Chapter 295: I Disagree
“Old Li, Commissioner Zhao, let’s go.”
After bickering with Li Yunlong for a bit longer, seeing that his old comrade’s complexion had eased considerably—at least he could stand straight and curse—Ding Wei stopped joking, grabbed his arm, called over Zhao Gang, and headed toward the depths of the town.
“Old Ding, where are we going?” Li Yunlong was being pulled along, still a bit confused.
“No nonsense, just follow me.” Ding Wei ignored Li Yunlong and pulled him deeper inside.
The three passed through the noisy gathering point and arrived in front of a large courtyard built of green bricks. Four sentries armed with live rounds stood at the courtyard gate, wearing crisp German-style M36 uniforms, steel helmets on their heads, and holding not ordinary rifles but a kind of strangely shaped short-barreled automatic weapons.
They stood ramrod straight, with sharp eyes. Upon seeing Ding Wei and the others, they merely gave a standard salute at attention, then a sergeant stepped forward to verify identities, the entire process meticulous and filled with the stern aura of a modern army.
Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise in each other’s eyes. Just these sentries at the gate had more presence than any elite Nationalist troops they had ever seen.
Entering the courtyard, the house directly opposite was brightly lit.
Pushing the door open, a wave of hot air mixed with tobacco and sweat hit them in the face.
The room was huge, with a massive map in the center that finely reproduced the terrain around Taiyuan.
More than ten officers were gathered around the sand table discussing something in low voices. They wore the same German-made uniforms as the sentries at the gate, with gleaming collar tabs and shoulder boards. Li Yunlong glanced over and didn’t see any rank lower than colonel.
What shocked Li Yunlong even more was that among this group of Chinese officers with yellow skin and black eyes stood several blond, blue-eyed, tall white men. They too wore the militia’s officer uniforms and were pointing at the sand table, discussing intensely with the Chinese officers beside them in fluent English.
The entire room had a tense and efficient atmosphere, filled with the stern air before a major battle.
Ding Wei led the two forward and pointed to a tall, resolute-faced middle-aged colonel, introducing him: “Old Li, let me introduce you. This is Colonel Li Gaoyuan, commander of the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Shanxi Militia.”
He turned to the two most conspicuous white officers: “These two are the commanders of the 1st and 2nd Armored Regiments, Colonel John and Colonel Fur.”
Li Yunlong’s eyes instantly widened. Armored regiments? And two foreigners as commanders?
Ding Wei ignored his shock and continued the introductions: “This is Colonel Wu Qingyun, commander of the 6th Infantry Regiment. These two are the commanders of the 1st and 2nd Artillery Regiments, Colonel Zhang Zhihao and Colonel Xiong Junfeng. This one is…”
Ding Wei introduced all the main commanders in the room in one go. Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang’s brains short-circuited somewhat: infantry regiments, armored regiments, artillery regiments, air defense regiments… what kind of god-tier setup was this!
By the time Ding Wei finished introducing, Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang snapped out of it, quickly composed their shocked expressions, and greeted each of these imposing militia officers one by one.
Although Li Yunlong’s mind was churning inside, his face still showed that rough demeanor. But when shaking hands, he gripped especially hard, particularly with the two artillery regiment commanders—his eyes gleamed as if he wanted to devour them, scaring Zhang Zhihao and the other to quickly withdraw their hands and retreat to the back of the crowd.
Everyone was military, so after the introductions, they quickly got down to business.
Li Gaoyuan said to Ding Wei and Li Yunlong: “Commander Li, Commander Ding, you arrived just in time. There are some matters we need to discuss together.”
He pointed to the map: “Please take a look, gentlemen. This is the defensive line on the outskirts of Taiyuan.
Xiao Tsukazuka Yoshio has set up two circular defensive lines here, building numerous bunkers, pillboxes, and trenches. Guarding these two circular lines is the Japanese 36th Division, totaling 15,000 men.
Our mission is to breach these two defensive lines in the shortest time and break into Taiyuan city.
Although many of the bunkers and trenches built by the Japanese have been bombed by our aircraft, quite a few fortifications and bunkers remain. This is where our ground forces need to clear them. Do you have any good suggestions?”
Li Yunlong and Ding Wei exchanged a glance and shook their heads. Li Yunlong said bluntly: “Commander Li, we’re all family, so I’ll speak plainly.
Before coming, the brigade commander told us that for this attack on Taiyuan, our two regiments are here to assist. Whatever you need, just give the orders—as long as they’re reasonable, we’ll cooperate fully with your forces.”
Hearing Li Yunlong’s straightforward statement, Li Gaoyuan secretly breathed a huge sigh of relief.
As a commander with formal military education, what he feared most in joint operations was allied forces that wouldn’t listen and acted on their own.
Such allies not only failed to help but would introduce countless unpredictable variables to the entire operation plan due to unforeseen actions.
This was also his greatest worry.
But from Li Yunlong and Ding Wei’s reactions, these two Eighth Route Army commanders were sensible and understood the big picture. They weren’t arrogant just because they were there to help, nor did they interfere; instead, they kept a low profile and were very cooperative. This made the battle much easier to fight.
Thinking of this, a sincere smile appeared on Li Gaoyuan’s always tense face, and the tense atmosphere in the entire command post seemed to ease a bit.
“In that case, let me first explain the operation plan our staff department just discussed.”
He picked up a red-blue pencil again and pointed with the red end at the huge map on the wall. “Our plan is as follows.”
His pen tip slid across the outer defensive line on the south side of Taiyuan on the map: “The defensive line around Taiyuan stretches over a dozen kilometers. If we advance across the entire front, it would not only disperse our superior firepower but also give the enemy time to react. So, at the start, we don’t need a full-scale assault.”
The pen tip heavily tapped two mountain peaks marked with red circles on the map: “We just need to concentrate our forces to capture these two bunker groups at Heights 369 and 287.
These two heights are the two support points of the Japanese southern defensive line. Once removed, the entire southern defensive line is basically considered fallen.”
Li Yunlong and Ding Wei’s gazes followed his pen tip, their eyes sharpening.
They were both battle-hardened commanders and immediately grasped the essence of this “focused breakthrough, breaking the surface from points” tactic.
Li Gaoyuan continued: “After taking these two places, our armored forces and artillery can advance, using them as a base to expand the occupied area around, tearing open a gap to completely disrupt, split, and nibble away at the Japanese outer defensive line.
Once the outer defensive line is fully taken, it will be time for us to launch the general assault and seize Taiyuan city in one stroke!”
His explanation was clear and straightforward. Li Yunlong, Ding Wei, and Zhao Gang exchanged glances—the plan was highly feasible and made excellent use of the Shanxi Militia’s firepower advantage.
When Li Gaoyuan finished his briefing, the command post fell into brief silence, with only the telegraph’s beeping sounds remaining.
Li Yunlong and Ding Wei digested this rather advanced tactic for them, then Li Yunlong spoke first:
“Commander Li, we’ve heard your forces’ plan. We find it quite acceptable.
But I have one question: what tasks do you plan to assign to me and Old Ding?”
Li Gaoyuan paused for a moment upon hearing this, seemingly organizing his words. He glanced at Li Yunlong and Ding Wei, recalling the simply equipped but high-spirited Eighth Route Army soldiers he had seen.
After a while, he said in as tactful a tone as possible: “Here’s what I’m thinking. Since your forces… lack experience in infantry-tank coordination and large-scale infantry-artillery coordination.
So in tomorrow’s attack, you can serve as the second echelon, that is, the reserve force.
After our first echelon launches the attack and tears open the enemy’s line, you follow behind and join the battlefield to mop up remnants. What do you think?”
“No! Absolutely not!”
Before Li Gaoyuan finished speaking, Li Yunlong shook his head like a rattle, his attitude firm with no room for negotiation.
“Commander Li, I know you’re looking out for me and Old Ding, afraid we’ll take heavy casualties. We appreciate the sentiment. But this isn’t what we want!”
He stepped forward, raising his voice: “Besides, we’re here to fight the Japanese, not to pick up scraps behind you.
Of course, we do like the Japanese scraps, but we have our pride! We understand the principle of not accepting unearned rewards!”
He scanned the room, his gaze finally landing on the map, then proposed a suggestion that caught Li Gaoyuan and the others off guard: “How about this… let’s not divide into first and second echelons at all.
We two sides, four regiments total, can rotate assaults—each regiment leads the main attack for half a day! No slacking, no taking advantage! What do you say?”
This… could work?
Li Gaoyuan and the surrounding staff officers exchanged looks. Their minds were full of precise calculations and tactical simulations—when had they ever seen such simple, brutal tactics like rural arm-wrestling? This completely defied military science!
He instinctively exchanged glances with several staff nearby and quickly conferred in low voices.
Finally, looking at Li Yunlong’s face that clearly said “no main attack and I’ll get mad,” Li Gaoyuan smiled helplessly yet admiringly. He understood: the best way to handle such a fierce general was to give him the toughest bone to gnaw.
He took a deep breath, nodded, and made the decision: “Alright! Since Commander Li puts it that way, that’s how we’ll do it.
Our 1st and 2nd Regiments, plus your Independent Regiment and New 1st Regiment—four regiments rotating main attacks!”
He picked up the pencil and redrew the assault sequence on the map, his tone more decisive: “Next, let’s discuss the specifics of artillery support and coordinated operations!”
