Holding the original shares, they fought all the way to the Korean War!

A complex mix of emotions welled up in Zhou Tianyang's heart.

This is a medal for a hero who kills the enemy.

Killing a Japanese army lieutenant general earned him this small medal.

He felt it was totally worth it.

In this day and age, honors are never meant to be flaunted.

This medal is an affirmation of his contributions by the organization.

This is enough.

As for fame and fortune, in southeastern Shanxi in 1938, on the front lines of the anti-Japanese war, those things were far less important than the lives of the soldiers.

Zhou Tianyang put the medal back in the box, closed the lid, rewrapped it, and stored it directly in the system space.

Then he returned to the table, sat down, picked up his teacup, took a sip of water, and let out a long sigh of relief.

One medal, two hundred and three new recruits.

The brigade commander is a man who usually scolds people harshly, but he is genuinely good to his soldiers.

He remembers what you did.

The rewards that are due are never ambiguous, and the supplements that are needed are never stingy.

Zhou Tianyang put down his teacup, stood up, and walked to the window.

Outside the window, on the threshing ground, Zhao Wenlong was arranging accommodations for the new recruits.

More than two hundred people lined up and entered the rooms one by one in an orderly manner without any chaos.

The total number of people in the new Second Regiment has now exceeded 1,400.

Dividing the troops equally among the three battalions, each battalion had more than four hundred soldiers.

Although it's still a step short of the standard for a full-strength battalion.

But it was already more well-equipped than most of the main battalions of the Eighth Route Army.

In addition, the entire group has been given new equipment.

This firepower configuration would be overwhelming for any regimental-level unit on the North China battlefield.

Zhou Tianyang's gaze fell on the threshing ground.

He stood by the window for a long time until Zhao Wenlong ran into the yard to report on the new recruits' settlement, and only then did he come to his senses.

"Commander, all 203 new recruits have been assigned."

Zhao Wenlong stood at the door, his voice filled with barely concealed excitement.

"With this group, each of our three battalions now has more than four hundred men."

Zhou Tianyang turned around, looked at Zhao Wenlong's tanned face, and smiled slightly.

"Fully equipped and staffed is not enough."

"What I want is to be able to deploy troops and fight immediately, and win on the battlefield."

"Wenlong, you, Chengjun, and Shengli should personally oversee the training of these new recruits. Don't let your guard down."

Zhao Wenlong stood at attention and saluted.

"Yes, Commander!"

He turned and ran out of the yard, his footsteps fading into the distance.

Zhou Tianyang sat back down at the table and picked up the map covered with training plans.

His finger moved slowly across the map, starting from Lijia Yu.

We pushed forward little by little, following the red circles that marked the Japanese strongholds.

His gaze is now fixed on a place called Wangjiaping to the west.

The place isn't big, but its location is very important.

They were stuck on a major transportation route, where the Japanese had set up a stronghold.

A small squad of about fifty or sixty men was stationed there.

If we take down this stronghold.

The activity area of ​​the new Second Regiment can be expanded far to the west.

That evening.

Lijia Yu was no longer bustling with activity during the day.

After dinner, most of the soldiers returned to their quarters.

Zhou Tianyang sat at the table in the regimental headquarters, with a hand-drawn topographical map of southeastern Shanxi in front of him.

He tapped the circle twice with his finger and then drew several lines around it.

I mentally went over the terrain of this area again and again.

Wangjiaping is located next to a north-south dirt road and is one of the few transportation hubs in the area.

The Japanese built a stronghold there; it wasn't a major project.

A pillbox, a surrounding wall, and two barbed wire fences housed a small squad of fifty or sixty soldiers.

But the location of this outpost is too important.

To the west, they guard the intersection leading to Qin County; to the east, they block the main road leading out of Lijia Yu.

It was like a nail driven into the throat of the new Second Regiment.

When the new Second Regiment was first formed, it was short-handed and lacked equipment, so it was powerless to attack this stronghold.

Now that we've been equipped with new gear and trained for so long, it's time to remove this thorn in our side.

Zhou Tianyang pushed the map towards the center of the table and then called out towards the door.

"Correspondent!"

"arrive!"

A young soldier ran in from outside the courtyard and stood at attention.

"Go and call Zhao Wenlong, Tian Chengjun, and Sun Shengli here."

"yes!"

The correspondent turned and ran.

Footsteps echoed in the courtyard a few times before quickly disappearing outside the gate.

Less than fifteen minutes later, hurried footsteps could be heard outside the courtyard.

He glanced around the room as he entered, then his gaze settled on Zhou Tianyang's face.

"Commander, you wanted to see me?"

"sit."

Zhou Tianyang pointed to the chair.

Zhao Wenlong sat down, his gaze quickly drawn to the map on the table.

He saw the red circle, and also the three characters "Wangjiaping" next to it.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, but said nothing.

Then Tian Chengjun walked in.

His steps were steady, and his breathing was even.

He sat down next to Zhao Wenlong, his gaze also falling on the map, his expression unchanged.

But my gaze lingered on that red circle for two seconds longer.

Sun Shengli was the last to enter.

He was muttering something as he entered, but when he saw the two battalion commanders sitting inside, he immediately swallowed his words.

He sat down as well, his gaze curiously falling on the map on the table.

Zhou Tianyang's gaze swept across the three faces before he slowly spoke.

"I called you here because I have a task for you."

All three people leaned forward slightly at the same time.

"You all know about the Wangjiaping stronghold."

Zhou Tianyang tapped the red circle on the map with his finger.

"A small Japanese squad, fifty or sixty men, is positioned blocking our route to the west."

"If we don't remove it, we can't expand our activity area."

Zhao Wenlong's eyes lit up, and he was the first to speak.

"Commander, you finally want to attack this stronghold?"

"I've disliked it for a long time!"

"Every time we pass by that area on training exercises, just seeing that pillbox from afar makes me angry!"

Tian Chengjun didn't rush to speak. He carefully examined the map before speaking.

"Commander, although the Japanese troops stationed at Wangjiaping are only a small squad, the stronghold is located in an open area."

"There's not much cover around, so it's difficult to get close if we launch a direct attack."

"The pillbox is situated on high ground, and its firepower can cover a radius of four to five hundred meters."

"If our men charge from the front, those two barbed wire fences and the machine guns on the pillboxes alone could cause considerable casualties."

Sun Shengli took over the conversation.

"Old Tian is right, we need to think of a clever way."

"How about we sneak up there at night?"

"The visibility is poor at night, and the sentries in the watchtower can't see what's going on in the distance. We can cut the barbed wire first, sneak up to the base of the wall, and then make our move."

Zhao Wenlong shook his head.

"It would be good to sneak up at night, but the Japanese pillboxes are too high. Even if we get to the base of the wall, the sentries on the pillboxes will still be able to spot us from above."

"Moreover, the firing ports of the pillbox face four directions."

"Unless we approach from multiple directions simultaneously, it will be difficult to avoid being detected."