Another half minute passed, but Lieutenant Colonel Takeuchi did not hear any other artillery fire except the counterattack fire from his artillery.
The Eighth Route Army that had just made a sneak attack on the station seemed to have disappeared, without any reaction.
Looking at the Bao Valley area not far away that was shrouded in artillery fire, he could only order with a face full of reluctance: "Let the artillery stop... The Eighth Route Army has escaped..."
We waited until dawn, but the Eighth Route Army never showed up again.
In order to avoid being fooled and causing unnecessary losses, Lieutenant Colonel Takeuchi did not allow anyone to leave the station during the waiting period. It was not until dawn that he saw how fierce the fighting was between the blocking position and the village.
On the bloody battlefield, two reinforced squadrons and more than 400 Japanese soldiers lay scattered in various postures.
More than 30% of the soldiers did not even have a complete body left behind. Their limbs, broken arms, minced meat, internal organs... were scattered everywhere, bloody...
The number of corpses of the puppet army was obviously much less than that of the imperial army. One glance showed that many people surrendered to the Eighth Route Army and became prisoners of war last night.
"Bagya Road..."
Lieutenant Colonel Takeuchi clenched his fists so hard that his nails almost dug into his flesh, and his veins popped out. He stared at his big red eyes and cursed through gritted teeth.
The captain of the second brigade lowered his head and reported: "Chief of Staff, please calm down..."
"The Eighth Route Army is so cunning. They did exactly what you judged. They used the tunnels dug in advance to sneak into our army's eyes and launched a sudden attack!"
"First use grenades to explode, then use rifle machine guns to attack!"
"Our troops were killed and suffered heavy casualties without even having a chance to fight back..."
"Two infantry squadrons, two mortar squads, two heavy machine gun squads, a total of 452 imperial troops... No one was spared, they were all wiped out..."
"More than 100 people from the four companies of the Imperial Army were killed, and more than 200 people were missing..."
"All the weapons and ammunition equipped by our army are also missing. A total of eight mortars, eight heavy machine guns, 24 light machine guns, more than 600 rifles, more than 100,000 rounds of various bullets, and more than 1,000 bullets were lost.
Grenades and grenades, eight hundred shells..."
"But there are definitely not that many weapons and ammunition that can be used..."
"The Eighth Route Army used grenades and grenades on a large scale in the battle, with a total of more than a thousand. A large number of weapons and ammunition must have been destroyed..."
"I estimate that they captured at most 60%!"
Takeuchi Lieutenant Colonel snorted and asked, "Liu Cheng, do you think 60 percent is very little?"
"More than 400 imperial troops were lost in one battle, and more than one battalion's equipment was captured by the Eighth Route Army... In addition to our losses yesterday afternoon, more than half of the counterattack troops were killed before they reached Shunping. How can we fight the next battle!
"
"If you look at the Eighth Route Army, even if they suffered heavy losses in the battle, the equipment and ammunition captured were enough to make up for their losses, and their overall combat effectiveness has not declined."
"The strength of both sides is ebbing and flowing. If we can't break the situation as soon as possible, even if we take Junpei with the few remaining troops, we will suffer heavy casualties!"
"Do you think the brigade commander would agree to recapture Junping at the cost of two infantry brigades?"
Just when the captain of the second brigade hesitated for a while and didn't know how to answer the call, the operator suddenly ran over: "Sir, there is an urgent call from the brigade headquarters!"
"The brigade commander knew about our defeat last night so quickly?" Lieutenant Colonel Takeuchi felt that he had been betrayed by his subordinates and shouted with anger.
Then he looked at the two brigade captains with a pair of angry eyes, as if asking them who brought this matter to the brigade commander.
The two captains instantly felt the chief of staff's anger and quickly waved their hands to show that they did not make a snitch.
The captain of the second brigade took the telegram from the operator's hand, glanced at it and the nervous expression on his face disappeared, and he breathed a sigh of relief and reported: "Chief of Staff, it's not because of our defeat last night!"
"This is an enemy report!"
"The intelligence department has just received news that the Eighth Route Army stationed in Shunping County retreated overnight last night, with a total of one regiment of troops and took away eighty-nine carts of food, weapons and ammunition!"
"Shunping County is deserted now...the troops can take it down if they kill it!"
"The brigade leader asked us to hurry up and hurry up to prevent Shunping County from being occupied by the Eighth Route Army again!"
"Nani, the Eighth Route Army retreated from Shunping County?" Lieutenant Colonel Takeuchi asked with a look of disbelief on his face.
After last night's encounter, he was mentally prepared for a decisive battle with the Eighth Route Army in Shunping.
The Eighth Route Army was much stronger than he imagined.
It cost more than a thousand people to capture the village of South Korea, and the loss in conquering Shunping County would definitely be even greater.
Now the brigade commander actually told himself that the Eighth Route Army defending Shunping had retreated...
How can this be!
Since they had chosen to abandon Shunping County, why did they bother to attack them at night last night?
Takeuchi Nakasa couldn't understand.
The captain of the second brigade was like a roundworm in the stomach of the chief of staff. He took one look at his face and said: "Sir, the Eighth Route Army's night attack on us last night should be to prepare for the retreat!"
"In case their retreat is exposed in advance, we take the opportunity to kill them and chase their retreating troops... Their retreat will soon turn into a big rout..."
"Only by proactively attacking us through night raids can we be held in the South Korean village, unable to threaten them to withdraw their troops!"
Lieutenant Colonel Takeuchi still had some questions that he couldn't figure out, so he continued to ask: "Then why did they abandon Junping County!"
"In the battle of South Korean Village, they have wiped out more than a thousand of us!"
"The defenses in Shunping County are definitely stronger than here...it is not impossible to defend there!"
"They just gave up without firing a shot. Don't you think it's weird?"
"Could this be a conspiracy of theirs!"
The captain shook his head and analyzed: "We are not afraid even if it is a conspiracy!"
"Although our army lost more than a thousand people here... most of the losses were caused by night attacks!"
"Although we also suffered losses during the daytime attack, the results were greater!"
"As long as we try our best to use our artillery and air superiority in battle and avoid night battles with the Eighth Route Army, no matter how strong they are, they will not be our opponent!"
"To attack Shunping, we will definitely dispatch planes..."
"If the Eighth Route Army clings to the county seat, defeat is certain!"
"The Eighth Route Army always fights if it can win, and withdraws if it cannot win!"
"Knowing that defending the county seat will lead to defeat and a large loss of troops, and positional warfare is not a style they are good at. After seeing our fierce methods of attacking Nanhan Village, they temporarily decided to abandon Shunping County. I think it is very understandable!"
Lieutenant Colonel Takeuchi was persuaded by his subordinates, and after analyzing what he meant, he found that it was really the case.
The solemn expression on his face was slowly replaced by a smile, and he looked away from the battlefield. He gave a serious order: "Notify the troops in half an hour and arrive at Shunping County before noon..."
"Confirm that there is really no Eighth Route Army in the city before taking it!"
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