Chapter 221: Overwhelming Firepower
“Damn it, these Japanese aircraft are really too annoying.”
Due to avoiding reconnaissance by Japanese aircraft, Li Yunlong and Ding Wei’s troops still found a place to hide halfway.
It wasn’t until nightfall that they hurriedly rushed to the assembly point.
“Old Li, at worst we lurk and rest during the day, and fight at night.” Ding Wei took it easy; after all, night combat was also their specialty.
“Damn it!” Li Yunlong still cursed, “Once we reach Taiyuan, I will definitely take out the airport for those Japanese invaders.”
“Taking out the airport can only solve the problem temporarily; to thoroughly solve the problem, we still need to rely on anti-aircraft weapons.” Ding Wei pointed out, “I just don’t know if Factory Director Li can make anti-aircraft weapons for us.”
Even if the airport is taken out for the Japanese invaders, they can still continue to rebuild it.
“Do I even need to say it? Younger Brother Li can definitely do it.” Li Yunlong immediately said, “So, once we reach Taiyuan, we also need to figure out a way to get a batch of machines from the Taiyuan Arsenal. Maybe by then, Younger Brother Li can make anti-aircraft weapons for us.”
“See, as long as there’s an opportunity, I think getting the machines from the Taiyuan Arsenal is more important than the airport.” Ding Wei nodded.
……
Li Yunlong and Ding Wei chatted along the way and arrived at the assembly point.
Here, Gao Liujin, Gao Xigang, Liu Weidong, and Cheng Xiazi had all arrived.
The four had also brought their respective county brigades and district squads; under the moonlight, it was impossible to see the exact troop strength.
Seeing Ding Wei and Li Yunlong arrive, Gao Liujin shouted, “You two, are you old folks? You’re walking so slowly!”
Li Yunlong cursed, “Do you think I don’t want to get here faster, but with Japanese aircraft overhead, I can’t expose myself just to hurry.”
Hearing this, Gao Liujin also cursed, “Once we reach Taiyuan, we must take out the Japanese invaders’ airport.”
Liu Weidong spoke up, “Since everyone is here, let’s make the most of the time.”
Li Yunlong said arrogantly, “When we set out, I was made commander-in-chief; you all have no objections, right?”
Gao Liujin immediately said, “As long as you can mess up behind enemy lines, break the Japanese invaders’ counter-raid, and let us make a good haul, I have no objection.”
“If you don’t command blindly, of course I have no objection either.” Liu Weidong stated flatly.
For this operation, Liu Weidong and Ding Wei served as deputy commanders, essentially acting as staff officers.
Li Yunlong was too prone to going overboard in battle; they had to keep a close eye on him.
“Alright then, our current task is simple: quickly break out of the encirclement, then split into two routes. One route first raids Heidao Morita’s base, taking out the horse feed. If it goes smoothly, take out Heidao Morita as well. The other route rushes to the base of the Twenty-first Brigade at the fastest speed and captures the Yanzhen Arsenal there.” Li Yunlong was concise, “After getting the equipment from the arsenal, don’t bury it; quickly bring it back to our Border Region Arsenal, then we break out of the encirclement and head behind enemy lines.”
As soon as Li Yunlong finished speaking, Ding Wei immediately said, “Old Li, the brigade commander said that after taking the large arsenal, the equipment should be hidden in place. If we come back and then go out again, all that back-and-forth will likely draw the Japanese encirclement and suppression army straight to us. Once they bite us, it’ll be hard to go behind enemy lines again.”
Liu Weidong also said, “During the day, with Japanese aircraft overhead, we must avoid daytime combat, meaning we only have one night. With all your back-and-forth, time probably won’t be enough.”
Li Yunlong said, “Our ultimate goal is to buy enough time for our Border Region Arsenal.”
“As long as we draw the Japanese army over, it’s equivalent to diverting their raid focus; our headquarters, division headquarters, and arsenal will face much less pressure.”
“Moreover, getting the machinery and equipment to the Border Region Arsenal sooner means Factory Director Li might produce new type rockets for us earlier.”
“With new type rockets, even if the Japanese army encircles again later, we won’t have to worry too much.”
“Because it’s the mountains, where Japanese artillery can’t reach, and our main force in the rear has rocket launchers. If the Border Region Arsenal produces new type rockets, do we still need to worry about breaking their raids?”
Cheng Xiazi and Gao Xigang didn’t speak; Ding Wei and Liu Weidong had a point—if the Japanese army bit us, going behind enemy lines again would be difficult.
But Li Yunlong also had a point; if the Japanese army came after us, even if we couldn’t go behind enemy lines, we could lead them in circles, indirectly buying time for the Border Region Arsenal. The two didn’t know how to decide.
Gao Liujin shouted, “How about this: let’s split into two regiments. One protects the captures from Heidao Morita’s base and the equipment from the large arsenal to go back; the other four regiments continue to behind enemy lines.”
Li Yunlong looked at Gao Liujin, “That suggestion works; then you, Gao Liujin, will handle the escort…”
Before Li Yunlong finished, Gao Liujin interrupted, “Why me? I want to go behind enemy lines; I’m not transporting stuff back.”
“Because I’m the commander-in-chief!” Li Yunlong said righteously.
“Hmph, I said, if I can’t go behind enemy lines and make a good haul, your commander-in-chief is just fart in my eyes!” Gao Liujin snorted.
“Gao Liujin, you damn…” Li Yunlong was about to jump up.
Liu Weidong spoke up, “Here’s the deal: each of you give me half a battalion to form a regiment. I’ll take back the horse feed from Heidao Morita’s base and the equipment from the Japanese large arsenal. I won’t go behind enemy lines.”
Immediately after, Liu Weidong continued, “If you really draw the Japanese army over, our main force’s encirclement will be temporarily lifted. I’ll apply to headquarters for more troops, lurk behind the Japanese army, and look for chances to attack their logistics and supplies. Once their logistics and supplies are hit, this counter-raid will basically be over.”
“See, Gao Liujin, look at that scholar; at key moments, he’s more sensible than you.” With Liu Weidong willing to transport the stuff back, Li Yunlong immediately found him much more agreeable.
Moreover, Liu Weidong lurking behind the Japanese army to target their logistics supply—if successful, the significance was far beyond the surface.
Once the Japanese encirclement and suppression army lost logistics supplies, their combat power would drop sharply. With good maneuvering, pull in the Jin Sui Army and the direct line army; done right, the effect would be no less than winning a large-scale battle.
With the Japanese army weakened, whether Taiyuan City, Taiyuan Arsenal, or Taiyuan Airport, wouldn’t they be at our mercy!
“Liu Weidong, you’re someone who considers the overall situation; I’ll definitely learn from you in the future.” Gao Liujin immediately praised Liu Weidong.
Gao Liujin was also impressed by Liu Weidong’s move to target Japanese logistics.
Reading a few more books seemed to indeed make one a bit sharper than a rough fellow like him.
Ding Wei looked at Liu Weidong, “Regiment Commander Liu, half a battalion from each of us— is that enough?”
Once the Japanese large arsenal was looted, the Japanese encirclement and suppression army would definitely come charging.
Two regiments couldn’t possibly hold them off.
Liu Weidong was confident, “Regiment Commander Ding, don’t forget, the Japanese encirclement and suppression army isn’t fully in place yet, only the vanguard. We’re targeting the Japanese large arsenal, which definitely has produced weapons and artillery inside. My troops, plus yours detached, and the district squads, county brigades, and militia—all armed to the teeth. Done right, we push back with artillery fire; the Japanese vanguard can’t stop me.”
Immediately after, Liu Weidong continued, “You’re going behind enemy lines, so you can’t detach too many troops. Half a battalion from each of you is enough.”
“Then let’s first see how much weapons and ammunition are in this Japanese large arsenal.” Ding Wei nodded; if Liu Weidong could get sufficient replenishment from the Japanese large arsenal, breaking through the Japanese vanguard and taking the stuff back would be no problem.
If the weapons and ammunition in the large arsenal weren’t enough then… Ding Wei thought that possibility was very low.
For the Japanese army’s encirclement and suppression, their large arsenal must have produced and stockpiled large quantities of weapons and ammunition in advance.
“Alright, let’s do it this way.” Li Yunlong finalized the plan; the others indicated no objections.
The troops soon reached the Japanese encirclement here.
Here, for now, there were only the Japanese vanguard Twenty-ninth Brigade and the Puppet Army First Division.
Though this vanguard had one brigade and one puppet army division, the encirclement dispersed the troops.
At this point in the encirclement, Japanese troop strength was only one battalion.
Hell Cannons and infantry guns roared furiously, light and heavy machine guns suppressed, grenade launcher mortars pushed forward—this one battalion of Japanese couldn’t hold, they retreated in collapse, and Li Yunlong and the others’ troops broke through smoothly.
The news quickly reached Major General Kawashima, commander of the Twenty-ninth Brigade: “Brigade Commander, a group of Eighth Route Army broke out of our encirclement under night cover.”
“They’ve already broken out?” Major General Kawashima was still a bit stunned; though the encirclement dispersed troops, the breaking Eighth Route should at least face one battalion’s defense.
“Yes, they’ve broken out; their firepower was too fierce, we couldn’t hold.” The person replied.
“Then what about the troop strength of this breaking Eighth Route?” Major General Kawashima quickly adjusted his emotions.
These Eighth Route broke out so fast; probably just combat troops, definitely not logistics.
As long as the so-called Eighth Route headquarters and logistics organs were still in the encirclement, it was a case of the monk getting away but not the temple.
“Night cover, couldn’t see clearly; estimated one or two regiments.” The person replied.
“One or two regiments are no threat; restore the encirclement.” Major General Kawashima said, “By tomorrow afternoon, the rest of the troops arrive, the encirclement fully fortified, and no need to worry about the Eighth Route breaking out easily again.”
“What about this one or two regiments of Eighth Route troops that broke out?”
“Send people to track their movements; once the main force arrives, quickly annihilate them.” Major General Kawashima said.
Major General Kawashima couldn’t detach troops to hit this group of Eighth Route now.
It wasn’t that Major General Kawashima couldn’t beat them; the entire Twenty-ninth Brigade pressing forward had no reason to lose.
Mainly, he couldn’t detach too many from this encirclement, or more Eighth Route would slip out early.
If the Eighth Route main force slipped away early, the encirclement would lose meaning.
He stayed put to trap more Eighth Route.
“Yes, Brigade Commander.”
……
After Li Yunlong and the others quickly broke out, they didn’t stop and immediately split into two routes: one to Heidao Morita’s base, the other to the Twenty-first Brigade’s base.
The tails sent by Major General Kawashima, tracking both routes, were all spotted by the rearguard Eighth Route reconnaissance soldiers.
All tails were cut off.
Gao Xigang and Cheng Xiazi swept through like a force of nature, clearing obstacles along the way, entering Heidao Morita’s base as if it were unoccupied territory.
As expected, Heidao Morita’s base indeed held a huge quantity of horse feed.
Besides that, there were also large amounts of rich living supplies, all high-end goods: beef, canned food, coffee, milk, eggs, and so on.
After all, this was cavalry; cavalry meal standards were much higher than Japanese infantry.
This thrilled Cheng Xiazi and Gao Xigang; they swept up all the profits from Heidao Morita’s base like a whirlwind and snatched several hundred war horses.
It was just a pity that Heidao Morita wasn’t at the base for some reason.
Letting that Japanese invader escape this time.
