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

Chapter 158 The Puppet Army That Refreshed the Japanese People's Understanding

PS: Chapter 149 is out!

Noon Saburo couldn't believe what he was hearing!
After the airport was attacked and confirmed to be completely destroyed, a plane still flew over Daixian County.

The key issue is the unusual behavior within the independent detachment's base.

The appearance of a large number of flashlights and arrows made of piled-up firewood seems to be guiding the plane flying to the Eighth Route Army base!
Noon Saburo knew very well what this meant.

The Eighth Route Army may have captured one of their operational aircraft, but the exact method of capture is currently unclear.

It's possible that their own captured pilots defected and helped the Eighth Route Army fly planes.

It's also possible that the Eighth Route Army had its own pilots, who then flew the plane back.

Noon Saburo preferred the former, because given the current situation of the Eighth Route Army, there was an extreme shortage of pilots who could fly planes.

Pilots need a lot of time for real-world practice. How could the Eighth Route Army, which didn't even have a single aircraft, possibly train pilots who could fly at night?

"Please don't let it be my nephew driving it! It has to crash, it has to crash," Noon Saburo prayed in his heart.

He knew his nephew's character very well: he was afraid of death and had a big heart. If he were captured by the Eighth Route Army and faced with a life-threatening situation, he would very likely help the Eighth Route Army fly the plane back.

If that happens, Noon Saburo's family will be forever branded with shame because of his nephew.

Even if it wasn't his nephew who was piloting the plane, if the Eighth Route Army captured it intact and successfully landed it, there would still be enormous trouble.

Once the aircraft is captured intact, all its secrets and data will be obtained by the enemy.

The enemy can use this data to find ways to counter this aircraft, greatly increasing the danger of its sorties.

The importance of this data lies in its crucial role in securing the complete aircraft in international trade.

At the same time, the capture of the aircraft had a tremendous psychological impact on the Japanese soldiers, akin to a spiritual atomic bomb explosion.

The capture of an aircraft triggers a Level 3 response to the Japanese military's "Aircraft Counter-Espionage Guidelines," requiring aircraft of the same model to undergo 48 hours of maintenance.

Those responsible committed seppuku, and experienced pilots, fearing capture, were immediately transferred.

The encouragement to both the military and civilians was enormous. For example, the wreckage of a Zero fighter plane from 43 was exhibited in Yan'an, attracting 23 visitors in ten days, and directly boosting the number of people joining the army by 300%.

Internationally, aerial survey data can be used to obtain aid such as weapons and medicine.

In short, the impact of capturing an aircraft is enormous, enough to directly alarm the Japanese high command.

"Immediately dispatch all available aircraft and search the Eighth Route Army's defense zone for possible landing sites, following the directions reported by the Ningwu soldiers. Destroy any missing aircraft found," ordered Noon Saburo.

He knew it was too late to send planes to destroy the captured aircraft now.

So much time has passed; if that plane had landed successfully, it would have been moved away by the Eighth Route Army long ago, and there would have been no way it would have been left to be bombed.

Even if they weren't moved, given the number of aircraft the troops stationed in Mongolia currently possess, finding one in the vast northwestern Shanxi region would be harder than climbing to heaven.

But Noon Saburo did it anyway, still hoping that he might find it.

"Hai!"

Independent Detachment Command Post.

Chen Ming has already sent the political commissar back to the base area.

Now that we've captured an airplane, it's of great significance and many people will be coming. We need someone capable of taking charge.

Chen Ming is currently in charge of commanding the encirclement and annihilation of the Japanese 110th Regiment and cannot leave for the time being, so he can only send the political commissar back first.

After a day of exercise, all units have reached their designated locations.

The Japanese soldiers' attention was now entirely drawn to the attack on the airport and the capture of their planes.

The Japanese reconnaissance planes and other aircraft all flew to the Independent Detachment's base, thus losing reconnaissance of the Independent Detachment's main force.

This resulted in the Japanese 110th Regiment and its puppet troops being almost surrounded without them even realizing it.

Ten o'clock in the morning.

Chen Ming personally went to the front line to oversee and command the operation.

Ding Wei's main force launched a fierce attack on the junction between the Japanese 110th Regiment and the puppet troops.

At this time, the main force of the Japanese army was still entangled with the garrison of Hunyuan County. Under the fierce attack of the main force of the Independent First Battalion in the rear, they directly broke into the junction between the Japanese and the puppet troops.

The puppet troops' positions immediately descended into chaos.

The two sides clashed directly, but Ding Wei's firepower and combat effectiveness were clearly far superior to the more than three thousand puppet troops.

The puppet troops were puzzled as to why so many troops had suddenly appeared right behind them.

They were completely defeated shortly after they started trying.

"Brother, run! The main force of the Eighth Route Army has caught up with us. The brothers can't hold on any longer. If we don't run now, we'll never have another chance to escape."

A battalion commander of the puppet army shouted at the regimental commander of the puppet army.

"Should we go and inform the Locust Army first? If we run away now, we won't be able to handle the consequences if the Locust Army blames us after the battle."

The fake legion commander asked hesitantly.

They came from northern Hebei, had never fought against the Independent Detachment, and were not very familiar with the situation in northern Shanxi.

When they were in northern Hebei, they had the support of the Japanese, so they could chase after the Eighth Route Army and guerrillas and beat them.

The Eighth Route Army didn't even have many guns, while their puppet troops had artillery support from the Japanese, so their firepower was on a completely different level.

But now they are facing an independent detachment, which, apart from having fewer heavy weapons than the Japanese, has surpassed them in light weapons.

The artillery battalion of the Independent First Battalion had more than twenty cannons. After two rounds of attacks, the puppet troops were bombarded and fell to their deaths, with cries of agony filling the air.

The puppet troops lost their flank positions and were forced to retreat.

"The Eighth Route Army's guns are already stabbing us in the backside, how can we have time to notify the Locust Army? Let's run!"

The puppet army battalion commander paced back and forth anxiously.

"The other two regiments have all fled, and now only our regiment is left on the position. If we don't run away, we will be completely annihilated by the Eighth Route Army."

The puppet army battalion commander added.

"What? Zhang Mazi and Li Laosan's troops have all run away? Why didn't they notify me?" the puppet army commander asked in disbelief.

"Don't you know what kind of people they are? When disaster strikes, they all flee for their lives. They're about to lose their own lives, how could they have time to inform us?"

"It's only because we're relatives from the same clan that I ran away long ago."

"That's what the puppet army battalion commander said."

"Then let's run! Forget about the locust army, or it will be too late!" the puppet army commander said anxiously.

Since the other two regiments had already fled, it meant that the situation was irreversible; otherwise, those two regiments would not have risked offending the Japanese by running away directly.

Although this fake legion commander is not very smart and is slow to react, he is obedient and follows the crowd!

It's always right to follow the crowd; there's no harm in the collective.

Even if the Japanese investigated afterward, they couldn't possibly kill all three puppet regiments, could they?
So the puppet troops once again used their best skill—retreat, or rather, escape.

None of these three puppet regiments notified the Japanese 110th Regiment, which was still entangled with the garrison of Hunyuan County, when they retreated.

As the fighting progressed, the main force of the First Independent Battalion charged directly from the puppet army's position and launched a fierce attack on the Japanese flank.

Upon approaching the Japanese troops, the soldiers at the forefront, carrying machine guns and grenades, launched a fierce attack on the Japanese positions.

Bullets and grenades were used like they were free, blasting the Japanese soldiers on the flanks of the position to their graves.

A battalion commander of the Japanese 110th Regiment, stunned by the attack from the main force of the Independent 1st Battalion that had emerged from the flank, cursed in disbelief:

"Baka! Where are the puppet troops? How did the Eighth Route Army manage to break through their lines?"

The three regiments of puppet troops simply vanished, leaving the Japanese battalion commander completely baffled.

This is a force of three thousand men; it can't be defeated by the Eighth Route Army so quickly, can it?

Even if we are defeated, at least we can notify them so that they can strengthen their flank defenses and avoid being forced into such a passive defensive position.

It can only be said that the Japanese overestimated the fighting capabilities of the puppet troops.

This group of people is fine when things are going well, but once they encounter adversity, these puppet troops would rather let themselves off the hook than push themselves too hard.

This time, the puppet troops once again pushed the Japanese to the limit of their understanding.

Three puppet corps, totaling over three thousand men, suddenly retreated without being notified by anyone, allowing the Eighth Route Army to attack them directly from the Japanese flank.

Due to inadequate early warning, this Japanese battalion was directly driven into the position by the main force of the Independent 1st Battalion, cutting them off from the other two Japanese battalions.

Immediately afterwards, the artillery battalion of the 1st Independent Battalion began firing at the main force of the Japanese battalion.

The Flying Thunder Cannon (a heartless cannon) with a power exceeding that of a 155mm heavy cannon is also being urgently deployed.

Hundreds of shells exploded on the Japanese positions, tearing through their not-so-strong defenses.

The Flying Thunder Cannon's terrifying explosive charge, especially with the addition of shrapnel, meant that each explosion covered a large area. Under the spread of the fire, the Japanese suffered heavy losses.

Large areas of fortifications were destroyed, and heavy machine gun positions were reduced to paper under the bombardment of grenade launchers and mortars.

The Japanese soldiers inside the trenches were not spared either. Everyone was treated equally under the 20-kilogram explosive charge, regardless of whether they had any or not.

The three puppet troops who fled looked back and saw the miserable state of the Japanese infantry battalion at the front line, and felt extremely fortunate.

"Luckily I ran fast, otherwise we would be the ones getting bombed now."

The first to lead the escape, the puppet army commander known as Zhang Mazi, said breathlessly.

"The Japanese soldiers are going to suffer a lot now."

"Stop talking and keep running. There are Eighth Route Army soldiers everywhere. If we get blocked by them, we're doomed."

As a result, the puppet troops accelerated their escape.

When it comes to speed of escape, whether it's the puppet army or the future South Korean army, they are top-notch!
However, how could Chen Ming let these puppet troops escape? He Jianxin's First Battalion had not yet been deployed.

Ding Wei's main force attacked in the direction of an arrowhead straight into the Japanese and puppet troops' positions, while He Jianxin's troops were deployed on the periphery.

After fleeing from the flanks of Ding Wei's main force's attack, the puppet troops ran right into He Jianxin's troops behind them.

He Jianxin's three battalions plus an artillery battalion, totaling nearly three thousand men, blocked the fleeing puppet troops.

"Da da, da da da, da da da!"

"Bang bang bang!"

Faced with a group of puppet troops charging into the encirclement, the soldiers of the First Battalion opened fire immediately.

The dozen or so heavy machine gun positions on the first line of defense opened fire immediately, and grenade launchers also fired grenades at areas where the puppet troops were densely packed.

Now we're fighting puppet troops, so we don't need to hide or move heavy machine gun positions like we would when fighting the Japanese.

This battalion of the First Battalion could reap the lives of the puppet troops with heavy machine guns without any scruples!
"Brother, we've spotted a large number of Eighth Route Army soldiers ahead! We're surrounded!"

The puppet troops screamed in terror.

"I see it! Run towards the main force of the Locust Army!" the puppet army commander shouted.

After shouting, he led the way and fled towards the main force of the Japanese 110th Regiment.

He shouted that he wasn't concerned about these puppet soldiers; when disaster strikes, even husbands and wives will abandon each other, let alone these useless puppet soldiers.

He shouted like that simply to use the crowd to increase his chances of escaping.

With a leader in charge, the remaining puppet troops began to turn around and head towards the main Japanese force.

“These puppet troops are a bit uncooperative. If they had dealt with the puppet troops we've dealt with before, they would have laid down their weapons and surrendered long ago.”

At the front-line command post, He Jianxin watched as the puppet troops, after being blocked by the soldiers of the First Battalion, turned around and fled in a chaotic manner. He then spoke up.

"Who cares? It's fine if they run towards the Japanese. These puppet troops have already become a defeated army. Going to the Japanese will not only not increase the Japanese's fighting strength, but will also disrupt the Japanese's defensive deployment."

"I want to see how the Japanese will deal with so many puppet troops. If they don't handle it well, the Japanese will be finished."

The chief of staff of the first battalion spoke up.

He Jianxin didn't have many thoughts about these puppet troops.

They were all puppet troops who had fled from other places. According to comrades from northern Hebei, the puppet troops were even more hateful than the Japanese devils.

The Japanese devils at least maintained their hypocrisy in the cities to make communication easier, while these people who exploited the villagers went to any lengths to harm their compatriots, even more beastly than the Japanese devils.

The situation in northern Hebei was different from that in Shanxi Province. Shanxi Province was the most active base area for our army, with both the intensity of combat and the number of battles exceeding those of other base areas.

In Shanxi Province, these puppet troops are somewhat more restrained.

Because they knew that as long as they dared to do something immoral, they would never escape the Eighth Route Army's reckoning.

Even hiding in the county town was not safe, as quite a few county towns had been captured by the Eighth Route Army.

Even if they hid in important cities like Taiyuan and Datong, they would still be killed by the armed work teams and anti-traitor squads, and they couldn't sleep peacefully.

Therefore, under the threat of the Eighth Route Army, the puppet troops in Shanxi Province performed slightly better than those in other provinces.

After the puppet troops were driven towards the Japanese main force's position, the Japanese were stunned to see so many defeated soldiers and could hardly believe their eyes.

No way? Judging from the state of the puppet troops, they collapsed after losing three or four hundred men.

"Baka! Open fire immediately and stop these traitors! We can't let them enter the position and disrupt our plans!" the Japanese regimental commander ordered immediately.

The Japanese usually dealt with any puppet troops preparing to storm the position by indiscriminately shooting them.

Otherwise, if the routed troops enter the position, they could easily disrupt their defense system, giving the Eighth Route Army an opportunity to take advantage.

The Japanese were well aware of this situation, because they had driven civilians to attack our positions and then launched an attack.

Under the orders of the Japanese regimental commander, the machine gun positions of the Japanese defensive positions immediately opened fire, indiscriminately killing the puppet troops who were charging towards them.

"Sir, don't shoot, they're on our side."

"No! They're on our side! They're on our side!"

"You little devils, you son of a bitch!"

Within the puppet army troops, cries of agony, pleas for mercy, and angry curses echoed continuously.

The Japanese soldiers disregarded their numbers and started shooting them with machine guns.

After being indiscriminately shot by the Japanese heavy machine guns, the puppet troops came to a stop as if they had slammed on the brakes.

"The Japanese army says this is just a warning, telling you to immediately pick up your guns and turn back to fight the Eighth Route Army, otherwise they'll open fire soon," the Japanese translator shouted.

The current situation is very unclear. According to the scouts, a large number of Eighth Route Army soldiers have appeared around them, but their numbers are currently unknown.

The First Infantry Battalion was also caught off guard and surrounded by the main force of the Eighth Route Army due to the unannounced retreat of the three puppet regiments, putting it in a critical situation.

In this situation, the Japanese regimental commander did not choose to eliminate all the puppet troops who had put the First Battalion in danger, but instead drove them toward the Eighth Route Army.

Using the bodies of the puppet troops to deplete the Eighth Route Army's ammunition, it would be great if we could exchange some of the Eighth Route Army soldiers for them.

However, the Japanese devils' wishful thinking backfired.

Having been attacked three times in a short period of time, the puppet troops are now terrified and only want to escape.

They dared not pick up a gun to fight the Japanese, nor did they dare to turn around and fight the Eighth Route Army.

Faced with a choice between the Japanese and the Eighth Route Army, the puppet troops wisely chose the Eighth Route Army.

So, the puppet troops, forced to turn around by the Japanese machine guns, immediately raised a white flag and shouted:

"Grandpa Eighth Route Army soldiers, we surrender! Chinese people don't fight Chinese people!"

If you surrender to the Japanese now, you will definitely be shot, but if you surrender to the Eighth Route Army, you may have a chance to survive.

The reason they didn't have time to surrender when they were attacked by the Eighth Route Army was because the First Battalion's firepower was too strong, killing a large number of puppet troops in a short time.

The puppet troops in front who wanted to surrender fell, and the puppet troops behind dared not step forward to follow in their footsteps.

Therefore, they had no choice but to change direction and seek protection from the Japanese.

But now there are machine gun positions in both directions waiting for the puppet troops, and their only option is to grit their teeth and surrender again.

Faced with the surrender of the puppet troops, He Jianxin ordered his men to shout to guide them to the designated location to surrender and not to block the direction of the troops' advance.

If orders are not followed, it will be seen as a feigned surrender and actually helping the Japanese.

Under He Jianxin's orders, the remaining two thousand-plus puppet troops bypassed the First Battalion's position and surrendered en masse behind a mountain gully.

The puppet soldiers only breathed a sigh of relief after the soldiers had taken all their weapons.

They knew some of the Eighth Route Army's policies; once you surrendered your weapons, you were a prisoner.

Becoming a prisoner meant saving one's life and avoiding execution.

The Japanese regimental commander, seeing that the puppet troops who had turned back had surrendered en masse, was so angry that he cursed loudly:

"Baka! They're all useless! What good are these puppet soldiers besides eating our food?"

"He's good for nothing but making money and eating."

The Japanese regimental commander was helpless, genuinely feeling that these puppet troops were utterly useless.

If he hadn't brought these puppet troops, his First Battalion wouldn't have been attacked from the flanks by the Eighth Route Army from the puppet troops' positions, leading to their encirclement and precarious situation.

However, no matter how angry the Japanese regimental commander was, he had no way to deal with these puppet troops now.

After dealing with the puppet troops, the Independent Detachment was freed up.

The seven battalions began to encircle the remaining Japanese troops.

(End of this chapter)