Chapter 46: Making a Fortune
Four p.m.
Yangquan County, headquarters of the 4th Brigade of the Japanese Army.
Maeda Hide asked Chief of Staff Kimura Isamu: "Kimura-kun, the phone number of the Tiger Pavilion base is still not connected?"
"Yes, I still can't get through. I guess it's the Tubalu who are sabotaging it again." Kimura nodded and said, "However, I have ordered the Niuzhuang stronghold, which is closest to the Huting stronghold, to send telephone soldiers to inspect the telephone lines. If nothing unexpected happens, the telephone lines should be restored soon."
"These Tubalu are really haunting."
Maeda Hide frowned and said, "But didn't the Kuroshima Regiment send a cavalry squadron to the Huting stronghold? Why haven't they wiped out this group of Eighth Route Army yet?"
"Yes, the Black Island Brigade has sent a squadron to the Tiger Pavilion stronghold."
Kimura Yong said helplessly: "I don't know what this cavalry squadron is doing?"
"This is not a solution," said Maeda Hide. " The phone It would be fine if nothing goes wrong, but if something does go wrong, we won't be able to rescue them in time."
Kimura Yong agreed and said, "We really need to come up with a foolproof plan."
While the two were talking, the phone on the desk suddenly rang.
Maeda Hide grabbed the receiver and said, "Mashi Mashi, this is the 4th Brigade."
"Captain of the Brigade!" A slightly panicked voice came from the other end of the line, "This is Nakamura Hisashi."
"Nakamura-kun?" Maeda Hide's expression was stern, and he said in a deep voice, "The Niuzhuang stronghold was attacked?"
Nakamura Hisashi was the garrison captain of the Niuzhuang stronghold, and he had only one infantry squad and a company of puppet troops under his command.
"No, the Niuzhuang stronghold was not attacked." Nakamura Shou replied, "But the Huting stronghold is in danger!"
"What?" Maeda Hide's face became more and more embarrassed, and he said with a dark face, "How could the Huting stronghold be in danger?"
Nakamura said: "Brigade Commander, the signalman sent by Maeda-kun has just arrived at our Niuzhuang stronghold, and he reported a shocking situation to me."
Maeda Hidetoshi: "What's going on?"
Nakamura Shou said: "The main force of the Huting stronghold garrison has been surrounded by the main force of the Eighth Route Army in Tiger Bay, five kilometers away from the stronghold. The situation is urgent. Request emergency reinforcements from the brigade!"
"Baka!" Maeda Hideo said angrily, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
Having said that, Maeda Hide hung up the phone without saying a word.
Kimura Isamu said: "Brigade Commander, what happened? Was the Huting stronghold attacked?"
Maeda Hide said nothing more, and waved his hand and said, "Kimura-kun, call the Kuroshima Regiment immediately and ask Kuroshima-kun to immediately concentrate the main force of the cavalry regiment and rush to the Huting stronghold for emergency assistance."
"Hai!" Kimura nodded bravely and picked up the phone again.
"Mashimashi, this is the brigade headquarters, please connect to the Kuroshima Regiment."
Maeda Hide put on a military cap and walked straight out of his office.
"Sakurada-kun? Sakurada-kun!" Maeda Hide called his adjutant Sakurada Yuta to him and shouted, "Order, assemble the 22nd Infantry Regiment urgently!"
Sakurada Yuta bowed hard:
"Hayi!"
…
Headquarters of the 386th Brigade.
The Brigadier General was pacing back and forth.
"No, I'm still worried. This time it might get out of hand!"
The brigade commander said with a worried look on his face: "Although the Huting stronghold is isolated outside the fortifications along the Zhengtai Road and is a salient, it occupies a pivotal position in the entire defense system of the Japanese 4th Brigade. Maeda Hide, the old devil, will definitely not tolerate the independent regiment taking over the Huting stronghold."
The Chief of Staff asked, "Brigade Commander, what do you mean?"
The brigade commander said in a deep voice: "I am worried that the 4th Brigade will go all out to reinforce the Huting stronghold."
"If this is the case, I'm afraid the New 1st Regiment alone won't be able to stop them." The Chief of Staff said in a deep voice, "How about transferring the 772nd Regiment as well?"
"Move them all over there, all of them!"
The brigade commander risked his life and shouted, "Not only the 772nd Regiment, but also the local troops of the 3rd and 5th Divisions must be mobilized to launch a raid along the highway."
"Tell all the participating troops that I have only one request for them."
"Hang them like nails along the road and stop the enemy from getting reinforcements at all costs!"
The chief of staff quickly issued combat orders to the 772nd Regiment and the local troops of two military sub-districts.
After giving the order, the chief of staff smiled bitterly and said, "This time, Li Yunlong has caused a big disaster."
Hearing this, the brigade commander was furious and said with a dark face: "Damn it, Li Yunlong, the regiment commander, is more powerful than me, the brigade commander. He mobilized my brigade with his regiment."
After a pause, the brigade commander continued, "But now that things have come to this, we have no choice but to fight this battle. Even if we have to execute Li Yunlong in the end, we have to wait until he captures the Huting stronghold!"
"That's right." The chief of staff agreed. "The independent regiment has already deployed its forces. They may have already reached the halfway point of the attack. If we order them to withdraw from the battle at this time, it will not only hurt their morale, but we may also be attacked by the enemy. The losses will be huge."
The brigade commander angrily whipped the desk with a whip.
Li Yunlong, this trouble maker!
…
It’s all because of poor communication.
The independent regiment had already finished its work by then.
The bungalow in the middle of the stronghold is a dormitory and a warehouse.
Several non-combat Japanese soldiers were hiding in the dormitory and were shot by Wang Huaibao with a light machine gun.
A row of warehouses were connected, and the doors were locked. Guan Dashan found an octagonal hammer from somewhere and swung it on the lock.
With a loud bang, the iron lock was smashed open.
The two soldiers couldn't wait to open the tightly closed iron gate.
Li Yunlong subconsciously wanted to rush in, but was stopped by Wang Ye.
Li Yunlong reacted, stopped his feet and waved his hand, signaling Wang Ye to go in first.
Wang Ye first took out his pistol, then winked at Wei Dayong and Wang Xikui, and then rolled forward and entered the big iron gate.
Sure enough, there were two Japanese soldiers hiding in the warehouse. When they saw someone breaking in, they immediately raised their guns and shot, but they failed to hit Wang Ye.
Taking advantage of this brief gap,
Wei Dayong and Wang Xikui also rushed in through the gate.
The moment they rushed into the gate, Wei Dayong and Wang Xikui opened fire at the same time. After the gunshots, two non-combat Japanese soldiers hiding in the warehouse were killed on the spot.
These two devils hid in the warehouse probably intending to set fire to it.
But I don't know why, I didn't do it in the end.
Wang Ye took Wei Dayong and Wang Xikui to inspect the warehouse.
After making sure that there was no one inside, Wang Ye said, "Captain, it's safe inside!"
Li Yunlong, Kong Jie and others then walked in excitedly, only to see that the supplies inside were piled up like mountains.
On the left are countless sacks of burlap and flour, almost reaching the roof of the warehouse, and on the right are neatly arranged wooden boxes.
Moreover, Wang Ye and his men had already pried open several wooden crates. Li Yunlong walked over and took a look, only to see that the crates were filled with yellow bullets!
Except there are board rifle bullets.
More are Mauser rifle bullets.
There are also grenades and 7.7mm caliber heavy machine gun bullets.
And judging from the number of wooden boxes, there must be a lot of ammunition!
Li Yunlong couldn't help but hugged Kong Jie and laughed: "Old Kong! We've made a fortune this time. Our independent regiment has really made a fortune this time, hahahaha!"
Wang Ye brought Wei Dayong and two others with him.
Wooden crates were pried over one after another.
Bullets, bullets, grenades, grenade launchers, and 81mm mortar shells were found one by one.
Next came the Type 38 rifle, Type 96 light machine gun, and Type 92 heavy machine gun.
These are all backup weapons, and the two Type 92 heavy machine guns are even in the form of spare parts.
The Japanese army's independent combat units all had backup weapons so that they could be replaced in time after their weapons were damaged. As the Huting stronghold was an isolated salient point outside the Zhengtai Road, it naturally also needed backup.
Wang Ye continued to pry open the box and search, and finally found the mortar.
The two Type 97 81mm mortars were also not assembled.
I continued searching and found the firing pins, and there were four of them.
Apparently, because firing pins are a part that is easy to lose, two extra ones are provided.
"Captain, look!" Wang Ye reported while holding the firing pin, "There are extra firing pins here!"
"Hahaha, that's great!" Li Yunlong exclaimed happily, "Now our independent regiment is very rich. If the two mortars on the top of the artillery tower are not damaged, our independent regiment will have six mortars at once! Haha!"
"Damn it, there are actually six mortars!" Kong Jie's eyes turned red, and he immediately pulled Li Yunlong to the corner of the warehouse and growled, "Li Yunlong, I didn't bother with you about the last deal in Wanjia Town, but today's deal must be split equally between the two of us brothers!"
"Why?"
Li Yunlong said: "I'm telling you, there's no way!"
"Li Yunlong!" Kong Jie was furious and roared in a low voice, "I also made great efforts in the battle of Huting Stronghold. If I am not included in the future division of the family business, I will never forgive you!"
Kong Jie was really anxious, his eyes bulged out.
He seemed like he was going to fight Li Yunlong to the death if they had a disagreement.
Li Yunlong immediately softened and said with a smile: "Old Kong, calm down. We are still in the devil's territory. Isn't it a bit inappropriate to discuss how to divide the family?"
"That's true." Kong Jie said, "Let's go back and talk about it."
"Oh, that's right." Li Yunlong chuckled, looked around and shouted, "Hurry up and move everything out. Move everything out. Don't leave any bullets for the Japanese!"
