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

Chapter 279 Internal Disunity

Taiyuan First Army Headquarters
"Go and send a telegram to the Kumamoto Division Commander and tell him."

Yoshio Shinotsuka summoned a staff officer and said to him, "The Kwantung Army has agreed to airdrop supplies by transport planes. The First War Zone and several other war zones will also send transport planes to reinforce him one after another. Make sure he inflicts heavy damage on my elite troops of more than a dozen divisions!"

Yoshio Shinotsuka already knew about the Kumamoto Division Commander's plan to use tungsten ore as bait to set a trap for more than a dozen of his elite divisions.

"Hai." The staff officer nodded and left.

Just as the staff officer left, another staff officer rushed over: "Commander, this is a telegram from Regiment Commander Yoshino."

"What was the result?" Yoshio Shinotsuka asked anxiously, ignoring the telegram.

The Yoshino Regiment sent an urgent telegram shortly after being attacked by the Eighth Route Army and the Jin-Sui Army.

The telegram claimed that the Eighth Route Army's firepower was fierce, and that the Yoshino Regiment's troops were quickly cut in two and eventually surrounded.

This sudden turn of events made Yoshio Shinotsuka's heart leap into his throat.

Those were over ten thousand of the Emperor's soldiers, the backbone of the First Army.

"The Yoshino Regiment said they successfully broke through with fewer than three thousand men," the staff officer replied.

"What about the rest?" Yoshio Shinotsuka's heart skipped a beat.

The staff officer replied, "All the jade pieces were shattered."

"Baka!" Yoshio Shinotsuka slammed his fist on the table, furious. "Those damned Jin-Sui Army soldiers, and those Eighth Route Army guerrillas, they're absolutely despicable. Once the Kumamoto Division has resolved the crisis, we must turn around and deal with them first..."

Before Yoshio Shinozuka could finish speaking, Michiichi Miyano, the chief of staff of the North China Expeditionary Army, quickly approached and interrupted him: "Commander, bad news has just arrived."

"What bad news?" Yoshio Shinotsuka's heart jumped again.

"A large force of the Jin-Sui Army is heading towards our rear in Taiyuan. Judging from the looks of it, they seem to be taking advantage of our weakened rear to make a quick profit," said Miyano Michiichi.

"Baka!" Yoshio Shinotsuka slammed his hand on the table again. "When did these rats in the Jin-Sui Army get such audacity? Where did they get the guts to come to my Taiyuan rear area to skim off profits!"

In the past, the Fifth Division was only half a division, yet it frightened them so much that they fled in disarray, offering up Taiyuan and handing over the vast province of Shanxi.

Now that the Fifth Division is gone, does the Jin-Sui Army really think that when there are no tigers in the mountains, the monkey can become king?
Immediately afterward, Yoshio Shinotsuka's face contorted with rage: "Fortunately, Commander Okamura sent us another batch of biological weapons from Unit 731 of the Kwantung Army. Since the Jin-Sui Army wants monkeys to be kings, let them have a taste of their own medicine."

Miyano Michiichi nodded in agreement: "Although our rear forces in Taiyuan are stretched thin, we have biological weapons to rely on, so we are not afraid of the Jin-Sui Army coming here. In fact, it is a good thing that the Jin-Sui Army is coming here."

"How so?" Yoshio Shinotsuka looked at Miyano Michiichi with suspicion.

Why is the Jin-Sui Army heading towards the rear of Taiyuan? Is this a good thing?

Miyano Michiichi stated directly, "Although Commander Kumamoto's division has already set a trap for more than a dozen of his elite divisions with tungsten ore, it will still take a lot of ammunition and effort to severely damage them. Moreover, the Eighth Route Army will join forces with the elite divisions. But once Commander Kumamoto has dealt with his elite divisions and the Eighth Route Army, he certainly won't have the strength to deal with the Jin-Sui Army. If the Jin-Sui Army doesn't come to our rear in Taiyuan, but instead heads directly for Kumamoto's division, that would be a real nightmare."

"Yoshi!" Yoshio Shinotsuka smiled upon hearing Miyano Michiichi's words. "Now that you mention it, it seems to be true. This group of foolish Jin-Sui Army soldiers and their elite divisions are only superficially united. They've missed the best opportunity to severely damage Kumamoto-kun."

Miyano Michiichi continued with a smile, "Although we didn't conquer China in three months, we now occupy a large part of China's territory. Besides the poor command of the Chinese army, the main problem is their lack of unity and numerous internal conflicts. The elite troops sidelined the local troops, the local troops sidelined the Eighth Route Army, and the Sichuan warlords in the rear were sent to the front lines without even being issued weapons and ammunition. We were used to weaken the strength of the Sichuan warlords, and so on. If they were truly united, this war would definitely not be like this now."

Yoshio Shinozuka scoffed, “They started fighting amongst themselves before we even got in. These stupid Chinese pigs really need us to be their masters.”

Immediately afterward, Yoshio Shinotsuka said, "But the Jin-Sui Army isn't moving towards the rear of the Kumamoto Division's army yet, but their presence is still a threat. Summon the operations staff immediately; I need to teach them a lesson with biological weapons."

"Yes, Your Excellency, Commander."

"Oh, by the way, send another telegram to Commander Kumamoto, telling him to hurry up and deal with the elite troops and the Eighth Route Army as soon as possible. If the Jin-Sui Army suffers losses, they might also defect to his side, which would be bad."

"Yes."

……

Kumamoto Division Headquarters

More than a dozen elite divisions attacked, and despite their fierce advance, they engaged the vanguard of the Kumamoto Division in battle, even breaching their defensive lines. The Kumamoto Division commander, however, remained completely calm, methodically handling each situation before him.

"Commander Xiong, this is a telegram from headquarters." The communications officer handed the newly arrived telegram to Commander Kumamoto.

The division commander of Kumamoto took it and examined it closely.

The contents of the telegram put Kumamoto Division Commander at ease. Commander Yoshio Shinozuka mentioned in the telegram that airdrops and air power were being arranged one after another.

This final reminder made the Kumamoto Division tense.

"Damn it! The Yoshino Regiment Commander's forces suffered a crushing defeat, and the Jin-Sui Army has moved towards the rear of Taiyuan." The Kumamoto Division Commander said in shock.

The commander said that Taiyuan was well prepared and was not afraid of the Jin-Sui Army taking advantage of the situation.

But we still need the Kumamoto Division to act faster.

If the Jin-Sui Army is not dealt with by the commander, and they turn around to reinforce the elite troops in Kumamoto, that would be bad news.

Commander Kumamoto took two deep breaths to calm himself down.

Then the Kumamoto Division Commander turned his gaze to the map, pondered for a moment, and shouted, "Someone come here!"

"Division Commander, what are your orders?" Soon, the Japanese soldier appeared in front of the Kumamoto Division Commander.

"Go, summon the operations staff immediately," Commander Kumamoto ordered.

"Yes."

Before long, all the operations staff arrived, and the division commander, Kumamoto, got straight to the point: "The commander has sent a message that the Jin-Sui Army and the Eighth Route Army have jointly defeated the Yoshino Regiment Commander."

The operations staff were all taken aback upon hearing this:
"Division Commander, can the Jin-Sui Army and the Eighth Route Army do it?"

"Didn't Captain Yoshino have more than 10,000 men on his side? Weren't they chasing after the enemy? How come they were defeated by the enemy instead?"

……

"Gentlemen, why Regiment Commander Yoshino lost is not our concern right now. His defeat has created a major problem: a large number of Jin-Sui Army troops are left unmanned. If they come towards us, it will be a nightmare for us," Division Commander Kumamoto said solemnly. "Fortunately, these fools intended to seize the resources behind Taiyuan, and they are now heading towards Taiyuan. The Commander has made preparations, so we don't need to worry about Taiyuan's rear. The problem we face now is that we need to severely damage more than a dozen of our elite divisions beforehand, otherwise, if the Jin-Sui Army turns around and comes to our side halfway, it will be troublesome."

One operations staff officer immediately suggested, "Division Commander, these elite troops have already breached our front lines, and our soldiers are engaged in fierce fighting with them. Why don't we have our soldiers make way, let them in, and then once they're all inside, we can seal off the breach and concentrate our superior firepower to attack them?"

“We definitely can’t just leave an opening; that would be too obvious,” Commander Kumamoto shook his head.

The original plan was to gradually open up the gaps, allowing the elite divisions to advance to the location of the tungsten ore, and then surround them with heavy troops.

We're in a rush right now, and giving them an opening might backfire.

Soon, another operations staff officer spoke up: "The main target of this elite division is our five truckloads of tungsten ore. Why don't we pretend we can't hold them off, and then send out a decoy unit to take the tungsten ore away? That way, the elite division will most likely encircle the decoy unit. Once they've encircled the decoy unit, we can counter-encircle them from the outside?"

"That's a good suggestion." Division Commander Kumamoto nodded. "If our air force can then provide reinforcements, we can definitely cripple them. But there's still one problem."

"What's the problem?" the operations staff asked.

“The Eighth Route Army,” said Division Commander Kumamoto. “When we deal with our elite divisions, the Eighth Route Army will definitely not stand idly by. The Eighth Route Army understands that if we deal with our elite troops, we will still have to deal with them. After all, the essence of this battle is to wipe them out, so they will definitely help us.”

"Division Commander, how about this?" an advisor suggested. "We should organize more men and pretend to take the tungsten ore separately. This way, our men will scatter, and the Eighth Route Army will be chasing and surrounding them. This will divert their attention and disperse their forces to some extent. When we deal with the elite troops in the encirclement, we can leave some troops behind to prevent the Eighth Route Army from launching a surprise attack from behind."

Upon hearing this, the division commander of Kumamoto pondered for a moment: "Then these teams that pretended to be carrying tungsten ore and split up to take it away will definitely all perish in the end. We'll have to select from among the teams..."

"As long as we can finally deal with the core troops and divert the Eighth Route Army's attention, this is a price we should bear!" the operations staff said. "Instead, we don't need so many Imperial Army soldiers in the ranks; most of them can be puppet troops."

"Hmm." Division Commander Kumamoto nodded and said, "Let's do it this way, and then we can discuss some of the details."

……

(End of this chapter)