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

Chapter 286 Strengths and Weaknesses
"Li Yunlong, the Jin-Sui Army is shameless!"

Gao Liujin said to Li Yunlong angrily, "The 358th Regiment and the 321st Regiment are following us everywhere. They'll be taking food from our bowls."

The main force of the Jin-Sui Army moved towards the rear of Taiyuan, while Li Yunlong's troops lazily followed behind, not in a hurry to take action.

The 358th and 321st Regiments of the Jin-Sui Army followed them like a leech, which made Gao very angry.

Li Yunlong remained calm: "Gao Liujin, what's the rush? Let me tell you, it won't be long before they leave on their own."

"How can they leave on their own?" Gao Liujin asked suspiciously.

The 358th and 321st Regiments are clearly trying to stick to us like glue.

"You can see for yourself," Li Yunlong said without further explanation.

……

358th Regiment of Jin-Sui Army

"Commander, these Eighth Route Army troops are dragging their feet. It seems like they're really just observing," Chief of Staff Fang Ligong said to Regiment Commander Chu Yunfei. "Could it be that our army's journey to the rear of Taiyuan will really not go smoothly?"

"It's hard to say, after all, Yoshio Shinozuka is a Japanese devil..." Chu Yunfei didn't finish his sentence.

Jingle Bell!
The telephone on the table suddenly rang.

Chu Yunfei picked up the phone: "This is Chu Yun..."

Chu Yunfei's words were interrupted by his superior on the phone: "Chu Yunfei, your 358th Regiment and the other 321st Regiment must come to reinforce immediately."

Upon hearing the urgent order from his superior, Chu Yunfei still asked, "Commander, what's wrong? What happened?"

"That damned Yoshio Shinotsuka used poison gas! A large number of our troops are trapped!" the division commander roared. "You come and join me right now to rescue the main force."

Fortunately, Chu Yunfei's division commander's troops were reserve forces and did not directly participate in the military operations to the rear of Taiyuan.

Otherwise, they would be trapped right now.

Upon hearing this, Chu Yunfei did not hesitate: "Yes, Commander, my unit and the 321st Regiment will come immediately."

After the call ended, Chu Yunfei immediately shouted to the messenger, "Pass on my orders immediately: the 358th Regiment must assemble immediately, and also notify the 321st Regiment."

"Yes." The messenger hurriedly went to relay the order.

Fang Ligong hurriedly asked, "Commander, has something serious happened to the army in the rear of Taiyuan?"

"That damned Yoshio Shinotsuka used poison gas, and the army is trapped!" Chu Yunfei cursed. "The higher-ups have ordered us to go and reinforce them immediately."

"Those damned Japanese devils!" Fang Ligong jumped up and down in anger.

Despite their anger, the main force still needs to hurry up and rescue them.

The troops of the 358th and 321st Regiments quickly assembled and set off.

Seeing this scene, Gao Liujin immediately laughed and said, "Li Yunlong, you really were right. The 321st and 358th Regiments of the Jin-Sui Army really did get rid of them very quickly."

Ding Wei leaned over and said to Li Yunlong, "Old Li, judging from this, I'm afraid the Jin-Sui Army has suffered a great loss."

Although Ding Wei and Li Yunlong had both sent men to gather intelligence behind Japanese lines in Taiyuan, they had not yet returned.

At this point, we can only conclude that the Jin-Sui Army suffered a great loss, but it is still unclear what exactly that loss entailed.

"Haste makes waste. The Jin-Sui Army suffered a great loss, which was exactly what Old Li had predicted long ago." Li Yunlong said calmly, then added with some surprise, "It's just that even the 358th and 321st Regiments rushed over. It seems that the Jin-Sui Army has suffered a significant loss."

In Li Yunlong's view, the 358th Regiment and the 321st Regiment would eventually be driven away from him.

I just didn't expect them to roll so fast, so quickly.

Simultaneously.

Li Yunlong felt somewhat fortunate.

Fortunately, we managed to bring in the Jin-Sui Army through Yan Kai, and they helped us test the waters of Yoshio Shinotsuka.

Otherwise, we would be the ones suffering the loss now.

Gao Liujin gloated from the side: "It's good that they suffered a great loss. These Jin-Sui Army soldiers are shameless and do nothing right. They deserve it!"

Ding Wei and Li Yunlong's intelligence agents returned and quickly reported: "Regimental Commander, that little devil Yoshio Shinotsuka used poison gas on a large scale. The Jin-Sui Army suffered heavy losses and is surrounded!"

Poison gas bomb!
Upon hearing this word, Ding Wei and Li Yunlong immediately felt a surge of hatred.

I've already experienced how potent this thing is before.

The inhuman Japanese devils used this biological weapon; they were taking advantage of our lack of protection.

Fortunately, the Japanese didn't use many poison gas bombs on us earlier, otherwise we would have been dead long ago.

But now!

The Japanese used a large number of poison gas shells against the Jin-Sui Army, which was a very dangerous sign.

Yoshio Shinotsuka has enough poison gas bombs. Although the troops behind Taiyuan are weak, it will probably not be so easy to take them.

unless!

Unless our border arsenal can provide us with gas masks in time.

That's obviously nonsense.

Xiao Li doesn't have any equipment, so how can we provide it?

Gao Liujin cursed, "That damned Yoshio Shinotsuka, isn't he going to ruin our chance to make a fortune?!"

Although Gao was eager to make a fortune in the rear of Taiyuan, the mention of poison gas bombs forced even this fierce tiger to lie low.

This is like us not having anti-aircraft weapons, so when we see Japanese planes, we can only lie on the ground like grandsons.

Immediately afterward, Gao Liujin looked at Li Yunlong and asked, "Li Yunlong, should we retreat immediately?" "Not so fast," Li Yunlong waved his hand and said, "We have to see if the Jin-Sui Army can break through. If they can't, we'll have to go and help them."

"Li Yunlong, we don't have any protective equipment. How can we help the Japanese with their poison gas bombs?" Gao Liujin asked.

Li Yunlong turned to Ding Wei and asked, "Old Ding, what do you think?"

"If the Jin-Sui Army is wiped out by the Japanese, it will be severely weakened, and the situation in northwestern Shanxi will become even more difficult. This is a matter of the big picture!" Ding Wei analyzed, then continued, "However, there are still quite a few Jin-Sui Army troops behind Taiyuan. I estimate that although Yoshio Shinozuka has used up a lot of poison gas, he probably doesn't have much left. If Chu Yunfei and his men go to help, they should still be able to rescue the army. Of course, if Chu Yunfei and his men don't have enough strength, then we'll go in."

"Haha, that makes sense, that makes sense!" Gao Liujin immediately burst into laughter. "The Jin-Sui Army is a huge force, and Yoshio Shinozuka must have used up a lot of his poison gas bombs. He definitely doesn't have many left, absolutely not many, haha."

Yoshio Shinotsuka doesn't have many poison gas bombs left. What does that mean?

This means that the Jin-Sui Army can be rescued.

This means that our chance to make money still exists.

Li Yunlong, Ding Wei, and Gao Liujin dispatched scouts to continue investigating the battlefield situation.

All three regiments were fully prepared for battle.

They will not hesitate to engage in battle when necessary.

……

Taiyuan First Army Headquarters
"Commander, look, these are the results of the battle."

The statistician handed a document to Yoshio Shinozuka with both hands.

Yoshio Shinotsuka took it and smiled, "Well done, the Jin-Sui Army has suffered over ten thousand casualties, not bad."

The deaths and injuries of tens of thousands of soldiers in the Jin-Sui Army were not all caused by poison gas; the poison gas only suppressed the Jin-Sui Army at a critical moment.

What truly inflicted damage on the Jin-Sui Army were conventional weapons.

More importantly, a large number of troops of the Jin-Sui Army were surrounded.

Soon, a staff officer rushed over to report: "Reporting to the commander, another group of Jin-Sui troops has appeared. They are attacking the encirclement and trying to rescue the troops inside."

"Another group?" Yoshio Shinotsuka paused for a moment, then asked, "How many troops do they have?"

"About two divisions," the staff officer replied.

"Are there Eighth Route Army soldiers among them?" Yoshio Shinozuka asked.

Yoshio Shinotsuka still harbored a deep resentment towards these Eighth Route Army soldiers.

If the Eighth Route Army had come to the rear of Taiyuan earlier, then they would be the ones being suppressed with poison gas now.

Compared to the Jin-Sui Army, Yoshio Shinotsuka preferred to deal with these despicable Eighth Route Army soldiers first!
Unfortunately, these Eighth Route Army soldiers were much more cunning than the Jin-Sui Army.

After the Yoshino Regiment was defeated, the Eighth Route Army seemed to have disappeared without a trace.

But Yoshio Shinotsuka knew that the Eighth Route Army had not disappeared; they were just hiding in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Now that a large number of Jin-Sui troops are trapped, and two divisions of Jin-Sui troops need to be rescued, these Eighth Route Army soldiers should not stand idly by, right?
"No trace of the Eighth Route Army has been found yet," the staff officer replied.

"Pass down the order: you must hold the position and do your best to prevent these two divisions of the Jin-Sui Army from succeeding," Yoshio Shinotsuka said solemnly. "In addition, send more people to monitor and surveillance. If you find any trace of the Eighth Route Army, report it immediately."

"Commander, although we have surrounded the Jin-Sui Army, we still relied on poison gas to get ahead," the staff officer said. "Now two divisions of the Jin-Sui Army have come to their rescue, and the Jin-Sui Army inside is also trying to get out. Our forces are still not enough. If we don't continue to suppress them with poison gas, I'm afraid the Jin-Sui Army will still be able to escape."

"No!" Yoshio Shinotsuka waved his hand and said, "We used too many poison gas bombs before, and there aren't many left now. We must not use them casually. We must use them to defend against the Eighth Route Army."

These Eighth Route Army soldiers are hiding in the shadows, like venomous snakes; they'll definitely find an opportunity to strike.

However, the troops behind Taiyuan are weak, and if these poison gas bombs run out, how will they defend against the Eighth Route Army?

Or!

The remaining poison gas bombs were specifically left behind to eliminate this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers.

The staff officer was stunned: "Commander, do you mean that if the Jin-Sui Army can get away, we should let them go?"

"Let's weaken their fighting force as much as possible," Yoshio Shinotsuka said, still somewhat helplessly.

The lack of manpower is a major weakness.

If the Kumamoto Division hadn't been tied up by the elite troops and the Eighth Route Army, and the Kumamoto Division's main force had been able to advance, none of these Jin-Sui troops would have been able to return alive.

Unfortunately, I can't get away from Kumamoto.

The staff officer seemed to remember something and asked, "Could we ask the Kwantung Army's Unit 731 for some more biological weapons?"

We finally managed to trap a large number of Jin-Sui troops, so letting them go like this would be too easy for them.

"What do you think?" Yoshio Shinotsuka did not directly answer the staff officer's question.

Biological weapons are so useful, even more so than conventional weapons.

It wasn't just Yoshio Shinozuka who wanted more.

The other frontline troops all wanted more.

Unfortunately, there are too many monks and not enough porridge.

If Yoshio Shinotsuka could request another batch, it would be because of Commander Okamura's influence.

It's too difficult to ask for it now.

The staff officer said nothing more and left.

“If the Jin-Sui Army manages to retreat successfully, the Eighth Route Army certainly won’t go back easily, right? I want to see if you’ll have a chance to enjoy this last bit of poison gas!” Yoshio Shinotsuka’s eyes gleamed with a ferocious light.

(End of this chapter)