Chapter Fifty-Four: Deployment for Battle

  "Calling him the reborn Zhuge is a bit exaggerated, but Director Yang's analysis makes sense. Although the little devils are coming aggressively, they are at a disadvantage in terms of military strength, firepower, and morale. Most importantly, the enemy is clear while we remain mysterious. The little devils know our every move, but we remain an enigma to them. Neither Tojo Hideki nor Abe Kiyoshi knows that our troop numbers broke through 10,000 several months ago. The order for expansion has been issued to all units for over ten days now, so tell me, how are your three regiments doing? Are they fully staffed?" Chen Feng said.

  "Your Excellency, our 222nd Brigade has three infantry regiments, one cavalry regiment and one machine gun regiment. Two of the infantry regiments are almost fully manned, the cavalry regiment is fully manned. The machine gun regiment still lacks six hundred men, and another infantry regiment is short of over a thousand soldiers. The remaining four directly affiliated regiments of the brigade headquarters are also fully manned. Our 222nd Brigade currently has more than 8,800 soldiers, with over 2,400 vacancies."

  "Our 223 brigade is basically full, after the suppression of that bastard in Jining, the old hundred names in the city are extremely happy, and the troops quickly established prestige locally. Many fellow villagers who came to hear the news actively participated in our troops. In addition to recruiting more than 1,500 security team members, we also recruited nearly 3,000 young men. There were also a large number of refugees gathered in Jining some time ago, and we selected more than 3,000 people from these refugees. Now the brigade has a total of 11,380 people, basically reaching full capacity." Brigade commander Li Yifeng said with satisfaction.

  Li Yifeng indeed had the capital to be proud of, the predecessor of the 223rd Brigade was the 3rd Security Regiment, and the predecessor of the 3rd Security Regiment was a group of bandits, including Li Yifeng, Li Wensheng, Xu Hu and others were all prisoners. In just a few months, former prisoners turned into regular troops of the National Revolutionary Army, not to mention that they also became the only full-strength brigade of the independent 222nd Division.

  "Commander, the situation with our garrison is a bit worse. The security team in Shangdu is almost as weak as ours was before. Including the old, weak, sick and disabled, we have less than 800 people in total. Moreover, the population of Shangdu County is not large either. In the past ten days or so, we have recruited fewer than 3,000 people. Adding the more than 600 usable personnel from the security team, our total strength is only around 7,600 people, leaving a gap of over 3,400 people." Xu Bao said gloomily.

  Originally, the Second Security Regiment was one of Chen Feng's most elite troops, but after expansion, it became the infantry brigade with the fewest soldiers under Chen Feng's command, which made Xu Hu somewhat depressed.

  "Hmm, it's not bad, better than I expected. The direct troops under the division are almost full, with a total strength of over 9,600 people. Including your three regiments, our 222nd Division has a total strength of over 36,000 people. Although more than two-thirds of them are new recruits, we have the capital to compete with the little devils. The little devils this time are here for revenge, and last time we indeed hurt them badly. But we're not vegetarians either, it's just a matter of over 20,000 troops, I'll take care of all of them this time, let's see how that old dog Tojo Hideki still dares to jump around."

  "Comrade Commander, we can't be careless. The Japanese fighting force is still very strong. We once fought a battle against the Kwantung Army's cavalry in Suiyuan, and although we had an absolute advantage in numbers - our four cavalry regiments had over 4,800 men, while the Japanese only had around 1,800 - we were unable to annihilate their entire cavalry brigade. Although we killed over a thousand of them, those bastards still managed to escape in the end, and we lost nearly two thousand men ourselves. So we can't underestimate those little guys, they're not as weak as we imagine." Deputy Commander Andrei stood up and said.

  Andrei is Yelena's uncle, formerly a regimental commander in the Imperial Russian Guards Cavalry Division. After the October Revolution, he fled to China with Yelena's father and was later recruited by Chen Feng.

  "Chen, you must be careful, Uncle Andrei is right. The Japanese army fights very fiercely, we have never encountered such a fierce army before, and for new recruits to encounter such an army, it's simply a disaster." Yelena also chimed in.

  "Haha, the Japanese army is indeed not weak in battle, but when they encounter our 222nd Division, they have to lie down. Moreover, we won't engage in a fierce battle with them, see here?" Chen Feng said, pointing to a point on the map.

  "Zhang Bei?"

  "That's right, it's Zhangbei. This place was originally the headquarters of the Chahar Expeditionary Force, but with the rapid advance of the Japanese army, the headquarters also moved forward continuously, from Zhangbei to Zhangjiakou and then to Huailai. Although the headquarters of the Chahar Expeditionary Force has been relocated from Zhangbei, this place is still an important supply base for the Chahar Expeditionary Force, with a large amount of weapons and equipment as well as fuel stored here, which is why Dongtiao Yingji stationed an elite force here. Now that this elite force has moved south, we can give those little devils a surprise!" Chen Feng said.

  As soon as Chen Feng said this, the eyes of all the officers in the conference room lit up. As long as the logistics supply base of the Japanese army is destroyed, it will definitely force Chahar to dispatch a mixed brigade to reinforce Zhangbei.

  "In addition, the little devils definitely don't know about the Daqing Mountain base. The little devils want to give us a four-sided encirclement, but we can give them a central breakthrough. Therefore, I think this battle can be divided into two stages. The first stage is to take advantage of the Japanese army's southward advance and send out cavalry troops to capture Zhangbei, which has weak military strength, forcing the Japanese army's mixed brigade to return to Zhangbei for reinforcements. Then, we will send out elite infantry to set up an ambush halfway, striving to annihilate this route of the Japanese army."

  "The second stage is to take advantage of the Japanese army's all-out attack on Xinghe County, and quickly form a circle around the Japanese army from behind. Then suddenly launch an attack, and cooperate with the defenders inside the city to give the little devils a blow." Chen Feng said his own idea.

  "Commander, the plan isn't bad, but there's a flaw. We need to have a special unit that excels at defense garrisoned in the county town to attract the enemy's firepower and hold out until our forces outside complete the encirclement. Otherwise, those little devils won't fall for it." Xu Hu said with furrowed brows.

  "Hmm, Xu Hu said that makes sense. Not only that, but we also need a sufficient number of officers to stay in the city and confuse the Japanese army's vision." Chen Feng said.

  "Commander, the task of defending the county seat is ours, 222 Brigade's. Let our brigade's first regiment carry out this task!" Li Wensheng said loudly.

  "What flying troops do you have, to carry out such a task is our 223rd Brigade's duty, your 222nd Brigade is not yet fully manned, how can they undertake such an important task? Commander, give the order, as long as you give the word, I Li Yifeng will immediately lead a regiment to garrison Xinghe County."

  "Look at you being so arrogant, isn't it just full house? I'll go back and recruit people..."

  "Alright, alright, stop messing around here. The three of you have your own tasks to attend to, and defending the county seat is not something for you to worry about. I will personally lead the guard unit and the air defense unit to defend the county seat. On one hand, you are not as familiar with the situation in the city as I am, on the other hand, your ranks are too low. The little devils' main target this time is me, if I'm not in the city, it's easy to arouse their suspicion."

  Seeing several travel chiefs about to open their mouths in opposition, Chen Feng immediately said: "Don't persuade anymore, my mind is made up. Now I'll arrange the battle plan. The 222nd and 223rd cavalry regiments will be concentrated for use, led by Andrei, starting a long-distance raid on Zhangbei County after the Japanese army arrives at Xinghe City. Remember, you must put great pressure on the Japanese in Zhangbei City, but don't annihilate them all for now, let them ask for reinforcements from the little devils on the Xinghe front line, forcing those bastards to reinforce Zhangbei."

  "After the Japanese army returns to Zhangbei, the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 222nd brigade, as well as the artillery battalion, will set up an ambush in Daqinggou. This time, don't bring any local guides. I'll equip each brigade's artillery battalion with 32 anti-aircraft machine guns to deal with the enemy's planes and tanks. These are much stronger than local guides. Li Wensheng, this mission only allows success, not failure. We must capture all 1,800 of the enemy, not a single one can be let go. Do you understand?"

  "Yes, Master. But I think our local dog is more reliable than the Iron King's method to deal with those little devils. Can that anti-aircraft machine gun of yours really work?" Li Wensheng said in a low voice.

  "Haha, don't think that anti-aircraft machine guns are only used to shoot down planes. I'm telling you, anti-aircraft machine guns can be used as heavy machine guns, and their power is much more terrifying than heavy machine guns. 14mm bullets can directly cut a person in half when they hit them. It's really scary. Moreover, our new anti-aircraft machine gun can not only shoot at targets in the sky, but also accurately hit those little devils' tanks, even the thin armor of their Type 94, Type 95, and Type 97 tanks can't withstand our anti-aircraft machine gun's flat shooting. Don't worry, I'll make sure you're satisfied when the time comes." Chen Feng said with a smile.