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

Chapter 130: Brigade Commander's Command and Chen Ming's Coordination of Various Units

After the reunion of the "Iron Triangle," Li Yunlong personally saw his two old comrades off.

Of course, besides sending off his old comrades, he also wanted to receive the equipment brought by Kong Jie as soon as possible.

"Brothers, come and get our Independent Regiment's weapons!" Li Yunlong shouted loudly, ordering his men to put the weapons away.

He touched the two heavy machine guns, liking them more and more as he looked at them.

During this counter-sweep operation, the Independent Regiment lost all its heavy weapons. Now, Kong Jie has sent two heavy machine guns, which is a great help.

With a weapon in hand, he stands tall.

Zhang Dabiao received the weapons and said to Li Yunlong with a smile, "Commander, this time we'll cooperate with the Independent Detachment to provide support, and let our First Battalion take the lead in the attack."

"Go away, don't think I don't know what you're thinking. The moment you stick your butt out, I know what kind of shit you're going to take," Li Yunlong yelled.

"Hehe." Zhang Dabiao chuckled.

He wanted to take the lead in the attack, not only to secure combat missions but also to gain priority in the allocation of weapons.

After all, they've taken on the main offensive mission, so how could they not be given priority in weapon allocation?

Once these two heavy machine guns and six light machine guns arrive at the First Battalion, they will belong to the First Battalion.

Let's leave the issue of weapons allocation aside for now.

After Kong Jie and Ding Wei left the Independent Regiment, they parted ways not far away.

Ding Wei smiled as he watched Kong Jie's triumphant figure disappear into the distance.

After leaving the Independent Regiment, Kong Jie walked with a swagger.

Since they parted ways, Kong Jie is now the most successful of the three old comrades-in-arms, and he has become much more confident.

In the past, when discussing casualties and the development of the troops, the regiment led by Kong Jie was far inferior to the regiment led by Li Yunlong.

Therefore, Li Yunlong was the darling of the brigade commander and division commander, and was spoiled by them.

Now, times have changed, and Kong Jie can stand tall in front of his old comrades.

This feeling was wonderful, and Kong Jie really liked it.

He knew how all these changes had come about, and he respected Chen Ming even more.

A few days later, Chen Ming arrived at Beiyao Village from the command center in Kelan County.

This is a village in the mountains between Lan County and Ping'an County. Chen Ming's map can cover both counties.

Actually, Chen Ming could have chosen not to set up the command post here, because his map had been upgraded again after he formed two reinforced battalions.

Although the area remains unchanged, it can be centered on the command posts of the First and Second Reinforced Battalions, covering a radius of ten kilometers.

Although the area is not as large as the map centered on Chen Ming, it is still a huge improvement.

This means that Chen Ming doesn't need to go deep into the battlefield every time to observe the enemy situation from his own perspective.

It should be noted that as the military expanded, Chen Ming was able to command more and more troops, and a range of twenty kilometers was still too small.

Many times, Chen Ming would place the command post directly under the enemy's guns, and the enemy could hit the command post with artillery as soon as they advanced a certain distance.

After the map was upgraded to a level 2 map, Chen Ming was able to set up his command post in a relatively safe location to direct the battle, while also maintaining a certain level of battlefield observation capability.

This has a tremendous impact on improving command and control of operations.

However, this upgrade only increased the map visibility of two reinforced battalions; the battalions under the Independent Detachment did not receive any improvement.

There wasn't even a cavalry battalion or a production and construction detachment.

Chen Ming speculated that only units at the regimental level or above, and also combat units, could possess level two maps.

Otherwise, with a construction brigade of tens of thousands of people, there's no reason why there wouldn't be a level 2 map.

"Looks like this is going to push me towards large-scale operations," Chen Ming remarked with a smile.

This way of upgrading the map means that if Chen Ming wants to make full use of the map, he must command more units at the regimental level or above.

Only units at the regimental level or above have access to three-dimensional combat maps.

Beiyao Village.

After the troops arrived one after another, the brigade commander summoned all the commanders of the troops involved in the campaign.

In this operation, under the command of headquarters, Chen Ming's independent detachment was tasked with the main attack in the direction of Ping'an County, to contain the Japanese forces.

In addition to the two reinforced battalions of the Independent Detachment, there were also the Independent Regiment of the 386th Brigade, the New 1st Regiment, and the 4th Regiment of the Independent 1st Brigade of the 120th Division.

In addition, representatives of local armed forces.

In other words, with the brigade commander in overall command, Chen Ming was able to coordinate the deployment of two regiments from the 386th Brigade, one regiment from the 120th Division, and local armed forces, in addition to commanding the independent detachment.

Together they attacked two county towns, each garrisoned by a Japanese battalion, along with reinforcements from other Japanese cities.

This reflects the trust that headquarters and the brigade commander have in Chen Ming, and it is also an accumulation of practical experience in a tough battle.

Inside the command post, all the commanders arrived one after another.

Chen Ming saw the brigade commander outside the command post.

"Reporting to the brigade commander, this is Chen Ming from the Independent Detachment, requesting instructions." Chen Ming saluted the brigade commander.

"Haha, good lad." The brigade commander returned the salute and patted Chen Ming on the shoulder.

"You're the main character this time. I'm just testing your command skills and learning from your experience in siege warfare. Don't worry about me when you're giving orders." "Just focus on fighting well and wipe out those two damn Japanese devils from the county town," the brigade commander said with a smile.

This time, the scale of liberating the county town was different from the past. The target was two county towns garrisoned by two Japanese infantry battalions.

The scale is enormous, and the enemy is equally powerful, presenting a valuable opportunity to learn from experience in overcoming challenges.

The Eighth Route Army's current mainstream experience is still guerrilla warfare and sabotage warfare; it does not have much practical experience in siege warfare.

Now that this opportunity has been presented, with Chen Ming leading the charge, the headquarters naturally attaches great importance to it.

Representatives from each unit formed an observation team and came to the headquarters of the Independent Detachment to observe the siege battle led by the Independent Detachment.

The brigade commander was one of them. He chose to put aside his work and come to the independent detachment for two reasons: first, to observe and learn from the independent detachment's experience in attacking fortified positions, so as to accumulate theoretical and practical foundations for the troops to liberate county towns in the future.

Secondly, I came to visit Chen Ming and reconnect with him.

Thirdly, it was to provide support and reassurance for Chen Ming.

This time, Chen Ming will be commanding various units, as well as some high-level observation teams. The brigade commander is worried that these factors will affect him.

As Chen Ming's former superior, he naturally had to come personally to support his subordinate and comrade-in-arms.

If the division commander hadn't had important work to do, he probably would have come.

Chen Ming naturally understood the brigade commander's purpose in coming here, and immediately expressed his opinion:

"Yes, I guarantee I'll wipe out those two sons of bitches of Japanese devils in those two counties."

"Good, very spirited!" the brigade commander affirmed.

"Let's go in, it's time for the main event to begin."

Chen Ming and the brigade commander walked into the command post together. A group of commanders were already in place, as well as some observers from other units, many of whom were acquaintances of Chen Ming.

After the two went inside, everyone stood up.

Regardless of their original identities, under the instructions of headquarters, Chen Ming is now the commander-in-chief of this battle, and everyone must obey Chen Ming's orders.

Seeing the crowd stand up, Chen Ming saluted them and then went to the main seat in the conference room.

The brigade commander sat in the first seat on the left, observing Chen Ming's command.

"Comrades, this time, I am honored to be the commander and fight alongside you against the Japanese invaders."

"Now, the Japanese have stationed a battalion in each of the two county towns of Lan County and Ping'an County. Both county towns have pierced the heart of our base area."

"The Japanese devils were extremely arrogant. Taking advantage of the county town, they frequently harassed the people who supported us in the surrounding areas, even stealing the last of their food."

"Many villagers worked hard all year round to grow crops, and even natural disasters did not defeat them, but the Japanese devils took away their last hope of survival."

"Many people had no choice but to suffer from hunger because they lost their food. They couldn't even eat tree bark and had to eat clay to fill their stomachs. In the end, they died from being stuffed with clay."

"What do you think we should do?"

Chen Ming spoke with genuine emotion, while simultaneously taking out a piece of whitish "Guanyin soil"—a type of clay used by ordinary people to stave off hunger—and throwing it onto the conference table.

Inspired by Chen Ming, everyone hated the utterly depraved Japanese devils.

"Of course, we should wipe out all these sons of bitches of Japanese devils."

"That's right, attack the county town, wipe out the Japanese devils, and give our fellow villagers justice."

"Liberate the county town. The Japanese devils have penetrated right into the heart of our base area. We must wipe them all out."

The commanders all volunteered to fight and wipe out all the Japanese devils who were harming the people.

"Alright, I'm sure you all know the purpose of this gathering: to liberate the two county towns, wipe out all the Japanese devils in them, and give the people justice," Chen Ming said.

"Chief of Staff Wang, please report on the situation of each unit."

"Yes." Wang Dafei, chief of staff of the independent detachment, stood up and began to report.

"Currently, our Second Reinforced Battalion has arrived in Lan County, and the First Reinforced Battalion has reached Shengou Township in the southwest of Ping'an County."

"The headquarters of the 1st Regiment of the 386th Brigade has arrived at Erdaohuzi, east of Ping'an County, and the headquarters of the 4th Regiment of the Independent Brigade has arrived at Jiaoqu Town, northwest of Luyang."

"The county brigades, district squads, and guerrilla brigades have all arrived in place around Lan County and Ping'an County."

Wang Dafei reported on the situation of each unit in turn.

"Alright, comrades, you all know the current situation," Chen Ming said.

"In order to defend these two counties, the Japanese actually deployed more than 2,000 troops, which means that these two counties are very important to them."

“Once we launch an attack on Lan County and Ping’an County, the Japanese will definitely send reinforcements at all costs. They will never give up these two strategically important counties.”

"The more the Japanese value something, the more we should attack it, so that we can hurt and frighten them."

"Comrades, are you confident that we can take these two counties from the jaws of defeat?"

Chen Ming analyzed the situation and boosted morale once again.

"Have!"

"Have!"

"Have confidence!"

Everyone stood up and shouted loudly.

(End of this chapter)