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

Chapter 13 Making a feint to the east and attacking in the west
The spoils from this battle were plentiful; it was the first time their district squad had ever captured so many supplies.

However, how to safely transport the supplies back to the base became a major problem for Chen Ming.

The seizure included 15 tons of grain, and the district squad had more than 50 soldiers.

When divided among each person, that's 600 jin (300 kg).

In addition to food, there were also weapons and ammunition, car parts, and so on.

Cars are great things. Even if Chen Ming and his group can't take everything with them, they should at least disassemble and reassemble all the parts.

For example, engines, tires, and remaining gasoline are all valuable items that the base area lacks.

But the soldiers aren't superheroes; they can't possibly transport all those supplies.

Chen Ming was caught in a dilemma. It would be a waste to blow it up, since he had finally captured the car, but he couldn't take it with him if he dismantled it.

"I should have brought more people," Chen Ming said helplessly.

I've seen people who are so poor they're worried, but this is the first time they've worried because they're so rich in resources.

"Captain, should I go back to Xiaowangzhuang and ask the soldiers to come and move the supplies?" Dafei suggested.

He was so happy at first that he realized when they started moving the supplies that they couldn't actually take them all with them.

After listening to Dafei's suggestion, Chen Ming thought for a moment and then nodded in agreement.

"Alright, send a fast soldier back to report the news and call all the soldiers who are left behind."

He decided to take a gamble, betting on the Japanese soldiers' reaction time.

The Japanese army stationed in Ping'an County had a battalion. When they heard an explosion, they would usually first investigate what had happened and what the situation was.

Before fully understanding the situation, we will not send a large force directly, otherwise, if we fall into an ambush, we may suffer heavy losses.

Chen Ming's plan was to exploit this time difference, delaying the arrival of the soldiers from Xiaowangzhuang to move the supplies.

"Don't worry, Captain," Dafei assured him, patting his chest.

Dafei turned around and went back to report to the soldiers, while Chen Ming ordered the sharpshooter squad to assemble.

He planned to use guerrilla tactics on the Japanese army's likely route to delay their reinforcements.

This would be extremely dangerous, and there was a high chance that we would be surrounded and intercepted by the Japanese forces from all sides.

However, war is never without risk; it's just that the degree of risk varies.

Chen Ming possessed a three-dimensional combat map in his mind, enabling him to grasp the movements of all enemy troops within a five-kilometer radius. Furthermore, since he only brought a small squad of sharpshooters, the risk was much lower.

With fewer than ten people in total, they hid in the ravine, making it difficult for the Japanese to spot them.

After assigning the tasks, Chen Ming instructed Da Fei to oversee the transportation of supplies, while he himself left with the sharpshooter squad.

The group began a forced march, and twenty minutes later, they finally arrived at another Japanese stronghold.

This stronghold is located northwest of Ping'an County, while Huangtuling is southwest of Ping'an County. If any disturbance is made here, it is very likely to attract the attention of the Japanese troops in Ping'an County.

Two hundred meters from the outpost, Chen Ming led a group of soldiers to hide behind a small hillside, braving the cold.

Opening the map, Chen Ming observed that there were more than twenty Japanese soldiers and a platoon of puppet troops inside the stronghold, and he made a plan.

After letting the soldiers rest for a few minutes, Chen Ming began to tinker with the grenade launchers he had brought.

Chen Ming knew how to use the Japanese grenade launcher, but he was completely inaccurate.

Five minutes later, seeing that the soldiers had stopped panting heavily, Chen Ming estimated the situation and began firing the first grenade launcher shell.

"boom!"

The shell streaked across the sky.

"Boom!"

A deafening explosion sent the Japanese soldiers inside the stronghold on edge. "Enemy attack!"

"Enemy attack!"

Chen Ming saw that the shells were more than 30 meters away from the Japanese stronghold, but he was not annoyed.

He was never good at firing artillery, so it's normal that he was inaccurate. This operation wasn't intended to kill the Japanese soldiers.

Chen Ming fired a second shell, but his luck was still bad; the shell exploded a dozen meters away from the stronghold.

At this moment, the Japanese counterattack began.

"Da da da! Da da!"

The Japanese soldiers spotted Chen Ming and his men and began to retaliate with light machine guns.

The Japanese soldiers had excellent aim; at a distance of 300 meters, several stray bullets hit them not far away, almost hitting them.

"Damn it, those Japanese devils are such ruthless marksmen!" Chen Ming cursed.

Fortunately, the location he chose was 300 meters away from the stronghold and was on a slope; otherwise, he might have been hit by the Japanese.

"Hit them all!"

At Chen Ming's command, the soldiers crouched down, raised their guns above their heads, and began to return fire, leaving only their hands sticking out over the slope.

Shooting like that, you can't even see the enemy, so you definitely won't have any accuracy and won't be able to inflict any damage.

The Japanese soldiers couldn't inflict any damage on them unless they were lucky enough to hit the soldiers' exposed wrists.

The two sides continued firing at each other for more than ten minutes.

The Japanese were very cautious. Even though they judged from the enemy's firepower that there weren't many people attacking the stronghold, they didn't risk launching an attack.

Chen Ming wouldn't risk letting his soldiers advance; his original purpose was to draw the Japanese soldiers' attention.

"Hello, pick up Mr. Hirata for me."

Inside the stronghold, the Japanese squad leader immediately reported to Ping'an County that they had been attacked.

"I am Hirata Ichiro."

"Reporting to Lord Hirata, our base has been attacked by an unidentified Chinese army. The earlier explosion was most likely caused by an attack on a small detachment that was deployed from our base."

"How many enemies are there?" In the county town, Hirata Ichiro finally figured out the source of the earlier explosion through a phone call.

Previously, Chen Ming and his men ambushed the Japanese grain transport vehicles, and the huge explosion could be faintly heard even in the county town twelve kilometers away.

Upon learning of the battle, Hirata Ichiro immediately began investigating where it had occurred.

Now, hearing the report from this outpost, we finally have a lead.

The earlier explosion was most likely caused by an attack on a small team that was out of the base.

"Reporting to Lord Hirata, based on the enemy's firepower configuration, there is one light machine gun and about thirty men, but the exact number has not yet been determined. It is very likely that they are bait used by the Chinese army to lure our troops out of their stronghold and launch an attack," the Japanese squad leader reported.

“Very good, I will immediately mobilize troops from surrounding strongholds to support you and surround this Chinese force.”

Hirata Ichiro immediately issued orders to surrounding strongholds to encircle Chen Ming's troops.

He wasn't worried about any ambush at all.

The most active troops around Ping'an County were the Eighth Route Army. In Hirata Ichiro's memory, the Eighth Route Army's weapons and equipment were very poor.

Under the close surveillance of various strongholds, it was difficult for the large forces of the Eighth Route Army to evade Japanese reconnaissance when they moved around the area radiating from Ping'an County.

Therefore, the Chinese army that attacked the stronghold this time would not exceed one battalion at most.

(End of this chapter)