Not long after the brigade commander gave the order to go out, an artillery staff officer rushed into the headquarters as if in a panic. When he saw the brigade commander, he reported with panic on his face: "Your Excellency, Commander..."
"Something happened to the artillery unit?"
The brigade leader frowned and asked, "Didn't they already be transferred? What could happen?"
The artillery staff officer replied directly with a painful expression: "The Eighth Route Army counterattacked us with too many artillery pieces. There were more than 20 large-caliber heavy artillery pieces, and there were also 40 or 50 mountain field artillery pieces. The number of artillery pieces was more than twice that of ours. They also launched a preemptive strike.
First launch artillery fire on us..."
"The troops were hit by one or two hundred shells before they had time to move."
"Field artillery shells and heavy artillery shells are different from mortar shells. As long as one shot hits the gun position, it can bring a devastating blow to the entire gun position."
"Half of the artillery was destroyed on the spot, and more than 60% of the gunners were killed and injured..."
"Although we later tried our best to transfer the remaining artillery pieces, the Eighth Route Army's artillery fire at us never stopped, and the troops paid a huge price to successfully transfer one artillery piece..."
"In the end, only seven of the thirty-eight heavy artillery and mountain field artillery we equipped were transferred, the other artillery was all destroyed, and nearly 80% of the artillery participating in the battle suffered casualties..."
"Almost lost combat effectiveness..."
"It's over..." The brigade leader seemed to have aged several years in an instant. He slumped down on the chair with a look of despair on his face.
Then he stared at his busy subordinates and murmured to himself: "In order to severely damage the Eighth Route Army's siege troops, I ended up destroying the artillery troops. I was so stupid..."
"Without artillery, infantry alone will definitely not be able to defend Xiong County... We are finished..."
…………
Headquarters of the Japanese North China Front in Peiping.
Okamura Neji was going crazy.
After learning that Shijiazhuang had been captured by the Eighth Route Army, although Okamura Neji was desperate, he did not completely lose confidence.
As long as no accidents occur in Xiongxian and Baoding, and the attacking troops operating in the Eighth Route Army base area do more damage and kill more civilians, causing panic and unrest in the small Eighth Route Army base area, even if they lose, the defeat will not be particularly disastrous.
Once it loses the support of the common people, the Eighth Route Army will become rootless and elusive. Not only will it be unable to further develop and grow, it will also become weaker and weaker due to problems raised by the Logistics Department.
This influence is very far-reaching. The longer it lasts, the greater the influence it will have on the Eighth Route Army, and the greater the benefits the North China Front will gain.
It seemed that within a few hours, a telegram from Baoding for help poured cold water on Gangcun Jiningci.
The Independent Brigade of the Eighth Route Army's Wing that set out from Shijiazhuang did not directly return to the base area to support them, but stopped leaving when they reached Baoding.
More importantly, they used the cavalry troops as bait and wiped out nearly an infantry brigade of the Baoding garrison before the main force reached Baoding.
Excluding the troops sent to reinforce Shijiazhuang, the Baoding garrison was originally very small, just enough to meet the needs of city defense.
As a result, before the Eighth Route Army began to attack the city, the Baoding garrison lost another brigade.
If the Independent Brigade stationed in Baoding really intends to attack Baoding, the already slightly insufficient city defense troops stationed in Baoding will certainly not be able to stop the Independent Brigade's attack.
"Your Excellency, Commander..." The operator came to Okamura Neji with a solemn expression and took several deep breaths before mustering up the courage to report.
"Emergency telegram from Baoding Garrison Headquarters..."
"The Independent Brigade has surrounded Baoding County and is concentrating all its artillery to storm the city."
"Their artillery fire was too fierce, and our city defense troops suffered heavy casualties. Without support, they certainly wouldn't be able to hold on for too long."
Okamura Neji's mind was full of doubts, and he still couldn't figure it out.
The independent brigade's return target is obviously the base area, so why did it stop leaving after reaching Baoding?
Could it be that they no longer care about their base area and plan to let our attacking troops operating in the base area do whatever they want and massacre their people, so they decided to break the pot and smash it.
This is the only explanation Okamura Neji can think of.
But he quickly rejected this reason himself.
The Eighth Route Army is known as the common people's team. In their usual fighting style, they always put the safety of the common people first and will certainly not risk the massacre of the common people by attacking Shijiazhuang.
So there must be a conspiracy in this military operation that I don't know about.
With the arrival of the next telegram, the questions that had been plaguing Neji Okamura's mind finally began to be solved.
Another operator hurried to Okamura Neji and reported: "Your Excellency, Commander..."
"Something happened to our attack troops operating in the Eighth Route Army base area in Yizhong."
"The Eighth Route Army was so cunning that they used the tunnels scattered throughout their base areas to engage in street fighting with our attacking troops."
"Almost every village in the hinterland of the Eighth Route Army base has tunnels."
"As soon as our troops entered the village, the Chinese hid in the tunnels and used the tunnels to hide in the dark to sneak attack on our attacking troops."
"In the past few hours, a total of four of our attacking troops have been caught in tunnel fighting and unable to retreat. Two of the attacking troops have lost contact, and 80% of them have had accidents..."
"Pah..." Okamura Neji slammed his clenched fist on the table in front of him, and said angrily: "Bagya Road..."
"We actually forgot about the tunnel."
"Tunnels are not suitable for large-scale battles, so we almost never encountered tunnel battles in the first two major sweeps that just ended."
"Now that our attack troops are operating independently in squadron units, it is an opportunity for the Eighth Route Army to show its prowess in tunnel warfare."
"Immediately contact all the attacking troops we can contact, and we must avoid fighting tunnel battles with the Eighth Route Army."
"The Eighth Route Army is very powerful in tunnel warfare. It is difficult to guard against all kinds of sneak attacks. Once they enter the tunnel, they cannot get out."
"Go and send a telegram quickly, otherwise more troops will be trapped in tunnel fighting and unable to escape until they are wiped out by the Eighth Route Army."
Okamura Neji obviously did not consider the words "involuntarily" when he gave the order.
Entering the hinterland of the Yizhong Eighth Route Army base area, many village-based tunnels are directly connected together. As long as the attacking troops want to cause destruction in the base area and kill people and set fires, they will not be able to avoid the elusive tunnel battle.
When the operator returned to the headquarters again, his face was obviously more solemn than before.
He walked quickly to Okamura Neji and reported with a serious face: "Your Excellency, Commander..."
"Just now when we used telegrams to contact the frontline attacking troops to issue orders, three more attacking troops lost contact."
"There are a total of 18 attack troops operating in the Eighth Route Army base area in Yizhong. As of now, only 8 of them can still be contacted."
"But these eight attacking troops have already suffered more than half of their casualties in previous battles, and are being chased by the main force of the Eighth Route Army. Any accident may cause them to suffer a devastating blow."
