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

Chapter 253 The Brigade Commander's Handiwork

386th Brigade Headquarters

The brigade commander looked up at the gloomy sky and the pattering raindrops, and laughed, "This rain is good. Judging by this, it will rain for at least three more days."

The deputy brigade commander laughed from the side, "Yes, we thought that once the sandstorm stopped, the Japanese planes would start running rampant. But it seems that God is on our side after all."

One of the staff officers added, "When it rains, some people are happy, but naturally, some people will curse."

"Hahaha." The brigade commander, deputy brigade commander, and others all laughed. Who was cursing at this moment? The answer didn't need to be said.

A burst of laughter erupted from the command post, and the oppressive atmosphere brought about by the Japanese sweep dissipated considerably.

Jingle Bell!
The telephone on the table rang. The staff officer picked up the receiver, and Li Muzhi's voice came through: "This is Li Muzhi. Please have your brigade commander answer the phone."

"Brigade Commander, it's Director Li from the border region's arsenal calling." The staff officer quickly handed the phone to the brigade commander.

"Judging from this, Xiao Li should have finished making the fake tungsten sand." The brigade commander thought to himself as he took the phone.

"This is Chen*," the brigade commander said into the phone, then got straight to the point: "Xiao Li, is your counterfeit product ready?"

"We can finish today." Li Muzhi's voice came through the phone: "Brigadier Chen, it's raining today, which makes transportation inconvenient. How about I put it in the warehouse first, and you can come over when the weather gets better..."

The brigade commander interrupted, "No need, I can have people carry it on their backs or shoulder it. I'll have the transport team come and move everything away today."

The weather is bad now, so wheelbarrows and animal carts are not working properly; we can only move things by manpower.

Fortunately, what we have no shortage of is manpower; the vast majority of ordinary people are our strong support.

"Alright then, Commander Chen, you can come and pick it up anytime. I'll get back to work now."

"Okay, Xiao Li."

After ending his call with Li Muzhi, the brigade commander immediately told his staff officer, "Take the transport team to the border region's arsenal right away and transport all the fake tungsten ore to the designated location."

If they want to take the bait from Sato Haruno, then once they do, the path they take will be up to us.

When our people bite the bait and pass by the location where the fake tungsten sand is placed, Sato Haruno "accidentally" discovers the fake tungsten sand, and that's how the deal is done.

The staff officer said, "Brigade Commander, it's raining now, and the roads are muddy and difficult to travel. It's likely that we'll be delayed a bit more."

"It's alright, as long as you get things done before the rain stops," the brigade commander said, indicating that he didn't mind taking a little more time.

On the contrary, this is still a race against time.

This rain will most likely continue for another three days.

We've stored the fake tungsten ore within three days. The weather has cleared up, and the Japanese sweep will begin soon.

At this point, Haruno Sato discovers the fake tungsten ore, which will affect the sweep operation.

If we manage things well, the Japanese mopping-up operation will end ahead of schedule.

"Okay, sure." The staff officer nodded and left.

The deputy brigade commander immediately said to the brigade commander, "Brigade commander, now that the fake tungsten sand has been arranged, can I also take the bait?"

The brigade commander nodded: "Go and make the final preparations. The fake tungsten shot is ready. It will bite the bait immediately."

"Okay, I'll go make the arrangements." The deputy brigade commander left.

"Go and call over a few intelligence team leaders." The deputy brigade commander went, and the brigade commander sent someone to call the intelligence team leaders.

Although the brigade commander came from an intelligence background, he now had to command the troops, so he delegated intelligence work to his subordinates.

Therefore, the 386th Brigade established several intelligence groups.

Soon, several capable intelligence officers approached the brigade commander and saluted him: "Brigade Commander."

"Gentlemen, I have a very important task to assign you now," the brigade commander said in a serious tone.

"Please give the order, Brigade Commander." Several intelligence team leaders looked at the Brigade Commander with firm eyes.

"Here's the thing, the border region's arsenal has already prepared five truckloads of fake tungsten ore. I've sent someone to retrieve them. They'll be pretending to hide the fake tungsten ore in Yang'er Mountain." The brigade commander pointed to the location of "Yang'er Mountain" on the map and continued, "Later, I'll arrange things so that the Japanese discover these five truckloads of fake tungsten ore. At that time, the Japanese will definitely do everything they can to seize the fake tungsten ore, and we'll pretend to desperately protect it. We'll fight fiercely on both sides."

"Brigade Commander, what is our mission?" The intelligence team leaders did not understand their mission from what they heard.

"Your mission is to leak the information to the elite troops," the brigade commander said.

Should this information be leaked to the elite troops?
The intelligence team leaders were all smart men, and they immediately understood what the brigade commander meant: "Brigade commander, are you not going to use this as an excuse to bring in your elite troops as well?"

That's five truckloads of tungsten ore; the Japanese are so desperate they'll try to snatch it from us. If the news gets back to our elite troops, they might really get restless.

Once they get involved and start fighting with the Japanese mopping-up troops, our pressure will be greatly reduced.

If things go well, we can join forces with our elite troops to severely damage the Japanese mopping-up forces, and end their mopping-up operation ahead of schedule.

One intelligence team leader questioned, "Brigade Commander, just letting the elite troops know about the five truckloads of tungsten ore might not be enough to convince them to join us. Although the Kumamoto Division has withdrawn a brigade of Japanese soldiers, it still has over 60,000 troops. Even if the elite troops are greedy for five truckloads of tungsten ore, they might not dare to fight against these Japanese traitors."

"What if the Kumamoto Division's logistics and supplies are hijacked?" the brigade commander said, changing the subject.

“If the Kumamoto Division’s logistics are cut off, their ammunition and supplies will be cut off, and their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced. Then the elite troops will definitely join in.” Several intelligence team leaders nodded immediately, and then asked, “But the Kumamoto Division Commander is not stupid, is he? His logistics are probably not so easy to cut off. He can’t be unprepared.”

“Under normal circumstances, cutting off the Kumamoto Division’s logistical supply would be extremely difficult.” The brigade commander gave an affirmative answer to the question, then changed the subject, “But don’t forget, when those five truckloads of tungsten ore were exposed, if you were the commander of the Kumamoto Division, what would you have done?”

"Needless to say, we'll definitely do everything we can to get those five truckloads of tungsten ore back," the intelligence team leaders all said in unison.

"That's it," the brigade commander laughed. "The Kumamoto Division will have to allocate most of its forces here to seize those five truckloads of tungsten ore. If their attention is drawn to those five truckloads, then their logistical support will be..."

Although the brigade commander didn't finish speaking, the intelligence ministers were all intelligent men and understood what he meant.

The five truckloads of tungsten ore attracted the attention of the Japanese army, and that was the opportunity to disrupt their logistics.

As long as the logistics are handled by the Japanese army, the elite troops will inevitably join the battle, without a doubt.

"Now that you all understand what I mean, go and make preparations in advance," the brigade commander ordered sternly.

"Yes, brigade commander." Several intelligence team leaders saluted and withdrew.

The brigade commander's gaze returned to the map.

There was a circle drawn there, which marked Li Yunlong's current location.

In order to buy enough time for the border region's arsenal, Li Yunlong used Yan Kai to bring in the Jin-Sui Army.

On the one hand, Li Yunlong deliberately stayed outside, and on the other hand, it was raining, so Li Yunlong couldn't come out.

So, 20,000 to 30,000 Japanese soldiers and Li Yunlong's Jin-Sui Army were locked in a stalemate over there.

Once the Kumamoto Division's main force is severely damaged, the Japanese army surrounding Li Yunlong and his men will definitely have to withdraw its troops.

This indirectly relieved the pressure on Li Yunlong's side.

If this kid causes trouble that doesn't satisfy us, he can't come back to see me!

……

"Damn it, this awful weather!"

Looking at the rain falling from the sky, Haruno Sato cursed fiercely, "First it was sandstorms, then it started raining, it's never going to end."

“Yes, this rain doesn’t look like it’s going to stop anytime soon. Isn’t this delaying our sweeping operation?” The assistant chimed in, then added, “Hopefully, this awful weather won’t cause any more trouble after the rain stops.”

"What has that idiot Fujita Ichiji been up to lately?" Sato Haruno asked, changing the subject.

"Vice Minister, you've already ignored him, why are you still asking him?" the assistant asked suspiciously.

“I have a feeling that the Eighth Route Army will take the bait soon. I’m just worried that this fool will ruin my big plan!” Sato Haruno said seriously. “The Eighth Route Army has been wiped out and its supplies have been greatly depleted. My bait is quite tempting for them. They have been probing for so many days, they should open their mouths soon.”

"It seems that Fujita Ichiji went to help the Kumamoto Division transport supplies," the assistant replied.

Did Fujita Ichiji help the Kumamoto Division transport supplies?
Upon hearing this, Sato Haruno felt as if he had heard a foreign language and questioned, "Are you kidding me? Fujita Ichiji may not be the captain of the military police anymore, but he should still be assisting in some military police affairs. How can he go and help the Kumamoto Division transport supplies? This seems so absurd."

The assistant replied, "I'm mainly worried about him, so I simply don't let him touch any of the military police's affairs. I don't know what connections he used, but now he's gone to work in the logistics department of the Kumamoto Division."

“Yes, you did the right thing. This idiot is a huge burden. It was right not to let him get involved in the affairs of the military police.” Sato Haruno nodded immediately, then said with some concern, “I’m still a little worried. What if this idiot drags down the logistics of the Kumamoto Division Commander? Wouldn’t that ruin everything? Once I find and lock onto the Eighth Route Army’s arsenal, I’ll still need the Kumamoto Division Commander’s troops to do the work.”

"Vice Minister, aren't you being a bit too sensitive?" The assistant looked at Sato Haruno suspiciously. "Fujita Ichiji is just going there to help with logistics. He shouldn't be hindering the logistics of the Kumamoto Division Commander, right?"

"I hope I'm overthinking it." Sato Haruno suppressed the thought. Transportation and logistics don't require brains, but military police work does. Perhaps letting that idiot Fujita Ichiji do logistics is the best arrangement for him.

At this moment, another assistant ran over excitedly and reported to Sato Haruno, "Vice Minister, good news! The Eighth Route Army's underground members are finally going to talk and take the bait you've laid out."

Upon hearing this, Sato Haruno immediately burst into laughter: "Hahaha, we've finally waited for this moment! Let's go take a look."

After the sandstorm ended, it rained, which made people feel depressed.

Now that the Eighth Route Army is taking the bait, that's good news.

(End of this chapter)