Chapter 820 Will the Eighth Route Army spread beans and become an army?
In a forest one kilometer due south of Chenjiazhuang, through the unremitting efforts of the Japanese guard brigade, a headquarters that can withstand ordinary artillery attacks was successfully built.
Lieutenant General Sakuragi was immediately sent here by the guards.
On a table made of bullet boxes, several combat staff were hand-drawing combat maps based on the latest enemy situation.
In the original combat rescue operation plan, the central mopping up troops should seize Chenjiazhuang, block the Yizhong Eighth Route Army in the plain area south of Chenjiazhuang, wait for the left and right mopping up troops to be in place, form an encirclement around them, and then find a way to annihilate them.
At this moment, Chenjiazhuang on the map is still occupied by the Eighth Route Army.
The middle route mopping up troops were blocked in the plain area south of Chenjiazhuang.
The hunter in the plan suddenly became the prey, surrounded by the Eighth Route Army, who could be gathered and annihilated at any time.
Faced with such a huge change, Lieutenant General Sakuragi stared at the map for a long time, unwilling to accept this cruel fact.
Suddenly he punched the ammunition box with his fist and said viciously: "Isn't it just that I became prey? It's no big deal."
"The battlefield is changing rapidly. No one knew before the war that we would change from hunters to prey."
"The real decisive battle has not yet begun. As long as we continue to fight, no one knows whether this change will happen again."
"As long as the battle is not over, we may become hunters again and destroy the Eighth Route Army in the Wing."
"Order the artillery, replenish the regiments, and speed up the construction of fortifications."
"The fortifications must be dug out before dark."
"The Eighth Route Army is good at night fighting. At that time, we did not have aircraft to assist us in the battle. They would definitely attack us and further consume our troops."
"If the troops don't even have a bunker, the soldiers' losses in the battle will definitely be very high."
"Da da da... boom boom boom..."
Suddenly, a large number of firefights came from the flanks of the circular position, and Lieutenant General Sakuragi was so frightened that he almost fell to the ground.
He strode to the command post's lookout point, raised his telescope and looked at the sound. He suddenly became very anxious, fearing that some uncontrollable accident would occur in the battle situation.
The distance between the two sides was too far and he couldn't see anything.
But the fierce exchange of fire coming from the battlefield indicated that at least one regiment of the Eighth Route Army was participating in the battle there.
A lot of cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He never expected that the Eighth Route Army would take action so unexpectedly.
Ignore the cruise aircraft overhead and launch an attack.
But Lieutenant General Sakuragi quickly figured out the reason and analyzed with a calm face: "Our opponent is indeed very good."
"We will not miss any opportunity to consume our military strength."
"Our position has not yet been repaired. If the Eighth Route Army suddenly launches an attack now, even if we have aircraft support, we will pay a heavy price."
"If we wait until we have repaired our position before launching an attack, it will be difficult for the Eighth Route Army to take advantage of us, even at night."
"Order the artillery and aviation forces to immediately attack the Eighth Route Army's offensive troops. They must use artillery fire to block their offensive and buy time for the supplementary regiment to build fortifications."
"Division Commander..."
A lieutenant rushed into the headquarters panting heavily, and before he could stand still, he made a report with a face full of anxiety.
"A large number of Eighth Route Army troops suddenly appeared on the left flank of the position and launched a surprise attack on us with mortars and heavy machine guns..."
"Their attack was too sudden and their firepower was too strong. All warning positions have been lost."
"The troops are just relying on the temporary peripheral defense line to wait for reinforcements and request reinforcements..."
"The Eighth Route Army attacking us has at least two regiments, equipped with thirty or forty mortars, twenty or thirty heavy machine guns, and countless light machine guns."
"Almost all the security troops were killed by mortars."
Lieutenant General Sakuragi's judgment was not much different from the report of the messenger, and he had already issued a counter-order. However, his expression did not become relaxed. Instead, he grabbed the lieutenant's collar and asked with a stern face: "Say it again...
"
"How many people are there in the Eighth Route Army attacking you?"
"At least two regiments..." the lieutenant ordered the soldier to say firmly.
"They attacked us in company units. Each infantry company was equipped with more than two mortars, at least one heavy machine gun, and four or five light machine guns."
"At the same time, they rushed towards our warning position from a defense line that stretched for two to three kilometers."
"Many security forces did not even have a chance to take action and were directly overwhelmed by their offensive firepower."
"There are at least twenty such offensive troops, and the total strength must be more than two regiments."
"How is this possible?" Lieutenant General Sakuragi asked with a look of disbelief on his face.
"The Eighth Route Army attacking the rear troops has one regiment. If the Eighth Route Army attacking the left flank has two regiments, then where did the Eighth Route Army operating on our right flank come from?"
"And where did those Eighth Route Army troops who defended Chenjiazhuang and almost killed the attacking troops come from?"
"The intelligence department, aviation force, and reconnaissance force all confirmed to us that there are only three regiments of the Eighth Route Army active around Chenjiazhuang."
"According to your report: the Eighth Route Army that has fought with us so far has more than three regiments."
"If we add the Eighth Route Army on the right flank of the position that has not yet fought us, there will be at least five regiments of the Eighth Route Army operating in Chenjiazhuang..."
"No, plus the Chenjiazhuang garrison, there should be six main regiments."
"But the total of all the main forces of the Yizhong Eighth Route Army is only five regiments. Where did they come from with so many troops?"
"And there are still many troops blocking the attack on the left and right to mop up the troops."
"Is it possible that they will spread the beans to form an army?"
Everyone in the command headquarters didn't know how to answer Lieutenant General Sakuragi's series of questions.
Everyone chose silence, and the atmosphere became depressing.
I don’t know how long it took, but the chief of staff replied in a low voice: "Division commander..."
"We are from the Northeast, reinforcements invited by the North China Front..."
"Do you think the extra Eighth Route Army around us might be the reinforcements invited by the Eighth Route Army in the wing?"
"The reinforcements gave up their heavy weapons and marched in separate groups under the cover of night. It was easy for them to escape the eyes of our scouts and intelligence personnel and enter the base area in the center of the wing."
Lieutenant General Sakuragi's face became more and more serious, and his breathing became heavier than before. He stared at the map and said seriously: "Then it will be troublesome..."
"The troops have been fighting for so long and they don't even know how many troops their opponent has. This is simply a joke."
"If there are really five regiments of the Eighth Route Army around us and they launch an attack overnight, we probably won't be able to survive tonight, let alone use them as bait to hold back the main force of the Eighth Route Army until the troops from the left and right sweep up to join the battle."
"The troops continue to build defensive fortifications, try to build them as strong as possible, build more lines of defense, and at the same time be prepared to break out and move at any time."
"I want to report this new information to the former enemy headquarters immediately."
"They have more sources of information than we do. They can definitely find out how many Eighth Route Army troops our opponents have, and at the same time determine whether the original raid plan should continue."
