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

Chapter 283 Assess the Situation and Prepare for the Decisive Battle!
The perspective shifts to the advance team.

After receiving the report probing the strength of the Japanese forces in the Chifeng area, Liu Tengjie immediately assembled his troops.

Today, the advance team has grown to over 2,500 people.

After the supply line to Jining area was opened, weapons and ammunition from the rear could be transported smoothly.

Although heavy weapons were difficult to transport, only light weapons were delivered.

But for the advance team, these weapons were sufficient.

The strategic objective of the advance team was simply to go deep into the Chifeng area to carry out work, develop a base area, and lay a solid foundation among the masses.

They didn't have to fight a decisive battle with the main force of the Japanese army, nor did they have to hold their ground and consolidate their defenses while waiting for the Japanese to attack.

Their combat methods still employed the strategic approach of guerrilla warfare.

The lack of heavy weapons has little impact on the advance team.

Liu Tengjie summoned the political commissar and the chief of staff, and the three began to discuss how to carry out the command's orders.

"That's the situation. The command headquarters ordered us to launch a probing attack on the Japanese as soon as possible to find out their strength and weaknesses."

"If we can find out the true strength of the Japanese, then the command can make better strategic deployments, deal with the attack of the main Japanese force, and win this battle."

"Our mission is extremely important. We must complete it without fail, even if it wipes out our entire team."

Liu Tengjie set the tone from the moment he opened his mouth.

The other two agreed on this point and had no objections.

This battle was extremely important, involving a wide range of areas and a large number of troops; it was a battle that could change the strategic landscape.

All three were revolutionary fighters who had undergone countless trials and were deeply aware of their mission.

"Okay, now that we're on the same page, we should start thinking about where to attack and how to attack."

Liu Tengjie spoke up.

"To find out the true strength of the Japanese, we must attack their important facilities and strike them hard enough to hurt them."

"In the entire Chifeng area, only two places meet the criteria."

"One place is the Japanese aircraft hangar, which is heavily defended and easy to defend but difficult to attack."

"One is Chifeng Railway Station, which is the station of the Yechi Line in the Chifeng area. The line connects it with the Jincheng Railway, together forming an important strategic transportation network for the Japanese Kwantung Army in southwestern Northeast China."

"In my opinion, we should have chosen Chifeng Station as our attack location."

"It's closer to us here, and the terrain is more favorable for an attack."

"At the same time, this was also a military transportation hub for the Japanese, and a key channel for the Japanese to transport troops and supplies to Rehe."

"By attacking here, we can better probe the enemy's strengths and weaknesses."

The chief of staff shared his thoughts.

As the chief of staff, one of the core responsibilities is to act as the commander's "advisor," analyzing the situation and formulating plans for the commander.

The chief of staff's proposal was unanimously agreed upon by Liu Tengjie and political commissar Deng Feng.

In their minds, attacking Chifeng Station was better than attacking the hangar.

The Japanese aircraft hangar was used to send a large number of planes to the Pacific theater.

This aircraft hangar in the Chifeng area has basically become a mere decoration.

Only a few dilapidated reconnaissance planes remain, used for routine reconnaissance to maintain appearances.

The rewards from attacking an airplane hangar far outweigh those from attacking a train station.

Railway transportation was ultimately the main mode of transportation during this period, and its importance far exceeded that of air transportation.

"Okay, let's head to Chifeng Railway Station then. Let's not delay, let's set off tonight."

"Time is of the essence now, we must race against time, and not a moment can be wasted."

Liu Tengjie made the final decision.

After formulating the attack plan, Liu Tengjie immediately reported the situation to the command post.

After receiving the telegram, Chen Ming had no further comments on the advance team's operational plan and objectives.

He was in Shuoxian County, far from Chifeng, so his understanding of the area was certainly not as good as that of Liu Tengjie, the captain of the advance team.

Since the other party thinks it's better to attack the train station, Chen Ming will definitely support it.

After receiving approval from the command, Liu Tengjie immediately conducted a brief pre-battle mobilization.

The importance and urgency of the mission were explained to all officers and soldiers of the advance team.

After the mobilization was completed, he led the troops to set off overnight.

Chifeng Station is a full 50 kilometers away from the advance team's base camp.

Fortunately, the nights in Chifeng in March last for more than twelve hours, a full 12.5 hours.

A 50-kilometer march can be completed in 12 and a half hours.

The advance team was based on a reconnaissance battalion, and most of the officers were former reconnaissance soldiers.

The troops have high physical requirements, and the long-term guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines has honed their ability to conduct long-distance raids.

After ten hours of non-stop marching, the advance team of 1,980 combat personnel successfully arrived in the mountains three kilometers outside Chifeng Station.

Such a rapid march did come at a price.

In winter, the roads are slippery, and after dark there is no moonlight, so you can't see your hand in front of your face.

In order to avoid being discovered by the Japanese, the soldiers did not even carry firearms or flashlights when marching.

They relied entirely on the soldiers in front to clear the way with flashlights covered by cloth, while the soldiers behind pulled the people in front in a continuous line to ensure that no one was left behind.

The urgency, coupled with the environmental conditions, resulted in significant non-combat casualties for the advance team.

Among them, 40 people suffered fractures or sprains, 70 people fell behind due to exhaustion, 12 people suffered sudden illnesses, and 10 people died unexpectedly.

It can be said that the advance team paid a very high price for this forced march.

But in return for this sacrifice, they successfully arrived at Chifeng Station before dawn.

However, the troops are currently exhausted from marching all night.

In order to restore their strength and maintain combat effectiveness, Liu Tengjie ordered the troops to hide themselves and take turns resting for two and a half hours.

The attack was launched half an hour before dawn.

If an attack is launched directly after a long march, the combat effectiveness of the troops will decrease by more than 50%.

The soldiers were extremely exhausted, and some of them were already losing consciousness.

Launching an attack under such circumstances may not only fail to complete the mission, but could also cause huge casualties.

After his experience in the battle when he was still in the district squad, Chen Ming understood that troops must rest and reorganize before launching an attack.

Therefore, he included this regulation in the military regulations, requiring that even in extreme emergency situations, a short rest must be taken after the march.

After the troops began to rest and recuperate, Liu Tengjie immediately ordered the cooks to set up smokeless stoves to replenish the soldiers' energy.

After resting for two and a half hours and replenishing their energy, it was almost dawn.

In another half hour, the sky will be completely bright and it will be daytime.

"Everyone assemble, prepare for battle."

At Liu Tengjie's command, the troops quickly assembled.

Under Liu Tengjie's orders, the troops began to deploy in combat formation.

The artillery began setting up artillery positions, while the infantry began to advance stealthily towards the train station.

There is not much time left for them.

"Reconnaissance Platoon 1, take out the two guard posts on the left side of the train station; Reconnaissance Platoon 2, take out the guard post on the right side, ensuring that the troops can get as close to the train station as possible."

Liu Tengjie personally directed operations from the front lines.

As a unit developed from a reconnaissance force, the reconnaissance soldiers in the advance team are definitely the most elite and have the strongest combat power.

Upon receiving the order, the two reconnaissance platoons immediately took advantage of the time before it was fully light and visibility was poor to sneak towards the Japanese guard post.

To prevent the Japanese from discovering them in advance, their mission was to eliminate these guard posts without firing a shot.

This task is not difficult for a reconnaissance platoon under normal circumstances.

But after marching all night, even after resting for two and a half hours, their strength had not fully recovered.

This significantly increased the difficulty of the task, making it much more challenging.

However, to the surprise of the reconnaissance platoon, the number of Japanese soldiers in the guard post was more than half less than normal.

Originally, it was supposed to be a guard post defended by Japanese soldiers and their puppet troops, but now it was mostly filled with puppet troops, with only a few Japanese soldiers inside.

After figuring out the situation, the reconnaissance platoon breathed a sigh of relief. The puppet troops were far inferior to the Japanese in both combat effectiveness and vigilance.

In addition, it is very close to Chifeng City and the train station.

The puppet troops believed that the small guerrilla groups in the Chifeng area wouldn't dare to attack such a dangerous place.

Their vigilance is even worse.

Finally, after the reconnaissance platoon climbed over the wall and entered the guard post, they dealt with the sentries and then entered the barracks one by one to touch the necks of these puppet soldiers.

But at that moment, an accident occurred.

"Oh!"

A gunshot shattered the silence of dawn.

At that moment, a puppet army sentry hiding in the shadows opened fire.

The puppet army sentry was hiding in a very well concealed position, and the soldiers of the reconnaissance platoon did not find him after entering the guard post.

The puppet army sentry happened to be an early riser. Hearing the slightest noise, he discovered the infiltrated soldier and pulled the trigger.

Caught off guard, a reconnaissance soldier was shot directly in the abdomen, leaving a hole the size of a bowl in his lower back.

When the soldier saw the hole in his waist and was rapidly losing strength, he knew that he had been shot in a vital area and was beyond saving.

As he fell, he used his last strength to raise his pistol and fire two shots in the direction of the puppet army sentries.

The first shot hit the shoulder of the puppet army sentry, but the second shot, due to lack of strength, was deflected by the recoil of the first shot and went nowhere.

"Old Xing!"

When another soldier saw his comrade fall to the ground after being shot, he immediately abandoned his plan to slowly harvest the puppet troops inside the barracks.

After throwing all the grenades he had on him into the barracks, he immediately ran to the side of the fallen soldier.

"Cough cough. Don't worry about me, I'm beyond saving. Cough cough, continue the mission."

"If possible, please bring my ashes back. Bring them back to Xingjia Village."

The soldier who had been shot spoke haltingly, his voice growing softer and softer, before finally asking his comrade to take him home. After that, he went home on his behalf.

His eyelids closed gently, and his stiff body suddenly went limp, as if he had no bones.

"Give me the order to attack!"

Upon hearing the gunshots, Liu Tengjie knew that the reconnaissance platoon had been discovered.

At this point, there was no point in lying in wait any longer, so he launched an attack directly, intending to storm the train station as quickly as possible.

"Bang bang bang!"

"Bang bang bang!"

"Bang bang bang!"

"."

The advance mortar company was the first to fire, launching shells directly into the train station.

The mortar company is equipped with six mortars, including two 82mm mortars and four 60mm light mortars.

The gunshots and grenade explosions had already alerted the Japanese and puppet troops inside the train station.

However, the advance team launched an attack immediately after the sound was heard, and the speed and time were very short.

When the shelling began, the Japanese and puppet troops inside the train station did not have much time to take cover.

The shelling caused considerable casualties.

Unfortunately, due to the small number and caliber of the artillery, there were no particularly large casualties.

Two rounds of shelling killed more than sixty Japanese and puppet troops.

However, the main force of this attack was the infantry.

Under the cover of artillery fire, the infantry no longer needed to lie in wait and advanced; they directly formed an assault formation and quickly charged toward the train station.

The moment the shelling ended, the soldiers at the forefront engaged in firefight with the Japanese and puppet troops inside the train station.

Furthermore, because the Japanese and puppet troops were avoiding artillery fire, they prioritized firepower intensity.

A group of soldiers rushed into the train station, using the terrain to hide in the shadows and providing cover for the main force's attack with their accurate marksmanship.

The Japanese and puppet troops inside the train station were driven into chaos and fled in disarray.

The warning system is really useless; it allowed the enemy infantry to get so close.

One charge sent a portion of the enemy into the train station.

With the large force outside the train station, they are now besieged from both inside and outside.

The poor performance of the Japanese and puppet troops was not only due to their being caught off guard, but also related to their rigid tactics.

The Japanese were adept at launching surprise attacks, but slow to react when faced with a counter-attack.

For example, during the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, the Japanese night raiding force was discovered by a Soviet reconnaissance unit and subjected to heavy artillery fire, but was unable to retreat in time.

The reason was that the Japanese emphasized "all personnel must obey fixed procedures," and the soldiers lacked the ability to respond independently;

Officers mechanically execute orders, ignoring real-time changes on the battlefield.

The Japanese soldiers' fighting spirit relied on "herd mentality," and once a surprise attack disrupted the original rhythm, the soldiers were prone to falling into a state of "chaos without orders."

Of course, the advance team's successful attack was also related to the small number of Japanese and puppet troops inside the train station.

Those two Japanese Kwantung Army soldiers who were mobilized did not actually have any ulterior motives; they were indeed mobilized to Takeshima.

This led to a weakening of the defenses in the affected areas, a decrease in the number of Japanese soldiers, and a corresponding increase in the number of puppet troops.

In addition, the troops defending the train station were not elite Japanese soldiers, which led to a serious decline in combat effectiveness.

After the battle lasted for more than half an hour, the advance team, relying on its numerical superiority and surprise attack, basically took control of most of the train station.

Only a few permanent bunkers remain that cannot be breached.

Lacking heavy weapons, Liu Tengjie had no way to deal with these bunkers.

"We have completed our mission and have thoroughly investigated the Japanese forces' strengths and weaknesses."

"Forget about those bunkers. Destroy all the supplies in the train station and then retreat immediately."

"If we don't retreat now, the Japanese reinforcements will arrive soon, and once we're caught up, it won't be easy to get out."

Liu Tengjie immediately issued the order to retreat.

Their advance team had already completed their mission; there was no need to continue fighting the Japanese's fortified bunkers.

"Yes."

After the order was given, the advance team began to retreat in an orderly manner, leaving only a company of soldiers to continue to hold back the remaining Japanese soldiers in the train station, while destroying supplies.

After the advance team successfully withdrew into the mountains, the Japanese reinforcements arrived.

At first, the Japanese soldiers wanted to pursue, but after being ambushed by Liu Tengjie in a mountain gully, they had no choice but to leave in frustration.

They didn't want to give up, but because of their weak forces, they couldn't support the annihilation of the advance team in the mountains.

If they continue chasing them and get ambushed or surrounded, they're doomed.

So even though they were unwilling, the pursuing Japanese and puppet troops had no choice but to retreat and clean up the mess at the train station.

Seeing the Japanese pursuing troops retreat, Liu Tengjie breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn't want to continue fighting the Japanese anymore. The long march and intense fighting had pushed the advance team to their limits, leaving them with virtually no fighting strength.

This final ambush was actually just a bluff.

If the Japanese pursued relentlessly, Liu Tengjie would have no choice but to leave a portion of his troops behind to cover the main force's retreat.

But for a commander, issuing such an order would be more painful than cutting his own flesh with a knife.

This is because it means that the rearguard troops are essentially doomed.

Fortunately, the Japanese troops were indeed depleted and did not dare to continue the pursuit, which allowed the advance team to escape safely.

After escaping danger, Liu Tengjie immediately reported the situation to the command center, informing them of the situation in the Chifeng area.

The sooner the situation is known, the sooner the command can make adjustments, and the greater the chance of victory.

Compared to the advance team, the main force from Jin-Sui-Rehe-Chahar was clearly more important.

That's a major event that often involves tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people.

After reporting, Liu Tengjie led his troops to a nearby secluded valley to rest and recuperate, intending to restore their combat effectiveness before continuing their movement.

Even if the Japanese wanted to pursue them, they had the strength to fight back.

Inside the command post, Chen Ming and the staff officers, after receiving the report from the advance team, put aside their concerns and began to make deployments.

(End of this chapter)