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

Chapter 210 Headquarters Shocked! Preparations to Establish a Special Forces Unit

After the armored forces withdrew, the battalion commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Independent Brigade in Jining launched a feigned attack on Jining for an hour before also choosing to retreat.

The armored units are now safe, and they no longer need to draw the Japanese's attention here.

Japanese reinforcements are rapidly arriving, and aircraft have also been deployed.

If the fighting continues, the casualties will be enormous.

The Independent Detachment would not engage in a losing proposition.

"Comrades, let's go home. The commander has prepared stewed meat for us. Let's go home and eat meat."

Wang Huaibao shouted happily.

The mission was completed perfectly, and their advance team has once again made a great contribution.

The independent detachment provides special treatment to soldiers and units that have made meritorious contributions.

No other soldiers or units in the independent detachment would object to this. If you have the ability to make a contribution and get rewarded, who would have any objections?

You are all elites. Today your first battalion will make a contribution, and tomorrow our second battalion will make a contribution.

Upon hearing the battalion commander's words, the soldiers of the Third Battalion were now eager to return home, wishing they could fly directly to the base area.

Although their captain, Ding Wei, was very capable and could occasionally get his hands on meat.

But can the meat awarded by the commander taste the same as the meat distributed by the battalion commander?

Most importantly, the company commander of the cooking company, who was the best cook in the brigade, was responsible for stewing meat for the soldiers who had made meritorious contributions.

They were able to make delicious food with limited ingredients to supply the officers of the detachment and district headquarters.

This ensures that even when resources are scarce and after a heavy workload, cadres can still enjoy a decent meal.

The soldiers were eager to return home and quickly headed back to their base.

In the early hours of the next day, the armored forces finally returned to their base.

During a surprise attack, in order to save time, they would travel at top speed regardless of losses, ensuring the attack was completed before dawn.

On the return trip, time was no longer of the essence, so there was no need to rush; walking slowly ensured safety.

The Japanese planes were rampant, and the tanks were all hard-won captures; losing even one would be heartbreaking.

Inside the base area, Chen Ming led a group of cadres to welcome the triumphant advance team.

"They're back! Our hero has returned with all our most treasured possessions."

Chen Ming saw Zhou Weiguo sitting on a tank, beaming with joy, and walked up to him, saying loudly.

The tank slowly drove up and stopped about twenty meters in front of Chen Ming.

Zhou Weiguo leaped off the tank and ran quickly toward Chen Ming.

"Report: Zhou Weiguo led the entire vanguard to successfully complete the raid mission, annihilating 720 Japanese soldiers in the tank camp."

"Thirty-two tanks, one hundred and two barrels of fuel, more than three hundred rifles, and a number of other weapons and ammunition were captured."

"."

Zhou Weiguo recounted the gains of the operation as if they were his own treasures, his smile never fading.

"Great, excellent, Comrade Weiguo, and the soldiers of the advance team, you did a fantastic job this time. I will report to headquarters later and recommend you for commendation."

Chen Ming was very happy.

With these tanks, he can build a strategic armored force.

With the addition of the mobile cavalry of the cavalry detachment, he will be able to roam freely throughout the puppet Mongolian, Suiyuan, Chahar, and even the Rehe region.

At that time, by focusing on one point, it could even bring down the Japanese forces in the entire North China region.

"Quickly, drive the tanks into the warehouse. The base has prepared a victory banquet and is waiting for our heroes to return in triumph," Chen Ming said with a smile.

The celebratory banquet only had one more dish than usual, with meat, and each person received about 150 grams, which wasn't much.

However, other dishes, such as porridge, had a little extra sugar added as a reward.

The Datong Sugar Factory is now in trial production and has produced a batch of sugar.

However, due to a lack of raw materials, the current output is not high, and it is mainly used to supply the wounded, with a portion used for production in the arsenal.

In a few months, once the sugar beets mature, the yield will increase significantly.

In addition, after the Independent Detachment captured Datong, they seized the sugar factory's equipment and also rushed to plant a batch of sugar beets.

Although half a month has passed since the best time to sow sugar beets, there will still be some harvest after planting.

Sugar beets are highly resistant to drought and locusts, so they suffered less damage in 42, a year of great disaster.

At the victory banquet, Chen Ming decided to give each soldier a bowl of wine, which was captured during the Battle of Datong.

After handing over a portion to headquarters, Chen Ming kept a portion as a reward for the Battle of Datong, and these drinks were the remainder.

In addition, each soldier received a reward of two packs of cigarettes.

The cadres among them also received two packs of "Equator" brand cigarettes, a privilege reserved for Japanese colonels and other officers.

It was only after Li Dabenshi mentioned the cigarette brand that Chen Ming learned about its origin.

So Chen Ming went to the logistics department to ask Li Zhu, and the logistics department actually had a batch of this cigarette, which was also seized from Datong.

Li Zhu also had his own thoughts. He felt sorry for Chen Ming, who sometimes had to smoke dry tobacco when he was busy with work, so he specially kept some for him.

Chen Ming was deeply moved by the concern shown to him by his comrades who had risked their lives for him, but he still criticized Li Zhu, saying that he shouldn't be given special treatment just because of him.

Even if Chen Ming smoked this batch of cigarettes for two years, he wouldn't be able to finish them all. Why is he keeping them hidden away?
Therefore, this batch of cigarettes was also confiscated and became a reward for the officers in charge when the troops performed meritorious service.

The cadres who received two packs of "Equator" brand cigarettes had smiles on their faces.

They had long coveted the cigarettes that Li Zhu had hidden, but the thought that they were for the leader to smoke after work to relieve fatigue kept them from pursuing them.

The soldiers enjoyed the victory celebration feast immensely.

Afterwards, Chen Ming also reported the situation to headquarters.

"Report, telegram from the Independent Detachment."

At headquarters, a staff officer walked briskly into the command room with a smile.

Inside the command center, the leaders were still discussing how to take advantage of Datong to quickly develop a new force.

Upon hearing the staff officer's words, everyone turned their gaze to the staff officer who had entered from outside the door.

"Haha, what good news is it this time? Tell me so I can be happy," the boss said with a smile.

In recent years, there has never been any bad news in the telegrams from the Independent Detachment.

Chen Ming is undoubtedly a victorious general and the darling of all the leaders at headquarters.

Every message that came was, without exception, good news.

Either they had eliminated a certain number of Japanese soldiers and captured a certain amount of equipment, or they had a certain amount of equipment that had been handed over and was en route, so that headquarters could prepare to receive it.

Or perhaps the military has experienced a major development and requires instructions from headquarters, etc.

In short, whenever a telegram arrived from the Independent Detachment, even if the leaders at headquarters were in a bad mood, they would immediately turn into anticipation and joy.

"Report, telegram from the Independent Detachment: At dawn on May 25th, the Independent Detachment dispatched an advance team to launch a surprise attack on the Japanese tank camp outside Jining, a distance of 100 kilometers."

"This tank camp contains 32 tanks, which are the second batch of tanks transferred from the Japanese Kwantung Army to form the 3rd Tank Division."

"At 4:30 a.m., the advance team of the Independent Detachment successfully raided the Japanese tank camp." "More than 700 Japanese soldiers in the camp were annihilated, and 32 tanks were captured intact by the Independent Detachment, along with a large amount of fuel, etc."

The staff officer read the contents of the telegram aloud, his eyes and brows blooming like a flower.

"Haha, I knew it! When Chen Ming sent us a telegram, it must have been good news."

“That’s right. I wish I could stay in the machine room every day so I could see the telegram as soon as Chen Ming sends it.”

"That kid Chen Ming has struck it rich again; he's practically a god of wealth now."

Inside the command center, the leaders spoke with great joy.

“Who got rich?”

The brigade commander walked in from outside and, upon hearing the words "get rich," subconsciously asked a question.

Everyone laughed when they saw the brigade commander enter.

"I knew it! He's the first one to appear whenever the word 'get rich' comes up."

Chen Ming's direct supervisor said with a smile.

If we're talking about the origin of their unit's tradition of wishing someone good fortune, then the brigade commander is the one who should be mentioned.

The rest of the officers all learned their skills from the brigade commander.

"Boss, I just heard someone say they've made a fortune again? Who was it? I'd like to go congratulate them."

The brigade commander ignored the teasing from the crowd and asked curiously.

"See for yourself."

The telegram was handed to the brigade commander, who took it and read it with curiosity.

"Goodness, I just got a cavalry regiment a while ago, and I haven't even had time to get over my excitement. Now Chen Ming has gotten an armored regiment."

The brigade commander gasped, realizing he had made a contribution to global warming.

He suddenly realized that his cavalry regiment was no longer appealing.

Cavalry regiments were a product of necessity; if armored regiments were available, why would anyone bother with cavalry regiments?

Who doesn't love a steel torrent?

"No, I have to think of a way. It will be too late to wish you good fortune after Chen Ming goes to study."

The brigade commander thought to himself.

"Great news! This is fantastic news! Now that we have an armored unit, we don't have to be afraid of the Japanese tanks anymore."

"Shanxi Province is such a large area, the Japanese only have so few tanks, they simply can't deploy them all."

"Then we'll be the ones using tanks to fight them."

The brigade commander said with a smile.

Before the Japanese defeat at Midway, the Japanese forces in Shanxi Province only had about fifty tanks available.

The Independent Detachment now possesses nearly two-thirds of the Japanese tanks in Shanxi Province.

The key issue is that the Japanese tanks were scattered across Taiyuan, Linfen, Changzhi, and other places, making it impossible to concentrate their use.

In some local battles, the number of tanks in the independent detachment far exceeded that of the Japanese tanks, enabling them to achieve overwhelming numerical superiority.

Both sides had the same tanks; whatever the Japanese had, we had too.

If there is no technological gap in weaponry, then the test lies in the training level of tank drivers and the number of tanks.

In both of these aspects, Chen Ming has the advantage.

With the added bonus of the badge set, given some time, the tank crews he trains will only become more and more elite.

Meanwhile, the Japanese army, having to support the losing Pacific theater, will see its troop quality decline, creating a situation where one side gains at the expense of the other.

Given time, the mainland battlefield will see a complete reversal, and then the Japanese will be doomed.

Within the base area of ​​the Independent Detachment.

Chen Ming looked at the tanks parked in the warehouse, pondering how to arrange their ownership.

It doesn't feel right to form a separate armored battalion.

A force composed solely of tanks and armored vehicles will have fatal flaws due to the lack of infantry protection and artillery support.

For example, when there are no infantry, they may be nearly destroyed by enemy individual anti-tank weapons.

Without artillery support, it is impossible to suppress enemy anti-tank fire.

Furthermore, tank units lack reconnaissance capabilities, making them vulnerable to ambushes or minefields, and their logistics are fragile.

The German Blitzkrieg was able to use armored divisions to break through the Polish and French defenses and achieve its operational objectives even without infantry.

But that was in an open plain, and the enemy had no pre-positioned anti-tank positions.

In the Battle of Prokhorovka in Kursk, the German army also used 200 Panzer IV tanks, but was ambushed by Soviet infantry and anti-tank guns, suffering losses of 87%.

That's the difference. If there had been infantry and artillery defense, there would never have been such heavy losses.

Therefore, Chen Ming rejected the idea of ​​forming an armored brigade after a brief period of consideration.

He recalled the idea of ​​the special task force from last time, and after considering the actual situation, he finally had a general idea in mind.

Chen Ming planned to deploy a cavalry battalion, a reconnaissance battalion, an engineer battalion, a maintenance battalion, an artillery battalion, an air defense company, a motor transport battalion, two infantry battalions, an armored battalion, a field medical battalion, an anti-tank company, a communications company, and a logistics supply battalion.

These units were used to form a special detachment, which was called a strategic mobile force.

The armored battalion is the main force, with two infantry battalions serving as supplementary forces.

The artillery battalion was responsible for countering Japanese infantry and anti-tank weapons, while the anti-aircraft company and anti-tank company were responsible for dealing with Japanese aircraft and armored vehicles, respectively.

The cavalry battalion served as a supplement to guerrilla mobile forces and could also undertake reconnaissance missions.

The reconnaissance battalion focuses on reconnaissance and can be used as a special operations force when necessary.

The motor transport battalion is responsible for transporting troops and increasing the mobility of the troops. The roles of the maintenance battalion and the engineer battalion are self-evident.

Building bridges and roads, repairing tanks and vehicles, and providing logistical support battalions ensured the special forces' continued combat capability.

Such a force will become an elite force, shining brightly on various battlefields!

Although the lack of air force means it can't play its full role, it's still enough.

The Japanese will suffer a major defeat at Midway next month, at which point they will need to send a large number of elite fighter planes to the Pacific theater.

Especially after the Battle of Guadalcanal in 43, the Japanese withdrew 78% of their elite fighter planes from the Chinese battlefield.

There weren't many Japanese planes left in North China either.

If Chen Ming organizes a few more attacks on Japanese airfields, he can destroy the remaining Japanese aircraft.

Datong has been captured, but it's just an airfield for the Japanese. Under the onslaught of rocket artillery, unless the Japanese have deployed their airfields within heavily fortified cities, they won't survive.

Once neither side has a plane, wouldn't they be on the same starting line?

After the Japanese lose their air power, the role of the special forces will become increasingly important, and they may even play a strategic deterrent role.

After having a general idea in mind, Chen Ming reported it to headquarters.

(End of this chapter)