Chapter 42: Taking Control of the Town, Expanding the Base! The Third Battalion Sets Its Sights?
Page 1/3
The map marked the troop deployments of the 1st New Regiment.
This immediately made the Deputy Chief of Staff realize where the problem had arisen.
It turned out to be the chain reaction caused by the 1st New Regiment’s attack on the Japanese puppet checkpoints and inspection stations.
Currently, the deployment of the 2nd Battalion of the 1st New Regiment had just held off enemies from Licheng and She counties.
Seeing this, the Deputy Chief of Staff couldn’t help but feel impressed: Li Yunlong’s deployment was truly meticulous.
Moreover, it was remarkable that the 1st New Regiment dared to use only one battalion’s strength to attack three towns—and managed to capture them. Such capability was no small feat!
This made the Deputy Chief of Staff even more interested in the 1st New Regiment.
“Go back and tell your regimental commander to ensure proper follow-up work and to pacify the civilians.”
“Yes, sir!”
The communications officer responded promptly and turned to leave.
The Deputy Chief of Staff pondered that since Li Yunlong had so quickly taken three towns, to better manage these towns, a suitable person needed to be found.
After all, in his view, Li Yunlong was excellent at leading troops in battle, but not so skilled in administration.
As the saying goes, conquering the world is hard, but governing is even harder.
He then wrote a letter and handed it to the communications officer, instructing, “Deliver this to the Political Department.”
“Yes, sir!”
...
Elsewhere,
Tongyu Town.
After Li Yunlong’s soothing efforts, the civilians gradually calmed down.
Especially upon learning that the 1st New Regiment had taken over Tongyu Town, many villagers cheered.
They were still very welcoming toward the Eighth Route Army.
After all, the oppression from the Japanese and puppet troops had made their lives extremely difficult.
Now, the 1st New Regiment not only subsidized their food supplies but also reduced taxes, easing much of their burden.
At the same time, the soldiers helped the people solve many problems.
Most importantly, their own relatives had also joined the 1st New Regiment.
How could they not be welcoming?
This was why Li Yunlong insisted that each battalion recruit local civilians into the army.
Only by binding interests together could many problems be effectively resolved.
Moreover, the army itself was originally composed of peasants.
After two days of efforts, the three towns finally stabilized.
Li Yunlong felt mentally and physically exhausted.
This task was truly difficult!
Suitable talent must be sought for this kind of work, and propaganda efforts had to be strengthened, which was crucial for recruitment.
At the same time, it would help more people understand their army, playing a key role in its development.
...
Page 2/3
Elsewhere,
As the routed puppet troops fled back to She County,
The Japanese 3rd Regiment’s 5th Battalion Commander stationed here, Kameda Nakasho, listened to their report and was stunned.
He never expected the Eighth Route Army to dare attack the towns again.
The Japanese and puppet forces had long been aware of the Eighth Route Army's presence around the Taihang Mountains but were powerless against them.
Previously, the Eighth Route Army mostly targeted transport convoys, rarely attacking towns.
Now, having lost three towns and with most strongholds under attack, what were the Eighth Route Army’s intentions?
They had even caused the loss of an entire company—an absolute disgrace for the 5th Battalion.
“Baka! Immediately send troops to retake those towns and annihilate those Eighth Route Army forces!”
Beside him, puppet regiment commander Zhang Dafu cautiously advised, “Commander, since the Eighth Route Army dares attack these towns, they must have prepared thoroughly. An attack at this time will only fall into an enemy trap.”
“This is the Taihang Mountains. With our limited forces, finding the Eighth Route Army is very difficult; we could suffer heavy casualties.”
“I suggest reporting upward first, then preparing thoroughly before launching an attack.”
“What do you think?”
Kameda Nakasho calmed down somewhat and finally nodded, “Then for now, let the Eighth Route Army go.”
“But we must find out who dares so boldly to attack the Great Japanese Empire’s troops!”
“This matter is entrusted to you.”
“Yes, sir!” Zhang Dafu nodded earnestly, “I will ensure the mission is accomplished—I also want to know who is so daring!”
He then left to make arrangements.
...
3rd Regiment Headquarters.
Sakata Nobutetsu frowned after hearing the 5th Battalion’s report.
The Taihang Mountain area had always been the weakest under their control.
It was mountainous with complex and treacherous terrain, making encirclement and annihilation very difficult.
It required massive troop deployment.
Now the Eighth Route Army had attacked several towns and multiple checkpoints and inspection stations—were they aiming to take full control of this area?
Regardless, the Empire’s control over this region had deteriorated and was even lost.
Though Sakata Nobutetsu was angry, he did not rush.
Following higher command’s orders, the current task was to locate the Eighth Route Army’s main force precisely, then deploy heavy troops for encirclement and elimination.
The Taihang Mountain’s activity was not significant on the overall battlefield; according to Sakata Nobutetsu, there should be an entire Eighth Route Army regiment here.
He ordered all units to collect detailed intelligence to prepare for the upcoming sweep.
At the same time, his subordinates were to hold existing strongholds and not launch attacks.
These would serve as bases and “eyes” for the subsequent sweep.
...
Page 3/3
Meanwhile,
The 2nd Battalion, which had been waiting for days without seeing enemy reinforcements, had only captured some fleeing puppet troops.
This frustrated Shen Quan.
The other two battalions were fighting fiercely, yet his 2nd Battalion had been stuck in these mountains for several days.
“Damn it, the little devils should have received the message by now—why is there no movement?”
“Could they have abandoned the rescue?”
“Notify everyone: leave one platoon on guard and withdraw the rest to rest for now.”
“Yes, sir!”
Since the enemy showed no sign of action, maintaining this state would only exhaust the soldiers.
Then Shen Quan arranged for someone to return to the regimental headquarters to inform the commander of the situation.
...
At the 1st New Regiment Headquarters,
With the Japanese changing their tactics, it became much harder for the 3rd Battalion to make gains.
Seeing this, Liu Yuan ordered the 3rd Battalion to end their nearly week-long field operations and return to headquarters.
Li Yunlong reviewed incoming reports and analyzed the situation.
“It seems the Japanese have temporarily abandoned their attack.”
“Notify the 2nd Battalion to withdraw and station around Yuanquan and Liujiacun villages, remaining vigilant against Japanese and puppet attacks.”
“Yes!” The communications officer quickly relayed the order.
Liu Yuan looked at the current situation and said, “This operation can be considered temporarily concluded.”
“But the Japanese will certainly not give up so easily!”
Li Yunlong nodded slightly. “Have each battalion rest and complete post-battle summary reports for the regiment.”
Liu Yuan responded, “Understood!”
The summaries would mainly confirm casualties, ammunition consumption, and so forth.
Since the 1st Battalion was led by Li Yunlong, and the 2nd Battalion saw no engagement, there wasn’t much to summarize.
As for the 3rd Battalion under Liu Yuan’s command, the overall situation was clear.
Just as Li Yunlong was reviewing the expansion of the 1st New Regiment’s territory,
The system’s prompt sounded in his mind, delighting him.
They had finally reached regimental level.
What special rewards would this bring?
It was truly something to look forward to~
...
Dear readers, if you enjoy this, please support by clicking to encourage updates, giving a free “powered by love” support! Generous patrons welcome~