Chaoyang Kwantung Army Garrison Regiment Headquarters.
After anxious waiting, the hurried figure of the radio operator finally appeared in front of the chief of staff again.
"Sir, there is an urgent call from the aviation force... They have found the reinforcements we sent..."
"Less than ten kilometers from the ambush battlefield..."
"The Eighth Route Army assembled about a regiment of troops to besiege them."
"When the aviation force arrived on the battlefield, the reinforcements were being attacked from the front and rear by the Eighth Route Army. More than half of the two reinforced squadrons had suffered casualties, and only more than 200 people were left to continue fighting."
"The aviation force immediately launched an air attack on the Eighth Route Army's intercepting troops, used aerial bombs to blow a gap in the Eighth Route Army's defense line, covered the reinforcements and fought their way out of the Eighth Route Army's pocket, and was marching hastily towards the county seat...
"But the Eighth Route Army was not willing to let the reinforcements withdraw, and assembled more than half of the regiment to pursue them."
"In order to prevent the reinforcements from being besieged by the Eighth Route Army again, the aviation force sent two aircraft to escort them. At the same time, it launched air strikes on the Eighth Route Army's pursuing troops, slowing down the Eighth Route Army's pursuing troops."
"The aviation force also reported: With the current retreat speed of the reinforcements, they will be able to reach the outside of Chaoyang City in three hours. Please prepare for the response of the troops left behind in Chaoyang..."
The staff officer breathed a long sigh of relief and sighed: "It will be good to come back..."
"Even if only one reinforced squadron is withdrawn, it can greatly increase the strength of the Chaoyang garrison..."
"Immediately notify the troops stationed at Chaoyang North Gate, quickly open the city gate, and be ready to receive reinforcements."
"Send another telegram to the aviation force, thanking them for the escort and support, and asking them to continue to protect the reinforcements until they return to the county town, and at the same time continue to attack the Eighth Route Army pursuers from the air and consume their strength."
"Prepare for the Chaoyang garrison to encircle and suppress them again in the future."
…………
Kwantung Army Headquarters.
The chief of staff walked to the door of the war room with a very solemn expression holding a message he had just received, and hesitated for several seconds before walking in.
"Your Excellency, Commander...an urgent call from the Jinzhou Garrison..."
As soon as Umezu Umejiro saw the deputy's expression, he knew that what he brought was not good news. He frowned and asked slightly anxiously: "Did something happen to them..."
"Ha Yi..." the chief of staff lowered his head and replied quietly.
"The Jinzhou Garrison joined forces with the mobile brigade under the Liaoning Defense Area, and a total of three regiments entered the mountains to encircle and suppress the Eighth Route Army..."
"The latest battle report shows that one of the main regiments was besieged by the Eighth Route Army in the mountains, and the entire army was destroyed..."
"One of the main regiments was severely damaged, and only one reinforcement group was left to evacuate the mountain and is undergoing repairs outside Jinzhou City."
"The other main force lost one brigade, and the remaining two brigade retreated to Jinzhou..."
"Including the mobile brigade supporting Jinzhou, we have lost a total of two main regiments and a garrison brigade..."
"The losses of the Eighth Route Army are temporarily unknown..."
"But according to the reports of the encirclement and suppression troops who withdrew from the mountains...the Eighth Route Army always used guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare to sneak attacks on them in the mountains, and rarely fought hard battles with them face to face."
"The mopping up troops spend most of their time passively being beaten and rarely fight back..."
"So the Eighth Route Army they destroyed should not exceed a thousand people."
Umezu Umejiro fell down on the chair.
Although he was mentally prepared for an accident in the Jinzhou battlefield, he did not expect that the losses of the Jinzhou garrison and mobile brigade would be so great. He also did not expect that the Kwantung Army would lose so many troops and not even the 1,000 Eighth Route Army could be wiped out. Both sides suffered casualties.
The ratio reached an astonishing one to seven.
If this news hadn't come from the chief of staff himself, Umezu Umejiro would have thought he had heard a big joke.
He quickly asked: "Bagh Ya Road...are you not mistaken?"
"We are the most elite Kwantung Army in the empire..."
"How could it be possible to achieve such a large casualty ratio..."
"Are all the troops involved in the sweep a bunch of pigs?"
"The troops are just a bunch of pigs..."
"The loss of six to seven thousand people is more than the death of one thousand Eighth Route Army troops. Who can tell me how they fought..."
The chief of staff shook his head and replied: "What I just said are all telegrams that have been repeatedly confirmed. There is absolutely no problem..."
"As for why the frontline troops had such a high casualty ratio, I don't know yet..."
"The newspaper said that the Eighth Route Army was very powerful in mountain warfare..."
"Using the complex terrain inside the mountain, we used various means to sneak attack us and consume our troops..."
"While the troops were camping, they used artillery fire to attack our base from a long distance, consuming our troops, damaging the morale of the troops, weakening the troops' physical strength, making them exhausted during the daytime battle, and unable to concentrate..."
Seeing Umezu Umejiro's serious face and his eyes all red, he subconsciously wanted to curse. The chief of staff quickly interjected to comfort him: "Your Excellency, Commander..."
"It is a fact that the Jinzhou garrison was defeated by the Eighth Route Army. No matter how we hold people accountable, we cannot change the outcome of more than 7,000 elite Kwantung Army soldiers dying on the battlefield."
"The Eighth Route Army currently operating in Jinzhou is still hiding in the mountains."
"Because they destroyed a large number of Kwantung Army soldiers in the mountains who entered the mountains to encircle and suppress them, and they must have also captured a large amount of weapons and ammunition."
"If we find a way to eliminate them as soon as possible, the Eighth Route Army will definitely use those weapons and ammunition to continue to expand its troops."
"Now that they only have more than 2,000 people, it's so difficult to defeat them."
"If they take the opportunity to expand the total strength of the army to 3,000, or even 5,000..."
"Maybe in the future, even if we gather a main division, we won't be able to easily destroy them..."
"The situation on Chaoyang battlefield is not optimistic either..."
"According to the aviation report...the two main brigades of the Chaoyang garrison participating in the encirclement and suppression of the Eighth Route Army have been completely destroyed by the Eighth Route Army...the captain of the regiment died in the battle..."
"This means that the Eighth Route Army operating in Chaoyang is not allowed to go down."
"They have occupied all the villages and towns in Chaoyang that are close to the mountains, and are recruiting new soldiers there, expanding their troops, and establishing base areas..."
"Once the Eighth Route Army is allowed to gain a firm foothold in Chaoyang and establish a base in the mountainous areas, they will be able to advance, attack, retreat and defend, and become invincible."
"When the Kwantung Army wants to completely eliminate them, it will not be enough to dispatch a full main division."
"If the Eighth Route Army active in Chaoyang and Jinzhou support and cooperate with each other, and one side is attacked and the other side takes the initiative to attack the railway lines and towns occupied by the Kwantung Army, the Kwantung Army participating in the sweep will be in a dangerous situation of being attacked from both sides..."
"So sir, please think twice..."
"Our top priority now is to eliminate the Eighth Route Army and nip the enemy in the bud at all costs, not to hold people accountable..."
