Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 281 A brand new door has been opened

"Kill the chicken and give it to me!"

The Zhongchuan Squadron did not rest for long.

After the integration was completed, the order to attack was issued again.

"Tuoci, please!"

"Hayaku! Hayaku!"

Masao Nakagawa led his troops in an attack.

They've been fighting for a day now, and the Japanese soldiers know their positions and are likely to be targeted by Eighth Route Army fire.

Therefore, everyone had already checked the cover before entering the firing zone.

Once they were behind cover, they refused to show their faces.

"Sir! Watch me!" the puppet army soldier shouted to the Japanese soldiers beside him.

He then extended the upper half of the gun, keeping the rest of his body, including his hand, hidden.

"Bang!" The puppet soldier fired a shot haphazardly.

"Sir! Fight like this!"

The Japanese soldiers nearby understood the situation immediately.

For a time, gunfire erupted incessantly on the position held by the Zhongchuan Company.

Even the machine gunners didn't set up the tripod; they just left it on the mound of dirt to fire.

The mount of the Type 11 light machine gun was far too high.

If they set up a trap, they'll be beaten to death in no time.

However, placing it directly on the ground can cause soil to get inside.

But for the Japanese machine gunners at this time, they weren't afraid of your malfunctions, they were afraid that you could withstand the pressure and not break down.

Hiratsu Yuufu, watching the Nakagawa Company's tenacious exchange of fire with the Eighth Route Army from the rear, nodded in satisfaction.

"Yoshi. Captain Nakagawa did a great job. It seems that his previous retreat was just an unexpected situation."

"Write this down for me. When I write the battle report back, I must praise Captain Nakagawa."

"Such talented people should not have their time wasted on stationed duties."

"Hai!" The staff officer beside him quickly wrote down Pinglu Yongfu's words.

Hiratsu Isao raised his binoculars and watched the soldiers of Nakagawa Company digging fortifications in their spare time from combat, and he was even more satisfied.

The locust army needs such talent.

However, in places unseen by Pinglu Yongfu, many of the bullets carried by the Japanese soldiers had already been buried.

They belong to the garrison troops, and this time they all carried standard 120 rounds of ammunition.

With so many bullets, it's impossible to use them all up in a short time.

If they don't want to participate in the next attack, they have to use up all their bullets.

Even if you, General Pinglu, give me a death order, you can't expect me to charge into battle with a bayonet, can you? You'd have to go to a military court for that.

Or you could let us go back to get ammunition, we promise we'll run into the enemy on the way.

A dozen minutes later, the Japanese troops in other directions were the first to succumb to the casualties and retreat.

After another round of fighting, the Japanese soldiers from the Nakagawa Company retreated.

"Reporting to the captain, the troops have suffered heavy ammunition losses and need to be replenished," two Japanese platoon leaders ran over to report.

"Let the warriors rest first. I will report to the Pinglu Brigade Commander immediately!"

Nakagawa Masao was still a little uneasy, worried that Hiratsu Isao would discover something was wrong.

"Hai!"
Upon meeting Hiratsu Isao, Nakagawa Masao tried his best to control his expression and reported on the situation of the troops.

"General, the Nakagawa Company has suffered heavy casualties, its ammunition is almost exhausted, and even more than half of its light machine guns have malfunctioned."

“I have witnessed the bravery of the Nakagawa Company. Since we are running low on ammunition, let’s retreat to the rear and rest for a while,” Hiratsu Yuu said kindly.

He had just seen and heard about the attack by Nakagawa's squadron. Such a fierce attack must have consumed a tremendous amount of ammunition.

In addition, given the hasty arrival of reinforcements, it's understandable that supplies might not have been fully prepared and ammunition consumption might have been excessive.

Hiratsu Isao had no doubts what Nakagawa Masao said.

Moreover, while a malfunctioning light machine gun could be repaired, Hiratsu Yuufu had no solution for the problem of insufficient ammunition.

Despite having nearly four thousand soldiers in this area, the army is currently lacking ammunition and supplies.

The 22nd Regiment was a mopping-up unit. According to the instructions from their superiors, except for the machine gun team, all the infantrymen carried only half of their ammunition.

There simply weren't enough bullets available for the Nakagawa Company.

Moreover, since the Nakagawa squadron performed so well, they naturally deserve some benefits.

This will allow other units to see that we have a clear system of rewards and punishments, and that as long as they fight hard, they can rest.

"Arigato, Your Excellency General!"

Masao Nakagawa never expected things to end this way.

A brand new door opened for him.

When the other units saw that the Nakagawa Company had withdrawn and begun to rest, their eyes were filled with respect.

This is both an admiration for the strong and an envy of their treatment.

The Japanese soldiers of Nakagawa's squadron were also confused about what was going on, and could only hurriedly leave the front line.

Spurred on by the Nakagawa Company, the remaining troops also displayed great bravery in the next attack.

However, faced with an impenetrable defense, they quickly came to the realization of the reality.

"The Nakagawa Squadron is really strong."

"To fight against such Eighth Route Army units and still achieve such results, and with relatively few casualties on our side."
As night fell, Pinglu Yongfu had no other choice but to order his troops to cease their attack.

Since the guards' first attack this morning, there have been at least 40 attacks, large and small.

The fortifications surrounding Shezhuang were almost completely destroyed, yet the locust army still couldn't penetrate even a single step into the north of Shezhuang.

Seeing that the Japanese soldiers had stopped attacking and were beginning to set up an encirclement, Chen Chengxing breathed a sigh of relief.

If the fighting continues, things will get really difficult. The guard company is running low on ammunition, and most of them are not filling their magazines.

"Monk, notify all platoon leaders that there will be a meeting at 8 PM tonight," Chen Chengxing said.

A day is enough time for the main force to travel far enough; now it's time for the guard company to break out.

"yes!".
After retreating, the Japanese soldiers lit bonfires around the village, which surrounded the entire village.

Just as Chen Chengxing was observing the movements of the Japanese soldiers, Wei Dayong walked over.

"Commander, everyone has arrived and is waiting for you."

"I understand." Chen Chengxing jumped down from the roof.

Upon arriving at the temporary command post, Chen Chengxing spoke immediately:

"Time is of the essence, so I'll keep it brief."

"We fought very well this time. The Japanese suffered at least a thousand casualties, and we also killed two or three hundred puppet troops."

"The guard company suffered minor losses: 38 killed, 32 slightly wounded, and 15 seriously wounded."

“I’ve decided to split our forces into two groups. Lu Ze and I will each lead one group and break out from the southeast and northwest respectively.”

"The time is set at 12:30 a.m. The first meeting point is Xifengbao, the second meeting point is Dongfengpu, and the final meeting point is Sunjiazhuang."

"Take good care of the wounded when breaking through the enemy lines."

"Does anyone else have anything to say? If not, please prepare your own remarks."

"Yes!"

Everyone stood up and then left the command post.

There is still a lot of preparation to be made before they can break through; they need to step up their preparations.

(End of this chapter)