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

Chapter 252 Chen Ming: Who's so arrogant?
"Report, advance team telegram."

Da Biao brought in a telegram.

Upon hearing the news from the advance team, Chen Ming perked up somewhat.

The advance team ventured deep into the heart of the Kwantung Army, facing extreme danger due to isolation and lack of support.

If danger arises, Chen Ming will be powerless to help.

"Is there any emergency?"

Chen Ming asked with concern.

"The advance team reported that they discovered unusual movements of the Japanese Kwantung Army, with a large number of Japanese Kwantung Army soldiers being transferred to the Rehe region."

"Supplies were also frequently moved around. The advance team even ambushed a transport convoy and captured a mountain gun. They asked the command headquarters if they needed it."

Da Biao then read out the contents of the telegram.

Upon hearing the contents of the telegram, Chen Ming turned his gaze to the map in the office.

"Is the Japanese Kwantung Army finally coming? I thought they would remain indifferent after we made such a big commotion in Chahar, Suiyuan."

"And that kid Liu Tengjie, he actually managed to get his hands on a mountain gun, he's pretty capable."

Chen Ming sighed.

In the past, a single mountain gun would have been enough to move Chen Ming, since it was equivalent to the second-tier long-range firepower of the independent detachment. Chen Ming had sixteen mountain guns at his disposal.

But now, Chen Ming has more than one hundred artillery pieces with a caliber of 75 mm or larger.

In Chen Ming's eyes, a mountain gun was no longer that important.

"Tell Liu Dapao, it's just a mountain gun. I thought it was something big."

"Let him keep it for himself, don't bother me with such trivial matters."

Chen Ming said with a smile.

Liu Tengjie of the advance team was unaware of the formation of the artillery detachment.

Therefore, Liu Tengjie believed that such valuable weapons as mountain guns should definitely be returned to the main force for use.

The starting point was good; even if they were to venture deep into enemy territory alone, they would know to hand over any spoils they captured.

This is much better than Li Yunlong. If Li Yunlong had been released to develop independently, he might have captured something as valuable as mountain guns.

Hiding things is standard practice; handing them over is impossible unless you get caught red-handed and the brigade commander calls you personally.

Chen Ming felt comfortable entrusting the advance team's mission to Liu Tengjie, a cadre with principles and discipline.

After the telegram was sent back to the advance team, Liu Tengjie looked at the contents of the report, scratched his forehead, and muttered to himself:

"When did our old leader become so arrogant? He can't even look down on a mountain cannon?"

"Back then, our independent detachment captured a Japanese mountain gun that had been bombed but could still be repaired. Our old leader treasured it immensely."

“How can you say that?” said Deng Feng, the political commissar of the advance team.

"The commander is showing concern for us by leaving the artillery with the advance team to enhance our firepower."

"In addition, the telegram also mentioned that the leader approved a batch of winter clothing and medicine, which are currently being prepared for transport."

"Even though the commander is thousands of miles away, he is concerned about the situation of our advance team."

Political Commissar Deng Feng was also unaware of the situation of the artillery detachment and could only imagine the cause and effect.

"So that's how it is! No wonder the old leader didn't even want the hillbilly anymore."

"Since the leaders don't want a single mountain gun, let's seize the opportunity while the Japanese are gathering supplies and capture as many more cannons as possible."

"Then we can send them back to support the main force."

Liu Tengjie said with a sudden realization.

"Haha, then we need to hurry. It's already snowing. If the weather gets any colder, not only will the Japanese not come out, but it will also be very difficult for our troops to move out."

Political Commissar Deng Feng began to speak.

“Now we have an opportunity. The reconnaissance unit reports that an armored battalion of puppet troops has appeared in Yuanbaoshan Town.”

"The main weapon of this armored battalion is the Type 94 ultralight tank, and a small number of Type 97 tanks, which are very powerful."

"Although these puppet troops were equipped with weapons that were no worse than the Japanese Class B divisions inside the Great Wall, their fighting spirit was far inferior to that of the Japanese."

"This elite puppet army rarely surrendered, but willpower and fighting ability are two different things."

"How about it? Dare to pull off a heist?"

Deng Feng began to speak.

As Liu Tengjie listened to his own words, he pondered and considered the matter in his mind.

The Type 94 ultralight tank weighs 3.4 tons and is equipped with a 7.7 mm machine gun. A very small number of these tanks were also modified to have a 37 mm cannon.

The car is 3.08 meters long and 1.62 meters wide, which is smaller than a typical family car.

The thinnest part of the vehicle is only six millimeters thick, about the thickness of three bank cards, and can be penetrated by a 7.92-millimeter bullet.

The firepower and armor protection are so weak that it's hard to believe.

Just like covering an engine with sheet metal and then mounting a machine gun and a direct-fire cannon, it doesn't deserve to be called a tank at all.

Let alone anti-tank weapons, even heavy machine guns could easily turn this tank into a sieve.

The Japanese invaders took advantage of the fact that the anti-Japanese armed forces in Northeast China lacked heavy weapons, and didn't even have many heavy machine guns.

Otherwise, these Type 94 tanks would be no different from iron coffins.

Political Commissar Deng Feng had great confidence in this armored battalion, but only the military commander Liu Tengjie could make the battle decisions now.

"The meat's practically delivered to our lips, so what are we waiting for?"

"Fight! We must fight!"

"They're just a bunch of puppet troops. Even if they have tiny tanks, I don't take them seriously."

Liu Tengjie became interested and immediately spoke.

The puppet army possessed armored units, which is why this phenomenon occurred in Northeast China.

Those puppet troops inside the Great Wall, let alone armored units, were lucky if they could even get a heavy machine gun.

Due to its bizarre design, the Japanese Type 92 heavy machine gun was far inferior to the Type 24 heavy machine gun produced by the Nationalist government, which was a copy of the Maxim water-cooled heavy machine gun.

The 24th BC model of the Maxim heavy machine gun was also a standout in the Maxim family.

Its performance is far superior to any machine gun produced by the Japanese.

Therefore, the Japanese soldiers inside the Great Wall sometimes used the puppet army's civilian 24 heavy machine guns.

As for the problem of ammunition shortage? When there is ammunition, the soldiers will use whatever weapons are available.

If we run out of bullets, we can just give them to the puppet troops and let them figure out their own way.

Therefore, the puppet troops inside the pass not only had poor weapons and equipment, but also had difficulty in ensuring the supply of ammunition.

Compared to the puppet troops in Northeast China, they were worlds apart.

However, no matter how good the equipment of the puppet troops in Northeast China was, it was all show and no substance.

An army without faith, no matter how good its weapons, will not have a strong fighting spirit.

This is why Liu Tengjie dared to attack the puppet army armored battalion in Yuanbaoshan Town, even though it was an armored unit, with light infantry.

After Liu Tengjie and Deng Feng reached a consensus on the decision to fight, they began to discuss how to fight.

Even an armored battalion, if it's a puppet army, isn't so easy to take down.

Rushing in recklessly is definitely not an option; it would result in massive casualties, and we might not even be able to defeat the enemy.

Currently, due to the activities of the advance team in the Chifeng area, coupled with the previous major defeat of the Japanese Ninth Independent Garrison, the Chifeng area is now in a difficult situation.

A large number of security forces have now been deployed.

However, the number of puppet troops exceeded 7,000, of which 4,000 came from the Iron Stone Unit, the strongest puppet army in terms of combat effectiveness.

This armored battalion belonged to the Iron Tiger Unit, also known as the Iron Tiger Unit. In addition, there was a large force of Japanese Kwantung Army troops that had been transferred from there.

Therefore, this battle could easily lead to being surrounded and besieged if not handled carefully.

There are too many enemies, and the troop ratio is more than one to twelve, so the risk is very high.

But the bigger the storm, the more expensive the fish; only by taking risks can one obtain extraordinary profits.

The Japanese and their puppet troops would never have imagined that they would be able to deploy such a large force.

An advance guerrilla force of a thousand men dared to attack a well-equipped armored battalion deep within their territory.

"We must be fast in this battle, as fast as we can, even if we don't capture anything, we must strive for speed."

Deng Feng began to speak.

"That's what I think too. According to my plan, once the battle begins, we'll have a maximum of three hours."

"When the three hours are up, no matter how the fighting is going, we must retreat, otherwise we will be surrounded by at least four thousand enemies."

"Even if we manage to break through, the casualties will be considerable."

Liu Tengjie looked at the map and said.

The map shows the deployment of the Japanese and puppet troops as discovered by the advance team, with the various arrangements of the Japanese troops being very clear.

It should be noted that the core strength of the advance team was built on the basis of the original reconnaissance battalion, and reconnaissance was their specialty.

When an army is deep behind enemy lines, the most important thing is to understand the enemy's movements. Knowing yourself and your enemy will ensure victory in every battle.

Therefore, when Chen Ming selected the advance team, he used the reconnaissance battalion as the core and supplemented it with other troops.

The chief of staff of the advance team, also looking at the map, spoke firmly:

"Three hours it is. No matter how tough this puppet army armored battalion is, the advance team of 1,083 soldiers will resolutely take it down!"

The advance team consisted of 1,532 people, of whom 1,083 were combat personnel.

The others are non-combatants, but in an emergency, everyone becomes a soldier.

In addition to the main force, the advance team also developed a militia force of more than 2,000 people under the name of village protection team.

These militia units were mainly responsible for defending villages against bandits.

Sometimes they can even provide support to the main force.

Now, the bandits around the advance team have either been wiped out, fled, or surrendered.

There are no longer any large-scale bandits, only a few scattered individuals, or small groups of a dozen or so.

These bandits are small targets and not easy to wipe out.

With limited manpower, the advance team could not cover all areas, so they could only develop the militia and rely on the strength of the masses to eliminate these bandits.

If ordinary people can take up arms, they can protect themselves and defend the fruits of their labor.

After the three decision-makers in the advance team expressed their opinions, they began to discuss the specific battle plan.

The three unanimously chose a night raid, a specialty of the independent detachment and a forte of the advance team, which was mainly composed of reconnaissance soldiers.

Using the night raid tactic, they had previously thwarted the Japanese Ninth Independent Garrison's sweep and eliminated a large number of Japanese and puppet troops.

This time, they used night raid tactics again, targeting the puppet army armored battalion in Yuanbaoshan Town.

At night, the armored forces of the puppet army can only exert limited effectiveness.

It can also confuse these puppet troops about the direction of the advance team's attack, troop strength, and tactical configuration.

It is a tactic that can enable the weak to defeat the strong.

"In this operation, all combat-capable members of the advance team were mobilized to annihilate this puppet army's armored battalion in one battle."

"After the battle, immediately retreat into the deep mountains to exhaust the energy of the Japanese and puppet troops."

"The mountains will be closed by heavy snow soon. We have stored enough food, and winter supplies will be transported from the rear."

"Even if the Japanese devils have great abilities, they won't be able to do anything to us then."

"After we get through this sweep, we can take advantage of the heavy snow to launch another attack. We can take advantage of the fact that the Japanese are less likely to send reinforcements in winter, and knock down all the bunkers and pillboxes in the surrounding area one by one, and clear out our Chifeng base area."

Liu Tengjie spoke up.

"Yes, after this battle, the main force of our independent detachment will be able to enter the Rehe region to fight next year."

"When we rejoin the main force, our situation of fighting alone will end, and the mission of the advance team will be accomplished!"

Political Commissar Deng Feng said happily.

They already knew about the Independent Detachment's situation in the Chahar-Suiyuan Campaign.

Now that the main force of the Independent Detachment is strong and well-equipped, once it has completely taken control of Chahar and Suiyuan, it will be able to extend its reach into Rehe and into the territory of the Japanese Kwantung Army.

When the main force arrives, let alone a 1.6-strong Iron Stone Army, even ten Iron Stone Army units will not be able to stop the Independent Detachment's advance.

After the three discussed and agreed on the battle plan, they immediately reported it to Chen Ming's command post.

"Report, advance team telegram."

Da Biao delivered the telegram to Chen Ming's office once again.

"Read it aloud," Chen Ming said.

"Yes."

Da Biao read the contents of the telegram aloud one by one.

As Chen Ming listened to the advance team's battle plan on the telegram, he began to calculate the odds of victory and whether there were any oversights in the battle plan.

After careful consideration, Chen Ming slowly spoke:

"Send a telegram back to the advance team, agreeing to their operational plan."

"However, we must prioritize our own safety. If the war goes against us, we must retreat immediately and never linger in battle."

"We have surrounded an entire Japanese tank division in Baotou. Even if we don't eliminate this puppet army armored battalion, it won't affect the overall situation."

“A puppet army armored battalion is nothing compared to the lives of my advance team of over a thousand soldiers.”

After Chen Ming spoke, Da Biao immediately set about replying and sent the telegram to the advance team.

Inside the advance team's command post.

Liu Tengjie and the other two were waiting for a reply from the command center.

They all laughed after receiving Chen Ming's approval of their battle plan.

"Start mobilizing troops immediately, and set the attack time for dawn the day after tomorrow to avoid any unforeseen complications."

"I've got this puppet army's armored battalion in my grasp. No one can stop them, I'm telling you!"

Liu Tengjie said with high spirits.

"Well, I'll get ready."

The chief of staff spoke.

A day later, the vanguard of the advance team successfully moved into the mountains west of Yuanbaoshan Town and hid there.

At the same time, they sent people disguised as civilians to the town to investigate and confirm the situation of this puppet army armored battalion.

At night, the main force of the advance team arrived one after another, bringing with them the captured mountain gun.

Although the Japanese mountain guns were heavy, they could be disassembled into several pieces and transported by mules and horses.

Sometimes, when mules and horses were scarce, several soldiers could carry them on poles.

In this operation, this mountain gun was transported by manpower by the soldiers and served as their only heavy firepower support weapon.

Right now, the puppet army armored battalion in Yuanbaoshan Town is completely unprepared, indulging in revelry and harming the town's shops and residents.

Everything is ready, all that's left is for nightfall!

(End of this chapter)