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

Chapter 99 I don't understand!

The outcome of infantry charging a heavy machine gun position without the cover of armored weapons is self-evident.

The heavy machine gun was set up there, bullets rattling and whistling, the spent cartridges falling at the feet, emitting a scalding heat.

The charging Japanese soldiers fell in droves.

In general, if a unit suffers more than 20% casualties, it basically loses its combat capability and must rest and recuperate before it can continue to fight.

Because of the Japanese devils' ridiculous Bushido spirit, the Japanese devils never lacked the spirit to die.

Even when facing a hail of bullets, they dared to charge forward at the cost of their lives.

It can be said that the Japanese soldiers were the best soldiers in World War I during World War II.

However, without cover, infantry charging a heavy machine gun position would only be a pointless suicide mission, wasting ammunition with their own flesh and blood.

The Japanese troops launched their first attack, using all their mobile forces, but failed to breach the position.

"Comrades, kill the Japanese devils!"

The soldiers on the position roared and sharply pulled the triggers.

The Japanese soldiers weren't afraid of death, so why were they afraid?

We all have two shoulders and one head, so who is worse than whom?
Seeing the Japanese launching a fierce attack on the front lines, Chen Ming immediately gave the order:
"Damn it, I'm done for! Order Zhang Yousheng to fire all the remaining shells at the Japanese charging troops!"

After such a long battle, the artillery battalion had very few shells left. Apart from a small number of shells remaining at the garrison, the entire independent detachment's supplies were here.

After firing all these shells, the Independent Detachment's existing artillery will all become useless lumps of iron until ammunition is replenished from the arsenal and the base warehouse.

We can't exactly put bayonets on artillery, can we?
Upon receiving the order, Zhang Yousheng gritted his teeth and commanded the artillery positions to immediately launch a final bombardment on the Japanese assault troops.

"fire!"

"Oh!"

"fire!"

"Oh!"

Zhang Yousheng roared, as if he had lost something important.

After the last shell was fired, he stared blankly at the scorching hot cannons.

The Independent Detachment's artillery battalion's substantial resources were completely depleted in this battle.

The final bombardment was very effective.

The Japanese soldiers, having lost the protection of their cover, were killed or wounded in large numbers by artillery shells during their charge.

Coupled with a barrage of fire from heavy machine guns, rifles, and grenades, they were routed and forced to retreat.

"Won!"

Seeing the Japanese retreat, Chen Ming knew that the Independent Detachment had won the battle.

Offensive warfare is different from defensive warfare.

In defensive battles, elite veterans have their own survival experience and know how to avoid artillery fire and bullets. Therefore, in a defensive battle, most of the casualties are new recruits.

This explains why, in many defensive battles, even when casualties are already very high, the troops can still maintain a certain level of combat effectiveness.

Those new recruits who are lucky enough to survive will also transform into veterans.

In offensive battles, new recruits should not be sent to the front lines, otherwise their rout will drag the veterans behind them down with them.

We must use fearless elite troops to hold the front line and break through the enemy's defenses as quickly as possible.

Often, in an offensive battle, elite soldiers would suffer heavy casualties.

Many troops, even after losing only 10% to 20% of their strength, will inexplicably collapse in combat effectiveness after a battle. This is due to the deaths of a large number of elite soldiers.

The fact that the Japanese troops failed to break through the enemy lines in their first charge meant that they were no longer able to organize a second charge.

"Order the troops, it's time to feast! Every regiment and battalion, regardless of whether it's the main attack or the supporting attack, all of you, charge forward and wipe out these Japanese devils!"

Chen Ming, full of vigor, issued the order for a general offensive.

A misguided charge by the Japanese soldiers brought them to the brink of annihilation.

Now, the independent detachment only needs to give the opponent a light kick to send them plummeting into an abyss.

At this point, the Japanese chief of staff had also given up hope.

"Why? Why is this happening? Why is the Eighth Route Army's firepower so strong? They've deployed so many heavy machine guns on the front lines."

The Japanese chief of staff stared blankly at the retreating soldiers and muttered to himself.

He knew he was finished!
The charge, organized by two elite battalions, failed to capture the enemy's position and instead suffered heavy losses, rendering them incapable of launching another attack.

Facing nearly 10,000 Eighth Route Army soldiers, his remnant troops, lacking both terrain and fortifications, simply could not hold out for long.

"Send a telegram to headquarters immediately. Our 1,800 soldiers of the Locust Army have been besieged by more than 10,000 Chinese Eighth Route Army troops 20 kilometers south of Wutai Mountain. We have suffered heavy losses and are unable to break through the encirclement. We have now decided to fight the enemy to the last moment and sacrifice all our lives to serve His Majesty the Locust Emperor."

In despair, the Japanese chief of staff ordered the communications soldier to send a farewell telegram to headquarters.

He doesn't understand!

Four years ago, he embarked on his journey from his homeland, launching a full-scale invasion of China. In just four months, he arrived on the battlefield in Shanxi.

At that time, he was full of vigor and his troops were invincible wherever they went, taking full advantage of the opportune moment.

Just four short years later, this place had become his final resting place!

The Japanese chief of staff was somewhat dazed, but thinking of his family back home, he found a white cloth and tied it around his head, deciding to launch a final, desperate charge. Seeing their chief of staff do this, the other Japanese soldiers followed suit, unloaded their bullets, and prepared to engage the Eighth Route Army in a final hand-to-hand battle.

However, the soldiers of the Independent Detachment gave the Japanese soldiers no chance to engage in hand-to-hand combat.

They used grenades and light machine guns to clear the way.

The remaining six hundred or so Japanese soldiers, having lost their elite troops, were overwhelmed by the crowd after two charges.

When the Japanese chief of staff was killed, his sword didn't even get stained with blood before he was killed by a burst of bullets.

When Chen Ming saw that the red dots marking the enemy were no longer visible on the three-dimensional combat map, he jumped up excitedly.

"Great! After eliminating these nearly four thousand Japanese soldiers, the 4th Independent Mixed Brigade has been completely crippled."

The Independent Mixed Brigade No. 4 has a strength of about 5,200 men, but only about 4000 men can be deployed to the front line of combat.

This time, the independent detachment annihilated nearly 4000 Japanese soldiers south of Wutai County.

This means that the brigade has completely lost its combat capability and has been wiped out from the Japanese army's order of battle in the short term.

This time, the Independent Detachment will become famous throughout the world, and no one can overshadow its glory.

"Da Biao, immediately order someone to take photos of the scene. We'll use them for propaganda purposes later," Chen Ming said to Wang Da Biao, the company commander of his guard company.

"Yes."

Wang Dabiao happily found a camera that he had seized from the military police headquarters in Shouyang County and, along with several soldiers, began taking pictures on the battlefield.

This resounding victory is worth taking a picture to commemorate and use for publicity.

The Independent Detachment won on the battlefield, and it must also win on the battlefield of public opinion.

While Da Biao was taking photos, Chen Ming ordered all units to quickly clean up the battlefield and then retreat north as soon as possible.

To support the Independent Detachment's operations, other fraternal units, under orders from headquarters, provided cover and cover for the Independent Detachment by engaging in blocking fire.

It can be said that the Independent Detachment had time to annihilate the Independent Mixed 4th Brigade, all thanks to the sacrifices of soldiers from other units.

Every minute earlier we withdraw from the battlefield, the fewer soldiers will be sacrificed in the blocking battles elsewhere.

On the battlefield, the soldiers quickly cleaned up the battlefield and treated the wounded.

Even after continuous high-intensity battles, when the soldiers' hands were shaking uncontrollably, they still happily persevered.

"That was awesome! That was awesome!" Kong Jie shouted.

His hands trembled, and with the help of his guard, he lit a cigarette and smoked it while stepping on the Japanese soldiers' corpses.

Today's battle was fucking exhilarating.

Even this cigarette tastes exceptionally good.

He finally avenged the soldiers who sacrificed their lives!
At this moment, Kong Jie's admiration for Chen Ming had reached its peak!
The other soldiers were also incredibly proud.

One battle wiped out an entire Japanese brigade; it was an undeniable great victory!

Under Chen Ming's leadership, the Independent Detachment won so many battles, and the invincible spirit of the Independent Detachment was imprinted in the hearts of every soldier at this moment.

With this sense of pride, the soldiers quickly cleaned up the battlefield.

Time is of the essence, so we won't collect the bullets from the Japanese soldiers' bodies or the ground this time. We'll find a way to retrieve them after the Japanese mopping-up operation is over.

Fifteen minutes later, the soldiers began to retreat in an orderly manner to the north according to Plan No. 3.

There were troops from the 115th Division providing cover; they had used that same route to escort the wounded to safety.

The retreat went smoothly. Most of the Japanese reinforcements came from the southwest, west, and south.

With the 115th Division providing cover in the north and the Japanese forces being relatively small, the Independent Detachment encountered little resistance and successfully withdrew from the encirclement.

Upon receiving the farewell telegram from the Fourth Brigade, the commander of the Japanese First Army was so enraged that he overturned all the documents in front of him to the ground.

"Damn it! That damned Independent Detachment, that damned Chen Ming, that damned Eighth Route Army!"

Yoshio Shinotsuka was furious and powerless, but he was helpless against the independent detachment that had already broken out of the encirclement.

In order to launch the Jinan Campaign, he mobilized a large number of mobile troops.

In order to cover the Jinan Campaign, the mopping-up operation against the Eighth Route Army headquarters drew away the last available troops.

Cities are now facing severe shortages of military personnel.

The annihilation of more than 4000 men in the Independent Mixed Fourth Brigade signified the complete failure of this sweep.

Although the loss of only 4000 men was small, it only accounted for one-tenth of the 40,000 Japanese troops that were transferred to the front lines.

However, this number of 40,000 includes non-combat personnel and logistics personnel. In reality, only 70% of the combat personnel, or 28,000, are actually available for use.

The loss of 4000 combat personnel is already a devastating blow.

This mopping-up operation had to be forced to end, otherwise the Eighth Route Army would take advantage of the situation to launch a counterattack and attack cities with weak troop strength, with unimaginable consequences.

In particular, the independent detachment capable of annihilating 4000 combat personnel—a force with such combat power—is virtually unstoppable in the entire Shanxi province, except for a few core cities.

In order to prevent the rear battlefield from deteriorating and to ensure the continuation of the Jinan Campaign.

Yoshio Shinotsuka immediately ordered all units involved in the sweeping operation to cease their operations and focus on defense to prevent the Eighth Route Army from attacking transportation lines and disrupting logistics, which could negatively impact the Jinan Campaign.

Thus, under the influence of the Independent Detachment, the Japanese army's strategic mopping-up operation plan was directly transformed into a strategic defense.

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(End of this chapter)