The Eighth Route Army has not yet been found, but the search force has already thought of retreating. Is this still the elite Kwantung Army I know?
Are their tenacious will to fight gone?
He slammed his clenched fist on the table in front of him and cursed loudly: "We can't withdraw..."
"There are huge mountains along the railway line. It will definitely not be possible to search the entire mountain in three days."
"The Eighth Route Army that attacked the railway line must be hiding inside. As long as the troops continue to search, they will definitely be able to find them and eliminate them."
"The railway lines in Northeast China are basically in mountainous areas, and the railway garrison has limited strength. Even if they are deployed in full force, it will be difficult to prevent them."
"The Eighth Route Army can sneak attack on the railway line once, and may also launch a second sneak attack on the railway line."
"I don't want the railway we finally repaired to be damaged again."
"The best way to prevent such accidents is to take the opportunity to eliminate them and not give them a second chance to attack the railway line."
"Call them back right away..."
"The Eighth Route Army is hiding in the mountains along the railway line. The troops along the line must find them and annihilate them at all costs."
The chief of staff did not take action immediately, but hesitantly reminded: "Commander, please calm down..."
"Even in my humble position, I want the troops stationed along the railway to quickly eliminate the Eighth Route Army..."
"But the environment in the mountains is too harsh..."
"The troops divided themselves into the mountains to search and camped in the snow at night. Many troops suddenly received orders to enter the mountains and acted in a hurry without being prepared for the cold."
"No accidents happened just after entering the mountain..."
"After a few nights, many soldiers have been frostbitten, and non-combat attrition has occurred..."
"According to statistics from the staff department, more than 500 troops in the attack force along the railway have lost combat effectiveness due to frostbite. If this continues, the proportion of troops with frostbite will increase, and they may even freeze to death. Commander, please think twice.
…”
Umezu Umejiro didn't curse this time.
He has been in the Northeast for almost two years and is very aware of the threat that frostbite may pose to troops in the ice and snow.
If it is not dealt with in time, it will not only affect the morale and morale of the troops, but those frostbitten soldiers may have their limbs amputated or even freeze to death directly, which will cause great losses to the troops.
There were so many non-combat casualties after the troops went into the mountains to search for three days. If the troops were allowed to continue operating in the ice and snow without preparations for cold protection, the non-combat casualties in the team would definitely increase exponentially. The cost would be that the local garrison would not be able to deal with it.
bearable.
If he was asked to give up searching for the Eighth Route Army that was attacking the railway line and let them continue to roam the Northeast, it would definitely have a worse impact on the Kwantung Army and even affect the Kwantung Army's dominance over the Northeast.
His brows immediately furrowed into a big "Sichuan" sign, thinking about possible ways to break the situation and trying to kill two birds with one stone.
The chief of staff saw Umezu Umejiro's dilemma and suddenly said: "Your Excellency, Commander..."
"Why don't we let the search teams in the mountains return to their respective bases first, place the wounded, and make preparations for cold protection before heading into the mountains again..."
"No..." Umezu Umejiro considered the issue from the perspective of a soldier and objected without hesitation.
"The search team has entered the depths of the mountain. Three days have passed since they evacuated the mountain, made preparations for the cold, and entered the mountain again."
"The Eighth Route Army hiding in the mountains are not fools. If they have a little bit of brains, they will use these three days to move to other hiding spots."
"When our troops enter the mountains again, the difficulty of finding them will definitely increase in the north of the city..."
Now the chief of staff was also in a dilemma.
He shook his head and replied: "Besides this method, I can't think of any other way."
Umezu Umejiro didn't answer, and stared at the sand table with a sullen face. After thinking for another two minutes, he suddenly made a decision: 'Forget it...'
"Just follow your suggestion and give the order..."
"It is better to increase the difficulty of searching for the Eighth Route Army than to give up the search completely... As long as our troops keep searching and the Eighth Route Army is still in the mountains along the railway, we will definitely find them..."
The staff officer breathed a sigh of relief and was about to give the order.
The radio operator suddenly came towards them: "Your Excellency, Commander... there is an urgent message from the North China Front Army Headquarters..."
"The Eighth Route Army operating in the Northeast is indeed from North China. They left the customs in the Pingquan area, and they left the customs two months ago."
"Because the time has passed so long, it is no longer possible to follow the march traces left by the Eighth Route Army to find their hiding place."
Umezu Umejiro, who was already angry, became even more angry after hearing the news.
He had good intentions and sent troops to reinforce the North China Front, help them recapture the Tianjin Pier, regain control of the air over Beijing and Tianjin, and even planned to send heavy troops to help them encircle and suppress the Eighth Route Army in Yinzhong.
As a result, they could not even hold the blockade, and sent thousands of Eighth Route Army troops into the Northeast to move around and undermine public security in the Northeast.
Calculating it this way, the destruction of the Northeast Railway was entirely the responsibility of the North China Front Army. Fortunately, I had good intentions and sent troops to reinforce the North China Front Army. However, in the end, my hometown was stolen by the Eighth Route Army due to an accident by the North China Front Army. I really lost my wife and lost her.
soldiers.
The more Umezu Umejiro thought about it, the angrier he became, and he hated the North China Front Army Headquarters in his heart.
I feel that the problems the Kwantung Army is facing now are all caused by the North China Front.
If they had not asked the Kwantung Army for help and transferred heavy troops from Liaoning to reinforce North China, the Kwantung Army would not have encountered the difficult Eighth Route Army, and Liaoning would not have been empty of troops.
Even if there are still Eighth Route Army troops coming out of the border to operate in the Northeast.
As long as the number of troops stationed in Liaoning is large enough, they will not be able to make any big waves and will be wiped out in the old forest sooner or later.
Unlike now, because Liaoning has insufficient troops and the railway line defenses are full of loopholes, this gave the Eighth Route Army the opportunity to conduct large-scale sneak attacks on the railway lines.
Until now, even if I wanted to send heavy troops into the mountains to encircle and suppress the Eighth Route Army's sneak attack troops, because of the lack of troops in the Liaoning garrison, I would first send troops into the mountains to search, and only after determining the location of the opponent could I assemble the troops into the mountains for a precise strike.
Otherwise, the remaining garrison in Liaoning will not be enough to sweep through all the mountainous areas around the railway line.
He punched the table again and asked, "What did Neji Okamura say..."
"The Eighth Route Army operating outside the Pass was released by the North China Front Army because it failed to guard the blockade. The responsibility lies with the North China Front Army."
"Now that the railway has been bombed, it has affected the Kwantung Army's move south to encircle and suppress the Eighth Route Army in Yi Zhong. Isn't he going to give us an explanation?"
The operator shook his head and replied: "This is just a notification message... It also said that we hope that we will give orders to the reinforcements that have gone south, so that they can cooperate with the North China Front Army to actively attack other Eighth Route Army units around Yi Zhong, and take the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the Eighth Route Army's tactics and tactics, so as to avoid
In the future, when besieging the Eighth Route Army in Yizhong, accidents will occur because we are not familiar with the opponent's tactics."
