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

Chapter 21: Decentralized Operations, Individual Development

After evacuating the villagers, Chen Ming began to plan the next phase of the operation.

We definitely can't go back to Xiaowangzhuang anytime soon. The Japanese have suffered such a big loss this time, they will definitely send troops to retaliate again.

If more troops are sent next time, the district squad may not be able to protect the villagers of Xiaowangzhuang.

Fortunately, the autumn harvest is over and winter is just around the corner, so the villagers have enough grain reserves to last until next spring's planting.

The Japanese devils couldn't find any villagers in Xiaowangzhuang for so long, so eventually they stopped paying attention to it.

Next, Chen Ming began to arrange the handling of the puppet army prisoners.

Having had experience with Lijiacun before, this time it was much simpler to handle.

First, the puppet soldiers who aided and abetted the evildoers were screened out and publicly tried in front of the villagers of Xiaowangzhuang.

The remaining organizations held grievance meetings, using class analysis to expose the true nature of the Japanese puppet regime's collusion and exploitation of their compatriots, and to awaken their national consciousness.

Those who were willing to stay and continue fighting were incorporated into Chen Ming's team for further evaluation. Those who were unwilling to fight were detained for a period of time to prevent the leak of the district squad's whereabouts, and then given travel expenses to go home.

After resolving the prisoner issue, Chen Ming held a three-day training conference.

It is only polite to retaliate. Since the Japanese dared to send troops to besiege the district squad and the villagers of Xiaowangzhuang, Chen Ming naturally had to retaliate.

Meanwhile, in Ping'an County, Hirata Ichiro was so enraged upon learning that his small squad, along with more than a hundred puppet troops, had been wiped out that he turned into a desktop cleaning master.

"Baka! Where did this army come from? How could they wipe out my squad? What are those outposts for?"

Inside the meeting room, Hirata Ichiro was furious, and the other Japanese officers didn't dare to breathe.

Despite having so many outposts, they failed to notice the presence of this military unit operating within their jurisdiction.

This is dereliction of duty, and it's only right that I was scolded.

"Immediately formulate a battle plan and find this hidden unit," Hirata Ichiro ordered.

"Hai!"

The Japanese troops quickly sprang into action, gathering two infantry companies to sweep through the area surrounding Xiaowangzhuang.

However, Chen Ming, who had long anticipated the Japanese retaliation, had already led his troops to evacuate the villagers well in advance.

Unable to find Chen Ming's district squad, the Japanese turned their attention to attacking surrounding units, and Li Yunlong's New First Regiment became their shield.

"Damn it, what's wrong with those Japanese devils? They suddenly started attacking me. I've lost a lot of my belongings again."

Li Yunlong was so angry that he kept cursing.

He had only recently taken over the new regiment and had finally managed to accumulate some assets, but the Japanese army's sudden outburst caused him to lose a lot of weapons and equipment.

Fortunately, the Japanese troops were outnumbered this time and did not dare to penetrate too deeply into the base area. They only launched a brief attack before retreating.

After all, if they went too deep, the two Japanese companies could easily be surrounded.

The Japanese are currently focusing their attention on the front lines, and they don't have many troops defending the rear. They mainly rely on railways and highways to control the occupied areas.

After the war ended, the brigade headquarters became lively again.

"Chen Ming is a real talent. The Japanese are desperate this time. If they hadn't run fast, these two companies of Japanese soldiers would have been surrounded," the brigade commander said, looking at the map.

"Yes, I didn't expect him to be so capable. In such a short time, he's grown a district squad to over three hundred men and even wiped out a Japanese squad and over a hundred puppet troops. Otherwise, the Japanese wouldn't have been so desperate this time," the chief of staff nodded in agreement. During this period, they had also investigated the situation of Chen Ming's district squad, and they were all shocked when they learned the details.

Good heavens, a district squad has grown to more than 300 people, and even has machine guns and grenade launchers. Is this still a district squad?

"Once I'm done with this busy period, I won't let him come to the brigade headquarters anymore. I'll go see him myself," the brigade commander said, stroking his chin.

When the chief of staff heard what the brigade commander said, he immediately understood and burst into laughter.

The brigade commander is going to stick to his old tradition and launch a surprise attack on Chen Ming. Congratulations to him on his fortune.

The fact that the district squad was able to annihilate more than 150 enemies this time means that their own weapons and equipment are certainly not bad. In addition, with the spoils they captured this time, their firepower configuration is approaching that of an elite battalion of a main force regiment.

The brigade commander was envious. It was a pity to keep such a unit as a militia force; it would be better to incorporate it into the main combat force.

It should be noted that Li Yunlong's new regiment only has four or five hundred men. Even so, two men cannot share a single gun. The entire regiment has fewer than ten light machine guns and none at all heavy machine guns.

At this time, Chen Ming was unaware that the brigade commander was planning to visit him and was still preparing for an operation against the Japanese.

The Japanese devils did the first day of the lunar month, and Chen Ming can do the fifteenth.

After the encirclement and suppression by the two squadrons ended, Chen Ming immediately led his troops to launch a dispersed attack, following the old tradition of their district squadrons.

The puppet army launched an operation specifically targeting traitors.

However, more than 300 people are too big a target. The Japanese are watching them closely. If they act together, it could very well provoke the Japanese again.

So Chen Ming dispersed the soldiers of the district squad into small teams (equivalent to platoons) and let them attack independently.

Whether it's an ambush, raiding a camp, digging a trap, ambushing someone, or kidnapping, Chen Ming doesn't care. As long as it's to deal with Japanese devils and traitors, he'll use any means necessary.

Anyway, they're not a regular army, just a small squad in a district, so it's not unusual for them to do these things.

"I only have one principle: I don't do business that loses money. No matter what, I have to get something back. If someone else only suffers losses and loses all the wealth I've worked so hard to accumulate, I'll be cursing them out."

"Did you hear that?"

At the mobilization meeting, Chen Ming addressed the team leaders and squad leaders.

"heard it."

The officers and soldiers responded.

"That's settled then. Starting tomorrow, everyone will disperse and focus on targeting the puppet troops, traitors, checkpoints, and transport teams. We'll make full use of our guerrilla warfare tactics," Chen Ming continued.

The next day, except for the second squad which had not yet participated in combat, the other first and third squads dispersed and began their operations.

In the past, district squads only had two or three guns, and the soldiers' combat skills were poor. They could only play a role in harassment and assist the main force.

Now that they've become wealthy, almost everyone has a gun, and the quality of their soldiers is quite good. Chen Ming is confident that they can outnumber and outgun their puppet troops and traitors.

Chen Ming led the second squad, leaving behind a small team to care for the wounded and protect the rear base, while taking the rest of the squad with him.

Chen Ming possesses a three-dimensional combat map, making him more capable than other squads and small teams. It is most suitable for him to lead the largest team and attract the Japanese's main attention.

At that time, the Japanese will definitely focus their attention on Chen Ming's detachment, which will reduce the pressure on other detachments and allow them to carry out their tasks more effectively.

(End of this chapter)