Chapter 36: A Midnight Sortie and Shuncheng

By the time Zhang Yun had nearly finished sketching the map of Heshun County, Liu Changqing had personally brought Commander Kong Jie and his guard into the temporary command post.

"Commander Kong, welcome! Please, come in!"

Seeing Commander Kong arrive, Zhang Yun hurried over, took his hand, and guided him to the seat in the center. Kong Jie’s guard stood at the entrance of the command post, taking up his post as a sentry. The "seat" was nothing more than a pile of empty artillery shell crates, but under field conditions, both Zhang Yun and Commander Kong were long accustomed to such things.

"Platoon Leader Zhang, Vice Platoon Leader Liu told me earlier that you have a major tactical opportunity here. Is that true? I, Kong Jie, am grateful that you still think of our Independent Regiment when there are advantages to be had." Kong Jie sat on the crates without ceremony, pulled out his large tobacco pipe, and began to puff away. "What kind of opportunity are you talking about, Platoon Leader Zhang?"

"Recapturing the county town!" Zhang Yun replied seriously.

"Cough, cough... Recapturing what? The county town?" Kong Jie was so startled he began to cough violently.

"Yes, recapturing Heshun County town!"

Zhang Yun repeated himself and then explained his findings in detail. "Look at this map. This is the information my scouts have personally gathered over the last two days. The Japanese originally had over 240 men, equipped with machine guns and artillery. With reinforcements nearby, they had more than enough to defend the county town."

"But today, the Japanese lost over 150 men, and that doesn't even count the transport team I ambushed. There are now fewer than 100 Japanese soldiers left in the town!"

Upon hearing this, Commander Kong immediately grasped the situation. "Fewer than 100 men? They can’t even man the walls properly, and that’s not counting the troops they need to guard their headquarters, barracks, and gates. This... this is truly a massive opportunity!"

Kong Jie stood up and circled the makeshift map. "Your intelligence is incredibly timely. If the Japanese can’t even defend the walls, isn’t this just them inviting us into their home to put on a show?"

"However, will the Japanese have reinforcements?"

Zhang Yun stated his judgment without hesitation: "Yes, and they will arrive tomorrow morning. I suspect the number of Japanese troops will be quite significant."

"Heshun is the rear supply line for the Japanese 105th Regiment. If the Eighth Route Army occupies it, the Japanese will inevitably be surrounded in Liao County, or even annihilated within the town. Right now, the Japanese still hold unrealistic fantasies about defending Liao County, believing they can hold it with their firepower and air support. But once they realize their rear has been cut off and they have lost their logistical and ammunition support, they will certainly dispatch troops with all speed to support or retake Heshun."

"Furthermore, it is very likely that the Japanese command will soon order the 105th Regiment to abandon Liao County!"

Kong Jie understood instantly. "So you want to seize this opportunity to take Heshun tonight and capture the enemy's arsenal and logistics depot?"

"Exactly. Heshun is the logistics transit station for the 105th Regiment. Although the Japanese don't have many supplies left there—and our main force has already raided their transport teams several times—there should still be a base or two of ammunition reserves. As long as we take the Heshun arsenal and move quickly to clear it out, both my new recruit platoon and your Independent Regiment will be well-fed and well-armed!"

*More importantly,* Zhang Yun thought to himself, *my Loot Bonus System will allow me to "occupy" the county town and gain a massive amount of supplies.*

"Let's do it," Kong Jie said, slapping the table. "Our Independent Regiment will take this job!"

"How do you plan to attack, Platoon Leader Zhang?"

Seeing Kong Jie so decisive, Zhang Yun replied happily, "Commander Kong, I won't stand on ceremony. I plan to send a squad of 50 men to cover the mortar team as they set up positions on the wall to conduct concentrated shelling on the enemy barracks."

"The bulk of the First Squad and the Second Squad will enter the city from the walls, link up with the scouts, and assemble near the barracks. They will launch their assault on the barracks and headquarters immediately after the artillery bombardment."

"I ask that you lead the Independent Regiment to attack the South Gate from both the wall and the outside. I will have our infantry gun accompany you to blast the gate open, and once you enter, you should push quickly toward the enemy barracks. In addition, the Independent Regiment should arrange for a company to attack the North Gate walls and clear out the enemy garrison there."

"Everyone will complete their troop deployments by 2:30 AM and open fire exactly on time. The transport teams will follow closely behind, using the next two or three hours to empty the enemy's arsenal."

After detailing his plan, Zhang Yun added, "After we occupy the town, you can have some soldiers help tally the captured weapons, ammunition, and supplies. However, the Independent Regiment must immediately redeploy to the south of the city gates to establish a defensive line to prevent the enemy reinforcements from arriving suddenly."

The reason he insisted on the Independent Regiment taking up the exterior defense was that, for the system to verify an "occupation," the battle had to be led by Zhang Yun, and the number of allied troops could not exceed the number of his own soldiers.

Commander Kong pondered for a moment and said, "No problem. This time, our Independent Regiment will help your platoon put on this show. However, the spoils of war must be split fifty-fifty."

"Agreed. I expect we'll mostly be finding weapons and ammunition; the food and supplies were likely looted from the local people by the Japanese, so those will probably need to be returned to the villagers," Zhang Yun replied immediately.

Kong Jie laughed heartily. "Platoon Leader Zhang is a straightforward man. We are short on weapons and ammunition. Taking not a single thread or needle from the people is the policy of the Eighth Route Army, and I, Kong Jie, am not someone who doesn't understand the big picture."

Zhang Yun happily sketched a simple map of the town for Kong Jie and urged, "There are less than seven hours until 2:00 AM. Commander Kong, you should head back and deploy. Let your soldiers get some good rest; we move out around 2:00 AM."

Kong Jie then departed with his guard to make arrangements.

...

Around 2:00 AM, Zhang Yun, Liu Changqing, and the squad leaders woke the soldiers. All the recruits began organizing their gear. Since the town was not far, their bedding, food, and most of the shells were left in the temporary care of the militia. The mortar team, First Squad, Second Squad, and the 400-man transport team followed closely behind Zhang Yun as they marched toward Heshun.

As for the Independent Regiment, Kong Jie had already made his arrangements, and over 300 soldiers had set out.

After converging on a nearby mountain trail, the force of over a thousand men—comprising the recruit platoon, the Independent Regiment, and the transport teams—crept slowly toward the town wall under the moonlight.

Approaching the town, Zhang Yun, guided by his map, had already identified a section of the wall that was easy to breach. He led his team to the base of the wall.

This section of the wall was dilapidated, with much of the surface weathered away. Several palm-width, winding cracks extended from the top to the bottom, and there were signs of climbing around the perimeter—it was clear the locals had discovered this shortcut before.

Vice Platoon Leader Liu Changqing led several veteran soldiers up the cracks. Before long, they had scaled the five-to-six-meter wall and established a perimeter.

Once the area was confirmed secure, the main force passed up four ladders, and everyone quickly climbed over the wall.

Kong Jie took the lead, heading south with a portion of the Independent Regiment, while squad leader Wang Dachuan of the artillery team brought the infantry gun to provide support.

First Battalion Commander Shen Quan personally led over 100 men from the Independent Regiment’s First Company toward the rear gate.

Liu Changqing led a portion of the First and Second Squads—totaling over 200 men, including the platoon’s 13 light machine guns—rapidly through the streets toward the enemy barracks. Under Zhang Yun’s guidance and leadership, the recruit platoon had become highly adept at concentrated firepower tactics, allowing them to quickly suppress enemy fire and break through defensive lines.

Zhang Yun remained on the wall with the mortar team and some of the Second Squad.

Because the enemy barracks were adjacent to the arsenal, Zhang Yun only ordered two mortar teams—led by Wang Chengzhu and Li Tianduo—to attack, to avoid accidentally detonating the arsenal. A third mortar was assigned to support the attack on the North Gate.

Although there was some moonlight, the night was deep, and the barracks were only dimly visible from the wall. However, Zhang Yun had already calculated the distance and elevation difference from the firing position to the barracks using his map.

*The map page truly is a weapon of war,* Zhang Yun thought. *In the future, we will definitely have a massive advantage in artillery duels against the Japanese!*

As Wang Chengzhu and Li Tianduo adjusted their parameters according to the data Zhang Yun provided, the bombardment was ready.

It was now nearly 2:23 AM.

The attack was about to begin!