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

Chapter 37 Learning Opportunities

Stepping out of the conference room, a group of headquarters cadres had already gathered around a pile of captured supplies, touching the Type 92 infantry guns with their left hands and the mortars and heavy machine guns with their right, clearly delighted with them.

Upon seeing the arrival of the leaders, all the cadres stepped aside, but their eyes remained fixed on the pile of spoils.

The leaders were delighted with the large amount of spoils they had captured, and smiles appeared on their faces.

Among them, the happiest were the division commander and the brigade commander.

In accordance with the principle of prioritizing the allocation of captured weapons and equipment to the capturing units, most of the spoils from this operation will end up in the divisions.

The brigade commander had been thinking about this, and now the weapons and equipment for expanding the Second Regiment were secured.

"Good. Let's put the weapons and ammunition into storage first, and distribute them later. Send the medical supplies to the hospital." the boss said.

Upon hearing the commander's order, the soldiers transported and stored all the weapons and ammunition.

More than a thousand urgently needed medical supplies were delivered to the hospital.

The Eighth Route Army lacked medical supplies, and with these supplies, many wounded soldiers could be saved.

Afterwards, the commander looked at Chen Ming and said, "We will issue a notice on the specific handling of your case later. For now, go back to your regiment and reassure the soldiers of the Second Independent Regiment."

The Second Independent Regiment had just experienced a major battle and suffered considerable casualties. It was precisely the time when Commander Chen Ming was needed to comfort the troops and handle the aftermath.

Hearing his boss say that, Chen Ming knew that his problem was probably not serious, and he quickly thanked him.

"Thank you, boss. Thank you, boss."

"Don't thank me. Just lead the Second Independent Regiment well and don't let me down on the battlefield."

"Make sure to complete the mission."

Chen Mingli stood at attention and saluted, solemnly assuring them.

"Alright, let's take the soldiers back."

"Yes."

After Chen Ming left, the group of leaders returned to the conference room and began reading the booklet written by Chen Ming.

After everyone had finished reading, the division commander spoke first.

"Chen Ming, that kid, fought this battle very methodically and beautifully. His political work skills are also quite good. He's a talent."

"That's right, the battle plan was excellent. After ambushing the Japanese train, we annihilated more than 300 Japanese soldiers on the train in less than half an hour. On the way back, we ambushed more than 300 pursuing Japanese soldiers again."

"Afterwards, taking advantage of the fact that the Japanese did not know the exact number of his troops, he played a trick of substitution, making two infantry gun models to disguise as a large force, attracting the Japanese main force and allowing the main force transporting supplies to successfully withdraw."

"Surrounded and pursued by tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers, they astutely discovered the weak points in the Japanese encirclement. A force of one hundred men broke through four lines of defense in succession, completely outmaneuvering the Japanese."

The brigade commander also spoke up for his old subordinate, Chen Ming.

He genuinely liked subordinates like Chen Ming, who were capable of developing troops, fighting battles, had a keen sense of opportunity, and excelled in political work.

The other leaders also nodded in agreement with the brigade commander's words.

To be honest, if they were in that situation, surrounded by tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers, they would also be confident in leading their troops to break through, but they might not have been able to do it as easily as Chen Ming.

Just like Chen Ming could clearly judge all the Japanese soldiers' movements, every attack was aimed at the Japanese soldiers' weak points.

"I think after this sweep, we should send him to the rear to learn and train properly. Maybe he can become a capable leader. I'd also like to meet him," the boss decided.

The other commanders all agreed, while the brigade commander was secretly pleased for Chen Ming. He hadn't expected that the booklet on handling prisoners of the puppet army that Chen Ming had submitted would garner such attention.

Afterwards, the leaders launched a counter-offensive strategy to deal with the Japanese army's large-scale mopping-up operation.

Having learned of the Japanese army's actions so far in advance, it would be a disservice to the intelligence gained at the cost of so many soldiers' lives if we didn't seize the opportunity to inflict heavy losses on them.

Chen Ming, who had returned to the Second Independent Regiment, was unaware that he had already made a name for himself in the commander's mind. He was still planning to be sent to the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University for study after the Japanese mopping-up operation ended, just like Ding Wei.

If he knew, he would be so happy he wouldn't be able to sleep.

However, Chen Ming is currently in charge of the post-war work of the Independent Second Regiment.

In this battle, the 2nd Independent Regiment lost more than 400 soldiers, nearly half of its casualties.

Fortunately, we no longer lack weapons and ammunition. With weapons, we can quickly rebuild our troops and restore our combat effectiveness.

The Second Independent Regiment resumed recruitment and reported to its superiors, absorbing some militiamen from county brigades and district squads in several surrounding counties.

In addition to fighting guerrilla warfare and assisting the main force in combat, the militia also had the task of supplying soldiers to the Eighth Route Army.

These are all soldiers who have participated in combat. Their quality is much better than that of untrained recruits, and they can form combat effectiveness more quickly.

The Japanese will begin their mopping-up operations soon. Only by quickly building up combat capability can we have more confidence in the counter-mopping-up operations.

Recruiting was underway, and on this day, the brigade commander arrived at the Independent Second Regiment with the headquarters' decision on Chen Ming's case.

However, the brigade commander did not go to see Chen Ming immediately, but instead observed the situation of the Independent Second Regiment.

When he saw Li Yong, the company commander of the sharpshooter company, leading his soldiers in training on the 300-meter target, he was immediately taken aback.

Be nice!

To be able to accurately hit a target from 300 meters away, that's what makes a sharpshooter.

This kind of treasure would be a valuable asset in any unit. When fighting the Japanese, they would specifically target the Japanese firing positions and officers, which often provided an opportunity to turn the tide of battle.

Chen Ming's Independent Second Regiment actually had a company of such sharpshooters, and judging from the other battalions and companies, their marksmanship was also quite good.

The brigade commander was greatly shocked. How exactly did Chen Ming train his troops? How did he manage to have so many soldiers with excellent marksmanship?

Suppressing his shock, the brigade commander arrived at the shooting range.

Li Yong, the sniper company commander, had met the brigade commander before. Upon seeing the newcomer, he immediately saluted.

"Brigade Commander, what brings you here? I'll send someone to inform the regimental commander right away."

The brigade commander waved his hand: "I'm just here to take a look. I won't notify your regimental commander this time."

His subordinates all liked to keep their abilities hidden, especially Li Yunlong, who always complained about being poor.

One phrase is "So poor they're practically pawning their pants," and the other is "So poor they're practically begging for food."

As it turned out, the brigade commander secretly went to Li Yunlong's new regiment last time, and wow, they had light and heavy machine guns and mortars.

They even came to me crying poverty and confiscated two light machine guns and fifty rifles from me!
P.S.: There are some things I can't write too much about, so this is all I can do. The censorship gods are too terrifying.

P.S.: Well, part of it has already been deleted. Military topics are just hard to write about.

(End of this chapter)