Chapter 217: Show weakness to the enemy and use the vanguard group as bait?
"Tsk tsk tsk, these are the Japanese colonel's command swords. The brigade commander has collected so many of them, and this time we seized so many more. We don't need these two.
This time, I will stay no matter what and go to Lao Zhang to exchange for benefits."
Li Yunlong took the command knife that Wei Dayong threw to him, pulled it out and looked at it, then saw that the knife in his hand was handed to Zhao Gang.
Even though the handle of the command knife was inlaid with black jade that looked very precious, Li Yunlong still couldn't keep his eyes on the command knife for a long time.
If Li Yunlong had a choice, as long as this colonel's command sword could be exchanged for a Type 92 infantry gun, Li Yunlong would replace this colonel's command sword without hesitation.
Li Yunlong doesn't care even if the actual value of this knife is enough to buy a few Type 92 infantry guns.
For Li Yunlong, the Japanese's command knife was not as practical as a Type 38 rifle.
Zhao Gang looked at the knife that Li Yunlong threw to him. He had no time to check the knife that Wei Dayong gave him. He could only smile helplessly and take the command knife that Li Yunlong threw to him, and then put the knives that Wei Dayong gave to the two of them aside.
Li Yunlong also began to assign combat tasks to Wei Dayong.
“Monk, I know your commando team didn’t rest all night last night and are a little tired.
But now is not the time to rest. I need you to lead the commando team, the regiment guard platoon, and the special agent company to this area."
Listening to Li Yunlong's words, Wei Dayong looked in the direction Li Yunlong pointed.
After seeing the location Li Yunlong was pointing to, Wei Dayong looked up at Li Yunlong with some confusion and spoke.
"Captain, isn't this the defense zone of Captain Kong of the New Second Regiment? What are we going to do there?"
"Yes, it was the defense zone of the New Second Regiment. The Japanese Fourth Brigade sent an entire field regiment to attack the defense line of the New Second Regiment.
With the strength of Kong Jie's new Second Regiment, it is definitely not able to withstand the fierce attack of the Japanese 22nd Regiment, so I asked you to take the troops to support Commander Kong.
The commando team, the guard platoon, and the special forces company have nearly two hundred people in total. If they put all their efforts into it, they can at least stop the attack of one battalion of the Japanese devils.
By then, Kong Erlangzi will be able to relax a little.
The defense will be left to the special forces company. Monk, your main task is to lead the commando team to find Kong Erlangzi.
If it is impossible, then take Captain Kong and retreat. If he refuses to leave, I will kidnap him!"
That's right, in addition to preparing to launch a feint attack against the Japanese and let the Japanese Fourth Brigade pull back the troops attacking Kong Jie, Li Yunlong also planned to directly send troops to support Kong Jie.
Zhao Gang, who was standing by, was listening to what Li Yunlong said and wanted to remind Li Yunlong that the independent regiment also had to take on the task of the general attack on the Japanese Fourth Brigade.
If we divide our forces now, will it affect the general offensive plan in the evening?
But Zhao Gang just moved his lips, then leaned on the table and looked at the map without saying anything.
He believed in Li Yunlong. Since Li Yunlong dared to divide his troops, it meant that Li Yunlong must have considered that the division of troops would not have any impact on the general attack at night.
Li Yunlong still has a sense of the overall situation.
Wei Dayong on the side listened to Li Yunlong's words, then looked at Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang with some concern.
"But, Commander, if I take the guard platoon and the special agent company with me, what about the safety of the regiment?"
The independent regiment's defense line is not shorter than Kong Jie's. On the contrary, because there are many mountains on the Yuxi Town side, if the independent regiment's defense line is pulled into a straight line, it can be said to be the longest among the four regiments.
So except for leaving a battalion of new recruits as a reserve force, Li Yunlong divided up all the other troops.
Only the guard platoon and the special forces company were responsible for the defense of the regiment headquarters.
If Wei Dayong took these two troops away, there would only be one communications platoon and one engineering platoon left at the regiment headquarters.
If the Japanese launch a surprise attack on the independent regiment's headquarters at that time, the regiment would have no decent guard forces.
Listening to Wei Dayong's words, Li Yunlong waved his hand indifferently.
“Nothing is safe here at the regiment.
Now the Japanese Fourth Brigade has been completely surrounded and cannot fly out even if it has wings.
It's very safe here at the regiment headquarters.
If so many troops in the front cannot stop the Japanese, then having more guard platoons and special forces companies at the regiment headquarters will be of no help.
Besides, Qi Tao and the cavalry company were right in front. Even if there was a special situation at the regiment headquarters and it was attacked by the Japanese, with the speed of the cavalry company, they could get back in half an hour at most.
I just don't believe that any Japanese army could break through the defense of the engineering platoon, communications platoon, and kitchen squad of nearly a hundred people in just half an hour.
If the regiment's defense line is really breached in half an hour, then I, Li Yunlong, will consider myself unlucky.
Okay, okay, go out and notify the guard platoon and the special forces company, and get ready to depart.
The little devil who can kill me, Li Yunlong, hasn’t been born yet.”
"Then Captain, Political Commissar, take care of yourselves. I will lead the team to Captain Kong."
"Well, monk, be careful on the road, remember, don't make any mistakes."
"Monk, go to the kitchen and get some dried meat to replenish your energy. If you have a chance in the afternoon, take a rest. In the evening, bring the commando team back here.
When our independent regiment launches the general offensive, we will need commandos."
"Yes!"
Wei Dayong was just about to turn around and leave, and before he could even lift the door curtain, Hu Zi rushed into the room in a hurry.
"Captain, commander, telegram from the Vanguard Regiment!"
When Li Yunlong saw Hu Zi hurriedly entering the regiment headquarters, he subconsciously thought that something urgent had happened. When he heard what Hu Zi said, Li Yunlong put down his hand that was originally on the pistol at his waist.
"Did the telegram from the Vanguard Regiment say that they were preparing to launch a feint attack on the Japanese Fourth Brigade, and asked if we were preparing to launch a feint attack on the Japanese?"
Listening to what Li Yunlong said, Hu Zi glanced at the telegram and spoke in disbelief.
"Captain, how did you know that?
That's right, Commander Qin sent a telegram asking whether our independent regiment would launch a feint attack on the Japanese Fourth Brigade, and also asked to what extent we would fight. "
Listening to what Hu Zi said, Li Yunlong gave Zhao Gang a look.
"Old Zhao, you see what I said was right, Qin Yangming and I were thinking the same thing."
"He was also preparing to launch a feint attack on the Japanese. He sent a telegram to ask me, probably because he wanted to know how, when, and to what extent our independent regiment would fight."
Zhao Gang listened to what Li Yunlong said and took the telegram from Hu Zi. "Oh, it's true, Old Li, you know Xiao Qin well enough. By the way, the new regiment commander Ding..."
"Captain, this is a telegram from Captain Ding of the New First Regiment!"
Before Zhao Gang could finish his words, a messenger entered the house and handed a telegram to Li Yunlong.
"Of course. Qin Yangming is quite similar to me in some ways."
"For example, both of you like to mobilize troops without authorization? You are both very thick-skinned. Aren't you afraid of being scolded and beaten?"
"Hahaha~ Being thick-skinned is also a skill."
"Yes, there's a telegram from Lao Ding. I guess he's also asking when we're going to launch a feint attack on the Japanese... Hmm?"
While Li Yunlong was chatting with Zhao Gang, he was looking through the telegram sent by Ding Wei, but as he was looking at it, Li Yunlong found something wrong.
Ding Wei did send a telegram to ask when the Independent Regiment was going to launch a feint attack on the Japanese Fourth Brigade in order to relieve the pressure on the New Second Regiment.
But there was another paragraph in the telegram sent by Ding Wei.
"Old Li, if there is no problem, the Vanguard Regiment will definitely launch a feint attack on the Japanese Fourth Brigade, and you will definitely launch a feint attack as well. I am also ready for a feint attack.
What I thought was, since the three of us launched a feint attack together, we could lower the intensity of one side's attack a little, so that the Japanese would mistakenly believe that the encirclement on this side was relatively weak. At the same time, the strength of the Eighth Route Army troops defending here is weaker than that of the other two sides.
Perhaps we can take this opportunity to let the Japanese launch an active attack on the side with weaker attack intensity, so as to launch a general attack in advance.
In addition, our New 1st Regiment cannot be held responsible for the weaker attack intensity. The real combat effectiveness of our New 1st Regiment has been known by the Japanese and cannot be concealed.
Lao Li, you have a lot of clever ideas for fighting wars. See if my method works. If it does, then you can contact the Vanguard Regiment and let one of you act as the weaker unit.
Once the Japanese launch an active attack, my New 1st Regiment will immediately send troops to cooperate with the attacked side to clamp down on the attacking Japanese troops.
Then the independent regiment, or the vanguard regiment, together with the remaining troops of our New 1st Regiment, will launch a general attack on the Japanese 4th Brigade.
If the operation is successful, the battle may be over before dark..."
Looking at the offensive plan sent by Ding Wei, Li Yunlong couldn't help but stand up and begin to think about the feasibility of Ding Wei's battle plan.
After reading the battle plan sent by Ding Wei, Li Yunlong directly handed the telegram to Xing Zhiguo and Zhao Gang who had just returned.
"Old Zhao, you and Deputy Commander Xing should take a look at the attack plan sent by Ding Wei.
Lao Ding's battle plan is feasible to a certain extent.
But the problem is that we need to make the Japanese believe that the side with slightly weaker attack intensity is indeed the weak area of the encirclement.
Ding Wei has already exchanged fire with the Japanese, and they must know the combat effectiveness of the New 1st Regiment..."
Li Yunlong was halfway through his words when he realized that the Japanese must have relevant information on his independent regiment. Both the independent regiment and the new first regiment could be said to be veteran Eighth Route Army units.
Combined with the battle records of the Independent Regiment and the New 1st Regiment, the Japanese must have relevant intelligence.
The only ones without intelligence are probably Qin Yangming's Vanguard Regiment and Kong Jie's New Second Regiment.
But now the New Second Regiment has already started a fight with the Japanese. Judging from the encirclement, the strength of the New Second Regiment is indeed the weakest, but the New Second Regiment is not the direction to break out.
If the Japanese Fourth Brigade wanted to break out, they could only choose one of the three directions: the Vanguard Regiment, the Independent Regiment, or the New First Regiment.
The Independent Regiment and the New 1st Regiment were both veteran units of the Eighth Route Army. Their battle records were there, and the Japanese naturally knew how effective the Independent Regiment and the New 1st Regiment were.
If the New 1st Regiment and the Independent Regiment pretended to be weak, the Japanese would immediately see that they were deliberately showing weakness to the enemy in order to attract their attack.
The Japanese are not idiots and it is impossible for them to be fooled into attacking them.
Therefore, this pretending to be weak force can only be Qin Yangming's vanguard regiment, and only Qin Yangming's vanguard regiment can do a good job.
The Vanguard Corps had only been established for less than half a month, so it was impossible for the Japanese to have any information about the Vanguard Corps.
At most, we can only know that the Vanguard Regiment is a newly formed core regiment of the Eighth Route Army.
Therefore, it would be best if the vanguard group showed weakness to the enemy.
After all, it is a newly formed core regiment, so it is normal that its combat effectiveness is weak.
However, the Japanese could not have known that the Vanguard Regiment, which had received support from the headquarters' heavy artillery regiment and tank company, was actually responsible for encircling and annihilating the strongest of the four Eighth Route Army units within the Fourth Brigade.
If the Japanese Fourth Brigade was so ignorant as to risk their lives that it really gathered most of its forces to launch an attack on the Vanguard Regiment.
By then, the Vanguard Regiment's luxurious equipment configuration will be able to tell the Japanese what firepower coverage is.
After Li Yunlong thought about this, he instantly understood the other meaning of Ding Wei's telegram to him.
Ding Wei could naturally think of what he could think of.
However, Ding Wei was embarrassed to tell Qin Yangming about sending someone to be bait. After all, his relationship with Qin Yangming was not as good as that between Li Yunlong and Qin Yangming.
That's why Ding Wei pushed the matter to Li Yunlong and asked Li Yunlong to discuss with Qin Yangming about using the vanguard regiment as bait to show weakness to the enemy.
"This kid Ding Wei... Tiger..."
"Captain, Captain Ding's plan is pretty good, but what if the Japanese don't fall for it?"
Li Yunlong was just about to ask Hu Zi to send a telegram to Qin Yangming to inquire about the situation, but then Xing Zhiguo interrupted Li Yunlong's call and put forward his own suggestions.
Listening to Xing Zhiguo's suggestions, Li Yunlong began to explain.
"What can I do? Just do it.
Ding Wei's method has two results: either it works and the general offensive can be launched ahead of schedule, or it doesn't work and he continues to act according to the original plan and waits until night to launch the general offensive against the Japanese.
And I don’t know what the Japanese did this time, so they ordered the 22nd Regiment to attack Kong Jie.
This old devil Pinglu Yongfu wouldn't think that his Fourth Brigade can still wreak havoc in the Shangdang area and we can't do anything about them, right?
No matter what, since Ding Wei has proposed a plan, then just do it according to what Ding Wei said. Even if it doesn't work, there won't be any consequences.
You won’t know whether there are any dates until you try it twice.”
"Huzi, go and send a telegram to the Vanguard Group and ask Qin Yangming if he has received Ding Wei's telegram...
Damn it, go to the communications platoon and ask if the telephone line is connected. I don’t know how long it will take to send telegrams all the time…”
(End of this chapter)
