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

Chapter 124 Developing a Base!

As for weapons and ammunition, they absolutely could not be left to the Eighth Route Army. The Japanese knew this, and so did Chen Ming.

Therefore, with the tacit understanding between the two sides, the Japanese soldiers withdrew back to the county town with only their guns and ammunition.

Chen Ming wasn't in a hurry to deal with the Japanese soldiers at the stronghold outside the county town. He planned to gather all the Japanese soldiers together and force them to make a choice.

If we could eliminate the Japanese soldiers outside the stronghold, we could certainly capture some guns, ammunition, and supplies, and wipe out the puppet troops and Japanese soldiers in this unit.

However, doing so would greatly reduce the value of Wuzhai County. The Japanese would likely not send reinforcements for the two hundred or so Japanese soldiers in the county town, but would instead let them retreat from the county town on their own.

But driving the Japanese soldiers from the stronghold into the county town would be a different story.

Not only were all supplies, except for weapons and ammunition, captured intact, but the Japanese troops were also kept in a relatively intact number.

The Japanese wouldn't save more than two hundred people, but they might save more than five hundred.

This was already half a battalion of Japanese soldiers. If we didn't rescue them, it would be a very heavy blow to the morale of the Japanese army.

If you can abandon a large squad today, can you abandon a regiment tomorrow?

Even if the lower-ranking Japanese soldiers were brainwashed by the Bushido spirit, they were still human beings, and they would still have emotions when they realized that they had been abandoned.

After all the Japanese and puppet troops outside Wuzhai County were driven into the county town, the Japanese completely lost control of the area outside the county town and could only retreat into the county town.

Chen Ming didn't stand on ceremony and directly took over the strongholds outside the county town. Unlike before, he didn't ask the people to demolish these strongholds and take away the bricks.

Instead, they continued to strengthen the defenses of their strongholds.

If the Japanese could use these strongholds, their independent detachment could certainly use them too.

Chen Ming has already made plans to develop Kelan and Wuzhai into important grain production bases to ensure the food supply for the troops.

The Kelan-Wuzhai River Valley, located in the upper reaches of the Fen River, has a relatively flat terrain and fertile soil, making it a rare contiguous agricultural area in northwestern Shanxi.

At the same time, being located deep in northwestern Shanxi, as long as the road to Shenchi County is constantly threatened, the Japanese cannot get in.

With the drought worsening and the military growing stronger, Chen Ming had to consider the army's logistics.

Maintaining an army is not like in a game where you can simply give them a gun; you also need to supply them with food, clothing, medicine, and other resources.

The importance of logistics has always been paramount, both throughout history and across the world.

The saying "An army marches on its stomach" perfectly encapsulates this principle.

In order to create a relatively safe logistics base, these outposts outside the county town naturally do not need to be demolished.

On the contrary, Chen Ming was able to use these strongholds to further strengthen the defenses outside the county town and cut off the Japanese troops' tentacles reaching into the countryside.

After Wuzhai County was surrounded by the Independent Detachment, the news reached the First Army Headquarters.

Yoshio Shinotsuka looked at the contents of the telegram and understood the Independent Detachment's plan.

It was just a threat to force him to rescue Wuzhai, keeping Wuzhai County surrounded and unable to control the surrounding towns and villages. As a result, Wuzhai could not be self-sufficient and had to rely on supplies transported from Shenchi County.

Otherwise, they would starve to death in the county town.

How many troops would be needed to escort the transported supplies?

Is one battalion enough? Is one regiment enough?

Yoshio Shinotsuka is no longer willing to gamble, and doesn't want to hand over his troops to the Independent Detachment for nothing.

Although he already understood his fate, he was still an imperial soldier and would never do anything to harm the interests of the empire.

Left with no other choice, Yoshio Shinotsuka could only dispatch a regiment and an infantry battalion to Wuzhai to rescue the more than 500 Japanese soldiers who were besieged there.

Therefore, he also gave the order: "Do not divide your forces, do not fight at night, and do not give the independent detachment any opportunity to seize the opportunity."

"After rescuing the troops in the county town, we will return immediately. Once the mopping-up troops from other areas have returned, we will begin our attack on the Independent Detachment."

The Japanese troops were extremely cautious, scouting every section of territory they entered before proceeding, only continuing when they were certain it was safe.

Chen Ming knew there was no chance; the Japanese defenses were too thorough, and with the current strength of the Independent Detachment, they simply couldn't handle so many Japanese soldiers.

He had previously captured two counties with lightning speed, which was actually partly a bluff.

They captured two county towns as quickly as possible, causing the Japanese to make the wrong judgment that the Independent Detachment still had strong fighting power, thus deterring the Japanese from taking any rash actions.

After capturing two county towns, the Independent Detachment's strength was severely damaged.

The number of wounded soldiers has increased significantly, further increasing the pressure on the troops.

In a regular army unit, this situation would have collapsed long ago. It is only because the independent detachment is now a unit with a strong military spirit, cohesion, and organization that it has been able to maintain its unity.

Even so, the independent detachment no longer possessed much combat power.

This time, let alone a regiment and a battalion of Japanese soldiers, even if it were just a battalion, Chen Ming would have to carefully consider whether to fight them.

"They're just over five hundred Japanese soldiers. They ran away, so what? They can run away one day, but can they run away the next? We'll have another chance to wipe them out later."

"However, what we gained in exchange for those five hundred Japanese soldiers was a well-preserved logistics base, which allowed for a much faster recovery and reconstruction."

Chen Ming spoke up.

Because of the pressure from the Independent Detachment, Wuzhai County was not as badly damaged by the war as Shenchi County and Kelan County, and it still preserved relatively intact facilities and productivity.

This reduced the difficulty of building the logistics base later.

New wounded soldiers need to be cared for, meritorious soldiers need to be commended, and the troops need to digest the gains from this period of combat.

Those who deserve promotion should be promoted, and those who deserve publicity should be publicized.

In order to increase grain production, Chen Ming decided to organize the soldiers to reclaim wasteland and work alongside the local people.

Give full play to the traditional bond between the military and the people.

Apart from the troops with specific missions, those responsible for guarding and defense, everyone else in the army was pulled in by Chen Ming to participate in land reclamation.

Chen Ming also joined in, taking a hoe and leading the way in reclaiming wasteland.

The Eighth Route Army adhered to the principle of equality between officers and soldiers. Since the soldiers were all engaged in land reclamation, Chen Ming could not sit idle and had to set a good example.

In the bustling reclamation team, you couldn't even tell who was a cadre and who was a member of the masses.

Everyone carried the same hoe and dug the same ground.

Chen Ming humbly sought advice from experienced farmers on how to reclaim wasteland more efficiently and what crops were suitable for planting on the reclaimed land.

Faced with Chen Ming's humble request for advice, the old farmers shared all their knowledge with him without reservation.

When Chen Ming asked Da Biao to bring paper and pen, intending to record these experiences into a booklet for all soldiers to study,

Only then did the farmers realize that the man who had been helping them reclaim wasteland and humbly learning from them was actually the famous anti-Japanese hero, Chen Ming, the commander of the Independent Detachment.

Several of the old farmers who had just thought Chen Ming couldn't even farm properly were now blushing with embarrassment as they started lecturing him.

They actually taught Chen Ming a lesson, a lesson to this anti-Japanese hero.

Seeing the expressions on his fellow villagers' faces, Chen Ming didn't care at all and said with a smile:

"It is said that those who are accomplished can be teachers. No one is born knowing how to do things. When I ask you questions, you are my teachers."

"Commander, no, no, you are a hero, our pride, we are not worthy to be your teacher."

Upon hearing Chen Ming's words, the old farmers quickly responded.

"Hey~ I'm not a hero now, just an ordinary man who wants the soldiers and villagers to have a full meal. Just treat me like an ordinary junior." Chen Ming waved his hand and said kindly.

Listening to Chen Ming's words, the old farmer sincerely admired Chen Ming, the Eighth Route Army, and the Party.

These people were genuinely in charge of their own affairs, completely different from the Nationalist government and warlords.

Seeing Chen Ming continue to cultivate the wasteland, the old farmers stopped resting, spat on their hands, and continued to follow Chen Ming's steps to cultivate the wasteland.

After some time, a little boy brought water to the people who were clearing the wasteland.

When he heard his father mention heroes, he asked curiously:

"Dad, do you think this uncle is a hero?"

"Yes, the commander led the Eighth Route Army uncles to fight the Japanese devils, drove them out of our homes, and protected us. They are great heroes," the child's father said simply.

"Then I want to be a hero too, and protect my parents!" the little boy said excitedly.

Chen Ming looked at the child, stepped forward, patted the child's head, and said softly:
"Little one, you're bringing us water and helping us reclaim wasteland. You're a hero too!"

The little boy, hearing his father's great hero say that he was also a hero, excitedly shouted:

"Dad, did you hear what the great hero said? He said I'm a hero now too, I'm a hero too."

(End of this chapter)