Chapter 1208 Chief of Staff, let’s play a big game
"Boom boom boom..."
The chief of staff continued to pursue the guerrilla brigade with thoughts of revenge. It went very smoothly at first, but within half an hour of walking, the familiar sound of shell explosions reached his ears again.
Faced with this kind of artillery attack, he had already formed a conditioned reflex.
As soon as the explosion sounded, he fell to the ground, holding his head and letting the shell fragments fly above his head.
At this time, as long as the cannonball didn't hit him, no matter how many fragments flew around his head, they wouldn't be able to hurt a hair on his head.
It was exactly the same as the previous artillery fire attacks. Within half a minute, the explosions stopped in my ears.
The chief of staff was helped up from the ground by the guards. He looked at the black smoke rising on the road, the endless crater at a glance, the corpses of soldiers lying around the crater, and the wounded who made real screams, with a gloomy expression.
It's almost bleeding.
He clenched his hands into fists, gritted his teeth, and was in a very bad mood.
"Chief of Staff..." Major Hase suddenly walked up to the Chief of Staff and reported.
"The casualty statistics are out..."
"The losses this time were smaller than the last artillery raid, but we still lost 479 people, of whom 387 were killed in battle, and others were seriously injured and lost their combat effectiveness. The Imperial Army and the Imperial Alliance Army each accounted for half..."
Seeing that the chief of staff was sullen and silent, Major Hase continued to ask: "The troops are ready to go..."
"Are we going to continue to hunt down the guerrilla brigade?"
"Of course..." the chief of staff clenched his fists like an angry lion and replied with anger on his face.
"If we give up halfway and stop the pursuit, our losses in the Eighth Route Army's two artillery and infantry sneak attacks will be in vain."
"Let the troops continue to pursue..."
"Even if I chase them to the end of the world, I will kill them and avenge my shame..."
Major Miyata on the side was anxious.
You can feel from the tone of the chief of staff's words that he has been carried away by anger, and he quickly reminded: "Sir, think twice..."
"We can't pursue him any longer."
"We lost nearly two infantry squadrons due to a sneak attack by the guerrilla brigade infantry."
"We lost more than a thousand soldiers in two artillery fire attacks. Although only some of them were imperial troops, there were still two or three squadrons."
"The war has started so far. We have reduced one full infantry brigade before we even had a direct confrontation with the main force of the guerrilla brigade. Only one infantry brigade is left and can continue to fight."
"Although there are multiple regiments of the Imperial Army to cooperate with our operations, their combat capabilities are limited. If we encounter any tough battle, we still have to rely on our own troops."
"If the Eighth Route Army continues to use mortars to attack us from long distances during the subsequent pursuit, and kills thousands of our soldiers, there will be no one left in the pursuit force."
"There is not enough infantry protection, and the troops are far away from Fangshan County, so they will not receive any support in a short period of time."
"If we are besieged by the main force of the guerrilla brigade, no matter how powerful the artillery and tank troops are, they will not be able to exert their power..."
"Chief of Staff, please consider this matter carefully."
"We no longer have the strength to continue chasing."
"Even if we catch up with the main force of the guerrilla brigade, we still haven't eaten up their strength."
"Maybe they will turn defeat into victory."
Major Miyata's words were very unpleasant, but extremely useful.
It was like a ladle of cold water that instantly woke up the angry chief of staff, and then quickly regained his composure.
He clenched his fists and was silent for a full minute before speaking: "We really can't pursue him any longer."
"We lost this battle..."
"And it was a very complete defeat."
"Not only did we lose the ability to kill the guerrilla brigade, but we also put ourselves in danger."
"The troops immediately withdrew to Fangshan County. I personally sent a telegram to Commander Gangcun Ningci to apologize..."
…………
Two sudden artillery attacks killed and wounded more than a thousand Japanese puppet troops. This result was something Zhang Xuan did not expect.
Although nearly half of the inventory of the guerrilla brigade was destroyed, it was definitely a very cost-effective deal based on the results.
Looking at the less than 4,000 Japanese and puppet troops left on the road, there are still 700 to 800 people carrying stretchers, and more than 300 people are lying on stretchers. The number of soldiers who can actually go into battle immediately is less than 3,000.
After deducting the artillery and chariot troops inside, the actual infantry is just over 2,000.
A bold idea quickly flashed into Zhang Xuan's mind.
He decisively suggested to Feng Jiashan beside him: "Chief of Staff..."
"Do you have the guts to follow me and eat the Japanese and puppet troops on the road..."
"Even if I can't eat them, I can still injure them severely..."
"If we leave them alone and allow them to successfully withdraw to Fangshan County, it will definitely be very difficult to eat them again."
"And it's not easy for us to remove the nail in Fangshan. We can attack Peiping at any time and threaten Peiping's security."
"If the Japanese and puppet troops are allowed to drive a nail into Fangshan again, we will be trapped in Fangshan again..."
"The good situation that was finally won with great difficulty will be wiped out because of Fangshan's nail."
Feng Jiashan is also a restless master.
He stared at the Japanese and puppet troops on the road with bright eyes and said: "If you don't count the puppet troops on the road, the gunners and tank soldiers in the Japanese army, and the real little Japanese infantry, I estimate there are only a thousand people."
"Although our guerrilla brigade suffered heavy casualties in successive battles, the new battalion has added many soldiers to several main battalions..."
"There are at least 1,800 people from the four main battalions plus the guard battalion who can go to the battlefield...The strength advantage has been transferred from the Japanese side to our side."
"Not to mention the firepower advantage..."
"In addition to the ammunition being inferior to that of the Japs...the Japanese army also has more than a dozen large-caliber mortars than us...the numerical advantage of ordinary mortars and mountain artillery is on our side..."
"The initiative on the battlefield is also in our hands..."
"The Japanese and puppet troops are now retreating to Fangshan... Even a quick march will take four or five hours... We can launch attacks anytime and anywhere along the entire road..."
"If the two sides really want to fight, our chances of winning are at least 60%..."
"If we use good tactics and find a way to kill hundreds of Japanese and puppet troops before the decisive battle between the two sides, our chance of winning is at least 80%..."
Feng Jiashan's support greatly increased Zhang Xuan's confidence and made a decisive decision: "Then we will fight this battle..."
"Strive to keep all the Japanese and puppet troops on the road outside Fangshan City..."
"We must not let them drive the nail into Fangshan again."
…………
The Japanese Chief of Staff did not know that Zhang Xuan had cut off his retreat, nor did he know that Peiping Airport and Tianjin Pier had become a piece of meat on the lips of the Eighth Route Army in Yizhong, which could be taken away at any time if they wanted.
On a slope more than 1,000 meters due east of Peking Airport, there are overgrown weeds and bushes, which hide Huang Yu's figure very well.
He didn't dare to move much during the day, but as soon as it got dark, he led a few members of the assault company towards the airport.
