When Peng Jun saw Zhou Cheng and Chen Zhong again, the man who was almost thirty years old almost cried.

The battle in the village was too tragic, especially Major Kato's final attack.

After the Japanese army completely retreated, there were only 43 soldiers left in the village who could breathe. The seriously injured and the guard platoon directly under the battalion headquarters were reduced. There were only 28 people left in the 12th Company with nearly 200 people, including himself and the deputy company commander.

Two of the four platoon leaders were killed in battle, one was seriously injured, and more than a dozen squad leaders were all sacrificed. This cost is very high...

Zhou Cheng patted Peng Jun on the shoulder and said, "Company Commander Peng, the 12th Company and the guard platoon are fighting very well!"

"You only took less than three hours to kill three Japanese squadrons. Your battalion commander and I could see clearly that there were no more than 200 Japanese soldiers who escaped from the village, which means that every soldier in the village killed had defeated at least three Japanese soldiers!"

Zhou Cheng's affirmation made Peng Jun feel much better, and he immediately expressed his thoughts: "Captain, I want soldiers. Please ask the regiment headquarters to add new recruits to the 12th Company as soon as possible. I will take them to continue killing the Japanese and avenge the sacrificed soldiers!"

Zhou Cheng was very pleased after hearing this, and turned his head to order Chen Zhong: "Battleman Commander Chen, I will leave the matter of replenishing new recruits to you. In addition to the new recruits, I will contact Deputy Commander Tang to draw 30 seriously injured veterans from the field hospital to supplement the 12th Company."

"In addition, starting today, Peng Jun will not only continue to serve as the company commander of the 12th Company, but also serve as the deputy battalion commander of the Fourth Battalion!"

Chen Zhong was very happy. Compared with the hundreds of new recruits sent by the recruit battalion, the dozens of veterans who had recovered seriously injured by the regiment commander promised were definitely priceless treasures.

With them joining, the 12th Company's shelf can be built immediately, and more than 100 new recruits who have completed the training of recruits can be initially formed by integrating training for up to ten days.

Zhou Cheng continued to speak: "Reduce the losses you just had in Liujiazhuang, and the Japanese army attacking you were already weak and there were not many troops."

"I decided to leave tonight, and you will be in charge of the rest of the war."

"No matter how many Japanese can be eliminated in the end, we must protect the people in the defense zone, and then we will hold back the Japanese and be ready to launch a counterattack against the Japanese army at any time!"

The Japanese army's front command center was pacified. The arrival of night not only did not calm down here, but instead became more lively than during the day.

Because at this time, the fourth-root sweeping troops would summarize their latest battle situation here as the basis for the brigade commander Major General Honda to issue combat orders the next day.

Just after eight o'clock, the first telegram appeared in the hands of the Chief of Staff.

After a brief browsing, he found nothing wrong and walked directly to Honda to report: "General, the battle report of the first sweep troops has been here..."

"Their attacks were very smooth today. On the march, they were thirteen raids from the National Salvation Army. They were attacked four times at night last night, and no major accidents occurred. A total of 156 imperial troops were injured, of which 99 were killed in battle, 21 seriously injured, and others were slightly injured!"

"According to the combat plan, they arrived at the campsite tonight at 4 pm and are currently resting!"

After hearing this, Honda's expression was very calm. He thought for a while and asked: "How many people are left in them? Are there any losses in heavy equipment?"

The Chief of Staff immediately drew another document: "When the troops were divided, there were 2,500 people in the first sweep troops, which reduced the number of deaths and serious injuries. Now there are 1,700 people left to continue fighting."

"Half of the losses came from the cold guns, cold artillery and night attacks of the National Salvation Army, and the other half of the losses were caused by their attack on the National Salvation Army's blocking positions on the first day."

"The heavy weapon only loses two mortars and three heavy machine guns, which hardly affects the combat effectiveness of the troops!"

"Yo Xi!" Major General Honda finally showed a satisfied smile on his calm face: "Call them back: Let them continue to fight steadily in the next battle, compress the survival space of the National Rescue Army bit by bit according to the combat plan, and finally gather and annihilate it."

The Chief of Staff returned to Major General Honda less than half an hour after leaving. Compared to just now, his face was obviously more serious.

"General, the battle report of the second sweeping troops has arrived..."

"When they attacked today, they were attacked by the National Savior Army, losing nearly two infantry squadrons. In addition to the losses in the previous two days, the troops were only more than 1,500 people left!"

Major General Honda was stunned and asked incrediblely: "A blocking battle will cost two infantry squadrons. What are the artillery in their hands for? Don't you know how to use shells to bomb?"

"If the shells can't solve the National Salvation Army that blocked them, don't they know how to call for air support?"

The Chief of Staff quickly explained: "The war report said that they bombed with guns and fired more than 600 shells into the blocking positions of the National Salvation Army, almost razing their positions to the ground."

"But the National Salvation Army is too cunning. They hid behind the blocking position to avoid our shelling. When the attacking troops were about to occupy the position, they suddenly rushed out and fought with our troops on the position!"

"The war report also said that the National Salvation Army used a weapon they had never seen before in the battle against bayonets. It looked like a gun but not like a gun, like a cannon but not like a cannon. It was held in the hands of the National Salvation Army. It neither fired bullets nor shells, but fired iron pillars three or four millimeters in size, and shot dozens of iron pillars with one shot."

"Our soldiers were knocked down by this new weapon before they could even contact them. They suffered heavy casualties, and finally suffered a great loss when fighting for the bayonet!"

Major General Honda frowned and scolded: "This is not a new weapon, it is clearly the earth gun that had appeared on the battlefield a few days ago."

"The National Salvation Army has slightly modified it, thickened the barrel and shortened it, changed the black gunpowder to launch medicine, and changed the iron sand to marbles to kill us at close range."

"We have reminded them before and told them about the shortcomings of this kind of musket. Why do we still suffer such a big loss!"

The Chief of Staff did not know how to respond next.

The Brigade Command did send this telegram, but the mobilization troops still suffered a loss on this issue, that is, the front-line commander's problem.

After the brigade commander finished scolding, he asked in a low voice: "Then why do we call them back?"

Major General Honda was very dissatisfied with the order: "Send them another telegram about muskets to remind them not to fall on this issue again. The troops will continue to act according to the combat plan tomorrow, and they must not advance alone!"

The battle report of the third route sweeping troops eased the depressed atmosphere in the war room a lot.

Their battle report is similar to the first-row sweeping troops. Except for the fact that they paid a considerable price on the first day of sweeping, they were only attacked by the National Salvation Army guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare for the rest of the days, with very small casualties.

But the good mood lasted less than ten minutes and was broken by the battle report of the Fourth Route Sweeping Force.

The chief of staff walked to Major General Honda with a serious expression, hesitated for several seconds before he reported: "General, the loss of the Fourth Route Sweeping Force is a bit huge!"

"They fought a street battle with the National Salvation Army at the camp site tonight, and the troops suffered heavy losses."

"At almost five o'clock in the afternoon, a large number of national rescue troops suddenly appeared around the battlefield, as if they were going to encircle and annihilate them in Liujiazhuang."

"Captain Hamazaki's regiment felt that he had been fooled. Liujiazhuang was a bait prepared by the National Salvation Army for them. He killed them in large quantities through street fighting, and then dispatched heavy troops to annihilate them."

"In order to prevent the troops from encountering unexpected problems, they voluntarily evacuated the battlefield and are currently stationed on a high ground three kilometers away from Liujiazhuang."

Major General Honda's brows were once again twisted into a big river: "The sweeping troops and the National Salvation Army were besieged by a large number of National Salvation Army during the street fighting in Liujiazhuang. Does this mean that the National Salvation Army that is active around them have other troops in addition to the Fourth Battalion!"

The Chief of Staff nodded: "This is what the battle report says!"

The corps captain continued to analyze: "The National Salvation Army has a total of four main battalions, which were attacked by our sweeping troops all the way, so there is definitely no chance to mobilize. The National Salvation Army that appeared around the Fourth Salvation Army is likely to be all the mobile units they can take, such as the Cavalry Company, the Special Service Company, the Guard Company, the Artillery Battalion...!"

"Then the National Salvation Army must have wanted to find a breakthrough in the Fourth Route Sweeping Force and smash our sweeping against them!"

"We must not let the conspiracy of the National Salvation Army succeed."

"After the battle in Liujiazhuang, how many troops are left in the fourth sweeping force!"

The wing captain asked the most critical question.

After hearing this, the Chief of Staff smiled bitterly, and hesitated for a while before he reported: "They lost three fully-organized infantry squadrons in the street fighting in Liujiazhuang, and a captain died in battle!"

"So great loss?" Major General Honda was frightened.

Staring at the Chief of Staff, he continued to ask: "How many troops do they have left?"

"Not nine hundred people, but the combat troops are left... one infantry squadron..." the chief of staff replied hesitantly.

"The remaining troops are artillery, baggage, engineers..."

Major General Honda was angry when he heard this, and he was angry and cursed without hesitation: "How did Hamasaki command the Bageya Road? He wiped out all the two infantry brigades in just a few days. It was simply a shame for the Imperial Army of the Great Japanese Empire!"

After he finished scolding, he began to issue an order: "There are too few infantry squadrons. If the mobile troops of the National Salvation Army are all there, this squadron will not be enough for them to get stuck in their teeth."

"Chief of Staff, immediately order the Honda Wing to stay behind the three infantry squadrons in Pingding County to march and reinforce the battlefield to ensure that the Fourth Route Sweeping Force has a large brigade of combat troops and will not give the National Rescue Army any opportunity to take advantage of!"

The Chief of Staff did not act immediately and hesitated for a moment to remind him: "General think twice."

"As soon as these three infantry squadrons left, there will be only one guard brigade and one guard squadron left in Pingding City. What if it is attacked?"

Major General Honda snorted coldly and asked, "Do you think the National Salvation Army has more than 100 troops to attack us?"

The Chief of Staff continued to remind: "Based on the intelligence, the Eighth Route Army that had at least one battalion of the Eighth Route Army was pacified. What if they took the opportunity to attack us in order to support the national rescue army?"

Major General Honda immediately showed a murderous expression: "If they dare to come, I will kill them!"
Chapter completed!