we couldn't defeat them, couldn't we at least run away? But if the Japanese used poison gas, wouldn't the Jin-Sui Army be less suspicious?"

Gao Xigang immediately laughed and said, "That's true. The Japanese used poison gas, and we were trapped. The Jin-Sui Army found out and must have been eager to get out."

"Looking at it this way, the Japanese using poison gas actually provided us with cover," Gao Liujin nodded in agreement.

"So let's pretend to break out now. We must make it look real. If we fail to break out multiple times, the Jin-Sui Army will soon get restless." Li Yunlong finally made the decision.

"Okay, let's do it this way."

Next, following Li Yunlong's instructions, several regiments launched several high-intensity breakout operations, but all were suppressed by the Japanese.

Commander Yoshino laughed, "Yoshi, Commander Shinotsuka is truly brilliant! He provided us with poison gas. Although the artillery fire of these four regiments of the Eighth Route Army is fierce, it is completely ineffective against our poison gas. Their artillery advantage is gone, and their combat effectiveness has greatly decreased. Look, we've surrounded them, hahaha."

Yoshino Regimental Commander was the highest-ranking officer in this force of 10,000 Japanese soldiers. These 10,000 soldiers were drawn from various places, and Yoshino Regimental Commander served as the overall commander.

"Commander, although the Eighth Route Army is surrounded, their firepower is still very strong. I'm afraid we won't be able to completely eliminate them in a short time," a Japanese officer said to Commander Yoshino.

"What's the rush?" Captain Yoshino said calmly. "Although this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers has fierce firepower, we have poison gas to suppress them, so they can't get out. The Kumamoto Division can then relax and carry out a large-scale mopping-up operation against the main force of the Eighth Route Army. By the time the Kumamoto Division finishes its work, I estimate that this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers we've trapped will have run out of food. They'll collapse on their own without us even needing to attack."

“That’s true.” The Japanese officer nodded. “To maintain the efficiency of rapid operations, this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers definitely didn’t bring many supplies. If we trap them and they can’t get out, they might not even last until the Kumamoto Division’s large-scale mopping-up operation ends.”

"Report the good news to Commander Shinozuka," said Captain Yoshino, his face beaming.

"Hai."

……

Taiyuan First Army Headquarters
Jingle Bell!
The telephone on the table rang, and Yoshio Shinozuka picked up the receiver: "This is Yoshio Shinozuka."

Miyano Michiichi's excited voice came through the phone: "Commander, I'm at Unit 731 right now. The autopsy results are in. The tissue analysis of that body has confirmed that it wasn't a cherry blossom tree."

Upon hearing this, Yoshio Shinotsuka was instantly overjoyed: "Yosh, Miyano-kun, are you sure? Are you sure it's not a cherry blossom tree?"

Those damned Eighth Route Army guerrillas! Their deceptive scheme has really caused us a lot of trouble.

The word "suspected" evokes both hope and despair.

Now that Unit 731 has confirmed it wasn't a cherry blossom tree, we still have a chance to explain things to the higher-ups in China.

“Yes,” Miyano Michiichi said excitedly. “The results from Unit 731 are very certain. This is a Chinese woman. Her skin and flesh do not match the nutritional characteristics of the high-ranking naval officers of the Cherry Tree Group.”

"That's great, Miyano-kun, you've worked hard." Yoshio Shinotsuka said with a smile, "Then hurry back. The cherry blossom tree must be in the Eighth Route Army's stronghold. Kumamoto is launching a large-scale attack on the Eighth Route Army's stronghold. As long as we take over the Eighth Route Army's stronghold, we can find the cherry blossom tree."

"Commander, how was the large-scale mopping-up operation on Commander Kumamoto's side?" Miyano Michiichi asked again.

"We're currently facing some minor troubles, but the Eighth Route Army's foundation is quite weak, and they can't withstand the attrition," Yoshio Shinozuka said confidently.

Although the arsenals in the Eighth Route Army's border region were producing weapons and ammunition, they did not have enough production time.

Without sufficient production time, there will be a shortage of weapons and ammunition, and it is foreseeable that the Eighth Route Army will eventually be unable to sustain its depletion.

"Yes, Commander, I'll be right back." Miyano nodded.

The call ended, and Yoshio Shinozuka put the phone back on the shelf, his tone lighter: "That's great, the cherry blossom tree is still alive."

At that moment, a staff officer rushed in and excitedly reported to Yoshio Shinozuka, "Commander, Commander Yoshino sent an urgent telegram saying that, with the help of the biological weapons you provided, they have trapped the four groups of Eighth Route Army soldiers who were sabotaging our Zhengtai Railway. These four groups have gathered in one place and have tried to break out several times, but Commander Yoshino has managed to suppress them all. Commander Yoshino said that you don't need to worry about these Eighth Route Army soldiers running out and causing trouble again; they will be trapped and killed by Commander Yoshino."

Upon hearing this, Yoshio Shinotsuka's spirits immediately rose, and he looked at his staff officer with delight: "Is it confirmed that the Eighth Route Army has been surrounded by Captain Yoshino?" Those damned Eighth Route Army soldiers, they hid when the three brigades came looking for them.

Now that they're surrounded, let's see how they can hide.

First, we confirmed that the cherry blossom tree was still alive, and then we found that the Eighth Route Army soldiers outside the encirclement were trapped. Today is truly a double blessing.

“Yes.” The staff officer nodded and said, “Commander Yoshino also asked if you were in a hurry to eliminate them. If you were, he should provide him with some more poison gas bombs.”

"These Eighth Route Army soldiers are despicable, but they're trapped now." Yoshio Shinotsuka was in high spirits and his mind was sharp. He said, "They can't escape the encirclement of Captain Yoshino. Once their rations and water are used up, they'll be left to fend for themselves. We're also running low on biological weapons. Even if we use them all, we still won't be able to wipe them out. Let's save them for a rainy day."

"Should we withdraw our key rear defenses? Revert to our original, regular defenses?" the staff officer asked.

Yoshio Shinozuka pondered for a moment and said, "There's no rush. Let's wait until the Eighth Route Army that Captain Yoshino has surrounded is completely wiped out."

The key defenses in the rear were originally intended to guard against this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers.

Although they were trapped, they were not wiped out.

It's not too late to recover once they've been completely wiped out.

"Telegraph the news that they are trapped to Kumamoto-kun and the others," Yoshio Shinozuka instructed immediately.

The Kumamoto Division Commander was worried that the Eighth Route Army outside would launch a sneak attack from behind, so he left behind a brigade and a division of puppet troops and did not dare to use his full strength.

Now that the Eighth Route Army outside is trapped by Commander Yoshino, Commander Kumamoto can use the remaining brigade and division of puppet troops for a large-scale mopping-up operation.

I just don't believe that the Eighth Route Army can hold out any longer.

"Hai."

……

Kumamoto Division Headquarters

The division commander looked at the casualty report in his hand, his expression still very serious: "The Eighth Route Army's fighting strength is much greater than before. This large-scale mopping-up operation has only been going on for a few days, and the casualty figures are already comparable to the casualties we suffered in a month of mopping-up operations before."

Major General Kawashima, commander of the 21st Brigade, said, "Fortunately, when we were sweeping through, we tried to put the puppet troops at the front as much as possible. In this way, most of the casualties were borne by the puppet troops. Otherwise, our Imperial Army would have suffered heavy losses."

"Yes." Division Commander Kumamoto nodded. "The puppet troops took the brunt of our casualties, and at the same time, we were able to determine exactly how much the Eighth Route Army's combat effectiveness had increased. When we find the Eighth Route Army's stronghold and launch a full-scale encirclement and annihilation operation, I'm afraid your 21st Brigade will still have to join in."

The 21st Brigade was left behind to guard against a surprise attack from behind, but the Eighth Route Army's combat effectiveness had increased significantly compared to before, mainly due to the increase in weapons and ammunition, as well as artillery.

If the 21st Brigade doesn't join in, the Kumamoto Division will still be short of manpower.

"I just don't know about that group of Eighth Route Army soldiers outside..." Major General Kawashima didn't finish his sentence.

The communications soldier hurried over with the newly arrived telegram and handed it to Division Commander Kumamoto: "Commander, an urgent telegram from headquarters."

An urgent telegram from headquarters?

Both the division commander of Kumamoto and Major General Kawashima turned their attention to the telegram.

Could it be that something major has happened back home?

The division commander of Kumamoto quickly grabbed the telegram and looked at it.

After reading the telegram, the commander of the Kumamoto Division thought he had misread it.

He rubbed his eyes, looked at it again, and a surprised smile immediately appeared on his face: "Yosh, yosh, this good news came just in time!"

"What good news?" Major General Kawashima asked suspiciously.

"Look, those Eighth Route Army soldiers outside, they've been trapped by Yoshino's poison gas bombs," said the Kumamoto Division Commander, handing the telegram to Major General Kawashima.

Upon hearing this, Major General Kawashima was delighted and accepted the telegram.

After quickly glancing at it, Major General Kawashima laughed and said, "Now that this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers has been trapped by Captain Yoshino, we have no worries about our rear."

"Yes," Commander Kumamoto nodded. "Not only are you free from worries about the rear, but your brigade and that collaborator strategist can immediately be deployed to a large-scale sweep operation."

“Okay, no problem.” Major General Kawashima nodded.

Thus, the 21st Brigade and the puppet military advisors who remained behind immediately joined the large-scale mopping-up operation.

(End of this chapter)