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

Chapter 172 Making up for regrets, so that tragedy will never happen again!
Ding Wei left behind a month's worth of combat supplies, as well as dozens of sheep as a reward for the soldiers.

Because Chen Ming stipulated that this operation needed to end by mid-March.

Ding Wei was unclear about the specific reasons, but there must be a reason why the leader gave such an order.

Soldiers are duty-bound to obey orders; they simply need to follow commands. But leaders have much more to consider.

In other words, they only have about a month left.

Leave behind a month's worth of supplies, and send the rest back.

As for the dozens of sheep that Ding Wei left behind, they were a reward for the soldiers.

It's unrealistic to expect two battalions of the Independent First Brigade and nearly three thousand men from the cavalry detachment to eat freely with just a few dozen sheep.

However, it's still possible to let everyone have a few bites and a few sips of hot soup.

On average, each person gets about eight ounces (250 grams) of meat, plus a large bowl of steaming hot mutton offal soup.

The soldiers ate mutton and drank mutton soup, which dispelled the cold and warmed their stomachs and hearts.

After a short rest, Ding Wei and Xu Desheng began to discuss their next combat mission.

The puppet Mongolian cavalry annihilated an entire 10th division of puppet Mongolian cavalry, and they will definitely shrink back and dare not easily fight against the Eighth Route Army.

It is not easy to find another opportunity like the encirclement and annihilation of the puppet Mongolian 10th Cavalry Division.

Therefore, Ding Wei set his sights on the western section of the Ping-Sui Railway.

The Ping-Sui Railway was the lifeline of the Japanese invaders, running from Beiping in the east to Baotou in the west, dividing the Chinese battlefield.

To the west, it could invade Suiyuan, threaten Ningxia and Xinjiang, and sever Sino-Soviet ties.

To the south, it could coordinate with the Pinghan Railway to launch a pincer attack on North China, forming a north-south integrated offensive network.

It was also a hub for the Japanese to plunder resources, as the Japanese could transport Shanxi coal and Suiyuan minerals to Northeast China and the Japanese mainland via the Ping-Sui Railway.

During the May 1st Great Sweep, the Japanese relied on the Ping-Sui Railway for rapid maneuver, resulting in a 90% reduction in their base areas, demonstrating its strategic value.

This is a strategic artery running through North China and Inner Mongolia. Its control directly determines the course of the war in North China and has become the focus of a life-and-death struggle between China and Japan.

Ding Wei's idea was that as long as they took action against the Ping-Sui Railway, the Japanese would have to send troops to defend it, no matter how unwilling they were.

Otherwise, the loss of the railway would be a huge blow to the Japanese.

It could directly paralyze the Japanese forces' ability to deploy troops and supplies in Shanxi, Suiyuan, and even the entire North China region.

Compared to the Ping-Sui Railway, the Ping-Sui Railway was clearly more important.

Ding Wei's strategy was to attack where the enemy would have to come to their aid, using the Ping-Sui Railway to threaten the Japanese and force them to come to their rescue.

After finalizing the battle plan, Ding Wei and Xu Desheng reported it to Chen Ming's command post.

Chen Ming simply said, "Permission granted."

A general is a commander; a soldier is a general.

To become a qualified commander and lead large-scale battles, one must learn how to use generals effectively.

Now that the troops below have decided to fight this way, and Chen Ming has checked and found no problems, then he needs to learn to delegate authority.

In large-scale military operations, strict military discipline is essential!

At the same time, sufficient generals are needed to carry out various operations; the commander-in-chief only needs to grasp the general direction.

If a battalion, a regiment, or even a division needs a commander-in-chief to lead it, then no matter how advantageous the situation, it may still fail.

The kind of maneuvering that the squad leader and the racing god used is not something to be imitated; there are negative examples right there!

If a commander-in-chief bypasses the lower command levels and directly commands the troops below, what are the lower-level campaign commanders supposed to do?
Whether to listen to the commander-in-chief or the campaign commander from now on is just absurd.

All Chen Ming needed to do was issue orders, such as when a certain unit would capture a certain target and how many days it would hold off the enemy.

As for how to capture the target and how to block the enemy, that's for the unit commander to consider.

Fortunately, the commanders of the independent detachment and the fourth division have now matured.

Although I can't yet reach the level of Chen Ming, who can command tens of thousands of people and control the overall situation, I can still command fewer than ten thousand people without any problem.

After receiving permission from the command headquarters, Ding Wei and Xu Desheng began their plan.

Within two days, more than 20 kilometers of railway were blasted in succession along the Ping-Sui Railway section east of Suiyuan and north of Datong.

Such a massive movement immediately alerted the Japanese troops.

The Japanese urgently dispatched a cavalry battalion and a puppet Mongolian cavalry division to cooperate with the armored train in a "railway protection operation".

However, the combat effectiveness of the puppet Mongolian cavalry was really poor. Xu Desheng bypassed the elite Japanese cavalry battalions several times and went straight for the puppet Mongolian cavalry division.

The cavalry detachment is now in high spirits. After several battles, the soldiers have gained valuable combat experience.

Defeating such a pathetic pseudo-Mongol cavalry is like crushing them at the slightest touch.

After his soul returned to the underworld, he had more than 500 lives and contributed more than 300 warhorses to Xu Desheng.

Including the spoils captured earlier, Xu Desheng successfully fulfilled his promise to Chen Ming to raise a cavalry battalion.

The Japanese were also having a lot of trouble facing the combined attack of the cavalry detachment and Ding Wei.

The situation has changed. In the past, we could organize troops to sweep through the area, but now we can't even do that.

As long as the Japanese dared to organize a mopping-up operation, Ding Wei dared to bring his main force over to wipe out the Japanese mopping-up forces.

The Japanese soldiers could only watch helplessly as their forces were gradually devoured by Xu Desheng and Ding Wei, like incompetent husbands.

They were losing dozens of lives every day, barely managing to maintain a stalemate with Xu Desheng and Ding Wei's troops.

The Japanese did have a way to break the deadlock: they transferred their elite cavalry units to protect the railway.

The mobility of the cavalry group can pose a great threat to the independent detachment forces that are causing sabotage near the Ping-Sui Railway.

The Japanese cavalry group was not a pushover like the puppet Mongolian cavalry.

Both Ding Wei and Xu Desheng must treat the cavalry group, which has two regiments, with caution.

Although the two cavalry regiments did not have more than 3,000 men each like the infantry regiments, the Japanese cavalry regiments, like the puppet Mongolian cavalry divisions, had only 1500 men.

In addition to the cavalry regiment, the Japanese cavalry group also had a mounted artillery regiment equipped with 36 field guns, twelve armored vehicles, and a mechanized motorized infantry battalion.

Even if Ding Wei brought his main force of over six thousand men, plus the cavalry detachment, such a force would be difficult to withstand.

Highly mobile units are simply too difficult to defeat.

Just like on the European battlefield, Poland was rendered helpless under the offensive of the highly mobile German forces.

If the Japanese cavalry group were to attack Ding Wei and Xu Desheng, they would have to avoid their sharp edge.

Fortunately, the Japanese cavalry group is currently tied down in the Baotou area, facing off against the Seventh Route Army.

If he dares to be transferred, the Northern Route Army will not let the opportunity pass, and the Japanese will not even be able to hold onto Baotou.

Seeing Ding Wei and Xu Desheng locked in a fierce battle, the people on the seventh and a half route sent a message directly to Xu Desheng and Ding Wei.

Let them fight with confidence; the Japanese cavalry groups can't get through.

Faced with threats from the Northern Route Army and the Independent Detachment, the Japanese cavalry group was caught in a pincer movement.

With the threat of the Northern Route Army to the east and the constant raids by the Independent Detachment to the west, it was impossible to manage both fronts simultaneously.

The puppet Mongol cavalry was unreliable. After being dealt with several times by Xu Desheng, they began to shirk their duties. Even with Japanese supervision, their combat effectiveness remained poor.

Left with no other option, the Japanese had to deploy more armored trains along the line, hoping to protect this lifeline by relying on the threat posed by the armored trains.

Meanwhile, resources will continue to be allocated for the repair of the attacked railway.

However, after Ding Wei sabotaged the railway, all the rails and related items were packed up and taken away.

Railway tracks are valuable; the arsenal has said they want as many as they can get.

If we can get our hands on the rails, we can exchange them for more weapons and ammunition from the arsenal.

So when the Japanese soldiers were about to repair the railway, they found that there was only one track left, and all the rails and sleepers had been taken away by the Eighth Route Army. They were so angry that they felt like their lungs were about to explode.

Based on the current situation, it's impossible to repair it in less than two months.

This estimate is based on an ideal scenario, assuming the independent detachment continues its sabotage of the Ping-Sui Railway.

This repair could take longer or even indefinitely.

After the Japanese reinforcements arrived, Ding Wei and Xu Desheng changed their strategy.

Taking advantage of the Japanese soldiers' eagerness to repair the railway, they constantly harassed them.

They chose to utilize the mobility of cavalry and the flexibility of small-scale guerrilla warfare to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Japanese troops.

Maximize the use of sniping tactics: fire a few shots and run, fire two shots and retreat.

The main theme is "I'm allowed to hit you, but you can't hit me."

After all, what's that saying again?

You little devils, you don't want the railway to be poorly built, do you?

The Japanese soldiers were thoroughly annoyed by Ding Wei and Xu Desheng's fighting style, and roared inwardly:

Who exactly invented this tactic?

too disgusting!

The Japanese soldiers had no way to deal with this tactic and could only silently endure it, barely managing to maintain the stalemate!
From the Japanese reaction, the commander of the Northern Route Army saw an opportunity and wanted Chen Ming to send more troops to attack the Japanese forces in Baotou and Guihua from the west.

Upon seeing the request from the Seventh Route and a Half, Chen Ming glanced at it a few times and then discarded it. They were using his Independent Detachment as a pawn.

Chen Ming's grand plan was to fight in northern Shanxi, and after the Japanese weakened, to launch military operations towards Jining (now Ulanqab), Wucheng (now Zhangjiakou), and even the Rehe region (now Chengde in Hebei, Chifeng in Inner Mongolia, and Chaoyang in Liaoning).

The Japanese will be defeated one day. Chen Ming needs to make plans in advance and open up a route to the Northeast.

The Northeast region accounts for 20% of the country's grain production and 90% of its industrial output, making early preparations essential.

If they help the Seventh Route Army open up Suiyuan, Chen Ming will be the one with a headache.

Therefore, Chen Ming declined the offer, citing the strategic plan that there were no more troops available to mobilize within the Great Wall.

Let's turn our attention back to Datong.

While Ding Wei and Xu Desheng were fighting the Japanese in the grasslands, another main force of Ding Wei, along with He Jianxin's main force, was also busy around Datong.

Chen Ming mobilized all the main forces of He Jianxin's First Reinforced Battalion, Ding Wei's Independent Reinforced Battalion consisting of three infantry battalions and one artillery battalion, and Li Yousheng's Third Battalion.

A total of approximately nine reinforced infantry battalions, three ordinary infantry battalions, and four artillery battalions were prepared to launch an attack on the Japanese mining area southwest of Datong.

To use a place name today, it would be Yungang District in Datong, where there is a site of a mass grave at a coal mine.

Chen Ming believes that no Chinese person who goes into the mass grave site in Datong can walk out smiling.

More than 60,000 compatriots died here, burying too many wailing souls. It is irrefutable proof of the Japanese invaders' inhumane aggression.

Tens of thousands of miners toiled here in the dark, and the Japanese, in order to cover up their crimes, never allowed miners to leave the mines.

Once you're in, whether you're captured, sold, or tricked, you'll be stuck in this dark and hopeless place forever.

Even after the Japanese were defeated, in order to cover up their crimes, they blew up the mine shafts, burying tens of thousands of miners underground.

These suffering compatriots, instead of receiving hope after the victory, were massacred by the surrendered Japanese invaders and were not discovered until twenty years later.

Therefore, in order to rescue these suffering compatriots, Chen Ming's operational plan required the main force of the independent detachment to rescue the compatriots in the coal mine.

"Meiyukou South Gully No. 9 Working Face" was the Japanese name for this No. 9 mine shaft.

Here, the reconnaissance soldiers of the First Battalion came to conduct reconnaissance.

He nearly ground his teeth to powder as he peered through binoculars at the scene outside the mine.

Several Japanese soldiers were seen supervising several puppet soldiers as they buried two miners alive.

Only their heads were left outside, allowing the two miners to die slowly.

"Damn those Japanese devils and their traitors, I'll skin them alive!"

A scout observing the area, his eyes bloodshot, growled.

The class monitor next to him pressed him down, telling him to calm down.

The squad leader took the binoculars and continued observing, and saw the same scene, behaving just like the scout from before.

Seeing his compatriots being ravaged by the Japanese devils and traitors, as an Eighth Route Army soldier, he wished he could send all the Japanese devils to hell right now and rescue his compatriots.

"Squad leader, squad leader, calm down!"

The other soldiers stopped the two.

"Now we should report the situation and prepare for the main force's attack. Then we can wipe out these Japanese devils and return the suffering miners to their homes."

An older, steady miner offered some advice.

"Hoo~ho!"

“That’s right. We should report it first and wait for the main force to come and rescue us. Otherwise, we’ll just alert them,” the reconnaissance squad leader said.

This scene also occurred in other mines in the area.

When the reconnaissance company soldiers gathered the intelligence and delivered it to He Jianxin, he was struck by the Japanese soldiers' utterly depraved behavior and the miners' inhuman suffering.

A burning rage was raging within him.

"In this battle, the Japanese soldiers and puppet troops in the mine will fight to the bitter end; none of them will surrender!" He Jianxin said, word by word.

The meaning of this statement is quite clear: the Japanese soldiers and puppet troops managing the mine all fought to the death; none surrendered, and therefore none were captured.

"understand!"

The commanders all spoke in unison, their hearts burning with rage.

These Japanese devils and their puppet troops are no longer worthy of being called human beings; what use are they?

Even Li Yousheng, who came from a puppet army background, had no objections this time.

He thought the puppet troops they had encountered before were bad enough, but what he saw today made him realize that.

How can people be so evil, especially towards their own compatriots!
After reaching a consensus, the group began to discuss the battle plan.

According to intelligence gathered by the soldiers of the reconnaissance company, as well as intelligence from other sources, the Japanese had deployed approximately four thousand troops in these main mines.

The Japanese forces consisted of one battalion, while the puppet troops numbered three regiments.

However, despite having only 4,000 troops, the attack was far more difficult than the battle against the Japanese 110th Regiment.

As the main mine of the Japanese army, the Japanese operated here for a long time, building a large number of defensive fortifications, bunkers, pillboxes, and firing ports.

There were more than a dozen machine gun positions set up in just one mine, making it extremely difficult to take it down.

In addition, there were a large number of pillboxes, equipped with a considerable number of cannons.

It's like a hedgehog, with iron pincers.

If a direct assault is launched, it will turn into a meat grinder-like massacre.

The terrain was treacherous, with numerous bunkers and strong firepower, which is why only a handful of tens of thousands of miners managed to escape.

"This is a tough battle!"

Everyone in the command center reached a consensus.

"No matter how tough it is, we have to get through it!" He Jianxin said resolutely.

So many suffering compatriots are waiting for them to rescue them; they are the only hope for those miners to survive.

The responsibility is immense; we have no choice but to fight!
However, this troop deployment involved more than sixteen battalions, bringing together more than half of the main force of the independent detachment.

It was still too much of a strain for He Jianxin to command such a large force.

Therefore, after deciding to fight, he reported the situation to Chen Ming.

Upon receiving the news, Chen Ming took it very seriously and went directly from the command center in Ping'an County to the front line.

He will be there to oversee this tough battle, to support He Jianxin, and to help him identify and fill any gaps in his abilities.

After all, He Jianxin had only commanded troops of a few thousand people before, and this was the first time he had commanded such a large-scale operation.

Even if Chen Ming wanted to cultivate his subordinates, he wouldn't joke about fighting a war.

Just like when Chen Ming commanded the Ping'an County battle, the brigade commander came to support Chen Ming.

With Chen Ming in charge, He Jianxin can be bolder and think more freely.

He Jianxin is the person in the Independent Detachment who is most like Chen Ming. He is a cadre who was personally trained by Chen Ming and is the most loyal of his own.

Chen Ming was fairly confident in letting him take command, but he was just not mature enough and lacked experience.

After Chen Ming arrived, He Jianxin began to make operational deployments, and the operational orders were as follows.

"The First Independent Battalion consists of two infantry battalions and one artillery battalion, and is attacking Mine No. 4."

"The First Battalion, the Second Battalion, and the Third Battalion of the Independent First Battalion, a total of three infantry battalions, and the First Artillery Battalion, are to attack Mine No. 9."

"The 3rd and 4th Battalions of the 1st Battalion, the 5th and 6th Infantry Battalions, and the 2nd Artillery Battalion, are to attack Mine No. 5/6."

"The Third Battalion consists of three infantry battalions, plus the brigade's directly subordinate artillery battalion, responsible for containing the Japanese reinforcements."

The Japanese No. 9 mine had the strongest defenses, so He Jianxin deployed his most elite battalions, the First and Second Battalions, an artillery battalion, and Ding Wei's Third Battalion.

A total of three infantry battalions and one artillery battalion, about three thousand men, launched an attack on Mine No. 9.

This mine shaft is the site of the later Meiyukou Mass Grave.

Since mines No. 5 and No. 6 were adjacent to each other, He Jianxin used four infantry battalions and one artillery battalion to attack them.

The No. 4 mine was attacked by Ding Wei's two infantry battalions and one artillery battalion.

As for Li Yousheng's three battalions of the Third Battalion, plus the artillery battalion directly under the Independent Detachment, they were responsible for containing the Japanese reinforcements.

An reinforced battalion of an independent detachment has more than 800 men per battalion, while a regular battalion has about 600 men per battalion.

The force of twelve infantry battalions plus four artillery battalions was enough to fight against more than a thousand Japanese soldiers and more than three thousand puppet troops.

Even if the Japanese soldiers and their collaborators hid inside a tortoise shell, they could still break the shell and eliminate the collaborators inside.

This is an absolute advantage in troop strength and firepower!

After He Jianxin finished formulating the battle plan, Chen Ming took a look and found that there were no major problems, only some details that needed to be modified.

After adding a few more words, Chen Ming refined the battle plan.

Therefore, the battle order was issued, and all units began to advance according to the order, with only one objective!
We must capture the heavily fortified mining area of ​​the Japanese, eliminate all the enemy, and rescue our suffering compatriots!

They all harbored a burning fire within them, a fire that would burn away all the wicked Japanese devils and puppet troops in the mining area!

P.S.: I caught a meter-long mandarin fish today, but it got a little lost, haha. It wasn't big, only about eleven pounds.

(End of this chapter)