The commander did not relax his nerves after giving the order.
The disparity in strength between the enemy and ourselves on the battlefield is still widening. If something unexpected happens in the subsequent breakout operation, the probability of a successful breakout relying solely on the strength of the light infantry regiment is almost zero.
More than a thousand soldiers under his command were still counting on him to survive. He could not place all his hopes on the breakout method just now. He had to think of a backup plan in advance to prepare for emergencies.
After thinking for a moment, he continued the order: "All the artillery units of the Eighth Route Army in Yi Zhong are here to attack us, and there are also three regiments of infantry surrounding us at the same time."
"There are a total of six regiments of the Eighth Route Army operating in Chenjiazhuang. After subtracting them, there are only three light infantry regiments left in the Eighth Route Army that besieged the Yingmu Division. The pressure has dropped sharply."
"In terms of the distribution of troops of the Eighth Route Army, this battle is more like encircling a point and calling for reinforcements."
"Use the Sakuragi Division as bait to attract us to reinforce Chenjiazhuang. The Yizhong Eighth Route Army will gather all the main forces to set up an ambush halfway and annihilate us!"
"Immediately report the attack on the reinforcements to the former enemy headquarters based on my judgment just now."
"Commander, please find a way to contact the commander of the Sakuragi Division."
"The Eighth Route Army that besieged them will mobilize at least half of their troops. Ask them to immediately launch a counterattack, fight a bloody road, and reinforce us with a forced march."
"We continue to break through to reinforce Chenjiazhuang. Even if we cannot break out, we must hold back the Eighth Route Army surrounding us to buy time for the Sakuragi Division to break out."
"If either of our two armies succeeds in breaking through, they can join forces and defeat the Eighth Route Army besieging us one by one."
The co-captain had a very good idea, but he overlooked one thing.
Since the main force of the Eighth Route Army is here to besiege the reinforcements, the sound of firefights coming from Chenjiazhuang must be fake.
Whether the Sakuragi division he wants to reinforce exists or not becomes a question.
At this moment, he only wanted to break out of the encirclement quickly, so he forgot about this problem.
…………
At the Japanese Army's Baoding Garrison Headquarters, the deputy chief of staff once again hurried to Okamura Neiji.
It's been less than an hour since I last came here.
The deputy chief of staff at that time had a smile on his face and brought the good news that the Sakuragi Division was still fighting.
The news he brought this time didn't seem to be very good, and his face looked very ugly from the moment he entered the door.
Without waiting for him to stand still, he reported calmly: "Your Excellency, Commander..."
"Urgent call for reinforcements..."
"They were attacked by Eighth Route Army artillery fire five kilometers away from Chenjiazhuang..."
"The telegram said that the maximum number of mountain artillery pieces that attacked them was sixty. The artillery shells fired by the Eighth Route Army seemed to have eyes, chasing them and exploding."
"I wanted to launch a counterattack, destroy the Eighth Route Army artillery that attacked them, and take the opportunity to pull out the teeth of the Eighth Route Army tiger in the wing."
"As a result, the Eighth Route Army actually deployed three main regiments to besiege them."
"The counterattack force fought an encounter with the Eighth Route Army ambush force and suffered heavy losses."
"They are preparing to gather troops to break out in the direction of Chenjiazhuang."
"Please ask the Sakuragi Division to take the initiative to launch a counterattack against the Eighth Route Army besieging them and support them."
"The next step of action will be determined after both parties meet."
Okamura Neji frowned and analyzed: "No...there have been problems in the past few years..."
"Hurry up and find the last telegram from the reinforcements...quickly..."
Okamura Neji walked towards the sand table while giving orders, very anxious.
The combat staff reacted quickly. As soon as Neji Okamura walked to the sand table, the last battle report was handed to him.
Okamura Neiji glanced at ten lines and read it in a few seconds.
"Snapped……"
Then he slapped the telegram on the frame of the sand table and said with an affirmative look: "I just said there have been problems in the past few years... and it turned out to be true."
"The reinforcements said in the last telegram: The firefight coming from Chenjiazhuang was very fierce, the scale of the battle was not less than 10,000 people, and a large number of mountain artillery and heavy artillery participated in the battle."
"The Sakuragi Division has limited troops, and heavy weapons have suffered heavy losses in previous battles."
"Then most of the firefights heard by the reinforcements should have been caused by the Eighth Route Army."
"At least 7,000 elite Eighth Route Army troops participated in the battlefield, including a large number of artillery units."
"Now they sent a telegram to tell us: They were attacked by three regiments of the Eighth Route Army and more than 60 mountain field guns..."
"If these troops and artillery are all from Chenjiazhuang, then the sound of the exchange of fire they heard half an hour ago was fake."
"The Eighth Route Army staged the show deliberately to use it as bait."
The deputy chief of staff immediately answered: "The Eighth Route Army wants to surround the site for reinforcements and eat our reinforcements!"
Okamura Neji continued to shake his head: "It's not as simple as you think."
"If the Sakuragi Division is still fighting in Chenjiazhuang, do you think the Eighth Route Army dares to assemble so many troops and artillery for reinforcements?"
"Yingmu-kun is not a fool. Would he allow the Eighth Route Army to act under his nose?"
The deputy chief of staff seemed to have figured it out, and then a shocked expression of disbelief appeared on his face.
Staring at Neji Okamura, hesitantly asked, "You mean the Sakuragi division has had an accident!"
Okamura Neiji replied calmly: "Only when the Sakuragi Division has an accident, the Eighth Route Army can perform a show in Chenjiazhuang with a small number of troops to convince the reinforcements that the Sakuragi Division is still alive and well."
What Okamura Neiji said was reasonable and well-founded. The deputy chief of staff couldn't find a reason to refute it, so he could only accept this cruel fact.
Suddenly thinking of the changes in the breakout mentioned in the telegram by the reinforcements, his face turned pale and he immediately headed towards Gangmura Ningji.
"The reinforcements want to continue to break out in the direction of Chenjiazhuang..."
"I also want the Sakuragi division to break out together to support them."
"If the Sakuragi Division has had an accident, continuing to break out of Chenjiazhuang is tantamount to death."
"We should immediately remind the reinforcements and ask them to break out in the opposite direction. They must not go to Chenjiazhuang."
"We also need to contact the left and right sweep forces..."
"Turn around immediately and evacuate the Eighth Route Army base area as quickly as possible."
"The Eighth Route Army in the Wing has received foreign aid, and even the most powerful central mopping up troops are no match. If the left and right mopping up troops are targeted by them again, they will lose a layer of their skin even if they don't die..."
Okamura Neiji immediately ordered: "The reinforcements sent by Baoding will immediately turn around and break out of the encirclement in the direction of Baoding. They must be fast and run away after breaking out of the encirclement."
"Throw away all equipment and materials that affect the marching speed. We must not be surrounded by the Eighth Route Army again."
"Without the Sakuragi Division, our three troops operating in the Wing Center Base Area are the weakest."
"It's easy to pick the weakest persimmon. The Eighth Route Army has just experienced a big battle and the troops are very tired. If they want to fight another battle of annihilation, they will most likely target them."
"The fact that they were besieged by sixty mountain field artillery pieces and three regiments of the Eighth Route Army is the best proof of this."
"The mopping up troops on the left and right must retreat quickly, and they must not get entangled with the Eighth Route Army on the battlefield."
