Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 92: Whoever walks on this road knows

After dawn, inside the Liang family mansion.

"Have you guys counted all the spoils?" Chen Chengxing asked Xu Wu and the other three.

“郑家庄缴获了四一式75毫米山炮2门，炮弹82发，九二式重机枪2挺，手枪12把、三八式步枪23支，子弹1万2千发。”

"At the Fanjiagou position, we seized six Type 6 heavy machine guns, six Type 6 light machine guns, 83 Type 9 rifles, nine pistols, more than 4 rounds of ammunition, nine grenade launchers, 5 special grenades, and 9 hand grenades."

"In addition to the three crooked handles and 3 rifles, there were only 25 turkey boxes seized from Liangzhuang. However, there was a lot of ammunition, more than 32 bullets of various types, 8 grenade launchers, 432 shells for the Type 92 infantry gun, and 80 shells for the Type 120 mountain gun. The remaining food and logistical supplies have not yet been counted."

After listening to the reports from several people, Chen Chengxing couldn't stop smiling: "Good, good, this time the New Second Regiment finally didn't do a business that lost money."

By this calculation, not counting the captured weapons, the ammunition seized alone is more than three times the ammunition consumed by the New Second Regiment this time.

For the New Second Regiment, the more ammunition it has, the stronger its combat effectiveness will be.

Just as everyone was happily distributing supplies, a combat staff officer came running over in a hurry.

"report!"

"Come in." Chen Chengxing said casually.

"Captain, we have received a report from our scouts that the Japanese troops from the east and west are acting strangely and appear to be retreating!"

"Retreat?!" Everyone looked up in surprise.

Although the New Second Regiment wiped out a battalion of the Japanese, it would still be difficult for the New Second Regiment to fight against the other two Japanese troops head-on if they fought steadily.

"Yes, we are retreating." The combat staff nodded.

"Pay close attention to the latest movements of the Japanese." Chen Chengxing ordered.

"Yes!" The combat staff left the temporary command post.

"The distribution of materials has been decided. Go back and coordinate with yourselves." Chen Chengxing looked at several people and said.

Of the eight heavy machine guns captured this time, Chen Chengxing directly allocated four to the First Battalion. Even though the First Battalion's machine gun company was fully staffed with eight heavy machine guns, although not as many as the Japanese's twelve, it was enough. After all, the New Second Regiment could not compare with the Japanese in terms of logistics or transportation capabilities.

After the reorganization of the first battalion, it was composed of 4 infantry companies and 1 machine gun company.

每个步兵连连175人，有9支轻机枪和9门掷弹筒；机枪连拥有4个机枪排排，一共8挺重机枪。

The total number of people is around 850.

Such configuration and firepower are enough to compete with a battalion of the Japanese, but the ammunition reserves of a battalion cannot reach the 10 rounds of a battalion of the Japanese.

"I'd like to thank the two battalion commanders on behalf of the comrades of the first battalion. All the tough tasks in the future will be handed over to our first battalion, and I promise there will be no hesitation." Xu Wu had already become restless.

Wow, a main force battalion of 850 people, what does that mean? The main force battalion of a front-line field regiment may not be as large as mine.

Although the troops are not complete now, the regiment commander has said that all the soldiers from the replenishment battalion will be transferred to the first battalion after they return.

Looking at Xu Wu's smug face, Zheng Hua and Sun Xun curled their lips in disdain.

It's just that we got two more heavy machine guns and some light machine guns. The room is almost full.
Zheng Hua and the others would never admit that they were jealous.
After a short rest in Liangzhuang, the New Second Regiment set out to return to Shanggezhuang. On the way back, the New Second Regiment felt the pain of the road being destroyed, which was really unbearable for ordinary people.

It took only three hours to attack Liangzhuang last night, but now on the way back, we haven't even traveled 3 miles in three hours. This was during the day. If it was at night, it's hard to imagine how slow the speed would be.

By the time the soldiers finally returned to Shangge Village with great difficulty, it was already evening the next day.

Luo Ping, who came out to greet the soldiers after hearing the news, was a little surprised to see the soldiers in such a miserable state. If one didn't know, one would have thought that they had lost the battle.

As soon as they met, Chen Chengxing spoke directly without waiting for Luo Ping to speak.

"Lao Luo, don't talk about anything else. Arrange the kitchen staff to cook something delicious. Use the canned food from the captured food to stew a pot of Chinese cabbage. The soldiers are really exhausted on this journey. Let them rest after eating."

Along the way, we unloaded the car, lifted the car over the pit, and loaded it again about 10 times, not to mention those places where we had to get off the road to pull the car.

In particular, some soldiers recognized the pits they had dug.
"Okay, I'll arrange it right away. Let the soldiers wash up first. It should be almost done after they wash up." Luo Ping agreed immediately.

After the meal, the soldiers rested and it was an hour later when Chen Chengxing returned to the regiment headquarters.

"Old Chen, we gained a lot from the raid on Liangzhuang this time." Luo Ping followed Chen Chengxing in after seeing him return.

"Not to mention food and clothing, the weapons and ammunition alone are enough for our New Second Regiment to reach the next level." Chen Chengxing wiped his face with a wet towel at the door.

"By the way, Lao Luo, the Japanese on the east and west routes have chosen to retreat, and the threat to us should have been basically eliminated." Chen Chengxing said.

"Well, it has been more than a week since the Japanese started their attack. I don't know what the situation is like in other places." Luo Ping said. He knew the information about the Japanese retreat.

"Since the Japanese are retreating, the main force of our New Second Regiment will be free to support the division headquarters' operations. I plan to advance south to Junyu Town after the troops have rested."

"Based on the previous combat meeting of the headquarters, I speculate that the encirclement and annihilation battle of the division headquarters is likely to take place in the mountainous area from Anqiu, Luyang to Liangshan. No matter where in this area, it is only 60 miles away from Junyu Town."

"Once the division headquarters issues an order, we can march quickly from Junyu Town and reach any location within three or four hours."

According to intelligence, except for the route along Dayun Mountain, the other nine-way siege by the Japanese army basically targeted Anqiu and surrounding towns.

The division headquarters must disrupt the Japanese plan before they achieve their goal. So the mountainous area from Anqiu, Luyang to Liangshan is the biggest possibility.

After listening to Chen Chengxing's analysis, Luo Ping nodded. The probability of a war happening in this area was indeed very high.

"But, according to the intelligence, although the Japanese have retreated, they are still eyeing the base. I'm afraid the Japanese will go into the mountains to raid again." Luo Ping said with some concern.

Although the Japanese troops from the east and west withdrew from the base, they did not return to the county town, but stopped at the Xizhuang stronghold and Sanhe Town respectively.

This means that the Japanese can advance again at any time.

"This is very strange. The Japanese neither retreated to the county town nor carried out a mopping-up operation. What were they doing in the stronghold?" Chen Chengxing was a little confused as he looked at the map.

Based on Chen Chengxing's current command ability, it can be judged that the Japanese are most likely waiting for an opportunity.

But Chen Chengxing couldn't see where there was any chance. The three battalions before had failed, and now the two battalions of the New Second Regiment were even less to be feared.

(End of this chapter)