Sword: Heart of Iron

Chapter 197 Heze! Heze!
The messenger had only been gone a short while when he hurriedly ran back.

"Reporting to Your Excellency!"

Yamamoto Ichiro was happily "selecting a concubine" when he was suddenly interrupted by a messenger, and he was very displeased: "What is it now?"

The messenger, breathless, reported: "Reporting to Lieutenant Colonel..."

"The Chinese army has invaded."

"What are you afraid of!" Yamamoto Ichiro sneered, putting down a stack of photos in his hand. "What's with all this panic? Where is the dignity of the Imperial Samurai?"

How many troops have arrived?

"I remember during the Battle of Taierzhuang, the 111th Division of China attacked Hanzhuang, but failed to capture it after a long siege, and the troops inside Hanzhuang numbered only one company!"

“The Chinese army has just experienced a major battle and will definitely not recover in a short time, while we have two companies.”

"What are you afraid of?"

The messenger, catching his breath, reported: "Lieutenant Colonel, news has arrived from the Second Army Headquarters that the Chinese garrison has departed from Lanfeng, with approximately one division as their target."

"What?!" Yamamoto Ichiro stood there, stunned.

If the troops attacking Heze were other Chinese divisions, he wouldn't be too alarmed.

After all, the Battle of Hanzhuang had already proven the true level of the Chinese army.

A single company withstood the attack of an entire division; despite such a vast disparity in troop strength, the Empire still emerged victorious.

He currently has two squadrons under his command.

Yamamoto Ichiro did not believe that he was inferior to the troops defending Hanzhuang.

If they can do it, then I can too!
But things might be different if they encounter the provincial garrison.

Within the Imperial Army, although each division commander wanted to challenge Wang Feng and prove their ability by stepping on the corpses of the provincial garrison, they all wanted to do so.

The Second, Tenth, Thirteenth, and Eighteenth Divisions all fell to them, and the disastrous defeat of the Fourteenth Division was also inextricably linked to them.

In this situation, whoever can defeat Wang Feng will definitely be considered a meritorious official of the empire.

Even the Emperor had to show him deference.

With such achievements, his future promotion to Minister of the Army is basically not a problem.

But mid-level officers don't see it that way.

Unlike the division commanders at the top, most mid-level officers preferred to fight against other Chinese armies that were much larger than to provoke the provincial garrison.

Isn't that seeking death?

He himself did not covet the position of Prime Minister Lu or a cabinet minister.

He just wanted to be a regimental commander or brigade commander, without having to risk his life to fight to the death with the provincial garrison.

Yamamoto Ichiro stepped out from behind the desk: "Go to the communications unit immediately and send a telegram to the 59th Infantry Regiment of Uotai, requesting immediate support!"

"Also, summon all company commanders to come see me!"

The messenger bowed and said, "Hai!"

Yamamoto Ichiro frowned and glanced at the stack of photos on the table.

He has no time for such things now; if he can't defend Heze, he'll lose his head.

--------

Inside a speeding jeep on a vast plain.

Wang Feng sat in the back row, leaning against the seat back, and closed his eyes, pretending to doze off.

In the passenger seat, Zhao Fangyuan turned his head and asked loudly, "Sir, it's already dark. Should we order the troops to camp here?"

Wang Feng opened his eyes, rolled up his sleeves, glanced at his watch, and the roar of the car engine made his eardrums sting: "Only four hours have passed. Let's rest for half an hour and set off at eight o'clock sharp!"

"Get to Heze as soon as possible, lest you have any unforeseen problems at the nightclub!"

Zhao Fangyuan nodded: "Yes!"

"Put your car up ahead for a moment."

The driver responded, turned the steering wheel, and broke away from the marching column.

After the car came to a stop, Wang Feng jumped out and stretched his limbs. A short while later, Zhao Fangyuan came over with a telegram and saluted.

"Sir, an urgent military report has arrived from the rear!"

Wang Feng casually ran his foot through the weeds: "Read it aloud."

A few days ago, I received a report that the main force of the Japanese army had just arrived in Jinzhong. In such a short time, they would not be able to reach Changzhi at all.

And indeed, things turned out exactly as he had predicted.

Zhao Fangyuan: "The 41st Army set off immediately after receiving the first batch of aid and supplies, and has now arrived at its designated combat area."

"After receiving the telegram requesting assistance, the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army responded actively. As of now, two regiments have arrived at the ambush area, but both are core regiments."

Wang Feng raised an eyebrow.

Base regiment?
As the name suggests, it is not the main force.

The most distinctive feature is that it has no numerical designation.

After the Xi'an Incident, the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army was formally reorganized, consisting of three divisions, each with two brigades and two regiments.

They are all numbered.

These regiments were the main force regiments of the Eighth Route Army.

For example, the 685th and 686th Regiments under the 115th Division.

The backbone regiment is an organization that falls between the main force regiment and the local regiment.

Their combat missions were similar to those of the Japanese Army's Class B units, primarily focusing on local security operations, but also assisting the main force regiments in offensive operations when necessary.

Wang Feng: "Which two units are they? Do you have their specific unit numbers?"

Zhao Fangyuan: "The 1st New Regiment and the Independent Regiment of the 386th Brigade?"

"The regimental commanders are Li Yunlong and Kong Jie."

Wang Feng was speechless.

Li Yunlong, Kong Jie
It's been so long since I've heard those two names.
"Yes, send a reply to Song Wenjie, instructing him to strengthen combat readiness and provide daily reports on the battle situation."

Zhao Fangyuan saluted.

Wang Feng: "How is the tank project research progressing?"

"Can mass production begin in June?"

Zhao Fangyuan thought for a moment: "I haven't received any news recently. I'll inquire about it in my reply later."

Wang Feng said "Oh" and continued, "Taking Puyang and Heze is not difficult. The key is how to defend the homeland that we have finally recovered." "The Central Plains is not like Shanxi, which is full of ravines. It is almost all a vast plain, which is extremely suitable for large-scale Japanese troop operations. Without the support of tanks, this land will probably tie down most of our troops."

Zhao Fangyuan nodded: "What you say is absolutely right, sir. The main force of the Japanese army in North China has been deployed to the Dangshan battlefield. The chances of the Yudong Corps winning are very small. Once the North China Area Army is freed up, I'm afraid another fierce battle will be about to begin."

"Sir, the Japanese army has suffered heavy losses in recent battles, and its elite forces have been greatly reduced. Will this slow down their offensive?"

Wang Feng frowned and thought for a moment.

"Although Japan is a small island nation, its war potential is far greater than you think. The full-scale war has only been going on for less than a year. Such a short time is simply not enough to exhaust all of Japan's resources and manpower."

I remember that in 1939, Japan carried out a large-scale military expansion.

The 32nd to 41st Divisions were added. These ten new divisions were all of type B and were mainly responsible for counterinsurgency missions, although their combat effectiveness was not as good as the old type A divisions.

However, this also proves from another perspective that Japan still has a considerable amount of war-related manpower that has not been developed.

Wang Feng: "But the pace of the Japanese army's attack on Wuhan may be slowed down as a result."

“War personnel are not the same as active duty troops. It takes at least six months of training to go from a civilian to a qualified soldier.”

"Those who go to the battlefield without sufficient training are weaker than cannon fodder in combat; they can't even fill in the lines properly!"

Zhao Fangyuan scratched his head.

This statement, on the surface, seems to refer to the Japanese army, but it is actually probably aimed at a portion of the National Revolutionary Army at this stage.

He has recently heard some rumors.

The war in North China lasted for nearly a year. The Japanese army suffered considerable losses, but the National Revolutionary Army suffered even greater losses.

Forced land acquisition has already occurred in some villages, towns, and county seats within Henan Province.

Soldiers who enlist with resentment will inevitably face dire consequences on the battlefield.

At that time, there will likely be more and more "deserter units" like the 27th Army and the 8th Army.

Sometimes it wasn't that the officers were afraid to fight, but rather that the lower-ranking soldiers had almost all deserted, forcing them to retreat without authorization.

Wang Feng: "By the way, have you received any news from the Japanese Communist Party in the last two months?"

After the great victory in Huaibei, Nosaka Sanzo of the Japanese Communist Party sent me a congratulatory telegram. I was a little confused when I saw it at the time. Now that I think about it, if I had given the Japanese Communist Party some support and let them cause some trouble in Japan, the impact would probably have been comparable to an epic victory.

Zhao Fangyuan frowned, thought for a moment, and then shook his head: "I heard that after the Battle of Taierzhuang, the Japanese Communist Party launched several anti-war campaigns in Japan, but they were eventually abandoned."

"It's probably because of the crackdown by the Japanese authorities. Nosaka Sanzo is probably hiding somewhere right now."

Wang Feng sighed, feeling a pang of regret.

"Militaryism is deeply ingrained!"

"Get in the car, and take a rest!"

--------

5 month 29 day.

Heze.

In the spacious and brightly lit office, Yamamoto Ichiro slumped in his chair: "Gentlemen... it's already dawn, what should we do?"

Company Commander Takeshita stood up: "Sir, in my opinion, we should retreat!"

These words immediately garnered the support of all the officers present.

“Mr. Takeshita is right. We only have five or six hundred soldiers and no heavy weapons. We are no match for the Chinese army’s attack!”

"Yup!"

The noisy environment gave Yamamoto Ichiro a headache: "Shut up!"

"As imperial warriors, is this all the courage you have?"

"Anyone who dares to talk about retreating from now on will be shot dead on the spot!"

With a roar, the office gradually quieted down.

Yamamoto Ichiro looked around. This military meeting had been going on from yesterday evening until dawn. At first, only two company commanders participated, but people were called in one after another, and now even squad leaders were involved.

Takeshita seemed to have something more to say: "Your Excellency, we simply..."

Yamamoto Ichiro slammed his fist on the table: "Coward!"

"How could there be such a cowardly coward as you in the Imperial Army!"

Seeing the other party insult him like this, Takeshita immediately blushed. Although he didn't say anything, he kept cursing in his heart.

coward?

Am I a coward?

After the division captured Heze, you, as the battalion commander, volunteered to stay here and avoid going to the front line to fight.

Who is the coward?

Everyone here is here in China to earn merit. How did you end up being transferred to the 14th Division? Do you really think no one knows?
Ignoring Takeshita, Yamamoto Ichiro stood up and said, "Everyone! We have no way out!"

"The Second Army will not accept us. Heze is far from Shanxi. Right now, our only hope is the 59th Regiment!"

As he spoke, he turned to the messenger standing at the door: "There's been no response to the telegrams sent out?"

The messenger shook his head.

Yamamoto Ichiro gritted his teeth and muttered curses under his breath.

At this moment, Matsumoto, the captain of another squadron, stood up: "Sir, I have a plan!"

Yamamoto Ichiro seemed to have grasped at a straw: "Tell me quickly!"

Matsushita slowly said, "When the provincial garrison reaches the city, we can take the Chinese people hostage and bring them up to the city wall. If we do this, Wang Feng will definitely not dare to attack, and we only need to stall until reinforcements arrive!"

Even lower-ranking Japanese officers who couldn't speak Chinese could fluently pronounce the two Chinese characters "王奉".

Yamamoto Ichiro's eyes lit up:
"well!"

"Matsushita-kun, you're incredibly smart!"

"This task will be handled by your squadron. The more Chinese people the better!"

"I will recommend you to my superiors!"

Yamamoto Ichiro's expression was one of fervor, as if he could see a tremendous achievement beckoning to him.

With just two squadrons, they managed to hold off an attack by nearly a division of the provincial garrison. Regardless of the merits of their methods, this was a great achievement.

The current empire desperately needs a major victory, a major victory against the provincial garrison.

Matsushita nodded: "Hai!"

"Please rest assured, Tiannao Black Card! Banzai!"

(End of this chapter)