Upon hearing this, Okamura Neji immediately showed a look of realization on his face, and then replied: "That's it..."
"Our opponent is indeed very cunning and has been playing tricks on us from beginning to end..."
"The independent brigade that withdrew from Shijiazhuang was not returning to the base area, but raiding Baoding..."
"However, we have always believed that the independent brigade's return destination is their base area, and we also specifically proposed that the Baoding garrison find ways to destroy the road, slow down the speed of the independent brigade, and buy more time for our troops operating in the Eighth Route Army's base area...
…”
"It turned out that it was all a big joke..."
"The Independent Brigade has never thought about returning to the base area from beginning to end. Everything is just wishful thinking on our part."
"And because of our self-righteousness, the Baoding garrison lost more than a thousand city defense troops in the battle to destroy the highway... This is simply too shameful..."
The chief of staff immediately stood up and comforted: "Your Majesty Commander... This is not your fault... Even humble positions also have responsibilities..."
"It is well known that the Eighth Route Army built a large number of tunnels in the Yizhong base area, and our troops have suffered many heavy losses in the face of tunnels."
"Just because the tunnels played a negligible role in the battle in the just-concluded sweep, all of us forgot about the threat of the tunnels, so we followed the Eighth Route Army Road."
"The troops operating in the Eighth Route Army base areas operate independently in squadron units. Once they fall into a tunnel battle, a company of the Eighth Route Army can drag them to death, and then use tunnels and elusive attack methods to eliminate them bit by bit."
"In this way, the remaining troops of the Eighth Route Army can completely wipe out our troops operating in their base areas on their own, without the need for reinforcements..."
After saying that, he stared at the sand table and analyzed: "Excluding the more than 1,000 garrison troops that were just lost, there are at most 5,000 Baoding city defense troops left. Once the Independent Brigade launches a general offensive, the possibility of them holding Baoding is very low."
"Your Excellency, Commander, if we want to hold Baoding and prevent the Eighth Route Army from expanding outward, we must mobilize reinforcements as soon as possible, otherwise the Independent Brigade will definitely be able to pull out the bullets and nails we planted on the edge of their base..."
"At that time, the Yizhong Eighth Route Army will develop outwards without any worries and further expand its power. It will definitely be even more difficult to eliminate them in the future."
Okamura Neiji stared at the sand table in silence for a long time and then replied: "It seems that Xiongxian and Baoding can only keep one."
"The fortifications in Xiong County are far less strong than those in Baoding, the weapons, ammunition and supplies stored in the city are not as large as those in Baoding, and the transportation is not as developed as Baoding... I decided to abandon Xiong County and concentrate my forces to defend Baoding!"
Okamura Neiji was undoubtedly right to choose a strong man to cut off his wrist at this time. The chief of staff immediately stood up to support: "Your Excellency, Commander, is wise..."
"I will give the transfer order to the Xiongxian garrison now."
"Let them abandon Xiong County immediately, carry all the weapons and equipment they can take away with them and the ammunition in the wings, and march quickly to reinforce Baoding..."
Before the chief of staff could reach the door, the hurried figure of the radio operator rushed into the war room again. Seeing Okamura Neji, he reported in a panic: "Your Excellency, Commander..."
"An urgent call from the Xiongxian garrison...
"They were attacked by the main force of the Eighth Route Army and fell into their trap of luring the snake out of its hole. They lost one and a half infantry brigade and more than 80% of the artillery and artillery..."
"The main force of the Eighth Route Army has surrounded Xiong County and may launch a general offensive at any time..."
Although the chief of staff did not receive Okamura Neiji's decision to withdraw the order, he silently retreated from the door of the war room.
The Xiong County garrison originally numbered more than 6,000 people. After one and a half brigades and most of the artillery were eliminated, the total force was reduced sharply to less than 5,000 people, and there was no artillery to assist in the battle.
Facing the main force of the Eighth Route Army that surrounded them, they relied on city defenses to defend. Even if Xiongxian was lost in the end, they could still kill a large number of Eighth Route Army troops in the battle to defend the city.
But if they are allowed to break through without superior artillery support, even if someone can fight their way out of Xiongxian, there won't be many left.
More importantly, in the breakout battle, the defensive side became the Eighth Route Army, and the Xiongxian city defense troops, who originally had city defense fortifications to rely on, became the attacking side.
On the battlefield, the casualties of the attacking side are generally much greater than those of the defending side. Especially launching an attack without artillery support is tantamount to killing the opponent.
At the end of the battle, the Xiongxian garrison of nearly 5,000 people might not even be able to defeat the 2,000 Eighth Route Army troops, and would be directly destroyed on the way to retreat.
Comparing the two, a slightly more rational officer would choose to let the Xiongxian garrison continue to defend the county. It would be better to kill one more Eighth Route Army than to kill the Eighth Route Army on the way to breakout.
Okamura Neji felt that the Eighth Route Army in the Wings was his nemesis.
Every time something happens that is related to them, the result will not be any better.
I thought that I could rely on the troops sent by Xiongxian and Baoding to kill all parties in the Eighth Route Army base in Yizhong and save myself some defeat and face.
As a result, not only did they fail to turn defeat into victory, but they may also lose Xiongxian and Baoding, truly losing both their wives and their troops.
I took the telegram handed over by the telegraph operator and read it over and over again two or three times before I believed this fact.
Looking at the retreating chief of staff, he gave a decisive order: "The reinforcement order just now is cancelled..."
"Let the Xiongxian garrison defend the county seat and fight until not a single soldier can retreat...Use the city defense battle to eliminate as many Eighth Route Army troops as possible..."
"The headquarters will do everything possible to deploy troops to reinforce them..."
"A copy of the leading order was also sent to the Baoding garrison..."
The chief of staff frowned and asked, "Your Excellency, Commander..."
"According to my understanding, we can no longer mobilize troops to reinforce Baoding and Xiong County... I don't know which reinforcements you are talking about..."
Okamura Neiji directly turned his attention to the Pingjin area on the sand table, and then answered: "There are still many troops around the headquarters that can reinforce the battlefield?"
The chief of staff subconsciously retorted: "What about the safety of the headquarters..."
"The intelligence department and the reconnaissance force have determined... that a regiment of the Eighth Route Army is active in the mountainous area west of Fangshan..."
"They may come out of the mountains at any time and threaten the security of the headquarters."
"And if we want to ensure the safety of Xiongxian and Baoding and repel the Eighth Route Army's attacking troops, we cannot send too few reinforcements!"
"Once troops are mobilized from the Pingjin area to reinforce the wing, the headquarters will have no troops!"
Okamura Neji shook his head and replied: "I just did the math..."
"There are more than 8,000 imperial troops stationed in Tianjin and Peiping alone. Including the troops stationed in surrounding counties and strongholds, the total strength of the imperial troops in the Peking and Tianjin areas exceeds 13,000."
