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

Chapter 260 Abandoning the Car to Save the Commander
Taiyuan First Army Headquarters
"Commander, this is an urgent telegram from Colonel Yamamoto Ichiki!"

A staff officer came over and respectfully handed the newly arrived telegram to Yoshio Shinozuka, commander of the First Army.

Upon hearing this, Yoshio Shinotsuka immediately grabbed it, convinced that Yamamoto Ichiki had discovered the Eighth Route Army's border arsenal.

Upon quickly glancing at the contents, Yoshio Shinotsuka was still taken aback.

I originally thought that Yamamoto Ichiki had already discovered the location of the Eighth Route Army's border arsenal.

Unexpectedly, the mission failed.

However, Yamamoto Ichiki unexpectedly discovered what appeared to be a tungsten sand deposit that the Eighth Route Army had been plundering. Yamamoto Ichiki ordered the Taiyuan Arsenal to quickly send experts there to confirm the discovery.

Yamamoto Ichiki also mentioned in the telegram that he had sent a telegram to the Kumamoto Division Commander as well.

Considering that the Kumamoto Division Commander might not obey orders, Yoshio Shinotsuka was instructed to send another order to the Kumamoto Division Commander.

"Immediately send a telegram to the Kumamoto Division in the name of headquarters, ordering them to lead their sweeping troops to Yang'er Mountain at top speed and seize the goods for me at all costs!"

Yoshio Shinozuka quickly composed himself and spoke to the advisor in front of him.

Although the scent-tracking operation failed, it would be some consolation if they could retrieve the five truckloads of tungsten ore.

More importantly, if handled well, there might be an opportunity to severely damage or even annihilate the main force of the Eighth Route Army.

In this way, the Kumamoto Division gained the upper hand in its sweep.

"Hai." The staff officer nodded and immediately walked away.

Yoshio Shinozuka picked up the phone: "Connect me to line 9."

The call was quickly connected, and a deep voice came through: "This is Ichiro Saki."

"Saki-kun, quickly send an expert who recognizes tungsten ore to meet with Colonel Yamamoto Ichiki in Ping'an County. Make sure to confirm that the sample in Colonel Yamamoto Ichiki's hand is indeed tungsten ore!" Yoshio Shinozuka said solemnly into the phone.

In his telegram, Yamamoto Ichiki also said that he would retreat to Ping'an County to rest and reorganize.

Send this expert who recognizes tungsten ore to Ping'an County to quickly test whether the sample brought by Yamamoto Ichiki is indeed tungsten ore.

"Yes, Commander." The deep voice replied.

Yoshio Shinozuka put the phone receiver back on the shelf, and the call ended.

After standing up and walking around twice, Yoshio Shinotsuka called over an advisor: "Send a telegram to Major General Kawashima. We must find a way to contain this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers outside. The Eighth Route Army's stronghold, the tungsten sand storage area, has been exposed. This group of Eighth Route Army soldiers is very likely to fight back. We cannot let them threaten the rear of the Kumamoto Division."

The staff officer hesitated, "Commander, if it were just the Eighth Route Army, we might be able to hold them back. But now that the Eighth Route Army is acting as the vanguard of the Jin-Sui Army, I'm afraid Major General Kawashima and his men won't be able to hold them back."

Forget about holding them back, this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers is now acting as the vanguard of the Jin-Sui Army, leading them to run around like wild horses, and Major General Kawashima and his men simply cannot control them.

"We must hold them back at all costs!" Yoshio Shinotsuka said seriously. "Those 20,000 to 30,000 men can't all be useless."

"Hai!" The staff officer nodded and went off.

Yoshio Shinotsuka sat down, preparing to make a call to Haruno Sato, when the phone rang.

Yoshio Shinozuka picked up the phone: "This is Yoshio Shinozuka."

"Commander, the pilot just reported that there are a large number of Eighth Route Army personnel at Yang'er Mountain, and they are rapidly digging and moving things." The voice of an army aviation officer came through the phone.

“Okay, I understand.” Yoshio Shinozuka nodded and added, “You should immediately send out planes again to track these Eighth Route Army soldiers in the sky. We can’t let them hide the stuff again.”

"Hai."

Yoshio Shinozuka ended his call with Lu Hang and picked up the phone again: "Connect me to Haruno Sato."

On Sato Haruno's side, after Yamamoto Ichiki left with the special forces, he did not go to sleep.

Even knowing that the news wouldn't come back quickly, he still stayed by the radio station.

They stayed there until dawn.

Haruno Sato was tired, but he still insisted on not going to sleep.

He was determined to wait for Yamamoto Ichiki's telegram.

As a result, Haruno Sato didn't receive a radio call from Ichiki Yamamoto, but instead received a phone call from Yoshio Shinozuka.

"Commander-in-Chief," Sato Haruno said respectfully into the telephone receiver.

"Sato-kun, you are an outstanding intelligence officer." Yoshio Shinozuka first praised Sato Haruno highly, then said, "Colonel Ichiki Yamamoto sent me a message. He couldn't find the Eighth Route Army's border arsenal, but he seems to have found the tungsten ore that the Eighth Route Army had seized. I have already ordered the Kumamoto Division to move over there quickly. The Army Air Force has also called. The Eighth Route Army is rapidly digging and transferring supplies in Yang'er Mountain. Sato-kun, you can get some rest now."

Upon hearing this, Sato Haruno was somewhat stunned: "Commander, what's going on? Why didn't we find the Eighth Route Army's border region arsenal, but instead discovered the Eighth Route Army's tungsten ore burial site?"

“It’s like this…” Yoshio Shinozuka patiently explained it to Haruno Sato again.

"So that's how it is." Sato Haruno paused for a moment after hearing this, and then said, "Commander, now that tungsten ore has been found there and the military experts have confirmed it, perhaps the Eighth Route Army's border region arsenal is not far away. I suggest you send more planes to conduct reconnaissance."

"I will communicate with the Army Aviation Department." Yoshio Shinozuka nodded.

He certainly wanted the Army Aviation to send more planes, but the situation on the front lines was too dire, and there simply weren't enough planes available.

However, Yoshio Shinozuka still planned to call Commander Iwane Matsui of the First War Zone to see if they could send over two or three reconnaissance planes. "Commander, I will continue my efforts," Haruno Sato said, undeterred. "I will not stop until I find the location of the Eighth Route Army's border region arsenal."

Sato Haruno still had a premonition that he had discovered the tungsten ore that the Eighth Route Army had seized, which was somewhat comforting.

But the Eighth Route Army commander's troops have already gone to attack, and they must understand which is more important, tungsten ore or the main force.

In other words, at a critical moment, the Eighth Route Army would most likely still abandon the tungsten ore to save the general.

As a result, the Kumamoto Division's sweeping operation still made no breakthrough progress.

To fundamentally solve the problem, we still need to find the Eighth Route Army's border arsenal, which is the Eighth Route Army's true Achilles' heel.

“Sure, Sato-kun, you can let me know if you need anything.” Yoshio Shinozuka appreciated Haruno Sato’s work ethic.

Yoshio Shinotsuka also understood that the Eighth Route Army's real weakness was the border region's arsenal, and relying on tungsten ore might not be enough to severely damage them.

Haruno Sato was an excellent intelligence officer; he could even find the location of the Eighth Route Army headquarters.

Yoshio Shinotsuka believed that it was only a matter of time before he found the Eighth Route Army's border region arsenal.

"Yes, Commander." Sato Haruno nodded.

After finishing his call with Yoshio Shinotsuka, Haruno Sato put the phone receiver back on the shelf and called out, "Someone come here!"

"Vice Minister, what are your instructions?" An assistant quickly entered.

"Prepare another batch of bait and place it elsewhere, not in the 386th Brigade's jurisdiction anymore," Sato Haruno said seriously.

Yamamoto Ichiki's first attack on Daxia Bay with his special forces team failed!

The second time Yamamoto Ichiki led his special forces team to attack Chen Jiayu, they also suffered a defeat!

This time, Yamamoto Ichiki's attempt to track the enemy by smell with his military dog ​​also failed; he was unable to find the Eighth Route Army's border region arsenal.

This made Haruno Sato feel that the 386th Brigade's jurisdiction was an unlucky one, so he decided to move it to another location.

Upon hearing this, the assistant asked suspiciously, "Vice Minister, what's wrong? Why are you using bait again? Has Colonel Yamamoto Ichiki's operation failed?"

“Yes, he failed.” Sato Haruno nodded and said, “But it doesn’t matter. As long as I succeed once, victory will still belong to us. Go and prepare.”

"Yes, Deputy Minister." The assistant nodded and left.

Sato Haruno yawned, then stopped trying to push himself and went to rest immediately.

……

The brigade commander watched as a reconnaissance plane flew overhead, heading towards Yang'er Mountain.

The brigade commander remained calm, which was expected.

The Japanese military discovered that large-scale excavation and relocation of supplies were taking place at Yang'er Mountain. To prevent our army from relocating the supplies, their aircraft followed us in the air.

It would be a bad thing if it didn't follow.

"Brigade Commander, a report has come from the 771st Regiment." At this moment, a staff officer hurriedly walked over and reported to the brigade commander, "They said that the Japanese Kumamoto Division, the 9th Brigade, the 21st Brigade, and the puppet troops have all set off at full speed. They have abandoned their original sweeping operation and are heading directly towards Yang'er Mountain at full speed."

Upon hearing this, the brigade commander laughed and said, "Are you afraid they won't come? Have you already laid out bounding mines?"

"It's all been laid; all our assets have been buried." The staff officer nodded.

"The order has been given: all units involved in intercepting reinforcements, open fire at full speed, do not conserve ammunition, make full use of guerrilla warfare tactics to harass the enemy and slow them down, and avoid direct confrontation," the brigade commander commanded.

Even with bounding mines laid, it's far from enough.

Because the Japanese weren't stupid; they would have their puppet troops clear the mines in front of them.

If we really want to slow them down, we have to rely on the military.

Of course.

This so-called lag is not a lag in the true sense.

Instead, they were putting on a show for the Japanese.

After all, the Japanese discovered our tungsten ore.

If we don't put on a full performance, the Japanese might become suspicious.

"Yes." The staff officer quickly left.

The brigade commander summoned a messenger and instructed him, "Go and inform Liu Weidong that the Kumamoto Division's sweeping force has already set off at full speed. Their logistics will definitely fall behind as they advance at full speed. Tell him to act according to the situation."

Immediately afterwards, the brigade commander added, "The 772nd Regiment also reminded Blind Cheng once again that after the Japanese seized the fake tungsten ore, he should go and meet up with Liu Weidong as soon as possible."

"Yes." The messenger hurried off.

"Now, the Japanese sweeping troops are rushing towards Yang'er Mountain. The elite troops must have received the intelligence as well, and they will definitely be curious about what the Japanese are up to." The brigade commander smiled. "The intelligence team leader has leaked the information. Once Liu Weidong succeeds, they will have to come in. At that time, the real show will begin."

(End of this chapter)