Chapter 1046 Deputy Commander, there is another unexpected surprise
Japanese Army North China Front Headquarters.
Returning to this place he had not seen for a long time, Okamura Neji was not as happy as he expected, but instead looked solemn.
The Chief of Staff has just calculated all the direct and indirect losses of the North China Front in this great sweep, and they are far greater than he imagined.
In addition to the casualties of more than half of the frontline mopping up troops, a large amount of equipment and ammunition were lost.
The Imperial Army operating in other occupied areas in North China also suffered heavy losses during the Eighth Route Army's counterattack and lost a large amount of territory.
Seeing Okamura Neji staring at the sand table with a pair of incredulous eyes, he didn't say a word for a long time. The chief of staff thought that he didn't believe the data he just reported, so he decisively chose to speak again.
"Your Excellency Commander..."
"The losses of other units of the North China Front were calculated after repeated confirmation by the subordinates. There is absolutely no mistake."
"Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, Hebei...except for the provincial capitals and traffic arteries where heavy troops were stationed were not attacked by the Eighth Route Army, ordinary county towns and strongholds were more or less attacked."
"Especially the last few days before the sweep ends."
"The Eighth Route Army went crazy. They took out all the mountain field artillery and infantry artillery that they had been reluctant to use before, and they became extremely abundant in ammunition. They attacked the county towns and strongholds where the imperial army was stationed as if they were desperate."
"In just three days, we lost 21 county towns, 68 large and small strongholds, more than 16,000 imperial troops, more than 20,000 imperial associate troops, and a large amount of equipment and ammunition."
"Including previous losses, we lost a total of 38 large and small county towns, 119 large and small strongholds, and lost more than 25,000 imperial troops and more than 30,000 imperial alliance troops."
"Only 16,000 people from the frontline mopping up troops successfully withdrew from the Eighth Route Army base area."
"More than 6,000 of them are various artillerymen, and there are less than 10,000 real infantry."
"Even if we replenish all these 10,000 elites to other occupied areas in North China, we will not be able to fill the huge manpower gap facing the North China Front."
The more Okamura Neji listened, the more solemn his face became, and he interrupted on the spot: "No..."
"The more than 10,000 mopping up troops that have been withdrawn from the Eighth Route Army base areas on the front line cannot be transferred away."
"In addition to the troops sent from other occupied areas to quickly return to their respective stations, the remaining infantry immediately stationed at the blockade surrounding the Sixth Army Division in the Wing to continue to isolate the Eighth Route Army from the outside world. They must not be allowed to continue to expand their base areas, otherwise the North China Front Army will
There’s really no way to kill them.”
The chief of staff reminded anxiously: "What about other occupied areas?"
"Without reinforcements, the Eighth Route Army's counterattack will certainly not stop."
"The Eighth Route Army will also be like a snowball, becoming stronger and stronger during the counterattack."
"We cannot lose sight of one thing and endanger other occupied areas in North China in order to blockade the Sixth Army Division in the Wing. Commander, please think twice."
"Ask for reinforcements, weapons, and aircraft from home..." This is the only solution Okamura Neiji can think of.
"I will personally send a telegram to China soon to let the Army Headquarters know the dangerous situation of the North China Front."
"Otherwise they will keep sending new soldiers, weapons and ammunition to the southern battlefield and the Pacific battlefield."
"There is a saying in China that a child who cries is fed by milk. We can no longer just report good news but not bad news as we did before."
"In addition, although our large-scale mopping up of the Yizhong Sixth Army Division failed, the Yizhong Eighth Route Army also suffered very heavy losses and almost lost its combat effectiveness."
"If I didn't have a reserve force on hand, and the situation facing other occupied areas in North China is getting worse and worse, and the two sides continue to fight, I can destroy the Yizhong Eighth Route Army in half a month at most."
"So not only do we need time to renovate, replenish troop shortages, and restore combat effectiveness, but the Eighth Route Army in the Wing also needs it."
"It could be as fast as two or three months, or as slow as half a year. The Yizhong Eighth Route Army will not take the initiative to provoke a war with us."
"The troops encircling the Sixth Army Division in the Wing Center must seize the time to repair the blockade and build the blockade into an iron wall that the Eighth Route Army cannot break."
"When the North China Front has made up for its battle damage and regained its combat effectiveness, we will then rush into the Sixth Army Division of Yi Zhong to catch turtles in the urn."
…………
Divisional Headquarters of the 6th Yizhong Army.
Li Yunlong, who had been away fighting for more than half a month, finally returned.
There was no change in his personality. When he walked into the headquarters, Da Ma Jin Dao sat on the chair and said loudly: "Lao Kong... Xiao Huang..."
"In order to severely injure the little Japs stationed in Longkou Town, I spent all the money of the independent travellers."
"The independent brigade now has nothing to lose. The divisional headquarters cannot be stingy. It must make up for the losses as soon as possible so that the troops can start training as soon as possible and form combat effectiveness."
Huang Yu replied with a smile: "Deputy Commander, please rest assured..."
"The military division has indeed paid a huge price for this raid."
"But we also gained a lot."
"In addition to conventional weapons, ammunition and baggage supplies, there are also some unexpected surprises."
"I think the deputy commander must be very interested."
Li Yunlong had just returned to the base area and was still unclear about the situation, so he immediately asked: "What's the unexpected surprise... Don't betray me, tell me quickly..."
Huang Yu replied with a smile: "Do you still remember how Okamura Neji used iron walls to surround us and sweep us away?"
"The main force attacked our base area, established strongholds, and allowed the puppet troops to lead the people to dig deep trenches and build earthen walls between the strongholds. They trapped us in the base area through blockades one after another, and at the same time compressed our army's living space and forced us to
Come out and fight..."
Huang Yu nodded and continued: "The unexpected surprise is the puppet troops and ordinary people who dug blockade ditches and built blockade walls."
"At the end of the big sweep, in order to reduce losses, Neji Okamura ordered the little Japs on the blockade to march back quickly under the cover of aircraft, leaving the puppet troops and the people alone."
"By the time they reacted, the Japanese troops had already withdrawn from our base area, but the puppet troops and more than 100,000 young men were still inside our base area."
"Without the support of the little devils, the puppet army's combat effectiveness in the field would be almost zero."
"Faced with the mountain artillery and mortars brought by the remaining troops in the base area, they had no fighting courage at all. They all surrendered and became prisoners."
"According to statistics, we captured a total of 8,793 puppet prisoners during this counter-mopping operation."
"The more than 100,000 young men and women used by the Japanese to dig blockade ditches and build blockade walls were divided into several parts."
"More than 20,000 of them are prisoners of war sent from various places by the North China Front Army, more than 60,000 are young men captured by the Japanese in the occupied areas, and the remaining 20,000 or so are ordinary people who support our Eighth Route Army."
"After rescuing them, in addition to the more than 60,000 young men captured by the Japs, more than 30,000 wanted to go home, the more than 6,000 prisoners of war wanted to return to their old army or their hometowns, and the more than 20,000 ordinary people who supported our Eighth Route Army, 5
Six thousand people want to go home, and more than 50,000 people remain in our base area."
"Most of the prisoners of war who decided to stay wanted to join our Eighth Route Army and continue fighting the Japanese."
"Many of the young people captured by the Japs in the occupied areas and the people who support us want to join the Eighth Route Army."
"In total, there are at least 25,000 people..."
"More than 10,000 of them are trained veterans. They can form combat effectiveness after joining the army with a little training."
"If we mobilize more puppet prisoners, we will definitely have three to four thousand new recruits."
