Chapter 21 The Next Battle Plan

December 13th, 1937, 6:00 PM:

Outside Jurong Town, the main leaders of the Special Operations Company, the 83rd Army, and the 66th Army were holding a meeting to discuss their next course of action.

Lin Fan was briefing them on the situation: "Now, Nanjing has been captured by the Japanese devils.

For the time being, they won't be able to transfer all their forces from Nanjing to attack us.

This gives us an opportunity: to wipe out the Japanese forces in Jurong Town.

Or leave a small portion to encircle and strike at reinforcements!

Of course, we can also just pass by Jurong Town and continue towards Ningguo."

Deng Longguang pondered for a moment before asking Commander Ye Zhao, "Is what you said earlier true?"

Commander Ye Zhao said, "It's true, truer than gold. My two elite regiments are now deployed on the road between Jurong and Chunhua, ready to block the Japanese in Jurong and prevent them from escaping into Nanjing."

"You're crazy!" Wu Jianxiong couldn't help but blurt out this truth.

Realizing he had misspoke, he quickly added, "Commander Ye, I'm just speaking the truth."

Lin Fan smiled and said, "Division Commander Wu is speaking his mind, and what most of the soldiers are thinking.

Right now, all the units are somewhat fearful, feeling that they wouldn't dare to fight the Japanese without five or ten times their strength.

But we now have two advantages that we didn't have in Nanjing.

First, our anti-aircraft guns can ensure that our soldiers won't be bombed by Japanese planes.

Second, we have heavy artillery that can bombard the Japanese without being bombarded by them."

Commander Ye Zhao added, "Third, we can fight when we want and run when we want."

Hearing Commander Ye Zhao's addition, Deng Longguang said with a wry smile, "Since you've both reached a consensus, if the 83rd Army disagrees, can we just pass through Jurong?"

Lin Fan said, "Yes! Any unit that initially disagrees with participating in the battle is free to retreat.

We will still escort them through Jurong Town.

But if you decide to stay and fight the Japanese together, you must follow orders.

The reason I want to fight hard in Jurong Town is actually related to the 83rd and 66th Armies.

The fact that the two commanders didn't go to Xiaguan after the Nanjing Garrison Command issued the retreat order,

but chose to break out from below, shows the morale and combat effectiveness of the Guangdong Army.

Working with the two of you makes me feel at ease.

At least, I don't have to worry about being stabbed in the back by the Japanese when I entrust my back to you."

After Lin Fan finished speaking, the two army commanders and their four division commanders showed happy expressions.

Deng Longguang said, "We need to discuss it!"

Commander Ye Zhao said, "Commander Lin hasn't finished speaking. We'll split all the spoils equally after defeating the Japanese.

Before fighting the Japanese, you can borrow some weapons and equipment from the Special Operations Company."

Upon hearing this, Deng Longguang realized that he was being reminded to negotiate terms.

Division Commander Wu Jianxiong didn't want to fight the Japanese here because Nanjing had fallen, and fighting here was meaningless.

Hearing Commander Ye Zhao's words, he was also delighted: there are benefits! This battle is worth fighting.

Commander Deng Longguang laughed and said, "You old Ye! What benefits did you get?"

Commander Ye Zhao also laughed, "I just borrowed some machine guns, heavy machine guns, and infantry guns from Commander Lin."

Hearing this, the eyes of the generals of the 83rd Army lit up.

Commander Deng Longguang looked at Lin Fan and asked, "Commander Lin, how do we borrow these weapons?"

Lin Fan said with a smile, "Commander Ye Zhao is flattering me. In reality, I've only equipped Commander Ye's two regiments.

Giving each squad a machine gun, each company two heavy machine guns, each battalion a mortar, and each regiment an infantry gun.

These weapons were all seized from the Japanese.

I told Commander Ye Zhao that he can use them as long as we're together.

When we part ways, he can return them.

We'll split all the equipment seized from fighting the Japanese along the way equally.

Equipment that we don't need can be converted into value for the Special Operations Company."

Commander Deng Longguang indicated that he understood.

The 83rd Army held a meeting of officers above the regimental level not far away to discuss whether to cooperate with the 66th Army and the Special Operations Company in fighting the Japanese here.

Commander Deng Longguang first introduced the current situation of the entire army: upon hearing that the entire army was temporarily safe,

the regimental commanders present showed expressions of relief.

Coming out of Nanjing, although it had only been a day and a night, the regimental commanders felt like they had lived a year.

All the officers and soldiers were tired and hungry, but fortunately, they finally found the support team when it got dark.

Now that each soldier had eaten two pieces of cake, a piece of meat, and several bowls of hot porridge, all the officers and soldiers felt a little warmth.

Now that they heard they were safe, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Commander Deng Longguang continued to say that there were approximately three thousand Japanese in Jurong, and the 66th Army and the Special Operations Company were preparing to take them down here.

He invited the 83rd Army to participate as well.

Before attacking the Japanese, the Special Operations Company could lend some weapons and equipment to the 83rd Army.

Regimental Commander Zi Huacan of the 154th Division asked, "What kind of weapons can we borrow?"

Commander Deng Longguang said, "One light machine gun per squad, two heavy machine guns per company, five mortars per battalion, and three Type 92 infantry guns per regiment."

The eight regimental commanders present perked up upon hearing the commander's offer.

Regimental Commander Zi Huacan said loudly, "Commander, what's there to think about? Let's just do it.

If my regiment had such good equipment, we could definitely fight the Japanese."

Regimental Commander Ding Zhimin thought for a moment and said, "The Japanese planes and artillery are also very powerful!"

Commander Deng laughed, "The Special Operations Company can shoot down the planes, and they also have artillery.

They shot down nearly a hundred planes in Tangshan today.

Commander Lin said they shot down fifteen Japanese transport planes filled with Japanese soldiers.

They were supposed to parachute in to support the Japanese in Tangshan.

They were shot down by them.

Commander Ye has also confirmed this.

As for the heavy artillery, the balloon we saw when we came was from the Special Operations Company.

And they killed at least six thousand Japanese yesterday."

Commander Deng finished speaking.

The two division commanders had heard Lin Fan say it once before, but they didn't feel much.

The eight regimental commanders were hearing it for the first time, and they were all digesting the situation the commander had described.

Finally, Regimental Commander He Xingyuan of the 156th Division spoke: "Was it the 63rd Army who fought together?"

"It was the Special Operations Company who fought on their own. The 63rd Army has only been helping with perimeter security so far.

Opening the way to attack the Japanese, and the rear guard to block the Japanese, all of these were done by the Special Operations Company's own men."

"How many soldiers do they have?" Regimental Commander He Xingyuan finally asked the question everyone wanted to ask.

"I heard Commander Lin say that they have over one thousand five hundred men," Commander Deng said with a wry smile.

When he said this, he felt a bit bitter: he was leading a force of over thirteen thousand men.

Yet, they weren't as daring and determined as a force of just over a thousand men, and most importantly, they weren't as combat-effective.

"How could they kill over six thousand Japanese with just over a thousand men?" Regimental Commander Shangguan Zhiwen also joined the questioning.

"To be honest, I don't know how they fight, but they said they wiped out at least three Japanese cavalry regiments.

They seized over two thousand warhorses, and now everyone in the Special Operations Company has a warhorse.

They even gave two hundred warhorses to the 63rd Army for their signal corps to use."

This news shocked everyone even more, and the eight regimental commanders looked at each other: meaning everything the commander had said was true.

Regimental Commander He Xingyuan said, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's just do it. Let's take down Jurong together and vent our anger.

If we can get some spoils, that would be even better."

Regimental Commander Chang Yuande of the 154th Division said with a smile, "Aren't they afraid of us borrowing Jingzhou from Liu Bei – borrowing without returning?"

Commander Deng also laughed, "This can only be considered a gentleman's agreement."

After speaking, he put away his smile, "Now you should all understand the situation. Let's hear what you have to say: fight or leave?"

Division Commander Wu Jianxiong of the 154th Division: "Fight!"

Regimental Commander Zi Huacan: "Fight!"

Regimental Commander Yu Yuanming: "Fight!"

Regimental Commander Chang Yuande: "Fight!"

Regimental Commander Ding Zimin: "Fight!"

Division Commander Li Jiang of the 154th Division: "Fight!"

Regimental Commander Sheng Feiwen: "Fight!"

Regimental Commander He Xingyuan: "Fight!"

Regimental Commander Meng Junli: "Fight!"

Regimental Commander Shangguan Zhiwen: "Fight!"

Chief of Staff Taishi Hongyang of the 83rd Army: "Fight!"

"Everyone says fight, so we'll fight here!" Commander Deng Longguang decided.

December 13th, 1937, 6:30 PM, late in the evening:

Commander Deng Longguang and Chief of Staff Taishi Hongyang of the 83rd Army.

Division Commander Wu Jianxiong and Chief of Staff Feng Mincai of the 154th Division.

Division Commander Li Jiang and Chief of Staff Meng Junli of the 156th Division.

Commander Ye Zhao and Chief of Staff Bu Hao of the 66th Army.

Division Commander Ye Zhao (acting) and Chief of Staff Jiao Ziqian of the 159th Division.

Division Commander Tan Sui and Chief of Staff Yu Tong of the 160th Division.

Deputy Company Commander Li Xian and Company Commander Lin Fan of the Special Operations Company.

Squad Leaders Chen Sichuan, Liu Laopao, Jia Shusheng, and Xiao Dongbei.

Squad Leaders Zhen Danxiao, Ye Dadan, Yang Daren, Feng Junya, and Hui Jianming.

Company Commander Li Zhize of the Central Training Corps.

A total of twenty-four people were meeting at Miaogang.

Now, the 83rd Army, the 66th Army, the Special Operations Company, and the 2nd Company of the Training Corps have all reached a consensus: to fight the Japanese here.

The reason for coming here to hold the meeting is that Miaogang and Zhaojiabian have just been captured.

The generals of the 83rd and 66th Armies wanted to come to the battlefield to see it for themselves.

The dozen or so generals listened to Chen Sichuan explain how they annihilated the Japanese.

When these generals saw the craters on the ground that were nearly two meters deep, their breathing became heavy.

Wu Jianxiong pointed at the craters and asked, "Did you guys create these?"

Hui Jianming immediately replied, "Our 9th Squad did! These were made by 150mm howitzer shells."

Division Commander Wu asked Lin Fan, "Will we have this kind of artillery support when we fight the Japanese?"

Lin Fan immediately said, "You can apply for artillery support wherever you need it.

Let Squad Leader Hui explain."

Hui Jianming said, "Our two heavy artillery squads have thirty-two 150mm cannons with a range of over 20,000 meters.

As long as it's within a 20-kilometer radius, artillery bombardment is no problem."

Lin Fan added, "20,000 meters is enough to reach Tangshan, Chunhua, and Tianwangsi."

Division Commander Wu Jianxiong asked, "The shells are limited, how many shells do we have in total?"

Hui Jianming said with a smile, "Division Commander Wu! This is a secret, it shouldn't be revealed."

Lin Fan waited for a while before saying, "Squad Leader Hui, tell them.

Put everyone at ease!"

Hui Jianming then said, "There are still three hundred and twenty-three howitzer shells and two hundred and seventy-seven cannon shells, for a total of six hundred heavy artillery shells."

The generals present felt immediately at ease upon hearing this number: so many shells were enough to fight a small-scale battle.

If they were just taking down Jurong, piling all these shells on top would be enough to flatten the entire Jurong.

The cleanup of the battlefield was coming to an end, and the seized weapons were piled together.

Commander Deng Longguang pointed at the seized weapons and asked, "How many weapons were seized here?"

Chen Sichuan stepped forward, "Five Type 92 infantry guns, thirty-three mortars, eight heavy machine guns, twenty-three light machine guns.

We haven't counted the rifles yet!"

The five infantry guns stood beside the seized equipment, very conspicuous.

The generals were clearly interested in the infantry guns. Deng Longguang walked to the guns and saw dozens of boxes of shells piled in front of them.

He bent down and opened a shell box, filled with three shells.

He counted them: a total of sixty boxes.

"One hundred and eighty shells!" he said.

Then he walked to the mortars, where there were also piles of shells.

"Good! This battle was worth it!" Commander Deng's tone was full of envy.

Chen Sichuan said, "When fighting the Japanese, you have to earn something back, or you'll get poorer and poorer. How can we continue to fight the Japanese in the future?"

Commander Ye Zhao laughed when he heard him say this, "Listen to the tone of these guys. What are proud and fierce soldiers?

These are them!"

They walked among the seized spoils.

After passing a large pile of rifles, they saw piles of leather shoes and clothes on the ground.

Ye Zhao asked, "Why did you take these things off?"

Lin Fan laughed, "The Japanese are bad, but these things aren't. We collected them.

The leather shoes can be used or exchanged for money.

These clothes can also be reused!"

As they walked along the way, the division commanders had a clear understanding.

They now had a clear understanding of the combat effectiveness of the Special Operations Company.

A force of three hundred men could wipe out over a thousand Japanese soldiers. They would not have believed it if they hadn't witnessed it with their own eyes.

If they sent a division to fight a Japanese battalion, the division commanders wouldn't be confident of victory.

Not to mention annihilating an entire Japanese battalion.

Looking at the weapons and equipment piled on the ground, they could see how strong the Japanese were.

Now they looked at Lin Fan with more respect, and they no longer dared to underestimate the soldiers under him who were called squad leaders.

Although these men were only squad leaders leading over a hundred soldiers, they were a force that dared to launch an assault on a position guarded by a Japanese battalion.

If these squad leaders could go to their units, they could be given command of an entire regiment.

Commander Deng pointed at the equipment that had just been cleaned up and said, "Commander Lin, give us these equipments!"

Lin Fan said generously, "You can't use the rifles, we'll take them. Five artillery pieces, each with thirty shells;

Ten light machine guns, each with five hundred rounds of ammunition;

Eight heavy machine guns, each with one thousand rounds of ammunition;

Fifteen mortars, each with fifty shells;

You can have these.

But this is a temporary loan, you have to return them when we distribute the spoils after taking Jurong.

If the spoils aren't enough to pay the debt,

You'll have to return the weapons to make up for the difference."

Commander Deng said with a smile, "Of course! Borrowing and returning, it's not difficult to borrow again."

Lin Fan continued, "Equip all these weapons to one regiment, soldiers are about quality, not quantity.

There's another position not far ahead that was just captured, with similar equipment.

If Commander Deng is interested, equip a regiment with the equipment here, and equip another regiment with the equipment over there.

With two regiments as a base, we'll be able to fight the Japanese more smoothly."

Division Commander Wu Jianxiong immediately said, "Commander! Regiments Zi Huacan and Yu Yuanming are fully manned now, perfect for equipping these weapons."

Division Commander Li Jiang was unwilling, "Commander! Yesterday, we took the lead when we broke out of Nanjing and fought the Japanese head-on.

If there's good equipment, we should give it to the soldiers who charged into the enemy lines.

It would be a shame to the hearts of those brave brothers."

Commander Deng Youguang thought for a moment, "To be fair, equip one regiment from each division. Choose a regiment to come and collect the equipment."

Lin Fan immediately said to Chen Sichuan, "Immediately divide the extra weapons and ammunition to the other side."

Lin Fan pointed forward and said, "The highway in Jurong Town leads north to Chunhua, south to Tianwangsi, and east to Tangshan.

Now the roads to Chunhua and Tangshan have been blocked by us.

Commander Deng!

The two regiments you've equipped should be deployed tonight between Jurong and Tianwangsi.

Don't be too far from Jurong, between one thousand and two thousand meters.

I'll send a small team of twenty men to help deploy landmines to give the Japanese a headache.

Also, for easy communication, we'll give you a hundred of the warhorses we seized today.

Specifically for communications."

Commander Deng Longguang immediately agreed.

Lin Fan reminded, "Everyone! We're pulling teeth from a tiger's mouth. We have to guard against the Japanese from two directions in each direction.

The trenches must be well built, they don't need to be able to defend against heavy artillery bombardment, but they must be able to resist infantry gun bombardment.

Especially to guard against Japanese reinforcements.

We're here to encircle and strike at reinforcements.

Reconnaissance must be far-reaching, at least ten kilometers away.

In the direction of Tianwangsi, it would be best to put reconnaissance in Tianwangsi.

In the direction of Chunhua, we must put reconnaissance in Chunhua. In the direction of Tangshan, I'll put reconnaissance in Qilinmen."

Hearing Lin Fan say that he was putting reconnaissance in Qilinmen in his direction, Commander Ye Zhao thought for a moment:

"How about we take down Chunhua tonight? That way we can put our reconnaissance in Gaoqiaomen."

Lin Fan said, "That would be great! But the soldiers haven't rested from yesterday until now.

It's not appropriate to fight again tonight!"

Commander Ye Zhao laughed, "Rest tonight! Set off at six o'clock tomorrow morning and launch the attack at seven thirty."

Lin Fan of course knew what taking down Chunhua meant, "Okay! Tomorrow I'll send a squad.

You send a regiment.

Plus the company from the Training Corps,

Let's take down Chunhua together.

Commander Li, what do you think?"

Commander Li Zhize was still a little incredulous: there were twelve generals at the military meeting he attended today.

In the past, officers of his level only needed to follow the orders of the battalion commander, how could anyone ask for his opinion?

Hearing Lin Fan's question, Commander Li immediately said, "Okay! Our company can take the lead!"

When he was notified to come back for the meeting, he didn't know what had happened here.

When he arrived at the meeting, he learned that over ten thousand Nationalist soldiers had come to this place again.

The 83rd Army had also broken through to this place, and he had continuously observed the two positions taken down by the Special Operations Company.

In addition to shock and envy, Commander Li also felt a bit unconvinced.

His company would not be worse than the Special Operations Company!

This was Commander Li's last bit of stubbornness towards the Central Training Corps!

Their unit was the best trained and equipped unit in the entire country.

They would certainly not be worse than the Special Operations Company.

Today, they had accepted so many equipment supplements from the Special Operations Company, of course they had to make achievements to let the Special Operations Company know that they had not trusted the wrong people.

As soldiers, they could only prove themselves on the battlefield.

Those competitions on the training ground were just performances in a real battlefield.

No matter how realistic the usual exercises were, they could only be fake, and could not be taken seriously.

If the exercises were taken seriously, that team would lose.

What frustrated Commander Li was that they had quickly entered the position today, but they had not encountered a single Japanese soldier.

The Japanese soldiers who stayed in Jurong seemed to know that they were being cut off, and did not retreat in this direction at all.

When Commander Li heard that they were going to actively attack Chunhua, he immediately applied to take the lead and be the main attack force.

Lin Fan said with a smile, "I don't know how many Japanese soldiers there are in Chunhua, but normally there shouldn't be many.

If Commander Li is the main attacker when we attack, just charge straight in along the main road.

Commander Ye's regiment will attack from the left side of the main road.

Our squad will attack from the right side of the main road.

When attacking Chunhua, there will only be one regiment of soldiers defending in the direction of Jurong."

Commander Ye Zhao laughed, "I'll send two more regiments there tomorrow morning."

"Okay!"

When Commander Deng Longguang heard that they were going to attack Chunhua, and that the 83rd Army had nothing to do with it.

He leaned in and said, "Why doesn't the 83rd Army have anything to do with it?"

Lin Fan said with a smile, "I've already thought about your mission, but first you have to let the brothers eat and sleep well tonight!

The mission will be issued tomorrow!"

Commander Deng Longguang was anxious, "What is it? Tell us now so we can be prepared!"

Commander Ye Zhao was also interested, "Commander Lin, tell us! Our two armies are fighting the Japanese with your Special Operations Company.

If we don't even know the overall plan, it won't be convenient to arrange things."

Lin Fan said, "I only have a general plan, it's not detailed yet.

But the mission for the 83rd Army has already been clarified.

I want the 83rd Army to leave only two regiments in Jurong tomorrow, and the rest of a division and two regiments will advance along the road to Tianwangsi.

Take Tianwangsi and hold it.

That way we can encircle and strike at reinforcements in Jurong.

Tomorrow morning, we will attack both Jurong and Chunhua at the same time.

What I'm thinking is to drive the Japanese soldiers out of Jurong Town.

But not to annihilate them all, just surround them in the middle.

The main target is to strike at the Japanese soldiers who come out of Nanjing to rescue them."

This was the third time Commander Ye Zhao had heard Lin Fan say that he wanted to strike at the Japanese soldiers who came out of Nanjing.

This was the first time Commander Deng Longguang had heard of encircling and striking at reinforcements, the meaning of which was literal.

It was easy to understand!

But it was hard to digest!

It was clearly said that they were only attacking the Japanese soldiers in Jurong Town, how did it become fishing?

And they were fishing for the Japanese soldiers who had already invaded Nanjing.

Commander Deng was shocked, "Isn't this plan too bold?"

Lin Fan said with a smile, "It is a bit bold! That's why the 83rd Army has to take Tianwangsi, to leave a way out.

If we can't take down these Japanese soldiers, we'll run immediately!

We have to prepare for both possibilities!

Trust us, when it comes to escaping, no one is better than the Special Operations Company."

Commander Ye Zhao said with a wry smile, "From the fact that you were able to run out of Nanjing with so much equipment, it can be seen that the Special Operations Company is a guerrilla expert.

Since we're experts, what should we do?"

His words expressed the feelings of Commander Deng.

Lin Fan said with a smile, "Don't worry, commanders, even if we run, I'll definitely let you run in the middle, I'll take care of the rear guard.

Don't compete with us for this, you two.

Otherwise, don't blame me for turning against you."

These few words made everyone present laugh.

Lin Fan explained, "In the past two months, we've run out of the Sihang Warehouse, run out of Jiashan, run out of Jiangyin, and run out of Nanjing.

None of the Japanese soldiers who chased us have had a good ending.

In fact, it's easiest to wipe out the Japanese in motion.

I also just told you that the two squads that were the rear guard killed more Japanese than all our other squads combined.

You can rest assured about this!"

Whether they were relieved or not, the two commanders didn't say anything more.

Lin Fan continued, "Set off at six thirty tomorrow morning, and have a meal at six o'clock.

We in the Special Operations Company have a saying: eating ability is combat effectiveness. The soldiers haven't eaten all day today, so they can't eat too much.

Tomorrow morning, they can eat as much as they want."

Commander Deng said worriedly, "Should we plan a little, we still have a few days to go on this journey."

Lin Fan smiled and pointed at Jurong Town, "I saw it from the sky today, there are many Japanese military vehicles and mules in the town.

This place should be concentrated with a lot of Japanese supplies, we just need to snatch it tomorrow.

We'll have everything."

"Then we should act immediately, or the Japanese will burn them," Commander Ye said anxiously.

"They won't! The Japanese think that even if we take Jurong, we won't be able to escape.

They won't destroy this batch of supplies.

The Japanese aren't tycoons either, they're actually poorer than us," Lin Fan explained with a smile.

This night was destined to be a sleepless night for Commander Prince Asaka Yasuhiko.

When it got dark, he received accurate intelligence: the three thousand lightly wounded soldiers and two thousand transport soldiers sent to snipe in the direction of Tangshan were all destroyed.

He didn't want to believe this news at first, and asked several times, but the answers were all the same.

Commander Prince Asaka Yasuhiko then understood: the Nationalist soldiers who came from Tangshan had arrived outside Jurong Town.

They could directly attack his headquarters.

Now he had nearly two thousand elites, two thousand seriously wounded soldiers, and eight hundred medical personnel.

Faced with this situation, the mood when Commander Prince Asaka Yasuhiko retreated from Tangshan appeared once again.

Uneasy?

Or scared?

He couldn't say, now he was thinking of retreating.

But just as Commander Prince Asaka Yasuhiko was about to say the word "retreat", he saw Captain Maenosono Sotada, who had just come to report.

He immediately changed his mind, "Gentlemen! Reinforcements have already set off from Nanjing in two teams.

As long as we stay here, we can hold off this force outside.

And wipe them out.

The Nationalist soldiers outside the town don't know that they've become turtles in a jar.

Let them be happy for one last night.

Once the two regiments from Nanjing arrive, these Nationalist soldiers will disappear like ice melting in hot water."

The suppressed contempt or joy in Captain Maenosono Sotada's eyes disappeared like ice melting in hot water.

His expression was full of astonishment.

When Captain Maenosono Sotada was reporting just now, he had clearly seen fear in the commander's eyes.

This commander, who had only hurriedly arrived in Nanjing from the country after the Battle of Shanghai had ended, was clearly here to earn merits.

He was representing the royal family, and such a conquest of another country's capital was of course worth Prince Asaka Yasuhiko coming to reap the fruits of victory.

Prince Asaka Yasuhiko looked at the expressions of the captain and the officers in the entire command post, and felt happy.

"You look down on me, I've already created a miracle, and I'm going to create glory here again."

He himself knew that taking over as commander of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army, which had fallen from the sky, did make some officers dissatisfied.

If it wasn't for the fact that the position of commander of the China Area Army was a bit tricky, he would have become the commander of the China Area Army.

Now he was serving as the commander of this army group, which was still a demotion! Prince Asaka Yasuhiko also felt wronged.

Commander Prince Asaka Yasuhiko's order was immediately reported to Commander-in-Chief Matsui Iwane of the China Area Army.

Looking at the fact that Prince Asaka Yasuhiko had wasted three thousand lightly wounded soldiers in one afternoon, Commander Matsui Iwane also had a headache.

This skinny old man in his sixties was a true warrior.

Of course, he knew the significance of lightly wounded soldiers to an army, especially three thousand lightly wounded soldiers.

If the three thousand wounded soldiers were allowed to recover and return to the team, it could completely bring up a division.

Now three thousand soldiers were dead.

However, Commander Matsui Iwane also saw an opportunity in the telegram sent by Prince Asaka Yasuhiko.

This team was so good at fighting, if they were really allowed to run away, it would indeed be a great disaster.

Prince Asaka Yasuhiko was able to personally experience the danger and lead the soldiers to stay in Jurong, so that this elite Nationalist army had nowhere to escape.

From a strategic point of view, this was indeed the right thing to do.

If the officer in Jurong was not Prince Asaka Yasuhiko, but a division commander or a regimental commander.

The order he would have given would definitely be: hold on! Hold on and wait for reinforcements!

Thinking of this, Commander Matsui Iwane felt relieved.

Everything had been arranged, just waiting for the good news tomorrow.

The squad leaders of the Special Operations Company did not disperse after the meeting just now.

Lin Fan still had tasks to assign: Squads Six and Seven needed to return to Tangshan overnight to defend the main road.

Prepare to snipe at the Japanese soldiers coming from Nanjing.

Lin Fan's requirements were simple: "Lay landmines on the road and directional mines on the hillside.

While on guard, the entire squad must rest well."

Squads One, Two, Three, and Four would rest outside Jurong Town tonight.

The mission was the same, setting up a minefield to prevent the Japanese from counterattacking.

At the same time, they also had to rest well, as tomorrow's mission would be even more difficult.

The mission for Squad Five tonight was to protect the heavy artillery squad.

Set off at six thirty tomorrow morning to attack Chunhua.

The two heavy artillery squads had to make plans in advance, as they might have to support Chunhua, Tangshan, and Jurong tomorrow.

After arranging all of this, Lin Fan had just returned to his temporary residence when Qian Youcai came to him and said bluntly:

"Brother Lin! I'm also a soldier. Seeing how busy you are fighting the Japanese, I want to do something too."

Lin Fan said with a smile, "Logistics! The Special Operations Company's logistics needs a professional like you to manage it."

Just as Qian Youcai was about to agree, Lin Fan said, "If you really want to do it, there are some rules in the Special Operations Company that you need to understand."

"What rules?"

"No corruption, no self-enrichment."

"I can understand no corruption, but I don't understand no self-enrichment?

If I don't harm the interests of the Special Operations Company, can't I get some benefits for myself?" Qian Youcai asked.

"That's right! Whether you get benefits from the Special Operations Company or from other places, it's not allowed.

Even if we rob it from the Japanese, all the spoils are shared by the entire company," Lin Fan said seriously.

Qian Youcai thought for a moment and said with some pain, "Okay! I'll definitely do it."

Lin Fan held out his hand, "Welcome, Quartermaster!"

Today, Qian Youcai had made up his mind to join the group after being reminded by his father.

Lin Fan smiled and said to him, "Brother Qian! You will definitely become a general in the future."

Qian Youcai looked at him speechlessly, "What about you? Will you become a marshal? Or a general?"

Lin Fan smiled, "I'm just a company commander!"

Qian Youcai only thought of it as a joke, and Lin Fan immediately started assigning work, "Li Xian! Hand over all matters related to weapons and equipment to Qian Youcai.

That way you can relax a bit."

Today, Li Xian was managing all the weapons and equipment of the entire Special Operations Company, and he also had to ensure that over twenty thousand people had food to eat.

He was more tired than everyone else.

Now that there was finally someone who could take over the weapons and equipment, he immediately became happy.

He took out a notebook and said, "Old Qian! This notebook records the quantity of all our equipment.

The allocation of each squad, and the quantity of weapons and ammunition loaded on each vehicle, are all written clearly.

Take a look first, and ask me if you don't understand."

Qian Youcai opened the notebook and saw that it wrote: Squad One: 135 rifles, 10 heavy machine guns, 20 light machine guns, 12 mortars, 5 infantry guns, 2 tanks.

Squad Two: ...

...

The equipment of each squad was written down.

Below it, it wrote: Transport Vehicle No. 1: 200 boxes of 7.7mm Type 38 bullets.

Transport Vehicle No. 2: 200 boxes of 7.7mm Type 38 bullets.

...

All the way to Transport Vehicle No. 10, which were all 7.7mm bullets.

Transport Vehicle No. 11 contained ammunition for anti-aircraft machine guns.

After that, there were mortar shells, howitzer shells, and cannon shells.

All the way to the twenty-fifth vehicle.

After that, it wrote the quantity of ammunition loaded on the mule carts.

After that, there were various artillery vehicles and tractors, and the transport vehicle numbers and quantities for loading rifles, machine guns, and mortars.

Seeing these, Qian Youcai looked up at the two company commanders of the Special Operations Company several times.

Did they have so many weapons and equipment?

What he saw just now was the current number, and there were several pages behind it that wrote the number of heavy machine guns, light machine guns, and mortars lent to the 2nd Company of the Central Training Corps.

How many weapons and ammunition were borrowed by the 66th Army and the 88th Army were also clearly recorded.

After reading this account book, he understood that his father's assessment of people was really accurate: this Lin Fan's family fortune was too solid.

If he really established his own base, as long as he recruited manpower, he could immediately organize an army of tens of thousands of people.

If the combat effectiveness of these tens of thousands of people was all the same as the Special Operations Company, there would be no problem for Lin Fan to become a general.

Thinking of this, Qian Youcai's heart was also burning.

He looked at Lin Fan, "So our family fortune is so thick!"

Li Xian, who was already asleep, woke up when he heard Qian Youcai speak.

After reacting, he said, "If the company