Page 1 of Chapter 26

  Yang Jiu said he wanted to raid the camp, and Liu Canmou immediately said: "Camp commander, I think the effect of raiding the camp is not great. The enemy's web on the opposite side is not a team of hundreds of people, but a coalition of three thousand! Not to mention whether we can retreat safely this time, the key is that it may not have any substantial impact on the devils!"

  After listening to Liu's suggestion, Yang looked at everyone and said: "What do you think?"

  Tian Ying was about to speak when Yang Ju hastily stopped him, saying: "Old Tian, listen to the brothers first." He then looked at the crowd again.

  Second Lieutenant is a heavy smoker, and he's always smoking. At this time, Second Lieutenant Han Ping said while smoking: "Actually, there's nothing for us to discuss here. Battalion Commander, you're the highest military officer in our battalion, and you're also a graduate of Huangpu! Over the years, all the brothers have been watching how you fight battles! When it comes to leading troops and fighting on the battlefield, as long as the Battalion Commander is here, we don't even have a say in the matter! If the Battalion Commander says to sneak up on those little devils at midnight, then we'll go! The brothers all trust the Battalion Commander! However..."

  Yang Ju looked at Han Ping and nodded slightly, indicating for him to continue speaking.

  "His subordinate thinks Liu's words also make sense." Han Ping said after finishing speaking, he just lowered his head to smoke and didn't speak again.

  Yang Ju looked around at everyone again and saw that they were all staring at him without saying a word, thinking that this was probably what they all meant.

  Then he reached out and pressed down Tianying's deputy, who was about to shout in support of himself, saying: "Liu Canmo and the brothers misunderstood Yang's meaning! Our small team going to steal into the enemy's heavily guarded camp will not have the effect of a surprise attack! Sending us to our deaths is true!

  We're facing off against the Kawahara Travel Group's Takahashi Brigade. The commander said that half of the Kawahara Travel Group's advantageous troops have been held back by us! If we can really hold out against the Takahashi Brigade and keep our position from being lost, then he'll have the confidence to fight it out with that old codger Kawahara to the end! However, looking at the current situation, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold out. Even if we could really hold out against the opposing Takahashi Brigade, I'm afraid the commander might not be able to take down the remaining brigade of the Kawahara Travel Group either. Don't keep it from your fellow brothers, this afternoon Huang Kuaizi's Third Regiment was defeated! Their formation has been crippled! Right now, on the commander's side, I estimate that at most there are only a thousand people left!

  "We don't know much about the situation on that side, but on our side, a standard regiment of devils made two charges in one afternoon, which is abnormal! Comrades must not be blindly optimistic, if I'm right, the devil's general attack should be tomorrow!"

  Yang Ju saw that everyone was deep in thought and silent after hearing his words, so he said: "Well,......"

  Just then, the cooking squad of the battalion headquarters brought over some canned food. Yang Ju said: "We'll eat and drink while we can, whether we have a mission or not, we must eat our fill first! If we survive this battle and return, I, Yang Ju, will treat my brothers to a feast of mountain delicacies and seafood, and let everyone enjoy themselves!"

  "So, let's not worry about the captain's grand words for now! Let's first think about how to get through tomorrow! I've calculated that if we conserve our ammunition, it's possible to hold off the enemy's attack tomorrow! But even with plenty of ammo, we can't withstand their combined bombing! We can't control the planes, who knows where the little devils' airfield is? Maybe it's in Dalian, maybe it's in Shenyang! This is something we really can't stop! But..."

  "But if we want to pull out the enemy's artillery camp, it is still possible!" Liu Canmou interrupted Yang Ju's words and interjected.

  "Not bad!" Yang shouted loudly.

  Yang Ju looked at everyone and continued: "As I said, you all have to learn from Old Liu. If we can sneak into the little devil's artillery position tonight, tomorrow won't be too difficult, at least we can hold on until tomorrow!"

  Tianying Deputy Commander: "Commander, you are brilliant! If we can successfully sneak into the camp tonight and take out the enemy's artillery position, tomorrow those little devils will become toothless tigers!"

  "What's the big deal if he doesn't have teeth? He doesn't have teeth, I'm the tiger!" Yang heard that everyone supported his idea and took advantage of the momentum to stir up the atmosphere!

  Everyone heard Yang Jiu's so-called sneak camp, is to take advantage of the darkness to go behind the enemy's artillery positions and destroy them! Not to rush into the enemy's main camp to die! For a time, morale soared and spirits doubled, and they responded in unison! Some people said what, I guess the original intention of the battalion commander was this!

  Yang Ju saw that the emotional mobilization work was almost done, and said: "A standard Japanese army brigade has a 122-man artillery battalion attached to it! The location is generally located behind its command post. Even if a big battle is imminent, the devils will dispatch heavy troops to defend the artillery camp! Adding a small team of infantry to defend it, there are only over 150 people in total! Moreover, on a windy and moonless night, if we sneak into the enemy's sleep and kill them quietly! It is estimated that a short gun team of about 20 people can solve the battle within five minutes! The only problem is that we don't have explosives, so it takes some effort to deal with the enemy's big guns! However, fortunately, an artillery battalion in a Japanese brigade has only four "41" style 75mm caliber mountain cannons, four "Taisho 11" style 37mm caliber flat-shooting infantry cannons, and six "92" style 70mm caliber infantry cannons! Our "M24" hand grenade can solve one! It's just that it needs to be placed in the right position. So, it's just a bit of a waste of time!"

  Liu Zanmou stepped forward and said, "We can consider dividing into groups to unify the command for the operation. This way, we can ensure personal safety while quickly completing the demolition in one go!"

  Yang Ju nodded and smiled: "Just as I intended!"

  "Now let's eat first, and then you each pick out five good soldiers with quick reflexes and agility to be responsible for the task of stealing into the camp and blowing up the cannons! Each company will also select two excellent machine gunners to be responsible for covering our retreat! Each company will also choose five more soldiers who are good at shooting and have nimble legs, to form a reception team to ensure the safety of the entire operation! Later, let's gather all the short guns in our battalion, and all officers above the rank of platoon leader, hand over your "M1896" Mauser pistols, which will be uniformly distributed to the brothers who are executing the task of stealing into the camp and blowing up the cannons! Each gun will be equipped with three bridge-shaped clips fully loaded with bullets! If you shoot accurately, thirty rounds of ammunition should be enough to keep you safe until you return! Each person will be equipped with four "M24" hand grenades! Brothers who are executing the machine gun cover task will each be issued three magazines for single-handed operation! The reception team will each be issued four bridge-shaped clips fully loaded with bullets, and four hand grenades! After we finish eating, you'll go off to take care of these things. Then bring the selected brothers back to me, and we'll discuss the details!"

  After finishing the handover, Yang Ju told the communication soldier: "Call over Qin Yunzhi, the squad leader of the first company of the first battalion, and Hao Weidong, the squad leader of the second company."

  Qin Yunzhi and Hao Weidong were fellow villagers who used to be soldiers in the 19th Route Army under Cai Tingkai. Last year, while suppressing bandits in Fujian, they got into trouble with their superior officer, Company Commander Lian, over a small matter and were severely punished. Later, Qin Yunzhi found out that his distant cousin, Fan Changgui, was a company commander in the 25th Division of the 17th Army, which was stationed in Shanxi at the time. He brought Hao Weidong with him to join the division from afar. Both men had fought in the "Battle of Shanghai" last year and were part of Yang Ju's battalion, one of the few units that had actually clashed with the Japanese army. In their previous roles as scouts in the 19th Route Army, they had gained valuable experience. Now, Yang Ju decided to send them on a reconnaissance mission, knowing that if anyone else went, they might not even be able to identify the types of cannons at the Japanese artillery camp.

  After the signalman left, Yang Ju said to Tian Ying's deputy: "Old Tian, go take a look at the kitchen and tell them to hurry up! So many people are just eating canned meat here? They've all become wolves!"

  Everyone sees Yang Jyu's specific instructions for stealing camps, and the head is ordered by Tao Ji...