On the top of a mountain less than two kilometers away from Qingshi Gang, Zhang Xuan could clearly see every move of the puppet troops on the road for more than 4,000 days with the help of a telescope.
"Captain...the Japanese and puppet troops have moved..." Chief of Staff Feng Jiashan suddenly shouted.
Zhang Xuan immediately turned his attention to the forward troops of the Japanese and puppet troops.
A squadron of little Japs walked directly onto the road southwest of Qingshigang, and then came the mighty main force of the Japanese and puppet troops, including tanks and mountain artillery.
"It seems that our opponent is not planning to divide his troops..." Zhang Xuan knew that his dream of severely damaging the Japanese and puppet troops and mopping up the troops was shattered. He sighed deeply and then analyzed.
"But I can figure it out."
"Although there are more than 4,000 Japanese and puppet troops chasing us on the highway, the total number of little Japs inside is only two brigades, and the rest are all Japanese Japs."
"If they divide into three and pursue our three retreating troops at the same time, each route will be allocated less than three infantry squadrons of little devils."
"This small amount of troops is like putting meat in our mouths."
"If I were the commander of the Japanese army, I would not divide the troops at this time."
After sighing with emotion, he ordered to Feng Jiashan: "Let the artillery troops take action immediately. They will all be transported by mules and horses. Each cannon will carry ten rounds of shells and fire them out in two rounds. They will rush in front of the enemy through a shortcut and raid the Japanese and puppet troops from a long distance."
Chasing troops."
"Try to shoot at the little devil's head as much as possible. If you can kill one more devil, it's a devil."
"Other troops are far behind the Japanese and puppet troops. There is a fork in the road ahead. If the Japanese and puppet troops continue to be indiscriminate, we will think of other ways to deal with them."
…………
For more than four thousand days, the puppet troops followed the chief of staff and continued to pursue.
As we walked, some discarded ammunition boxes, old weapons and equipment, and even two damaged mortars and several damaged light and heavy machine guns began to appear on the roadside.
In the opinion of the Chief of Staff, these weapons can continue to be used after simple repairs.
The guerrilla brigade must have wanted to bring them back to the base area, repair them, and then equip them with troops.
But because they were following too closely, the guerrilla brigade had to drop these equipment in order to maintain their marching speed and prevent them from catching up, in order to reduce the load on the troops.
There are more and more equipment and materials thrown away by the Eighth Route Army on the roadside, which means that the distance between the two sides is getting closer and closer, otherwise the guerrilla brigade will definitely not use this to speed up the march.
After all, they do not have a complete logistics department and supply system, and all equipment and ammunition are confiscated.
Many times a light and heavy machine gun is more important than the lives of soldiers.
Now they have even lost their guns, which shows how anxious the troops are.
Immediately ordered to the two captains: "The troops must march faster..."
"I feel like the guerrilla brigade is just ahead..."
"As long as we speed up our march, we can catch up with them and eliminate them in an hour at most."
Major Miyata reminded carefully: "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff..."
"If we continue to speed up the march, the forward squadron will not be able to search the roadside. What if we are ambushed by the Eighth Route Army?"
The chief of staff shook his head decisively: "If the Eighth Route Army really wanted to ambush us, they would have done so long ago. They wouldn't have waited until now."
"And we have more than 4,000 people. As long as we don't give the Eighth Route Army every chance to defeat us."
"Even if the guerrilla brigade suffered very small losses in the second attack on Fangshan, they still don't have the strength to eat us in one bite."
"So I wish they would come and ambush us."
"Not only will we not be in danger then, we will also be able to seize the opportunity to turn defeat into victory, severely inflict heavy damage or even completely annihilate the guerrilla brigade."
"Excuting an order……"
As the troops marched faster, the guerrilla brigade left more weapons, ammunition and supplies on the roadside, including some old but still usable weapons and equipment.
The chief of staff became more and more excited as he chased, thinking that he had grasped the lifeblood of the guerrilla brigade and was about to catch up with his opponent.
Otherwise, how could they have lost even the good weapons they could use?
"Boom boom boom..."
Just as he was dreaming about annihilating the guerrilla brigade, a large fire suddenly appeared in front of his eyes, billowing black smoke rose from the ground at the same time, and violent explosions continued to reach his ears.
The orderly marching team suddenly turned Luan City into a mess.
Some people lay down on the ground to avoid the gunfire, some people quickly dispersed to the roadside, and some people squatted on the ground, holding up their rifles and getting ready to shoot...
The most exaggerated reaction was that of the puppet troops who had been bombarded. They were running around on the highway as if they were panicked. Many of the imperial troops' formations were disrupted by them.
"Boom boom boom..."
The second round of shells fell quickly, and its accuracy was higher than that of the first round.
The shell fragments were raging on the road like a storm, killing one little Jaap after another.
It wasn't until the third round of shells fell that the Japanese chief of staff recovered from the shock, and his mind quickly flashed back to the scene when he was suddenly attacked by long-range artillery fire from the Eighth Route Army on the road when he first came to Fangshan.
Although this kind of sneak attack is not fatal and does not cause large casualties to the troops under his command, it particularly affects the morale and morale of the troops.
What's more important is that there are not many troops under his command anymore, and the casualties that could have been tolerated have become unbearable in front of the few troops.
Moreover, this kind of sudden artillery attack will greatly affect the marching speed of the troops.
Although the bombardment came quickly, it also left quickly.
But after the shelling is over, the troops must rescue the wounded before they can move forward.
Ten minutes in total may not be enough.
After the army has dozens of wounded soldiers, the subsequent marching speed will definitely be affected.
As a result, it will be difficult for the troops to catch up with the guerrilla brigade.
The fifth round of artillery shells fell from the sky, and the explosion in the chief of staff's ears stopped.
The result was exactly as he expected. It took another seven or eight minutes for the troops to regain order and get ready to move forward.
A casualty data was sent to him at the same time: "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff..."
"In the sudden artillery attack just now, we suffered a total of more than 300 mortar shells, resulting in a total loss of 582 people, of which 391 were killed and others were seriously injured and lost their combat effectiveness."
"Among the more than 500 people who were reduced, the Imperial Army was the main force, with a total of 400 people. The Imperial Alliance Army only accounted for less than 300 people."
"Should we continue to hunt down the guerrilla brigade?"
The chief of staff was also angry. The guerrilla brigade continuously attacked him with artillery fire from long distances. This was unbearable. He had to find a way to retaliate, otherwise the loss of the more than 500 men who had just been killed and injured would be in vain.
Immediately ordered: "Of course we must continue to hunt..."
"The troops continue to march forward in a hurry. They must catch up with the guerrilla brigade and annihilate them all within an hour. Quick... give me all the time lost after the troops were suddenly attacked by artillery fire..."
