Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 300 We Must Seize the Regiment Flag

Just as the Japanese troops at the front were overwhelmed by the Eighth Route Army's infiltration tactics and were on the verge of their mental and physical limits, the atmosphere in the joint command post at the rear gradually eased as the battle progressed smoothly.

After a busy day, Su Yaoyang and Bai Chongxi sat down to smoke a cigarette and rest.

“Dingle bell…Dingle bell…”

A sudden, piercing telephone ring shattered the relatively calm buzz in the command center, causing everyone's nerves to tense up.

The operations staff officer closest to the phone quickly grabbed the receiver, covered his other ear, and answered loudly:

"This is the joint command post! What's going on?"

As the staff officer listened to the voice on the microphone, his expression quickly changed from serious to surprised. He suddenly looked up and his gaze locked onto the brigade commander, who was standing with Su Yaoyang and Bai Chongxi, smoking and discussing something.

"What...you've discovered a Japanese command post and are requesting to speak with the brigade commander?" The staff officer's voice involuntarily rose.

Upon hearing this, the brigade commander, who was puffing on a cigarette, immediately raised his eyebrows.

He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, and without saying a word, strode over and took the microphone, still warm from the staff officer's hand, from his grasp.

As soon as he brought the microphone to his ear, Li Yunlong's signature loud voice immediately came through, so loud it seemed to explode from the receiver:
"Reporting to the brigade commander, this is Li Yunlong."

Our regiment has stumbled upon a huge structure ahead—the headquarters of the Japanese 222nd Regiment. This headquarters is built inside a cave; the entrance is very well hidden, but it's been thoroughly monitored by our men!

Li Yunlong's voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement. He paused, and as if to add more persuasiveness, he added:
"Our political commissar Zhao Gang and I have discussed it, and we both believe that the Japanese regimental flag is most likely hidden inside! Brigade Commander! We're planning a big heist and to seize one of their regimental flags! Please approve!"

"The regimental flag!"

These two words struck the brigade commander like a bolt of lightning. His voice rose several decibels instantly, and even his usually composed expression crumbled, his eyes flashing with disbelief.

Su Yaoyang and Bai Chongxi, who were standing nearby, also heard the brigade commander's exclamation and stopped talking at the same time, turning their questioning and surprised gazes over.

They all understood what a Japanese regimental flag truly meant in boosting their own morale and crushing the enemy's will.

That's not just a flag; it's the soul of a regiment. Once the regimental flag is lost, the regiment ceases to exist.

Of course, the importance of the regimental flag was not only for the Japanese army. For any Chinese army, it was an unparalleled honor and a heavy political asset and glory that could be recorded in history.

Su Yaoyang has been in Shanxi for years and has made such a big fuss, expanding the army and promoting people's livelihood. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a local tyrant. However, the person in Chongqing has never really reprimanded him. In fact, he has been commended many times.

Besides his formidable military strength, which no force dared to underestimate, the most important reason was that during his breakout from Nanjing, he not only poisoned a large number of Japanese soldiers in the 6th Division with sarin gas, but also captured the regimental flags of the 13th and 45th Infantry Regiments of the Japanese Army!

Afterwards, Su Yaoyang very "quickly" handed over the two flags to the commissioner sent by Chongqing.

Upon receiving the two joint team flags, the Chongqing authorities were overjoyed and immediately mobilized their entire propaganda machine to widely publicize and report on this unprecedented and great victory in newspapers both at home and abroad.

This completely humiliated the Japanese government and army, leaving them utterly disgraced.

From this perspective, Chongqing owes Su Yaoyang an enormous favor.

Therefore, over the years, no matter how much trouble Su Yaoyang caused in Shanxi, Chongqing turned a blind eye and even reluctantly provided him with some political benefits.

The same principle applies to the Eighth Route Army.

The brigade commander's mind was racing, and he almost immediately grasped the key to it.

If the Eighth Route Army were to capture a regimental flag from the Japanese Army, it would greatly enhance the political influence and prestige of the entire Eighth Route Army.

This is not just a military victory, but also a political victory that can change the views of many people!
In light of this, the brigade commander only pondered for less than ten seconds before his gleaming eyes regained their unwavering resolve.

He gripped the microphone tightly and, speaking into the other end, issued his order in a resolute and unquestionable tone:
"Okay... I approve it."

"Li Yunlong, you immediately organize the most elite forces for me. No matter what method you use or what cost you have to pay, you must get that regimental flag intact!"

On the front

The moment Li Yunlong received the brigade commander's approval, his eyes gleamed with a hungry, wolf-like green light. He slammed the phone down, turned around, and kicked Zhang Dabiao, the battalion commander beside him, laughing and cursing as he shouted:

"Did you hear that, Zhang Dabiao? The brigade commander has approved it! Give it your all and bring out that Japanese regimental flag whole!"

"Just you wait and see, Commander! We guarantee we'll complete the mission!"

Zhang Dabiao excitedly patted his chest, his dark face flushed with a bloodthirsty rage. He whirled around, slammed the bolt of his Thompson submachine gun all the way back, and roared at the assembled soldiers behind him, their eyes gleaming with fury: "First Company, follow me! Second Company, Third Company, Machine Gun Company, fight to the death! Cover us!"

At that moment, all that nonsense about "avoiding unnecessary sacrifices" had long been forgotten by Li Yunlong and his men. They had only one thought in their minds, a crazy, burning thought—to get that regimental flag!

Everyone's heart was pounding in their chests, not from fear, but from extreme excitement and excitement.

With Zhang Dabiao's order, the Independent Regiment unleashed its most potent firepower.

The Czech light machine gun and the captured Type 11 light machine gun roared at the same time, the scorching bullets like crimson whips, lashing the rocks around the cave and any corner where people might hide, sending debris flying everywhere.

Bundles of smoking explosives were hurled at the scene, and grenades rained down on the entrance of the cave where the 222nd Regiment headquarters was located, as if they were free.

"Boom..."

In a series of deafening explosions, two meticulously constructed machine gun emplacements next to the cave entrance were almost instantly blown into the air.

Concrete and steel bars twisted and flew into the air, and the Japanese soldiers inside, along with their heavy machine guns, were blown into mangled pieces of flesh and blood, which scattered everywhere.

The offensive did not stop there!

More than ten captured Type 89 grenade launchers were lined up in a row. The gunners knelt on the ground and skillfully adjusted the angles, stuffing one Type 89 grenade after another into the cannon barrels.

The grenades traced low parabolic arcs, flying precisely into the depths of the dark cave.

Immediately afterwards, a series of muffled, thunderous explosions came from inside the cave. Each explosion sent large amounts of thick smoke and dust flying out of the cave entrance, like a dying beast gasping for breath.

Inside the cave, in contrast to the deafening noise outside, there was an oppressive, deathly silence.

Dust and rubble fell from the cave walls during the violent explosion, hitting helmets and communication equipment with dull thuds.

Under the flickering light of a few lanterns, Colonel Naoyuki Katsume, the commander of the 222nd Regiment, along with his adjutant and the last few staff officers, were holding a tense and tragic ceremony to burn the regimental flag.

The military flag, once considered the soul of the regiment and personally bestowed by the Emperor, was now laid flat on a relatively clean tarpaulin.

The insignia that represented countless "glories" has been cut into pieces, like a pitiful pile of rubble, stacked together with the military flag.

If there were a way to undo mistakes, Kazumi Naoyuki would never have, just hours earlier, ordered the Ryōbō Shōbō (a military insignia) to be cut into dozens of pieces, hoping to have his soldiers carry them away to break out, simply because he didn't want to bear the shame of being "the first commander of the 222nd Regiment to burn the regimental flag on the battlefield."

And now... breaking through has become a joke. They are trapped in this cave, along with their shattered glory, awaiting destruction.

"Could it be... that the regimental flag of the 222nd Infantry Regiment of the Imperial Japanese Army... has been destroyed in my hands just like that?"

Watching the flag bearer tremble as he poured an entire can of kerosene onto the military flag, the pungent smell instantly filling the air, Ge Mu Zhixing was filled with shame and indignation. His face turned a deep purplish-red, and the muscles at the corners of his lips twitched uncontrollably.

This is a disgrace, a stain that can never be washed away!

at this time!

"Da da da da da..."

A burst of violent, air-tearing submachine gun fire suddenly came from the direction of the cave entrance. The sound was amplified several times in the narrow cave, making people's eardrums hurt.

The soldiers guarding the cave entrance didn't even have time to scream before they were riddled with bullets and sent flying backwards.

The Chinese army has stormed the cave!

This sudden turn of events stunned all the Japanese officers, but Kazumi Naoyuki reacted with lightning speed.

He had only one thought in his mind: the Chinese must not be allowed to get the military flag!
He suddenly pulled the matchbox from his pocket and, with his hand trembling uncontrollably from extreme tension, quickly struck a match.

"Shoot-"

A tiny spark ignited from the match head.

Just as Yoshio Yamamoto was about to bring the small flame closer to the military flag soaked in kerosene, a dozen figures covered in gunpowder and mud, like demons emerging from hell, appeared in the cave, carrying still-smoking submachine guns, and pointed their dark muzzles at them.

The burly man at the head of the group, with a face full of scars, grinned, revealing teeth stained yellow by gunpowder, and stared at him with the look of someone looking at a dead man.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment...

(End of this chapter)