Although the main force of the company has not eliminated the main force of the Eighth Route Army, it has fought against them seven or eight times during today's pursuit, and the frequency of fights is getting faster and faster.
It means that they will soon be at the end of their rope.
Otherwise, why would they leave the good mountain road alone and risk huge risks to turn around and fight for their lives?
So overall, he was very satisfied with the team's performance today.
Although dozens of soldiers were lost in each firefight, many Eighth Route Army troops were killed, which was better than searching aimlessly in the mountains without seeing a single Eighth Route Army soldier for several days.
At seven o'clock in the evening, several brigade captains appeared at the wing headquarters as scheduled, reporting on the day's battle status of each brigade and the current status of the troops.
What puzzled the captain was that all three captains under his command had solemn faces. They lowered their heads and said nothing when they walked into the tent.
"What happened to Bageya Road..." the captain asked with a frown.
"Isn't it because we didn't catch up with the Eighth Route Army..."
"Judging from the frequency of firefights between the enemy and ourselves today, the Eighth Route Army should be at its wits end soon."
"As long as we maintain our current marching speed and continue our pursuit, we will be able to catch up with them and eliminate them tomorrow afternoon at most."
"Looking at how dejected you all are, are you still middle-level officers of the Kwantung Army?"
Faced with the questioning from the captain, several captains had to raise their heads.
The chief of staff was the first to speak, and he considered his reply: "Liant Commander..."
"We think today's capture with the Eighth Route Army is not as simple as imagined..."
"You don't know if you don't count it. If you count it, you'll be shocked."
"The duration of each firefight was very short, less than a minute, and the casualties were only a few dozen soldiers, or more than a small squad..."
"As for the sporadic sneak attacks faced by the troops during the march, from the beginning, I looked at them as scratching their own itch, and they did not threaten the safety of the regiment at all."
"Because when the Eighth Route Army attacked us with cold guns and artillery, one or two soldiers would be killed or wounded at most in a sneak attack."
"There are still more than 2,000 people in the main force of the regiment. This small loss will not affect the combat effectiveness of the unit at all."
"But when I counted the casualties just now, I realized that we were all too self-righteous..."
Seeing the co-captain staring at him with a puzzled expression, the co-captain didn't explain anything and just told him the statistical results he just had.
"After statistics..."
"In one day of fighting and marching, we killed a total of 583 Kwantung Army officers and soldiers, and 211 were seriously injured and lost their combat effectiveness..."
"This is equivalent to direct battle losses of nearly 800 people."
"Including the more than 400 people needed to carry the stretcher, and subtracting the artillery and other technical arms in the team, the entire regiment has less than a thousand infantry left to continue fighting."
"If the Eighth Route Army continues to use the same tactics against us tomorrow, by tomorrow afternoon, the number of these thousand combat troops will probably be reduced to less than 500..."
"This is impossible..." The co-captain felt like he had heard a big joke and retorted on the spot.
The chief of staff frowned and answered: "I didn't believe this statistical result at first. After careful analysis, I realized that this is a shocking conspiracy of the Eighth Route Army against us."
"One close firefight killed forty or fifty of our soldiers. It looks like an army. Ten firefights add up to four to five hundred soldiers."
"Kill one or two of our soldiers with one cold shot. During the march, the cold gun almost never broke. If you add up one to two hundred cold shots and booby trap attacks, you can easily kill two to three hundred of us..."
"It's like boiling frogs in warm water, killing us unconsciously."
"By the time Men reacted, the troops had already suffered heavy losses in the pursuit and even lost their combat effectiveness."
"At that time, we will no longer be chasing the Eighth Route Army, but the Eighth Route Army will in turn destroy us."
The principle of boiling a frog in warm water is very simple. As a veteran on the battlefield, the co-captain cannot be ignorant of it.
In just a moment, his face became extremely solemn.
A pair of eyes also turned red unconsciously.
He clenched his fist and slammed it on the table in front of him, and cursed loudly: "What a cunning Eighth Route Army..."
"No wonder before entering the mountains, the Kwantung Army headquarters sent a special telegram to remind us that we must pay attention to the Eighth Route Army's guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare, and not to underestimate the enemy."
"At first I thought the Kwantung Army Headquarters was making too much fuss."
"No matter how powerful the guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare are, these tactics will become vulnerable to the Kwantung Army, which has absolute superiority in troops and firepower."
"Now it seems that I was too arrogant."
"Inside the mountains is different from outside the mountains. After the troops enter the mountains, due to terrain restrictions, our superiority in troops and firepower cannot be used. On the contrary, it is more conducive for the Eighth Route Army to use their guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare to slowly wear us down and kill our soldiers.
"
"This battle cannot continue like this. Otherwise, our unit may really be consumed by the Eighth Route Army in the mountains."
"Then how to fight?" The chief of staff and several captains of the wing immediately showed expectant expressions, and they all stared at the wing captain with bright eyes, waiting for his answer.
The co-captain was confused by the question, because for a moment he didn't know how to break the situation.
In order to relieve his embarrassment, he quickly shifted his gaze to the map in front of him.
Analyzing while watching: "The Eighth Route Army is equipped with a large number of mortars and light and heavy machine guns, which can attack us from a long distance and surprise us at close range."
"The terrain in the mountains is very responsible. As long as they control the raid events and choose the battlefield for the raid, they can retreat after the attack."
"No matter how fast we respond, it will be difficult to eliminate them."
"Unless we detect them in advance before they launch a sneak attack, preemptively launch an attack."
"This will not only prevent the troops from being attacked and reduce losses, but also kill the Eighth Route Army's sneak attack troops, which in turn will consume their troops."
The chief of staff then proposed an analysis: "You mean to send a large number of scouts, walk in front of the troops, and search all the roads we must pass, especially the area within 300 meters on both sides of the mountain road..."
"As long as there are no Eighth Route Army sneak attackers hidden here, then the frequency of their sneak attacks on us will be greatly reduced, and they may even find the Eighth Route Army sneak attackers in advance to preemptively strike?"
Seeing the joint captain nodding, several captains showed expressions of eagerness to try.
They had not thought of any way to break the situation before the co-captain spoke. Although the co-captain's suggestion was a bit far-fetched, it was still better than losing hundreds of people like yesterday.
As for whether it can be done, you will only know if you try it.
Seeing that everyone supported this method, the chief of staff immediately stood up and accepted the order: "I will make arrangements now and send out all the scouts in the regiment. I don't believe we can't break this situation."
