No one could sleep until the blockade garrison completed its retreat.
Lieutenant General Suzuki stood by the sand table and waited for dawn.
All aviation units that could reinforce the blockade were contacted, and aircraft were dispatched at dawn to patrol the blockade and attack all suspicious targets they found from the sky, in order to deter the Eighth Route Army in the wing and prevent them from daring to act rashly during the day.
The chief of staff's face was full of worry. He always felt that something big would happen to the blockade and the subsequent retreat would not be so smooth.
Looking at the pale sky outside the door, and looking at his watch again, he couldn't help but remind Lieutenant General Suzuki.
"Division Commander..."
"I think the troops on the blockade can retreat..."
"The aviation force can take off for combat in half an hour. Even if some troops are attacked on the way back, the aviation force can arrive on the battlefield in time and provide air cover for the retreating troops."
"Is it necessary to be in such a hurry?" Lieutenant General Suzuki was very dissatisfied with the Chief of Staff's behavior tonight and kept singing the opposite tune, which was too disrespectful to him.
"It's going to be dawn soon. Do you think the Eighth Route Army in Yizhong will risk being bombed by aviation to attack the blockade garrison?"
"At this time, the more important it is to stay calm."
"Wait another half hour..."
"When the sky is completely clear, the troops stationed on the blockade can confidently and boldly evacuate their strongholds, and under the cover of the aviation force, they can rush to the nearest county."
Lieutenant General Suzuki believed that his analysis was very reasonable.
As long as day breaks, the imperial army can dominate the entire battlefield with aviation.
After finishing speaking, there was a proud expression on his face.
But at this moment, the operator suddenly ran towards him, his face serious, and he knew something was wrong at a glance.
The chief of staff had a vague premonition in his heart. He always felt that what he was most worried about had happened, so he quickly asked: "Is there any stronghold that was attacked by the Eighth Route Army?"
"Hai..." The operator nodded quickly, handed the telegram in his hand to the chief of staff, turned around and walked back.
The news he brought was so shocking that if he slapped the division commander hard, it would definitely anger him.
If you stay here for a second longer, you may burn yourself.
The chief of staff glanced at ten lines and read the entire telegram in a few seconds. His face became increasingly ugly and he reported directly to Lieutenant General Mausoleum: "Division Commander..."
"The situation is worse than I imagined..."
"A total of four strongholds were violently attacked by the Eighth Route Army. The troops stationed at the strongholds suffered heavy losses and may not be able to evacuate."
"Nani..." Lieutenant General Suzuki was confused and shouted with disbelief on his face.
"Is the Eighth Route Army crazy?"
"If they attack the stronghold now, aren't they afraid that the battle will continue until dawn and the aviation force will rush to the battlefield to attack them from the air?"
The chief of staff said angrily: "The telegram said that the Eighth Route Army dispatched a large number of siege artillery and mortars."
"I think they were confident that the battle would end before the planes arrived on the battlefield, so they dared to attack our stronghold at this time."
"I suggest that the troops stationed in strongholds that have not been attacked retreat immediately and cannot wait any longer."
"The Eighth Route Army that attacked us tonight has a main force group left, but now only four have come out, and there are still two main groups that have not launched an attack."
"Perhaps they are already making final preparations before the attack."
"It's not too late to retreat now."
"If we don't retreat, there will definitely be two more strongholds that will be attacked, and our losses will be great. Please give us the order quickly, Division Commander."
Lieutenant General Suzuki's face instantly turned red.
I had just promised everyone that the Eighth Route Army would never attack the blockade at this time.
They slapped themselves in the face with four bloody battles to tell themselves that the Eighth Route Army in the Wings was not an ordinary Eighth Route Army.
The chief of staff's reminder was also full of ridicule in the eyes of the division commander.
He kept asking himself to issue a retreat order, saying that the Eighth Route Army in the Wing had a changeable fighting style and was hard to guard against, and absolutely could not give them any opportunity to take advantage of it.
As a result, he insisted on his own opinion and did not listen to the opinions of the chief of staff. As a result, four strongholds were attacked and the troops were lost.
Now that he reminds himself to withdraw his troops, he is clearly telling himself: If he had not listened to him, nothing would have happened.
Emotionally he didn't want to nod, but for the safety of the tens of thousands of troops stationed on the blockade, his rationality told him that he had to nod.
Suppressing the anger that bubbled up in his stomach, he gritted his teeth and ordered: "Then why are you still standing there? Hurry up and give a retreat order to all the troops stationed on the blockade."
"Let them withdraw immediately without waiting for daybreak and aviation support."
The chief of staff returned to the war room less than ten minutes after leaving with a frustrated look on his face. He walked up to Lieutenant General Suzuki and said with a disappointed look on his face: "Division commander..."
"The retreat order was given too late..."
"Two more strongholds were attacked by fierce artillery fire from the Eighth Route Army. The troops suffered heavy casualties and should not be able to withdraw..."
Lieutenant General Suzuki slumped down in his chair, his expression conspiratorial, and he didn't speak for a long time.
…………
Headquarters of the Japanese North China Front in Peiping.
Okamura Neiji was once again driven crazy.
Six to seven thousand troops, half of whom were Japanese, perished on the battlefield because of Lieutenant General Suzuki's experience.
In normal times, the North China Front's loss of 3,000 troops would not even matter to Neji Okamura.
But not now.
When the front army is short of troops, every soldier in hand is a treasure.
In the past, only losses above the regiment level would be reported to the front headquarters as soon as possible.
Up to now, the loss of an infantry squadron must be reported to the headquarters as soon as possible. This is a rule set by Okamura Neiji himself, which shows how weak the North China Front is in terms of strength.
I smashed many vases, teacups, and the Four Treasures of the Study...but it didn't calm the anger that was welling up inside me.
It wasn't until another message from the chief of staff that he calmed down.
"Your Excellency, Commander... there is an urgent domestic call... the second batch of new recruits to supplement us has been shipped and will arrive at the Tianjin pier tomorrow evening at the latest. The military headquarters has asked us to prepare for the response."
Okamura Neiji was worried that there was no place to replenish the thousands of elite imperial troops lost at the Yizhong blockade. The troops defending Baoding and Xiongxian were insufficient, so the country sent a second batch of replenishing troops, which was like giving away pillows while dozing off.
The worried expression on his face disappeared instantly. He took the telegram and read it carefully before starting to issue orders.
"Three thousand people from this batch of supplementary troops were sent to Xiong County, three thousand people were sent to Baoding, and the remaining four thousand people were sent to Taiyuan."
"We must ensure that the three counties surrounding the Eighth Route Army in the wing have enough troops to survive the heavy attack of the Eighth Route Army for more than half a year..."
Kankang Village Neiji finally regained his senses, and his overwhelming anger was suppressed by him. The chief of staff breathed a sigh of relief and accepted the order: "I will make arrangements now..."
"We must let the Yizhong Eighth Route Army fight in front of Baoding and Xiongxian to a bloody head."
