Bright Sword: Let my company hold off the Yamazaki Battalion

Chapter 33 Divine Soldiers Descend from the Sky! Their Army Approaches Xiaoxishan Railway Station!

"Snapped!"

The crisp sound of a slap echoed through the empty camp. Zeng Niu slapped himself hard, his cheek instantly swelling and turning red. The pain on his face couldn't suppress the resentment and regret in his heart: "Disgraceful! Absolutely damn shameful!"

Luo Yifei remained silent and made no attempt to stop them. He simply squatted on a large rock, his brows furrowed, a cigarette dangling from his lips, sparks flickering in the twilight, his gaze fixed on the direction the main group had departed.

The two remained frozen in place, neither moving.

Suddenly, the sound of rapid hoofbeats approached from afar, breaking the deathly silence of the camp.

The two men turned around abruptly. In the afterglow of the setting sun, Minister Zhang Wanhe led a troop of cavalry galloping towards them, kicking up clouds of dust.

"Whoosh!"

The two men dared not be negligent in the slightest; they practically sprang to their feet, chests out, and saluted in unison, "Minister!"

Minister Zhang sat on horseback without saying a word, but looked down at them for a full five or six seconds. His eyes held a mixture of disappointment, heartache, and anger.

Minister Zhang's gaze made the two men somewhat flustered. They wanted to ask but dared not speak, and they dared not lower their salutes.

"Your arms must be sore from holding them up like that?" Finally, Minister Zhang's voice rang out: "But the soreness is better than the heartache of being humiliated!"

"I went to great lengths to find you Commander Chu Feng, so that you could fight the Japanese, earn merits, and lead a formidable force."

"What? Did you do something meritorious? Or become heroes? Why are you making such a grand entrance?"

"The guard regiment is a force to fight the Japanese, not a pampered, spoiled bunch."

"You're slacking off in training, what? What have you accomplished that you think you can just lie on your laurels and wait to die?"

"No matter how much you've accomplished, can you compare to Chu Feng?"

"If Chu Feng weren't the commander, and it weren't for the fact that I wasn't in a position to interfere, I would have dismissed you all and sent you to a clothing factory to do embroidery!"

"Go back! Write a 3,000-word self-criticism! Hand it to him when Chu Feng returns, and read it aloud in front of the entire regiment."

As soon as he finished speaking, Minister Zhang pulled on the reins and shouted, "Giddy up!" Ignoring the two men, he led the cavalry unit and galloped away into the distance.

Minister Zhang was very angry, but he wouldn't go out of his way to come and yell at people. He was just passing by and took the opportunity to give these two good-for-nothings a warning.

The camp returned to silence, but this time, even the air felt oppressive. The two stood there for a long time before stiffly returning to their quarters. That night, they tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Chu Feng, who was leading his troops away, was unaware of this scene at the regimental headquarters.

At this moment, Chu Feng was leading his troops on a forced march through the night. At 11 p.m., they finally arrived at Zhangmo Village and joined forces with the troops drawn from various companies and platoons.

While other units rested on the spot, the Second Company did not.

After a quick bite of dry rations and less than three hours of rest, they set off again. Chu Feng appointed them as the vanguard company of the entire regiment, and they headed ahead of everyone else towards Xiaoxishan Railway Station.

The main force was stationed in Zhangmo Village. They broke camp at dawn the next day and finally arrived at a secluded mountain valley three kilometers from Xiaoxishan Railway Station at around 3 p.m., where they met up with the Second Company, which had arrived earlier.

"Commander!" Second Company Commander Zhang Mierui strode forward and saluted crisply.

Chu Feng returned the greeting and cut to the chase: "How is the situation?"

"Everything is normal! The Japanese and puppet troops at the train station are the same as we scouted before, there's no unusual activity!" Zhang Mierri grinned, his tone relaxed.

"Good!" Chu Feng breathed a sigh of relief, a hint of a smile flashing in his eyes. For him, no change was the best news.

He didn't have time to eat during the troops' rest period, and didn't dare to delay at all. He immediately called out to the company commanders, "Company commanders, come with me. Let's go to Xiaoxishan Railway Station first."

A dozen minutes later, on the ridge south of Xiaoxishan Railway Station, Chu Feng and several company commanders lay prone in the grass, their bodies pressed very low.

He raised his binoculars, his gaze sweeping back and forth across the train station.

The two fixed firing points on the left and right, and the machine gun positions on the hillside behind are the key areas to observe.

Next, we carefully inspected the Japanese and puppet troops' dormitories, various buildings, and areas that might be blind spots for enemy fire.

During this time, he whispered the details of the attack to Zhang Mierui and Zhao Quanyou, his voice very low but every word clear.

Just as they were finalizing the details, the Japanese and puppet troops at the train station were also busy. At that very moment, a train bound for Taiyuan was stopped at the station for rest, waiting to give way to an oncoming train.

Six or seven minutes later, a train from Taiyuan rattled past the platform and sped eastward.

After the train left, the Japanese soldiers inside the station started shouting, and the puppet troops followed suit.

Although it was hard to hear clearly from a distance, judging from their flustered movements, it was obvious that the train was about to depart.

Sure enough, a short while later, the train inside the station started moving, rattling away from the station and disappearing into the twilight.

As soon as the train left, the once bustling train station fell silent. Japanese and puppet troops gathered in twos and threes to smoke and chat, some even leaning against the wall to doze off, completely losing their vigilance.

Chu Feng couldn't help but smirk slightly upon seeing this.

"No problem, let's go!"

After observing for a while and finding no problems, he put down the binoculars, made a hand gesture, and led everyone to quietly descend the ridge and head straight for the designated hilltop where the 37mm rapid-fire cannon produced by the Japanese was to be placed.

Having just reached the top of the hill, he surveyed his surroundings, then raised his binoculars and nodded in satisfaction: "Great spot!"

"The straight-line distance is just within the effective range of the rapid-fire cannon, and the field of vision is unobstructed."

As he spoke, he pointed to the machine gun emplacement behind Xiaoxishan Railway Station: "Once the battle begins, we only need to test-fire one shot to adjust the parameters, and two shots will be enough to accurately destroy the target!"

He paused, then added, "The forests are dense and provide ample cover; even if the Japanese used binoculars, they might not be able to find this place!"

Zhang Dongyi, the deputy company commander of the artillery company, had also surveyed the terrain and chimed in, "The regimental commander is right! Not only can the rapid-fire guns be placed here, but our entire artillery position can be set up here!"

"This place is perfect. The entire Xiaoxishan Railway Station will be within the artillery's range. Even if reinforcements arrive from the east and west, we can detect them immediately and quickly provide artillery support to the First Company!"

The others nodded in agreement, expressing their satisfaction with the place.

"It's settled then!" Chu Feng stamped his foot, his tone decisive. "The artillery positions will be set up here. Begin constructing fortifications immediately!"

After the on-site reconnaissance was completed, Chu Feng left the Second Company behind to continue surveillance, while he led the others back to the mountain valley.

At this moment, the soldiers in the ravine were eating dry rations and drinking cold water. No one lit a fire, for fear that the smoke would give away their position.

Chu Feng ate something simple and then gathered the company commanders around the battle map, repeatedly scrutinizing the details of the attack. Everyone waited silently, and the only sound in the valley was the chewing of dry rations.

Time passed slowly, and the General Logistics Department's supply troops arrived, replenishing the troops with ammunition and dry rations.

Finally, the sun set, and 5:30 arrived precisely on time.

Chu Feng abruptly waved his hand, his voice deep yet carrying an undeniable authority: "Let's go!"