Chapter 60: Strike First and Gain the Upper Hand

  The sky has gradually darkened, and all around is a piece of quietness.

  Apart from occasional roars of animals, almost no sound can be heard anymore.

  Outside Guangfu County, in the headquarters of the 8th Division, it was now brightly lit.

  Division Commander Toshiyuki Maeda, Lieutenant General, Chief of Staff Sakataro Kobayashi, Major General, Infantry Fifth Brigade Ichi Tanaka, Lieutenant General, Infantry Sixteenth Brigade Shigeki Hayashi, Major General.

  At this moment, five people gathered together, discussing their nighttime actions.

  Maeda Toshi as a high-achieving student of the 23rd class of the Japanese Army University, quickly found a solution to deal with Yang Junran's artillery.

  "General Lin Maoqing, your troops will be the main attacking force in this night raid. The Fifth Regiment will launch a frontal attack to coordinate with your advance." Lieutenant General Toshi Ito looked at Lin Maoqing beside him and stated his plan.

  Lin Maoqing quickly bowed and said: "Hey, Commander."

  But Gu Yi's face was not very good, his eyes were somewhat angrily staring at Lin Maoqing.

  "The 4th Regiment will draw the attention of the Chinese troops. As long as the 16th Regiment breaks through the Chinese troops' flank position, we can meet up with the 5th Regiment's forces and by tomorrow morning, we'll be able to enter the county town, giving everyone a surprise." Lieutenant General Toshiro Maeda revealed a fierce glint in his eyes, saying harshly.

  His ultimate goal in doing so is undoubtedly to let Tōjō Hideki see who is the real fool.

  Seeing their division commander seemingly about to get angry, the two brigade commanders quickly said: "Division Commander, please rest assured, we will definitely not disappoint your expectations."

  The long-silent Chief of Staff, Colonel Kobayakawa, began walking towards the front of the map.

  Pointing to a point on the map representing Chinese troops, Kobayakawa Hideo said: "The attacking troops must be careful. According to my analysis, their artillery should not be far from the front line, which means that these artillery can fire at close range and occupy the position. Don't rush to pursue the Chinese troops for now, quickly build fortifications and cover the troops behind."

  "Yes, Chief of Staff." The two brigade commanders replied in a neutral tone.

  After all, the commander of the travel group was a lieutenant general, while the chief of staff was only a colonel.

  "Everyone go back and prepare, we must take down Zhina's position in the shortest time possible." Maeda Toshiyasu gave the order.

  "Hello, Team Leader." The two team leaders bowed respectfully and slowly walked out.

  At this moment, Yang Junran rode a war horse and drilled out of the gap in the Japanese army.

  It's not that Yang Junran is afraid of death, but rather the focus of the entire battlefield is currently on the outer troops, and he needs to personally command them in battle.

  Before leaving, Yang Junran had already given orders that all the travel chiefs must obey Fang Hanqin's commands, otherwise they would be dismissed.

  On the outer troop positions, the Second Brigade had already built temporary trenches here to prevent the Japanese from attacking.

  Due to concerns about exposing their position, none of the troops lit any torches.

  All around was a sea of darkness, with only the sound of horses and the murmur of warriors' conversations.

  "Damn it, if the battalion commander gets mixed up with the travel agency, then I'll be the battalion commander, this is something that I never thought would happen in my life." A regimental commander who used to be a bandit, laughed and said to his subordinates.

  "General, if you get promoted, don't forget about us brothers. We're all from the same family, after all. You can't just get a promotion and then forget about us." A soldier said with a sour tone, and everyone could hear the jealousy in his heart.

  "Damn it, if I had known now, why did you have to struggle with the team leader at first? It's just going to teach the team to learn for a few days. Look, I haven't lost any parts either. The food there is not bad, it's much better than our army's food." The camp commander said again.

  A junior officer stood up, looking into the distance and said: "Damn it, after this battle is over, I'll go back and see if there are any other bandits who want to eat this bowl of rice. I think there will be many people willing to do so, after all, with the official appointment from the government, maybe I can even become a battalion commander or regimental commander. We can also hold our heads up in front of our children now. Now my wife's attitude towards me has improved a lot, not as cold and distant as before."

  The lieutenant hadn't finished speaking, but everyone had already become tense.

  Because they heard the sound of horseshoes, these officers and soldiers were in contact with horses every day.

  "Four horses, they shouldn't be from the Japanese army." The lieutenant frowned and said to the regimental commander beside him.

  "Get ready for battle, whoever it is, take them down without a command." The battalion commander had already taken out his own Type 44 carbine and walked in the direction of the horse's sound.

  The rest of the officers and soldiers took their own weapons and followed behind the battalion commander.

  Yang Junran looked ahead at a pitch-black expanse, seemingly without any personnel.

  "Bring me the map, have we taken a wrong turn?" Yang Junran shouted back at his guards.

  The guard quickly handed a map to Yang Junran and came over with a flashlight.

  After looking at the map, Yang Junran carefully checked around and confirmed that there was no mistake before jumping off his war horse.

  "Liáng Fěi, where are you?" Yáng Jùnrán called out softly.

  "Everyone, get out." The lieutenant colonel gave the order after seeing Yang Jun.

  Many battles surrounded them from all sides, and they were greeted with repeated salutes.

  Yang Junran looked around at the troops and smiled with satisfaction.

  Qin Litian's Journey Department

  The commander of the tank regiment Zhang Junzhe, the commander of the cavalry regiment Liang Fei, and the commander of the second brigade Qin Litian have been gathered together, waiting for Yang Junran's order.

  "The Japanese army may launch another attack on the county seat in the dead of night, and what my chief of staff and I mean is to let the cavalry regiment give the Japanese a surprise attack first, disrupt their attack plan, and consume their ammunition and troops bit by bit. The grain in the county seat can last us for several months, so we're not afraid of exhausting ourselves with these Japanese." Yang Junran said, pointing at the map, to the three officers.

  The three nodded and waited for Yang Junran's command.

  "Sir, just give us the order and our cavalry regiment will guarantee to complete any task." Liang Fei said excitedly to Yang Junran.

  Yang Junran smiled and pointed to the map, saying: "Liang Fei, your cavalry regiment will move out in full force, attacking the Japanese troops from both flanks. Kang Lianqin, you order your troops to reinforce the fortifications here. Once the cavalry regiment retreats, you'll have to rely on this position to cover their withdrawal. The tank regiment won't move for now, but they'll have an important task at a critical moment."

  Listening to Yang Junran's order, Zhang Junzhe was visibly disappointed.

  But at this moment, Yang Junran didn't have time to deal with these things anymore.

  "It's 8 o'clock now, Liang Fei, you go back and get ready immediately. We'll start at 9 o'clock tonight," Yang Junran said to Liang Fei.

  Liang Fei gave a swift salute and ran out laughing towards the outside.

  "Sir, I'll go and pass on the order right away." Kang Lianqin said after seeing Liang Fei leave.

  Yang Junran nodded and his eyes finally noticed Zhang Junzhe's face.

  "Keep your tanks for last, use them as a trump card. As long as you hide all the tanks in your tank regiment, I guarantee that your tank troops will be able to achieve even greater merit," Yang Junran said with a smile.

  Although Zhang Junzhe's face still had some disappointment, after seeing Yang Junran's gaze, he could only nod helplessly.

  At nine o'clock in the evening, the Japanese army's position was already quiet.

  Part of the Japanese army has already fallen asleep, with only a few sentries left.

  The Japanese army's action time was at twelve o'clock, because at that time, they could take advantage of the night to sneak quietly to the front of the Chinese position.

  Just fifty meters from the headquarters of the Eighth Division, the Fourth Cavalry Brigade Headquarters was established here.

  In the large tent, only the leader of the expedition team was lost in thought. He didn't know how to explain himself when he returned and just hoped to eliminate all the troops here, which would also be a way to report back to his superiors.

  He really couldn't understand why the Chinese cavalry could defeat his own cavalry unit, which made him very puzzled.

  A sudden noise came from afar, causing the tour leader's nerves to tighten again.

  The sword is already in hand, listening carefully.

  "Cavalry is a cavalry unit." The brigade commander finally heard it and shouted loudly towards the outside.

  But the gunfire all around had already begun to ring out.

  These are the warriors of the Cavalry Corps, using the light from the fire ignited by the Japanese army to continuously shoot with Type 44 rifles.

  One by one, the Japanese soldiers fell beside the bonfire, and many drowsy Japanese officers and men quickly picked up their weapons and looked for targets to shoot.

  The flames of the light and heavy machine guns have been sprayed out, and the bullets are shooting towards the distant darkness.

  Occasional bursts of warhorse whinnying proved that these bullets had struck Chinese cavalry.

  The cavalry was getting closer and closer, and the Japanese officers and men around them quickly became vigilant.

  The leader of the expedition was not worried about his own safety, after all, this place belonged to the central area, even if it were Chinese cavalry, they could only shoot from the periphery.

  Maeda Toshiie's face was furious, he never thought that his opponent would take the initiative to attack him first.

  "Immediately order the 4th Cavalry Brigade to wipe out these Chinese cavalrymen for me." Maeda Toshisada rubbed his sleepy eyes and shouted loudly.

  The guards outside quickly began to relay orders, but no one dared to come in, fearing that their commander would vent his anger on themselves.

  The cavalry of the Cavalry Corps obviously underestimated the resistance ability of the Japanese officers and soldiers, who were always active on the periphery and could not enter the Japanese position at all.

  As the Japanese machine guns opened fire, casualties began to mount among the cavalry regiment.

  Liáng Fèi stubbornly insisted on his own judgment and continued to order the cavalry to launch an attack.

  More and more cavalrymen fell under the machine guns, while the war horses were constantly wailing.