Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Changjin Lake, a Hundred Battles, a Hundred Victories

Chapter 117 Kong Jie: Chen Ming is a master of micro-management!

As the troops moved, in order to conceal their whereabouts...

Chen Ming dispatched his special operations team and some of his best marksmen to snipe Japanese and puppet troops' strongholds and pillboxes along the only route they could take at night.

At night, if any Japanese soldiers or puppet troops dared to show their faces inside the stronghold, they would be met with a bullet from the darkness.

At first, the Japanese and their puppet troops thought it was a small guerrilla force. When they encountered sniper fire at night, they gathered Japanese and puppet troops from nearby strongholds and launched a counterattack against these small guerrilla forces.

They sent out over a hundred Japanese soldiers and over two hundred puppet troops, but they didn't even manage to catch a hair on these guerrillas.

On the contrary, the Japanese and puppet troops that went out suffered considerable losses due to the cover of darkness.

In just one night, nearly 80 of the more than 300 Japanese and puppet troops were killed in action.

The Japanese and their puppet troops became much more obedient. Every night, they would stay in their strongholds, eating, drinking, and relieving themselves there, not giving the guerrillas a chance to snipe them.

The Japanese and puppet troops are now focused on the large-scale mopping-up operation, targeting the main force of the Eighth Route Army.

Let these small groups run rampant for a few days. After dealing with the main force of the Eighth Route Army, we will start to strike at these scattered guerrillas.

Driven by this mentality, the Japanese and puppet troops inside the stronghold began to rely solely on the narrow observation ports of the stronghold to monitor the vicinity and prevent guerrillas from carrying explosives to blow up the pillbox.

If a large force of the Eighth Route Army is discovered, it should be reported to prevent the Eighth Route Army from slipping out of their defense zone.

Only when it was daytime did the Japanese soldiers inside the stronghold dare to go out to guard and search for the guerrillas.

After dawn.

The Japanese planes were launched again and began searching for the Independent Detachment in the southeast of Wutai.

The Japanese were misled into believing that the Independent Detachment was still in the Wutai and Mengxian area because Chen Ming had sent troops to pursue the retreating 237th Regiment.

Therefore, the sweeping forces focused all their attention on the Wutai and Mengxian areas.

Unbeknownst to them, the main force of the Independent Detachment had already arrived near the Tongpu Railway and hidden themselves there.

The Japanese reconnaissance planes flew over and over again, but they could not find the main force of the independent detachment. They could only expand the search area, but still found nothing.

The Japanese ground forces are also encircling the location where the Independent Detachment appeared yesterday.

To prevent the troops from advancing too far into enemy territory and being caught by the independent detachment, the Japanese army marched very slowly.

Three days later, after several sweeping units joined together, they still did not find the main force of the independent detachment.

Where exactly is the Eighth Route Army Independent Detachment?

"Several thousand Eighth Route Army soldiers can't possibly fly out of the encirclement, can they?"

Inside Taiyuan City, Yoshio Shinotsuka received intelligence from his troops and looked at the map, asking in confusion.

The massive encirclement of nearly 35,000 people couldn't even find a trace of the Independent Detachment. Could it be that the enemy could burrow underground?

"General, I wonder if the Eighth Route Army's Independent Detachment, after pursuing the 237th Regiment, went north to join forces with the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army?"

Inside the headquarters, a staff officer spoke up.

Upon hearing this, Yoshio Shinotsuka looked at the map and recalled that when the 237th Regiment retreated, the 41st Division sent another regiment to replenish it and take over the mission of the 237th Regiment.

However, replenishment will take time. The main force of the independent detachment is very likely to take advantage of this gap and head north towards Shimen to re-enter the Taihang Mountains and join up with the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army.

Because the other three directions were being heavily fortified with sweeping operations.

If Yoshio Shinotsuka were in the commander's shoes, he would never knowingly attempt to break through in those three directions when he was aware of the heavy forces sweeping through them.

Although the Independent Detachment crippled the 237th Regiment, the 237th Regiment was an elite force, and the Independent Detachment must have suffered heavy losses as well, rendering it incapable of fighting a major battle.

At this point, the best option is to find a place to rest and recover before engaging in combat.

The best option for pursuing the 237th Regiment into the Shimen area, before reinforcements arrive, is to head north directly along the Taihang Mountains.

This way, they could bypass the main force of the Japanese army and avoid direct combat with them.

After figuring it out, Yoshio Shinotsuka ordered the air force to focus their search on the mountainous area between Lingqiu and Fuping.

"Given the speed of the independent detachment's march, their most likely location now should be in the mountainous area between Fuping and Lingqiu."

"Order the air force to focus its search on the surrounding mountains, and at the same time, the sweeping units should conduct sweeps in these directions in battalion units."

Yoshio Shinotsuka gave the order.

When the three directions were sweeping towards the independent detachment, Yoshio Shinotsuka did not dare to order the troops to sweep independently at the battalion level because the sweeping area was wide and the distance between the units was too large.

However, the location of the independent detachment has now been determined, narrowing down the scope. At the same time, the independent detachment has suffered severe losses in combat effectiveness after the previous battle.

Now, the sweeps are being conducted at the battalion level as independent units. Even if they encounter the main force of an independent detachment, other units that are not far away can quickly provide support.

Yoshio Shinotsuka didn't believe that an independent detachment could escape with a force of over 35,000 men.

After receiving orders from headquarters, the troops responsible for the sweep became bolder.

Previously, fearing that the Independent Detachment would launch an attack in one direction, the troops were very cautious during mopping-up operations, especially after the Independent Detachment annihilated a battalion of the 237th Regiment.

To prevent the independent detachment from seizing an opportunity, the Japanese troops marched slowly and gathered together during the sweep.

But now the headquarters has determined the direction of the independent detachment, and the main force's sweeping direction has become a line.

With so many troops spread out, the distance between them was already quite small. Even if they encountered an independent detachment, other units could quickly reinforce them, greatly reducing the pressure. Therefore, the various units began a thorough search, organized by battalion, in the direction ordered by headquarters.

When the Japanese troops marched north and entered the northeastern part of Wutai County to carry out a sweeping operation.

The main force of the Independent Detachment had already crossed the Tongpu Railway and entered northwestern Shanxi during the night, taking advantage of the gaps left by the Japanese troops as they withdrew their forces.

They successfully met up in the mountainous area south of Ningwu and north of Ping'an (Jingle).

Xiaowangzhuang.

This was the location where the independent detachment was originally stationed when it was still a district squad. Chen Ming and his team returned to this place.

The villagers of Xiaowangzhuang warmly welcomed the arrival of the Independent Detachment.

The Japanese army's large-scale mopping-up operation this time mainly targeted the three military regions of Jin-Cha-Ji, Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu, and Tai-Yue.

The Jin-Sui Military Region's mopping-up operations in northwestern Shanxi were not very effective.

Xiaowangzhuang is located in a remote area, and the Japanese soldiers did not want such a cheap village, so the villagers have not yet been relocated.

Upon entering the village, Chen Ming and the other commanders and soldiers who had been stationed in Xiaowangzhuang were very happy.

Especially Wang Dafei, Wang Dabiao, and Wang Gui.

All three of them are from Xiaowangzhuang. This time, they returned to their hometown, and as heroes.

The Independent Detachment is now truly a heroic unit in the hearts of the people in the base area.

In the eyes of ordinary people, as long as you fight the Japanese, you are a hero, especially the Independent Detachment, which fought battle after battle and annihilated countless Japanese soldiers.

Wang Dafei, Wang Dabiao, and Wang Gui are heroes who came from Xiaowangzhuang. Their heroic deeds have been recorded on a separate page in the village's genealogy.

Faced with the enthusiastic villagers, Chen Ming politely declined the supplies they brought to comfort the troops.

It's not harvest time yet, and people are having a hard time.

Moreover, Northwest Shanxi is different from other parts of Shanxi Province. It is mostly mountainous, with barren land and scattered farmland, making life even more difficult for the people.

This is why the main force of the Eighth Route Army was mostly in southern Shanxi. It was because, apart from its geographical advantages, the resources and economy of northwestern Shanxi were insufficient to support the growing Eighth Route Army.

For 40 years, the 120th Division of the Jin-Sui Military Region was the smallest and weakest of the three main divisions.

120师仅有6.5万人，而115师有8.2万人，129师更是来到了12万人。

This development trend is closely related to geography.

The 129th Division's base area covered the border of four provinces: Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan. It was rich in resources and had a large population, which laid a solid foundation for the later counter-offensive.

Chen Ming chose to come to northwestern Shanxi to make up for the 120th Division's weakness in defense but offense, forming a strong fist and creating a tripartite balance of power among the three military regions in Shanxi Province.

After the villagers gave him a warm welcome, Chen Ming called several commanders and soldiers from the main regiments to start a meeting.

"Give a report on the casualties of the troops."

"Let me go first," Kong Jie said. "The First Regiment has 2,570 soldiers. In this battle against the enemy, they killed more than 400 Japanese soldiers and more than 1,000 puppet troops."

"The First Regiment lost 418 soldiers and was wounded more than 700."

Kong Jie reported on the casualties of the troops during this counter-offensive, and felt somewhat emotional.

Compared to previous anti-mopping-up operations, the First Regiment suffered a significantly lower casualty rate this time, and also eliminated a large number of Japanese and puppet troops.

It was all thanks to the independent detachment's superior equipment and excellent personnel.

Back when Kong Jie was the commander of the Independent Regiment, the troops lacked weapons and equipment. It was considered good if half of the troops in a regiment had guns.

Each soldier had less than ten bullets, and they would have to fire a few shots before ordering the troops to charge.

Therefore, the Independent Regiment suffered considerable casualties during each sweep.

After arriving at the Independent Detachment and taking over the First Regiment, Kong Jie realized what a "rich and prosperous battle" truly meant.

Compared to the previous independent regiments, the First Regiment of the Independent Detachment was much wealthier.

Not only were there rifles for every soldier, but there were also plenty of light and heavy machine guns and grenade launchers, enough to equip platoons.

Ammunition was not in short supply; thanks to the supplies captured from pillboxes and strongholds, the troops were able to have fifty rounds of ammunition per person.

No longer did they have to fire a few shots before grabbing a broadsword and fighting the Japanese to the death; the casualties of the troops dropped significantly.

The soldiers in the unit were of high quality. In Kong Jie's mind, the soldiers of the Independent Regiment were all excellent and good soldiers.

However, it must be admitted that the soldiers of the Independent Detachment, whether in terms of military skills, education level, or political awareness, are superior to the soldiers of the Independent Regiment.

With such good weaponry and high-quality personnel, if he were to command an independent detachment, Kong Jie would even dare to challenge an elite brigade of the Japanese.

Of course, annihilating the enemy is out of the question. Kong Jie doesn't believe he has the same super brainpower and keen battlefield insight as Chen Ming, who can calculate down to the squad level.

Kong Jie had also witnessed Chen Ming commanding operations. He noticed that Chen Ming was always able to keenly perceive changes in the battlefield situation and frequently adjust his troops accordingly.

This computing power is terrifying.
Knowing that he could calculate the exceptional micro-management skills of each class, Kong Jie knew he would never reach Chen Ming's level in his lifetime.

(End of this chapter)