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

Chapter 318 It goes without saying
"Li Yunlong, news has just come in that the Jin-Sui Army has stormed into the Taiyuan Arsenal."

Gao Liujin rushed over and stood in front of Li Yunlong: "Li Yunlong, did we just let the Jin-Sui Army take over the Taiyuan Arsenal like that?"

"Gao Liujin, let the Jin-Sui Army take it. They were just helping me take it. Why are you in such a hurry?" Li Yunlong said calmly.

"The Jin-Sui Army has so many people, are you going to lead us to steal the equipment from them?" Although Gao Liujin was bold, he didn't think they could take the equipment back from the Jin-Sui Army.

Moreover, seizing equipment from friendly forces—this bald guy hasn't been building up public opinion for our army for a long time, which just gave him the opportunity.

Previously, Baldy always mocked our guerrillas for being "wandering but not fighting."

Now that our troops have developed and are fighting the Japanese fiercely, his bald head has fallen silent.

But his silence doesn't mean he won't cause trouble again.

He was waiting for an opportunity.

"Gao Liujin, let me ask you a question." Li Yunlong looked at Gao Liujin seriously, "You know the Japanese clearly knew they couldn't hold the Taiyuan Arsenal, so why didn't they blow it up beforehand?"

"I'm not a Japanese soldier, how would I know?" Gao Liujin shook his head; he genuinely couldn't understand this logic either.

In normal combat, if the situation turns unfavorable, the Japanese will destroy any supplies and equipment they cannot take with them beforehand, unless there is no time to do so.

And in front of you.

The Japanese soldiers clearly had enough time.

Moreover, this was important equipment in an arms factory; shouldn't they have destroyed it even earlier?

Li Yunlong replied, "There is only one reason: the Japanese reinforcements will definitely arrive soon, and these reinforcements are confident that they can take the equipment back from the Jin-Sui Army. So, this is the fundamental reason why the Japanese did not destroy the equipment."

Gao Liujin pondered for a moment: "Li Yunlong, does this mean we'll strike from behind when the Japanese reinforcements and the Jin-Sui Army are both exhausted?"

“The Jin-Sui Army won’t be foolish enough to fight them to the death,” Li Yunlong shook his head.

Whether it was the elite troops or the Jin-Sui Army, they all had one flaw: when the battle situation turned unfavorable, they would think of retreating to preserve their strength.

Therefore, it is unrealistic to expect the Jin-Sui Army and the Japanese reinforcements to fight to the death.

"Oh, I see." Gao Liujin suddenly realized. "So, this equipment will definitely be taken back by the Japanese reinforcements, and then we'll snatch it from them, right?"

This avoids the suspicion of stealing from friendly forces.

After all, we stole the goods from the Japanese!
Furthermore, the Japanese reinforcements arrived with great force, and the Jin-Sui Army fought them, which dampened the morale of the reinforcements.

This is precisely our opportunity to make our move.

"So, if Old Li says he can make you rich, then you definitely will," Li Yunlong boasted.

Remembering something, Gao Liujin still asked suspiciously, "Li Yunlong, I think there's another problem."

"what is the problem?"

"Even if the Japanese reinforcements fight the Jin-Sui Army and their morale is dampened, they will definitely not be easy to defeat. And we are running out of ammunition. At that time, I'm afraid we may not be able to..." Gao Liujin didn't finish his sentence.

Li Yunlong interrupted, "Have you noticed why Lao Ding isn't here?"

Upon hearing Li Yunlong's words, Gao Liujin immediately took notice.

Yes, I didn't see Ding Wei.

Gao Liujin asked suspiciously, "Could it be that you sent Ding Wei to get ammunition?"

“It’s not just about procuring ammunition.” Li Yunlong shook his head and said, “We need to cut off the retreat of those Japanese devils at the Taiyuan Arsenal.”

Cut off the retreat of those Japanese soldiers at the Taiyuan Arsenal?
Upon hearing this, Gao Liujin asked suspiciously, "Could it be that Ding Wei went to intercept the retreating Japanese soldiers from the Taiyuan Arsenal?"

Could these retreating Japanese soldiers have any ammunition on them?

Soon, Gao Liujin understood and gave Li Yunlong a thumbs up: "Li Yunlong, I get it now. You're really cunning and shrewd. You played this sneak attack perfectly."

Gao Liujin understood completely. When the Japanese soldiers from the Taiyuan Arsenal retreated, they must have taken away some of the ammunition produced by the Taiyuan Arsenal. If we intercepted them, we could seize the ammunition and replenish our supplies.

Furthermore, some key workers at the Taiyuan Arsenal must have retreated with the Japanese.

We captured these workers and took them to the logistics department for retraining; they will become important military logistics personnel in the future.

Li Yunlong added, "The most important thing is that I need to prevent the Japanese from doing anything underhanded!"

"What tricks did you use?" Gao Liujin asked.

“Back when Fujita Ichiji used a batch of equipment to fish for us, he secretly removed the key parts from that equipment beforehand,” Li Yunlong pointed out.

Even an idiot like Fujita Ichiji knew to remove key parts from the equipment in advance. Even if the Japanese didn't bomb the equipment at the Taiyuan Arsenal, they would definitely have removed the important parts beforehand.

Gao Liujin pondered for a moment: "You mean to say that the reason the Japanese didn't blow up the equipment at the Taiyuan Arsenal, besides believing that the reinforcements could salvage the equipment, was that they had removed important key components from the equipment beforehand?"

The important key components of this equipment have been removed and seized. Since the equipment cannot be transported normally, it is essentially just scrap metal.

No wonder the Japanese didn't bomb the Taiyuan Arsenal.

"So, Gao Liujin, when you're doing this, you better take it easy and don't damage these critical parts," Li Yunlong warned.

"Don't worry, don't worry, it'll be fine." Gao rubbed his hands together, spitting as he spoke.

Soon, Ding Wei came over and said to Li Yunlong, "Old Li, the Japanese soldiers at the Taiyuan Arsenal have withdrawn."

"Let's go, let's take care of him." Upon hearing this, Li Yunlong immediately led his troops over.

"Haha, Li Yunlong, I'm going to be the vanguard in this battle too!" Gao Liujin laughed heartily.

Ding Wei and Li Yunlong exchanged a glance, both expressing their complete agreement: "No problem, Gao Liujin, as long as you're willing, all the vanguard missions will be yours from now on."

With such a free and useful henchman, he always volunteers for the most tiring jobs in every battle, so we certainly can't refuse him, hahaha.

……

"Hurry, hurry, move faster, go faster."

"Baka! Be careful! This box contains important parts. If it gets damaged, only things back home can be repaired!"

"Baka, I'm talking to you, what are you dawdling about?"

The garrison officer of the Taiyuan Arsenal, along with nearly a thousand remaining Japanese troops and several hundred key workers, carrying a large amount of supplies and parts, is rapidly withdrawing.

The Jin-Sui Army was busy unloading equipment from the Taiyuan Arsenal, and the few pursuing troops they sent out were driven back.

The Japanese troops were halfway there when they were surrounded by a large force of Li Yunlong, Ding Wei, and Gao Liujin.

"Gao Liujin, your task is to quickly cut the Japanese soldiers and the workers in half with one slash," Li Yunlong roared at Gao Liujin. "Then the two of us will take care of these Japanese soldiers together. Ding Wei, go and deal with the workers and equipment. You damn well better watch out when you fire the cannon, don't blow up the parts boxes."

“Okay, no problem. I love killing Japanese devils the most.” Gao had no objections.

boom!
boom!
boom!
……

Gao Liujin acted swiftly, unleashing the Hell Cannon and the Type 92 infantry gun directly at the Japanese soldiers' heads.

The shells caught the Japanese soldiers off guard, and they were thrown into chaos.

Immediately afterwards, six-pound grenade launchers and mortars rained down, while the powerful firepower of light and heavy machine guns provided suppression.

The exhausted Japanese soldiers, caught off guard, were overwhelmed by Gao Liujin, who was waiting in ambush.

Gao Liujin took the opportunity to cut them apart from the workers.

Li Yunlong didn't hold back either, unleashing a barrage of artillery and light and heavy machine guns, quickly coordinating with Gao Liujin to surround the group of Japanese soldiers.

Then came the artillery barrage, a barrage of bombs being fired at the Japanese soldiers inside the encirclement.

The light and heavy machine guns fired like plowing a field, relentlessly sweeping the Japanese soldiers in the encirclement.

The Japanese troops were unable to exert their fighting power and were quickly defeated and routed by Li Yunlong and Gao Liujin.

"Our Imperial Army says we are willing to engage your army in a one-on-one decisive battle until we die!" Even though the situation was hopeless, the garrison officer was still having his interpreter shout, trying to buy time.

But the sound of gunfire drowned out his roar, and this group of remaining Japanese soldiers was eventually annihilated by Li Yunlong and Gao Liujin working together.

Ding Wei's operation went much more smoothly than Gao Liujin and Li Yunlong's.

These were, after all, unarmed workers with little fighting ability.

Ding Wei moved extremely fast; his troops charged out like lightning, pouncing like tigers.

Some workers attempted to destroy the parts prematurely but were shot dead in time.

The remaining workers eventually became Ding Wei's prisoners.

Ding Wei ordered his men to quickly tie up the prisoners and sort out the supplies they were carrying.

Inside were bullets, grenades, grenade launcher shells, mortar shells, and shells for the Type 92 infantry gun, among other things.

All of these ammunition boxes were kept for use in replenishing the troops.

Ding Wei casually opened a few of the remaining supply boxes.

He didn't recognize the metal lump inside, but he could still tell the difference.

Li Yunlong's prediction was correct; this was most likely an important part that the Japanese had extracted from the equipment at the Taiyuan Arsenal.

If we hadn't intercepted it in time, we would have had to return to the border region's arsenal with the damaged equipment.

Even if Factory Director Li is incredibly capable and manages to procure spare parts, they certainly won't be as reliable as the original ones. Not to mention, there are so many of them.

There were other things inside the box, but Ding Wei didn't know what they were.

But anything that the Japanese could take away was definitely not an ordinary item.

Anyway, it's always right to have our underground comrades transport it back as quickly as possible.

After Ding Wei finished his work, Li Yunlong and Gao Liujin also finished theirs, and the troops quickly cleaned up the battlefield.

"Li Yunlong, you're a genius! In that battle just now, I went all out and used up almost all my ammunition. Now I can replenish it to the max, haha." Gao Liujin came over to Ding Wei and looked at the ammunition boxes that Ding Wei had sorted out. These were enough to replenish three regiments to their fullest extent.

If we encounter the Japanese reinforcements again, we won't have to worry about ammunition.

With ample ammunition and artillery fire sweeping across the battlefield, directly suppressing the enemy with high intensity—this is true warfare, and this is the kind of warfare that is truly exhilarating.

"Let's hurry up and replenish our ammunition, then we'll retreat." Li Yunlong couldn't stop smiling.

Leaving aside the ammunition replenishment, just as he expected, Old Li intercepted the important parts of the equipment.

"Let's go, retreat." Ding Wei and Gao Liujin didn't hesitate, and the troops quickly left with the spoils and prisoners.
-
The Taiyuan Arsenal is not far from Taiyuan city.

When the Hell Cannon roared, Yoshio Shinotsuka still felt the equivalent of three thousand grenades exploding.

He rushed to the window, looked in that direction, and his face changed drastically: "Damn it, this looks like the direction the Taiyuan Arsenal garrison is retreating from! They've been attacked by the Eighth Route Army!"

Miyano Michiichi's expression was also very grim: "General, it seems that the Eighth Route Army's plan is to intercept the retreating troops of the Taiyuan Arsenal. In addition to capturing the important retreating workers, they also want to seize the important machine parts they have extracted, which will fall into their hands."

If the Eighth Route Army were to seize the machinery and equipment later, they could assemble it into a complete set of machinery and equipment.

"Damn it!" Yoshio Shinotsuka shouted angrily, "We must not let the Eighth Route Army take away the key parts of these devices."

This was originally intended to prevent the enemy from obtaining the complete equipment.

But now Yoshio Shinotsuka feels like he's shot himself in the foot.

If we cannot retrieve this crucial component from the Eighth Route Army, even if our reinforcements arrive and manage to take the equipment from the Jin-Sui Army, we will still be able to achieve our goal.

Without these key components, this equipment cannot function properly.

These crucial components cannot be produced in China due to the limited resources available there; only domestic manufacturers can produce them.

Miyano Michiichi shook his head: "Judging from the commotion, the Eighth Route Army was obviously prepared. The garrison at the Taiyuan Arsenal had virtually no firepower to resist, and they were quickly wiped out by the Eighth Route Army."

Half of the garrison forces in Taiyuan have already been transferred there, and even if the remaining half were transferred, it would be too late.

Not to mention that Taiyuan City is very important, and the remaining troops cannot be drawn away at will.

In other words.

The key components of this equipment have fallen into the hands of the Eighth Route Army, and there's no way to get them back right now.

And those important military industrial personnel who fell into the hands of the Eighth Route Army were destined to disappear without a trace.

Miyano Michiichi quickly controlled his emotions and decisively said to Shinotsuka Yoshio, "General, it's too late to undo what's done. Our top priority is to take the equipment back from the Jin-Sui Army. If we can take the equipment, even if the Eighth Route Army takes away the important key parts, it will be nothing but scrap metal to them."

"The problem is that without this crucial component, even if we manage to take the equipment back from the Jin-Sui Army, it won't be able to operate for a short time, so it'll be just like scrap metal!" Yoshio Shinotsuka exclaimed, pounding his chest in frustration.

“General, it’s highly likely that the Eighth Route Army still intends to take this equipment.” Miyano Michiichi’s tone rose two notches. “General, we can’t waste your energy and time on something that’s beyond redemption. If this equipment ends up in the hands of the Eighth Route Army, that would be truly foolish!”

"In your opinion, how should we prevent the Eighth Route Army from retaking the equipment?" Yoshio Shinozuka finally suppressed his anger.

"The best way is to seize this equipment from the Jin-Sui Army and destroy it on the spot," Miyano Michiichi said decisively.

"Miyano-kun, are you kidding me?!" Yoshio Shinotsuka couldn't help but get angry again upon hearing this.

If we destroy the equipment, do we still need it?
You should know that our First Army, as well as the troops of Commander Matsui Iwane next door, and even the troops of Commander Okamura, all rely on the equipment of the Taiyuan Arsenal for ammunition and logistics.

If you destroy the equipment, how will you supply ammunition? Will you rely on drinking water from the northwest?

Miyano Michiichi's expression was resolute: "Commander, yes, it would be foolish to recapture the equipment and destroy it on the spot. But this way, we can completely prevent the Eighth Route Army from seizing the equipment again. If this batch of equipment eventually falls into the hands of the Eighth Route Army, wouldn't our ammunition and logistics supply also be in dire straits?"

Then, Miyano Michiichi continued, "Yes, Commander, I am also very reluctant to destroy this batch of equipment. But have you thought about what it would mean if this equipment fell into the hands of the Eighth Route Army and they installed the parts, thus strengthening the Eighth Route Army's arsenal? Don't forget, the Eighth Route Army's arsenal has already produced a top-notch military expert. If this equipment falls into his hands, who knows what kind of weapons he can make? This kind of unknown possibility is often the most terrifying."

"No, I absolutely cannot tolerate this equipment being destroyed." Yoshio Shinotsuka said firmly, "Our reinforcements will be here soon, and I refuse to believe that I can't protect this equipment!"

That's a joke.

In order to completely prevent the Eighth Route Army from obtaining the equipment, they were so scared that they destroyed it first, which was extremely foolish.

This is like, if I'm worried that the Eighth Route Army will take my life one day, should I take a knife and slit my throat in advance?

“General, even if you’re reluctant to destroy this equipment, you should still prepare in advance,” Miyano Michiichi said. “Now that the equipment has been captured, it’s still best to prepare for its destruction. If the Eighth Route Army really makes a move and the equipment can’t be saved, it must be destroyed immediately.”

"Hmm." Yoshio Shinotsuka nodded and said, "That's something we can consider. Actually, I still don't believe the Eighth Route Army can possibly take back the equipment. They only have a few thousand men; I just don't believe they can fight our army of tens of thousands head-on!"

The reinforcements consist of a brigade, and with the troops stationed in Taiyuan, the number of soldiers protecting the equipment will easily exceed ten thousand.

If the Eighth Route Army wants to seize the equipment back, they can forget about it unless they defeat this army of tens of thousands.

"Commander, our reinforcements have arrived!" At this moment, a staff officer rushed over to report.

"Yosh! Immediately send reinforcements to attack the Jin-Sui Army, seize the equipment, and attack them right away." Yoshio Shinotsuka didn't hesitate and immediately gave the order, "Also, mobilize all the troops we can on our side and quickly attack the Jin-Sui Army along with the reinforcements."

"Hai!" The staff officer hurriedly ran to relay the order.

"The reinforcements have arrived, and those defeated Jin-Sui Army soldiers should be kicked out." Yoshio Shinotsuka slammed his fist on the table. "I want to see how these Eighth Route Army soldiers will take back the equipment!"

……

"Damn those Japanese devils, they took away too much equipment, they're really awful!"

After Chu Yunfei entered the Taiyuan Arsenal, he saw that although there were still quite a few pieces of equipment left, the number was far less than before the Japanese occupied the area.

Although Chu Yunfei didn't know much about military equipment.

However, it is also clear that the remaining equipment is mostly small, basic equipment.

It appears that the important equipment has all been moved away.

It's a pity Mr. Yan Kai isn't here, otherwise we could determine what kind of equipment the Japanese didn't take away.

Without knowledge of the equipment, the soldiers of the Jin-Sui Army did not know which items to move first.

We had no choice but to move everything at once.

Fortunately, the Jin-Sui Army had plenty of manpower, so moving the equipment wasn't too difficult.

The trouble is.

The Japanese reinforcements arrived very quickly.

"Commander, the Japanese reinforcements have arrived, a whole brigade."

Fang Ligong shouted to Chu Yunfei, "There are other Japanese troops behind Taiyuan, their numbers are almost two brigades. The division commander ordered us to move over quickly and hold off the Japanese together with the division commander to buy time for the equipment to be evacuated."

Upon hearing this, Chu Yunfei's eyes widened: "What a joke! You want one division to hold off two Japanese brigades? That's not even enough to fill the gaps between the Japanese's teeth."

"There's nothing we can do. Commander Yan was so excited when he learned that we had stormed the Taiyuan Arsenal that he couldn't sleep. He ordered us to find a way to get the equipment back, no matter the cost," Fang Ligong said helplessly.

"What about Li Yunlong of the Eighth Route Army? Contact them quickly!" Chu Yunfei remembered Li Yunlong. If they couldn't hold out and the Japanese seized their equipment, Li Yunlong wouldn't get it either.

Therefore, Chu Yunfei wanted to bring Li Yunlong into the picture.

“Commander, Li Yunlong only has a few thousand men. Even with fierce firepower, they can’t possibly defeat two Japanese brigades.” Fang Ligong shook his head and said, “Besides, Li Yunlong isn’t stupid. He only ever takes advantage and never suffers losses. He won’t do a losing deal.”

Not to mention that Li Yunlong took advantage of our capture of the Taiyuan Arsenal to cut off the retreating personnel of the Taiyuan Arsenal.

Li Yunlong must have gotten a lot of money from the retreating personnel. He's busy hiding things now, so he doesn't have time to come and help.

"Let's inform him. If we can't hold off the Japanese and they take the equipment back, he'll have to face two Japanese brigades if he wants it back," Chu Yunfei said to Fang Ligong. "I think Li Yunlong will settle this score."

"Yes, Commander." Fang Ligong nodded and quickly sent someone to contact Li Yunlong.

The 358th Regiment quickly moved to the division headquarters and immediately engaged in battle with the Japanese reinforcements.

The final result was a foregone conclusion.

Even though Chu Yunfei's troops and the entire division quickly replenished their weapons and ammunition in the warehouses of the Taiyuan Arsenal, and even though Chu Yunfei and his division commander were both top graduates of the Whampoa Military Academy with outstanding command abilities.

But in the face of an absolute disparity in strength, nothing else matters.

Almost immediately, Chu Yunfei's division suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Japanese.

Chu Yunfei's troops retreated faster, but still suffered nearly a thousand casualties.

Fortunately, Chu Yunfei's superior was no pushover either.

At this critical juncture, they demonstrated their ability to preserve their strength and quickly ordered a retreat.

The situation was similar for the other rearguard units of the Jin-Sui Army; their defensive lines collapsed quickly.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Japanese reinforcements launched a surprise attack on the Jin-Sui Army troops carrying equipment.

It's like a pack of tigers chasing a herd of livestock dragging heavy loads.

The results are self-evident.

(End of this chapter)