Chapter 50: Going to Heaven
Seeing that Kong Jie was about to quarrel with Ding Wei and Cheng Shifa again, Li Yunlong hurried to try to stop them.
"Let's not talk about this or that." Li Yunlong said repeatedly, "Today we are just reminiscing about the past."
Cheng Shifa and Ding Wei also felt that this matter should not be rushed, so they snorted and said no more.
Anyway, now that they have come back, they plan to stay in Yang Village unless Li Yunlong gives them enough benefits.
Li Yunlong winked at Kong Jie and said, "Old Kong, you lead the troops slowly. I will accompany Old Ding and Old Cheng back to the regiment headquarters first."
"I understand. You go back first."
Kong Jie understood what Li Yunlong meant. He wanted him to keep it to himself.
Let’s not talk about anything else, but the six heavy machine guns and six mortars must be hidden.
The only bad thing is that Blind Cheng seems to have seen the mortar? But it doesn't matter, just say that this bastard is dazzled, isn't he blind?
…
Unfortunately,
Li Yunlong's arrangement was doomed to be in vain.
Because the intelligence officers of the headquarters had already clearly understood the situation of the Huting stronghold.
If the main force of the Japanese Army's 4th Brigade had not been stationed in Yangquan and could reach the Huting stronghold in half a day at the fastest, the boss would have eaten this piece of fat meat long ago.
The brigade commander smiled and said, "Chief of Staff, please repeat the basic situation of the Huting stronghold again."
"Yes." The chief of staff responded, and said, "The Huting stronghold is about 60 kilometers away from Yangquan County. The garrison consists of a reinforced squadron of the Japanese army and a reinforced battalion of the puppet army."
"This reinforced squadron of the Japanese army consists of an infantry squadron,"
"There is also a heavy machine gun squad, and an artillery squad."
"Equipped with four Type 92 heavy machine guns and four mortars."
"This reinforced battalion of the puppet army has three infantry companies and a heavy machine gun company."
"Originally, this heavy machine gun company of the puppet army was to be equipped with six Type 24 heavy machine guns, but for some unknown reason, these six heavy machine guns were temporarily transferred away."
"So this reinforced battalion of the puppet army is actually four infantry companies."
"The total strength of the Huting stronghold is more than 700 Japanese and puppet troops."
"In addition, the Huting stronghold also stored backup weapons for the Japanese and puppet troops."
" These included two heavy machine guns, two mortars and more than 200 rifles."
"So, barring any unexpected events, the weapons seized by the Independent Regiment this time are as follows: 6 Type 97 81mm mortars, 6 Type 92 7.7mm heavy machine guns, 17 Czech and Type 96 light machine guns, 6 Type 89 50mm grenade launchers, and more than 700 rifles and pistols of various models."
"As for ammunition, there is no way to estimate it. We can only wait for the report from the Independent Regiment."
"Oh, by the way, the Huting stronghold also has a lot of supplies, including food, canned beef, sake, cigarettes and other supplies for the Japanese army."
Now even the brigade commander was no longer calm.
"Damn, Li Yunlong really made a fortune this time."
"Yes." The chief of staff laughed, "The weapons and equipment seized this time are enough to arm a main force regiment!"
"Main force regiment?" The brigade commander shook his head and said, "The 772nd Regiment is the main force regiment, right? And the New 1st Regiment is also the main force regiment, right? But Chief of Staff, you said, they have so many mortars?"
"No," said the chief of staff, "the 772nd Regiment only has four 82mm mortars, and the New 1st Regiment only has two Japanese-made 81mm mortars captured on the battlefield."
The brigade commander cursed: "Damn it, Li Yunlong is going to heaven."
The chief of staff chuckled and then asked, "What do you mean, brigade commander?"
"Is there any need to say this?" said the brigade commander. "No matter what, the general has spoken. Li Yunlong's unorganized and undisciplined behavior must be severely punished, even if he wins the battle! If Li Yunlong knows what's good for him, I'll let him off the hook. If he doesn't, I'll just beat him up."
The Chief of Staff asked, "What does the brigade commander intend to do with him?"
"Let him come to the brigade headquarters." The brigade commander snorted, "Our brigade headquarters is in need of a cook."
"I think this arrangement is quite suitable." The chief of staff smiled, then said with a serious face, "Brigade Commander, the Japanese have suffered a great loss this time. Do you think they will retaliate?"
"Revenge?" The brigade commander sneered and asked, "How? With only the 4th Brigade, apart from the garrisons in Yangquan County and various strongholds, at best they can muster the strength of a regiment. With only an infantry regiment, they dare to penetrate deep into the heart of our Taihang base? Are they looking for death?"
"That's right." The chief of staff smiled and said no more.
…
Let’s go back to the Japanese army.
In the middle of the night, the Kuroshima Brigade was the first to arrive at the Huting stronghold.
Early the next morning, Hideya Maeda arrived in person with the 3rd Infantry Regiment.
Unfortunately, when the main force of the Japanese army arrived, the battle at the Huting stronghold had already ended long ago. Not only had the battle ended, the Eighth Route Army had even cleaned up the battlefield. The weapons and equipment of the garrison troops, as well as the backup weapons, ammunition and various supplies stockpiled in the stronghold were all looted by the Eighth Route Army.
Even the three artillery towers were reduced to ruins.
But what made Maeda Hide even more distressed was the corpses of Japanese soldiers all over the ground.
What the Eighth Route Army did was really excessive. They took away all the cotton-padded coats and military boots, and only left a loincloth for the fallen imperial soldiers, which they lined up in neat rows on the playground of the stronghold.
After a moment of silence, Maeda Hide turned his head and looked at Kuroshima Morita.
"Kuroshima-kun, have the bodies of the fallen imperial soldiers been brought back?"
"Hai." Kuroshima Morita bowed his head, "They have all been brought back."
Maeda Hide nodded, then slung his saber across his shoulder and went through the rows to identify them.
When he identified the sixth body in the third row, Maeda Hide finally stopped.
Although the entire head of the corpse had been smashed, Maeda Hide still recognized it at a glance. It was his younger brother, Maeda Tsuyoshi.
Because Maeda Tsuyoshi has a birthmark on his chest.
Kuroshima Morita, who was following behind Maeda Hide, also sighed softly.
What a pity! Not only was Maeda Tsuyoshi born in the Kaga Maeda family, but he was also admitted to the Army University. Upon graduation, he was immediately promoted to the rank of major and deputy regiment commander!
The future prospects are limitless.
However, it failed in such a small place.
"Brigade Commander, my condolences." Kuroshima Morita sighed.
"I'm fine." Maeda Hide's face showed no trace of pain, and he added, "It is an honor for the men of our Maeda family to sacrifice their lives for the empire and be loyal to the emperor."
Kuroshima Morita said in a deep voice: "As a soldier, being able to sacrifice for the empire and being loyal to the emperor is of course a supreme honor, but as a samurai, especially as a samurai of the Kaga Maeda clan, dying at the hands of a group of local guerrillas is the greatest shame. The shame of a samurai must be washed away with blood!"
"Yes." Maeda Hide said in a deep voice, "It must be cleansed with blood!"
"Yes." Kuroshima Morita nodded and said, "Take this opportunity to charge into the heart of the Taihang bandit area and wipe out the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army and even the Eighth Route Army headquarters?"
Maeda Hide remained silent, as if he was weighing the options.
Kuroshima Morita added: "If the brigade commander can make up his mind, our Kuroshima Regiment is willing to be the vanguard!"
"No!" Maeda Hide finally waved his hand and said, "A little impatience can ruin a big plan. Now is not the time for a final battle with the Eighth Route Army."
"So?" Kuroshima Morita said in a deep voice, "Brigade Commander, what do you mean?"
Maeda Hide suddenly raised his head, his eyes cast towards the mountains in the northeast, and said in a fierce voice: "Kuroshima-kun, I request that your cavalry regiment attack in small teams and clean up all the villages on the edge of the bandit area."
Kuroshima Morita's eyes flashed with ferocity, and he bowed his head and said, "Hai!"
…
In Yang Village.
The head of the kitchen team, Lao Wang, prepared a table full of delicious dishes early in the morning.
It was already too late when I returned to Yang Village last night, so I just had a quick meal, but I couldn't avoid this dinner of drinking today.
Li Yunlong decided to give a grand reception to his two old comrades.
The table was filled with stewed cabbage, stewed horse meat, stewed horse intestines, stewed horse offal, and white flour buns.
Of course, Li Yunlong’s favorite sweet potato cake and salt-boiled peanuts are indispensable.
"Come on, Old Ding and Old Cheng, please take a seat." Li Yunlong invited Ding Wei and Cheng Shifa to take a seat, then turned to Zhao Gang and said, "Old Zhao, are you coming too?"
"Old Li, you guys eat, I'll go check on the post."
However, Zhao Gang politely declined Li Yunlong's kindness.
Li Yunlong and his old comrades from the Fourth Front Army were having a reunion, and Zhao Gang thought it would be better not to disturb them.
Li Yunlong did not force it and sat directly on the horizontal seat, then picked up the bottle and filled Ding Wei and Cheng Shifa's glasses.
"Old Li, you're having a pretty good life." Cheng Shifa said, "You're having sweet potato stew and horse meat and offal. You're having a more comfortable life than the boss."
"Oh, isn't this a coincidence?"
Li Yunlong smiled and said, "If you had come two days earlier, I would have only been able to treat you with boiled cabbage in salt water."
"Let's not talk about this." Ding Wei said, "Tell me the truth, how much benefit did Huting Stronghold get from this vote?"
"Not much." Li Yunlong waved his hand and said, "Just over a hundred three-piece rifles, over two hundred Liao-13 rifles, six or seven light and heavy machine guns, and yes, there seemed to be two grenade launchers."
"You are not being honest." Cheng Shifa said, "I have seen mortars before."
"Mortar?" Li Yunlong curled his lips and said, " Otherwise , why do people call you Blind Cheng? You are blind. There is no mortar. It's just a grenade launcher."
"Grenade launcher?" Cheng Shifa was confused.
"Am I seeing things?"
"You must be dazzled."
