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

Chapter 14 Successful Retreat
To deal with a battalion of Eighth Route Army soldiers, Hirata Ichiro chose to mobilize troops from surrounding strongholds and send a company from the county town to encircle them.

The goal is to annihilate the enemy in one fell swoop once the enemy is discovered.

A small Japanese squad was facing off against a battalion of the Eighth Route Army. Hirata Ichiro wasn't worried about losing; at least he could hold them off while waiting for reinforcements.

Half an hour later, Chen Ming saw countless red dots appear on the three-dimensional combat map, flanking them from three directions.

These were two Japanese platoons and a Japanese company dispatched from Ping'an County.

"These little devils really think highly of me, sending over three hundred of them," Chen Ming thought to himself.

Knowing that the enemy had arrived, Chen Ming knew he couldn't delay any longer, or he really wouldn't be able to escape.

"Comrades, retreat."

After Chen Ming issued the retreat order, the small team began to retreat in an orderly manner according to the predetermined route, leading the Japanese soldiers away from Huangtuling.

"Reporting to Lord Hirata, the Chinese army has retreated."

Seeing that the troops outside the stronghold had stopped firing at them and were instead retreating, the Japanese squad leader immediately reported this.

"You take your squad and pursue them immediately, keep up with this Chinese army, and cooperate with other units to encircle them."

On the other end of the phone, Hirata Ichiro gave the order.

"Hai!"

Knowing that Chen Ming's unit was about to be surrounded, the Japanese squad leader felt emboldened and immediately carried out the order.

He had previously feared it was an ambush by the Chinese army, so he chose to cautiously hold his ground and wait for reinforcements.

But now troops from other places have arrived, and he is confident that his squad can hold off this Chinese army that dared to attack the stronghold.

Even if the enemy has a battalion of soldiers.

Inside the stronghold, five Japanese soldiers and a squad of puppet troops were left to guard the area, while the rest of the Japanese and puppet troops were mobilized to pursue Chen Ming's unit.

Meanwhile, Japanese troops from the other three directions were also rushing to provide support, forming a four-sided encirclement of Chen Ming.

In this situation, it would be very difficult for ordinary troops to escape.

But Chen Ming wasn't afraid. With his three-dimensional combat map, he could clearly track the movements of every Japanese soldier.

Within a radius of five kilometers, it was wishful thinking for more than three hundred Japanese soldiers to find their less than ten-man unit.

In a mountain gully, Chen Ming and seven soldiers crouched down and hid behind a large rock, narrowly escaping the Japanese army's encirclement.

"Phew, we've finally broken out of the encirclement." Chen Ming breathed a sigh of relief as he saw that they were now outside the red dot of the encirclement.

The target of eight people is very small; even a large rock can conceal their figures.

Chen Ming had previously attacked the Japanese stronghold with machine guns and grenade launchers in an attempt to create the illusion that they were the main force.

The Eighth Route Army was too poor; they didn't even have many light machine guns.

In the eyes of the Japanese, a unit equipped with light machine guns was the main force of the Eighth Route Army, at least a company-level unit.

What Chen Ming didn't know was that a small detachment of Japanese soldiers had gone out from this stronghold and hadn't returned yet. The Japanese had already concluded that the detachment had been attacked.

For a small Japanese detachment to be completely wiped out, it must be an army at least at the company or even battalion level.

It can only be said that Lady Luck was on Chen Ming's side.

The combination of these two factors led the Japanese to mistakenly believe that the army attacking the stronghold was at least a company-sized unit, or more than a hundred men.

With so many troops, it's not easy to hide them, at least not behind an inconspicuous big rock.

Twenty minutes later, the four groups of Japanese soldiers met up.

"Damn it! They actually let the Chinese army escape right under our noses."

The Japanese company commander who came out of the county town was furious when he found that despite such a large mobilization, he hadn't even seen any Chinese troops.

He finally learned the whereabouts of the Eighth Route Army and took the initiative to apply to Hirata Ichiro for his company to be dispatched this time, just to earn merit.

In the end, they didn't get a single hair.

"I apologize, Mr. Nakamura."

Hearing Nakamura's angry rebuke, the other three squad leaders lowered their heads in shame and kept apologizing. The Japanese army had a strict hierarchy; even if they were verbally abused, they had to endure it.

Moreover, they really failed to capture the Chinese army this time, and they escaped.

In particular, the Japanese squad leader inside the attacked stronghold, who couldn't even catch up with the pursuers, should bear the main responsibility.

"boom!"

"Oh!"

A grenade exploded in the midst of the Japanese soldiers, killing two on the spot and wounding seven others.

"Baka! Dodge the cannon!"

When the Japanese company commander saw that his troops were under attack, he immediately reacted and ordered his soldiers to urgently find cover.

This shot was naturally fired by Chen Ming.

As the Japanese soldiers regrouped, Chen Ming, who had already run more than 500 meters out of the encirclement, began firing cannons at them again.

The grenade launcher can fire at a maximum distance of over 600 meters, which is still within its maximum range.

He needed to distract the Japanese soldiers as much as possible to buy time for the soldiers transporting supplies.

This time, he was lucky and managed to fire the grenade right into the middle of the Japanese soldiers.

After firing the first shot, Chen Ming immediately led his soldiers to continue running.

"Baka! It's the Chinese army! Pursue them!"

The Japanese company commander spotted a figure moving about 500 meters away. Upon realizing the figure was running away, he immediately ordered a pursuit in a fit of rage.

The chase lasted for two hours, and it gradually got dark.

Chen Ming and his men were all native locals, familiar with the terrain, and often traveled mountain roads. It was wishful thinking for the Japanese to catch up with them, who were determined to escape.

"Reporting to Captain Hirata, a telegram has arrived."

Inside the ranks, a Japanese communications soldier ran up to Company Commander Nakamura with a telegram in his hand.

Nakamura took the telegram, glanced at it, and immediately slapped it onto the face of the squad leader of the attacked stronghold, followed by two more slaps.

"Baka! You reported without investigating properly? We've all been fooled by the Chinese army!"

The bewildered Japanese squad leader, not understanding what was going on, took the telegram and glanced at it, his mind going blankly.

The telegram read: "The small detachments that went out from the base have returned and have not encountered any attacks from the Chinese army."

The five trucks transporting grain to the Xicun stronghold have not returned to this day. Upon inspection, it was confirmed that they were attacked by the Chinese army, and the supplies have been emptied and their whereabouts are unknown.

It was determined that the attack on the stronghold was actually a feint by the Chinese army, intended to cover for their attack on the transport convoy.

Upon seeing this telegram, the Japanese squad leader knew he was doomed.

He'll have to take the blame this time.

He reported to Hirata Ichiro that the earlier explosions might have been caused by an attack on their small detachment that was out of their base.

This led to Hirata Ichiro's misjudgment, causing him to miss the opportunity and allowing the Chinese troops attacking the transport convoy to successfully transport the supplies away.

Meanwhile, their group of over three hundred people were led around in circles for half a day by a small group of enemies.

Hirata Ichiro wouldn't take the blame for the delay; it would have to be pinned on him, the squad leader.

"What?! How could it be fake?" The Japanese squad leader slumped to the ground, muttering in a daze.

"You should be thinking about how to explain this to Lord Hirata by now," the Japanese company commander said coldly, glancing at the slumped-on squad leader.

"How could it be fake? There are clearly machine guns and grenade launchers!" the Japanese squad leader muttered to himself in disbelief.

He's finished. He caused Colonel Hirata Ichiro to make the wrong combat orders, making Hirata Ichiro lose face.

He will not have a good ending.

(End of this chapter)