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

Chapter 98 If things go wrong, he might fucking go and attack Taiyuan!

Faced with the brigade commander's stern face, Ding Wei lowered his head and said, "I'm sorry, brigade commander, I failed to keep a close eye on him."

"Ding Wei, what happened?" the deputy brigade commander asked from the side. "You're Li Yunlong's old comrade-in-arms, you should know what kind of person he is. How could you let him disappear without a trace?"

“It’s like this…” Ding Wei began to explain.

The main problem was that Ding Wei had to work on both fronts simultaneously with Li Yunlong, leaving him unable to be in two places at once.

The deputy brigade commander and the brigade commander did not blame Ding Wei: "You did the right thing. The road must be cleared, otherwise we won't be able to bring back the mining equipment, which will also affect our important operations later."

"Then what do you think Li Yunlong will do?" the brigade commander asked nervously, suppressing his anger.

With Ding Wei keeping an eye on things, the brigade commander wasn't worried about Li Yunlong causing trouble.

But now that Ding Wei isn't keeping an eye on him, Li Yunlong has become a wild horse again, and who knows what he'll do next.

“Brigade Commander, I really don’t know.” Ding Wei shook his head, then remembered something and said, “But I judge that he most likely wants to bring Chu Yunfei from the 358th Regiment of the Jin-Sui Army along to work together.”

"How did this bring up Chu Yunfei of the 358th Regiment of the Jin-Sui Army again?" the brigade commander asked, puzzled.

“Chu Yunfei from the 358th Regiment of the Jin-Sui Army happened to be visiting, so he came along,” Ding Wei explained.

"Isn't this just making things up!" the brigade commander said angrily. "Li Yunlong plotted against Chu Yunfei when he attacked Ping'an County. Luckily, Chu Yunfei won. If Chu Yunfei had lost, the Jin-Sui Army would definitely have come after us. Now Li Yunlong is causing trouble again, how can we bring Chu Yunfei along? If something happens to Chu Yunfei, our two armies won't have any friction for a long time."

“Brigade Commander, I think we should look on the bright side,” the deputy brigade commander chimed in. “If Li Yunlong can really get Chu Yunfei’s 358th Regiment to join the effort, it might give us a big surprise…”

"I'm afraid it'll be a big shock," the brigade commander interrupted the deputy brigade commander.

We're always on edge whenever this kid gets into trouble, you know that.

If he can really get Chu Yunfei involved, who knows, he might just go and attack Taiyuan!
“Brigade Commander, you’re mistaken,” the deputy brigade commander continued. “Chu Yunfei of the 358th Regiment of the Jin-Sui Army is a top student who graduated from the fifth class of the Whampoa Military Academy. His battlefield insight is no less than Ding Wei’s. Perhaps he can keep an eye on Li Yunlong for us at a critical moment. After all, the two of them are now in the same boat, their fates are intertwined.”

"When that bastard gets back, I'll teach him a lesson!" At this point, the brigade commander could only try to think positively.

The brigade commander said to the deputy brigade commander, "Settle these prisoners of war as quickly as possible. I'll take the mining equipment to the arsenal."

"Yes." The deputy brigade commander nodded.

"Ding Wei, go back and rest."

"Yes, Brigadier."

……

Japanese Military Police in Heyuan

"Captain, the bait has been laid out, and the traps have been set up, but we haven't seen any Eighth Route Army soldiers bite." His trusted aide walked over and reported to Fujita Ichiji.

"Calm down," Fujita Ichiji said calmly. "Trust me, the Eighth Route Army will definitely take the bait."

joke!

This is equipment that can make bullets. For the Eighth Route Army, it's a great opportunity delivered to their doorstep. They have to come, even if it means going through fire and water!
“That’s true, they’re so poor, and the quality of their reloaded bullets is so poor…” The confidant didn’t finish his sentence.

The first trusted confidant rushed over, his tone grave: "Captain, something's up."

"What's wrong? What happened?" Fujita Ichiji asked, startled.

"Camp 9 was attacked by the Eighth Route Army," the confidant replied.

"Baka! Concentration Camp No. 9 has been attacked by the Eighth Route Army?" Fujita Ichiji's expression turned serious upon hearing this. "Look closely, is it really the Eighth Route Army?"

"Captain, we've heard the sounds of heavy artillery fire coming from Camp 9," the confidant replied.

"Damn it, those treacherous Eighth Route Army soldiers are incredibly cunning!" Fujita Ichiji exclaimed, jumping up and down in anger.

The first confidant was puzzled and said suspiciously, "Captain, the Eighth Route Army didn't come to take the bait, but instead attacked Concentration Camp No. 9. They must be stupid, right? How can they be cunning? Captain, you shouldn't be angry."

In the eyes of this confidant, Concentration Camp No. 9 was of little value to the Imperial Army.

The concentration camp was taken over by the Eighth Route Army; at most, the loss would only be a few laborers.

The one thing this land has in abundance is people.

With no laborers available, a simple shout is all it takes to summon a large number of puppet troops to help capture people.

Therefore, his confidants did not understand why Captain Fujita Ichiji was angry.

Even his confidants didn't understand; it seemed that the Eighth Route Army's attack on Concentration Camp No. 9 wouldn't be of much use to them.

The No. 9 concentration camp mainly held loyal prisoners of war. Even if the Eighth Route Army could rescue the prisoners after taking them over, the loyal prisoners would not appreciate it.

This is essentially like the Eighth Route Army taking over a concentration camp; there's no real benefit to be gained.

"You idiot, you're the stupid one!"

Fujita Ichiji cursed, "The Eighth Route Army has figured out that I'm fishing for them. They're not taking the bait because they've determined that our main force is at the bait. Their attack on Concentration Camp No. 9 is a ploy to lure the tiger away from the mountain. Do you understand the ploy to lure the tiger away from the mountain?"

The confidant pondered, "The Eighth Route Army intends to use a feint attack on another target, just like they did when they attacked Ping'an County, to lure our main force away from our base. Their attack on Concentration Camp No. 9 was also aimed at drawing away our main force from this ambush. Once we're gone, they'll immediately take the bait. They're truly cunning, but..."

"But what?" Fujita Ichiji asked.

"But I still don't quite understand. If the Eighth Route Army wanted to lure us away from our base, why didn't they choose a target that was more important to us? Choosing a mere concentration camp would be insignificant to us..." the confidant replied. Well, the confidant didn't finish his sentence.

The third trusted subordinate ran over in a panic and yelled at Fujita Ichiji like a pig being slaughtered: "Captain, something bad has happened! The Eighth Route Army is attacking our Mine No. 9!"

The Eighth Route Army is attacking Mine No. 9!!!
As soon as he said that, Fujita Ichiji fell silent.

The Eighth Route Army's attack on Mine No. 9 would have a completely different meaning.

The empire's army invaded this land primarily to plunder its resources.

Mine No. 9 is an important copper mine. An attack on Mine No. 9 by eight routes will greatly affect the copper supply!
Copper is needed to make bullets, copper is needed to make artillery shells, copper is needed to make tanks, copper is needed to make airplanes, and copper is needed to make warships!

In short, everything is inseparable from copper!
Snapped!
Fujita Ichiji slapped his second confidant hard across the face and roared, "Baka! You idiot, if you can't speak properly, don't spout nonsense! Look at your damned mouth!"

The second confidant who was beaten covered his face in grievance. Was I just jinxing him?

I was just raising a question.

To put it another way, even if I hadn't said that, would the Eighth Route Army have done the same thing?
Of course, the second confidant could only lower his head and swallow his pride.

The attack on Mine No. 9 is a huge deal; I can't afford to say anything carelessly.

The first trusted confidant said to Fujita Ichiji, "Captain, I'm afraid we have to abandon the fishing operation and send the main force to reinforce Number 9..."

Snapped!
Before the first confidant could finish speaking, Fujita Ichiji slapped him across the face and immediately cursed, "You idiot, are you stupid too? Giving up the fishing operation, wouldn't that be a waste of time? I'm telling you, believe it or not! As soon as I move my heavily armed forces out of this ambush, the Eighth Route Army will immediately take the bait, do you believe it or not?"

Fujita Ichiji had come to realize how formidable this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers were.

Previously, he had mocked Hirata Ichiro for his incompetence, saying that the Eighth Route Army had raided his home twice in Heyuan County.

Now it was his turn. The Eighth Route Army first attacked Ping'an County, and then attacked Mine No. 9. He had lost even more face than Hirata Ichiro.

Hirata Ichiro, that bastard, is probably secretly gloating over at the field hospital, you idiot!
The first confidant covered his face and looked at Fujita Ichiji: "Captain, are we just going to sit idly by and let the Eighth Route Army raid Mine No. 9? The Eighth Route Army has heavy artillery now, they've grown powerful, and those strongholds in that area probably won't be able to stop them..."

Well, before the first confidant could finish speaking, the fourth confidant rushed in and reported to Fujita Ichiji: "Captain, something bad has happened. The strongholds in the No. 9 mine area have been wiped out by the Eighth Route Army."

...！！！！！
Fujita Ichiji's office immediately fell into a deathly silence!

As expected, Fujita Ichiji slapped his first confidant hard across the face again: "You idiot, you're a moron too, shut your mouth!"

"Captain, what do we do now?" None of the trusted men dared to speak out, and they all looked at Fujita Ichiji.

Now that things have come to this point, everyone understands.

The Eighth Route Army's attack on Concentration Camp No. 9 and Mine No. 9 was most likely a test of the Imperial Army's limits!

If the captain ignores this, then the Eighth Route Army will definitely test our limits further and continue to attack our important targets.

We can't just stand by and watch the Eighth Route Army gradually erode our strength.

If the captain were to transfer the main force away, just as the captain said, other units of the Eighth Route Army would definitely take the opportunity to ambush them!
This is what is meant by being caught in a dilemma, unable to move forward or backward!

No matter which option you choose, it's infuriating.

The war of maintaining order in the rear has become mired in a quagmire, and the Eighth Route Army is the most difficult to deal with, which is truly well-deserved.

Fujita Ichiji pondered for a moment and then made a decision: "Let Captain Kuroshima and his men go to reinforce them. Also, have them take the bait with them."

Should the main force be sent to reinforce the area with bait?

Upon hearing this, several of his trusted confidants were somewhat impressed by Fujita Ichiji's ingenuity; how could their captain have come up with such a perfect solution?

In this way, they neither worried about the Eighth Route Army taking advantage of their weakness nor did they actively respond to the Eighth Route Army's probing of their bottom line.

So, several trusted confidants immediately began to flatter him: "Captain is brilliant!"

"Stop flattering me, hurry up and convey my message to Captain Kuroshima and the others," Fujita Ichiji urged.

The main tasks of the military police were to supervise military discipline, collect intelligence, and suppress anti-Japanese activities.

Dealing with this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers can also be considered as suppressing anti-Japanese activities.

However, the command of the encirclement operation was not up to Fujita Ichiji; it still had to be discussed and decided by the three regimental commanders. Fujita Ichiji only provided suggestions.

"Hai!" The confidants withdrew.

"These damned Eighth Route Army soldiers are really hard to deal with." Fujita Ichiji started to have a headache again, completely lacking his previous high spirits.

They orchestrated the fishing operation themselves, thinking they had the upper hand.

If the Eighth Route Army comes to take the bait, they will surely be sent back home.

The Eighth Route Army easily thwarted the attack with a simple diversionary tactic.

On the surface, he sent his main force with bait to deal with the Eighth Route Army, but in reality, he had already lost the initiative.

Of course, it hasn't been completely lost yet!

As long as the bait is still there, let's see if these Eighth Route Army soldiers dare to take the risk!
(End of this chapter)