Chapter 39: The Retreat of the Sakata Brigade (Seeking Follow-up Reading) Li Yunlong learned that Qin Yangming launched a night attack and destroyed the headquarters of a Japanese regiment, and killed most of the Japanese. He immediately reported the matter to the brigade commander, and then ordered other troops to pay attention to the movements of the Japanese. If the Japanese show signs of retreat, we will immediately pursue them and catch them off guard. "Hehe, I used to be chased and beaten by the Japanese, but now I can finally chase and beat them." Li Yunlong looked at the sand table and said happily: "One of the little Japanese regiments was defeated. The remaining Sakata regiment will either retreat or stay where they are." "Sakata is a very cautious old devil, and has a very strong command ability. The combat effectiveness of the Sakata regiment can be said to be the strongest among all the devils I have ever encountered." "The 358th Regiment of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army and our Eighth Route Army's Independent Regiment both suffered at the hands of the Sakata Regiment." "The independent regiment suffered heavy losses after encountering the Sakata regiment. The regiment of more than 2,000 people was reduced to less than 500 people." Li Yunlong told Zhong Zhicheng who was standing beside him some information about the Sakata Brigade, and then looked at the sand table with a firm gaze: "My old comrade, the political commissar of the independent regiment died at the hands of the Sakata Brigade." "This time, God is helping me, letting me face the Sakata United!"
"This is God asking me to avenge my old comrade!" …… A regiment of Japanese invaders was almost completely wiped out. This news was shocking to both the Eighth Route Army and the Japanese invaders. At this moment at the Eighth Route Army headquarters, the general was furious when he saw the battle report that was submitted. "It's this new group again!" "I clearly gave them a death order to defend Linyuan County for five days, but he dared to attack without authorization!" “Has he ever thought about what would happen if the attacking force was completely wiped out? Once Baihu Ridge falls into the hands of the Japanese, Linyuan County will no longer be defensible. The Japanese soldiers coming from Yi Province can march straight into Cangyun Ridge!" "Boss, calm down. It seems that the battle this time was caused by the Vanguard Battalion." "Humph, Qin Yangming was such an honest child back then, how long has he been under Li Yunlong's command? He didn't learn anything else, but he learned all of Li Yunlong's unauthorized actions!" "Don't say that Li Yunlong didn't know. If Li Yunlong didn't know, how could a battalion of troops cooperate with the Vanguard Battalion?" "Tell Li Yunlong and Kong Jie to defend Cang Yun Ridge for me! If they lose Cang Yun Ridge within four days, I will shoot them!" "Boss, we got intelligence from Yizhong saying that the Japanese have mobilized another brigade to attack us, and the division in Taiyuan has also begun its attack!" A staff officer rushed into the operations room and reported the latest intelligence to the boss. "The Japanese are so cruel. They think highly of us and mobilized almost three divisions to besiege us!" "Oh my God, what Li Yunlong is facing now is not just two regiments of Japanese devils, but a whole army with a complete organization!" "This time, Li Yunlong is under a lot of pressure." "Have someone block it for me. The reserve troops should speed up their retreat. The breakout troops should use all their strength to break through the Japanese blockade!"
…… When Yoshio Shinozuka learned that the flag of the Ono Regiment had been seized by the Eighth Route Army, he immediately became anxious. The Ohno Regiment was a unit directly under his command. If the regiment flag was gone, it would mean that the organization of this unit would be gone. He immediately ordered the North China Front Army to send out another brigade, which tried every means to take back the regiment flag that had been captured by the Eighth Route Army. Now he could only pray that the Eighth Route Army didn't know the purpose of the flag. As long as the news of the capture of the regiment's flag did not spread, the Ohno Regiment's organization might be able to be preserved. He specifically ordered the Sakata Regiment to pay attention to the fierce attack on the headquarters of the New 1st Regiment. Because all the spoils of the Eighth Route Army were turned over to the public, the regiment flag must have been sent to the headquarters of the New 1st Regiment along with other trophies. Fortunately, we are currently in the midst of a large-scale cleanup operation, otherwise, if the regiment flag was sent to the Eighth Route Army division or brigade headquarters, it would definitely be recognized and then widely publicized. By then, even if the Eighth Route Army said that it had completely wiped out the Daye Regiment, it would be no problem. The regiment’s flag had been captured. How could it not be complete annihilation? This was the first time that a complete regiment of the Japanese invaders was completely wiped out in China. This was a huge blow to the morale of the Japanese invaders, but it also greatly boosted the confidence of the Chinese military and civilians to fight to the end. Qin Yangming naturally understood this principle. After seizing the regiment flag, he immediately arranged for Duan Peng to deliver the regiment flag to the brigade headquarters. At this moment, Brigade Commander Chen was holding the regiment flag and discussing with the headquarters how to deal with it. "Boss, my suggestion is not to announce the fact that we have captured the regiment flag for the time being." "There are still many troops still trapped in the encirclement of the Japanese invaders and have not yet broken out." "If we announce now that we have captured the regiment flag, the Japanese will definitely launch an attack on our Eighth Route Army at all costs in order to reverse the decline of the Ohno Regiment being annihilated." "The pressure on each unit is already very great. If the Japanese send more troops, I'm afraid our losses this time will be far beyond our expectations!" "Yeah, I think so too. If we announce it at this time, the guy from Chongqing will lose face. He had just lost a big battle, resulting in the advantage he had worked so hard to build up being wiped out. If we announce that we have wiped out a small Japanese regiment at this time, he might take advantage of the situation. He is not a broad-minded person. " "Well, let's keep it secret for now. We can announce it after all the troops have broken out of the encirclement and stabilized again. This will be more beneficial to us." "Well, Xiao Qin will remember the credit for this time, and I will reward him after the battle." "Credit? I'm already very good at not pursuing his mistake of acting on his own, but he still wants credit!" "No way, the merits and demerits cancel each other out!" "No, Boss, this time Xiao Qin..." "Chen Shukang, what benefit did that kid give you? Tell the truth!" "No, Boss, there's no benefit in that. I just watched him almost wipe out the Ohno Regiment this time." "Oh? I heard from Division Commander Liu that you, Chen Shukang, have become very wealthy recently, and you have even taken all the 82mm mortars out of the artillery company..." "Boss, there's something going on at the front line. Goodbye." ……
After learning that the headquarters had sent another brigade to Shiquan County, Sakata's regiment command in Linyuan County quickly withdrew from Linyuan County with his troops. The Japanese soldiers from other counties also withdrew their troops and sent them to other battlefields. The soldiers of the New 1st Regiment also seized the opportunity to chase after the Japanese soldiers who had exposed their buttocks. However, because the puppet troops of the Ohno Regiment had rebelled again, the Japanese simply abandoned most of the puppet troops and asked them to cover their retreat. They also took away most of the ammunition. The puppet troops who were forced to retreat were naturally unwilling to work for the Japanese in vain, so they surrendered to the Eighth Route Army with their guns. There were nearly four thousand puppet army prisoners, and Li Yunlong was troubled as to how to deal with them. Later, at the reminder of Deputy Regiment Commander Wu, the two thousand prisoners were sent directly to the division headquarters, causing the division commander a headache. The remaining prisoners were all dispersed, with three more people added to each squad, totaling about 1,500 people. The rest were all sent to the engineering company to repair fortifications. These puppet soldiers had no objection to the Eighth Route Army's arrangements. They thought it was good enough to be able to keep their lives. Moreover, the food we ate following the Eighth Route Army was better than when we were a puppet soldier. Didn't they join the army just to have a bite to eat? Wasn't it the same as selling their lives to the Eighth Route Army? As a soldier in the Eighth Route Army, you don't have to worry about being called a traitor behind your back, and you won't be criticized in the back by others. Deputy Regiment Commander Wu surrendered from the puppet army, so he naturally knew what these puppet soldiers were thinking. Every day, he would bring Zhong Zhicheng and the instructors of each battalion to do ideological work for the puppet troops in the engineering battalion. Fortunately, those who dared to surrender to the Eighth Route Army were all puppet soldiers who had not done anything wrong, otherwise it would have been difficult to appease the puppet soldiers. Qin Yangming, Li Yunlong and others also knew that the Japanese had mobilized a brigade to attack Linyuan County, so they did not dare to take it lightly. Checking the defense lines everywhere to see if there is anything missed. In order to slow down the Japanese's marching speed, large pits were dug on all the roads in Linyuan County. If the pit is not filled, the Japanese trucks and tanks will have no chance of passing through. (End of this chapter)
