A violent explosion suddenly spread in the east direction of the city, and Colonel Kawaguchi heard it clearly.
His face suddenly turned pale, he rushed out of the war room, climbed onto the roof, raised his binoculars and looked toward the east of the city.
The billowing smoke from the explosion shot straight into the sky. Just seeing this, you knew something was wrong in the east of the city.
"Sir..."
In less than five minutes, I saw a messenger rushing towards the war room. Seeing Colonel Kawaguchi standing on the roof, he began to report from a distance: "Sir..."
"The guerrilla brigade attacking us has blown up the east gate of the city... At least two companies of troops have entered Fangshan. The city defense troops in the east of the city have suffered a devastating blow. They are no longer able to stop their attack and are retreating steadily."
Colonel Kawaguchi was not too surprised by the news.
Apart from blowing up the city walls and gates, he couldn't think of any other explosions on the battlefield that could create so much smoke.
What he couldn't understand the most now was why the reinforcements hadn't reached Fangshan yet.
He jumped off the roof, returned to the war room and asked the radio operator on the side: "Have you not contacted the reinforcements yet?"
"It has been so long. They should have climbed to Fangshan. Why haven't they launched an attack on the Eighth Route Army outside the city yet?"
"Are they planning to watch the Eighth Route Army take Fangshan..."
The operator put down his earphones with a confused look on his face: "Reporting to the commander..."
"As of now, we still haven't been able to contact the reinforcements..."
Colonel Kawaguchi was going crazy with anxiety. He turned back and stared at the chief of staff who followed him and asked loudly: "Who can tell me why this is?"
"Why haven't the reinforcements arrived outside Fangshan City? Even the radio contact has been interrupted."
"If we can know where they have gone through the radio, we can also make adjustments to the defensive battle based on the specific location of the door kick and the time it takes to reach Fangshan County. We can give up some positions appropriately and concentrate our forces to defend a certain place. As long as the county seat is not occupied.
Just occupy all the guerrilla brigade."
"As a result, we didn't even know where the reinforcements had arrived, so we could only wait in the war room."
The chief of staff was speechless.
After hesitating for a minute, he replied: "Your Excellency, Wing Commander...can we contact the Front Army Headquarters?"
"There is no news about the reinforcements. Fangshan County is in danger and may be attacked by the guerrilla brigade at any time. Commander Okamura Neiji must know such important news."
"Maybe they can find a way to contact reinforcements."
Colonel Kawaguchi reacted suddenly and ordered anxiously: "Then what are you waiting for?"
"Contact the front army headquarters immediately. I will dictate the contents of the telegram and send it out as quickly as possible..."
…………
Headquarters of the Japanese North China Front in Peiping.
Okamura Neji was also pacing back and forth in the war room, waiting for news.
Fangshan is the west gate of Beiping. Once Fangshan County is lost, the guerrilla brigade hiding in the mountain will threaten the security of Beiping City.
This will not only bring shame to the North China Front, but will also bring shame to itself.
More importantly, there are insufficient troops in the Pingjin area. Once Fangshan falls, Peiping will be in danger. If he wants to mobilize troops to besiege the Eighth Route Army guerrilla brigade, he will have no troops available. He can only watch the guerrilla brigade wreak havoc outside Beiping...
"Your Excellency, Commander..." After waiting anxiously, the figure of the communications staff finally appeared at the door of the war room and hurriedly walked towards him. Before he could stand still, he made a report with a worried look on his face.
"Captain Kawaguchi stationed at Fangshan just sent an urgent message..."
"The east gate of Fangshan was breached by the guerrilla brigade. The Fangshan garrison no longer has mobile troops available. The county is in danger and may be captured by the Eighth Route Army at any time. However, the reinforcements we sent to Fangshan did not reach Fangshan on time."
"Even radio contact has been lost now."
"Kawaguchi Colonel asked the headquarters if there was any way to contact the reinforcements and inform them of their specific location."
"If the reinforcements still have a chance to reach outside Fangshan City, they can give up some positions appropriately and gather heavy troops to defend the regiment headquarters."
"As long as there are still troops defending Fangshan City and are not completely occupied by the guerrilla brigade, the Fangshan garrison can cooperate with the reinforcements to attack from inside and outside and eliminate the guerrilla brigade attacking the city."
"How could this happen..." After listening to the communications staff report, Okamura Neiji was also confused. He stared at the sand table and asked with confusion on his face.
"Under normal circumstances, the reinforcements should have arrived outside Fangshan City."
"I thought they were attacking the Eighth Route Army guerrilla brigade from inside and outside with the Fangshan garrison, and they were about to win."
"As a result, they haven't reached Fangshan County yet..."
"Why?"
After saying that, he stared at the communications staff officer and asked, "Have you contacted the reinforcements?"
The communications staff member nodded and replied: "Ha Yi..."
"But I didn't get in touch..."
"Nani?" The chief of staff became more and more confused as he listened, and continued to ask with a frown.
"impossible……"
"The main force of the guerrilla brigade has gathered outside Fangshan City. Even if the Eighth Route Army sends troops to stop them, the number of troops will not exceed 200."
"The reinforcements we sent to Fangshan included a full infantry brigade and two cavalry squadrons. Even if they were ambushed by the Eighth Route Army on the march, they could handle it calmly, quickly turn defeat into victory through counterattacks, and continue to reinforce Fangshan. How could it be so late that we haven't killed them yet?
Go outside Fangshan City."
"I can't understand..."
"Can any of you tell me the reason?"
Okamura Neji's last words were to his subordinates.
But there was no intelligence, no telegram, and they didn't know what happened to the reinforcements on the way, so they could only lower their heads and say nothing.
Although the chief of staff didn't know how to answer, his response was very fast. He immediately called to Gangmura Neiji for instructions: "Your Excellency, Commander..."
"I will arrange the cavalry to chase the reinforcements now..."
"The cavalry is very fast. It only takes an hour to go back and forth to Fangshan County."
"The reinforcements haven't reached Fangshan County yet. The cavalry will find them and come back to report the news. It won't take more than an hour."
…………
After the chief of staff issued the order, the atmosphere at the headquarters became depressing.
There are more than a thousand reinforcements, including two cavalry squadrons. If an ordinary accident occurs on the way to the reinforcements, the radio station will be destroyed and it will be impossible to contact Fangshan County and the front army headquarters.
They will definitely send cavalry back to report the news.
However, the front army headquarters did not receive any news, indicating that the radio they equipped was good, or that the entire reinforcement force had suffered an accident.
If the radio station is good, it is impossible that Fangshan County and the front army headquarters cannot be contacted.
Based on this analysis, the reinforcement troops are most likely to have an accident on their march.
As a result, many people's faces were cast into a shadow.
