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

Chapter 147 Chen Ming Commands the Brigade!

After receiving the order to return to Taiyuan Command, Yamada's eyes revealed his unwillingness.

"Ping'an County has been blown up. We should have been able to annihilate the main force of the enemy's independent detachment in Ping'an County by tomorrow afternoon at the latest. It's really frustrating!"

The Japanese troops annihilated in Ping'an County were from his Independent Third Brigade, and a battalion in Lan County was also from his Independent Third Brigade.

Yamada led this reinforcement team to seek revenge and to demoralize the Independent Detachment.

But now that his rear has been attacked, he received a death order from Commander Yansong, demanding that he return to reinforce immediately.

This means that any advantage gained during the day will be lost.

The Japanese troops from that brigade in Lan County were essentially delivered into the mouths of the Independent Detachment.

Ping'an County, with its stronger defenses, was wiped out by the Independent Detachment, let alone Lan County, whose defenses were even weaker.

If the Japanese troops in Lan County also suffer losses, Yamada's Independent Mixed Brigade No. 3 will only have two battalions left.

Even if they can be replenished later, their combat strength will decline significantly.

Yamada's status will plummet as a result.

"Cease the attack and retreat to defend!"

Finally, after a difficult internal struggle, Yamada gritted his teeth and gave the order to retreat, word by word.

Ping'an County and even Lan County are far less important than the Tongpu Railway and the cities along the line.

He was also worried that this would be another "Hundred Regiments Offensive" for the Eighth Route Army, and that heavy losses would result if he failed to return to the rescue in time.

Yamada will become the biggest scapegoat in this operation.

After the order to retreat was relayed to the troops attacking at the front, the Japanese battalion commander who organized the attack looked completely bewildered.

"The battle was going so well. My unit had already captured the first and second lines of defense of the Eighth Route Army and was about to break through the third line of defense and enter Ping'an County. Why did we retreat?"

"This is General Yansong's order!"

"Hai!"

Left with no other option, the Japanese battalion commander had to issue a retreat order.

"Turn in!"

After receiving the order, a group of Japanese soldiers, though equally confused, gathered the wounded and retreated with their weapons.

"Battalion commander, the Japanese are retreating!"

In the third line of defense, a soldier immediately informed his battalion commander of the situation, and Chen Ming also received news of the Japanese retreat at the same time.

"Damn it, the Japanese devils are finally running away. Pass on my order: the artillery company, open fire on the Japanese troops. Don't waste any ammunition. Keep firing until the gun barrels are so hot they can't fire anymore."

"The Ping'an City troops, recapture the first and second lines of defense; the Tianzhushan position is ready to attack the Japanese flank at any time."

"The entire engineering unit is handed over to Ding Wei, who is to blow up the temporary bridges and roads built by the Japanese again, in order to delay their retreat."

Chen Ming issued the order.

Previously, in order to prevent the artillery positions from being bombarded by the Japanese artillery, they could only fire a few rounds each time and had to withdraw immediately, making it difficult to form effective battlefield support.

But now the Japanese are retreating. According to the Japanese evacuation order, the command chain (observation/communication troops) retreats first, followed by the artillery, and finally the infantry.

Now that the Japanese infantry have begun to retreat, it means that the Japanese artillery positions have also been withdrawn, so we can now bombard the Japanese with confidence.

With the start of the counter-offensive, the positions lost by the Independent Detachment were recaptured, and the retreating Japanese troops were subjected to fierce artillery fire, suffering heavy casualties.

A force that has already deployed and attacked for half a day will not have an easy time retreating smoothly.

When the troops were deployed, the Japanese had a numerical advantage, making it difficult for Chen Ming to use any tricks; he could only fight a defensive battle head-on.

Now that the Japanese are retreating, their formation will be disrupted. In addition, it is already dark, so even if the Japanese have fired flares, it still gives Chen Ming a lot of room for micromanagement.

"All units, report every fifteen minutes," Chen Ming ordered, dispatching all the communications soldiers.

In order to keep abreast of the situation of each unit, Chen Ming required each unit to report every fifteen minutes, organized by platoon.

Although the three-dimensional battle map in my mind allows me to clearly and keenly perceive the situation on the battlefield.

However, the status of troop ammunition, the transfer of wounded soldiers, and the maintenance of combat effectiveness cannot be known through maps.

Or rather, the effort and reward of using limited mental energy to carefully explore this information is disproportionate.

As the counter-offensive continued, reports from various units poured back to the command post. Based on the maps and the reports, Chen Ming's mind raced, and he continuously issued orders.

"Order the 1st Platoon of the 1st Company of the 3rd Battalion to attack the small hill 150 meters to the left front and block the straggling Japanese squad."

"Order the 1st and 2nd companies of the 2nd Battalion to advance and engage the Japanese rearguard."

"Order the artillery company to move its position forward by 300 meters and fire five rapid-fire rounds toward coordinate xx in eight minutes."

"Order the machine gun platoon of the 3rd Battalion at Tianzhushan position to move its position forward by fifty meters."

"."

Chen Ming kept micro-managing and issuing orders, some of which were even precise down to the meter, specifying the distance the machine gun positions should be moved forward.

The brigade commander was dumbfounded by this scene.

How can you fight a war like this? What's wrong with Chen Ming's brain? How can he make arrangements for platoons like a low-level cadre in such a complicated situation?

Is this really a safe way to fight? We don't want to end up like some micro-management master who hinders the soldiers on the front lines.

However, the brigade commander's doubts quickly disappeared.

Good news kept coming in: under Chen Ming's precise micro-management, the various units successfully eliminated a large number of scattered Japanese soldiers and intercepted more than 500 Japanese soldiers who had fallen behind.

"Indeed, the difference between people is not small at all," the brigade commander remarked.

At the same time, he also understood that Chen Ming had no choice but to expend so much mental energy on micro-management.

The enemy not only had an advantage in troop numbers, but also an absolute advantage in firepower.

The Independent Detachment can only muster enough artillery units in Ping'an County to form an artillery battalion, which is equipped with mortars.

The Japanese not only had a full range of mortars, infantry guns, and mountain guns, but also heavy artillery with a caliber of over 100 calibers.

In this situation, in order to achieve victory, Chen Ming had to push his brainpower to the limit and make his commands precise down to the platoon level.

In contrast, when attacking Ping'an County earlier, when the brigade commander had the advantage in troop strength and firepower, he never saw Chen Ming micromanage; he simply drew lines to indicate the targets and fully delegated command authority to the lower-level commanders.

"Brigade Commander, more than 500 Japanese soldiers have been captured by our soldiers. What do you suggest we do?"

After the troops achieved great results, Chen Ming wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked with a smile.

The more than 500 Japanese soldiers who had fallen behind have been cornered, and now these 500-plus Japanese soldiers are like a piece of fat meat that can be eaten.

Unless the main force of the Japanese army rearranges to rescue them, it will be difficult for these more than 500 Japanese soldiers to break through successfully.

Of course, it is more likely that the more than 500 Japanese soldiers who were blocked would be ordered by Yamada to cover their retreat and hinder the Independent Detachment's pursuit, so that the troops could withdraw smoothly.

“You are the commander-in-chief now, so you should make the decisions,” the brigade commander replied with a smile.

"Alright, now I order the brigade commander's guard battalion to immediately launch an attack on this group of surrounded Japanese devils and wipe out these sons of bitches." Chen Ming looked at the brigade commander.

The brigade commander immediately stood up straight and said, "Yes, sir."

He laughed after saying that.

We'll be able to eat meat soon, how can I not be all smiles?
"Report, if the guard battalion is all transferred away, the command post will have no defensive capabilities whatsoever," a staff officer said with some concern.

To bolster the defensive capabilities of the position, the Independent Detachment's guard battalion had already been mobilized.

The guard battalion brought by the brigade commander became the last defensive force for the command headquarters in this battle.

If they are transferred, the command post will only have some cadres and their close agents (i.e., bodyguards).

If the Japanese invaders were to sneak up at this time, the command post would be in danger.

"It's alright. The Japanese have just had their home raided and are focused on getting back to reinforce us. They don't have time to send troops to our command post."

"Besides, even if the Japanese have that idea, they'll have to break through our soldiers' defenses first. I don't believe that so many soldiers can't protect us." Chen Ming waved his hand with a smile.

"Follow the order."

"Yes."

As the battle continued, the more than 500 Japanese soldiers who were trapped received Yamada's order to cover their retreat.

The area is blocked. The only way to rescue them is for the main force to turn around, which will waste a lot of time going back and forth.

We are currently facing a fierce attack from the Eighth Route Army in the rear. If we are late in returning to reinforce, we don't know how badly the Eighth Route Army will destroy our defenses.

Under Chen Ming's orders, the guard battalion joined the battle, cooperating with other units to launch a fierce attack on the surrounded Japanese troops.

With the help of the Tianzhu Mountain position, the more than 500 Japanese soldiers who were surrounded had no way to defend themselves and were attacked from the high ground by the soldiers on Tianzhu Mountain.

This is the consequence of the Japanese devils' arrogance and their attempt to attack Tianzhu Mountain and Ping'an County at the same time.

To conquer Ping'an, we must first attack Tianzhu Mountain; otherwise, if the attack goes poorly, we will be intercepted by the defenders on Tianzhu Mountain if we try to retreat.

These 500-plus Japanese soldiers were cut off by the Third Battalion of soldiers on Tianzhu Mountain because they failed to capture the Tianzhu Mountain position.

While encircling and annihilating the more than 500 Japanese soldiers, Chen Ming also ordered his troops to continue pursuing the retreating Japanese main force.

This forces the enemy to continuously send out troops to cover their rear, or to deploy their rearguard, thereby slowing down the Japanese advance.

Forced into a corner, the Japanese had no choice but to order small groups of troops to engage in blocking fire and hinder the Eighth Route Army's pursuit.

"Damn it! If it weren't for Commander Iwamatsu's death order, I would have turned around and wiped out this disgusting Eighth Route Army!" Yamada cursed angrily.

He knew that the Independent Detachment sent troops to pursue him in order to force him to leave behind a rearguard to hold off the enemy, thereby annihilating the rearguard.

But Yamada had no choice but to do as the other party wanted.

This is a perfectly legitimate and open strategy, and there is no way to break it.

Unless the crisis on the Tongpu Railway line in the rear can be resolved instantly, and Yamada's troops no longer need to return to reinforce it, they will not fall into Chen Ming's trap.

It's half past three in the morning.

After four hours of fighting, Chen Ming had concentrated his superior forces and used the advantageous terrain of Tianzhu Mountain to wipe out the more than 500 Japanese soldiers who were surrounded. Only more than 40 managed to break through.

The pursuing troops were also constantly dividing and encircling the small groups of Japanese troops left behind to cover the retreat; it was only a matter of time before they were wiped out.

In those few hours, the garrison of Ping'an County, under Chen Ming's command, actually wiped out nearly a battalion of Japanese soldiers.

"Haha, that was awesome! This battle was so exhilarating!"

The brigade commander looked at the battle reports brought in by his soldiers and exclaimed with satisfaction. During the day, they could only helplessly endure the bombings, but at night, they made up for the losses of the day and eliminated a large number of Japanese soldiers.

If every battle could be fought like this, even if the Japanese had a lot of reserve troops, they wouldn't have enough to kill.

Yamada was also getting anxious. The battle couldn't be fought like this; the losses were too great!

The Eighth Route Army's pursuit from the rear was too cunning in timing and direction, accurately identifying their weaknesses every time, and their offensive style was fast, accurate, and ruthless.

Each time, Yamada had to send troops to intercept them and prevent the main force from being attacked.

However, this was merely a piecemeal tactic, and the small units they sent out were continuously wiped out by the Eighth Route Army.

This was the first time Yamada had fought such a frustrating battle against the Eighth Route Army.

If the fighting continued, Yamada worried that his troops would suffer heavy losses by dawn.

"Send a telegram to headquarters: When my unit was advancing at night, it encountered a continuous pursuit by the Eighth Route Army, which was very unfavorable for the advance. Request to rest on the spot until dawn before advancing."

With great resignation, Yamada ordered his communications officer to send a telegram to the Taiyuan headquarters.

He could no longer continue marching at night.

Visibility was severely impaired at night, rendering artillery ineffective, while the Eighth Route Army's light weapons were no less capable.

In addition, the Eighth Route Army's attacks were always unpredictable, making it impossible to organize a powerful counterattack.

Most importantly, the commanders of the two regiments he was in charge of had a lot of complaints about Yamada.

Because the soldiers Yamada sent to cover the rear were all from his two regiments, while the battalion of Japanese soldiers that Yamada himself brought with him retreated safely with the main force.

In just a few hours, they lost nearly a battalion's worth of troops, and the commanders of the two regiments could no longer bear it.

You can't always let their troops cover the rear while your own forces, Yamada, remain stationary.
Yamada was also quite helpless about this.

He has now formed the Third Independent Brigade, and he can only mobilize two battalions. If he were to use one of the battalions he brought with him to cover the rear, he would be in serious trouble.

Yamada thus became the only brigade commander who only had one battalion under his command.

In order to maintain his position and strength, Yamada had no choice but to order the troops of these two regiments to cover the rear.

Don't you feel bad about selling your grandfather's land?

At the headquarters of the Japanese First Army in Taiyuan, Iwamatsu frowned after receiving a telegram from Yamada.

Judging from the telegram, it seems that Yamada's retreat has encountered some trouble.

Based on Iwamatsu's understanding of Yamada, it's clear that even with two regiments and an infantry battalion under his command, he's encountered trouble.

Yamada must be in serious trouble, otherwise he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to send this telegram.

Thinking that the Eighth Route Army unit that attacked Ping'an County was the Independent Detachment, Yansong sighed helplessly:
"The Yamada troops are permitted to rest on the spot and continue their advance after daybreak."

"In addition, while the enemy's main force is pursuing the Yamada troops, we will order the Lanxian troops to break out, and they will be met by troops from the Luyang direction."

The rescue troops were forced to retreat due to the attack on the Tongpu Railway, leaving the Japanese troops in Lan County to break through the encirclement.

With the Eighth Route Army's attention currently focused on these two regiments and an infantry battalion, the Japanese troops in Lan County still have a chance to break out.

Otherwise, given the current situation, if the troops in Lan County continue to hold their ground, they will definitely be surrounded and annihilated by the Eighth Route Army.

Why not take advantage of the fact that the Japanese reinforcements from Taiyuan to Luyang haven't returned yet, and help the Japanese troops in Lan County evacuate?

After Iwamatsu gave the order, Yamada breathed a sigh of relief.

At least we don't have to fight like this anymore, otherwise Yamada would be worried about being shot in the back by his own people.

After all, anyone would object to ordering other troops to their deaths while their own troops remain stationary.

The Japanese conscription policy dictated that in the same unit, most soldiers would be from the same hometown.

It's no wonder the soldiers had complaints when they saw their fellow villagers being sent to their deaths by officers from other units!

"Rest here!"

After Yamada gave the order to rest, the Japanese soldiers all breathed a sigh of relief.

They began constructing a defense system on the spot and waited for dawn to break.

After the Japanese troops stopped marching, Chen Ming ordered his soldiers to cease large-scale pursuit and instead harass the Japanese troops with small units.

It's easier to fight Japanese soldiers when they're on the move; it's harder to fight them when they've stopped and built up positions.

But this does not mean that Chen Ming has run out of options.

Relying on the three-dimensional combat map in his mind, Chen Ming finally found the weakness of the Japanese heavy artillery squadron.

"Order the artillery company, under the cover of the special operations brigade, to move to the high ground north of Erdaohuzi and take out the Japanese heavy artillery company," Chen Ming ordered.

The Japanese heavy artillery company, after such a long retreat, has given the Independent Detachment the opportunity to destroy it.

After all, the maximum range of the 82mm mortars in the artillery company is 2850 meters. The Japanese could not possibly deploy so many troops within a radius of three kilometers.

The Independent Detachment has now been broken up into small units, constantly attacking the outer perimeter of the Japanese forces. The Japanese have contracted their defensive lines, and the mortars are now within reach.

The Japanese would never have imagined that someone like Chen Ming, who possessed a map cheat, would be able to find the hidden heavy artillery within their heavily fortified ranks.

Upon receiving the order, the artillery company, along with the special operations brigade personally led by Zhou Weiguo, set off.

With their superior equipment and the high quality of the special operations team, the Japanese sentry posts on the high ground were quickly taken down.

The Japanese didn't pay much attention to this; they were being attacked everywhere, and this high ground occupied by the Eighth Route Army wasn't the most important one.

After capturing the high ground, the artillery company began to set up artillery positions and adjust firing angles.

To ensure they could destroy the Japanese heavy artillery in one fell swoop, the special operations team continued their old tricks, donning Japanese uniforms and infiltrating the location of the Japanese heavy artillery company.

After confirming the location of the Japanese heavy artillery, the special operations team soldiers retreated without alerting the enemy.

The Japanese heavy artillery was their prized possession, and it was heavily guarded. Even their special operations detachments were absolutely elite.

If you try to destroy the Japanese heavy artillery while facing so many Japanese soldiers, it will be very difficult to come back alive.

The Yamamoto Special Attack Corps is an example. Special forces operations tend to focus on infiltration, reconnaissance, and intelligence gathering, guiding large forces to strike key enemy facilities.

Acting like Yamamoto would only lead to the destruction of elite troops.

After the special operations brigade pushed to a safe distance, the artillery company opened fire.

To ensure the destruction of the Japanese heavy artillery, the artillery company brought out its most treasured napalm bombs.

In addition to ordinary high-explosive shells, they fired directly at the location of the Japanese heavy artillery.

"Bang bang bang!"

"Bang bang bang!"

"."

Shells whistled through the sky, and the Japanese heavy artillery positions immediately became alert, looking up at the sky.

"Ah! It's artillery fire! Get out of the way!"

The Japanese artillerymen stared wide-eyed and shouted in terror.

Their heavy artillery was so well hidden, how did the Eighth Route Army discover it and launch a barrage right at its location?

"Bang bang bang!"

Shells exploded between the Japanese heavy artillery pieces, and napalm rained down everywhere, creating waves of fire.

"Aah~"

The Japanese artillerymen and the troops defending against heavy artillery were stuck to their bodies with napalm, letting out screams like pigs being slaughtered.

The Japanese heavy artillery also suffered damage; the hydraulic oil in the heavy artillery boiled and leaked, and the barrels of three cannons deformed due to uneven heating. The recoil mechanism and optical equipment were also damaged.

The Japanese heavy artillery was destroyed.

With such severe damage, unless it's sent back to the factory for repairs, it's unlikely to ever return to the battlefield.

However, once a heavy artillery piece is destroyed, it is just a lump of iron, and in urgent situations, it is difficult to return it to the factory for recasting.

"Unfortunately, the Japanese shells were too far from the heavy artillery. If they had hit the heavy artillery shells and caused them to explode, most of the Japanese soldiers guarding the heavy artillery would have been wiped out."

Chen Ming observed the Japanese heavy artillery positions and sighed inwardly.

After running out of napalm and regular artillery shells, the artillery company, under the cover of the special operations brigade, disappeared into the night from the high ground to prevent Japanese retaliation.

Inside the Japanese military base.

"Reporting to the commander, news has come from our heavy artillery position that it was bombarded by the Eighth Route Army. All four heavy artillery pieces have been destroyed, and the heavy artillery company is now down to only thirteen men."

Upon hearing the communications soldier's words, Yamada lost his grip on his water cup and dropped it to the ground.

"Bang!"

For a long time, Yamada couldn't accept this reality.

"Baka yarou! You're saying our heavy artillery position, which we set up 12 kilometers behind the lines, was destroyed by the Eighth Route Army?" Yamada asked angrily.

"Yes, sir."

"Impossible, absolutely impossible! Where did these Eighth Route Army guerrillas get their intelligence to find my heavy artillery positions?"

"Sir, the Eighth Route Army did indeed just bombard our heavy artillery positions, destroying our heavy artillery company," the Japanese messenger continued.

"Snapped!"

Yamada slapped the communications soldier hard across the face.

"I don't believe it! Investigate further and report back!"

"Hai!"

The Japanese communications soldier covered his face and said aggrievedly.

When the second news arrived, Yamada had no choice but to accept the reality.

"There must be a traitor within our army. He leaked the location of the heavy artillery company to the Eighth Route Army. Otherwise, the Eighth Route Army would never have been able to launch such a precise artillery attack on the concealed heavy artillery company!"

Yamada said with certainty.

Now that things have come to this, he believes this is the only possibility.

Otherwise, the Eighth Route Army would not have been able to accurately fire a large number of rounds at the heavy artillery company's position, given that he had set up so many false targets to protect the heavy artillery.

Surely the Eighth Route Army couldn't have developed supernatural vision and be able to pinpoint the exact location of the heavy artillery?
(End of this chapter)