Chapter 24: A Brief Respite Before Moving On

On April 15th, at noon, Zhang Yun returned to the base with the First Platoon, Second Platoon, the Mortar Squad, and over 300 new recruits.

Old Tang and his team were once again in a state of chaotic flurry. After all, they had arrived back at the base less than two hours prior, and a massive quantity of weapons and ammunition was still being inventoried and moved into the newly constructed warehouses—some of which had even encroached upon the grain storage space. As for the supplies of grain, canned goods, and textiles, they were still piled high on the wheat-threshing floor.

There were simply too many captured supplies to house, too many new recruits to accommodate, and the soldiers were far too exhausted and in need of rest.

In short, Old Tang was tired but happy, tending to his newfound wealth with the diligence of a seasoned farmer. Fortunately, Zhang Yun and his men had brought back several tons of cement, meaning the construction of new barracks would proceed quickly. For the time being, the veteran soldiers could be temporarily billeted in the homes of nearby villagers.

Zhang Yun, the deputy platoon leader, the various squad leaders, and Old Tang were all kept busy until dusk, when the countless tasks at the base were finally brought to some semblance of order.

Despite having gone without sleep for over twenty-four hours, Zhang Yun directed the deputy platoon leader and the squad leaders to rest first. Old Tang, dragging his weary body, went to settle in and comfort the new recruits, while Zhang Yun personally inspected the camp's defenses and the placement of sentry posts.

He was well aware that the world of *Liangjian* (Bright Sword) featured the master infiltrator Yamamoto Yoshio. Although, according to the plot, Colonel Yamamoto was currently still in Germany for further training.

It was not until 10:00 PM, when the deputy platoon leader had recovered some of his strength and took over, that Zhang Yun was finally able to fall into a peaceful sleep. He was utterly exhausted.

The next morning, Zhang Yun was roused from a hazy slumber by the deputy platoon leader. Opening his eyes, he saw the deputy standing by his bed, holding a bowl of noodles, with a young, unfamiliar farmer standing behind him.

After a quick wash, Zhang Yun ate the noodles, which were mixed with canned beef, while asking for a status report.

Deputy Platoon Leader Liu Changqing said, "Platoon Leader, I wanted to let you sleep a bit longer, but this comrade from the Xiyang County Committee found our unit. He says he has orders to convey from the Eighth Route Army Headquarters."

Zhang Yun quickly stood up and shook the hand of the young man, who looked more like a peasant than a cadre. "Greetings, comrade. I am the leader of the Third Platoon, First Company, Third Battalion of the 386th Brigade's Training Regiment, and also the leader of this recruit platoon. May I ask who you are?"

"Greetings, Platoon Leader. I am a courier for the Xiyang County Committee, responsible for relaying communications. On April 10th, the Japanese launched a sweep of our base area. The Eighth Route Army Headquarters has ordered all guerrilla units and local armed forces along the Xiyang and Heshun routes to actively harass the enemy and disrupt their logistics." The young man, clearly not from a military background, added somewhat shyly, "We didn't even know a unit like yours was in our county until we heard yesterday that the Xiaohu Village stronghold had been taken. We only found your location through our underground network."

"I see. We were dispersed according to the request of Brigadier Chen of the 386th Brigade to develop guerrilla forces. It is not yet time for us to report for duty. According to the original orders, we were to avoid active combat for the first three months, focusing instead on organizing and building up our ranks."

Zhang Yun provided a brief explanation and then carefully considered the current situation.

According to the young courier, the order had been issued on the 10th, and he had been traveling throughout the county relaying it to underground organizations and local guerrilla units.

Under normal circumstances, for the sake of military secrecy, the Eighth Route Army Headquarters would transmit orders directly to relevant units via radio. However, the Eighth Route Army was so impoverished that radios were only available at the brigade level, and brigade headquarters would then communicate point-to-point with regimental units via couriers. As for these broad harassment orders aimed at all guerrilla and local forces, they could only be relayed through local organizations. In any case, such orders lacked specific details, so even if leaked, the Japanese would have no way to guard against them.

As the courier spoke, he cast furtive glances at the bowl of noodles in Zhang Yun’s hands. In April, most farmers filled their bellies with wild vegetables mixed with coarse grains like potatoes and sweet potatoes; they rarely saw fine grains, let alone canned beef.

Within the entire Eighth Route Army, the only unit that could eat a bowl of beef noodles like this every day was Zhang Yun's recruit platoon. Not even the commanders at brigade or headquarters level were eating like this; they were all sticking to coarse grains, waiting for a victory to earn a treat.

Zhang Yun smiled and arranged for the deputy platoon leader to take the courier off to have a good meal of beef noodles. In his mind, he opened his map page and began to analyze the situation.

His eyes fixed on the location of Heshun County, his gaze shifting back and forth along the road between Heshun and Liao County.

He knew that the world of *Liangjian* was not the historical reality, but rather a parallel world; he could not simply rely on prophetic knowledge of history. However, many events in this world followed the historical timeline, such as the Hundred Regiments Offensive and the War of Liberation. And when the "Iron Triangle" boasted to one another, they had mentioned the victory in the Anti-Nine-Route Siege in Southeast Shanxi.

While he believed that his arrival would lead to positive changes and that the war's trajectory would shift further as time went on, in the two months leading up to April 10th, Zhang Yun had only wiped out one Japanese detachment and a band of bandits. History had not yet changed significantly.

He remembered that the Eighth Route Army had successfully counterattacked the Japanese Nine-Route Siege. The Japanese 105th Regiment, departing from Yangquan and Xiyang to rescue the 107th Regiment—which was being besieged by the main force of the Eighth Route Army at Changle Village—had been intercepted and ambushed by the main force of the 386th Brigade of the 129th Division. They had lost over a thousand men and retreated in disgrace to Liao County.

Later, parts of the 119th Division’s main force, along with independent guerrilla and local units, attacked Liao County. The Japanese, facing severed logistics and a lack of ammunition and food, retreated in disarray from Liao County on April 22nd, pulling back toward Heshun while being constantly harassed by local forces along the way. Seeing the Eighth Route Army and parts of the Nationalist main force approaching Heshun, the Japanese simply set fire to half the county town before abandoning Heshun and retreating to their strongholds in Xiyang and Yangquan.

Zhang Yun knew that he had received the order too late; the main Japanese force had already occupied Heshun and Liao County along the Ping-Liao Highway. By this afternoon (April 16th), the most critical battle—the Battle of Changle Village—would begin, and he would not have time to participate in that fierce and glorious fight.

The core of the Eighth Route Army's base was near Liao County and Wuxiang; Heshun County was an area where enemy and friendly forces were intermingled, but his current position was, strictly speaking, already in enemy-occupied territory. From here to the Changle Village battlefield, it would take several days of marching if he avoided the main roads; by the time he arrived, the opportunity would have long passed.

Moreover, he had no intention of going there. The Battle of Changle Village was an ambush and a brutal positional fight, won through courage and sacrifice, costing the Eighth Route Army a regimental commander and hundreds of soldiers. Although his "Looting Bonus System" was his foundation, it could not guarantee his safety; he could still be harmed by stray bullets or shells, which would be a huge loss.

(The final clause of the Looting Bonus System stated that if the host suffered fatal injury, the system would heal him at the cost of clearing all supplies in the looting space. The more supplies, the faster the healing; without supplies, healing would require a six-month coma.)

In a few months, or at most half a year, he would have more mortars, mountain guns, machine guns, and soldiers. That would be the time for him to truly make his move.

But for now, as the Japanese retreated from Liao County to Heshun and prepared to abandon Heshun County altogether, this was the perfect opportunity for him to annihilate the enemy, "occupy" the county town, and gain his "loot."