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

Chapter 63 Operational Deployment
Chen Ming was in a good mood after receiving the order.

The Second Independent Regiment was in dire need of equipment when orders came from headquarters.

Now, without needing to ask for permission, the entire regiment can be mobilized to carry out combat operations, allowing them to go all out and fight a big battle.

"Communications platoon, relay my order: have all soldiers of the regiment assemble at Dashiling Village. There is a new combat mission."

"All battalions and companies should return to their posts immediately, and at the same time contact the local armed forces in Meng County and the Railway Guerrilla to cooperate with my Independent Second Regiment."

Chen Ming issued the order.

Today, the Second Independent Regiment's garrison is closest to Meng County, which is only 30 kilometers away from Shouyang, an important station on the Zhengtai Railway.

It was one of the core battlefields of the Hundred Regiments Offensive.

For this mission to sabotage the Japanese army's transportation lines, Chen Ming chose Shouyang Station on the Zhengtai Railway as his target.

The Independent 2nd Regiment was very familiar with the railways used by the Japanese army, and made a lot of money by relying on the railways.

"Commander, let our First Battalion lead the main attack," Dafei volunteered next to Chen Ming.

Due to a shortage of cadres, Dafei served as both deputy regimental commander and battalion commander of the first battalion.

In order to secure the main attack position from the soldiers of the First Battalion, Dafei planned to take on the main attack mission before the other battalion and company officers arrived.

Chen Ming glanced at Da Fei, then continued looking at the map, and casually said:
"Let's discuss it after the other battalions and companies are established."

"Yes."

Dafei nodded dejectedly.

Chen Ming was also thinking that it was time to select an officer to succeed the battalion commander of the first battalion.

Otherwise, if Dafei, the deputy regimental commander, is in charge of future combat missions, and the missions are not handled properly, the soldiers in other battalions and companies will have some concerns.

Things that are detrimental to unity should be avoided as much as possible.

With Dafei no longer serving as battalion commander, he can devote more energy to the work of the regimental headquarters, reducing Chen Ming's pressure.

After receiving their mission, the soldiers in the communications platoon immediately rode their horses to the garrisons of other battalions and companies.

Although Chen Ming forgot to tell Da Fei to fetch the cavalry battalion's equipment, Li Yunlong took it instead.

But Li Yunlong only left behind a company's worth of horses and equipment; the rest were all taken away by the brigade commander, Congratulations on Getting Rich.

The Second Independent Regiment also allocated ten of these horses to its communications personnel to improve communication speed.

Four hours later, troops from various locations gradually assembled at Dashiling Village.

The army of more than two thousand people almost filled the village of Dashiling; there were people everywhere.

Inside the meeting room, after all the officers of the Second Independent Regiment had arrived, Chen Ming began to discuss the battle plan.

"That's the situation. There's a company of Japanese soldiers stationed at Shouyang Station, and about five hundred Japanese soldiers in Shouyang County, which isn't far away."

"Including the Japanese soldiers along the railway line, that means our regiment will face more than 800 Japanese soldiers in this raid on Shouyang."

"Don't worry about the Japanese in Yangquan and Taiyuan. Our regiment will launch the main attack here, and other regiments will simultaneously carry out sabotage along the railway line. The Japanese won't be able to send many reinforcements."

Chen Ming shared the information obtained by his colleagues in the intelligence department with the other cadres.

"Commander, our Second Battalion is willing to take on the main attack mission."

As soon as Chen Ming finished speaking, Li Yousheng, the battalion commander of the Second Battalion, couldn't wait to volunteer for the mission.

“Our Third Battalion’s soldiers are also willing to take the lead in the attack. Our Third Battalion participated in the last mission to ambush the Japanese train. The Second Battalion was responsible for staying behind, and they didn’t have as much experience as our Third Battalion.”

The battalion commander immediately spoke up.

"Bullshit! When our Second Battalion was still the Second Detachment, we had already fought against the Japanese trains with the regimental commander. Back then, we only had a little over 180 men."

"In terms of experience, when our Second Battalion was fighting the Japanese trains, the Third Battalion was still doing nothing!"

Second Battalion Commander Li Yousheng immediately retorted.

“Hey, if that’s what the Second Battalion Commander says, then our First Battalion has something to say. Last time, when we ambushed the Japanese train, it was our First Battalion that took on the main attack mission. We eliminated more than 300 Japanese soldiers and captured the combat supplies of an entire Japanese brigade,” said He Jianxin, the First Company Commander of the First Battalion.

While speaking, he kept giving winks to Deputy Regiment Commander Wang Dafei.

It was as if they were saying, "Commander, say something! The main attack should be our battalion's responsibility."

Wang Dafei sensed the signal from his company commander and pretended not to notice.

He had just been taught a lesson by Chen Ming. As the deputy regimental commander and also the battalion commander of the first battalion, he could not use his authority as the deputy regimental commander to take on missions.

Dafei could only pretend he didn't see it and wait until after the event to talk to the soldiers.

Company Commander He Jianxin was so anxious when he saw his battalion commander and deputy regimental commander pretending not to see him that he almost shouted out loud.

[Battalion Commander, what are you afraid of? You're the deputy regimental commander and the battalion commander of the 1st Battalion. You have the regimental commander's deep trust. If you ask, do you think the regimental commander will disagree?]

These were all thoughts in the company commander's mind.

Dafei definitely didn't know, otherwise he would have said to the company commander, "What am I afraid of? I'm afraid of the regimental commander. If you're so brave, why don't you dare to fight the regimental commander?"

Chen Ming watched as a group of battalion and company officers argued heatedly over who would be the main attacker. If he hadn't been there, a full-blown brawl would probably have broken out.

Normally we're all comrades, and we get along well when we meet. But when it comes to fighting the Japanese, we have to put aside our friendship for now and talk about it after the war is over.

"Alright, stop arguing," Chen Ming said.

The soldiers were excited about the battle and wanted to take the lead in the attack, which was a good thing, but it would be bad if it hurt their feelings.

As soon as he spoke, all the cadres' attention turned to him.

"Commander, give the order. Whether you assign our Third Battalion to lead the main attack or not, it's fine," Wang Gui said with a grin.

"What are you dreaming about?" Wang Dafei spoke up at this moment. "Commander, give the order. Whatever mission you assign, we will carry it out without hesitation."

The other battalion and company commanders all nodded in agreement. If Chen Ming was to assign tasks, then it would all depend on their abilities.

"Alright, then I'll give the order." Chen Ming drew a few lines on the map with a pen and began to speak.

"Deputy Regiment Commander Wang, please take note of this. I have made the following arrangements."

"With the first battalion and one company, and the first guerrilla detachment, strengthen the defense line and block the enemy in Yangquan; the second battalion, the second guerrilla detachment, the third guerrilla detachment, and the regimental-level machine gun company and artillery company, will be responsible for attacking Shouyang."

"The first battalion, the second company, the third company, plus a county brigade and two district squads, are blocking reinforcements from the Taiyuan direction along the Caogou Village line."

"The engineering company, reconnaissance company, and railway guerrillas will sabotage the Japanese railway along the east-west direction of Shouyang Station."

"The Third Battalion will remain in the general reserve. County brigades, district squads, and guerrilla units in various regions will destroy all bridges and roads within the defense zone to prevent the Japanese army from quickly reinforcing the area."

"At the same time, a telegram was sent to the headquarters of the 386th Brigade, requesting Ding Weizhi's New First Regiment to monitor Yuci and Li Yunlong's Independent Regiment to monitor Mengxian and block enemy reinforcements."

"Okay, repeat it again."

After Chen Ming finished explaining the battle plan, Da Fei repeated it.

"With the first battalion and one company, and the first guerrilla detachment, strengthen the defense line and block the enemy in Yangquan; the second battalion, the second guerrilla detachment, the third guerrilla detachment, and the regimental-level machine gun company and artillery company, will be responsible for attacking Shouyang."

"The first battalion, the second company, the third company, plus a county brigade and two district squads, are blocking reinforcements from the Taiyuan direction along the Caogou Village line."

"The engineering company, reconnaissance company, and railway guerrillas will sabotage the Japanese railway along the east-west direction of Shouyang Station."

"The Third Battalion will remain in the general reserve. County brigades, district squads, and guerrilla units in various regions will destroy all bridges and roads within the defense zone to prevent the Japanese army from quickly reinforcing the area."

"At the same time, a telegram was sent to the headquarters of the 386th Brigade, requesting Ding Weizhi's New First Regiment to monitor Yuci and Li Yunlong's Independent Regiment to monitor Mengxian and block enemy reinforcements."

After listening to Dafei recount his battle plan word for word, Chen Ming nodded.

"Alright, execute the combat orders. All battalions and companies, move to your designated combat positions and await the attack signal from the brigade headquarters."

"Yes."

P.S.: Yesterday's chapter was removed by the review committee, and I haven't been able to post any subsequent chapters due to the ongoing plot. I'm making up for it today, and I also want to pay homage to the classics. This isn't just filler; I feel it's a shame to miss even a single word. The two names suggested by readers of the "Anonymous" section have also been used. If you want to fight the Japanese, you can leave your name here.

(End of this chapter)