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

Chapter 262 Special Forces on the Move!

During the rectification campaign, Zhang Zhengze demonstrated his decisive and efficient approach.

During this period, a number of cadres were removed from their posts, while a number of cadres were promoted.

Those cadres who remained true to their principles and stayed grounded were not affected, while those who were impetuous and radical were criticized.

The saying goes, "A bad soldier is just one bad soldier, but a bad general is a bad general."

Among them, the cadres of Kong Jie's unit were the least affected.

Kong Jie is a down-to-earth and honest man. The kind of leader you are determines the kind of troops you lead.

Influenced by Kong Jie, Kong Jie's unit was the most steadfast unit in the Independent Detachment and was highly praised in this campaign.

The department most affected was Ding Wei's department, where a number of cadres were disciplined.

Ding Wei was not an honest and obedient person. In addition, Ding Wei's troops and cavalry detachment were in the north, where they fought the most battles and captured the most spoils from the Japanese troops stationed in Mongolia and the puppet Mongolian troops.

Having fought many battles with the now weak Mongolian garrison and puppet Mongolian forces, the unit developed the idea that even the Japanese were nothing special.

He's just been beating too many newbies and thinks he's a top player.

There's not much to say about the outcome. Chen Ming directly transferred Ding Weibu, the political commissar, to study with the old political commissar for a period of time before he returned.

Let the old political commissar give him a good lesson and teach him what it means to govern an army.

Otherwise, if things continue to develop like this, people will really think they are the most important person in the world.

Chen Ming did not want any officers like Li Yunlong to appear in his troops.

Of course, this is not to say that Li Yunlong was a bad cadre.

From a personal perspective, Chen Ming, like the brigade commander, greatly admired cadres like Li Yunlong.

Because Li Yunlong possesses both the bravery and wisdom of a soldier, as well as the cunning and ruggedness of a peasant.

Loyal and righteous, courageous and courageous, with leadership qualities, capable of leading a highly motivated and disciplined unit.

However, from the perspective of the entire military, Chen Ming did not like Li Yunlong.

The independent detachment is now transforming into a regular army.

In a well-organized army, each unit is closely connected like a cog in a machine.

The task of these gears is to work together precisely and efficiently, transforming the strategic intentions of the supreme command into absolute advantage on the battlefield without any loss.

They each have their own functions, yet they are all interconnected.

The operation of all these gears depends on the "main shaft" of the command center.

Adjust the spindle drive direction and speed to ensure that each gear is in the correct position at the correct time.

The jamming or detachment of any gear can trigger a chain reaction, leading to reduced efficiency or even paralysis of the entire system.

Therefore, the strength of a truly standardized army lies not only in the hardness of each individual gear, but also in the near-perfect meshing between them.

This synergy is manifested in shared battlefield intelligence, unified operational doctrine, seamless communication, and absolute mutual trust.

Ultimately, when tens of thousands of gears—from individual soldiers to divisions and brigades—all roar and turn in the same rhythm, what is revealed is no longer a simple accumulation of troop strength, but a devastating and unstoppable war behemoth.

It is as precise as a clock and as violent as a tsunami, crushing all scattered resistance with its steel-like integrity.

This is the ultimate manifestation of how a regular army transforms organizational power into victory.

Gears are not allowed to have other ideas.

Otherwise, what if a gear suddenly had a whim: "Hey, I don't want to be a gear anymore, I want to be a screw, because I think screws are more useful than gears"?

If a gear is missing, the entire machine will break at some point, eventually requiring the gear to be removed from elsewhere for repair, which could lead to a chain reaction.

Either the machine is destroyed because of the individual's idea in a single cog.

The independent detachment is being built into a regular army, and what it needs are closely coordinated cogs, not a single cog with its own ideas.

In large-scale military operations, strict military discipline is essential.

So from a personal perspective, Chen Ming really likes Li Yunlong, and they can drink and chat together in their spare time.

From the perspective of a military commander, he didn't like having Li Yunlong-style cadres in his troops.

After a month of reorganization, the troops were refreshed and settled down.

However, Duan Peng, who started this incident, was not affected by his mission.

Half a month ago.

After being criticized by Chen Ming, Duan Peng felt a surge of anger and could only vent it on the Japanese soldiers.

After a two-week trek, Duan Peng led two companies of special forces, totaling more than 200 soldiers, to Baotou.

Their mission was to secretly infiltrate Baotou, locate the Japanese oil depot, and blow it up.

If the Japanese oil reserves in Baotou are destroyed, then the tanks of the Japanese tank division in Baotou will become toothless tigers.

In the major battle next year, they will be unable to break out of Baotou and support the Japanese attack from other directions.

Once they lose their mobility and are completely trapped in Baotou, the urgency for the Japanese to rescue them will be even greater.

After all, they still had some fuel left. Although it wasn't enough to cross the Independent Detachment's base and return to the Japanese war zone, it was enough to at least get them out of the city and fight a few battles.

Without fuel, all the tanks in the division would be grounded and reduced to fixed artillery positions.

Shooting at stationary targets? Chen Ming was overjoyed. He didn't have to do anything; all he had to do was use artillery and incendiary bombs.

They were able to easily annihilate the Japanese 3rd Tank Division.

To prevent the Independent Detachment from encircling and annihilating the 3rd Tank Division after it lost its mobility, the Japanese were taking precautions.

We can only deploy troops to put pressure on them, without giving the independent detachment the opportunity to attack Baotou.

Ordinary pressure was clearly insufficient to restrain most of the main force of the Independent Detachment, so the Japanese were forced to launch an attack ahead of schedule.

Chen Ming was able to seize the opportunity to eliminate more Japanese soldiers when they were unprepared.

Therefore, Duan Peng and the special operations team's mission was crucial, as it determined whether they could force the Japanese to launch an attack ahead of schedule.

And whether the independent detachment needs to deploy an elite force to prevent the 3rd Tank Division from supporting the Japanese forces from other directions.

"You all know the situation, right? The command has entrusted us with this important task, and we must fight this battle well."

On a mountain 15 kilometers north of Baotou, Duan Peng spoke to two special operations brigade captains.

"Yes, the task is arduous, but we must complete it."

A company commander stated.

"Me too!"

Another company commander echoed this.

"Let's start by talking about what the First Squadron observed," Duan Peng said.

"Yes, our First Company has been secretly observing these past few days, and the Japanese are very strict with the defenses of Baotou."

"It's impossible to sneak in through the main gate. Baotou is under martial law now. No one can come out, and no one can go in."

"As for the city walls, the Japanese kept the city walls under martial law around the clock, and there were always patrols, so it was very difficult to climb over the walls."

"Even if we are lucky enough to find a weak point, once we climb over, we won't know what's behind the city wall, and we could very well end up running into a horde of Japanese soldiers."

The squadron leader began to explain the situation.

"Our Second Company is in a similar situation. The Japanese soldiers in Baotou are now like frightened birds; any slight movement will alert them."

"It was extremely difficult to find the Japanese soldiers' weak points and enter the city."

The second squadron leader said.

Duan Peng's brows furrowed deeply after hearing this. The task was extremely difficult; no wonder Commander Chen Ming had given him the following requirements:
The mission prioritizes the safety of team members. In case of force majeure, the team must retreat immediately and must not act recklessly.

The Special Operations Brigade is one of the most elite forces in the Independent Detachment, and they carry out extremely dangerous missions.

This time, however, Chen Ming emphasized that if something is impossible, one should never force it, which shows how difficult this task is.

It makes sense; for a besieged armored force, the fuel depot is absolutely crucial.

Once the fuel depot is destroyed, this armored force is finished.

As for airdropping fuel, it's theoretically possible, but practically impossible.

A tank division consumes a huge amount of fuel.

With the Japanese's current support and air power, even several months of continuous airdrops wouldn't be enough to exhaust them.

Moreover, airdrops require low-altitude flight, and the independent detachment is not without air defense capabilities.

If any Japanese planes dared to appear in Baotou, they would be met with a barrage of fire from their Independent Detachment's air defense brigade.

Therefore, the oil depots in Baotou are now the lifeblood of the Japanese, and they cannot afford any mishaps.

In this situation, even the most elite special operations teams become helpless.

The soldiers in the special operations brigade are not superheroes, they are not as powerful as they are in novels or TV shows, they are also flesh-and-blood people.

Duan Peng analyzed the situation in his mind and thought of ways to deal with it.

We can't just turn back because of difficulties before we've even started, can we?

There will always be difficulties, and some things always have to be done by someone.

"Captain, can we dig a tunnel into the city?"

The captain of the second squadron asked the question.

"No, it's freezing cold now. The soil is frozen solid, harder than stone. You'd have to use a shovel to dig a hole. Digging a tunnel would be extremely difficult."

"Even if we overcome the difficulties and dig through, it will take too long. By then, the major battle will have already begun, and we may not even be able to dig through."

"Moreover, after the Battle of Datong, the Japanese became more wary of digging tunnels. We were very likely to be discovered, and the risk was high, and we might not be able to complete the mission."

Duan Peng replied.

Digging tunnels was not feasible; the idea had crossed his mind, but he quickly rejected it.

Baotou is located on the Yellow River alluvial plain, where the soil is sandy and lacks cohesion, making it difficult to stabilize the tunnel structure.

With the harsh winter weather, it was even more impossible to dig a hole.

Instead of wasting a lot of manpower, resources, and time on a method with a low success rate, it's better to think of other ways.

Is there any way to find a breakthrough from within the enemy's ranks?

Duan Peng suddenly said.

A strong fortress is most easily breached from within.

Given the current situation, it is very difficult to enter Baotou from the outside.

The only solution is to change our approach and look for a solution from within the enemy's ranks.

"Captain, are you talking about the puppet troops?"

The squadron leader spoke up.

“That’s right.” Duan Peng nodded and continued:

"The puppet troops are now also besieged by us in Baotou, numbering about five thousand. They may not be entirely of one mind with the Japanese."

"We can find a way to use the puppet troops to help us infiltrate the city."

Upon hearing this, the company commander spoke up:

"But Captain, we've observed that the vast majority of the puppet troops in Baotou are within the outer defense perimeter of Baotou, and we haven't seen any puppet troops enter the city."

"Even the supplies for the puppet troops were transported out of the city by the Japanese soldiers, without the puppet troops being involved."

"The puppet troops themselves can't even get into the city, how can they help us get in?"

The squadron leader described what he had observed.

The troops stationed in Mongolia suffered greatly at the hands of the puppet troops. In many battles, the puppet troops either fled or defected, resulting in heavy losses for the troops stationed in Mongolia.

They no longer trust the puppet troops; their credibility with the Japanese troops stationed in Mongolia has plummeted to negative levels.

The fact that even the puppet troops couldn't enter Baotou city is proof of this.

Even the puppet troops couldn't get in, so how could they possibly help the special forces enter the city?

"If ordinary puppet troops or puppet army officers won't do, what about the puppet army division commander in Baotou?"

"As the commander of the puppet army division in Baotou, the Japanese still need him to assist in the city's defense. Surely they can't even prevent him from getting in?"

Duan Peng spoke up.

The 5,000 puppet troops in Baotou were led by a puppet army division commander. Although it was called a division, the size of the troops was only equivalent to a brigade of a regular army.

This puppet army unit has low combat effectiveness and is composed of a mixed group of soldiers. Those with combat capabilities were eliminated long ago, and now they have almost no combat effectiveness left.

However, the Japanese were in dire need of manpower at the moment, so even though they knew this puppet army was full of good-for-nothings, they had no choice but to use them.

We can't let their own troops fight a war of attrition against the Eighth Route Army on the outskirts of Baotou, can we?
However, the Japanese didn't treat these puppet troops as human beings either, and their food, clothing, and ammunition supplies were severely insufficient.

They were filled with people to fill the lines, with the idea that they would use their lives to wear down the Eighth Route Army, and that their deaths would save on food supplies.

The puppet troops would not willingly die for the Japanese.

Life is your own, why should you eat chaff and wild vegetables and do deadly work?

Defections and surrenders among the puppet troops on the outskirts of the area have been repeatedly prohibited but continue to occur.

Even if the Japanese used the tactic of executing the entire company if one person defected, it wouldn't be very effective.

They could only disperse some troops to monitor the puppet troops.

As a result, the Japanese soldiers became even more distrustful of the puppet troops.

However, the miserable lives of the lower-ranking puppet troops did not affect the comfortable lives of the high-ranking puppet officers.

The Japanese needed them to control the puppet troops, so they were treated quite well.

The squadron leader expressed his concerns:
"Captain, can the puppet army division commander surrender?"

"He was the commander of a puppet army division. Can he accept the fall from being a division commander to surrendering?"

The squad leader's words were very realistic; many people, after losing power and a life of wealth...

He would rather commit suicide than return to an ordinary life.

It is easy to go from poverty to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.

At the same time, senior officers of the puppet army also distrusted our army.

They preferred to surrender to the Nationalist army rather than to our army.

This is caused by a combination of factors, including opposing class positions, heavy historical burdens, and path dependence on the power system.

Therefore, it is extremely difficult to win over the commander of the puppet army division.

“Our special operations brigade may not be qualified, but we can seek help from headquarters.”

"If the leader intervenes, there might be a solution. If that doesn't work, we'll think of other ways."

Duan Peng spoke up.

(End of this chapter)