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

Chapter 95 Even if it's half-cooked, we'll still eat it!

The Japanese had already noticed the arrival of the Independent Detachment.

"Reporting to the commander, a large number of enemies have appeared in the west, estimated to be over 10,000, and unidentified enemies have also appeared in the north, estimated to be around 4,000."

The Japanese staff officer reported the intelligence to the Japanese major general brigade commander.

The Japanese major general wiped the command sword given to him by the Japanese general Tianhuang, a confident smile on his face.

"Yoshi, the fish have taken the bait. More than 15,000 enemies. This is an honor for my Fourth Brigade."

"Where are the support troops?"

"Reporting to the commander, the support troops have encountered resistance from the Chinese army and are expected to arrive in another five hours."

"However, the other two infantry battalions of my unit are less than 15 kilometers away and are expected to arrive in a little over two hours."

The Japanese staff officer reported.

"Yoshi, once the two battalions arrive, our unit will be able to coordinate with the surrounding forces to annihilate this enemy force of over 15,000 men."

"Order the troops surrounding the bait to strengthen their defenses and make sure that the besieged Chinese army does not escape. It is not time to take the bait yet."

The Japanese major general had a bright smile.

"Hay."

Fifteen minutes later, the artillery battalion of the independent detachment had set up its positions and adjusted its firing parameters.

As soon as the time came, the artillery position immediately fired a shell.

The shells slid across the sky and landed near the Japanese command post.

Bang!
The shell exploded fifty meters away from the Japanese command post.

"Sir, please get into the fortifications immediately to avoid the artillery fire!" the Japanese staff officer shouted.

Faced with the staff officer's persuasion, the Japanese major general waved his hand.

“Matsuki Army, don’t panic, this is just a few scattered artillery pieces from the Chinese troops.”

"As soldiers of the Empire, we must have courage. I will stand here and watch how the warriors of the Empire will annihilate these cunning Chinese soldiers."

Because various units concealed, underreported, or delayed reporting, coupled with the Japanese army's tradition of destroying weapons even after defeat.

The Japanese major general was unaware that the Independent Detachment possessed a large number of artillery pieces. He believed that it was only by chance that the Eighth Route Army's small number of artillery pieces had hit the area so close to the command post.

The headquarters of the Independent Mixed 4th Brigade was hidden behind a hillside.

Without crossing the mountain, the location of the command post would never have been found.

The enemy doesn't have any surveillance cameras, so how could they possibly discover their location so easily?

The Japanese major general was very confident and wanted to show his courage to his soldiers.

However, before the Japanese major general could feel confident for long, a burst of artillery fire came from the sky.

The Japanese major general's face immediately stiffened; he knew exactly what that voice was!
He looked up and saw countless tiny dots flying toward his location.

Based on the sound, he knew exactly what it was.

It's artillery fire!
Faced with so many shells, the Japanese major general's eyes were bloodshot, his muscles tensed, and he tried to dodge the artillery fire.

However, years of commanding operations have diminished his military skills considerably, and he no longer has the sharp reflexes he once possessed.

At that moment, the Japanese staff officer immediately tackled the Japanese major general, trying to protect him with his own body.

This is clearly useless.

Having already been targeted by artillery positions, and without any fortified defenses, it was wishful thinking to try and protect the Japanese major general with one's own body.

Under the intense bombardment, the Japanese major general and his officers were blown to pieces before they could even demonstrate their abilities.

There were pieces of meat here and there, and it was impossible to tell whose piece it was.

The same thing happened on the Japanese artillery position; a barrage of shells detonated the stored ammunition, resulting in a violent explosion.

The Japanese artillery position, with its 12 cannons, along with the artillerymen and a company of Japanese soldiers protecting them, was all blown to pieces.

"What a pity, my artillery. If I could capture these artillery pieces, I could form an artillery regiment."

After observing the destruction of the Japanese artillery positions through the three-dimensional combat map, Chen Ming felt a pang of regret.

This time, the Japanese forces are numerous, and the artillery positions are located in the heart of the Japanese territory. The possibility of taking them down with elite troops as before is extremely low.

In order to quickly eliminate this group of Japanese soldiers, Chen Ming had no choice but to reluctantly order their destruction.

With the destruction of the Japanese artillery positions and command posts, the remaining Japanese troops became like stray dogs without claws or brains, and began to fight independently.

The First and Second Battalions, under the cover of artillery, demonstrated textbook-perfect infantry-artillery coordination tactics.

Before long, they charged into the Japanese positions.

"Comrades, charge! Let the Second Battalion see that we are the main force of our detachment!"

The soldiers of the First Battalion quickly launched an assault on the core position of the Japanese troops.

Having inherited the honors of the former Independent Second Regiment, they were entrusted with great expectations by Chen Ming.

They cannot betray the honor associated with their unit.

He Jianxin's First Battalion had the best personnel quality and the same firepower configuration among the independent detachments.

With grenade launcher soldiers even more skilled than the Japanese grenade launcher soldiers, the enemy's key positions were wiped out one by one. In close-quarters combat, grenade launchers made up for the lack of close-range support firepower.

The powerful machine gun fire kept the Japanese soldiers on the position from even raising their heads.

"Reporting to command, our position is under fierce attack from the Chinese army. The enemy's offensive is extremely fierce. We request tactical guidance and soldier instructions!"

The Japanese battalion commander on the position was struggling to withstand the charge of the First Battalion and immediately requested reinforcements from headquarters.

However, the Japanese command post had already been destroyed by artillery positions, and his plea for help would no longer be answered.

Without tactical guidance, the Japanese battalion commander gritted his teeth and led his troops to personally take up positions on the front lines.

After the soldiers of the First Battalion rushed into the Japanese position, they immediately engaged in fierce fighting with the Japanese.

In an instant, more than 2,500 people gathered on the core position of the Japanese army, turning it into a veritable meat grinder.

The battlefield was littered with the corpses of Japanese soldiers, the bodies of the First Battalion soldiers, though most of them were Japanese.

Our army doesn't have the habit of unloading bullets. If the Japanese want to fight hand-to-hand, they can dream on.

With machine gun fire, grenades, and grenade launchers, the soldiers of the First Battalion broke through three enemy positions in succession.

The Japanese troops lost their command system and could only fight independently; independent detachments were not an option.

After leaving two battalions of soldiers to hold the positions they had already captured, the remaining two battalions of soldiers broke through to the Baijiazhuang positions.

Luo Jian, the battalion commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Brigade who charged the furthest, also met with Commander Wang of the 714th Regiment, who was surrounded.

"Report: Luo Jian, battalion commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Detachment of the Independent Brigade, has been ordered to cover the retreat of the comrades of the 714th Regiment."

The situation was urgent. Upon seeing Commander Wang, Luo Jian immediately saluted and explained his purpose.

"Good job, comrades."

Commander Wang gripped Luo Jian's hand tightly, his eyes reddening, with great force.

The 714th Regiment has been surrounded by the Japanese in Baijiazhuang for three whole days while covering the evacuation of civilians.

Because they were not equipped with radios and lost contact with their superiors, the 714th Regiment found itself fighting alone.

But they all knew that the organization would not abandon them and would definitely try to mobilize troops to rescue them.

So even when facing an enemy several times their size, with ammunition running out, the entire regiment had less than three bullets per person and only a few hundred grenades, they were in a desperate situation of running out of ammunition and supplies.

They are still persisting.

However, the situation of the 714th Regiment was already very bad. They had run out of ammunition and food, and more than half of their personnel had been killed or wounded. They had been driven to the brink of despair.

Commander Wang and all the soldiers of the 714th Regiment were prepared to perish together with the Japanese invaders; even if they died, they would take the Japanese down with them.

And now, the reinforcements have finally arrived.

After learning about the situation of the 714th Regiment, Luo Jian immediately distributed some ammunition to the soldiers of the 714th Regiment, allowing them to charge together and return to the outside of the encirclement via the original route to rest.

Upon returning to the rear, Chen Ming immediately arranged for medical personnel to treat the wounded soldiers of the 714th Regiment to prevent their injuries from worsening and causing heavy casualties.

Trapped for three days, many wounded soldiers lacked medicine and supplies, and their injuries had worsened, making their situation extremely critical.

Fortunately, knowing that the 714th Regiment was surrounded and the situation was not optimistic, Chen Ming mobilized a batch of medical supplies, enough for the wounded to use.

After seeing that the wounded soldiers had been taken care of, Commander Wang found Chen Ming and asked him to bring the remaining soldiers to join the battle.

"Commander Chen, I want to avenge the fallen soldiers of my 714th Regiment and kill the Japanese devils together."

Chen Ming readily agreed to Commander Wang's request. He immediately replenished the ammunition of the remaining soldiers of the 714th Regiment and arranged for them to join the battle against the Japanese main position.

"Commander Chen, I owe you this favor. I will definitely repay you when I have the chance," Commander Wang said solemnly, taking off his hat.

"It's all for fighting the Japanese devils. Forget about feelings. If you want to thank me, lead your soldiers to kill more Japanese devils and bring them your dog heads as thanks," Chen Ming said.

"it is good."

While the first battalion was attacking.

The Third Battalion also simultaneously advanced towards the Japanese positions at Guanfengkou.

Guanfengkou was located at the junction between the puppet army and the Japanese army, and was only guarded by a company of Japanese soldiers.

Faced with the Independent Detachment's artillery battalion's seemingly unlimited artillery fire, the Japanese soldiers were bombarded so badly they couldn't even lift their heads.

"Hurry, hurry, charge! If we're any later, the first brigade will have eaten all the meat."

Wang Dafei personally led his troops in a fierce attack on the Japanese troops at Guanfengkou.

A company of Japanese soldiers faced the expanded and reinforced Third Battalion, but the Third Battalion captured their position in less than half an hour.

If the Japanese command system is not destroyed, the Japanese will be able to continuously send reinforcements.

It will be very difficult to take this key position so quickly.

But now, the Japanese have lost their command and can only fight on their own. Even if they are gathered in the encirclement, each unit has become an isolated force.

They could only be wiped out by the Third Battalion, which had concentrated its superior forces.

After capturing the position, the soldiers of the Third Battalion left one battalion to guard the position, while the rest of the soldiers moved south as ordered, directly cutting off the communication between the Japanese and the puppet troops.

A puppet army regiment of a thousand men found itself surrounded by more than three thousand men on a local battlefield, and suddenly became lambs to the slaughter.

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(End of this chapter)