The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 536: Departure Imminent (Bonus Chapter for Bookworm Little Duck Helmsman)

We have the manpower and the weapons and equipment.

After the two most critical issues were successfully resolved, it was now September 12th.

Considering that they must reach the Chunhua Mountain area east of Shacheng by the 26th, which would take at least seven days, the time left for Hu Biao and his team is becoming increasingly scarce.

Therefore, Hu Biao and his fellow time travelers raced against time to begin the final preparations.

Various situations unfolded in Xinning and other parts of Hunan Province, and soon a spectacular drama would unfold...

On September 13, Yang Sen, an old acquaintance of Hu Biao of the National Revolutionary Army.

When Hu Biao and his men were defending the Dunwu Temple line, they had joined the Sichuan Army and served as the commander of the 20th Army. However, four or five years later, he had become the commander of the 27th Army Group.

After a fierce battle, Commander Yang led his troops to recapture the Dayunshan defense line, which had been captured by the Japanese a few days earlier.

However, they soon encountered a fierce counterattack from the Japanese, and the battle between the two sides became intense.

Because Dayun Mountain is located in the upper reaches of the Xinqiang River, it is considered a key point in the Xiangbei defense line. Upon seeing this, Yang Sen quickly mobilized his two main divisions and some other troops to deploy and reinforce the Dayun Mountain defense line.

What Yang Sen didn't know was that this was exactly what the Japanese wanted to see.

They gradually and secretly replaced the 6th Division, the main force that attacked Dayun Mountain, with another second-line force.

Meanwhile, the 6th Division, along with the 3rd and 40th elite divisions, secretly moved towards the Xinqiang River.

Unfortunately, due to the large number of troops being transferred away, the Nationalist army's Xinqiang River defense line was easily breached by the Japanese, making it a foregone conclusion.

Once the Xinqiang River defense line is breached, the Japanese can advance unimpeded and reach the vicinity of the Miluo River.

The Miluo River is less than 100 kilometers away from C City in a straight line, and the Japanese army could reach it quickly at their marching speed.

At the same time, while Yang Sen was ordering the troop deployment, what were Hu Biao and his men doing? To be precise, they were conducting live-fire training.

On the second battalion's firing range, the ATs were nowhere to be seen; they no longer displayed the same trepidation they had when facing their boss in the modern world.

After a loud burst of gunfire, he picked up his binoculars and glanced at some targets two hundred meters away; seeing the sparse bullet holes on them, his anger immediately surged uncontrollably.

He strode forward and, brandishing a horsewhip, began to lash out at a platoon that had just fired five bullets.

While smoking, he kept cursing:
"Get out of here! Use your pig brains to think about how I just taught you to aim and fire! Damn it! Not even a few of you hit the target with all five shots."

"Let's play another round later. If it's still this bad, you'll all be starving tonight."

After going through an entire platoon from beginning to end, leaving no one out, he finally shouted, "Next platoon, come up and do a better job!"

Amidst the AT's loud curses, another thirty-odd men lay prone on the firing range, nervously raising their rifles.

Each of them carried a bullet pouch made of homespun cloth, containing twenty gleaming yellow bullets—the number of bullets they used for their daily live-fire training.

It may not seem like much, but it was quite a luxury in the Nationalist Army at that time.

If Hu Biao hadn't obtained three tons of yellow explosives and two tons of smokeless gunpowder from the Guangxi clique, and if the sorcerers and others hadn't used this smokeless gunpowder as propellant, thus gaining the ability to reload bullets...

Thanks to this, Hu Biao and his men had the confidence to have each soldier fire twenty bullets a day.

Before officially setting off, each new recruit can fire at least 140 or 150 rounds of ammunition to practice their basic accuracy.

In addition to several infantry battalions, guard battalions, and supply battalions, which are currently conducting live-fire training in the above manner, the Hunan Provincial Supplementary Regiment of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment has also carried out some rather unique live-fire training exercises.

Early that morning, Uncle Bo had already led about two hundred people into the vast mountains and forests.

Because every one of these two hundred men was handpicked from among hunters, their marksmanship and mental fortitude were all quite good, making them the best candidates for snipers.

They were personally trained by Uncle Bo, the team's top sniper.

We can also go hunting and improve everyone's meals...

On September 15, while live-fire training continued, bayonet fighting training also commenced.

However, this bayonet fighting training was noticeably different from the previous training in the Pingding County base area and the Guinan battlefield.

To be more specific, Hu Biao and his men clearly realized one thing: in just a few short days, how could their bayonet training possibly match that of the Japanese soldiers who had practiced this skill for years?

On the contrary, a considerable number of these new recruits had a good foundation in martial arts.

When they enlisted, many of the Han Chinese brothers, being descendants of the Hunan Army, wore ancestral goose-feather sabers.

Other ethnic minorities such as the Dong, Yao, and Miao each carry a long knife with distinctive ethnic characteristics.

So after discussing it, they decided to do the opposite: instead of teaching them how to use bayonets, they would teach them how to use their long knives to counter bayonets, so they would understand the effectiveness of the Japanese bayonets.

And teach them the Eight Blades of Breaking the Edge with a broadsword, so they can learn from them, etc.

From that day on, everyone carried a variety of long knives in addition to various firearms, which became a characteristic of the Hunan Provincial Supplementary Regiment of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment.

Oh, and another unique feature is their cavalry battalion.

The distinctive feature of the Supplementary Cavalry Battalion lies mainly in the mounts of their 58th Regiment; there are only a few proper warhorses, and the rest are mostly short but sturdy packhorses from Sichuan and Guizhou.

In addition, there are some mules, donkeys, etc.

There was no way! Xinning was just a remote county; it was impossible to find so many warhorses, not even enough pack horses.

Hu Biao was so sociable that he almost became the son-in-law of all those local gentry.

In a cavalry battalion of 362 men, only one mount was provided for each man, and a significant portion of them were mules and donkeys. There was nothing that could be done about it.

Besides! Even if a herd of donkeys charged wildly, it would still be quite impactful and would scare the Japanese to death.

The only problem was that, looking at his cavalry battalion with its diverse and varied mounts, Old Ma was so worried about how to formulate a training plan that he was practically racking his brains...

On September 17, the main force of the Japanese 11th Army appeared in the area north of the Xinqiang River.

Upon seeing a large number of Japanese troops appear on the opposite bank, the Nationalist army knew they had fallen into a trap; however, by then, it was too late for them to do anything.

And indeed, the next day the main force of the Japanese army launched a fierce attack under the cover of a large number of artillery pieces and aircraft.

Shortly after the start of the battle, they crossed the Xinqiang River from Xinqiang, Tongxi Street, Siliufang, and Gangkou, breaking through the defensive positions on the south bank.

After fierce fighting with the Japanese, the National Revolutionary Army's 4th, 20th, and 58th Armies withdrew on their own initiative.

On the 19th, the Japanese continued to advance towards C Shacheng. Based on the experience of the previous battle, Xue Boling made a tactical arrangement to first let the main force of the Japanese penetrate deep into the city, and then gradually encircle them from the outside.

Unfortunately, the specific battle plan was only initially sent to the various units.

These telegrams were intercepted by the Japanese and quickly deciphered.

The Japanese then abandoned their policy of "deploying their main force to the Xiangjiang River area" and decided on a new plan to "capture and annihilate the enemy forces in the area north of Laodao River".

All of the above information was relayed to Xiaonan in C City by messengers and reported back via telegram.

Fortunately, in addition to the bad news mentioned above, Hu Biao and his team also received some good news on the 19th.

That morning, 67 comrades from the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China secretly arrived in Xinning County and successfully met with Hu Biao and others.

These people are mostly regular staff members. They may not be good at military operations, but they are undoubtedly skilled in logistics and mobilizing the masses. They can solve a lot of problems for Mina, the logistics director.

In the evening, 122 comrades from the Nanning Special Committee also arrived in Xinning.

Apart from a small number of regular staff, the vast majority of them were military talents personally trained by Hu Biao and his team during the Battle of Guinan.

They also called Principal Hu Biao, and the other directors and teachers.

The arrival of these personnel has finally alleviated their severe shortage of qualified junior officers.

After all, although they had held a crash course for officers of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment in Xinning, training more than 100 people, the time was far too short.

If a real fight breaks out, no one can say for sure how they will perform.

The 20th marked the official departure day for the Xiangjiang branch of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment…

(End of this chapter)