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

Chapter 163 Post-Battle Commendation, Strength Greatly Increased

However, considering the current combat strength of the Independent Detachment, which was able to withstand the attacks of the other two regiments and concentrate its forces to annihilate one regiment.

Yansong still felt that the two heavy artillery squadrons stationed in Guoxian and Shuiquan were not safe enough, so he transferred two more heavy artillery squadrons from other places.

A total of four heavy artillery squadrons with sixteen heavy artillery pieces, including eight 105mm howitzers and eight 150mm howitzers.

In addition, Iwasatsu also deployed an independent 3rd Brigade to the Tongpu Railway area to confront the independent detachment.

Including the garrison originally used to defend the independent detachment, the total force reached a luxurious configuration of an independent brigade, an infantry regiment, two infantry battalions, plus sixteen heavy artillery pieces.

"With so many troops and heavy artillery, plus the fact that it's a defensive battle, the Independent Detachment shouldn't have any designs on my First Army, right?" Yansong thought to himself.

He did not deliberately conceal the fact that he mobilized so many troops, which was easily discovered by our party's intelligence personnel.

Yansong was happy to accept this. His purpose was clear: he wanted to tell the Independent Detachment and Chen Ming.

I've deployed so many troops and heavy firepower to create a spiky shell.

If we were to confront each other here, you would suffer heavy casualties if you were to fight, and we might not even be able to win.

Your Independent Detachment should head north to fight the Mongolian garrison. They have fewer troops, more territory to defend, and their forces are more dispersed, making them easier to defeat. Don't come and cause trouble for my First Army.

Yansong's idea was simple: to divert the trouble eastward and let the independent detachment continue to wreak havoc on the territory of the Mongolian army.

In this way, no matter how much trouble the Independent Detachment stirs up in the territory of the Mongolian Army, it has nothing to do with him or the First Army.

Iwamatsu's strategy received the support of the Japanese North China Expeditionary Army.

Compared to the troops stationed in Mongolia, the First Army was clearly in a more important position, being one of the core battlefields.

The strategic position of the troops stationed in Mongolia was as a "guardian barrier against the Soviet Union," with cavalry and light infantry as the main force, making it a secondary battlefield.

The Japanese could still weigh the importance of the primary and secondary battlefields.

Yansong's move to strengthen the defense of the core battlefield is the right thing to do, both publicly and privately, and no one can find fault with it.

The only one who got hurt was Noon Saburo, who threw a tantrum at the Mongolian military headquarters.

"That bastard Yansong, and the high-ranking officers of the dispatched army are a bunch of hairless monkeys, putting all the pressure on my troops stationed in Mongolia!"

Compared to the First Army, their troops stationed in Mongolia were indeed like stepchildren, with only eight heavy artillery pieces equipped, unlike the First Army which had dozens.

In addition, he had fought a very bad battle with the Independent Detachment and lost a large amount of territory.

Even the most advanced reconnaissance aircraft currently in service—the Type 100 Command Reconnaissance Aircraft—was flown back by the Eighth Route Army.

More importantly, his nephew was one of the captured pilots, and at that time he was the pilot of the most advanced reconnaissance plane in the Japanese army, possessing a large amount of classified information.

If the enemy continues to spread propaganda that the relatives of the commander of the troops stationed in Mongolia remain prisoners, it will plunge him and his family into dire straits.

To compensate for his nephew's capture, Noon Saburo's family "donated" ten airplanes to the Japanese military, a significant financial loss.

Meanwhile, his younger brother and sister-in-law, as well as his nephews and nieces, were forced to "commit suicide" in their homeland to atone for their sins after their nephew was captured.

If the expeditionary force hadn't yet found a replacement general, and if the garrison in Mongolia weren't facing an independent detachment—a huge pitfall—no one would have been willing to take over the garrison at this time.

He, Nono Saburo, had already finished his studies.

However, the North China Expeditionary Army also gave him a strict order, requiring him to make up for the negative impact of the capture of pilots who were relatives of high-ranking officials.

We must not allow the Chinese army to make a big deal out of this matter, and at the same time, we must not allow them to conduct open negotiations, so as not to damage the image of the army. Otherwise, we will use Article 44 of the Japanese Army Criminal Law to punish their families for treason.

Nono Saburo knew his nephew's character better than anyone. If he couldn't be brought back as soon as possible, he would never betray his country by clinging to the spirit of Bushido.

The whole family will be doomed because of him.

Noon Saburo is now in a terrible predicament and doesn't know what to do.

After thinking for two days, he finally came up with a plan: to use supplies and release prisoners in batches to avoid direct negotiations, exchange his nephew for him, and then execute him.

This way, the taboo of "exchanging prisoners of war" would not be violated.

However, this matter could not be handled directly through the Eighth Route Army; a middleman was needed. Noon Saburo thought of the Nationalist government.

Not long after Chen Ming returned to his post, he received commendation from his superiors.

This time, the Independent Detachment achieved such a great victory, and the Fourth Military Sub-district also achieved a huge result in establishing a base area.

The headquarters and rear command highly praised the achievements of the independent detachment.

Needless to say, Chen Ming already has no shortage of merits.

In terms of resource allocation, the weapons and ammunition produced by the arsenal, including the 60mm cannons that can now be produced independently, are given priority to the independent detachments.

In addition, the Independent Detachment received a supply of six mountain guns, which, together with the two that the Independent Detachment already possessed, formed a mountain gun battalion to enhance the strength of the Independent Detachment.

The independent detachment was developing between the defense zones of the First Army and the Mongolian Garrison, and it was under great pressure to simultaneously contain two major Japanese "army"-level operational units.

Without long-range attack methods, we would suffer a great loss.

Although the range of the mountain gun is only five or six kilometers, it is the longest range of artillery that can be described at present.

"Finally, we're seeing a return on our investment. I still remember the painful look on the division commander's face when he handed over the artillery." Chen Ming was very happy.

The increased range of long-range attack capabilities meant that the independent detachment could be more daring in its attempts to fight the Japanese.

As long as the Japanese don't deploy heavy artillery exceeding 100mm, Chen Ming can use ordinary mountain guns and field guns to mobilize his newly built mountain artillery battalion to take down the enemy's artillery positions.

Without long-range artillery, the Independent Detachment was no less capable of dealing with the Japanese in terms of firepower from mortars and infantry guns.

Of course, the fact that the Independent Detachment was able to obtain the six mountain guns allocated by headquarters was partly due to the victory achieved by the Independent Detachment, the batch of weapons and ammunition surrendered by Chen Ming, and the batch of gun steel captured by the troops.

Our army's arsenals are severely lacking in special steel for making artillery. This batch of artillery steel captured from the Japanese can be transported to the arsenals to produce higher-quality mortars, thus enhancing our army's strength.

In addition to the priority supply of weapons and ammunition, the independent detachment also received more than 800 military horses.

This is a reward for the Independent Detachment Cavalry Battalion for capturing the regimental flag.

After all, capturing the Japanese regimental flag was a great achievement and deserved to be rewarded.

In addition, the independent detachment would face the Mongolian garrison, which consisted mainly of cavalry and infantry. Without mobile forces, it would be at a great disadvantage.

Therefore, after careful consideration, headquarters decided to strengthen the independent detachment's mobile cavalry.

More than 800 military horses were added, along with the existing cavalry of the Independent Detachment, to form a cavalry detachment. Xu Desheng was appointed as the detachment commander, and the detachment was under the jurisdiction of the Fourth Military Sub-district.

This amount already represents everything that can be given.

Even the two cavalry companies that Li Yunlong had acquired and which the brigade commander had congratulated on their fortunes when he left, except for the horses he kept for communication purposes, were all taken over by Chen Ming.

It could be said that Li Yunlong was working for Chen Ming. The brigade commander was so angry that he cursed: "Damn it, first it was Kong Jie, one of my capable lieutenants, and then it was Ding Wei, another capable lieutenant of the Independent First Battalion."

"Now even the cavalry I painstakingly built up has been taken away. I might as well just work for Chen Ming."

How could Chen Ming dare to let the brigade commander work for him? This was his superior; for him to work for him would be a betrayal of the Heavenly Gang.

So Chen Ming could only coax the brigade commander: "Old leader, our Fourth Division is under your command. I, Chen Ming, will always be your soldier. What's yours and mine? Isn't it just moving money from one pocket to another?"

"Don't worry, I won't take your horse for nothing. Once I've defeated the cavalry stationed in Mongolia, I'll give it all back to you."

The brigade commander wasn't really angry. He was overjoyed that Chen Ming had developed so well and established such a large base.

He was just trying to bluff Chen Ming.

So many rifles, more than 130 light and heavy machine guns, and hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition were all handed over to the division headquarters.

The brigade commander originally thought that the number of guns Chen Ming handed over was just like the previous battle of Ping'an County, totaling more than two thousand, so he didn't care too much.

But when he heard the specific numbers, he immediately became restless.

Chen Ming, you didn't say you handed over so many weapons and equipment. If you had told me earlier, I would have gone to the division headquarters and intercepted some of them.

When the brigade commander looked at the equipment he had captured in the two county towns, he suddenly felt it wasn't so appealing anymore.

With so much equipment, who wouldn't be envious?

The reason so many weapons and equipment were handed over this time was because of the different situation.

In the last battle of Ping'an County, they faced the elite Japanese First Army, and the troops suffered heavy equipment losses. Chen Ming needed to prioritize replenishing his own forces.

This raid on northern Shanxi was against a garrisoned Mongolian army. The troops suffered relatively few losses in personnel and equipment. In addition, they also annihilated the 110th Regiment of the Japanese 110th Division, whose combat effectiveness was poor.

The Independent Detachment made a fortune; after meeting its own needs, it still had a large surplus of captured weapons and equipment.

Chen Ming also wanted to support other brother units as much as possible so that they wouldn't have to fight so hard, so the amount of weapons and equipment they handed over naturally increased a lot.

Chen Ming isn't some mountain bandit leader. The Independent Detachment has grown to its current size thanks in large part to the support from higher-level leaders and other units.

Chen Ming firmly supports the principle that the Independent Detachment will always be a force under the leadership of the Party.

It's not Chen Ming's style or personality to hoard all the good stuff. Only when the brother units become stronger can they fight the Japanese better.

Many hands make light work; the War of Resistance against Japan required the unity of the entire nation to concentrate our efforts on fighting the invaders and defending our homeland.

The brigade commander was very pleased with Chen Ming's awareness; wasn't this much more reassuring than Li Yunlong?
He always had to congratulate himself on getting rich before he would stingily hand over his equipment. Unlike Chen Ming, who was so considerate. He didn't even need to be asked; he would hand over his surplus equipment to support other brother units.

The result is obvious: who doesn't give a thumbs up when they mention Chen Ming and the Independent Detachment?

As for Li Yunlong, Commander Zhang, who cooperated with the Independent Regiment last time, still has some grievances against Li Yunlong personally.

The cavalry battalion of the Independent Detachment was separated from the Independent Detachment's combat order after it was established as a cavalry detachment, but it still belonged to the Fourth Military Sub-district.

The main reason was that the Eighth Route Army had a limited number of personnel, and the military positions were mostly low-level.

Just like the brigade commander, in addition to leading the 386th Brigade, he also led the Taiyue Military Region and four military sub-districts.

In addition to leading the 386th Brigade, the brigade commander also led the Taiyue Military Region's First and Third Columns of the Death Squad, as well as the 212th Brigade.

Chen Ming's situation was similar. His independent detachment only had two reinforced battalions, Kong Jie and He Jianxin, yet it was able to coordinate and command the rest of the troops.

Xu Desheng has now been removed from the independent detachment's organizational structure, but he is still under the command of the brigade commander's Taiyue Military Region, only with a half-level promotion.

So even though Xu Desheng is the commander of the cavalry detachment, he is still under the coordination and command of Chen Ming.

In addition to the arrangements for the independent detachment and cavalry battalion, Zhou Weiguo's special operations battalion also received commendations.

Zhou Weiguo's contribution this time was also very significant, although it could not compare to Xu Desheng's capture of the regimental flag, Chen Ming's command of troops to annihilate an entire Japanese regiment, and the raid on northern Shanxi.

However, bringing back the Japanese plane was still a great achievement; a reconnaissance plane that could take off and land was of immense significance.

Especially since this reconnaissance aircraft was the most advanced Type 100 headquarters reconnaissance aircraft currently in service with the Japanese, its significance was even greater.

(Note: At that time, the more advanced Type 100 III reconnaissance aircraft of the Japanese was still undergoing original testing, and the Saiun C6N1 reconnaissance aircraft was still under design. Therefore, during this period, the Type 100 Command Reconnaissance Aircraft was the most advanced main reconnaissance aircraft of the Japanese.)

Through this propaganda, even the US military, which is currently at war with the Japanese, has begun to consider contacting the area near the mountain city to obtain aerial survey data of the Japanese aircraft.

This aircraft was superior to the Allied P-40 fighter jet (580 km/h) and its service ceiling far exceeded the range of most air defenses at the time.

It was used extensively in strategic reconnaissance missions in the Chinese and Pacific theaters. Thanks to its high speed and high altitude, it avoided 90% of interceptions and was regarded by the Japanese Army as an irreplaceable high-altitude, high-speed reconnaissance platform.

Therefore, both the special operations brigade and Zhou Weiguo received commendations.

The special operations brigade was awarded the honorary title of "Iron Wing Hunter," received a collective special merit, and produced several combat heroes.

Zhou Weiguo was also transferred by Chen Ming to the command headquarters as deputy chief of staff, thus leaving his front-line command post.

This was something Chen Ming worked hard to achieve, preventing Zhou Weiguo from being transferred to the rear.

Although Zhou Weiguo has strong insights into armored warfare and aviation, he also has outstanding talent in the military field.

Thanks to the efforts of the comrades in the Enemy Work Department, of the three captured pilots, except for Noon Saburo's nephew, the other two pilots were moved and chose to join the Anti-War League.

Unlike Noon Saburo's nephew, she has a family and her uncle Noon Saburo, so there is still a possibility of going back.

If they were captured instead of committing suicide after their defeat, they would face certain death, and their families would also be implicated.

Anyway, whether we surrender or not, we're doomed, and our whole family will be implicated, so we might as well just surrender.

Imagine you've lost a battle and are captured, but your family back home has been killed by your own people. Would you hate the person who defeated you, or would you hate your own people who killed your family even more?
Betrayal by one's own people is all the more hateful, no matter where it happens.

After all, they and the Eighth Route Army were originally in an adversarial relationship, and their defeat was a normal military failure. However, their families were killed by their own people, so how could they not retaliate?

Based on this, the comrades in the Enemy Work Department successfully persuaded the two Japanese pilots to join the anti-fascist cause.

With the addition of Japanese pilots, Zhou Weiguo's role diminished somewhat, since he had only learned some aviation knowledge during his time in Germany and was not as capable as a professional pilot.

Meanwhile, who says that staying in the independent detachment means you can't train talent? Zhou Weiguo can still take classes in his spare time.

Just like Chen Ming, when not commanding operations, one can still teach and impart one's theoretical experience and practical knowledge.

Therefore, due to a variety of factors, Zhou Weiguo was successfully retained in the independent detachment.

Zhou Weiguo didn't have much of an opinion on this. He preferred to stay on the front lines and fight the Japanese rather than go to the rear. He joined the Eighth Route Army because it was a genuinely dedicated force to fighting the Japanese.

After resolving matters concerning the base, Chen Ming received an unexpected message from the rear.

PS: It's hot!

(End of this chapter)