Chapter Eleven: A Visitor from the West! (Requesting Bookshelf and Votes)
“Who says our 1st New Regiment has to stay here and wait for that old devil Sakata Nobutetsu to come knocking?”
“I make the call on how this battle is fought!”
“Huzi!”
“Here!”
“Except for the logistics battalion left to bluff, the rest of the regiment, move out immediately!”
“Objective.”
Li Yunlong fixed his gaze on a spot in the upper left of Changye on the combat map.
“Cangyun Ridge!!!”
...
The New 1st Division’s move to take over Changye naturally drew considerable attention.
Among those watching were visitors from Western countries.
The renowned “Big Summer General” Stilwell, a famous figure in the American military, was no stranger to Summer.
As a veteran who rose to brigadier general from World War I, Stilwell had thoroughly studied Summer’s military strategies and had a profound understanding of Summer and East Asia’s situation.
Because of this, he was later entrusted by the United States with full authority over Summer affairs and even appointed by the Bald One as Chief of Staff of the Summer war zone, responsible for commanding Summer troops in Burma.
Beside Stilwell stood the dashing English general Montgomery, who had rushed from the Indian garrison to witness the battle firsthand.
For them, the clash between the Jin-Sui Army—armed with nearly the best weapons in Summer—and the Japanese Imperial Army was an invaluable real-world case study.
Hence, these two had come all the way from the outset of the Taiyuan Campaign to Shanxi Province.
Although the Japanese still held air superiority, both Stilwell and Montgomery believed the Jin-Sui Army might not necessarily lose.
The reason was simple.
Shanxi was not the coastal city of Shanghai.
The Japanese Navy, no matter how powerful, posed no threat to Summer’s land forces here.
While the Jin-Sui Army’s weaponry was somewhat inferior to the Japanese ground forces, the gap was not significant.
With other Summer units supporting them and the advantage of fighting on home terrain, the Jin-Sui Army held the upper hand in geography.
Stilwell conservatively estimated that this would be a prolonged war of attrition.
However, the actual developments far exceeded their expectations.
In less than two months, the Jin-Sui Army suffered a crushing defeat.
Now, Yan Laoxi only held the cities of Changye, Jincheng, and Linfen.
---
Of course, besides Stilwell and Montgomery, other Western military officers had also come to observe the battle.
But after watching the entire situation and learning of Yan Laoxi’s defensive strategy, many foreign officers shook their heads.
They saw Yan Laoxi’s passive avoidance of battle as a sign that Summer’s downfall was inevitable and chose not to stay any longer, departing immediately.
Stilwell and Montgomery had also planned to leave Summer.
But upon hearing that a unit from Sanqin intended to remain and fight alone, their intense curiosity made them pause.
“Oh my God!” Montgomery took his gaze away from the scope, exclaiming in shock, “Stilwell, did I see that right?”
“A Summer infantry battalion wiped out an equal-sized Japanese force in less than half an hour!”
“They must be incredibly lucky!”
“Absolutely,” Stilwell agreed, also amazed at the fortune of the 1st New Regiment.
The Japanese soldiers had foolishly charged out of their trenches with bayonets fixed, recklessly fighting against Summer soldiers armed with automatic firearms.
That was like throwing themselves off a cliff to die!
From what he understood, this Japanese infantry battalion came from the Sakata Regiment, which had defeated two Summer infantry divisions in World War I.
Under normal circumstances, he believed it would be no problem for that unit to annihilate not just a small Summer battalion but even the entire infantry regiment responsible for the blocking action.
Yet, unexpectedly, it was a small Summer battalion that crushed them.
That luck was truly extraordinary!
However, Stilwell was a thoughtful American.
As he pondered the sequence of events more deeply, he suddenly looked up, disbelief written all over his face.
“Ambirevo! How is this possible?”
Montgomery, drawn by Stilwell’s startled exclamation, asked with concern,
“Stilwell, what’s happened?”
Stilwell then shared his recent reflections with the English friend.
“How can this be?”
Montgomery, a man who had beaten the German Desert Fox Rommel, was no fool.
Calming down and carefully analyzing, he found the facts indeed matched Stilwell’s.
This victory was no mere chance!
“That Summer regimental commander exploited the enemy’s complacency, then used an equally sized force to provoke the Japanese battalion commander, stirring his anger and eagerness to fight.”
“The consequence of such eagerness was unstable defenses and rushed battlefield intelligence gathering.”
---
“Which ultimately led to this series of unexpected coincidences!”
As he spoke, a look of astonishment also crossed Montgomery’s face.
“Who would have thought this Summer regimental commander was so meticulous in his thinking!”
Stilwell nodded in agreement but then sighed,
“Unfortunately, individual brilliance counts for nothing in the face of absolute military superiority.”
“The defeat of the Summer forces in Shanxi is inevitable.”
“All their efforts are in vain.”
Suddenly, a commotion arose from the 1st New Regiment’s position, drawing their attention again.
Squinting through his scope at the movements of part of the 1st New Regiment, Stilwell grew puzzled.
“Are they abandoning their position to fall back to the more fortified defenses outside Changye?”
“That makes sense,” Stilwell nodded to himself. “After losing an infantry battalion, the Sakata Regiment will surely be more cautious and attentive, focusing on intelligence rather than rushing.”
“In that case, hastily built defenses might not withstand the Japanese air bombardment.”
“Better to retreat to the defenses outside Changye and fight alongside other Summer forces.”
Yet, after the earlier analysis, Montgomery sensed the situation was far more complicated.
He fixed his gaze on the direction of the 1st New Regiment’s movements.
Then, a bold idea suddenly surged in his mind.
Could it be?
No, no, no!
That’s too crazy!
“They’re not retreating outside the city!” Montgomery seemed to have guessed the truth. “They’re attacking!”
“That’s right! They’re going on the offensive against the Sakata Regiment!”
Excited, he continued,
“After receiving news of the vanguard’s defeat, the Sakata Regiment won’t rush like before but will prioritize intelligence gathering.”
“This gives the Summer forces enough time to act.”
“Moreover, since the vanguard had scouted the route, the Sakata Regiment will naturally assume their path is safe.”