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

Chapter 229 The Japanese Kwantung Army Attacks

For some time afterward, the advance team soldiers could be seen traversing the towering mountains of Chifeng.

Carrying rifles and grenades, they trudged along the gravelly mountain paths, braving the sandstorms of the northern frontier, and launched one campaign after another to wipe out the bandits entrenched in this land.

From small groups of bandits with only a dozen or so members to medium-sized gangs that occupied mountain temples and plundered trade routes, once a vanguard team targeted them, none could escape annihilation.

Those bandits who used to oppress the people and rob grain were either defeated on the spot in the surprise attack or chased to the point of having nowhere to run in the mountains and forests, and finally surrendered obediently.

One group of bandits was particularly troublesome.

The "Zhongyi Village" entrenched in Hongshanzui not only had seven or eight hundred people, but also amassed a considerable fortune by robbing and looting to buy weapons.

More than 400 rifles, more than 10 light machine guns, and even four mortars.

This equipment is much better than that of Li Yunlong's previous Independent Regiment.

The bandit leader, "Black Demon," was even more tyrannical, once declaring, "In Chifeng, apart from the Japanese, no one can control me."

But when he encountered the advance team, he couldn't be arrogant anymore.

Liu Tengjie led the sharpshooter squad and artillery squad, continuously sniping the bandits from a distance.

The bandits were forced to take the beating and couldn't even fight back. They were disgusted by the advance team.

The bandit leader knew that if things continued like this, it wouldn't be long before the advance team wiped out all the hundreds of bandits in the stronghold.

The bandits couldn't take it anymore and decided to take a gamble, leaving their stronghold and launching a counterattack.

But they ran headlong into a trap that Liu Tengjie had prepared long ago.

The soldiers, carrying submachine guns, charged ahead, and bullets rained down on the bandits.

The bandits had never seen such a brave and fierce army before, and they were thrown into disarray in less than an hour.

"Black Demon" tried to escape with his confidants from the back mountain, but was shot down by a sniper platoon as soon as he crossed the ridge.

After the battle, the advance team not only seized all the weapons in Zhongyi Village, but also found nearly two hundred tons of stockpiled grain and more than four hundred bolts of cloth.

Not a single item of these supplies was kept for itself; they were all distributed to the local people who were oppressed by bandits.

The villagers were so moved that they wiped away tears as they watched the soldiers carry the grain to their doorsteps.

Some even tried to stuff their last remaining supplies from home into the soldiers' hands, but the soldiers laughed and pushed them away.

"Fellow villager, this is what we should do. You can keep it for yourself."

The news spread like wildfire throughout Chifeng.

When the bandits heard that such a powerful force was suppressing them, they panicked.

Several groups of bandits who usually fought over territory surprisingly came together, wanting to "stick together for warmth".

Their several mountain strongholds came together, managing to assemble a force of over two thousand people. They even elected a "chief leader" and vowed to "fight the advance team to the death."

But this group of bandits was just a hastily assembled mob, each with their own ulterior motives.

Some want others to go first so they can reap the benefits later;
Some feared that after the war, their brothers would suffer too many losses and be swallowed up by other bandits;
Some had already given up, but were forced to come in to make up the numbers.

Liu Tengjie had already ascertained their strengths and weaknesses, so instead of confronting them head-on, he first sent scouts to find out the locations of several bandit groups, and then used a "surround three sides, leave one open" strategy:

First, launch a fierce attack on the easternmost bandit group, deliberately leaving an opening for them to escape;

The fleeing bandits, in their panic, stumbled into the camp of another bandit group to the west, using their scattered numbers to disrupt the formation of the other bandits.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Liu Tengjie led his troops infiltrated and easily defeated the bandit group of more than two thousand men one by one.

After this battle, the advance team made a name for itself in Chifeng.

The bandits in the surrounding area either packed up their valuables and fled to the desolate mountains at the border of Rehe and Chahar.
They either clung to a sliver of hope, hiding in their mountain strongholds and putting up a stubborn resistance, but within a few days the advance team would find them and wipe out the stronghold along with the people;
Some spineless individuals even voluntarily surrendered to the Japanese, hoping to survive by relying on their power.

But they didn't expect that the advance team wouldn't even give the Japanese any face and soon wiped out these "traitors and bandits" from head to toe.

After the last bandit gang was wiped out, the rural areas of Chifeng were completely transformed:

The cries and screams from the bandits' raids are gone, the villagers can now work in the fields with peace of mind, and even the village at night is more peaceful.

Those traitors who had previously helped the Japanese to urge for grain and conscript men were also dragged out one by one by the advance team.

Some were brought before their fellow villagers for public trial, while others were caught on the spot while trying to escape.

While eliminating traitors, the advance team also helped the villagers repair houses burned down by bandits and taught them to identify Japanese propaganda leaflets. Over time, their connection with the people became closer and closer.

The villagers all have a scale in their hearts:

It's crystal clear who truly cares for them and who's just exploiting them.

The advance team not only risked their lives to suppress the bandits, but also distributed the captured food and clothing to them;
When passing through villages and setting up camp, even if it was pouring rain, the soldiers would rather squeeze under the eaves of the houses at the village entrance than disturb the villagers by entering their homes.
The local people spontaneously organized to deliver gifts, but the soldiers politely declined them all, whether it was a basket of eggs, a bag of millet, or a few pairs of cloth shoes, always adhering to the discipline of "not taking a single needle or thread from the masses."

In that era of war and chaos, such an army was a "pure stream" that ordinary people had never seen before.

In the past, whether it was Kuomintang soldiers, Japanese soldiers, or puppet troops, they would either rob grain or conscript men when passing through villages. Only the advance team treated them like family.

With the support of the local people, the advance team was finally able to gain a foothold in Chifeng.

The villagers volunteered to act as guides for the soldiers and helped them gather information about the Japanese army;
Some young people even went to the military base and asked to join the advance team, wanting to fight the Japanese invaders and protect their hometown with the soldiers.

But as the advance team gained momentum, the Japanese troops in the Chifeng area finally couldn't sit still any longer.

The 9th Independent Garrison of the Japanese Kwantung Army was responsible for the security and pacification of Rehe Province in Manchuria.

Despite having "garrison" in its name, this garrison is actually a brigade-level unit.

It had six infantry battalions and one operations team under its command, with a total of more than 6,000 people.

Their equipment was also much better than that of the Japanese security forces in North China, including not only light and heavy machine guns and mortars, but also dedicated cavalry squads.

The commander of the Ninth Independent Garrison was a Major General named Sato.

When they learned that a group of Eighth Route Army soldiers had appeared in their defense zone and had wiped out the bandits and traitors, their first reaction was not to be vigilant, but to be disdainful.

He sat in the headquarters in Chengde, sneering at his staff officers:
"It's one thing for those Eighth Route Army guerrillas to cause trouble inside the Great Wall, but how dare they run wild on our Kwantung Army's territory? They really don't know their own limitations!"

He paused, then slammed his hand on the table and said:
"We must let these guerrilla guerrillas taste the might of our Kwantung Army and let them know that Rehe is not a place they can come and go as they please!"

Not long after, Sato gave the order:

Send an infantry battalion (about 800 men) to cooperate with more than 2,000 puppet Manchukuo troops toward the advance team's location that they had scouted.

The area around Majiayu, southwest of Chifeng, was swept away.

In Sato's view, the advance team was just a "small force" of more than 600 people.

A Japanese battalion plus more than 2,000 puppet troops, more than five times the strength of the enemy, was enough to completely wipe out this group of "local guerrillas".

This was the arrogance of the Kwantung Army. Even though they were just local garrison troops, they did not take the anti-Japanese armed forces behind enemy lines seriously. They dared to send troops to sweep through the enemy's territory without even figuring out the combat capabilities of their advance teams.

Even more absurdly, in order to "prevent the advance team from escaping," Sato ordered these three armies to set off from three different directions:
One group headed north from Chengde, another south from Chifeng, and yet another west from Pingquan, aiming to encircle and wipe out the advance team in one fell swoop.

But Liu Tengjie had already anticipated Sato's wishful thinking.

Liu Tengjie knew that the advance team's large-scale operation in Chifeng would inevitably provoke a counterattack from the Japanese army sooner or later.

The Japanese army's mopping-up operation was exactly what he had expected.

When the scouts reported that "the Japanese army has sent a battalion plus more than 2,000 puppet troops to sweep through the area in three routes,"

Liu Tengjie was setting up a map with the political commissar under a kerosene lamp when he heard this, and he couldn't help but laugh:

"These Japanese Kwantung Army soldiers are really arrogant. Do they really think we're still the same old Eighth Route Army without guns or cannons?"

"I wonder what those Japanese devils we wiped out in northern Shanxi would think if they knew this."

"Then let's send these little devils down to ask those Japanese devils," the political commissar of the advance team said with a smile.

The two exchanged a glance and quickly reached a consensus:
beat!
We must not only fight, but fight beautifully.

This battle was not only to thwart the Japanese army's mopping-up operation, but also to let the people of Chifeng know the truth.

The advance team was not only good at suppressing bandits, but also at fighting the Japanese. They were a truly capable unit that could protect them.

How to fight is a skill. A head-on confrontation is definitely not an option. A Japanese battalion is already quite strong, and with the addition of more than two thousand puppet troops, their strength is more than five times that of the advance team.

If it were a direct confrontation, even if the advance team consisted of elites, they would still have to pay a considerable price.

Moreover, the Japanese army had a solid stronghold in Rehe, and if they couldn't win, they could send reinforcements.

The advance team went deep behind enemy lines without any friendly support. Once they suffered heavy losses, it would be difficult to replenish their ranks.

Therefore, we can only outsmart them:

First, find the weakest of the three Japanese and puppet troops, launch a brilliant ambush, and dampen their morale.

We will continue to use the old methods of mobile warfare and guerrilla warfare to gradually wear down the remaining two routes of troops and slowly "gnaw" them out.

After repeated deliberations, the advance team set its sights on the route that started from Chengde.

This route consisted of only one Japanese company, along with over six hundred puppet troops, making it the weakest compared to the other two routes.

Moreover, the route they were going to take happened to pass through a mountainous area called "Wolf Den Gully," where the mountains were high and the forests were dense, making it perfect for an ambush.

Liu Tengjie pointed to Langwogou on the map and said to the cadres:

"This group is our 'good food'. Let's eat them up first, and then use the mountainous terrain to deal with the other two groups of Japanese soldiers."

Once the plan was finalized, the advance team immediately sprang into action:

The soldiers worked through the night to organize their equipment and check their weapons and ammunition;
The scouts set off again to confirm the marching route and time of the Japanese and puppet troops.
When the local people heard that the army was going to fight the Japanese, they came to help.

Some helped carry ammunition, some guided the soldiers to familiarize themselves with the paths of Langwogou, and others helped the soldiers make rations.

"Children, take plenty, so we can fight the Japanese devils!"

At midnight on August 6th, Langwogou was completely silent, with only the rustling of leaves in the wind.

The Japanese and puppet troops who set off from Chengde are currently stationed on an open area at the entrance of Langwogou.

The Japanese soldiers and their puppet troops were stationed separately, with the Japanese tents in the middle and the puppet troops' tents on the outer perimeter. Several sentries stood listlessly outside the tents, holding rifles and occasionally yawning.

"action!"

At Liu Tengjie's command, the special operations team soldiers, who had been lying in ambush in the nearby mountains, moved forward like cheetahs.

Dressed in dark clothes, they approached the sentry silently under the cover of night.

Two Japanese sentries were chatting against a tree trunk when, before they could react, the soldiers slit their throats with daggers, without them even uttering a sound.

After eliminating the sentries, the main force immediately launched an attack on the Japanese tents.

"Bang bang bang!"

Several grenades were thrown in first, and the tent was instantly blown to pieces, with flames shooting into the sky;
"Rat-a-tat-tat!" The sounds of light machine guns and submachine guns rang out one after another, and bullets swept towards the Japanese soldiers in the tent like tongues of fire.

Many Japanese soldiers were still asleep when they were awakened by the explosion. They frantically tried to reach for their guns, but as soon as they got up, they were shot down by soldiers who rushed in through the door.

A Japanese sergeant tried to organize resistance, but as soon as he raised his sword, he was shot in the chest by a sniper and fell to the ground motionless.

The sharpshooter platoon was lying prone on the hillside, using the firelight from inside the tents to accurately snipe the Japanese soldiers.

They worked together exceptionally well: one squad of soldiers specifically kept an eye on the Japanese officers, sergeants, and machine gunners.

These people are the "backbone" of the Japanese. As long as they are eliminated, the Japanese will become "headless flies".
The remaining soldiers indiscriminately sniped ordinary Japanese soldiers; with each shot, a Japanese soldier fell.

In just ten minutes, more than a hundred Japanese soldiers were killed in the tent.

The remaining Japanese soldiers tried to break out of the camp, but as soon as they ran out, they were surrounded by the soldiers guarding the outside and quickly wiped out.

At this point, the puppet troops on the periphery finally realized what was happening.

Hearing the explosions and gunshots, they knew the Japanese soldiers were under attack, so they grabbed their guns and ran towards the Japanese tents.

However, these puppet troops had little fighting spirit to begin with. When they saw that the Japanese tents were burned to a crisp and that the ground was littered with Japanese corpses, they panicked.

Some of the puppet troops had guns, but dared not charge forward; some even quietly retreated, hoping to escape in the chaos.

The advance team didn't give them a chance to escape.

After dealing with the Japanese soldiers, the soldiers immediately turned their guns on the puppet troops.

The advance team consisted of elite soldiers selected from the independent detachment. They were not only accurate marksmen but also skilled in bayonet fighting. In addition, they had just defeated the Japanese and were in high spirits.

The puppet troops had never seen such a scene before.
In the past, when they fought against the anti-Japanese armed forces, the enemy either had no guns or cannons or was not strong in combat.

But the advance team was different. Not only were they well-equipped, but the soldiers were also fearless. The soldiers at the front charged into the ranks of the puppet troops with their bayonets, and the puppet troops were so frightened that they retreated one after another.

"Surf the gun and don't kill!"

The soldiers' shouts echoed in the night sky.

The puppet troops, who were already demoralized, put down their guns upon hearing this.

Some squatted on the ground, their hands covering their heads;
Some simply turned and ran, fleeing towards Chengde.

The advance team had limited manpower; the main force was used to attack the Japanese, and the remaining troops could only hold the main road intersections.

There was no way to seal off the entire Wolf Den Gully, so quite a few puppet troops managed to escape during the chaos.

"Damn it, these puppet troops are well-equipped, but their combat effectiveness is terrible. However, their ability to escape is top-notch!"

The company commander of the reconnaissance company looked at the fleeing puppet troops and smiled as he spoke to the soldiers beside him.

“Just now, there were a few puppet soldiers who ran faster than rabbits. Our company chased them for miles, but we still couldn’t catch them.”

He paused, then joked:
"If our attack speed could match their escape speed, then we would be the fastest attacking force in the world!"

"Haha, I used to think the Kwantung Army was so powerful, but after seeing it today, I realize they're nothing special!"

The platoon leader of the sharpshooter platoon also came over and said with a smile.

He had just sniped five Japanese soldiers in one go and was feeling quite pleased with himself.

"Don't be careless."

The company commander of the 2nd Reconnaissance Company put away his smile and said seriously.

"This is just a local garrison of the Kwantung Army. If we encounter the Kwantung Army's elite troops, their combat power will be much stronger than this. We cannot be careless."

"Alright, let's clean up the battlefield first. We can talk about it after the battle is over."

Liu Tengjie walked over at this moment. Looking at the weapons and supplies on the ground, he said to the soldiers,

"Hurry up! The Japanese company isn't equipped with a radio, so the message hasn't been sent out yet. We need to finish up as soon as possible and deal with the other two groups of Japanese and puppet troops."

He knew in his heart that the Japanese were currently short of troops.

They had to defend against the Soviet Union, wage counterinsurgency wars within China, confront the Nationalist army, and contend with the US military in the Pacific theater.

The number of troops that can be sent to Rehe is not large to begin with. As long as more can be eliminated, the advance team will have an easier time in Chifeng.

"Yes!"

The soldiers responded in unison and immediately began cleaning up the battlefield.

They quickly gathered the guns, ammunition, and grenades from the ground.

Being behind enemy lines, ammunition is "one less shot fired," and every bullet is extremely precious;

They even stripped the Japanese soldiers of their clothes and packed them all up to take away.

The advance team had no shortage of clothes, but the locals in Chifeng did.

In some families, everyone only has one set of clothes, which is worn by whoever goes to work in the fields.

If we take these clothes back, alter and dye them, we can distribute them to our fellow villagers to help them solve their difficulties.
The soldiers also collected the grain and canned goods that hadn't been destroyed, intending to take them back to their base and distribute them to the villagers.

Under the moonlight, the soldiers' busy figures moved through Wolf Den Gully, the firelight illuminating their young yet determined faces.

In this battle, they not only won, but also gave hope to the people of Chifeng, and let the Japanese army know that there was an anti-Japanese armed force in Chifeng that dared to fight them head-on.

(End of this chapter)