Chapter 42: The Sorrowful Exercise Meeting (Part 1)

  February 1938, Zhangjiakou, Chahar Province.

  The headquarters of the garrison troops in Mongolia is currently holding a meeting.

  Due to Yang Junran's evil influence, the Independent Mixed Second Brigade had already arrived in Chahar ahead of schedule to participate in this encirclement and annihilation campaign.

  In the large conference room, Commander Renzō Matsukata sat in the first chair, Independent Mixed Second Brigade Commander Sadao Araki Lieutenant General, 26th Division Commander Kiyoshi Horiuchi Lieutenant General, Mongolian Army Commander De Wang, Deputy Commander Li Shouxin and other officers were seated on both sides.

  The chief of staff of the garrison troops in Mongolia, Ishimoto Inosuke Major General, was pointing at the location of the county town where Yang Junran was located on the map.

  "According to the investigation by the Second Section of the General Staff, the largest reactionary armed forces in Chahar are the two divisions led by Yang Junran and Zhou Yulan. The distance between the two divisions is not far, they can support each other, and their combat effectiveness is extremely strong. Previously, they have already annihilated an Imperial Guard regiment and defeated two Mongolian army divisions. We absolutely cannot underestimate them." Ishimoto said, holding a wooden stick and pointing at the map.

  Kōkan Aotsuki looked at the map and said something to Tokizane Tsunemoto who was standing beside him.

  Li Shouxin's face showed a hint of displeasure, seemingly very dissatisfied with Ishimoto Kinzō's words.

  Lotus pond's face was not very good, after all this is not a glorious thing.

  "Let's talk about this time's plan." Renjo Tadokoro said, starting a discussion with Ishimoto Shinzo in front of the map.

  Ishimoto nodded and pointed to the map with a wooden stick, saying: "With two infantry regiments and one cavalry regiment of the Mongolian army, nearly 3,000 troops, attached to a Japanese army corps, mainly attacking Zhou Yulan's mountainous area, attracting Yang Junran's reinforcements, Independent Mixed Second Brigade, with the main force ambushing halfway, ambushing Yang Junran's reinforcements, after succeeding, quickly concentrating forces, and launching a full-scale attack on Yang Junran's county seat, striving to annihilate Yang Junran's troops and retake control of the county seat.

  "Does the General Staff mean to deal with Yang Junran's troops first?" Senga Kōji asked, somewhat puzzled.

  "Yes, the county town is surrounded by grasslands and deserts, which is conducive to our troops' assembly actions. This time, your brigade will be allocated a large number of trucks, taking advantage of the mechanized troops' superiority, annihilating Yang Junran's forces in the county town, and then quickly concentrating our forces to besiege Zhou Yulan in the surrounding mountains." Shi Benyuan immediately replied.

  The table fell silent, with everyone calculating their own little abacus in their hearts.

  Li Shouxin's troops had suffered heavy casualties and were unwilling to commit any more forces.

  The German king was no fool and did not want his only troops to be consumed again.

  The 26th Division also had to take care of the defense near Zhangjiakou, mainly against Chinese troops in Shanxi.

  Everything can only be relied on by independent mixing into the second battalion to complete.

  Toka Kōji looked at the map with a very heavy expression.

  The Japanese army is arrogant, but absolutely not stupid. Facing a Chinese force that can easily annihilate an entire division, anyone would take it very seriously.

  "How many are they and what kind of equipment do they have?" asked Hiroshi Tsunoka, glancing at Ibuki Ishimoto.

  "The number should be around eight or nine thousand, mainly equipped with Japanese-style weapons, and there are also 105mm field guns." Ishimoto Inosuke replied quickly.

  Toka Kōji hesitated, although his own army had more than 5,000 people, but facing such a force, if he wanted to annihilate them, it would still require some cost.

  After all, the combat effectiveness of the 26th Division is not bragging, at least it is evenly matched with its own troops, and they can eat up a brigade, how can't they eat up their own division.

  Seeing Tsunokawa Hiroshi's expression, Ushio Atsushi felt somewhat helpless.

  I'm not unwilling to take revenge, but Shanxi still needs the support of the 26th Division.

  "Headquarters will reinforce your troops with artillery, cavalry and tanks, making it easier for you to fight quickly. Specifically, Major General Ishimoto will discuss the details with you." Renzō Hasumi said hastily, seeing Tsuneoki Suga's face.

  Toka Kōji saw the commander speak and quickly stood up saying: "Ah, Commander."

  "The Mongolian army's troops must also be organized as soon as possible, today is already February 10th, I hope you can resolve the battle before the 20th." Renzong Fan continued to say, he hoped to force the Mongolian army to join the battle with his own prestige.

  In fact, as long as the Japanese gave orders, the Mongolian army of De Wang would choose to execute the orders in the end, even if they had a million kinds of unwillingness.

  In Guangfu County, Yang Junran's command post had already changed its signboard several days ago.

  The headquarters of Chahar Tung-chi Brigade was far inferior to its former command.

  But Yang Junran didn't mind, anyway his own strength had increased a lot compared to before.

  "Commander, the training unit needs some tanks for training. Should we have the tank regiment dispatch a few tanks to join the training unit?" Chief of Staff Fang Hanchen walked over and said to Yang Junran who was sitting in a chair sunbathing.

  In recent days, apart from the reorganization of troops, there has been almost nothing else.

  Yang Junran was also happy to have a quiet life and enjoyed several days of comfortable living.

  Yang Junran now has a rich young master's feeling, with not only servants and security guards by his side, but also a private chef according to Fang Hanqin's instructions.

  I'm afraid even if Yang Jun Rang were given a high position in later life, he would still be unwilling to leave his current way of living.

  "No need, just let the armored corps students from the teaching team go to the tank regiment to learn, the tank regiment will undertake combat missions, and if the tanks are scattered, it will reduce the combat effectiveness of the troops." Yang Junran stood up and said to Fang Hanchin who was walking over.

  Fang Hanqin nodded and continued to say to Yang Junran: "Master, isn't our current troop formation a bit too large? The four brigades have only over 10,000 soldiers, it's not as convenient as directly forming three regiments."

  Yang Junran smiled slightly but didn't say a word, and he was still very clear about Cui Zhengming's kindness.

  However, the chief of staff has not yet seen the subtlety in this.

  "By the way, what about those Type 81 rifles? Have they been issued?" Yang Junran asked Fang Hanchen beside him, recalling the weapons he had copied a few days ago.

  "All have been distributed, except for equipping the cavalry regiment. The remaining weapons are equipped to the engineer battalion and communication battalion of each brigade. However, the remaining sabers have nowhere to go, only some prisoners of war who performed well were equipped with sabers. The transportation team should not undertake combat tasks either." Fang Hanchen said to Yang Junran while sitting in a chair.

  Due to Yang Junran's call not to let anyone eat idle food, all Mongolian military captives were organized into transport teams, with an infantry platoon guarding and responsible for escorting the troops' supplies.

  However, Yang Junran did not reprimand these prisoners of war at all, but directly incorporated them into the troops.

  Although these prisoners of war were in Yang Junran's troops, some people still wanted to escape.

  Light is a fugitive captive, Yang Junran has already executed more than 50.

  In his words, kill one for every run, anyway there will be plenty of prisoners of war afterwards.

  Under Iron Blood's wrist, these prisoners of war have finally behaved themselves a bit and recently no one has escaped.

  But this is not a long-term solution, and the problem of these prisoners of war must be resolved.

  "I just can't understand, they are all poor ordinary people, why do these prisoners of war want to join the Mongolian army? There are many poor families, but others don't become traitors. These people have lost their conscience, if we don't educate them well, they will run away sooner or later." Fang Hanchin lit a cigarette and complained.

  "Poverty and hardship. The movement of complaining about hardships." Yang Junran muttered to himself.

  "Master, what sport are you talking about?" Fang Hanchen didn't understand for a moment and asked casually.

  "Chief of Staff, I've got a plan. You immediately gather all the new prisoners of war and those who have been incorporated into the transportation team. I want to hold a grievance meeting, let everyone come and pour out their own bitter water. I just don't believe it, these prisoners of war don't even have a bit of conscience." Yang Junran's face was full of excitement, thinking he had found a very good solution.

  Fang Hanqin walked out with a puzzled face.

  Yang Junran sat on a chair, carefully recalling and finding all the ways of the grievance movement.

  At noon, under the sunshine.

  Yang Junran walked into the venue in military uniform, surrounded by prisoners of war. However, their expressions were dull and seemed to have nothing to do with them.

  The warriors held their weapons and surrounded the prisoners of war, fearing they would take any action.

  According to the warriors' arrangement, all these prisoners of war crouched on the ground, while some who had joined Yang Junran's troops stood by with empty hands.

  "Give them some stools and let them sit down." Yang Junran said to his aide while looking at the prisoners.

  The staff officer hesitated for a moment, and after seeing Yang Junran's gaze, he could only helplessly walk over to the side.

  Before long, the warriors of the guard camp came over with chairs and benches.

  The prisoners of war were surprised by these things, and some even dared not sit down, fearing punishment from the soldiers.

  It wasn't until the warriors showed some displeasure that the prisoners sat down in a startled manner.

  "Today, I've called everyone here for something. What is it? It's to ask everyone to recall their lives before becoming Mongolian soldiers, and then think about their lives after becoming Mongolian soldiers, and finally think about their current lives." Yang Junran stood confidently on the temporarily built stage, shouting loudly.

  The prisoners of war below looked at Yang Junran with expressionless faces and took no action.

  "What the...! This isn't right!" Yang Junran cursed inwardly, his mind racing non-stop.

  "You, come here and talk." Yang Junran pointed at a prisoner of war.

  The prisoner of war looked around in confusion, made sure it was himself, and then walked shakily towards the stage.

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