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

Chapter 75 Li Yunlong's Shocking Moves

After quickly clearing up the battle, all units swiftly withdrew from the fighting.

With the addition of the Independent 2nd Regiment, the 772nd Regiment fought for three hours less than before, and the Independent Regiment no longer needed to waste a lot of time using earth-digging methods.

With sufficient time to evacuate, the transfer process went smoothly.

When the Japanese reinforcements arrived at Lijiapo, they found a large pile of Japanese corpses on the slope, some of them even missing their loincloths. They were furious.

At the First Army Headquarters, a Japanese staff officer entered Yoshio Shinotsuka's operations conference room.

"Reporting, sir, Major General Kawashima of the 29th Brigade is telegraphing."

"read."

"Hai! The 12th Regiment, 5th Infantry Battalion, under the headquarters of the 29th Brigade, was surrounded by a large force of Chinese troops when it swept through Lijiapo."

"Lieutenant Colonel Yamazaki of the Fifth Battalion fought tenaciously against the enemy for a day. In the end, they were outnumbered and the entire Fifth Infantry Battalion, from officers to soldiers, died a glorious death for His Majesty the Emperor."

Upon hearing the staff officer's report, Yoshio Shinotsuka stood up, his tone heavy.

"Which unit of the Chinese army did it?"

"It's the 2nd Independent Regiment of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and the regimental commander is Chen Ming," the staff officer replied.

"It's Chen Ming again. He wiped out the Sakata Brigade and also took Shouyang County," Yoshio Shinotsuka said in surprise.

"Yes, it's Chen Ming."

Do you have detailed information about this person?

"not yet."

"Immediately order the intelligence department to investigate and find out everything about this Chen Ming," Yoshio Shinotsuka commanded.

So many troops have been lost to the Independent 2nd Regiment, and they don't even know the enemy commander's information. How can they fight a war like this?

The Japanese have been plotting against China for a long time, and their intelligence system has been in place for decades. Yet now they don't even know the name of a commander of an enemy's main force regiment.

This is a dereliction of duty by the intelligence system.

"Hai!"

On the Independent Second Regiment's side, Li Yunlong approached Chen Ming and also brought Kong Jie along.

When Li Yunlong saw the equipment of the Independent Second Regiment, he was extremely envious, even though he was desperate for money.

Therefore, he came up with a plan to bring Kong Jie, who had saved Chen Ming, into the picture, and try to build a relationship with Chen Ming to see if he could get some assistance.

"Old Chen, I've missed you so much! It's been half a year since we last met after the Battle of Cangyun Ridge."

As soon as they arrived, Li Yunlong casually climbed onto Chen Ming's shoulder.

"Yes, it's been half a year since the Battle of Cangyun Ridge."

Chen Ming, unsure of the other party's true intentions, simply replied.

Chen Ming still held some goodwill towards Li Yunlong.

Although I dislike their disobedience on the battlefield and their poor discipline, they are also soldiers with guts and the ability to fight.

Overall, I feel more favorably towards them than dislike them.

"Come on, Lao Chen, let's go sit in our Independent Regiment. We were both soldiers under the brigade commander back then, so we're old comrades-in-arms, right?" Li Yunlong invited.

"It's perfect timing that Lao Kong is here too. Let's have a good get-together, a few of us old comrades-in-arms."

"Don't you think so, Lao Kong?"

Li Yunlong winked at Kong Jie.

Kong Jie hesitated, looking somewhat embarrassed, as he recalled Li Yunlong pleading poverty for him.

They say the Independent Regiment has fought several battles and is so poor they're practically urinating blood, while the Second Independent Regiment is rolling in money. They have all kinds of machine guns and artillery, and each soldier has a rifle and they still have some to spare.

Now that we've finally met, we should seize the opportunity to build rapport and see if we can get some weapons and ammunition to improve the situation in the regiment.

Li Yunlong persuaded Kong Jie by explaining the current situation of the Independent Regiment, and in the end, Kong Jie decided to come.

"Yeah, let's go visit the Independent Regiment."

Kong Jie spoke awkwardly.

Chen Ming noticed that Kong Jie's mood was off and roughly understood what was going on.

They've even started targeting him for personal gain, Li Yunlong, you're really something, dragging in honest guy Kong Jie too.

It's unclear what kind of spell Li Yunlong cast on Kong Jie, but the usually honest Kong Jie actually cooperated with him.

“Okay, there’s not much going on in the group right now, let’s go take a look,” Chen Ming said.

Chen Ming might not give Li Yunlong face, but he naturally had to give Kong Jie face since Kong Jie had saved him in the past.

At the headquarters of the Independent Regiment, Chen Ming met Zhao Gang, the current political commissar of the Independent Regiment.

Zhao Gang has a dignified appearance, exuding both scholarly and military air, and radiating a unique aura of faith from within.

Chen Ming really liked Zhao Gang, who was passionate and had strong beliefs.

If I hadn't gone to study back then, and if I hadn't been in the base area when Zhao Gang arrived, Zhao Gang, as the political commissar, would never have ended up in Li Yunlong's independent regiment.

"Hello, Comrade Zhao Gang."

"Hello, Comrade Chen Ming."

The two shook hands pleasantly and formally introduced themselves.

"Come, come, let's go inside and sit down," Zhao Gang warmly invited Chen Ming. Zhao Gang greatly admired Chen Ming, not only for his excellent fighting skills but also for his superior political acumen.

The plan for handling the prisoners of the puppet army that Chen Ming reported has been issued as a document by the higher authorities, and the political commissars have been instructed to study it.

Zhao Gang was deeply impressed by the methods Chen Ming proposed; these were not ideas that could be come up with on a whim.

Such profound policies can only be summarized by combining practical experience with extremely high political literacy.

Zhao Gang admired this cadre who was both a skilled fighter and a politically astute individual from the bottom of his heart.

"Haha, our political commissar often talks about you to me. Now that we've finally met, we must have a good chat." Li Yunlong warmly pulled Chen Ming along.

Deep down, I felt that Zhao Gang, this scholar, was actually quite useful.

Didn't you see that Chen Ming's smile never stopped the moment he saw Zhao Gang?
Upon entering the headquarters of the Independent Regiment, Li Yunlong placed two bottles of sweet potato liquor on the table, along with a dish of peanuts and kimchi.

Li Yunlong knew that Chen Ming was from Hunan and liked spicy food, so he catered to his tastes.

"Old Chen, the Independent Regiment is poor, unlike your Second Independent Regiment. This is all we can offer you." Li Yunlong began to complain about being poor.

"It's alright. The conditions in the Second Independent Regiment aren't good either. I can only drink a little bit of water most of the time, and sometimes there aren't even any peanuts," Chen Ming said.

Li Yunlong keeps complaining about being poor, so he'll complain about being poor too. He wants to see what tricks Li Yunlong can pull.

Hearing Chen Ming say that, Li Yunlong chuckled dryly: "I won't say any more. Today, old comrades are getting together, so we should have a good drink."

Li Yunlong planned to get Chen Ming drunk first. Alcohol is a condiment; after a few sips, they would quickly become acquainted.

"Just a little bit is fine. The Japanese are still determined to destroy us. As the military commander, I absolutely cannot get drunk, so I can deal with any emergencies that may arise at any time," Chen Ming waved his hand and refused.

Taking a few sips of alcohol to moisten your throat is fine, and basically no one will care. But once you get drunk, that's a mistake.

Chen Ming also enjoys drinking, but he only takes a sip each time and never lets himself become unconscious.

If you really want to drink to your heart's content, wait until victory or a celebration banquet, then no one will care how much you drink.

“Commander Chen is right, Lao Li, let’s just have a few sips and call it a day,” Zhao Gang said.

"Alright, alright, my political commissar."

Li Yunlong winked at Zhao Gang, "Didn't we agree on this? Why did you change your mind so quickly, Old Zhao?"

However, since Zhao Gang had already spoken, he couldn't refute him in front of Chen Ming.

“You see, even in matters of daily life, I, as the regimental commander, have to listen to the political commissar,” Li Yunlong said to Chen Ming.

"Haha."

Seeing Li Yunlong's appearance, the group all burst into laughter.

After a few drinks, they started talking more.

When Kong Jie saw Chen Ming, she cried with tears in her eyes, "Sigh, you even sent someone to remind me to strengthen my defenses, but I never expected that we would still fight such a foolish battle in the end."

"I am so sorry for those soldiers who sacrificed their lives."

Kong Jie's emotions were evident, and his eyes reddened.

Chen Ming had warned him beforehand that there was a different group of Japanese soldiers, and ordered the Independent Regiment and several other regiments stationed around the headquarters to strengthen their defenses.

Kong Jie himself took it very seriously, and indeed strengthened defenses, and also discovered Yamamoto's special forces team earlier.

Unexpectedly, due to his command error, he mistook this enemy force for the Japanese soldiers he usually encountered, resulting in the sacrifice of more than eighty soldiers of the Independent Regiment, without leaving behind even a single Japanese corpse.

He felt sorry for the soldiers who sacrificed their lives, for the political commissar and so many soldiers who died in the Cangyunling blocking battle.

The honor they won with their lives in the battle was lost by him, and the Independent Regiment was even given the nickname "doughy dough".

Seeing Kong Jie like this, Chen Ming felt bad too.

Given the Independent Regiment's situation at the time, it was indeed difficult to fight against the well-equipped Yamamoto Special Forces.

It was already quite an achievement to reduce casualties from two hundred to eighty-odd men.

"Old Kong, it's not your fault. Try to think positively. Back then, your regiment was right behind the headquarters. If the Independent Regiment hadn't held off those Japanese soldiers, the headquarters would have been in danger," Chen Ming comforted him.

Chen Ming's words did have some effect.

Kong Jie later realized that, given the elite status of that Japanese unit, they certainly wouldn't have looked down on his Independent Regiment, which was now reduced to a ragtag bunch.

Their primary target was likely the Eighth Route Army headquarters in Daxia Bay.

"Right now, all I want is to lead my soldiers to a victory and wash away the shame that has been tarnished on the Independent Regiment," Kong Jie said, his voice choked with emotion.

Today, in the Battle of Lijiapo, he wished he could personally lead his troops to charge forward and fight the Yamazaki Battalion to the death.

Unexpectedly, the brigade commander did not assign the task to the independent regiment, and Kong Jie naturally lost this opportunity.

He had no feelings for Chen Ming, and he had watched the battle fought by the Independent Second Regiment today.

That was a beautiful play!

The brigade commander was right to send the Independent 2nd Regiment; it would save fewer soldiers from sacrifice, and Kong Jie had no complaints.

"Yes, there will be opportunities," Chen Ming nodded and said.

In the original storyline, the Independent Regiment was ordered to take over the position of the 772nd Regiment. During the charge, Kong Jie personally served as the assault team leader.

He was the first to break into the Yamazaki Battalion's position, and was eventually wounded and carried off the battlefield.

You have to understand that being a commando, especially a commando from the poorly equipped Eighth Route Army, is like risking your life!

Kong Jie, a deputy regimental commander, personally led his men to charge forward, all to wash away the shame he had suffered.

(End of this chapter)