Bright Sword: From Border Region Manufacturing to Major National Heavy Industry

Chapter 237 Brigade Commander: I'm afraid the entire Shanxi Province is about to descend into chaos.

Zhang Wanhe rushed to headquarters, while Li Muzhi went to his office for a half-hour nap to recharge.

Then, he and the workers continued modifying the equipment.

Another piece of equipment was modified, and Li Muzhi was just about to test it himself when Lao Qi came over, holding a part of an anti-disassembly device.

"Factory manager, take a look." Old Qi handed the equipment parts to Li Muzhi and said, "There are a few parts here that, for some reason, don't meet your requirements."

The anti-disassembly device is not placed inside the mine, but inside the cannonball of the Hellfire Cannon.

Some might say, why not just enlarge the anti-disassembly device placed inside the bounding mine and put it inside the Hell Cannon shell?

If military industry were that simple, the Japanese wouldn't have left us so far behind.

The anti-disassembly device installed inside the Hell Cannon is much more complex than the anti-bounce mine device.

This needs to have an expiration date, withstand the impact of shell launch, and ensure that the self-destruct device does not activate unexpectedly during the impact process.

Unlike bounding mines, which have anti-disassembly devices, bounding mines don't have these requirements. Once a bounding mine is laid, nothing needs to be guaranteed; you just need to make sure it bounces up and explodes when there is any movement. Of course, it's much easier to make them.

Li Muzhi took the part of the device, glanced at it only once, and said, "This is a problem with the equipment. You need to readjust the equipment according to my requirements."

Li Muzhi quickly explained the details of the fine-tuning process, and Lao Qi wrote them down one by one in his notebook. He then closed the notebook and said, "Okay, factory manager, I will readjust the machine according to your requirements."

“Okay.” Li Muzhi nodded.

Old Qi left quickly, and Li Muzhi continued his work, adjusting the modified equipment in front of him.

……

386th Brigade Headquarters

"Brigade Commander, it's just been confirmed."

The deputy brigade commander approached the brigade commander, who was in a bad mood, and reported, "The location of the Japanese military factory that produces seamless steel pipes has been confirmed. At present, the Japanese have not shown any signs of relocation, but they have reinforced their troops."

Although they learned the location of the Japanese's previous arsenal from the factory director of the Cuicun arsenal, they still had to send someone to confirm it in person.

In case the Japanese move it away.

As for why the brigade commander was in a bad mood...

The reason is easy to explain: the brigade commander had just returned from headquarters.

No one dared to ask what the brigade commander had experienced at headquarters.

"We still need to send people to secretly keep an eye on this Japanese arsenal that produces seamless steel pipes." The brigade commander's tone was very serious. "Even if those Japanese move it, we have to get it back to the new location."

"Yes." The deputy brigade commander nodded.

A staff officer rushed over and handed the brigade commander the newly arrived intelligence: "Brigade commander, this is intelligence that our intelligence agent just intercepted from the Japanese."

The brigade commander took the intelligence report and looked at it, then stared blankly: "What is the significance of this cherry blossom tree that would warrant such a large-scale operation from the Japanese!"

Three Japanese brigades were pulled out from the encirclement and suppression forces and headed towards Li Yunlong's group.

The brigade commander was also puzzled by this.

What exactly did Li Yunlong do to get the Japanese to send three brigades to join their encirclement and suppression efforts?

Now, the Japanese encirclement and suppression forces are in a stalemate with our side, and the Japanese mopping-up operations are temporarily unable to do anything to us.

According to this intelligence, the mobilization of three Japanese brigades was due to cherry blossom trees.

The brigade commander didn't believe the Japanese were going to such lengths because of a single large tree; he thought the cherry blossom tree was most likely a code name for an important Japanese officer.

The deputy brigade commander speculated, "Brigade commander, could these cherry blossom trees be part of some important military supplies, such as rare minerals as valuable as tungsten ore?"

The brigade commander nodded: "That possibility cannot be ruled out."

Immediately afterwards, the brigade commander cursed, "Li Yunlong, you son of a bitch, you better hold on for me and don't let me down. I gave you my assurance to the headquarters leaders."

"Brigade Commander, what guarantees did you make to the leaders at headquarters?" the deputy brigade commander asked.

The brigade commander did not answer the question, but instead said, "Provide this intelligence to the headquarters' intelligence department as soon as possible and see if they can find the answer."

"Yes." The deputy brigade commander left.

The brigade commander continued cursing, "That bastard Li Yunlong got his hands on the cherry blossom tree. Now, not only will Northwest Shanxi be thrown into chaos, but the entire Shanxi province will probably be thrown into turmoil."

……

358th Regiment of Jin-Sui Army

"Commander, Commander, Commander!"

Fang Ligong, the chief of staff of the 358th Regiment of the Jin-Sui Army, ran up to the regimental commander Chu Yunfei as if he had taken the wrong medicine: "The latest news is that the Japanese encirclement and suppression forces have withdrawn three brigades and are rushing towards the rear. It seems that Li Yunlong has touched a nerve with the Japanese and angered them. They even have to slow down their sweeping operation against the main force of the Eighth Route Army."

Upon hearing this, Chu Yunfei was shocked: "The news is correct, right? Three brigades of Japanese soldiers have gone there? If that's the case, then Mr. Yan is in danger." Earlier, it was Chu Yunfei who took Yan Kai to find Li Yunlong.

Although Yan Kai wrote something down and had Chu Yunfei deliver it to his superiors.

However, Chu Yunfei was still criticized. His superiors said that if Yan Kai were to make any mistakes, Chu Yunfei would not be spared.

Now that he heard that three Japanese brigades had gone there, how could Chu Yunfei not worry about Yan Kai's safety?

Fang Ligong nodded emphatically: "Commander, the news is true, I've verified it repeatedly. What should we do now? Should we send troops immediately?"

"Three brigades of Japanese soldiers, and with only my 358th Regiment, it's useless for us to go out," Chu Yunfei shook his head.

"If we don't send troops, are we just going to stand by and watch Mr. Yan Kai be threatened by three Japanese brigades?" Fang Ligong was very anxious.

"Let's wait," Chu Yunfei said succinctly.

The 358th Regiment received the news, and the higher-ups and Commander Yan will surely receive it soon as well.

If the higher-ups and Commander Yan intend to send troops, they will definitely notify the 358th Regiment.

"Then let's see what the higher-ups and Commander Yan decide." Fang Ligong understood Chu Yunfei's meaning, and then asked suspiciously, "How did Li Yunlong manage to provoke the Japanese? What exactly did he do over there? It can't be that he just got lucky again and found another Japanese arsenal."

The news that the Eighth Route Army had captured the Yanzhen Arsenal had already reached the Jin-Sui Army.

"It shouldn't be like that," Chu Yunfei shook his head and said, "If Li Yunlong had found another Japanese arsenal, the Japanese wouldn't have needed to rush over so frantically. They would have just needed to block the road and prevent Li Yunlong and his men from having a chance to go back. But the three Japanese brigades rushed over like madmen, as if their elderly mother had been violated. So, Li Yunlong must have touched some other sore spot on the Japanese."

"What kind of pain could it be?" Fang Ligong asked suspiciously.

"I don't know about that, but one thing is for sure, this guy has been having a lot of luck lately. I reckon he's made a huge gain." Chu Yunfei brought up the topic, and the other party chimed in, "Let's get the troops ready to launch an attack."

"Yes, Commander."

……

Japanese Military Police in Heyuan

"Vice Minister, I've figured it out."

The trusted aide approached Sato Haruno with a serious expression: "The reason why the Ninth Brigade, the Twenty-first Brigade, and the Twenty-ninth Brigade rushed back to the rear is because an important person was captured by the Eighth Route Army."

"What important personnel?" Sato Haruno asked suspiciously.

"Code name Cherry Blossom Tree, he is a senior naval expert in our army," the confidant said.

"Baka!" Sato Haruno cursed angrily upon hearing this, "Shouldn't this senior naval expert be staying in the country? What is he doing in China?"

Haruno Sato knew all too well what a senior naval expert meant to the army, which explained why the 9th, 21st, and 29th brigades had rushed back in a frenzy.

If the cherry trees cannot be saved, the army's shipbuilding may have to stop.

Those idiots in the navy must be laughing their heads off.

"It seems like they're going to the Taiyuan Arsenal for some kind of exchange, but I don't know the specifics." The confidant looked at Sato Haruno. "Do you think we should lend a hand?"

“If all three brigades can’t find this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers, then they should all commit seppuku,” Sato Haruno said directly.

In Haruno Sato's view, no help was needed.

With three brigades conducting a thorough search, it's only a matter of time before they find the Eighth Route Army.

The confidant continued, "It seems the cherry blossom tree has been severely damaged by the Eighth Route Army. If we could rescue the people sooner, perhaps..."

“No need.” Sato Haruno waved his hand decisively and said, “Our work here is still very important, so don’t get distracted.”

Although Haruno Sato was furious about the damage to the cherry blossom trees, he knew that it was precisely at times like these that he needed to stay clear-headed.

The cherry blossom trees have been violated; that's an undeniable fact.

Commander Shinotsuka has already agreed to give them two more military dogs, so this is Sato Haruno's last chance; he has to turn the tables.

Soon, another assistant quickly came over and reported to Haruno Sato, "Reporting to the deputy minister, the two military dogs we were given have been delivered."

"Yoshi, that's great." Sato Haruno smiled. "Where's the military dog? Take me there to see it quickly."

With military dogs, our scent tracking technique will allow us to strike at the Eighth Route Army's vitals!
"Vice Minister, please come with me." The assistant led the way.

Sato Haruno followed them to the location, where he indeed found two robust military dogs.

Seeing them was like seeing his own future.

Sato Haruno's expression turned cold: "The military dogs are in place. Now let's see how the Eighth Route Army takes the bait. As long as they bring the bait back, our chance to turn the tide will come. Find their arsenal and uproot them!"

"Yes, we're just waiting for the Eighth Route Army to take the bait." The assistants all nodded.

(End of this chapter)