Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 210: Assist to main attack?
"The 9th and 16th Mixed Brigade have been deployed as planned. The 26th Division is advancing westwards, preparing to occupy the Yellow River crossing and cut off the connection between the Eighth Route Army and northern Shaanxi."

"Brigade Commander, according to the instructions of the headquarters, we should advance." Ryotaro Toyama reminded after closing the document.

"I know!" Nara Yukio said dissatisfiedly.

According to Nara Yukio's original plan, the 3rd Mixed Brigade was to go directly to the heart of the Dayunshan base of the New 2nd Regiment.

As a result, the headquarters requested the 9rd Mixed Brigade to send troops to assist the th Mixed Brigade in sweeping away the Eighth Route Army north of the Xinshui Highway.

Although this was done for the sake of the 3rd Mixed Brigade, Nara Yukio was still somewhat reluctant, but the order had already been given and he could only act according to it.

After thinking for a while, Nara Yukio rolled his eyes and ordered: "Mr. Dongshan, order the 13st Infantry Battalion and the 9th Regiment of the Locust Army to go north immediately, advance westward from the Zhangdian stronghold, and join forces with the th Mixed Brigade to carry out a sweep!"

"Brigade Commander, this..." Toyama Ryotaro didn't know what to say.

The 9th Mixed Brigade temporarily put aside their own tasks to help the 9rd Mixed Brigade split the Eighth Route Army in Zhongyunshan. As a result, the th Mixed Brigade is now asked to take the lead. I'm afraid that being scolded is a small matter.

Now Ryotaro Toyama finally understood why the 3rd Mixed Brigade had the fewest friends in the entire First Army.

Seeing that Toyama Ryotaro was a little hesitant, Nara Yukio ordered, "Toyama-kun, go and pass the message!"

Nara Yukio did not care much about the Eighth Route Army north of the Zhongyun Mountains. In his opinion, as long as they could take over the Dayun Mountain base, the remaining Eighth Route Army would not be a threat.

Faced with Nara Yukio who had made up his mind, Toyama Ryotaro had no choice but to convey the order. After all, he was just the chief of staff.

The commander of the 9th Mixed Brigade, Ken Nishiyama, who received the telegram, was not in a hurry at first, but when he learned that only half of the troops sent by the 3rd Mixed Brigade were locust troops and the other half were locust alliance troops, his defense was broken on the spot.

In order to help the 2rd Mixed Brigade, Xishan Jian ordered the Locust Army to sweep along the highway towards Ping'an, while he personally led two battalions of Locust Army into the mountains to squeeze the living space of the Eighth Route Army.

Now you tell me that the 3rd Mixed Brigade sent the Locust Army on its own?

"Bakayaro! What does Nara Yukio mean? We are here to help, so why do we have to be the main attacker?"

"Where is the main force of the 3rd Mixed Brigade?!" Nishiyama Ken said angrily.

"The specific situation is unclear, but they should be moving westward. We just don't know their target." said a staff officer on the side.

If the 3rd Mixed Brigade wanted to carry out a sweep, it had to either go north or west, there was no other direction available.

"Baga! Does he want to take over the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army's Northwest Shanxi Military Region?" Xishan Jian said dissatisfiedly.

Although the 3rd Mixed Brigade was attacked several times by the Eighth Route Army in the Zhongyunshan area, no one thought that Nara Yukio would give up the opportunity to encircle the Eighth Route Army headquarters and go specifically to deal with a small New nd Regiment.

Nishiyama Ken felt that Nara Yukio was most likely going to cross the Zhongyun Mountains by road and then raid the Eighth Route Army's Northwest Shanxi Military Region Command.

"Order the troops to speed up the sweep and turn back immediately after completing the assigned mission!" Xishan Jian ordered.

To squeeze and encircle the Eighth Route Army's headquarters is the common goal of the three brigades. The 3th Mixed Brigade cannot be working here for the 9rd Mixed Brigade while the 3rd Mixed Brigade runs to grab the credit.

So what happened to the 9th Mixed Brigade?

In the temporary headquarters of the New Second Regiment, everyone was busy as intelligence was delivered every moment, and the radio station was in constant contact with the military region.

"Commander, the 3rd Mixed Brigade has split up its forces!" said the combat staff officer, holding an intelligence report.

"Direction of Zhangdian?" Chen Chengxing took the information, gestured on the map, and determined the Japanese's intentions.

"This is an attack on the first battalion. It seems that the Japanese are very familiar with the troop deployment of our New Second Regiment. I'm afraid they have sent a lot of people to investigate." Chen Chengxing said.

"The First Battalion sent us intelligence before. The Japanese in the Fu'an direction are sweeping the Zhongshan area while advancing southwards. Now with the addition of the 3rd Mixed Brigade, the First Battalion will probably be trapped if it continues to stay where it is. Should we let the First Battalion continue to retreat southwards?" Luo Ping said worriedly.

These two forces together have as many as three to four thousand people, and one battalion plus a guerrilla team are no match for them.

"Don't worry, Lao Luo, look, half of the 9th Mixed Brigade will conduct a sweep from Shuiquan to the east and south, and the other half will be divided into two. The puppet army will sweep the areas on both sides along the highway, and the Japanese will be active in the Zhongshan area."

"This is totally unreasonable. The puppet army lived in strongholds and had good food and drink, but the Japanese invaders went into the mountains and had to starve to death? What have the Japanese invaders become?"

"I dare to conclude that the devils from Fu'an cannot stay in our jurisdiction for a long time. Once they sweep to a certain area, they will definitely retreat westward and join the puppet army."

"This place should be the Ximafang area." Chen Chengxing said affirmatively.

From Ximafang, you can go directly west to join the puppet army via the highway. If you pass Ximafang and want to take the highway again, you have to wait until you reach the Xinshui Highway.

In that case, it would be equivalent to the 9th Mixed Brigade itself sweeping the nearly 1/3 area in the northern part of the Zhongyun Mountains, and there would be no point in the rd Mixed Brigade splitting its troops and heading north.

It's impossible for the devils from the 9rd Mixed Brigade to be right next to them and watch the th Mixed Brigade do its work? Wouldn't that be confusing priorities? "What do you think?" Luo Ping asked directly.

Luo Ping has been a partner with Chen Chengxing for many years. As soon as Chen Chengxing opens his mouth, Luo Ping knows what he is thinking.

"Haha. As long as the 9th Mixed Brigade retreats, the Japanese devils from the 3rd Mixed Brigade will be isolated, and we will have a chance to defeat them first." Chen Chengxing said with a smile.

In order to find the main force of the New Second Regiment, the main force of the Japanese Third Mixed Brigade is now advancing gradually from east to west, but the advancement speed is not fast.

Chen Chengxing judged that the Japanese wanted to squeeze the living space of the New Second Regiment from north to south, and then force the main force to fight a decisive battle.

For the Japs, the larger the scale of the decisive battle, the more they can exert their firepower advantage; the smaller the scale of the battle, the less obvious their advantage will be.

If it comes to squad fighting, both sides can only compete on the elite level of the soldiers themselves. If the Eighth Route Army has a Czech light machine gun, the Japanese may suffer a disadvantage in terms of equipment, because the Type 99 light machine gun is simply incomparable to the Czech type.

"With the strength of a battalion, I'm afraid it's still a little lacking." Luo Ping said.

Even if the Japanese's 9th Mixed Brigade retreated, leaving only an independent Japanese infantry battalion and a puppet army regiment, it would be impossible for one battalion to defeat them. At most, both sides would suffer heavy losses.

"So we need a large force to support us." Chen Chengxing said, "I decided to lead the cavalry company northward. If there is a chance, we will cooperate with the first and third battalions to defeat these Japanese invaders."

An independent infantry battalion plus a puppet legion has a total strength of only about 1,700 to 1,800 people.

The first and third battalions plus the cavalry company have a total of 4,500 troops. Therefore, as long as we can trap this group of Japs, we can wipe them out completely.

"After all, the cavalry company has not experienced actual combat. Isn't it inappropriate to fight a big battle right away?" Luo Ping said.

The people in the cavalry company could be said to be the darlings of the new Second Regiment. Luo Ping thought it would be better to find some puppet soldiers who were easy to bully for them to fight at the beginning, and then they could fight against the Japanese after they had experienced the hardships of war.

After all, cavalry is different from infantry, and the new Second Regiment has no place to replenish its troops.

"The cavalry company will not be responsible for the main attack, but our current capabilities are sufficient," said Chen Chengxing.

Any troop that does not experience the baptism of brutal war will never grow into a truly elite force, and compared with the harsh conditions in the next two years, the current situation is very easy.

Seeing that Chen Chengxing had paid attention, Luo Ping didn't say anything more.

After picking up the hat next to him and putting it on, Chen Chengxing said, "Lao Luo, after I lead the team to set off, you must also lead the regiment headquarters and the Fourth Battalion to move north simultaneously."

The situation on the battlefield has always been a matter of one move affecting the entire body. Although the 3rd Mixed Brigade is now advancing slowly from east to west, once Chen Chengxing encircles the Japanese on the north route, Nara Yukio will certainly do his best to rescue them, and the position of the confrontation between the two sides will definitely move northward.

"North? Where to?" Luo Ping asked.

"About Jiao Town." Chen Chengxing said after thinking for a while.

Originally, the area around Bashi Mountain was a very good choice, but that area was too close to the front line, and Chen Chengxing didn't want to become the next Sakata Nobutsu.

When Chen Chengxing and the Third Battalion arrived at Lanshan Village south of the Xinshui Highway, they did not continue north to meet up with the First Battalion, but stopped advancing.

Now the Japanese 9th Mixed Brigade has not retreated westwards, and it is not yet time for Chen Chengxing to encircle and annihilate the Japanese.

The two groups of Japanese troops from the 9th Mixed Brigade and the 3rd Mixed Brigade were unaware of the intelligence that the Eighth Route Army had arrived nearby. They simply followed the established objectives and launched a joint attack in the areas of Ximafang and Houdong Town.

According to intelligence, these two places were the local government seats of the Eighth Route Army in the Zhongshan area.

However, long before Chen Chengxing arrived at Lanshan Village, he had already given orders to Xu Wu, and government officials and civilians in Ximafang and Houdong Town had already evacuated.

Xu Wu also led his troops to move south and escaped the Japanese encirclement.

Standing in Houdong Town, Xishan Jian knew that the Eighth Route Army retreated very calmly just by looking at the situation in the town.

"Commander, we found nothing in the town. Not only were there no people, but we didn't even find any food. However, we found a large number of wheel tracks in the south of the town." The Japanese soldier came running to report.

"I understand." Xishan Jian said casually.

"Where is the Ishiguro Battalion of the 3rd Mixed Brigade?" Nishiyama Ken turned his head and asked.

"A telegram just came in saying that they should have passed Shibeigou and are now heading towards Houdong Town." Chief of Staff Nobuhiro Yamada reported.

"Send them a message, tell them to stop advancing and instead track and sweep southwards," Nishiyama Ken ordered.

Although Ken Nishiyama was annoyed at Nara Yukio's cleverness, he was still actively carrying out the orders of the headquarters and wanted to find this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers and eliminate them.

"Ha!"
(End of this chapter)