Chapter 024: I Can Run A Monk, But I Can't Run A Temple
"Bageya Road, what do you guys do for a living? The troops can run so fast and lose people, so what use do I have to you...a bunch of stupid pigs!" Masaichi Yoshida stood on the top of the mountain ridge and looked around.
The rolling hills that could not be seen were like an angry lion, cursing at several scouts.
The captain was furious, and Captain Toyokawa did not dare to speak hastily to persuade him.
It wasn't until he got tired of scolding that he plucked up the courage to stand up and said: "Captain, it seems that we have lost sight of our target since the second half of the night!"
"The remnants of the independent regiment sent a diversionary force, holding torches and leading us in a circle in the mountains. The main force took the opportunity to escape!"
"It was too dark. We had no guide and were not familiar with the surrounding terrain. We could not see the troops circling in the mountains. It was not until dawn that we realized that the troops had been deceived!"
"The remnants of the independent regiment have already retreated dozens of miles away, and we have no target even if we want to pursue them!"
"Forget it!" The anger on Yoshida Shoichi's face slowly subsided, and he slowly regained his composure.
To be fair, even if he went to the front as a scout in person, he would not realize that he was chasing a false target, let alone that he would circle around in the mountain.
The main reason to blame is that the Independent Regiment was too cunning and used tactics that the Sakata Alliance had never encountered before.
Realizing that this failure was not caused by his own command errors, nor by the ignorance of the fate of his soldiers, Yoshida Shoichi felt much better.
When he looked at a few more scouts, his eyes had softened, and he immediately ordered: "The front team becomes the rear team, and the rear team becomes the front team. The troops will retreat immediately, gather the wounded, and then rush to Cangyun Ridge to return to the team!"
"The Independent Regiment can run away, but the monks cannot run away from the temple. As long as the captain captures the 386th Brigade Headquarters, the remnants of the Independent Regiment will naturally come to rescue them. Then we will avenge our shame and kill them!"
The Japanese marched much faster during the day than at night. In just three hours, they marched eighteen kilometers to the high ground where the wounded were trapped.
"Captain...the wounded...something happened to the wounded on the mountain, and all the weapons and ammunition we left on the mountain...were also lost..." The captain of the forward force suddenly rushed in front of Yoshida Shoichi. He seemed to have lost his soul.
His face was so frightened that he even started to have trouble speaking.
"The wounded... and the remaining troops were all killed..."
"The military uniform was also... stripped off... naked... lying on the top of the mountain..."
"It must have been done by the Eighth Route Army. They are the only ones...interested in our military uniforms..."
"It's so cruel... all the fifty or so imperial troops died, not a single one was left alive..."
Yoshida panicked for a moment, pushed the second lieutenant away, opened his legs and ran to the top of the mountain...
Eight naked corpses were the first to come into view. Yoshida's face was ashen, his eyes were burning and red, and he continued to walk towards the top of the mountain with his fists clenched...
The scene on the top of the mountain was even more tragic than the description by the forward second lieutenant. Not only were the soldiers stripped of their uniforms, but many of them were blown to pieces in the battle. There were not even a few good pieces of meat on their bodies...
"Bagaya Road, I must kill all the independent regiments and avenge the warriors who died in the battle!" Yoshida Shoichi was very angry, but he could not find a channel or object to vent his anger, so he could only fight in front of his subordinates who died in the battle.
Every word he swore was filled with hatred, and his lips were almost bleeding from being bitten.
On the main peak of Cangyun Ridge, Colonel Sakata chased him here at three o'clock in the morning, and then he was completely confused.
There was no place around, no guide, no landmarks in sight, and several staff members racked their brains and couldn't pinpoint their position on the map.
An army that cannot even figure out its own position is like marching with its eyes closed. No matter how courageous Sakata is, he will not dare to continue walking.
Immediately order the reconnaissance troops to disperse and search for the guide and the village.
At five o'clock in the morning, it was already dawn, and Sakata's eager guide was finally brought back by the reconnaissance team.
The staff also used the guide to find out the location of the troops, but came to a fact that no one could accept.
"Captain, we seem to have lost track of our target!" the commander of the wing's staff reported carefully.
"The terrain of Cangyun Ridge is too complicated. We stayed here for several hours last night. The 386th Brigade Headquarters and the logistics organization entered Cangyun Ridge and began to divide their troops and disappeared into the vast mountains!"
"Unless we send out heavy troops to sweep across Cangyun Ridge, it will be difficult to force out the Eighth Route Army hiding in the mountains!"
Colonel Sakata had a lot of anger that he had not yet vented, and he would definitely not give up halfway. He immediately ordered: "Then send troops to sweep Cangyun Ridge!"
"As long as we kill the 386th Brigade Headquarters, it doesn't matter if we spend a little more time!"
"You can make a mopping up plan for me now, and the troops will start taking action in an hour!"
"We finally bumped into this fat guy from the 386th Brigade Headquarters. We must not let him slip away!"
The chief of staff did not move, looking at Colonel Sakata with a confused look on his face: "Commander Captain, please think again!"
"Cangyun Ridge is too big and the terrain is complex. Our troops are limited and it is almost impossible to sweep across the entire area!"
"If you insist on mopping up, the troops must enter the mountain in small groups, with a distance of more than three kilometers between small groups!"
"Yesterday we saw the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army. It was stronger than I imagined. It is fully capable of killing one of our infantry squads in a very short period of time."
"The troops were hastily divided, which just gave them a good opportunity to defeat them one by one!"
"If the Eighth Route Army takes the initiative and kills two or three teams, there will be a large number of gaps in the blockade of Cangyun Ridge. The Eighth Route Army can break through these gaps and leave Cangyun Ridge at any time, completely getting rid of our pursuit!"
"The sweep we organized will not only end in vain, but will also result in the loss of several infantry squads, wives and soldiers!"
Colonel Sakata believed in the chief of staff's professional skills. If he said it couldn't work, it definitely wouldn't work.
But he didn't want to let go of the piece of fat that was brought to his mouth, so he squatted on the ground and studied the map, trying to find out how to break the situation.
The chief of staff could tell at a glance the commander's unwillingness.
He was also very unwilling.
The 386th Brigade had repeatedly inflicted heavy losses on the Imperial Army behind enemy lines. It had long been listed as a serious problem by the Shanxi garrison, and they wanted to get rid of it quickly.
If the Bantian Regiment kills the 386th Brigade Headquarters in its first battle deep into the rear, the prestige of the Sakata Regiment will definitely resound throughout North China, and he himself will also become famous, accumulating rectification capital for his future promotion to the Regiment Commander.
But the opponent was too cunning and didn't give them this chance at all.
"Can we change the comprehensive sweep to a focused sweep, and focus on the several locations in Cangyun Ridge where people are most likely to hide? Our limited troops do not need to be spread too thin, and we can completely disperse the operations with infantry squadrons as units!" Colonel Sakata
A sudden suggestion.
"I admit that the Eighth Route Army's combat effectiveness is indeed very strong, but it certainly does not have the strength to eat up one of our reinforced squadrons in a short period of time."
"If they dare to take action, the infantry squadron under attack will take the opportunity to stick to the opponent, creating an opportunity for other troops to encircle the enemy!"
