Chapter 1288 The Kwantung Army Commander’s Worries
The division commander shook his head and answered decisively: "No..."
"It's not an exaggeration at all..."
"An infantry regiment may seem to have a large number of troops, but don't forget that it's winter now and there are mountains stretching hundreds of kilometers near Jinzhou."
"As long as the enemy attacking the railway line sneaks into the mountains, trying to find them is like looking for a needle in a haystack. If there are not enough troops to participate in the battle, it is very likely that we will not even be able to find them."
The chief of staff immediately showed a look of realization on his face, and then took the order: "I'll make arrangements now..."
"Send out all the reconnaissance troops and intelligence personnel under the division, as well as the reconnaissance troops and intelligence personnel under the Puppet Manchukuo Army, and find the hostile forces who sneak attacked the railway line at all costs..."
The division commander did not answer the call and continued to order: "Send another telegram to the Kwantung Army headquarters...detailed report of the bombing of the railway line and the attack on the stronghold..."
"The railway was bombed and will not be able to be used for more than a month in the future. The impact of this incident is too great. It is definitely impossible to hide it. I might as well take the initiative to send a telegram to apologize..."
…………
Kwantung Army Headquarters.
Umezu Yoshijiro was awakened from his sleep.
Yesterday afternoon, he had just received the good news that the reinforcements moving south were about to complete their assembly.
As expected, the day after tomorrow they would be able to take the train south to North China and participate in the sweep of the Eighth Route Army in Yinzhong, avenging their previous humiliation.
Faced with this good news, he felt that he would definitely be able to sleep well tonight.
As a result, he had just slept until one o'clock in the morning when the chief of staff on duty woke him up from the bed.
If someone else wakes him up in the middle of the night, Umezu Umejiro will definitely get angry.
But the person who called him was the chief of staff. Although he was very dissatisfied, he finally endured it.
The chief of staff has a lot of decision-making power within the Kwantung Army. Even if an accident occurs in the defense zone, he can make his own decisions on general matters without alarming himself.
But tonight, he woke himself up from bed in the middle of the night. It can be seen that the accident in the defense area was very big, even so big that the Kwantung Army Chief of Staff could not make a decision.
Suppressing the fire in his heart, he stared at the chief of staff on the way to the headquarters war room and asked: "What big thing happened? Can't you make your own decision?"
"Don't you know that I haven't slept well for several nights in order to get the reinforcements south quickly?"
"The railway line where the reinforcements are about to go south has been bombed..." the chief of staff quickly replied.
"Nani..." Umezu Umejiro frowned, obviously very dissatisfied with this answer.
There are a large number of railway lines distributed in the Northeast. Before the resistance forces in the defense area were eliminated, railway bombings were common. Otherwise, the Kwantung Army would not have established a specialized railway force.
Therefore, in his opinion, it is very normal for the railway to be bombed, even if it affects the reinforcements moving south to North China.
The only solution is to quickly build the railway line, find the sneak attackers, and eliminate them.
The chief of staff next to you can completely solve this problem. There is no need to wake yourself up in the middle of the night.
I was just about to curse a few words to vent my dissatisfaction, but before I could even say the curse, I heard the chief of staff continue his report.
"According to the latest battle report received, six sections of the southbound railway line have been bombed. The most severely damaged section of the railway line was destroyed by more than 800 meters, and the least seriously damaged section of the railway line was also destroyed by 400 meters.
Domi, and it was completely destroyed, even the roadbed was blown up..."
"It's winter now, and it's very difficult to repair. According to the current degree of damage to the railway lines, even if we work around the clock to repair those railway lines, it will take two months..."
"If more railway sections are destroyed, it will take longer for the railway troops to repair the railway lines..."
"Besides..."
"Six more strongholds along the railway were attacked, and all the troops stationed at the strongholds were destroyed..."
"Eleven settlement sites were attacked, and all armed expatriates were killed, leaving only some old, weak, women and children without fighting capacity..."
"According to their account, the enemies attacking railway lines, strongholds, and settlement points seem to be the Eighth Route Army..."
"Nani..."
Umezu Umejiro immediately widened his eyes, showing a shocked expression of disbelief.
He once served as the commander of the Japanese North China Front and fought against the Eighth Route Army. He knew very well how difficult the Eighth Route Army was and how tenacious its combat effectiveness was.
Just like the grass on the ground, wildfire cannot burn it all.
As long as they gain a foothold in one place, their base and sphere of influence will quickly spread to the surrounding areas.
When he first served as the commander in North China, Umezu Umejiro was beaten tirelessly by the Eighth Route Army. He was even defeated several times by the Eighth Route Army and was humiliated.
He was finally transferred to the Kwantung Army as commander, thinking that he would no longer have to compete with the Eighth Route Army in the future. However, within two years of his happiness, the Eighth Route Army also came from the Northeast.
The speed at which they develop their troops is really fast. Once they gain a foothold outside the customs and have their own base, they can double their troops in a few months.
Moreover, the mountains in the Northeast are particularly suitable for the Eighth Route Army to engage in guerrilla and mobile warfare. It is definitely more difficult for the Kwantung Army to deal with them than it is for the North China Front Army to deal with them.
Therefore, from the bottom of his heart, he did not want the Eighth Route Army to operate outside the customs.
Staring at the chief of staff with big eyes, he asked with disbelief: "Isn't the Eighth Route Army operating inside the customs? Why did it come outside the customs? Are you sure the railway garrison is not wrong?"
The chief of staff replied affirmatively: "The humble position has been confirmed repeatedly..."
"After the Eighth Route Army captured the settlement points, they distributed free food at the settlement points in the name of the Eighth Route Army to win over the people..."
"Many Chinese people joined them because of their heartbeat..."
"But they only recruit people who have no family and are alone, saying that they want to prevent our Kwantung Army from retaliating against their families!"
"This style of doing things is exactly the same as that of the Eighth Route Army in Guan Nei..."
Hearing this, Umezu Umejiro also believed it a little, and frowned and replied: "That will be troublesome..."
"I have fought against the Eighth Route Army. They are a very difficult opponent. If you want long-term peace and stability outside the Pass, the best way is to nip them in the bud and not give them any chance to gain a foothold outside the Pass..."
"But the Eighth Route Army is very cunning... Most of our railway lines are in mountainous areas, and the railway lines destroyed by the Eighth Route Army must also be in mountainous areas. They hit and run and did not give us any chance to keep an eye on them... The troops want to find them too difficult……"
"But no matter how difficult it is, we must find them, lock them in, and eliminate them..."
"Report……"
When Umezu Umejiro was about to continue speaking, the communications staff suddenly came over and interrupted: "Your Excellency, Commander... Shenyang Garrison has an urgent call..."
"Three sections of railways in their defense area were attacked by the Eighth Route Army... The total length of the damaged railways exceeded 1,600 meters... They also lost 226 Kwantung Army troops, 136 armed foreigners, a large number of weapons and ammunition, and Supplies..."
