Sword: Heart of Iron

Chapter 11: Itagaki Seishirō, the Eager One
After cleaning up the battlefield, Wang Feng led the 414th Regiment and quickly attacked along the mountain path.

After bypassing Yangyuan County, it moved quickly southward and headed straight towards Wei County.

At this time, the Fifth Division had just captured Guangling and was currently heading towards Lingqiu and other places.

The further south we go, the closer we are to the main force of the Japanese army.

The most intuitive feeling is that in the three-dimensional combat map, there are more and more Japanese fighter plane logos.

A group of densely packed red dots.

As a last resort, Wang Feng had to slow down his march.

Day and night.

Rest in the dense mountain forests during the day.

They waited until night fell before coming out and marching quickly.

Along the way, relying on the three-dimensional combat map in his mind, Wang Fenglian launched several surprise attacks on the Japanese supply lines.

Great harvest.

The most important thing is that you can have a real-time overview of the battlefield situation.

He nimbly avoided every Japanese raid.

In the woods.

Wang Feng leaned against the tree trunk and closed his eyes to take a nap.

Zhao Fangyuan bent over and trotted over with a telegram in his hand.

"Commander, this is a secret message from Commander Yan."

Wang Feng opened his eyes and marched all night. Even an iron man could not endure such torture.

After a few days, the soldiers of the 414th Regiment were already exhausted.

"read."

Zhao Fangyuan cleared his throat and read out in a serious tone:
"I hereby telegraph the 414th Regiment of the remnant of the st Army. Your unit saw the good opportunity, acted decisively, and launched an attack. The results you achieved have boosted the morale of the troops... I hereby award you silver dollars and promote all officers and soldiers by one rank as an encouragement."

Wang Feng yawned: "That's all?"

Zhao Fangyuan handed over the telegram in his hand: "Commander, I have read it all."

Wang Feng stood up, took the telegram, and glanced over it briefly.

"This Commander Yan is really a stingy person!"

"I'm afraid others won't hear this calculation."

Zhao Fangyuan frowned and pondered over what the commander had said.

"You mean Commander Yan won't honor this sum of money, or does he?"

Wang Feng shook his head: "You can't say that."

"To be more precise, our commander is not a pure soldier, but a businessman who knows how to calculate carefully."

"He is likely to do anything that is profitable and beneficial."

"Now my 414th Regiment is trapped behind enemy lines. In Commander Yan's eyes, with only more than a thousand of us trapped deep in the heart of the Fifth Division, the possibility of escaping alive is very low."

"If you don't believe me, look at this. If Commander Yan really has the slightest confidence in my troops, why didn't he give me clear combat orders in this telegram?"

"The 414th Regiment is a surprise force hiding behind the Japanese army. If it can be used properly, it will definitely play a significant role."

After some explanation, Zhao Fangyuan scratched his head and said, "I see."

"I'm afraid you can only get that ten thousand dollars if you're still alive."

He did not graduate from an orthodox military academy, but came from a peasant family.

At that time, the entire 61st Army was undergoing reconstruction.

Ever since traveling through time, Wang Feng has been emphasizing the absolute purity of his army.

The chief of staff sent from above had too many old warlord habits.

So they tried every possible means to squeeze it.

A year later, the former chief of staff could no longer bear the humiliation, but he could do nothing about Wang Feng.

In the end, he could only voluntarily apply to be transferred from the 414th Regiment.

Went to another unit.

By accident, Zhao Fangyuan, who could only write a few words but was absolutely loyal, was selected to become the new chief of staff.

Under Wang Feng's careful teaching over the years, he has already shown the talent to be a capable general.

It's just not yet ready.

Compared to the ten thousand dollars, Wang Feng was more curious about the item in the commendation order - the rank of all soldiers was promoted by one level!
Now he is already the colonel commander of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, which is the highest rank in the colonel officer system.

If you go up further, you will be
"Gather the troops and march southwest."

"Keep this telegram. I don't want to lose this money."

Seeing the sunset, Wang Feng looked down at the time.

Twenty miles further ahead, you should reach the urban area of Wei County.

The Fifth Division has just captured Guangling, and there may still be a large number of troops left in Weixian City.

Itagaki's Fifth Division was eager to attack, and it was common for the vanguard and follow-up troops to become disconnected.

Later, after Taiyuan was captured, another explanation emerged.

It was called "Half a Division Sweeps Through Shanxi."

The Fifth Division also became famous in Japan and was nicknamed the "Steel Army".

If we continue to move forward at this point, we will sooner or later run into a large group of Japanese troops.

Zhao Fangyuan put his heels together, saluted and said loudly:
"Yes!"

The most feared thing when leading troops to fight a war is one soldier being incompetent and a group of incompetent generals being incompetent as well.

The highest combat commander was confident that they could break out, so the morale of the troops was naturally much higher.

Wei County.

Fifth Division Headquarters.

At the military meeting.

Itagaki Seishirō looked at the officers below with a stern face.

"idiot!"

"Why are we only advancing to Lingqiu now?"

Itagaki Seishirō slammed the table, furious.

The officers on both sides lowered their heads, not daring to look the division commander in the eye.

Looking at these incompetent officers below, Itagaki Seishirō became even more furious.

It was his idea to attack Shanxi.

But he was responsible for the secondary attack mission.

Hideki Tojo, who was responsible for the main attack, commanded the Chahar Expeditionary Force, which set out from Zhangjiakou and captured the more famous Datong in a swift and fierce manner.

And he has been attacking unknown small places like Guangling and Yangquan.

There were also many casualties.

All the limelight was stolen by Hideki Tojo.

He came here to make the first contribution.
Chief of Staff Nishimura Riwin stood up and slowly explained:

"General, the Jinsui Army stationed in Lingqiu is an elite reinforced regiment, far beyond the reach of ordinary Jinsui Army troops."

Itagaki Seishirō waved his hands. He didn't want to hear such excuses now.

"Pass on my military order. The vanguard troops will capture Lingqiu within three days."

"No mistakes."

"Those who disobey orders will be dealt with according to military law!"

The officers on both sides stood up, bowed and whispered:

"Hai!"

As the meeting was about to end, Nishimura Tomoyuki remembered something and handed over a confidential telegram with both hands.

"General, according to the report from the baggage train in the rear, a Chinese army is roaming behind our army and has repeatedly attacked the supply line."

"The baggage brigade organized several clean-up operations, but they all ended in failure."

Itagaki Seishirō took the telegram, glanced at it briefly, and then slammed it on the table.

"There are only a few thousand soldiers of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army. Are the troops in the rear all useless?"

"Intensify the cleanup and do not delay the attack!"

Nishimura Towin moved his lips slightly, wanting to continue saying something, but was interrupted by Itagaki Seishirō with a wave of his hand.

Now his only focus is to capture Taiyuan as soon as possible.

I couldn't hear anything else.

(End of this chapter)