Zhang Xuan knew very well that troops could not grow into a truly elite force without experiencing strength, but he also had his own difficulties.
He met the political commissar's gaze and refused: "I also want to go out of the mountains to fight the little devils."
"After staying in the mountains for several months, my hands are itchy."
"But the divisional headquarters has strict orders. No unit of the guerrilla brigade can leave the mountain before receiving the order to attack."
"Deputy Chief of Staff Huang specifically explained this matter to me."
"Let us be patient. What if we can't bear to be patient?"
"Based on my understanding of the deputy chief of staff, there must be a profound meaning in this sentence."
"Comrades, please hold it back for me. If you are angry and have no place to vent your anger, just let me train the troops with all your strength."
"There is a saying that if you don't make a sound, it will be a blockbuster... The deputy chief of staff must think that we do the same, so there will definitely be a big battle waiting for us next, and the troops must recharge their batteries."
"More training in peacetime and less bloodshed in war... Only in this way can our guerrilla brigade catch the enemy by surprise."
When Zhang Xuan was about to continue speaking, the operator suddenly rushed towards him, with an excited smile on his face, and reported excitedly: "Captain, political commissar..."
"Urgent call from the divisional headquarters..."
"We have a combat mission..."
"Give me a telegram quickly..." Zhang Xuan couldn't wait any longer. He snatched the telegram from the operator's hand and scanned it quickly, then his face lit up with joy.
He handed the read telegram to the political commissar and then shouted towards the door: "Notify all battalion commanders and instructors immediately to put down the work at hand and rush to the brigade headquarters as quickly as possible for a meeting. There is a combat mission..."
…………
Headquarters of the Japanese North China Front in Peiping.
Although the reinforcements that went south suffered a devastating blow from the Yizhong Eighth Route Army in Xiong County, the entire army was almost wiped out.
Baoding and Xiongxian were also lost, and the North China Front was severely defeated in this military operation.
But the battle is over after all.
Okamura Neji's nerves, which had been tense for several days, were completely relaxed the moment he received the battle report.
As he analyzed himself.
Although the North China Front suffered a complete defeat on the Yi Zhong battlefield and lost a large number of elite troops, the Yi Zhong Eighth Route Army was not much better.
Killing 1,000 enemies and damaging 800, their casualties must be very high. They will not be able to launch a new round of attacks in a short period of time. They can only stay in the base area to replenish their blood and restore their strength.
Therefore, for a long time after the battle, there will not be much fighting in the Yizhong area.
Okamura Neji can also take this time to take a good rest.
"Your Excellency, Commander..." The head of intelligence suddenly appeared in front of Okamura Neji and reported with an expression of admiration.
"The intelligence department has calculated the casualties of the Eighth Route Army in Yizhong in the three battles, and the results are similar to your analysis."
"All field hospitals in the Sixth Army Division of Yizhong are full of wounded people of all kinds, with a total number of more than 2,000."
"The only brigade that attacked Xiongxian and annihilated our army's southward reinforcements in Xiongxian almost lost its combat effectiveness. There are less than 3,000 people left in the entire brigade who can continue to fight."
"The Independent Brigade is slightly better, but there are only four to five thousand people left who can still fight."
"The three independent regiments and the divisional guard regiment have suffered more than half of their casualties, and each regiment has only a thousand people left to continue fighting."
"The Eighth Route Army in Yizhong has begun to recruit new soldiers through killings in the base area to make up for the losses of the main force and the independent regiment in the battle."
"Because they have too few veterans left, it will take four months at the earliest for the troops to regain their combat effectiveness."
"It will take half a year at the earliest to return to the pre-war state."
Okamura Neji beamed with joy after hearing this, obviously very satisfied with the report.
He answered with a smile: "Continue to stare at the Eighth Route Army in Yizhong..."
"As long as they replenish their troops with new recruits and mix veterans with new recruits, the combat effectiveness of the troops will become weaker, and the power of outward expansion will be completely lost."
"When our reinforcements arrive in a month's time, we can take advantage of the Eighth Route Army's weakest moment to move south to the center of the wing, re-block their base, compress their living space, and even consume their strength through some small-scale military operations."
"The Eighth Route Army's base area in the center of the wing is so large, and its troops are so small. It has not yet formed combat effectiveness due to the recruitment of a large number of new soldiers. The defense line of the base area must be filled with loopholes. We can imitate the Eighth Route Army's encroachment on our occupied areas and send troops to operate near their base areas.
Eliminate local guerrillas and local armed forces, and if we encounter opportunities, we can also find ways to consume some of the Eighth Route Army's main forces, which in turn cannibalize the Eighth Route Army's base areas and weaken their military strength."
The person in charge of intelligence immediately took the order: "Commander, please rest assured that the intelligence department will not let you down..."
…………
Xiashibao was an important checkpoint for the Japanese and puppet troops in Fangshan to blockade the Peking guerrilla brigade.
Because the guerrilla brigade has mountain artillery, ordinary strongholds and gun towers will certainly not be able to block mountain artillery attacks.
In order to block the Eighth Route Army in the mountains and ensure the safety of Fangshan and Peiping, the Japanese army spent a lot of money to build a medium-sized stronghold here.
In addition to the central turret, the stronghold also includes two auxiliary buildings and more than a dozen machine gun bunkers built of stone and cement. They are so strong that even if ordinary mountain artillery shells hit them, they will only leave a white spot and cannot be destroyed.
The garrison also increased from the initial reinforced squad to a reinforced squadron, and a battalion of the Imperial Army was also arranged to assist in the defense.
It can be said that in the entire Fangshan territory, apart from the county seat, the Xiashibao stronghold in front of us is the strongest and has the largest number of troops.
If the Peiping guerrilla brigade wants to fight its way out of the mountains, it must first conquer the Shibao stronghold.
On a hilltop more than 800 meters south of the stronghold, Zhang Xuan was holding a telescope to observe every move of the troops stationed in the stronghold.
Except for the dozens of Japanese and puppet troops patrolling around the stronghold, all other Japanese and puppet troops were huddled inside the stronghold.
The walls of the stronghold are dotted with dark shooting holes, and many of the shooting holes are connected to machine gun bunkers. Even if the guerrilla brigade dispatches mountain artillery to conduct direct fire and destroy those shooting holes, the stone machine gun bunkers will still be intact and can continue to be used for combat.
"Tell me...how we destroyed the Japanese and puppet army's machine gun bunkers beside the gun towers before the general attack..." Zhang Xuan turned to ask the political commissar and several battalion company commanders beside him.
The artillery battalion commander was the first to speak: "Captain..."
"The bunkers and turrets in the stronghold are made of long stones and cement. They are stronger than the masonry structure turrets we encountered before..."
"Even if we use mountain artillery to shoot directly, it will be difficult to destroy it... Unless we take out hundreds of artillery shells to smash them regardless of consumption, and destroy them bit by bit based on the number of artillery shells... But our artillery shells are inherently
Not much... If we spend it all here, we won’t have any shells to use after we get out of the mountain!"
