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

Chapter 183 The brigade commander wanted to give Chen Ming a wife.
Two days later, the turmoil of the battle gradually subsided, and apart from some small-scale fighting in some areas, the situation had stabilized.

However, the impact of this battle was not limited to Chen Ming annihilating the Japanese troops in Guoxian and capturing four heavy artillery pieces.

Because of the Japanese reinforcements, the Japanese troops were transferred from various strongholds, leaving only a small number of Japanese soldiers with puppet troops, and in many places, only puppet troops were stationed.

Those who know, know the truth about the combat effectiveness of the puppet troops.

They could still put up some fighting power when the Japanese were watching, but once the Japanese left, they immediately became useless.

They joined the puppet army to make money, not to serve the Japanese.

Without the Japanese supervision, why should we desperately try to impress them?
Since the Japanese are gone anyway, the stronghold is definitely not going to hold, so it's better to end it quickly to increase the chances of survival.

As a result, troops from other areas took the opportunity to capture a large number of strongholds, connecting many small base areas into a contiguous area.

Its combat effectiveness is no less than that of launching a major battle!

This battle exposed the weakness of the Japanese army, and the morale of the soldiers and civilians in the base area was soaring like never before.

The commander of the Second War Zone also sent a commendation telegram, congratulating the Eighth Route Army on its vigorous offensive in Shanxi Province, which had achieved great results.

The independent detachment, as the core combat unit, and Kong Jie, who commanded the main attack, also came into the view of the people across the country.

Kong Jie's reward has been increased to 100,000 silver dollars, which is equivalent to one-fifth of Chen Ming's reward.

Kong Jie is now walking with a swagger; the capture of heavy artillery has had a huge impact.

Kong Jie's bounty jumped to the second highest in the Independent Detachment, higher than He Jianxin's 80,000 silver dollars.

However, there is still a precipitous gap between the current amount and Chen Ming's 500,000 yuan bounty.

However, Chen Ming himself was quite dissatisfied with the Japanese army's 500,000 yuan reward.

"Why couldn't the reward be any number? Even if it were 490,000 instead of 10,000, it would have been better. But it has to be 500,000. Is it just trying to annoy me?"

"Looks like I'll have to surprise the Japanese a bit more and get them to raise my bounty," Chen Ming said.

Although the concept of 500,000 doesn't exist in this era, Chen Ming has it in his mind.

The people in the occupied areas were relatively isolated from the news. Under the suppression and propaganda of the Japanese army, they were not aware of Chen Ming's deeds. Instead, they were very surprised by the huge reward of 500,000.

No one would be happy to be called "500,000".

"I wonder if future generations will change this and adjust the amount of the reward," Chen Ming suddenly thought.

The matter of the four heavy cannons has also been settled.

Headquarters decided to leave the four heavy artillery pieces in the independent detachment and form a heavy artillery company.

Chen Ming was overjoyed when he heard the news.

"Now we have heavy artillery, tanks and armored vehicles, all we're missing is airplanes."

Overjoyed, Chen Ming called the brigade commander and division commander to express his gratitude.

Chen Ming believed that the brigade commander and division commander must have done a lot to keep the four heavy howitzers in the independent detachment, and he had to thank them.

After the division commander and brigade commander finished their calls, they spoke on the phone together.

"Chen, isn't this a bit inappropriate? Chen Ming was just thanking me on the phone." The division commander asked the brigade commander.

"Don't think like that. Let's look at the facts. Don't you think we spoke up for Chen Ming?" the brigade commander said with a laugh on the other end of the phone.

"Yes."

"You mean the final heavy artillery piece remained with the independent detachment?"

"Yes."

"You're saying this is no different from Chen Ming's request for us to speak on his behalf and leave the heavy artillery in the Independent Detachment?"

"Yes."

"That's right. We spoke up for him, which counts as contributing. In the end, the heavy artillery remained in the independent detachment and was formed into a heavy artillery company. Doesn't that count as getting things done for him?" the brigade commander asked with a smile.

"That's the truth!"

The brigade commander successfully persuaded them.

"Haha, that's right. Chen Ming just assured me on the phone that if there's anything his heavy artillery company needs, he'll definitely lend a hand," the brigade commander said with a laugh.

"Haha."

The division commander is a person who cares deeply about his subordinates and is also a person of great character.

The conversation then shifted to Chen Ming's personal situation.

"Chen Ming is almost thirty-two years old now, isn't he?"

"He should be thirty-one years and four months old. He was born in December 1910," the brigade commander said.

The brigade commander was very clear about Chen Ming's personal situation.

"That's coming soon. He's almost thirty-two and still hasn't settled his personal life. What will the other cadres think of our organization?"

"You need to pay more attention to Chen Ming's affairs. He's thirty-two years old, practically an old cadre, and still single. There's still no news about him."

Upon hearing this, the brigade commander quickly replied, "How could I not care? You have no idea how many outstanding young women I've sent to Chen Ming's organization, but he hasn't taken a liking to a single one of them."

The brigade commander was also very concerned about Chen Ming's personal situation.

During the War of Resistance against Japan, the average lifespan was only thirty-five years, so Chen Ming was already considered old.

“This won’t do. You need to put in more effort and help him make arrangements. Chen Ming joined the revolution at the age of sixteen and has been fighting for fifteen years now, but his personal life is still unsettled.”

Upon hearing this, the brigade commander said with a bitter face, "How am I supposed to step up my efforts? I can't just force the girl on him, can I?"

Chen Ming's marital problem is a real headache for the brigade commander. He is perfectly capable of commanding battles, but if asked to play matchmaker for Chen Ming, he would rather fight two more battles.

"I don't care. I'm giving you a deadline of this time next year. If Chen Ming still hasn't resolved his personal issues, I'm going to punish you."

"Can we discuss this and find someone more skilled? I really don't know what to do with him," the brigade commander said.

“In our unit, you’re a well-known matchmaker. Is there anyone more skilled than you? Besides, you’re his former superior. If you don’t arrange things, who will?”

"Alright, it's settled then. I'll wait for your good news."

After hanging up the phone, the brigade commander began to worry.

He was trying to figure out how to find a partner for Chen Ming. He had tried all sorts of unconventional methods, but he was still at a loss. He really had no other options.

Chen Ming was truly stunned; of all the outstanding young women he had placed in the Independent Detachment headquarters, not a single one had made it work.

Instead, it resulted in several officers from the independent detachment.

Political Commissar Zhang Zhengze also got married because he met the requirements of the 258th Regiment regulations.

The brigade commander was thinking that if Chen Ming couldn't get married within the time limit set by the division commander, he might as well resort to unconventional methods and send his partner directly to Chen Ming's home.

Chen Ming, who was in the independent detachment, was naturally unaware that the brigade commander was already considering forcibly assigning him a wife.

He's happily hugging his heavy artillery right now.

"Big, dark, and thick, he's fucking beautiful."

Chen Ming looked at the four heavy cannons in front of him, and the shells beside them.

This is a great weapon; it can detonate a large area with a single blast, and its range exceeds ten kilometers. It's the epitome of masculine romance.

If you don't believe me, go out and ask around. Given a choice between a heavy cannon and a woman, who wouldn't choose the heavy cannon?
Anyway, what is a wife to Chen Ming?
With his 150mm howitzer, a range of 11900 meters, a caliber of 23.6, a muzzle velocity of 540 m/s, a shell weight of 31.3 kg, and an absolute kill radius of 30 meters, isn't that impressive?

Let alone one wife, even ten of them wouldn't be as good as one of his heavy artillery pieces!
"Political Commissar, look, it's starting again." Chief of Staff Wang Dafei pointed at Chen Ming and said to Political Commissar Zhang Zhengze with a smile.

"Never mind Old Chen, that's just how he is. Let him be happy for a while longer," Zhang Zhengze said with a smile.

Just then, an officer ran over.

"Political Commissar, the brigade commander called specifically asking for you."

"Looking for me?" Zhang Zhengze was completely confused, not understanding why the brigade commander would specifically ask him to come.

Chen Ming is the one who can make the final decision in the independent detachment; if we really need to find someone, we should find Chen Ming.

However, Zhang Zheng did not delay. He put down his work and followed the clerk to answer the phone.

"Yes, yes, yes, I understand, sir. I will try my best."

"I don't want you to try your best, I want you to do it, this is an order!"

"Yes."

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Zhengze started scratching his head.

The brigade commander had just given him an order over the phone, requiring him to resolve Chen Ming's personal issues before 43 (three months less than the time given to the brigade commander by the division commander).

Zhang Zheng recalled Chen Ming's performance in the warehouse where heavy artillery was stored and thought that this was definitely a very difficult task.

With Chen Ming's personality, how could he possibly have any desire to find a partner?
With no other option, Zhang Zhengze could only try his best to find a solution, and like the brigade commander, he started scratching his head.

Chen Ming was unaware that the brigade commander and his political commissar were tearing their hair out over the matter of finding him a wife.

At this point, he was already arranging plans to attack Datong.

The success in Guoxian County proved that tunnel blasting is feasible and also accumulated valuable experience.

However, the Battle of Guoxian may have also raised the guard of the Japanese troops in other areas.

"I hope the aftermath work in Guoxian County can keep it from the Japanese," Chen Ming thought to himself.

When they withdrew from Guoxian County, the soldiers of the Independent Detachment cleaned up the traces of the tunnel blasts in hopes of delaying the Japanese from discovering them.

Iwamatsu and Noon Saburo, the garrison commander in Mongolia, had a very bad relationship. Now that Iwamatsu had lost face this time, he had become a fellow sufferer with Noon Saburo.

Even if the enemy discovers that the Independent Detachment used tunnel blasting to capture Guoxian, there is a high chance they won't warn Noon Saburo.

However, one should always prepare for the worst, and Chen Ming needed to be ready for the Japanese troops in Datong to be on guard.

If the tunnel blasting plan does not go smoothly, the time required to capture Datong will be extended.

The main troops stationed in Mongolia originally did not have field heavy artillery, and the Japanese did not have any extra heavy artillery to allocate to them.

However, the battle at the Datong mining area, coupled with the capture of four heavy artillery pieces in Guoxian County, and the Independent Detachment's fierce offensive, frightened the Japanese.

To strengthen the defenses of Datong, the North China Expeditionary Army directly added four Type 92 105mm cannons to the troops stationed in Mongolia. Cannons are different from howitzers; the former has a much longer range than the latter.

The Japanese 105mm cannons had an astonishing range of 18.2 kilometers, enough to suppress the heavy artillery of the Independent Detachment.

This gave Chen Ming a headache. He dared not use the 150mm howitzers he had just captured in the attack on Datong. He felt like he had the power but nowhere to use it.

Unlike infantry guns and mortars, heavy artillery cannot be quickly withdrawn after firing a few shots.

If, while suppressing the Japanese with heavy artillery, the Japanese can locate the Independent Detachment's heavy artillery based on the impact point and angle of the shells, then send out aircraft to search for it, and then suppress it with cannons.

The heavy artillery that Chen Ming had worked so hard to acquire might be destroyed by the Japanese.

These are all Chen Ming's precious treasures; losing even one of them would break his heart.

Therefore, Chen Ming will not use heavy artillery unless absolutely necessary, or if it is not used for an extended period of time.

While Chen Ming was pondering, Wu Youdao presented him with a proposal.

"We captured Guoxian this time using tunnel blasting. The Japanese might find out. I have some ideas about the tunnel operations in Datong that I would like to ask you for your instructions."

Wu Youdao spoke up.

"What are your thoughts? Tell me."

"To prepare for the possibility that the Japanese might discover us, we can operate in multiple tunnels simultaneously. Even if the Japanese discover us, as long as one tunnel remains intact, we can succeed."

"We can also take advantage of the terrain, such as digging under houses to avoid surveillance and increase the success rate."

"We can set up fake tunnels to attract the Japanese soldiers' attention, while the real tunnels are secretly dug beneath the fake tunnels."

"At the same time, we can use ground troops to launch a feint attack to distract the Japanese and draw their attention to the ground, thus covering the excavation of the tunnels."

Wu Youdao rattled off several plans to deal with the possibility that the Japanese might discover the Independent Detachment's tunnels and blow up Datong.

After listening, Chen Ming thought about it for a moment and found that it was highly feasible.

"It really is true that everyone has their own expertise; professional tasks should be left to professionals."

"I agree to these plans. I will send you more manpower. I hope Comrade Youdao can continue his efforts and make new contributions."

"If we manage to capture Datong using tunnel operations, I'll credit you with the greatest contribution!"

Chen Ming encouraged him.

Upon hearing Chen Ming's praise and support, Wu Youdao stood up straight.

"We guarantee to complete the task and will certainly live up to your expectations."

Chen Ming waved his hand and corrected him, saying, "The people and organizations across the country are waiting for our good news. We will live up to the expectations of the Party and the people."

Upon hearing this, Wu Youdao immediately replied, "Yes, I will certainly live up to the expectations of the Party and the people."

"Haha, by the way, how did you come up with these methods?" Chen Ming asked curiously.

To come up with so many feasible methods all at once is not something that can be done on a whim.

"After we finished raiding Guoxian, I started thinking about it. I combined the tomb raiding experience I had heard from my father and came up with these methods."

“My father used to tell me a lot about the tomb raiding stories of other tomb raiders. Some tombs were guarded, and they would try to avoid those guards and dig up the things in the tomb.”

Wu Youdao spoke up.

"That's right. Applying experience to combat is a creative use of expertise to solve practical problems, and it deserves encouragement."

“Your point is quite right. Datong is the graveyard of the Japanese devils. We should try every means to bury the Japanese devils in Datong and bring out all the good stuff inside,” Chen Ming said with a smile.

When Wu Youdao heard Chen Ming praise him like that, he felt a little embarrassed, his face flushed with a mixture of excitement and shyness.

Wu Youdao left with Chen Ming's orders.

In order to support Wu Youdao's plans, Chen Ming contacted the Jizhong base area again and transferred another group of soldiers with rich experience in tunnel warfare.

The terrain in central Hebei is flat, and the guerrilla fighters could only rely on tunnel warfare, a tactic to overcome the enemy's superior strength, in order to deal with the frequent and highly mobile sweeps by the Japanese.

Therefore, the tunnel warfare experience in the central Hebei region was richer than that of the guerrillas in the several plain cities of the Independent Detachment's base area.

Chen Ming didn't lend people out for free. Any soldiers who came to help could come empty-handed and leave with a gun each.

This made the cadres in the central Hebei region wish they could send all their people to the independent detachment to help them out, not wanting to miss this opportunity to "strike a big fish".

After resolving the tunnel blasting incident in Datong, Chen Ming received a piece of intelligence.

After the Independent Detachment turned its attention back to the Japanese First Army's defense zone, the Japanese troops in the Shanxi-Northwest region became more disciplined and dared not cause trouble for the Independent Detachment.

However, they were not idle. During his final term, Yansong intensified his "Bo Plan".

He wanted to show the army high command that his "Plan Ber" was not entirely useless.

It was impossible to win over the commander of the Second War Zone. The Independent Detachment's large-scale operation made Commander Iwa realize the weakness of the Japanese.

He had already started to adopt a more reserved attitude, consistently giving the Japanese an ambiguous response.

Yansong knew that it was no longer possible to win over Commander Yan, so he began to intensify his efforts to win over the officers under the Jin-Sui Army.

As a result, the number of puppet troops began to increase significantly.

Qian Bojun, the battalion commander of the 358th Regiment under Chu Yunfei, was also tempted by the Japanese's offer to win him over.

The 358th Regiment of the Jin-Sui Army was an reinforced regiment with 5,000 men, and even had an artillery battalion. Its level was almost comparable to Chen Ming's main force.

Qian Bojun's battalion was the main force of the 358th Regiment, with more than 2,000 men, more than the combined strength of two of our army's main regiments.

Despite being a battalion commander, he lived the life of a regimental commander.

The 358th Regiment was in an awkward situation. Chu Yunfei was from Wutai in Shanxi Province, and was a fellow townsman of Commander Yan.

But he happened to be a graduate of the Whampoa Military Academy, a student of the battalion commander.

His dual identities made him distrusted by both sides. The 358th Regiment, which now has a size of 5,000 men, exceeding the strength of a division of the Jin-Sui Army, was all expanded by Chu Yunfei himself through his own abilities.

Despite having more troops than a division, Chu Yunfei was still only a regimental commander.

Correspondingly, Qian Bojun could only be a battalion commander.

After fighting for so many years, he's still just a battalion commander. Who can stand that?

All the officers from his cohort who didn't die in battle were aiming for regimental or brigade commander positions, but he was the only battalion commander, so he was practically invisible.

Later, because of Qian Bojun's incident, Chu Yunfei realized that there was no future in following the Jin-Sui Army, and only after he sided with Shancheng was he given an important position.

The Japanese's attempt to win him over only intensified Qian Bojun's resolve.

It has been almost five years since the Japanese invaded China. After so many years of fighting, many officers could no longer endure the long period of hardship.

The Jin-Sui Army, in particular, was in dire need of medical supplies some time ago. Even Commander Yan's direct subordinates could not be guaranteed supplies, let alone the 358th Regiment, which was neglected by Chu Yunfei and his nephews.

Many soldiers, lacking medicine, could only watch helplessly as their wounds festered and yellow fluid oozed out.

The final outcome is either amputation or death from infection.

However, during this period, the Nationalist army did not have the same protection as our army after being wounded; amputation was no different from death.

These hardships shook many officers, and the situation in the war against Japan was still unclear, especially since the Japanese had not yet suffered a crushing defeat at Midway.

Not everyone has the long-term vision to see that victory in the War of Resistance was inevitable.

In fact, even in 44, when the Japanese were on their last legs, many people still didn't realize it and were still surrendering and becoming traitors.

Because the National Revolutionary Army suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties until the Battle of Henan-Hunan-Guangxi in 44, many National Revolutionary Army officers lost confidence.

Due to a combination of factors, after Japanese spies contacted Qian Bojun, they promised him a brigade commander position if he defected.

This was a whole level higher than the original position of regimental commander, which greatly tempted Qian Bojun, and he decided to surrender to the Japanese without saying a word.

This information was intercepted by intelligence personnel from the Fourth Division and reported to Chen Ming.

The defense zone of the 358th Regiment of the Jin-Sui Army bordered Chen Ming's Independent Detachment and Li Yunlong's Independent Regiment.

In addition, the Eighth Route Army's consistent mass line meant that a large number of ordinary people became the eyes and ears of our army.

How could the Japanese sending people to the 358th Regiment's defense zone to win over Qian Bojun possibly escape the eyes of the general public?

After discovering that the Japanese were frequently sending spies to the 358th Regiment's defense zone, the intelligence personnel of the Fourth Military Sub-district began to keep an eye on the Japanese actions.

“The equipment of a battalion is no small amount. Go and tell Ding Wei the news,” Chen Ming said to the communications officer.

"Yes."

Chen Ming was too lazy to do such trivial things himself.

His current strategic goal is to achieve great things. Asking him to focus on a small battalion-level unit would lower his standards.

Even if this battalion is a large battalion of two thousand people, it won't work.

It's just overstaffing, why are you making it sound like everyone else isn't?
He Jianxin's unit under Chen Ming is now organized as the Seventh Infantry and Second Artillery Corps, with a number of people approaching eight thousand.

Chen Ming didn't take the 1st Battalion of the 358th Regiment, or even the entire 358th Regiment, seriously.

However, if this news were given to Ding Wei, he would definitely be interested.

Ding Wei is a quick-witted and daring person.

In the original drama, the trio were drinking together, and when Li Yunlong mentioned that he had eight battalions, Kong Jie looked shocked.

Ding Wei, however, did not react much, which shows that he had also made significant moves, expanding the organization on a scale no less than Li Yunlong's.

Later on, Ding Wei even dared to brew and sell his own wine, which shows that he was not an honest and law-abiding person.

Among the "iron triangle," Kong Jie was the only honest kid. His two old comrades-in-arms had a number of personnel several times larger than him and were living the lives of brigade commanders and division commanders.

Kong Jie was still a regimental commander, and he was quite honest about it.

After receiving the message from Chen Ming, Ding Wei immediately had an idea.

"The leaders don't care about the equipment for these two thousand people, but I, Lao Ding, do. I have to find a way to make all this equipment belong to me."

Ding Wei looked at the 358th Regiment's defense zone and began to ponder.

"Order: the First Battalion, the Second Battalion, plus two artillery companies, and one cavalry battalion, are to be moved to Lan County for their defense zone," Ding Wei issued the order.

(End of this chapter)