Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 162 New Equipment

"Truly worthy of being the Eighth Route Army's directly subordinate cavalry regiment! They covered the 800-mile journey in just one day; speed is of the essence in warfare!"

In response to the praise from the Eighth Route Army commander, Wang Gensheng smiled and said:
"There's nothing we can do about it; how can one person riding two horses not be fast!"

The deputy commander nodded in agreement.
"Yes! I've heard about what happened to your cavalry regiment. It's really impressive. You didn't want the captured equipment, nor did you expand your forces on a large scale. Instead, you used it all to exchange for light machine guns and grenade launchers! Goodness, your cavalry regiment must have almost a thousand light machine guns by now!"

To the deputy commander's question, Wang Gensheng replied with a smile:
"Not quite a thousand, just over nine hundred and ninety! There are also about four hundred grenade launchers and one hundred submachine guns!"

After hearing Wang Gensheng's report, the deputy commander also said:
"What are you trying to do! A mere 2,000-man cavalry regiment has firepower comparable to an army of 20,000 to 30,000!"

Indeed, from the time Chu Yunfei held the Hongmen Banquet until the Japanese surrendered, Wang Gensheng took advantage of the speed and convenience of the cavalry to receive a large amount of equipment surrendered by the Japanese.

Wang Gensheng, who pursued an elite strategy, rejected everything except light machine guns and grenade launchers. He exchanged them with other Eighth Route Army units for light machine guns and grenade launchers, and even the Type 92 infantry gun, which was considered a treasure, was unwanted by Wang Gensheng.

And so, Wang Gensheng acquired nearly a thousand light machine guns, more than four hundred grenade launchers, and even the Japanese Type 97 sniper rifles.

In response to the deputy commander's question, Wang Gensheng replied:
"Commander, as you know, my cavalry regiment isn't your average cavalry regiment. They specialize in night raids and decapitation strikes, unlike the trench warfare and positional battles of regular troops. Therefore, they require strong firepower support and the ability to quickly disengage from combat. So..."

However, before Wang Gensheng could finish speaking, the deputy commander interrupted him, saying:
"Alright! Alright! I understand your battle strategy and ideas, but now the headquarters has decided to cancel the designations of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, and to reorganize the three Lions of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army into four field corps, so I wanted to ask about your plans?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Gensheng thought for a moment before speaking:

"Deputy Commander, in the face of warfare with firearms, cavalry no longer has much of an advantage. The cavalry charge that was feared in the era of cold weapons is no longer applicable in this era. Crossfire composed of a few machine guns is the death reaping line for charging cavalry. Therefore, my cavalry regiment is essentially still an infantry force with strong firepower and rapid mobility."

Therefore, my idea is not to be constrained, but to fully utilize the cavalry's advantage of rapid mobility, going wherever there is an opportunity or a need, rather than being limited to a single region or a particular field army. The cavalry regiment's powerful firepower and combat effectiveness can ensure an overwhelming advantage in a small-scale battle!

Upon hearing Wang Gensheng's words, the deputy commander nodded in agreement. Thus, although the Eighth Route Army's organizational structure was abolished and Wang Gensheng's Eighth Route Army Direct Cavalry Regiment ceased to exist, it became the General Headquarters Direct Cavalry Regiment.

With the signing of the Double Ten Agreement, everything seemed to be moving in a positive direction. However, this Double Ten Agreement was just a facade. Without absolute strength, any agreement is just a piece of waste paper and a delaying tactic.

The agreement that had just been signed was immediately broken. On October 25th of 1945, Lao Zi transported a large number of soldiers to Qin Shi Huangdao by sea, using Mi Guo's ships. The soldiers who landed there used this as a springboard to launch an attack on Dongbei.

The troops that landed this time were no ordinary troops; they were the elite of the elite, the 52nd Army, fully armed with American weapons, and the 13th Army, partially armed with American weapons. They entered Shanhaiguan in a very open and aboveboard manner.

However, the Jiefang Army did not have many troops in this area, so Wang Gensheng naturally volunteered to go there to scout out the situation.

Of course, Yan'an was a full 1,200 kilometers away from Qin Shi Huang's capital. Even with Wang Gensheng's cavalry regiment, each man on two horses, it took them three full days to reach the destination. However, despite the formidable firepower of Wang Gensheng's special cavalry regiment, with only 2,000 men, facing the 52nd and 13th Armies, whose forces outnumbered them by dozens of times, Wang Gensheng naturally dared not engage in a direct confrontation.

With such a large force, it would be impossible to overwhelm them, so Wang Gensheng's only option was to launch a night raid. After all, not only was visibility poor at night, but more importantly, Lao Zi's fighter jets could not provide support at night.

It should be noted that the machine guns on the fighter jets that Lao Jing bought from the United States used bullets with a minimum caliber of 12.7 mm. The bulletproof plates and helmets that Wang Gensheng made could not withstand such large-caliber machine gun bullets at all. The night raid could perfectly avoid the trouble caused by Lao Jing's fighter jets.

They decided to find someone who had fallen behind due to slow travel and deal with them. With Li Xiu's superb night vision, Wang Gensheng quickly decided to take action.

This group is roughly the size of a regiment, around three thousand men. More importantly, this regiment is five kilometers away from other troops, so even with rapid reinforcements, it will take a considerable amount of time.

Moreover, with warhorses, even if reinforcements arrive from the other side, Wang Gensheng's cavalry regiment can quickly break free from the battle.

This squad, as expected of Lao Zi's elite troops, had a large number of soldiers on guard duty. However, Wang Gensheng did not intend to touch the sentries.

After all, the number of soldiers resting in the field, as well as their vigilance, are incomparable to those stationed in the city.

So Wang Gensheng simply ordered the soldiers of the firepower group to set up 400 grenade launchers 500 meters away.

Guided by Li Xiu's night vision, after determining the coordinates of the artillery barrage, a saturation bombardment began.

As soon as the first round of bombing began, Wang Gensheng led his assault team into battle, which now numbered over a thousand men.

The firepower of a thousand men charging with light machine guns is considerable, especially since these thousand men also possessed bulletproof equipment.

However, this charge immediately resulted in casualties, which was due to the M2 heavy machine gun they were equipped with. The 12.7mm heavy machine gun rounds were far superior to the 6.5 or 7.92mm rifle rounds of the past.

However, Wang Gensheng reacted very quickly, using his submachine gun to kill the machine gunner less than two seconds after the heavy machine gun opened fire.

Apart from the M2 heavy machine gun, there were no other weapons on the entire battlefield capable of inflicting fatal damage on the cavalry regiment. Therefore, the battle was over in just five minutes under the surprise attack.

After all, even if they were equipped with American-style equipment, it was impossible for them to be as well-equipped as Wang Gensheng's cavalry regiment, with half of them equipped with light machine guns.

More often than not, they were still equipped with Garand rifles, and the cavalry regiment still had an overwhelming advantage in firepower.

(End of this chapter)