Chapter 468

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

One month later, Guangxi Chongzuo, jungle training ground, a regiment of Youth Expeditionary Army soldiers came here to train.

The climate here was hot and humid, with lush vegetation, completely different from the dry, desolate plains of North China.

The scene on the training ground at this moment gave every visiting senior officer a visual shock.

The original gray-blue and grass-green uniforms of the Youth Army were gone, replaced by a brand-new jungle camouflage smeared with irregular green-brown patches.

This was an extremely advanced equipment attempt even by the standards of the world at that time.

Not only the soldiers, but even the tanks, trucks, and armored vehicles were painted with heavy jungle camouflage, hidden among the bushes.

Lv Muzhi brought Sun Liren, as well as Li Zongren and Yunnan Chairman Long Yun who had come specially, standing on a high watchtower.

"Commander Lu, this is the result of our preliminary training." Sun Liren pointed to the troops conducting jungle infiltration drills below.

The soldiers were all strong and sturdy; those Yunnan and Guangxi soldiers who had joined the Expeditionary Army, after eating Youth Army rations for over a month, were growing stronger day by day.

"According to your requirements, these soldiers can now distinguish every kind of poisonous snake, and can survive for a week on wild fruits without dry rations."

Everyone hearing Sun Liren's words couldn't help but nod, using binoculars to observe the soldiers below.

Below the watchtower, one could see the Youth Expeditionary Army soldiers each holding an M1 Garand or M1 Carbine as their weapon, while a small number of Precision Shooters continued to use bolt-action rifles.

Now Lv Muzhi, relying on the power of the four provinces of North China and the Southwest, began to promote semi-automatic weapons on a large scale in the military, relying on blueprints obtained from the United States to mass-produce semi-automatic weapons.

The light weapons of the Youth Expeditionary Army were more aligned with American equipment, but the helmets still remained true to their original use of German Helmets.

Lv Muzhi looked at the spirited, well-equipped soldiers and nodded.

He turned around and said to Long Yun and Li Zongren, "De Gong, Chairman Yin, the formation of this Expeditionary Army is thanks to your generous assistance."

"Those ten thousand elite soldiers transferred from Yunnan and Guangxi not only solved our manpower shortage, but more importantly, they adapt to the climate of the South Side."

Long Yun laughed hehe, he was relatively obedient to Lv Muzhi.

Lv Muzhi had long been the largest force in the Southwest; although he did not directly control the various provinces of the Southwest, as long as Lv Muzhi's demands were not too excessive, Long Yun had always nodded in agreement.

Li Zongren on the side appeared much more relaxed, he said half-jokingly:

"Wei Yue, you've really spent a lot this time, I can't be vague either."

"The five thousand Guangxi soldiers I sent you are not new recruits, but troops that have fought the Japanese in earnest, all elites, just so you can achieve immediate success!"

Long Yun also said: "The troops I sent out, more than half were directly drawn from Yunnan Army units that had fought on the front lines."

"I and Commander Li agree that if the international transportation line cannot be opened, the whole country will be affected; we cannot let the Youth Army exert itself alone."

Lv Muzhi nodded: "Thank you all, if the southern advance succeeds, there will surely be repayment in the future!"

Li Zongren hadn't thought about any repayment, but just asked: "After the Expeditionary Army goes south, what if the Japanese also send a large army to land in Indochina?"

"Also, you can't pull the entire Youth Army out; by then your domestic strength will be weakened, and I'm afraid both the Japanese and the Old Man will make a move on you!"

Lv Muzhi understood Li Zongren's meaning; the Old Man agreeing to the Youth Expeditionary Army plan indeed had a hint of luring the tiger away from the mountain.

"De Gong, rest assured, I, Lv Muzhi, grasp both domestic and foreign affairs."

"End of October, once the Indochina rainy season passes, twenty thousand Expeditionary Army troops will officially step out of the country, take Hanoi, this key town, and open the transportation line!"

As shown in the figure

The movements of Lv Muzhi's twenty thousand Youth Expeditionary Army troops naturally could not escape the ears and eyes of the Japanese; this intelligence was soon presented to the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters in Tokyo.

Army Minister Hideki Tojo had a grim face; Lv Muzhi was planning to break free from his constraints?

"The negotiations regarding the Soviet Union closing the Northwest Passage were not successful; now Lv Muzhi wants to open the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway and Guangxi-Vietnam Railway; we must stop him!"

"Tell the Vichy French Government that the Germany-Italy-Japan Tripartite Alliance has been established; to protect Japan's interests, the Japanese Army needs to station troops in Indochina!"

A Staff Officer said: "The Vichy French Government and the new Governor-General of French Indochina, De Gu, on the issue of colonial sovereignty, still wanted to maintain the last shred of dignity; he refused to allow the Emperor Chuo Locust Army to be stationed in their colonies."

Governor-General De Gu stated that the French Army and Colonial Army on the colony would block the Xia Guo Army from advancing south; there was no need for the Japanese Army to worry."

Hideki Tojo laughed in anger: "This Governor-General De Gu probably doesn't understand the gap in strength; wanting to block the Youth Army? I don't believe in their strength!"

"We can't wait any longer; we must completely take over French Indochina before the Xia people act; let's give the French a lesson first!"

"Order the newly reorganized Fifth Division to operate with the Navy, land in French Indochina, and have the Japanese Army take over the Lang Son military fortress bordering the Xia Guo!"

September 23, 1940, the thin mist on the coast of Indochina had not yet dissipated when the Japanese fleet, carrying the newly reorganized Fifth Division, landed by force!

Nakamura Akito received only one order: all-out attack, thoroughly beat the local French Army into submission!

The original Fifth Division had already been annihilated by the Youth Army at Huangchuan two years ago, its designation wiped out.

The designation of the current Fifth Division was reactivated, reorganized into a super division, with over thirty thousand troops under its command, commanded by Lieutenant General Nakamura Akito, all to stabilize French Indochina.

"Divide forces into three routes: one attacks Haiphong, one attacks Hanoi, one attacks Lang Son!"

French Indochina was a colony of Vichy France; Vichy France was Hans's puppet; Hans and Japan both belonged to the Axis Powers; logically, the local French Army and Japanese Army should be allies.

But at this moment both sides were fighting fiercely; the Fifth Division showed no mercy, venting all the frustration they had suffered on the Xia Guo Battlefield onto their current ally, the French Army!

Lang Son, as a key military town in northern Vietnam, had few French garrison forces, only one brigade.

The French colonial authorities deployed 5,000 troops in Lang Son, forming the Second Brigade, of which a small part were French troops, and most were recruited local soldiers.

The Fifth Division's cannons bombarded Lang Son wildly; dense shells fell into the French trenches.

French Brigade Commander Manerite panicked amidst the explosions; looking at the dense, earth-yellow figures charging down the distant hillside, he fell into despair.

"The Japanese have gone mad! This is war without declaration!"

【57】 Manerite grabbed the telephone and requested support from Governor-General De Gu in Hanoi.

Manerite picked up the phone and requested support from Governor De Gu in Hanoi.

"Your Excellency the Governor-General, Lang Son cannot hold! The enemy's strength is several times ours; we need support!"

However, the other end of the telephone was equally urgent.

"Brigade Commander, my garrison at Hanoi faces the threat of the Japanese Army directly; I cannot draw a single soldier to support you!"

"For the honor of France, please hold out to the Bottom at Lang Son."

This was a one-sided slaughter without any suspense.

The Japanese Army's tanks advanced quickly, tongues of fire incessantly devouring French Army soldiers who retreated too slowly.

After resisting for less than 48 hours, the officers and men of the French Army's Second Brigade had their Establishment scattered.

Brigade Commander Manerite was directly killed in action by the Japanese Army.

On the very next day after Lang Son fell, Haiphong, Northern Vietnam's most important port, also fell into the hands of the Japanese Army.

The French Army at Haiphong carried out almost no effective resistance before laying down their weapons one after another.

Nakamura Akito stood on a warship, the sea breeze blowing his face, exceptionally high-spirited; he himself was a man who had defeated the "World's Number One Land Army"!

He looked at the supplies piled up like mountains on the Wharf and those dejected French Army prisoners of war, letting out a self-satisfied sigh.

"Before the bayonets of the Great Japanese Empire, Europe's Number One Land Army is nothing more than this."

"On the battlefield of French Indochina, the Fifth Division has finally washed away the shame and attained true rebirth!"

"Rise again, my Fifth Division!"