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

Chapter 139: Dealing with Li Yunlong, the Japanese Continue to Reinforce Their Troops
Chen Ming looked very unwell; Li Yunlong had once again disobeyed orders on the battlefield.

Similarly, the brigade commander also had a dark face and looked very unwell.

Li Yunlong was his direct subordinate, and this time he disobeyed orders on the battlefield again, leading his troops away from the position without authorization.

The key person who reported it was still a member of the 120th Division.

With so many comrades from other units watching from the command center, Li Yunlong really made him look good this time.

"You don't need to worry about me. You're in command now, so just handle it directly," the brigade commander said to Chen Ming.

He didn't want to put Chen Ming in a difficult position just because he was there.

Chen Ming looked at the brigade commander and took a deep breath.

Li Yunlong definitely has to deal with this. With so many people watching, how can he lead the troops if he doesn't deal with it?
It wasn't that he didn't give the troops below autonomy; the reason he put the Independent Regiment and the Fourth Regiment together this time was because the Fourth Regiment was equipped with a radio.

If any situation arises, intelligence can be reported directly via radio, and the command center will then coordinate the response.

Li Yunlong discovered the Japanese logistics unit and decided to attack it. This was not a big mistake; it was the right of a frontline commander to flexibly choose the mode of combat.

However, Li Yunlong, without consulting the Fourth Regiment, led his troops to leave the position without authorization.

It would only take a little time to discuss it with the Fourth Regiment. Even if Commander Zhang of the Fourth Regiment disagreed, he could still submit the report.

The decision and adjustment will be made by the command center.

This is a cardinal sin on the battlefield!

If the main attacking force is still engaged in fierce fighting, and if Li Yunlong were to arbitrarily move troops, the Japanese reinforcements would break through the defense line.

This battle, which has been planned for a long time and mobilized a large amount of resources and weapons, may end abruptly.

"Order: After contacting Li Yunlong's unit, suspend Li Yunlong from his duties and have Deputy Regiment Commander Xing of the Independent Regiment temporarily take over his duties."

"At the same time, the Fifth Battalion of the First Brigade was dispatched to Shuangqu Town immediately to reinforce the town's defenses."

Chen Ming gave the order.

Now that Li Yunlong has been transferred to another unit, the outcome is still unknown, so Chen Ming has only made the decision to suspend Li Yunlong from his position as regimental commander.

Command of the Independent Regiment was temporarily assumed by Deputy Regiment Commander Xing.

This leaves room for maneuver. If Li Yunlong achieves great results, this punishment will not lower his rank, nor will it affect his future appointment.

If Li Yunlong's troop redeployment results in excessive casualties, further action can be taken.

The 4th Regiment's blocking position.

After the Independent Regiment successfully raided the Japanese logistics unit, the Japanese front-line troops also responded.

Now that our own backyard is on fire, if all the logistics units are lost, the army will be in big trouble if it loses its logistics support.

At this point, the Japanese soldiers could no longer afford to continue their attack on the blocking positions and began to retreat like a tide.

Otherwise, even if we could break through the Eighth Route Army's blocking positions, the troops' combat effectiveness would be greatly reduced without subsequent supplies.

Continuing to send reinforcements to Ping'an County would be pointless.

Without logistical support, if the troops continue to advance, they are very likely to be seized and wiped out by the Eighth Route Army.

"Commander, the Japanese have retreated."

On the position, the commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 4th Regiment saw that the Japanese had just launched an attack, but they retreated before they had gone very far.

The fact that they did not launch any further offensives indicates that the Japanese would not continue their attacks for the foreseeable future.

Just then, the scouts ran over.

"Reporting to the regimental commander, the Japanese logistics unit has been wiped out by the Independent Regiment."

The scout spoke, panting.

Commander Zhang was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, but a smile immediately appeared on his face.

"Great, I didn't expect Li Yunlong to actually succeed in doing it."

The Japanese army's logistics forces were destroyed, and it would take time to rebuild their logistics system.

During this period, the soldiers at the blocking position can take a break and strengthen the defense of the position.

In other words, their mission to ambush the enemy can be considered basically accomplished.

At this moment, the anger on Commander Zhang's face was nowhere to be seen.

He focused on the issue, not the person. Although Li Yunlong had transferred troops without authorization, putting pressure on him.

But Li Yunlong's surprise attack on the Japanese logistics unit was indeed a brilliant victory.

At minimal cost, they delayed the Japanese advance to the greatest extent possible, buying time for the main force to carry out its operations.

Without a constant supply of weapons and ammunition, the Japanese soldiers of their 4th Regiment would suffer fewer casualties.

"Report the situation to headquarters immediately," Commander Zhang said immediately.

He was different from Li Yunlong. Li Yunlong didn't like being restricted by rules and regulations, but Commander Zhang always reported the situation immediately.

This is something that developed from long-term responsibility for protecting the rear.

As the rear bulwark, every unit of the 120th Division is keenly aware of its responsibilities and must constantly communicate the situation with its superiors.

Within the headquarters.

Chen Ming received a telegram from the Fourth Regiment.

Upon learning that two battalions of Japanese logistics units had been attacked, the Japanese halted their offensive and remained in place to await the restoration of their logistics.

Chen Ming immediately seized the opportunity. "Take a look, the Japanese logistics unit has been destroyed. It will take at least several hours to restore logistics. I think this is an opportunity," Chen Ming said.

Upon hearing Chen Ming's words, the others also began to read the situation report sent by the Fourth Regiment.

When they saw that the Japanese logistics had been destroyed, they did not choose to retreat temporarily, but stayed in place to wait.

I also realized that this was an opportunity.

"Those little devils are really bold. Do they think they're not far from Luyang and can quickly restore their logistics and continue their attack?" the brigade commander said.

"Since the Japanese are so bold, how can we refuse such a free meal?" Chen Ming said with a smile.

"Order: Reinforce the First Battalion and immediately move rapidly towards Shuangqu Town. Make sure to infiltrate behind Shuangqu Town before 5 p.m. and cut off the Japanese retreat route."

"Cavalry battalion, continue to harass the Japanese logistics units in the Luyang direction to delay their recovery of logistics."

"The sniper battalion of the special operations team directly under the detachment is to be dispatched to reinforce Shuangqu Town immediately and eliminate as many Japanese troops as possible."

"At the same time, send a telegram to the Fourth Regiment and the Independent Regiment, instructing them to hold back the Japanese troops, prevent them from escaping, and also prevent us from revealing our intention to annihilate them."

Chen Ming made arrangements.

Ping'an County is actually not far from the Shuangqu Town position, only 25 kilometers away.

It is noon now. The First Battalion is to infiltrate behind the Japanese lines within five hours and cut off their retreat.

This task wasn't particularly difficult.

Now that Ping'an County has been captured, the attacking forces are freed up, and Chen Ming needs to change his strategic objectives.

Ping'an County has been captured. The remaining Lan County is being guarded by three battalions of the Second Brigade, plus local armed forces, giving them a 3:1 troop ratio.

Moreover, the commander of the reinforced second battalion was Kong Jie, a steady and defensive officer who led the elite troops of the independent detachment.

With so many troops, it would be easy to block the Japanese in the county town, if not to wipe them all out.

After taking Ping'an County, the Japanese in Lan County were like meat in a bowl, ready to be eaten whenever they wanted.

Now Chen Ming needs to consider how to expand the gains.

Two battalions of Japanese soldiers are simply not enough to serve so many troops!
Encirclement and annihilation of reinforcements is a good tactic. By surrounding the Japanese troops in Lan County, the Japanese were forced to send troops into the mountains.

Chen Ming could take this opportunity to eliminate the Japanese forces during the movement.

After the order was given, the troops that received the mission began to move.

The Japanese First Army Headquarters in Taiyuan.

Japanese First Army Commander Iwamatsu is discussing the battle situation with a group of officers.

A day has passed since the battle began.

Ping'an County had also lost contact. If it weren't for the reconnaissance plane discovering that the Japanese flag was still in Ping'an County, Yansong might have thought that Ping'an County had been lost.

However, even though Ping'an County has not yet fallen, the situation is already extremely critical.

The loss of radio contact meant that the Eighth Route Army had entered the city and damaged the city's communication system.

Even if there were still Japanese troops resisting in the county town, they couldn't hold out for long, and the time left for them to rescue was running out.

"Why haven't the reinforcements arrived in Ping'an County yet, after so long?"

Kazuo Iwamatsu asked angrily.

"Report: Two infantry battalions that were sent to reinforce from the direction of Luyang have encountered resistance from the Chinese army. The logistics unit has been ambushed and is now awaiting the restoration of its logistics."

"A regiment and a battalion that set out from Shuiquan encountered a fierce resistance from nearly 3,000 Eighth Route Army soldiers on the highway. The road was completely destroyed, and the speed of reinforcement was slowed down."

"It is estimated that it will take at least another eight hours to reach Ping'an County."

The Japanese staff officer reported.

"Damn it! Let's not even talk about Luyang. In the Shuiquan direction, a regiment and a battalion were held up for so long by two regiments of the Eighth Route Army!" Iwamatsu Kazuo said angrily.

The Japanese army, consisting of a regiment and a battalion, had a combined strength of over four thousand men. Under normal circumstances, they should not have been held off for so long by two regiments of the Eighth Route Army.

And this is even under conditions where there is a road.

Even if the road is damaged and vehicles can't pass easily, there are still infantry.

With so much time, you could have climbed all the way to Ping'an County.

"Send another regiment. I refuse to believe that two regiments plus an infantry battalion cannot successfully break through the Eighth Route Army's defenses," Iwamatsu Kazuo ordered.

They say a new broom sweeps clean, but it seems like he's already facing a lot of troubles so soon after taking office. The troubles seem to have landed right on his head.

Two battalions of troops plus two county towns—these are absolutely not to be lost; they must be saved.

Otherwise, the expeditionary force headquarters would definitely be disappointed in him if they saw that he had suffered such a major defeat so soon after taking office.

In order to rescue Lanxian and Ping'an counties, Iwamatsu Kazuo had no choice but to continue to send more troops along the road from Shuiquan to Ping'an County.

With two regiments and an infantry battalion, he didn't believe that two regiments of the Eighth Route Army could stop them!

The two regiments plus one battalion together have a total strength of over seven thousand men.

With so many troops, they could practically run rampant in Shanxi Province; no one could stop them.

As for the unit in Luyang, the Japanese officers in the meeting room didn't pay any attention to it.

The logistics have been attacked, but we just need to wait for them to be restored. Anyway, we're not far from Luyang; it'll only take a few hours.

Little did they know that it was precisely because of this idea that the Japanese paid a heavy price!

(End of this chapter)