A very embarrassed man rushed into the war room, his face was pale, and his body was covered with yellow dragons. Before he could stand still, he reported in a frightened tone: "Your Excellency, Commander..."
"We were fooled..."
"The Eighth Route Army that was fighting with us in street fighting in the city did not completely retreat... There are still a large number of rear-guard troops left..."
Major General Fujita did not realize the seriousness of the problem, and replied with a matter-of-fact expression: "I never said that the Eighth Route Army had withdrawn all the street fighting troops in the city!"
"If I were their commander, no matter how anxious I was to evacuate Shijiazhuang, I would arrange some troops to back up. Otherwise, the retreating troops would be completely exposed to the imperial army..."
"The commander of the Eighth Route Army has been on the battlefield for a long time and must know this... It is normal to leave some troops behind. What's the fuss? Just let the counterattack troops quickly eliminate them... Why panic!"
The second lieutenant knew that Major General Fujita had misunderstood, and immediately added: "Your Excellency, Commander... you have misunderstood the meaning of humble position..."
"The Eighth Route Army left a lot of troops behind, it's not as simple as just a few..."
"They also used light and heavy machine guns to set up a large number of pocket formations on the front line, waiting for our counterattack troops to get inside so that they could gather together and annihilate them..."
"Many troops have been ambushed by the Eighth Route Army on the way to counterattack, suffering heavy casualties, or even being completely wiped out..."
"Your Excellency Commander..."
Before Major General Fujita could react to the bad news, he heard another exclamation at the door of the war room.
A lieutenant responsible for investigating the enemy's situation suddenly ran in, his face full of panic, and he was a little awkward when speaking.
Major General Fujita held his breath for several seconds before uttering a word.
"We were fooled..."
"The Eighth Route Army, which quickly retreated towards the city gate, turned around and returned to the street fighting battlefield when it heard the explosion of artillery shells..."
"Many of the counterattack troops we sent encountered them halfway, and the planned counterattack directly turned into an encounter."
"Because the Eighth Route Army had already prepared a large number of light machine guns and short rifles, our counterattack troops were caught off guard, and their casualties were much higher than those of the Eighth Route Army..."
"How could this happen..." the chief of staff said to himself with his eyes widened and a look of disbelief on his face.
He single-handedly initiated the counterattack against the retreating Eighth Route Army troops.
Judging from the results received so far, this is obviously a conspiracy of the Eighth Route Army against the Shijiazhuang garrison.
Force the garrison hidden in the city to come out and confront them head-on, thereby achieving the goal of killing and injuring them in large numbers.
If these inferences are true, then he must bear the main responsibility for this defeat.
Of course, for the current Shijiazhuang garrison, taking responsibility is still secondary.
If the troops suffered too many casualties in this counterattack, the Eighth Route Army would pursue the victory and continue to attack Shijiazhuang.
The city defense troops that could have lasted for two days may not have been able to last even one day because of this defeat.
Once Shijiazhuang was completely occupied by the Eighth Route Army, he would not even be able to save his life, let alone shoulder the responsibility.
He quickly turned his attention to Major General Fujita, who also had a heavy face, hoping that he could help him think of a way to break the situation, save the situation, and reduce the losses of the counterattack troops.
"Rumble..."
As a result, before Major General Fujita could speak, a series of violent explosions sounded around the headquarters.
Just five seconds passed when a new exclamation reached everyone's ears directly from outside the door: "Your Excellency, Commander..."
"The artillery unit was attacked by the Eighth Route Army's artillery fire and suffered heavy losses...It was unable to continue attacking the city gate from a distance."
"We have fallen into a trap..." Major General Fujita finally reacted, looking at his subordinates who were slowly becoming panicked in the room with a serious expression of analysis.
"The so-called evacuation of Shijiazhuang by the Eighth Route Army is a lie, a false impression specially used to confuse us and make us launch a counterattack."
"Once again we underestimated the strength of the Eighth Route Army."
"In addition to the four regiments of the Eighth Route Army that fought with us in street fighting, Shijiazhuang also had two regiments of reserve teams in addition to the independent brigade."
"The Eighth Route Army ambushing us on the front line must be from some reserve group."
"Under the cover of night, we quietly reached the forefront of the battlefield and lurked quietly. The Eighth Route Army that was actually fighting us withdrew from the battle, making us mistakenly believe that there was no Eighth Route Army on the front line."
"In fact, they have laid a dragnet for us on the battlefield, waiting for our counterattack troops to sneak into their pockets and seek death themselves."
Major General Fujita's judgment completely ended the hope of the Chief of Staff, and he suggested with a panicked look: "I will send someone to contact the counterattack troops now, and ask them to retreat immediately and return to the street fighting fortifications to reduce losses."
"It's too late..." Major General Fujita shook his head and said with despair as he stared at the city defense map on the table.
"Since this is a trap deliberately prepared for us by the Eighth Route Army, a lot of preparations must have been made."
"Our counterattack troops will attack the Eighth Route Army in squadrons and squads. They will definitely hold them back at all costs and prevent them from returning to the street fighting fortifications."
"Furthermore, fighting is happening everywhere on the battlefield and it is such a mess that we don't even know where the counterattack troops are and how to contact them."
The chief of staff immediately removed an expression of despair from his face and said immediately: "Then our counterattack force is finished..."
"It will definitely be hit hard by the Eighth Route Army..." Major General Fujita answered firmly.
"What should we do?" The chief of staff was even more anxious than before.
"The counterattack force is all the troops that the Shijiazhuang city defense force can mobilize... If something happens to them, the troops with less than a thousand people left in the city may not be able to hold on for even half a day."
"Your Excellency, General, you must have a way to help solve the crisis that Shijiazhuang is facing now. Please give me an order. Your humble duties must be strictly carried out without any carelessness."
Major General Fujita shook his head in despair: "It's easier said than done..."
"From the moment the Eighth Route Army started its counterattack, we lost this battle. There were only so many troops stationed in Shijiazhuang, one less one died, and we had no troops. No matter what we tried, we couldn't change the overall situation."
"Just accept the reality..."
"Send a farewell telegram to Commander Okamura immediately."
"My unit was tricked by the Eighth Route Army and was ambushed by the Eighth Route Army during the counterattack. It suffered heavy losses. The remaining troops in the city cannot hold on for too long. Please be prepared for the fall of Shijiazhuang, Commander."
…………
On the pipeline nearly fifteen kilometers due north of Shijiazhuang, Li Yunlong was leading his troops quickly towards Baoding.
The radio operator suddenly rushed towards him happily: "Brigadier..."
"good news……"
"The three regiments staying in Shijiazhuang have just received good news."
"They combined with other siege forces to severely inflict heavy damage on the Japanese counterattack forces in Shijiazhuang City, killing and wounding more than 2,000 Japanese soldiers. At most, there were less than 2,000 Japanese troops left in Shijiazhuang City."
"The main offensive force has launched a new round of attack on the remaining Japanese troops in Shijiazhuang, striving to end the battle before dawn."
"They requested to evacuate Shijiazhuang and return to the team immediately."
