Chapter 54: Completely Unprepared

  Yang Junran was apparently unaware that the Japanese had assembled a regular division-sized force to deal with his troops, and had also reinforced it with an artillery brigade and a cavalry brigade.

  Such a force is enough to counter several Chinese armies, although Yang Junran has nearly 20,000 troops, but obviously also at a disadvantage.

  Two days later, the commander of the Japanese Eighth Division, Maeda Toshiro, led a large army to Chahar, after all, Northeast China is not far from Chahar.

  Inside the conference room of Chahar Zhangjiakou.

  Apart from Lieutenant General Renzō Yanagawa and Chief of Staff Shinbei Ishimoto, there was only one person, Lieutenant General Toshinori Maeda.

  Looking at the map on the conference room wall, the proud Japanese noble Toshiyori looked down on Yang Junran's troops with disdain.

  "Commander Maeda, this is the organizational structure of Yang Junran's troops that we have compiled, as well as some information about the surrounding areas. Please take a look." The chief of staff of the Mongolian Garrison Army, Ishimoto Inosuke, said respectfully, holding up a document.

  Maeda Toshisada looked at the document and said with a surprised face: "Can the Chinese troops have such equipment?"

  Ishimoto nodded three times and smiled helplessly.

  "How can the Chinese troops have so many light and heavy machine guns, it's simply unbelievable. I wonder what Commander Ren has to say about this?" Lieutenant General Taida Yoshi saw the organization of Yang Junran's troops and his attitude changed dramatically, no longer underestimating Yang Junran's troops.

  "This is just what we've figured out from past battle statistics, but they may have many more artillery pieces." Renjo said to Maeda Toshiie with a not-so-good expression.

  He can't say that these weapons were seized from his own hands, can he?

  Maeda Toshitsune nodded and pointed to the map, saying: "Will the Soviets secretly support them? The Soviet Union's strength, you should all understand. If they have the support of the Soviets, things may become difficult to handle. After all, the county city they are defending is close to Outer Mongolia, which is supported by the Soviet Union. Recently, the Imperial Intelligence Bureau has also confirmed that the Soviets seem to be preparing to aid China."

  The whole conference room fell silent immediately.

  Renjun Fan knew this Japanese nobleman, who seemed to always oppose the Kwantung Army's hardline policy towards the Soviet Union.

  But Lianzhuang Fan doesn't care about these things now. He only hopes that the Eighth Division can eliminate Yang Junran for him, and let the whole Chahar be quiet.

  "We have already mobilized a part of the 26th Division, plus a part of the Mongolian army, to coordinate with your actions. As for the time of battle, you can choose it." said Renjo Inosuke with a smile.

  Maeda Toshiie nodded and looked at the map, saying: "Today is March 10th, we will launch an attack on March 12th, directly attacking Yang Junran's unit. If everything goes as planned, the battle should be settled before the 13th."

  Looking at the confident Toshiyori Maeda, Renjo smiled. Although he knew how formidable Yang Junran's troops were, with a first-class division and a cavalry brigade, totaling over 30,000 men, annihilating an entire Chinese division shouldn't be a problem.

  "You go back and prepare, I hope you can return triumphantly." Lotus Tsuruoka stood up and said to Maeda Toshiie.

  Maeda smiled and said nothing, walking out towards the outside.

  Outside Guangfu County Town, on the position of the 3rd Brigade.

  Yang Junran occasionally tapped on the ground to check the solidity of the construction.

  Beside him, travel companion Deng Ziyong was cautiously accompanying him, afraid that something might go wrong.

  "The position is not bad, it can withstand artillery fire below 100mm, but I don't know how your troops are doing. If you make me go through what happened last time, don't blame me for turning my back on you." Yang Junran had a smile on his face, but Deng Ziyong could feel the killing intent emanating from him.

  "Don't worry, sir. This time I've given orders to all the troops: if we encounter the same situation as last time, one squad retreats and kills their squad leader, one platoon retreats and kills their platoon leader, and so on." Deng Ziyong said solemnly, which made Yang Junran feel a little relieved.

  "This is the artillery position, one thousand meters away from the front line, with ten 94-style mountain guns scattered and hidden. Five hundred meters ahead of the front line is the machine gun battalion's position." Deng Ziyong said, pointing to a nearby concealed cannon as Yang Junran stopped in his tracks.

  Yang Junran smiled and jumped down from a hidden artillery position, carefully examining it.

  The artilleryman on the side was nervously watching Yang Junran, afraid that Yang would make things difficult for him.

  "Little brother, how far can this cannon shoot? How did you get the order?" Yang Junran asked a senior soldier beside him while checking the cannon.

  The superior soldier looked at Yang Junran, hastily saluted, and answered somewhat nervously: "Report to the officer, this is a Japanese 94-style mountain cannon, with a range of around 8,300 meters. We will follow the instructions provided by the command post behind us."

  Yang Junran glanced at a small table not far in front of him, which was quite hidden, but here it could be seen clearly.

  Deng Ziyong hastily called over an officer and whispered a few words in his ear.

  The officer ran off quickly, and in no time, a military officer holding a small flag appeared on the table. As the officer waved the flag, the hidden superior soldiers and others quickly got busy, with a sergeant directing them, and before long, the mountain gun had completed its specified target.

  "This position can reach the front line three hundred meters away." Sergeant Jing replied.

  A superior private nearby hastily transported artillery shells, seemingly preparing for a shot.

  "En, not bad." Yang Junran smiled and walked towards a nearby traffic trench.

  The entourage quickly followed behind Yang Junran.

  "General, over there is the 4th Brigade's position. The safety of both flanks is guarded by two battalions from our 3rd and 4th Brigades respectively." Deng Ziyong pointed at the distant position and said to Yang Junran.

  Yang Junran smiled and walked forward.

  Frontline position.

  Everyone in the camp was gone, except for a small number of troops on guard duty, and the rest had gone to training.

  "General, there is a battalion deployed here, and two battalions are deployed in the second line of defense." Deng Ziyong pointed to the position and introduced.

  Yang Junran nodded, these matters were all negotiated by him and Fang Hanchen.

  They will not die for their positions, but take mobile warfare as the main.

  As long as we hold out against the Japanese army's attack here, the other two brigades will launch an attack from both wings.

  When encountering a large number of Japanese troops, the main force of the attack was the cavalry regiment and tank regiment, consuming the Japanese army's combat effectiveness.

  The third training ground was unusually busy.

  In addition to training in various camps, there are also many auxiliary vocational trainings.

  The troops of the engineer company continuously dug fortifications and trained their own level.

  The medical team on the side was constantly running in the training troops, and anyone who was injured would be immediately carried back to the medical team.

  These doctors were all recruited by Yang Junran in the county seat. As for nurses, they were some female soldiers who joined the army voluntarily and received temporary training.

  Yang Junran sat on a chair, watching the training of the Third Brigade.

  Although he trained diligently, Yang Jun Ruan always felt like something was missing.

  "Deng Ziyong, bring over five light machine guns." Yang Junran shouted to Deng Ziyong beside him.

  Deng Ziyong's face was full of confusion as he ran towards the training troops.

  In no time, ten warriors rushed over with light machine guns.

  Yang Junran signaled the soldiers to set up machine guns on the ground, with the muzzles pointing at the training officers and men.

  Deng Ziyong was shocked and hastily dissuaded Yang Junran.

  "Deng Zhi Chang, you have to believe in your troops. These people may be well-trained, but when they face real guns and bullets, it's a different story. It doesn't matter if they bleed during training, but once they're on the battlefield, it's a matter of life and death," Yang Jun Rang said with a displeased expression.

  Deng Ziyong sighed helplessly after seeing Yang Junran's face.

  At Yang Junran's command, five marksmen quickly opened fire.

  It's more than 700 meters away from the training ground, which is already beyond the shooting range of the Type 81 rifle.

  Moreover, the muzzles of these machine guns were not actually aimed at the soldiers on the training ground.

  As the machine gun fired, the soldiers on the training ground quickly took cover, some old soldiers swiftly holding their rifles and aiming at the direction of the shooting.

  Some impatient veterans have already begun firing.

  As the rifle bullets whizzed back, the shooters quickly took cover.

  Yang Junran nodded in satisfaction and smiled at Deng Ziyong beside him, saying: "Not bad, this is a team that can go to the battlefield."

  Deng Ziyong wiped the cold sweat from his face and said with a wronged expression: "Master, don't do that again next time, my heart almost jumped out of my throat."

  Yang Junran looked at Deng Ziyong, patted his shoulder and said: "If we don't have an elite team that dares to fight and fight hard, wanting to occupy this place is simply a fantasy. I hope you can understand me, I'm doing this out of helplessness too."

  Looking at Yang Junran's gaze, Deng Ziyong smiled helplessly.

  The troops were still training and no one was aware of the impending crisis.

  The troops of the Eighth Division had begun to march towards Daur, with the Fourth Cavalry Brigade as the vanguard. The army of over 30,000 men marched in an orderly manner.

  The anti-Japanese armed forces who had been watching from a distance were greatly surprised to see such a troop, and they all made defensive preparations, fearing that the Japanese army would come looking for trouble.

  But this unit just kept advancing and didn't have any mood to look for trouble with other anti-Japanese armed forces.

  In their eyes, only Yang Junran's troops were qualified to compete with them.

  Maeda Toshiya sat in the car, his head constantly thinking. Before departure, his old rival Toujou Eichirou specially came to convey the command and didn't forget to humiliate him.

  As the commander of the 8th Division, Maeda Toshisada was quite displeased. In this battle, he wanted to prove to everyone that he was an excellent soldier.

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