The 17th Regiment of the Eighth Route Army was infiltrated, raided, and assassinated by a small group of elite Japanese combat troops.

Like a beginning.

This was the beginning of a small group of Japanese elite combat troops attacking and killing Eighth Route Army cadres in the Eighth Route Army base area.

The attack on the 17th Regiment was not an isolated incident.

Soon, first the 17th Regiment, then the surrounding 18th Regiment, the 57th Regiment, including the 5th Regiment, the 6th Regiment, the 7th Regiment, and even the 771st Regiment and 772nd Regiment, all suffered attacks one after another.

To the Japanese sniper's sneak attack.

During the spring sweeps not long ago, the Japanese did not have a sniper team similar to the one in front of them. Instead, they had their special marksmen hiding in the tree canopy with sniper rifles and sniping until death.

Later, the independent regiment used sniper group tactics to teach the little devil a lesson.

After suffering painful casualties, Yamamoto Kazuki suggested to the Japanese commander Yoshio Shinozuka of Taiyuan City to learn from the Eighth Route Army and establish a sniper team of the Imperial Army.

Then there is the Japanese sniper team that has penetrated into the Eighth Route Army's home base.

After the 17th Regiment was attacked first, Captain Jiang of the 17th Regiment realized that this group of Japs might not be targeting the 17th Regiment alone, so he immediately passed the news to surrounding regiments.

Kong Jie only received the news one day later.

The reason is that a situation similar to the one in which the 17th Regiment was attacked by Japanese snipers and a small group of elite combat troops has never happened around the base area of ​​the Independent Regiment.

Kong Jie pays special attention to the defense of the village and the military awareness of the villagers.

There has been no shortage of efforts in the defense construction of the village and the education of villagers' military awareness.

The effect is naturally remarkable. It is no exaggeration to say that the villagers in the villages around the Independent Regiment, from the elderly to the children, are all very well aware of military precautions.

As long as a strange face appears and someone asks about the whereabouts of the Eighth Route Army, the villagers will immediately be on alert and first treat the person as "a possible Japanese spy".

How amazing is the specific effect?

Even the Japs in the advance team specially trained by Yoshio Shinozuka.

Although he speaks fluent Chinese, he is also very familiar with many local customs in China.

However, he was also secretly noticed by the villagers many times in the villages around the independent Tuangendi.

The situation was better, but they couldn't get any useful information from the villagers, so they had no choice but to evacuate.

Those in worse condition were directly wiped out by the Japanese troops who came after hearing the news (the villagers deliberately tipped off the enemy and asked the Japanese to attack the Japanese) and the Eighth Route Army.

Therefore, the advance team and plainclothes team led by Yamamoto have not made any substantial progress in penetrating the independent regiment's base area.

As for the sniping and sneak attack methods shown by the Japanese in the 17th Regiment.

Kong Jie had already received the intelligence and reported it to the brigade headquarters, which informed the headquarters of each regiment to take counter-sniper precautions at any time.

It's just that in Kong Jie's description, the rather sensational Japanese sniper never appeared.

As time passed, the surrounding troops relaxed their vigilance.

It was only now that the Seventeenth Regiment suffered the first loss, and all the regiments quickly took action.

There are losses.

Kazuki Yamamoto is quite capable, especially in assassination.

Although the Eighth Route Army units in the base area quickly launched counter-sniper operations, the infiltration troops led by Yamamoto still caused considerable casualties to the Eighth Route Army units in the Taihang base area.

In less than three days, various units of the Eighth Route Army lost more than ten cadres in better conditions, and even dozens of cadres in worse conditions (here refers to platoon leaders and military commanders above).

Until each regiment launched a counter-sniper operation on the one hand, and on the other hand began a comprehensive search around the base area.

Although the Japs in the infiltration force led by Yamamoto are all elite, they are small in number and cannot withstand the encirclement and suppression of such a large formation by the Eighth Route Army. It is also difficult to avoid casualties.

By the fourth day, Yamamoto realized that it was no longer realistic to continue carrying out assassinations and infiltrations around the Eighth Route Army base area.

In order to avoid casualties among his own elite troops, Yamamoto ordered the advance teams, plainclothes teams, traitor agents, etc. from all parties to withdraw from the Eighth Route Army base area.

The contest between the two sides has temporarily come to an end.

……

Taiyuan City, the headquarters of the Japanese First Army in Shanxi.

The Japanese deputy chief of staff, Nobujun Kawakubo, finally had a smile on his face.

He thinks his tactical adjustments are quite good.

Persimmon picked out the soft ones first and let Yamamoto lead the infiltration team to change the attack target, and it really worked.

Although Yamamoto's infiltration troops also suffered some casualties, compared to the results achieved, killing hundreds of Eighth Route Army cadres, this was undoubtedly a victory.

To this end, Nobutoshi Kawakubo sent an order to Yamamoto to temporarily rest and recuperate in Yangquan. After finding an opportunity, he would continue to carry out sneak attacks against other units of the Eighth Route Army.

……

……

The sneak attack by the infiltration troops led by Yamamoto failed to prevent the external attacks and expansion of the Eighth Route Army units around the Taihang base area.

The battle in which the Independent Regiment easily captured Ping'an County seems to continue to stimulate the nerves of the commanders of the Eighth Route Army regiments.

The number of guerrilla warfare increased rapidly, and ambush warfare began to appear, and even proactive offensive battles began.

The situation is getting worse.

The brigade headquarters, brigade commander, political commissar, and chief of staff also quickly discovered the situation.

"It seems that it was stimulated by the independent group."

The chief of staff analyzed the incident.

The political commissar said: "Yes, a few days ago, the Independent Regiment, the New First Regiment and the New Second Regiment used the encirclement point to mobilize reinforcements and won a great victory. Kong Jie once again captured Ping'an County in one fell swoop."

"After the Japanese spring sweep ended, the Japanese strengthened the military blockade of our Taihang base area, and the life of each regiment was difficult. Seeing the independent regiment win the battle and make seizures, if his regiment commander is not jealous, then

That’s the weird thing.”

However, the brigade commander couldn't be happy at all, and said with a headache: "Logically speaking, the independent regiment's capture of Ping'an County this time has encouraged the morale of the three armies and stimulated the commanders of each regiment to actively fight against Japan. This is originally a good thing."

"We are all the commanders of our brigade. I will not favor any commander. Kong Jie, Li Yunlong, and Ding Wei are making trouble, but to be honest, these three comrades are really capable, and sometimes they are annoying.

The head is a thorn head, but you can get results."

"At the moment when the whole nation is fighting against Japan, what is capability? If you can fight the Japanese, develop troops, acquire equipment, and seize weapons, then that is capability."

"If any of their regiment leaders really had this ability, he would just poke a hole in the sky, and I would still patch it up for him."

Having said this, the brigade commander sighed, "But what about now? The situation is not ideal."

"The combat effectiveness of each regiment is different, and the firepower configuration within the regiment is different. Not every regiment can easily capture a county like Kong Jie's independent regiment."

"Recently, various regiments have taken the initiative to attack strongholds, villages, and even villages and towns. They have fought many tough battles. However, in the end, nine out of ten were defeated. Equipment and supplies were not recovered. The troops also suffered a lot of casualties and ammunition consumption.

It’s even more pessimistic. What kind of words does this sound like?”

"Political Commissar, it seems that we really got it right. Stimulated by Kong Jie's capture of Ping'an County, all the regiment leaders couldn't sit still. However, this is clearly an attempt to paint a tiger instead of a dog, and has not learned the essence at all.

”

"What the Independent Regiment fights is to win battles and capture things, not to fight tough battles that will only waste ammunition and increase casualties."

The chief of staff said: "Brigadier Commander, the situation cannot continue, otherwise it will only get worse. I suggest that you immediately order all regiments to stop taking the initiative to attack and try to avoid fortified operations."

The political commissar shook his head and said: "I'm afraid this is inappropriate. We all know the tempers of the leaders of our brigade, and no one will obey anyone else."

"No one is willing to admit that they can't fight a tough battle like the independent regiment. Now they are directly ordered to stop fighting. Although the regiment commanders will obey the order, they are definitely not convinced."

The brigade commander agreed: "This is where the headache lies."

"As higher-level commanders, we have to balance this bowl of water, and we cannot be partial to anyone."

"If fighting is allowed, then all regiments must be allowed to fight. If all regiments are ordered to stand still, then no one can be an exception."

"Right now, we don't have to worry about Kong Jie's independent regiment, Ding Wei's new regiment, and Li Yunlong's new second regiment."

"These three brats, even if we order the regiments to stand still, they will probably make some small moves for me in private."

"But if the brigade headquarters directly delegates power, then you also know the current situation of other regiment commanders' critical operations, and they are not optimistic."

The chief of staff and political commissar all smiled bitterly, this is indeed an inextricable knot.

The brigade headquarters can never say to other regiment leaders:

Because your regiment does not have the capabilities of other independent regiments, the new first regiment, and the new second regiment, so the three regiments of the Iron Triangle can freely fight against Japan, but your other regiments have to stand still, right?

While he was melancholy, the brigade commander suddenly laughed.

The political commissar asked: "Brigadier, do you have an idea?"

The brigade commander said: "Speaking of this problem, it is easy to solve it. To untie the bell, you need someone to tie it."

At this point, regardless of the doubts of the political commissar and chief of staff, the brigade commander immediately ordered the correspondent: "Independent Communications Corps, have Kong Jie report to the brigade headquarters immediately."

"Yes!"

……

The order from the brigade headquarters came so urgently that Kong Jie didn't understand what was going on, but he still worked hard and rushed to the brigade headquarters that afternoon.
To be continued...