"No!" The wing chief of staff shook his head in denial and pointed to the map.
"The terrain of Cangyun Ridge is complex, with ravines and ravines, and people can be hidden everywhere."
"After the 386th Brigade Headquarters and the logistics organization are divided, each troop can only have 300 people at most. There are too many places to hide, and we have no way of locking in the key targets for raids!"
"Even if the blind cat kills the mouse and catches one or two targets, the Eighth Route Army hiding in other places will not remain indifferent!"
"Yesterday's pursuit of the 386th Brigade Headquarters was the first time I encountered the Eighth Route Army's guerrilla warfare. It's still fresh in my memory!"
"The fighting groups were moving around us, shooting in the east and west, and then running away. We didn't even have a chance to fight back."
"Although such a sneak attack will not cause fatal damage to us, it can cause us a lot of casualties!"
"I made a statistics during my break: Counting from the time when the troops started chasing us, we have been attacked a total of 129 times, mainly by cold guns and supplemented by land mines. A total of 59 people were killed, 38 were seriously injured, and 49 were lightly injured, which directly reduced the number of people by half.
An infantry squadron!"
"After our key mopping-up begins, in case the Eighth Route Army hiding elsewhere sends a large number of capable squads to sneak attack the mopping-up troops!"
"Even if you are lucky and manage to kill one or two Eighth Route Army troops, the mopping up troops will be subjected to endless sneak attacks by small groups of Eighth Route Army troops on the offensive route, causing heavy losses."
"Compared with the results gained, the price paid is too great!"
"Request aviation reinforcements and ask them to send reconnaissance planes to conduct low-altitude reconnaissance on Cangyun Ridge and find the hiding place of the Eighth Route Army. We will directly send troops to kill them and launch an attack!" Colonel Sakata was still unwilling to accept it, and then came up with a second idea.
The chief of staff shook his head again and said, "It's useless!"
"Just analyzing the terrain around us, we can see that two to three hundred people can be hidden in any ravine!"
"Even if there are no ravines and woods, if hundreds of people lie down on the ground and cover themselves with thatch, reconnaissance planes will not be able to detect them."
Colonel Sakata couldn't help but look around, and the hope that had just been ignited on his face was suddenly shattered.
There are several ravines within the field of vision, and if a few woods are also included, there are at least seven places around where people can hide.
The entire Cangyun Ridge is dozens of times larger than here, and there are more than a hundred places where people can hide, if not hundreds.
The 386th Brigade's brigade headquarters and logistics organization can only have two to three thousand people at most. Hiding in such a large area will definitely leave no trace, and it will be useless to send more reconnaissance planes over.
Colonel Sakata was about to struggle again. Just as he turned his attention to the map, the telegraph operator suddenly appeared in front of them: "Reporting to the commander, Captain Yoshida sent an urgent message: Something happened to them!"
"What's the matter? Keep talking!" the chief of staff became anxious upon hearing this and asked quickly.
"They lost track of the remnants of the Independent Regiment and lost more than a hundred imperial troops and a large amount of weapons and ammunition in the process of chasing the enemy!" the telegraph operator said while handing the electric board to the chief of staff.
"Captain Yoshida decided to retreat immediately and has already turned around and rushed to Cangyun Ridge to join the main force of the regiment!"
The chief of staff took the telegram and glanced at the three lines. After reading it, his brows furrowed into a big "chuan". He faced Colonel Sakata's angry and unwilling eyes and reminded: "Captain, we can't go deeper into Cangyun Ridge and continue to sweep the 38th Army."
The headquarters of the Sixth Brigade!"
"Yoshida Shoichi reported: The troops killed 168 people on the way to pursue the remnants of the independent regiment, and lost one mortar, one heavy machine gun, eight light machine guns, eight grenades, and 13
Sixteen thirty-eight covers, nearly two hundred artillery shells, tens of thousands of bullets..."
"After replenishing these weapons and ammunition, the combat effectiveness of the remaining members of the independent regiment will definitely be greatly improved!"
"Humble judgment: This unit will definitely come to Cangyun Ridge to protect their brigade headquarters after escaping the Yoshida Brigade's pursuit. They might be hiding in a nearby corner now to keep an eye on us!"
"If the troops split up and march into Cangyun Ridge now, the remnants of the independent regiment will definitely seize the opportunity to pounce on us and bite us."
"The telegram also said something: yesterday afternoon, the remnants of the independent regiment destroyed an infantry squad of the Yoshida brigade with less than two platoons, and it took less than two minutes!"
"Now that they have so many weapons and ammunition, they may be able to eat one of our infantry squadrons in one go!"
"Please think twice..."
"Let's let the enemy go for now. Anyway, our encounter with the 386th Brigade Headquarters was just an accident."
"The troops have no preparations. There is nothing wrong with letting them escape. The superiors will definitely not say anything!"
"The next time the military headquarters gathers heavy troops to raid the 386th Brigade base area, it will not be too late for us to take revenge!"
"Retreat!" Colonel Sakata was a very decisive and calm person. Since the situation was irreversible, he would not hesitate to retreat without any hesitation.
Looking at the endless mountains in front of him, he suddenly took out his command knife and chopped down a tree next to him.
The tree trunk as thick as an arm was chopped into two sections in an instant.
Colonel Sakata took the opportunity to swear: "All officers and soldiers of the Sakata Regiment must remember today's shame!"
"When we come to Cangyun Ridge next time, we will definitely kill the 386th Brigade and avenge the warriors who died in battle!"
"The independent regiment cannot be left out. They killed half of our group of warriors. We must eliminate them all!"
"Call Yoshida Shoichi right away: No need to come to Cangyun Ridge!"
"After joining the artillery troops, the first battalion, and the baggage troops, we will stand by where we are."
In a valley about ten kilometers away from the Bantian Regiment, more than a hundred Eighth Route Army troops guarded every exit into the valley. Careful observation will reveal that the commanding heights around are also covered with Eighth Route Army secret posts, all watching the surrounding movements with vigilance.
Three figures suddenly appeared in the dark sentry's field of vision. They subconsciously pulled the bolt of the gun and put the opponent in the crosshairs.
If the opponent is an enemy rather than a friend, they will pull the trigger without hesitation.
Fortunately, their tension was in vain.
The combat staff officer of the brigade headquarters hurriedly ran into the valley with two scouts and went straight to the brigade headquarters.
A torn raincloth served as a roof, and several bullet boxes were placed under the raincloth as a table. Several soldiers stood around with guns on guard... It can be as simple as it can be. This is how the 386th Brigade entered Cangyun Ridge.
Temporary brigade headquarters.
The bespectacled brigade commander walked around the ammunition box again and again, very anxiously, glancing at the radio station from time to time, hoping that he would receive some news that he urgently wanted to know!
"Brigade commander, the Bantian regiment that was chasing us has retreated..." the combat staff rushed in and reported excitedly.
"No one is left, everyone exits Cangyun Ridge..."
"I have arranged for six investigators to follow. If the Sakata Alliance wants to kill us, they will report back as soon as possible!"
"Where's Kong Jie? Did Kong Jie and the independent regiment escape the Japanese pursuit and retreat into Cangyun Ridge!" The brigade commander breathed a sigh of relief and stared at the combat staff officer and continued to ask!"
"Withdraw the two battalions... Commander Kong and the second battalion stayed behind. There is no news yet!" the combat staff immediately reported.
"I have sent out all the investigators I can, and they should be found soon!"
