Regardless of whether the chief of staff reacted or not, Okamura Neiji directly ordered in a firm tone: "Send a telegram to the attacking troops immediately..."
"Let them divide their forces immediately and carry out sabotage missions."
"Unless there is an emergency, there is no need to send a telegram to the headquarters for instructions during general combat operations. This would waste too much time."
"As long as they can cause maximum damage to the Eighth Route Army base in Yizhong in the shortest time, they will have completed their mission."
"After the troops are divided, they must be on guard."
"The main purpose is to destroy the base area of the Eighth Route Army in Yizhong, and the second is to engage in a decisive battle with the Eighth Route Army in Yizhong."
"I will never fight against them unless I have to..."
"The more serious the damage they cause in the Yizhong base area, the safer Shijiazhuang will be."
…………
The only regiment is blocking the position, and the fifth regiment, which has just finished the battle, is seizing the time to repair the fortifications and prepare to face the next wave of Japanese attacks.
The two regiment leaders gathered together to observe the enemy's situation and discuss the next battle.
But at this moment, an accident happened.
More than 200 little Japanese who were blocked more than 300 meters in front of the blocking position suddenly started to retreat.
This action confused the two regiment commanders, wondering what the Japanese army was up to.
"Captain, the kid seems to be trying to escape..." the chief of staff beside him suddenly reminded.
"Don't they plan to continue attacking in the east and west to reinforce Shijiazhuang?" the leader of the fifth regiment frowned and asked to himself.
The leader of the Duyi Regiment shook his head and replied: "No... they didn't retreat, they seemed to be dividing their forces..."
"Divide the troops..." The commander of the fifth regiment frowned and observed every move of the Japanese army. His mind was full of questions. He couldn't help but said to himself: "A full infantry brigade cannot break through our blocking position. Is it possible that the Japanese army can count on it?"
After they divide their forces, they can break through our blocking position."
There was no specific information coming back from the front line, and they could only see a rough idea through the telescope. Everything so far was just speculation and analysis by the two regiment leaders.
But the two people clearly felt that there was an unknown conspiracy behind the Japanese army's division of troops, but they didn't know it yet.
While observing, I hope that the reconnaissance force will soon bring back the latest news about the Japanese troops in front of the battle.
Determine whether they are really dividing their forces, or whether they are deliberately creating an illusion to confuse themselves and make them relax their vigilance.
"Captain..." The two waited for less than ten minutes before a reconnaissance platoon leader entered the position from the flank of the battlefield, bent down, and quickly rushed along the trench in front of the two men.
"The little devils are dividing their troops..."
"Take infantry squadrons as units, each squadron strengthens two to three heavy machine guns and one to two mortars, and scatters in all directions. The purpose is unknown."
"I have arranged for scouts to keep an eye on them. If there is any news, I will report back as soon as possible."
"Did all the little Japs divide their forces and leave, or only some of them?" The commander of the fifth regiment felt more and more something was wrong as he listened. He stared at the scout and asked anxiously.
"They all split up and left..." the reconnaissance platoon leader replied immediately.
"When I came back to report, there were only two or three reinforcement squadrons left in front of the blocking position, and they were also preparing to set off. There was not a single Japs in front of us..."
The commander of the fifth regiment's eyes lit up after hearing this. He turned to look at the commander of the only regiment: "No matter what conspiracy the Japanese army has, what is the real purpose of dividing the troops."
"As long as we kill them, these little devils will no longer threaten our safety."
"They dispersed their operations in reinforced squadron units, which just created good opportunities for us to defeat them."
"I suggest that we immediately divide our forces into battalions and bring enough mortars and heavy machine guns. If we encounter a reinforced Japanese squadron, we can kill one."
"In the words of Deputy Chief of Staff Huang, only the little Japs who are beaten to death are good Japs."
The leader of the Duyi Regiment immediately nodded: "I agree to do it."
"No matter what conspiracy the Japanese army is playing, if we kill them, no conspiracy will threaten the security of our base area."
"The only regiment can just be reduced into a battalion. I will personally command it. We will also divide our troops and take action. If we catch a strengthened squadron, we will annihilate each one."
"Da da da... bang bang bang..."
Just as the commander of the fifth regiment was about to nod and give an order, a burst of harsh gunfire suddenly came from a few kilometers away.
I was shocked and immediately said: "The gunfire came from due east of us, about three kilometers away."
"Guard, spread out the map immediately... and see if there are any of our troops there 6"
The leader of the only regiment knew the surrounding terrain very well. Before the guard spread out the map, he frowned and answered: "There is a village three kilometers due east of us. The gunfire must have come from that village."
"Although there is a guerrilla group in the village, there are only five or six of them. They are equipped with two long guns and three short guns, and they don't have many bullets."
"Is it possible that the little devils' goal after dividing their troops was the common people in the base area?"
"I want to capture people and use them as human shields, so that ordinary people can stand in their way and continue to attack us..."
The commander of the fifth regiment's face suddenly darkened.
If the little devil really planned to do this, then his dream of taking advantage of his firepower and annihilating the remaining Japanese troops at the minimum cost would not be realized, so he quickly ordered: "Go and find out immediately..."
"By the way, notify other villages around the battlefield and ask the guerrillas and local troops to immediately organize the transfer of the people. They must not be captured by the Japanese army."
"If any ordinary people fall into the hands of the Japanese army, then the next battle will be a head-on bayonet fight with them."
"Otherwise, the people captured by the Japanese army will die in the hands of our Eighth Route Army."
"Our Eighth Route Army is an army of ordinary people. We cannot point our guns at our own people no matter what."
Not long after the correspondent left, the two regiment leaders saw a scout rushing towards them like crazy, with an expression of anger and pain on his face. Before he could stand still, he said with pain on his face: "Captain... it's so miserable.
…”
"The little devil is simply a beast, a beast inferior to a pig or a dog..."
A bad premonition quickly occurred in the head of the fifth regiment leader. He stared at the correspondent with a guilty look on his face and asked: "The little devil killed someone in the village..."
The scout gritted his teeth and replied: "It's not killing people... it's killing villages."
"A reinforced squadron of soldiers marched into the village in groups and opened fire on the people they saw."
"The elderly, children, women...all will not be spared..."
"While killing people and setting fires at the same time, more than 200 people in the village were killed in less than ten minutes, and the entire village was covered in fire..."
"Please captain, please send troops to catch up with them immediately, kill them, and avenge the tragic deaths of the villagers just now..."
The commander of the fifth regiment and the commander of the only regiment were both stunned.
They considered many tactics that the Japanese army might adopt, including capturing civilians as human shields. However, they never thought that the Japanese army would kill a large number of people within the base area, massacre villages, and set fires...
