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

Chapter 23 Result
"By the way, you guys also contributed to this capture. I'll give you ten guns later," Tiesheng said.

His squad now has more guns than men, and they're rolling in money.

The opposing platoon, consisting of over thirty men, only had a dozen or so guns and not many bullets; otherwise, they wouldn't have been chased by more than twenty Japanese soldiers.

"How could I possibly accept this? You were the ones who came to my aid; how could I possibly take your spoils?" the platoon leader said, rubbing his hands together.

“We’re all friendly forces. Our captain even knows your regimental commander. We’re all comrades, so why are you being so formal?” Tiesheng said.

"Then I won't refuse anymore," the platoon leader said with a smile.

He was Li Yunlong's soldier. The regimental commander had taught them that it was foolish not to take advantage of a good deal.

After cleaning up the battlefield, Tiesheng and the platoon leader led their troops to retreat quickly to prevent the three fleeing Japanese soldiers from tipping off the enemy and calling for reinforcements.

After hiding in the mountains, the two teams separated. Tiesheng gave the other side ten guns, but they were not Japanese Type 38 rifles; instead, they were guns that had been captured from puppet troops.

The platoon leader was overjoyed and held onto the ten guns tightly, reluctant to let go.

He doesn't care what kind of gun it is; as long as it can draw out pus, it's a good ointment.

Three months passed in the blink of an eye, and 40 years have already gone by.

During these three months, in addition to Ping'an County, the soldiers of the district squad also operated in various surrounding counties, specifically targeting small groups of puppet troops and traitors.

For a time, the atmosphere was tense and fearful. The puppet troops and traitors in Ping'an County and several surrounding counties dared not even leave their homes. Even when they did, it was only a minimum of one company of puppet troops.

Otherwise, they could be ambushed, crippled, or even wiped out.

The Japanese soldiers were also extremely annoyed, although the sudden appearance of troops in various places did not cause them much harm.

The main purpose was to deal with puppet troops and traitors; they dared not confront them directly, but it still greatly affected their rule over the occupied areas.

The Japanese soldiers wanted to encircle and annihilate these troops, but they couldn't find a single hair on them. These troops liked to operate at night, appearing and disappearing like ghosts, and they couldn't find them in the dark.

Once daytime arrives, it's as if it never existed; you can't find a trace of it.

The people of northwestern Shanxi suddenly discovered that the puppet troops and traitors who used to bully them had stopped coming out recently, and their lives had improved.

Meanwhile, Chen Ming's second detachment ambushed the Japanese everywhere, drawing their attention and even infiltrating the area around Taiyuan, where they blew up a Japanese train transporting weapons and equipment. In the end, they were surrounded and intercepted by a Japanese battalion.

If Chen Ming hadn't had a three-dimensional combat map and understood the surrounding terrain, they would have almost been cornered by the Japanese.

Finally, through various tactical maneuvers, he led the Japanese troops in circles in the mountains for half a month. Using traps, booby traps, and poison, he caused considerable casualties among the Japanese soldiers before they finally gave up and stopped their encirclement and suppression of Chen Ming's team.

After escaping the Japanese pursuit, Chen Ming led his troops back to the district squad's base and sent out a communications team to call back the troops who had gone out.

It has been 40 years now, and it won't be long before the Japanese launch a large-scale mopping-up operation. It's too dangerous for the troops to stay outside any longer.

Ten days later, all teams in the district squad returned to their posts.

For a time, the entire Yanxia Village was overcrowded.

"Tell me, how's everything going lately?"

Chen Ming looked at the excited squad leaders and sub-squad leaders and spoke up.

"Captain, guess how many people are in our first squad this time?"

Dafei kept everyone in suspense before speaking.

"Let me guess." Chen Ming kicked Da Fei in the butt.

He even dares to make fun of himself; he's gone too far.

"Captain, I was wrong. Please don't kick me anymore. At least give me some face. There are so many people here."

Dafei dodged and begged for mercy repeatedly.

"Hahaha."

The other squad leaders and sub-squad leaders laughed heartily as they watched Dafei get kicked by Chen Ming for showing off.

"Captain, in the past three months, our platoon has expanded from ninety-seven men to three hundred and twenty, with more than two hundred rifles, twelve light machine guns, one heavy machine gun, and two 75mm Shanxi-made mortars," Dafei said hurriedly.

"Not bad, you've got some skills, kid," Chen Ming praised.

"Hehe." Dafei scratched his head, a little embarrassed.

"What about the third team?" Chen Ming asked Wang Gui, the third team leader.

"Captain, our third squad did not capture any artillery, but the squad has grown to 278 men, more than 300 rifles, seven light machine guns, two heavy machine guns, and the equipment of a cavalry company."

Wang Gui puffed out his chest and said proudly.

"You're quite capable too," Chen Ming said to Wang Gui.

"Now, let me tell you about the Second Squad," Chen Ming continued. "This time, I led the Second Squad to the vicinity of Taiyuan to specifically target and attack the Japanese supply lines."

"The number of people in the team has not increased much, only from 120 to 180. However, each person is equipped with a Type 38 rifle, 11 light machine guns, 3 heavy machine guns, 4 Shanxi-made 82mm mortars, 1 Type 92 infantry gun, and some other supplies."

When the group of commanders and soldiers heard Chen Ming say this, they immediately gasped.

Be nice!

That's a Type 92 infantry gun, not a mortar.

Moreover, the guns captured by the captain were all Type 38 rifles, which were only used by the Japanese.

It's self-evident what this means.

They only dared to ambush puppet troops, traitors, and bandits, while the captain led the second detachment to fight the Japanese.

The soldiers were well aware of how strong the Japanese soldiers were; it could be said that one hundred Japanese soldiers posed a greater threat to them than five hundred puppet troops.

"The captain is awesome!"

"As expected of the captain."

“Yes, yes,” Wang Gui echoed.

According to the soldiers' statistics, Chen Ming said that in this operation, they eliminated more than 700 puppet troops, more than 300 traitors, more than 400 bandits, and more than 300 Japanese soldiers.

The district squad itself also suffered significant casualties, with over two hundred soldiers killed and over three hundred wounded.

The bandits were mainly eliminated by Wang Gui and his team. Ever since he tasted success in the first bandit suppression campaign, he became obsessed with it. He led his team to wipe out any bandits who were harming the people.

The traitors were mainly eliminated by the Third Squad. Wang Gui was the squad leader of the Third Squad. He was from Xiaowangzhuang. Xiaowangzhuang had been betrayed by traitors before, and he hated them to the core.

After the division of troops, he led his team to eliminate traitors everywhere. The traitors helped the Japanese to harm the people and also became very rich. Among all the squads in the district, the Third Squad seized the most money.

The Japanese were mainly eliminated by Chen Ming and his team. He led his team to specifically target the Japanese transport convoys to draw the Japanese attention away from them.

As for the puppet troops, they were just killing two birds with one stone; each unit was eliminated.

After tallying all the results, Chen Ming was shocked.

Including the wounded and non-combatants, his district squad now has more than a thousand people.

More than 800 rifles, more than 30 light machine guns, 7 heavy machine guns, 6 mortars, 1 Type 92 infantry gun, a certain amount of ammunition, and the equipment of a cavalry company.

This time they really struck it rich.

Chen Ming was overjoyed, and the corners of his mouth turned up so wide that even AK couldn't suppress it.

"Chen Ming, congratulations on your fortune!"

At this moment, a voice pulled Chen Ming back from his joy. Chen Ming's smile froze, and he subconsciously said...

"What kind of fortune are you talking about? We're so poor we're practically selling our pants."

(End of this chapter)