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

Chapter 162 Shocking Headquarters! Reactions from All Sides! (Sensitive Content - Order Now!)

Upon receiving the order, Chen Ming immediately led a portion of his troops, along with the weapons, ammunition, and regimental flag that were to be surrendered, to headquarters.

This time, Chen Ming was preparing to hand over a lot of weapons, so he handed them over directly to the division headquarters, not to the brigade commander's Taiyue Military Region.

While the Independent Detachment was carrying out major operations in northwestern and northern Shanxi, the brigade commander was also busy.

Taking advantage of the Japanese First Army's decision to withdraw some troops to defend the Independent Detachment, they seized two county towns, expanded their base area, and made significant progress.

Including the spoils Chen Ming surrendered during the last battle of Ping'an City, the brigade commander is now very strong.

It's just a few thousand guns, the brigade commander probably wouldn't care about that much, right?
A few days later, Chen Ming arrived at headquarters with a large batch of supplies.

The supply convoy stretched as far as the eye could see, attracting soldiers and civilians from the base area to come running.

The soldiers were so excited when they saw the guns and ammunition that were vaguely visible under the tarpaulin covering the Independent Detachment's transport team that they drooled with desire.

Those soldiers who had not yet been assigned a gun were especially hoping that one of the weapons and ammunition would be given to them.

"Haha, I've been waiting for this day and night, and finally my ever-victorious general has arrived!" The commander and division commander were very happy.

"Reporting, Independent Detachment Commander Chen Ming reporting for duty." Chen Ming saluted and said proudly.

"Let's talk inside, it's cold outside." The boss led Chen Ming into the house.

In January, the temperature in Shanxi Province is still below zero, and the cold wind is howling, enough to make people shiver.

The room was small, only able to seat a dozen or so people. In the middle was a coal-fired stove, and everyone sat down around it after entering.

After sitting down, Chen Ming did not rush to report, nor did the boss ask Chen Ming to report the situation immediately.

After all, Chen Ming had traveled all the way from northwestern Shanxi to southern Shanxi, and he was exhausted from the journey, so he should rest for a while first.

(I dared not write too much about the close contact scenes, so I will skip them.)
When the time was right, Chen Ming got down to business.

"Da Biao, bring the things in," Chen Ming said to his personal agent, Wang Da Biao.

"Yes."

After receiving instructions from Chen Ming, Wang Dabiao took a small box from the guards he had brought and went into the supplies area.

Chen Ming took the box, opened it, and took out a list and a flag.

"This is the result of the independent detachment's battle in northern Shanxi. In addition to the items captured during the battle, there is also a list of weapons and ammunition produced by the Fourth Military Sub-district's arsenal."

"This is a flag that appears to be the regimental flag, which was captured during the operation that wiped out the 110th Regiment of the Japanese army."

Chen Ming introduced them to everyone.

After Chen Ming finished speaking, everyone's eyes were focused on the two items in Chen Ming's hands.

The regimental flag was the most eye-catching, as it held immense significance.

Chen Ming didn't recognize the regimental flag, but the division commander certainly did. After taking the flag from Chen Ming, the division commander said confidently:

"That's right, this is the Japanese regimental flag."

"Look, the flag is made of white silk with a red circular sun emblem in the center, radiating 16 red rays outward. There is a white cloth piece sewn in the lower right corner with black Chinese characters indicating the number of the 110th Infantry Regiment."

“The tassels that encircle the three sides of the flag are woven with purple and gold thread, and the edges of the flag are embroidered with gold thread.”

"I am absolutely certain that this is the Japanese regimental flag."

"However, normally there is also a flag crown and a flagpole, with a three-sided gilded chrysanthemum emblem at the top of the pole, representing the Japanese imperial family."

After listening to his teacher's words, Chen Ming nodded, indicating that he had learned something.

"The flagpole and flag crown have not been found yet. The soldiers who captured the regimental flag did not recognize it, and even I did not recognize it, so we just thought it was an ordinary Japanese flag."

“But I’ve already sent people to look for it. With so many soldiers and civilians in our base area helping us, I believe we’ll find it eventually,” Chen Ming said.

After everyone confirmed that it was the regimental flag, they stood up excitedly.

The Japanese regimental flag had never been captured before; this was the first one.

With the regimental flag as proof, it can be demonstrated that an entire Japanese regiment was wiped out, leaving the Japanese with no room for excuses.

After all, the Japanese attached unparalleled importance to the regimental flag; without it, the unit's designation would be revoked.

Unless they are completely annihilated, they will not allow the enemy to capture the regimental flag that symbolizes their organization.

"Now let's see how those Japanese devils can still claim they've won a great victory," the commander said happily.

In the past, whenever the Japanese army published battle reports, even if they suffered huge losses, they could still lie through their teeth and claim that they had only suffered minor losses and achieved great results, and that the Japanese army was still unstoppable.

Even the results of the Hundred Regiments Offensive were reported by the Japanese as "2,000 dead and 3,000 wounded," which is vastly different from the actual figures.

Now that they have this regimental flag, the Japanese can no longer argue that their losses were not significant.

This was a real annihilation of an entire Japanese infantry regiment, and no matter how much they talk, they can't deny it.

Therefore, the significance of this regimental flag is enormous. It is equivalent to a spiritual nuclear bomb, destroying the Japanese soldiers' spiritual totem, shattering their psychological defenses, completely undermining their morale, and demonstrating the righteousness of the anti-aggression war.

It can be said that the military achievement of capturing the Japanese regimental flag was simply immeasurable.

It took a while for everyone to calm down, but their unintentional trembling still revealed their excitement.

After discussing the regimental flag, everyone was drawn to another list that Chen Ming had brought.

"This is the list of supplies that our Fourth Division is preparing to hand over," Chen Ming said, straightening his back.

After handing over so many weapons, ammunition, and supplies, he can't afford to be anything but assertive now!

Just like the difference between having 100 dollars and having 1 million dollars, a person's energy and spirit will undergo a complete transformation.

Hearing Chen Ming's confident tone, everyone's attention turned to the list of supplies.

The first person to pick up the list stared wide-eyed: "Wow, so much?"

He then read out the specific contents of the list.

"Five thousand rifles, one hundred and thirty light and heavy machine guns, one hundred grenade launchers, four hundred thousand rounds of ammunition, nine thousand hand grenades, four thousand landmines, and two thousand five hundred catties of explosives."

"Among them, 200,000 bullets, 6,000 hand grenades, 4,000 landmines and one ton of explosives were produced by the Fourth Military Sub-district's arsenal."

As the specific numbers were read out, everyone gasped.

This number is too large; with so many weapons and equipment, you could field ten regiments.

When Chen Ming reported the spoils earlier, he only reported a rough figure because the total had not yet been fully tallied.

We will report the spoils to the higher authorities once all the other units in the Fourth Military Sub-district have handed them over.

However, because of the regimental flag incident, Chen Ming arrived at headquarters earlier with the captured supplies.

"Chen Ming, congratulations on making a fortune! Not bad, not bad at all, so many weapons and equipment."

Compared to the regimental flag, our army's leaders are clearly more pragmatic and have a greater fondness for weapons and equipment.

At the same time, the fact that Chen Ming has surrendered so many weapons and equipment means that the total amount of spoils captured by the Independent Detachment will be even greater.

Thinking about it, it makes sense, especially when all the military units are tightening their belts and developing in the face of natural disasters and man-made calamities.

The Independent Detachment attacked the First Army in the south and the Mongolian Garrison in the north, using one unit to tie down two large Japanese armies, resulting in extremely fierce fighting.

This forced the Japanese First Army and the troops stationed in Mongolia to divert more troops to defend against the Independent Detachment, allowing other base area troops to develop further.

Being able to fight, daring to fight, and able to win—that requires real skill. "Excellent! Given the current situation, after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, they began to transfer elite troops from the mainland to the Pacific Ocean."

"The Japanese are facing pressure from multiple fronts at the same time, and their forces are already stretched thin. As long as they can get through this year, the Japanese won't be able to cause trouble for long," the commander said.

The head of headquarters is indeed farsighted, seeing further than ordinary people.

While the whole country felt that the situation of the War of Resistance was becoming increasingly difficult, they had already keenly sensed that the Japanese were all bark and no bite and that it would not last long.

42 was indeed the most difficult year. If we had survived it, the Allied forces would have launched a counter-offensive, and the Japanese would have sent more troops to the Pacific theater to die.

That will be the time for our strategic counter-offensive.

After the meeting, the regimental flag was sent to the rear for propaganda purposes.

Chen Ming returned to the Independent Detachment's base two days later.

Before long, the publicity campaign was launched in a grand manner.

After obtaining the regimental flag and confirming its authenticity, the rear guard immediately launched a large-scale propaganda campaign.

With the battlefield photos, regimental flags, and evidence of actual control provided by Chen Ming, the propaganda effect was excellent.

The whole nation knew that their troops had won another victory and had even wiped out an entire Japanese regiment.

With the victory in the Third Battle of Changsha, the shadow of the War of Resistance against Japan was greatly dispelled among the Chinese people, and more people believed that as long as they persisted in the war, they would surely be able to drive out the invaders.

Inside the mountain city combat command center.

Grandma He was furious after seeing the propaganda materials of our army: "This is really too much! The whole country knows about it, but we in this mountain town are the last to find out."

After the Southern Anhui Incident, trust between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party reached its lowest point.

"Should we keep this a secret?" another person in the operations room asked.

"Report it up; this is a huge matter that can't be suppressed."

Before long, the news reached the battalion commander.

The captain frowned as he looked at the documents in his hand: "It's Chen Ming again. How come such a talented person can't be used by me? Instead, he became a communist bandit."

The captain was a little angry.

The Eighth Route Army didn't even notify him before launching their own massive propaganda campaign. Do they even care about him?

He didn't even consider what he had done; the Southern Anhui Incident had killed so many of our soldiers.

“After this, the Communist Party’s political prestige will soar. No, we must find a way to seize the initiative,” the battalion commander said.

As a result, Chongqing also began to take credit for the victory in the Third Battle of Changsha and manipulate public opinion.

Major newspapers began to attribute the Independent Detachment's victory to the commander in the mountain city.

At the same time, under the pretext of "returning spoils to the central government" and taking advantage of the nominal united front, they demanded that our army move the joint flag to the mountain city.

In an effort to increase their leverage, they used pretexts such as "defense assistance" and "resource allocation" to mobilize troops to approach our base areas.

They also dispatched a large number of spies, intending to steal the location of the regimental flag and take it.

This is a common tactic used by Chongqing: aggressive propaganda, pressure for handover, and military threats.

They intended to monopolize the discourse on the War of Resistance and suppress the influence of our Party.

The result is naturally a failure.

On the Japanese side, when they learned that the 110th Regiment had been defeated, they did not burn the regimental flag as required by regulations, but instead allowed the enemy to capture it.

Okamura was so angry his nose was crooked.

He also bears responsibility for the defeat in this operation. It was his insistence on sending troops to encircle and annihilate the main force of the Independent Detachment that led to the annihilation of the 110th Regiment by the Eighth Route Army, and the regimental flag even fell into the hands of the Eighth Route Army.

The regimental flag was a clone of the Locust King; its capture by the enemy meant that the Locust King's clone had fallen into enemy hands.

This was a huge blow to the morale and spirit of the Japanese soldiers.

Regarding the capture of the regimental flag, headquarters directly issued a telegram reprimanding him and demanding that he mitigate the impact.

Okamura was extremely frustrated; the regimental flag had fallen into enemy hands, and trying to get it back was nothing short of a pipe dream.

The only possibility now is that Shancheng can get the regimental flag from the Eighth Route Army and then negotiate to get it back.

However, this possibility is extremely slim.

Besides Okamura, the commander of the Japanese 110th Division was also in a bad mood, feeling extremely miserable.

After all, the 110th Regiment was part of their division. With the regimental flag captured by the enemy and the entire 110th Regiment wiped out, he was primarily responsible.

Today, he and the 110th Division have been forever nailed to the pillar of shame and will be forever despised.

The regimental flag was personally bestowed by Tianhuang, symbolizing Tianhuang's authority. Losing the regimental flag means that Tianhuang's authority has been challenged, and someone must take responsibility.

His political life is over.

The order to remove him from his post and force him to retire from active service will arrive soon.

In order to evade responsibility and prevent his family from being implicated, the commander of the Japanese 110th Division finally resorted to a last resort.

Taiyuan First Army Headquarters.

Yansong had it much easier than the other two.

This battle was fought by the Independent Detachment on the territory of the Mongolian garrison, so even if there is any responsibility, it cannot be pinned on him.

In order to participate, he sent a detachment to provide reinforcements.

The 110th Regiment was neither under his command, nor was it annihilated on the territory of his First Army, nor was it a unit of his First Army.

There's no way he could be blamed for this.

As for how the independent detachment has developed to its current state, it's no wonder that Yansong is to blame.

He's only been in charge of the First Army for a short time. Even if there's any responsibility, it belongs to Yoshio Shinotsuka, not Iwamatsu.

There is no harm without comparison.

Yansong used to worry because he was beaten up by the Independent Detachment not long after he took over the First Army.

Now that there were examples of the troops stationed in Mongolia and the 110th Division, Iwamatsu felt much better.

At least after he took over the First Army, it did not suffer such a crushing defeat as the Mongolian Army, which directly lost some of the important mines on the outskirts of Datong.

It could even be said that, under Yansong's command, the Independent Detachment was successfully prevented from attacking his First Army, and instead dared to advance north to fight the troops stationed in Mongolia.

Not only did he fail, he actually demonstrated his abilities!

Iwamatsu could shift the blame for the previous defeat in Ping'an County onto Yoshio Shinotsuka, as it was Shinotsuka's indulgence that allowed the Independent Detachment to have the strength to win the battle of Ping'an County.

The Independent Detachment's subsequent offensive in northern Shanxi also demonstrated Yansong's capabilities, instilling fear in the Independent Detachment of the First Army's power, forcing them to fight only in other areas.

Thinking about it this way, Yansong began to gloat.

As a general skilled in politics but lacking in military strategy, Yansong quickly found factors that would benefit him from the defeat of the troops stationed in Mongolia.

P.S.: The school doesn't turn on the air conditioning, and it's so hot I can't concentrate. I'll adjust as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)