Chapter 4: Reorganizing the Troops

  Chahar, Headquarters of 1st Battalion, 11th Independent Infantry Regiment, 26th Division, Imperial Japanese Army.

  The squadron leader, Lieutenant Commander Inoue Daichi, was very depressed. His entire squadron had been annihilated without a sound.

  He had just received the news, and Lieutenant Commander Inoue Daichi couldn't explain it to his superiors. After all, the loss of a squadron would have to be investigated, and as the squadron leader, he would have to take some responsibility.

  "Captain, based on our observation, we've found a number of Chinese corpses nearby. I think it's the work of a Chinese unit." A lieutenant colonel staff officer from the battalion headquarters walked over and said to Inoue.

  Looking at the staff officer's gaze, Inoue Daichi was somewhat puzzled. He didn't believe that the Chinese troops could silently take out an entire squadron of his own, but he could only let the staff officer continue speaking.

  "Captain, why don't we make a false report? We can say that the third platoon discovered an enemy battalion and after a fierce battle, the third platoon suffered heavy casualties but annihilated the enemy. Then we can request reinforcements. This way, I think they won't pursue us for anything." The staff officer said with a smile, narrowing his eyes as he spoke to Captain Inoue.

  Inoue Daichi looked at the Chinese map not far away, he knew that the war had just begun, and the vast China was still waiting for its own conquest. He couldn't let this incident affect his future, perhaps the staff officer's suggestion was the only way to avoid punishment.

  "Send a telegram to the headquarters, and also dispatch troops to carefully scout out the surroundings. I must find that despicable unit." Inoue Daichi said to his aide-de-camp beside him.

  The staff officer let out a loud "Ah!" and began sending telegrams upstairs.

  Inoue Daichi stood up and looked at the scenery outside the window.

  There is dust everywhere, and the excitement of just arriving here has worn off for Jing Yu, replaced by boredom.

  Thinking of his classmates on the front line, the honors they received, Inoue Daichi couldn't help but feel envious.

  He would rather go to the front line to fight and kill than enjoy peace and quiet here.

  The dust outside flew up again, and Inoue closed the window with a look of disgust.

  Inoue Daichi will not know, Yang Junran has already arrived here, and in the end he will still be eliminated by him.

  At this moment, Yang Junran was very depressed, although he didn't know about this detailed history.

  But he still knew that the guerrilla column was a division-level organization, and the number of people would naturally not be small.

  But now he was facing a guerrilla column of less than two thousand men.

  The remaining two brigades have arrived, and the total number of people in the two brigades is less than 1,500, which greatly disappointed Yang Junran.

  "Is this the overall structure of the guerrilla column?" Yang Junran looked at the list in front of him, and couldn't help but feel a surge of anger.

  Fang Hanqin nodded: "Yes, the other two brigades have fewer people, but their equipment is still good, all of them are newly issued Zhongzheng rifles."

  "Without issuing new weapons, who would want to come here? Brothers have lost a lot along the way. Some joined the local bandits and some ran back. My original reinforced battalion of 800 people is now less than 600. It's really damn unlucky." The deputy commander of the second detachment, Long Yan, complained.

  Yang Junran took a look at Long Yan standing in front of him, who seemed to be around twenty-four years old, with a standard Chinese face and two big eyes that were particularly eye-catching.

  "It's not because we're a motley crew, but those Central Army troops, whoever commands them, let alone sending them here to fight guerrilla warfare, even if they were sent here for inspection, they wouldn't be willing. That's how they bully us, these rootless and helpless motley crews." The third battalion commander, Jin Ming, immediately spoke up.

  A handsome face twisted in anger, but after seeing Yang Junran staring at him, he fell silent.

  "Now that everyone has arrived here, from now on we brothers must work together with one heart and mind. Otherwise, we will all be destroyed by the Japanese army sooner or later. Fang Hanqin, commander of the detachment and chief of staff of the guerrilla column, immediately take stock of all personnel and weapons and report to me. Don't touch the weapons captured from the Japanese, I will reassign them to everyone." Yang Junran looked at the crowd and spoke seriously, knowing that he had to establish his authority among these people, otherwise they would soon fall apart.

  Everyone saw Yang Junran speak up and they all saluted, saying: "Yes, Commander Yang."

  "Director Fang, you first arrange the brothers, after arranging, immediately sort out the troops and weapons, and must report to me before night." Yang Junran looked at Fang Hanchen and said with a smile.

  Fang Hanqin nodded and led Long Yan and Jin Mingcheng out.

  Yang Junran sat on a broken chair, staring at his ring. Now he could only rely on it to provide weapons for himself and the others.

  "Commander Yang, where are you going?"

  Just as Yang Junran was about to investigate the surrounding situation, several soldiers came over and said to Yang Junran.

  Yang Junran smiled helplessly and said to the warriors: "I'll scout out the situation around us. Our troops are in a very dangerous situation right now, we must act quickly. Only by expanding our influence can we gain the support of the people, and many of our problems will be solved."

  The warriors looked at each other in embarrassment, although they knew that everything Yang Junran did was for the good of the guerrilla army, but the order they received was to monitor Yang Junran's every move and not let him act freely.

  "Alright, follow me." Yang Junran looked at the soldiers in distress and put forward his own idea.

  With Yang Junran's words, the warriors naturally didn't have to worry about anything else and followed behind him with their rifles on their backs.

  Chahar is actually part of Inner Mongolia in later times. Almost everyone from the north knows that it often suffers from sandstorms.

  The land here is not as damaged as in later generations, but most of it is composed of sandy soil.

  The patches of grassland did make Yang Junran, who was seeing such a scene for the first time, somewhat fond of it; however, every time he walked into his military boots full of sand, Yang Junran started cursing again.

  After a little investigation in the afternoon, Yang Junran finally figured out the situation here.

  This is just a remote small county, where a regiment of the pseudo-Mongolian army is stationed in the county seat, responsible for sending supplies to the Japanese troops stationed on the Outer Mongolia and Chahar border lines.

  Although it's tough here, Yang Junran is clear that as long as he makes good use of it, he can make a name for himself in this place.

  My own troops are not loved by their uncles and aunts, no matter where they go, they will not be valued, it's better to work alone.

  Moreover, according to one's own character, if one were to join any branch of the army, it would be possible to bring about a fatal disaster.

  Yang Junran has already thought of his future path, and what he needs to do now is to expand the guerrilla column.

  This force of over a thousand people is currently unable to achieve anything and can only find a way out by expanding.

  At night, inside a small village.

  Fang Hanchen looked at Yang Junran who had just returned and reported the number of people he had counted.

  "The first detachment has 500 people, the second detachment has 600 people, and the third detachment has 700 people, totaling 1,800 personnel. The entire column is equipped with 1,500 standard rifles, 100 Mauser pistols, 15 Czech-style light machine guns, 9 Maxim heavy machine guns, 5 20mm cannons, and 10 82mm mortars." Fang Hanqin looked at Yang Junran, reporting the situation of the guerrilla column.

  "Get the weapons ready, and get the personnel ready too. I want to redeploy the equipment and formations of each department again. Also, immediately gather these weapons in the open space outside the village, I want to inspect these weapons." Yang Junran said, looking at the ring on his right hand, to Fang Hanqin.

  Fang Hanqin hesitated for a moment, nodded and said: "I'll go arrange it right away."

  After seeing Fang Hanqin leave, Yang Junran took out his own short sword and placed it on the ring to try, but there was no effect.

  Yang Junran knew that the things copied by the ring and the things being copied could no longer be copied, but he didn't know if he could copy those cannons.

  At midnight twelve o'clock, Yang Junran arrived at the empty space outside the village.

  The surroundings were already filled with warriors, looking at the commander in front of them with suspicion.

  Long Yan and Jin Ming Cheng were even more puzzled, unsure what the commander was trying to pull.

  The surroundings had already quieted down, and Yang Junran pretended to inspect each and every weapon.

  It wasn't until more than an hour had passed that there was still no change.

  Most of the warriors around have gone back, and Long Yan and Jin Mingcheng and Yang Junran also bid farewell.

  "Commander, what are you doing? If there's nothing else, I'll head back too. There's a lot to deal with tomorrow." Fang Hanchen walked over and said to Yang Junran.

  Yang Junran nodded and continued to observe the changes in these weapons.

  Fang Hanqin shook his head helplessly and walked towards the village.

  "Keep a good eye on him, especially those weapons, can't have any accidents." Fang Hanqin said quietly as he passed by several soldiers.

  The warrior nodded and vigilantly watched Yang Junran in the distance.

  Not just Fang Hanqin was uneasy, Long Yan and Jin Mingcheng also dispatched their own trusted men to keep an eye on these weapons.

  The warriors responsible for defending the village used makeshift weapons made from Japanese equipment.

  At three o'clock in the middle of the night, Yang Junran couldn't hold on anymore and fell asleep lying on the ground.

  The warriors did not dare to have a bit of sleepiness, these weapons were their lives.

  Time slowly passed by, and some warriors couldn't help but start dozing off.

  Yang Junran was woken up by the murmurs of everyone's discussion, Yang Junran dazedly opened his eyes.

  I took a look at my watch and it was just past five o'clock, but everything around me was still pitch black.

  Weapons are scattered all around, and there are weapons everywhere on the empty ground.

  Yang Junran was overjoyed and, yawning, said to the soldier beside him: "Immediately notify the troops to transport the weapons away. Let each branch commander come to my place for a meeting at dawn."

  The warrior hastily saluted and ran towards the village.

  Yang Junran rubbed his eyes and walked towards the village.

  Yang Junran returned to the village and did not rest, but sorted out a list of personnel.

  He set the number of troops in each detachment at five hundred men, four companies (one machine gun company and three infantry companies).

  Machine Gun Company (five 82mm mortars, five Maxim heavy machine guns)

  Infantry company (three Czech-style light machine guns, 120 Type 99 rifles)

  As for the remaining 300 people, Yang Junran formed a supplementary battalion directly under the command of the headquarters.