Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 344 The Last Nail

"Damn, what's going on?"

Inside the Luye City Defense Command Headquarters, Takada Takashi, the commander of the Independent Infantry Battalion, frowned deeply.

In just one day, the situation has deteriorated drastically.

Tianyun Town fell, and the reinforcements were also annihilated.

As a result, the Eighth Route Army did not stop for a moment and began to launch attacks in all directions.

By 10 p.m., he had received reports of attacks on more than ten pillboxes and outposts.

"Captain, the Xixiang stronghold is requesting reinforcements; they have been attacked by the Eighth Route Army."

Deputy Battalion Commander Kohei Tsuchiya ran in again and told Takada Takashi some bad news.

"Baka! Has the Eighth Route Army gone mad?"

Takada Takashi walked up to the map and gritted his teeth.

With so many places attacked in quick succession, how many people would the Eighth Route Army have to deploy?
Could it be that the Eighth Route Army wants to have a decisive battle with the Locust Army?

"Captain, I think the Eighth Route Army's target is most likely Lu Ye," Tsuchiya Kohei reminded him.

“Road?” Takada Takashi looked at the map and nodded after a moment.

"Tsuchiya-kun, you're absolutely right, the Eighth Route Army intends to attack Luye!"

No matter how impossible it may seem, after eliminating all other options, this is the only one left.

After all, the Eighth Route Army did not only attack the strongholds west of Luye.

Saigo's stronghold is located east of Jino.

This means that the entire area around Luye was filled with Eighth Route Army troops.

He had a premonition that there would be more reports of strongholds being attacked.

Just as Takada Takashi finished his premonition, a communications soldier ran over from the door.

"Report! The garrison troops at Dayang Town and Zhongxiang outposts request reinforcements!"

"They were attacked by the Eighth Route Army, and the enemy was carrying heavy artillery!"

"I understand!" Takada Takashi waved his hand.

"Tsuchiya-kun, we can't wait any longer. Immediately send orders to all the outposts near Jino."

"Those who can retreat should retreat immediately; those who cannot retreat should hold their ground in fortifications and await reinforcements."

If the Eighth Route Army is about to launch a general offensive, and the troops are still stationed in different areas, then they are courting death.

"Hai!"

"Commander, we have captured eight strongholds and are besieging five more."

"However, it seems that the enemy forces at the other strongholds have retreated, leaving only an empty city."

At midnight, Xu Wu handed the latest report to Chen Chengxing.

Looking at the report in his hand, Chen Chengxing laughed and said, "It seems the Japanese aren't stupid either; they know how to concentrate their forces."

The Japanese army's strategy of dividing its forces was correct in the face of guerrilla warfare and counterinsurgency.

But once it comes to a direct confrontation, if the Japanese continue to divide their forces, they are simply waiting to die.

“Previously, there were more than 7,000 troops in the Luye area, but after the second phase of the mission is completed, the remaining troops in Luye will probably be only more than 3,000,” Chu Yunfei analyzed.

"More or less." Chen Chengxing nodded.

“However, there’s still one obstacle blocking the way.” Chen Chengxing looked at the map.

On Zhumashan Mountain north of Luye City, the Japanese set up a large concrete blockhouse.

Taking advantage of their height, the heavy machine guns on the blockhouse could cover most of the road and field.

Moreover, according to intelligence, the Japanese had also set up a Type 41 mountain gun here.

With the range of mountain guns, they could cover the entire road and field battlefield.

If the Second New Regiment wants to attack Luye, it must first capture the Zhumashan watchtower.

"Commander, this watchtower is no ordinary structure," Zhou Weiguo said.

He was in charge of Lu Ye's previous reconnaissance, so he knew Lu Ye's situation very well.

"Weiguo, please tell everyone," Chen Chengxing said.

Chen Chengxing had seen Zhou Weiguo's report, but the others were unaware of it.

"it is good."

Zhou Weiguo got up and found a pencil and a piece of white paper.

He spread it out on the table and started drawing and talking at the same time:
"According to the reconnaissance, the Japanese army used the blockhouse as the core on Zhuma Mountain."

"Two deep trenches were dug, and three layers of barbed wire were erected. Between the barbed wire were numerous bunkers of various sizes, machine gun emplacements, and foxholes for individual soldiers."

"The bunkers are mostly permanent fortifications made of reinforced concrete, or semi-permanent fortifications made of brick and stone."

Previously, Zhou Weiguo disguised himself as a Japanese officer and circled around Zhumashan.

However, to avoid being exposed, he couldn't conduct a detailed investigation and only got a general idea.

"The Japanese deployed an infantry company and a garrison unit, totaling about 800 men, inside the blockhouse."

“This guard unit is different from ordinary traitors; they are all ruthless bandits,” Zhou Weiguo added.

"A bandit? Where did this bandit come from?" Xu Wu asked in confusion.

The capable puppet troops have all died long ago, so where did this one come from?
"They're said to be bandits from Black Cloud Village, and their leader is called Mountain Cat," Zhou Weiguo said.

"Black Cloud Village? Mountain Cat Village?" Chen Chengxing became interested.

He had heard Zhou Weiguo mention before that this garrison was quite strong, but he hadn't paid much attention to it at the time.

After all, a puppet army is a puppet army, no matter how good they are at fighting.

Unexpectedly, this group of people turned out to be from Black Cloud Stronghold.

"Isn't Xie Baoqing the leader of Black Cloud Stronghold?" Chen Chengxing asked.

"I remember this 'wildcat' was the second-in-command, how did he become a traitor?"

"I'm not really sure either," Zhou Weiguo shook his head.

"I have heard about this matter," Chu Yunfei said.

The Jin-Sui Army had once tried to recruit the bandits of Heiyun Village, so they had intelligence agents near Heiyun Mountain.

Although Chu Yunfei was no longer a member of the Jin-Sui Army, their old relationship remained, and they would chat occasionally when they bumped into each other.

"At that time, the bandits of Black Cloud Village robbed the Japanese of a batch of supplies, and it seemed that there was something important in them."

"The Japanese then sent troops to surround Black Cloud Mountain, and in the end, the bandits on the mountain surrendered and became traitors." "What about Xie Baoqing?" Chen Chengxing asked.

"I don't know. There's been no news of him. I think he's probably escaped," Chu Yunfei said.

Given the Japanese soldiers' temperament, if they had killed Xie Baoqing, they would have cut off his head and hung it at the city gate.

Since nothing happened, they probably ran away.

"Commander, these bandits have caused a lot of harm to the people since they became traitors. The people around Luye hate them to the bone," Zhou Weiguo said.

If it weren't for the fact that this group of puppet soldiers committed all sorts of atrocities, Zhou Weiguo would have had a real difficulty in finding out about them in the surrounding area.

"Having committed numerous evils? Then today we'll stand up for our fellow villagers," Chen Chengxing declared confidently.

There's no need to leave these guys to the 4th Division; just wipe them out after the battle.

"Xu Wu, pass on the order to the First Battalion: attack Zhumashan at 8:00 AM tomorrow!"

"The second and third platoons of the mountain guns are also reinforced to the first battalion!"

"yes!".
"Brother, it seems the Eighth Route Army is active around Luye. Could it affect our area?"

Inside the watchtower at Zhumashan, the deputy captain of the garrison said with some concern.

"The Eighth Route Army? Are we afraid of them?" Mountain Cat said disdainfully.

"Look at this watchtower! It's made of concrete, and the outer walls are over a meter thick!"

"And there are also densely packed steel bars inside!"

Do you know what steel bars are?

"Even if you break the Eighth Route Army's teeth, they still won't be able to bite it off."

Mountain Cat didn't care about the Eighth Route Army at all; he just ate and drank as usual.

The vice-captain agreed.

With such thick defenses, even if the Eighth Route Army had mountain guns, they couldn't possibly penetrate them.

"Brother, let me toast you!" After putting aside his worries, the deputy captain picked up his glass.

"Only after surrendering to the Japanese did I realize how this was how life was!"

"Back when we lived in the mountains, we didn't eat or drink well!"

"The brothers still need your leadership."

Hearing the flattery, Lynx laughed heartily.

"Come on! Sir, let's drink together!" Yamanoko raised his glass to the Japanese soldier next to him.

Back when Xie Baoqing was in charge, he even made a rule that they wouldn't rob the poor.

What a joke!
The poor may not have money, but they have food and women.

Isn't this money too?
While the Mountain Cat and his gang were feasting, Zheng Hua had already sneaked out to the outer perimeter of the watchtower under the cover of night.

"Damn, the Japanese defenses are really tight!"

Zheng Hua used the searchlight on the top of the watchtower to carefully observe the defensive situation of the position and drew a sketch in his notebook.

The operations staff officer standing nearby, looking at the impregnable defenses, whispered:
"Commander, this battle is probably going to be tough."

"We have to fight, even if it's tough! We must take the Zhumashan watchtower at all costs to pave the way for the final assault!" Zheng Hua declared.

The Second New Regiment has never faltered, and the First Battalion must not lose face either.

“That’s not what I meant,” the operations staff officer explained.

"I think we need to come up with a plan if we want to take the watchtower successfully; we can't just act recklessly."

"Of course I know that."

"We've done enough reconnaissance, let's retreat!"

At the First Brigade Regimental Meeting.

Zheng Hua drew the deployment sketch on the small blackboard.

"Look, the Japanese have set up a very good defense on Zhuma Mountain, with basically no loopholes."

"In this battle, there is no other way but to launch a direct attack," Zheng Hua said solemnly.

The company and battalion commanders attending the meeting below all had resolute expressions on their faces.

"Commander, if you entrust this battle to the First Battalion, even if we lose a tooth, the First Battalion will still take the position!" Battalion Commander Jiang Ming stood up and said solemnly.

The location of the Zhumashan bunker was too small for the entire battalion to deploy; at most, only one battalion could be used as the main attacking force.

"Commander, my 2nd Battalion requests to lead the assault!"

"Our Third Battalion will lead the main attack!"

The other two battalion commanders also stood up immediately.

The headquarters immediately became noisy.

Unlike the Kuomintang army, in the Eighth Route Army, the tougher the challenge, the more people would fight for it.

"Stop, stop, stop." Zheng Hua was getting a headache from the noise, so he quickly gestured for them to sit down.

After considering it for a while, Zheng Hua made a decision.

"The main attack will be led by the First Battalion!"

As the first main force battalion to reach full strength in the First Battalion, the First Battalion has the strongest combat power in the First Battalion.

"However, the Second and Third Battalions also have missions," Zheng Hua added.

"Then the first battalion will rest, while the second and third battalions will take advantage of the darkness to dig communication trenches to the front line of the enemy's position, shortening the attack distance."

"After the first battalion draws the Japanese soldiers' attention, the second and third battalions will then encircle them from the side."

Although the upcoming battle will be a full-scale assault, Zheng Hua still needs to find a way to minimize casualties.

"Yes!"

In the following days, the soldiers continued to dig forward under the cover of darkness until they were only 50 meters away from the position.

It's not that they're unwilling to continue forward, but digging too close would risk premature exposure.

The enemy might then use grenades to cause unnecessary casualties.

After all, the soldiers of the First Battalion were going to hide in these trenches and wait for the charge.

Because the trenches and communication trenches on the Japanese positions were deep and steep.

The soldiers also specially made dozens of wooden ladders for climbing during battle.

(End of this chapter)