The War of Resistance: From Overseas Chinese Mechanics to King of Nanyang

As night falls, Lashio is bustling with activity.

Huang Zurong ordered his troops to make the most of every minute to rest and take turns to recuperate. The soldiers, exhausted, lay in the trenches after receiving the order.

After continuous intense fighting, the soldiers on the front lines were nearing their limits.

Having just finished dealing with matters at the regimental headquarters, Huang Zurong had barely taken a sip of water when his bodyguard came to report: "Regimental Commander, Division Commander Dai is here."

Upon hearing this, Huang Zurong quickly got up and went to the door to greet him.

Dai Anlan walked in leaning on her cane. Although her face was still pale, her mental state was obviously much better than before.

He was completely unconscious and unable to speak before, but now at least he can walk, which means he's mostly recovered.

"Commander Dai, your injuries haven't healed yet, why are you running around everywhere?" Huang Zurong stepped forward, preparing to help him sit down.

To everyone's surprise, Dai Anlan waved her hand and forced a smile: "I've been lying in bed for days, my bones are practically rusting. You guys have been doing a great job lately, and since I had nothing else to do, I came to check on things."

Upon hearing this, Huang Zurong poured Dai Anlan a glass of water and said modestly, "It was just luck."

Dai Anlan nodded, her gaze falling on the map: "Commander Huang, what are your plans next?"

"Now that Lashio has been occupied, the Japanese troops in northern Burma can only hold their ground and wait for reinforcements; they are unlikely to be able to continue their offensive."

The implication is that if they really can't win, they can retreat eastward and take a detour to get back.

To everyone's surprise, Huang Zurong shook his head: "No, I'm prepared to stay and continue to defend Lashio to the death."

This time, Dai Anlan was caught off guard. After a moment of hesitation, he continued, "Do you know what this means? The Japanese army certainly won't just stand by and watch you occupy Lashio. They will inevitably mobilize all their main forces, and then you will be surrounded."

"I know," Huang Zurong said calmly, "but Lashio is too important to lose. Moreover, as long as we hold Lashio, we can tie down the main force of the Japanese army, buying time for the other units of the Expeditionary Force to launch a counterattack."

Dai Anlan looked at the young regimental commander with a hint of admiration in his eyes. He knew that Huang Zurong was not just talking; this guy really intended to use Lashio as a nail, to keep it firmly planted there.

"Young man, you have guts," Dai Anlan said with a wry smile, "but you must understand the immense cost of defending the city."

Huang Zurong gave a bitter laugh: "I had no choice."

After a moment of silence upon hearing this, Dai Anlan asked again, "What's the current situation with the supplies?"

"Before the Japanese army retreated, they burned everything they could, including food, ammunition, and medicine. Most of it was lost. Fortunately, our unit still has a lot of stockpiled supplies, which can barely last for a while." Huang Zurong shook his head, revealing a pessimistic look.

Dai Anlan wasn't surprised by this, but simply sighed: "As expected. The Japanese army may be arrogant, but they're not stupid. The British army knew to destroy supplies before they fled, so why would they leave the benefits for us?"

"Yeah, the Japanese aren't stupid." Huang Zurong chuckled self-deprecatingly.

At this moment, Dai Anlan stood up and walked to the map: "Since you've decided to stay, the 200th Division won't leave for the time being either. Although the 200th Division suffered heavy losses, it can still fight. So, what are your plans for the future?"

Huang Zurong thought for a moment: "We'll launch a night raid tonight."

Dai Anlan frowned: "A night raid? That's not a good idea."

"Why?" Huang Zurong looked at the other person with even more confusion.

"Don't you know that most soldiers suffer from night blindness?" Dai Anlan looked at the other person in surprise.

"The soldiers are alright during the day, but at night they can barely see anything, so night fighting won't be very effective and might even increase casualties."

Upon hearing this, Huang Zurong was taken aback. His unit didn't seem to have this problem.

Then he realized that his soldiers' food was ridiculously good, with no lack of any trace elements, so they didn't have night blindness.

As for the other troops, the reason they suffer from night blindness is purely due to rationing.

So Huang Zurong said with a smile.

"Commander Dai, my unit has never had this situation before."

Dai Anlan was taken aback, then understood.

Huang Zurong's troops were indeed different; his soldiers were fed so well that even the Central Army was envious.

Especially during this period, meat, eggs and milk were never lacking. Even in such a tense environment, Huang Zurong still required the soldiers to drink milk and eat meat every day.

Therefore, there are indeed very few soldiers with night blindness.

There was actually another reason: Huang Zurong had also issued infrared flashlights to the troops. This kind of equipment would be common in later generations, but it was cutting-edge technology in this era.

With infrared flashlights, fighting at night is practically like fighting in daylight.

"But even so, it's pitch black in this dense forest at night," Dai Anlan tried to persuade her.

To everyone's surprise, Huang Zurong immediately pulled out an infrared flashlight.

"What is this?" Dai Anlan asked in confusion.

"An infrared flashlight, specially designed for nighttime use," Huang Zurong explained, then took out an infrared flashlight and handed it to Dai Anlan. "Try it."

Dai Anlan took the flashlight, pressed the switch, and an invisible beam of light shot out, but he saw nothing.

"Will this thing work?"

"Of course, let's try this one too." Huang Zurong took out another night vision device. "This is called a night vision device. It was specially developed by Germany to deal with night combat. Although it looks rudimentary, it's sufficient for night fighting."

Dai Anlan took the night vision goggles, put them on her eyes, and instantly the dim room became clearly visible, even the map on the table was clearly visible.

Dai Anlan was immediately stunned.

"This is good stuff!"

"With these, wouldn't we have a huge advantage in tonight's battle?"

"That's right." Huang Zurong put away his night vision goggles. "So a night attack is entirely feasible. The Japanese army certainly wouldn't expect us to launch a preemptive strike, much less that we could see so clearly at night."

Dai Anlan pondered for a moment, then finally nodded: "Okay, we'll do as you say, but be careful, the Japanese are on very tight security."

"Don't worry, I've already made arrangements," Huang Zurong said with a smile.

……

However, Huang Zurong made careful preparations before the night raid officially began.

First, there was the drone squadron. Using aircraft, they spent a certain amount of time thoroughly investigating the situation of the Japanese positions, especially marking the barbed wire, watchtowers, and trenches of the camp, as well as the mobile patrols around the perimeter.

"The Japanese camp to the east is garrisoned by a large regiment, the largest in number and with the strongest firepower," Huang Zurong said, pointing to a location on the map. "There are also regiments in the camps to the south and west, but they are relatively weaker."

"Commander, which one should we attack first?" Long Wenzhang asked curiously.

"Of course, we'll attack all three of them at once, making them flustered and confused about our true intentions." Huang Zurong's lips curled into a cold smile.

"The First Battalion will lead the attack on the eastern camp, the Second Battalion will be responsible for the south, and the Third Battalion will attack the west. The gas cylinder artillery will fire first, followed by a rapid breakthrough by the infantry."

"Remember, don't drag things out with the Japanese. If you fail to hit them in one strike, retreat immediately. Night raids are all about surprise."

"clear!"

At 1:30 a.m., the night raid began precisely on time.

Twenty-four gas cylinder cannons fired simultaneously, the gas cylinders roaring out and crashing into the three Japanese camps.

The explosion echoed throughout the valley, and the intense flames instantly engulfed the Japanese army's forward positions.

Screams and explosions mingled together, plunging the Japanese camp into chaos.

"Baka! Enemy attack!"

At the eastern camp, Colonel Shiro Yamazaki, commander of the 55th Infantry Regiment, rushed out of the command post to find out what was going on.

But before he could speak, another round of shells came crashing down.

The explosion immediately overturned nearby tents, killing dozens of Japanese soldiers on the spot.

"Organize a defense to prevent enemy sneak attacks," Colonel Shiro Yamazaki calmly replied.

"Hai."

Immediately afterwards, a large number of Japanese soldiers rushed out of their tents, picked up their weapons, and prepared to fight back.

Little did they know, their every move had already been exposed.

Although the Japanese soldiers could not see the movements in the distant dense forest, the people inside the forest could see them clearly, so a large number of bullets rained down on the Japanese soldiers.

"They can see us!" a Japanese soldier shouted in terror. "Take cover!"

"Shut up! Resist!" Colonel Yamazaki Shiro immediately ordered the battalion commanders to organize an effective defense.

But he soon realized something was wrong. No matter how he organized the defense, the enemy seemed to have eyes in the sky and knew their location very well, which caused his troops to suffer more and more casualties.

"Baka..." Colonel Yamazaki Shiro was furious and could only order his soldiers to take cover.

But as the militia's engineers used explosives to blow up the barbed wire, the situation spiraled out of control.

Some of the militia assault teams that were at the forefront had already rushed into the camp and were engaging in close combat with the Japanese army.

"Forward! Don't let them catch their breath!" roared the assault team leader.

"Use mortars!"

More than ten mortar shells slammed into the tents and makeshift fortifications, the explosions deafening.

Japanese soldiers were blown to pieces, their screams echoing throughout the air.

Meanwhile, the battles in the south and west were progressing rather poorly.

Because the Japanese troops here were relatively vigilant, they quickly organized resistance after discovering the enemy attack, and the machine gun positions provided dense firepower, suppressing the militia's offensive.

"Commander, we've encountered resistance at the other two locations," the communications officer reported.

Huang Zurong was not surprised. If things had gone so smoothly, the 18th Division would have been gone long ago.

"Understood." Huang Zurong nodded, not interfering too much with the developments at the front.

In just two hours, three Japanese camps were attacked, and the estimated casualties exceeded two thousand.

At this moment, Ren Mutaguchi was also in the command post, looking at the battle reports that kept coming in, his face ashen.

"The eastern camp was attacked and suffered heavy losses."

"The southern camp has been attacked and is currently engaged in fierce fighting."

"The western camp requests reinforcements; the enemy's firepower is overwhelming."

Renya Mutaguchi suddenly stood up and grabbed the map.

It's unbelievable that three meticulously planned Japanese camps on the outskirts of Lashio were attacked in quick succession within just two hours.

"How did they do that?" Renya Mutaguchi roared. "How could they see anything in the dark?"

A staff officer stepped forward, his voice trembling: "Division Commander, according to reports from the front, the Chinese are using some new type of equipment that allows them to see the battlefield at night. It's very strange; our soldiers have no idea where the enemy is coming from."

Mutaguchi Renya gritted his teeth. New equipment? When did the expeditionary force get something like this?

Did the British army give it to you?

If the report is true, then the enemy in Lashio is more dangerous than anticipated.

"Reinforcements! Send reinforcements now!" Renya Mutaguchi roared. "We can't let them get away with this!"

"Division Commander, it's too late to send reinforcements now," the staff officer said with a wry smile. "All three camps have been attacked. Sending troops now might just lead to an ambush. It's better to consolidate our defenses and prepare for defense."

Renya Mutaguchi slumped down, utterly surprised that the situation had turned out this way so suddenly.

"Where is the logistics camp?" This time, Renya Mutaguchi was smarter and placed the logistics camp far away, but not too far. After all, if it was too far away, wouldn't they go hungry if supplies didn't keep up?

His subordinates might eat grass when they're hungry, but he certainly wouldn't do that.

"We have not received any reports of an attack yet," the staff officer explained.

Renya Mutaguchi gritted his teeth, "What exactly are these Chinese trying to do?"

"Division Commander, I think they might try the same trick again, still trying to cut off our supply lines," the staff officer reported. "If the supply lines continue to be disrupted, our troops at the front will soon face a shortage of supplies."

"We'll have no choice but to retreat then." The staff officer's words made Mutaguchi Renya's face turn somewhat ugly.

Another siege and reinforcement tactic?

This trick may seem cliché, but it's actually quite effective.

In the past, he might not have cared, but now the enemy's firepower is clearly no worse than theirs, and may even be stronger, especially with this new type of weapon, which has caused them to suffer heavy losses.

Thinking of this, Mutaguchi Renya slammed his fist on the table: "Baka! When it's dawn, immediately send fighter planes to bomb Lashio. I want to raze this place to the ground!"

"Division Commander, I think they're doing this on a plan," a staff officer said cautiously. "They're tying us down during the day and launching night raids to damage our morale and supply lines. If we don't find a way to counter this, we'll become increasingly passive."

Renya Mutaguchi took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

The other side is right. The commander's tactics are indeed very cunning. If this continues, the 18th Division will be worn down sooner or later.

"Pass down the order to all units to strengthen their vigilance, double the number of patrols, and reinforce the camp's defensive positions to prevent a surprise attack." Mutaguchi thought for a moment, then added, "Also, bring searchlights from the rear to illuminate the positions at night, leaving them nowhere to hide."

"Hai."

"Commander, the Japanese have strengthened their nighttime defenses; searchlights are everywhere." Lin Yi quickly reported this news to Huang Zurong.

"It's alright, the searchlights can only illuminate a limited area, we can just avoid them." Hearing this, Huang Zurong wasn't worried at all. Instead, he pointed to several locations on the map, "Also, have Long Wenzhang take some men to cause some damage."

"To cause trouble?"