The losses in the northern Shanxi base area in the raid were far greater than the Japanese army imagined.
After Kong Jie and Li Yunlong were transferred, although the foundation of the new independent regiment remained in northwestern Shanxi and the equipment was not taken away, the amount of ammunition left behind was limited after all.
The newly appointed regiment leader is obviously not as good at handling ammunition as Huang Yu.
After more than a year of consumption, the ammunition has been basically consumed.
Although the mountain artillery and field artillery equipped by each regiment are still there, because the shells are limited, they will only be used as a last resort. In ordinary battles, they are basically used as decorations to scare the little devils.
The troops lacked heavy weapons for attacking fortresses. Facing the enemy bunkers along the railways and highways, the siege troops often had no choice but to send death squads to blast them, resulting in 20% more casualties than before.
The limited ammunition was getting less and less, and the losses were not even compensated by the seizures.
After completing the raid mission, each regiment returned to the base area to rest as planned. As a result, the mopping up troops sent by Yoshio Iwamatsu actually followed them into the northern Shanxi base area.
Taking advantage of the fact that the Eighth Route Army had just experienced a major battle and the troops were exhausted, they launched an attack overnight.
Several regiments were killed on the spot and were caught off guard. They lost several companies without even knowing who the opponent was, and even lost their station...
The subsequent raids by the Japanese troops were overwhelming, and in less than a week they captured half of the base areas in northwestern Shanxi.
In fact, Yoshio Iwamatsu had a lot of luck in this battle.
Before the troops raided the Japanese transportation lines, they had made preparations for counter-mopping up. The troops, ammunition and supplies had all been assembled. As long as the Japanese dared to come, they would be able to inflict heavy damage on them and defend the base area.
As a result, the counter-mopping operation suddenly became an active offensive.
After completing the raid mission, the participating troops naturally divided up and returned to their respective bases, and the ammunition and materials assembled before were almost consumed.
Yoshio Iwamatsu launched an attack suddenly and was lucky enough to catch the Northwestern Shanxi Eighth Route Army off guard.
And they defeated them one by one, and severely damaged the Northwestern Shanxi Eighth Route Army, leaving them unable to parry and could only retreat...
…………
The former enemy headquarters and deputy commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army were also paying attention to this sudden large-scale raid, with very solemn expressions.
"Snapped……"
For some unknown reason, he suddenly punched the table hard and said sternly: "Yoshio Iwamatsu attacked at the wrong time."
"The Eighth Route Army in the Northwestern Shanxi Province has just completed a raid. It is short of ammunition and supplies. The troops have suffered heavy casualties and are very tired... Suddenly they are attacked by a tiger and wolf army. It is difficult to lose..."
"Fortunately, they have stabilized the situation now."
"Although half of the base area was lost, the Japanese army in Shanxi also lost thousands of people."
"If a force penetrates directly into the back of the Japanese army and cuts off the Japanese army's supply line, the little devils who have been fighting for several days will definitely be in danger of being short of ammunition and have to control the offensive, or even suspend the offensive and withdraw from the base area in northwestern Shanxi."
The chief of staff stared at the map showing the distribution of our and enemy's forces and said, "This is our regular counter-mopping method."
"Wait until the enemy and we reach a stalemate before sending troops to raid the Japanese rear areas, so that the Japanese will be attacked from both sides and forced to retreat."
"The base area in northwestern Shanxi has also considered this approach."
"But the Japs bite them too hard. Behind each main group are two to three thousand Japanese puppet troops. Behind these two to three thousand Japanese puppet troops, there are a large number of small Japs mobile troops on standby at any time."
"I can't escape at all."
"Even if there are troops who can escape the pursuit, it will be difficult to escape the pursuit of the Japanese mobile troops..."
"It is difficult to directly bypass the front-line battlefield and attack the Japanese logistics supply line over a long distance."
The deputy commander stared at the map, tapping his fingers on the table, and suddenly said: "They have no troops of their own, so we can send troops to reinforce them."
"The Eighth Route Army in the world are all one family. It is impossible to watch them being severely damaged by the Japanese army in Shanxi and lose the base area that the army worked hard to build in northwest Shanxi."
The chief of staff pointed at the map and analyzed: "The Japanese army in Shanxi will definitely not be able to move."
"Intelligence shows that although the Japanese and puppet troops stationed in other directions in Shanxi have not moved, they have increased their alert."
"The Japanese and puppet troops guarding the Taiyue base moved their artillery directly to the edge of the base. The infantry carried the artillery and attacked us everywhere. Several villages have been attacked."
"As soon as they move, these Japanese and puppet troops will rush into the base area..."
"The Japanese and puppet troops defending the base area in southeastern Shanxi have also moved into action and are closely monitoring every move of our troops."
"The Japanese aviation force conducts non-stop patrols and reconnaissance on our base areas. Whenever the troops move, they will be attacked by their aviation force. The nearby Japanese and puppet troops will also pounce on us as soon as possible and bite us."
"Even the little devils stationed around Shanxi have stepped up their vigilance..."
"Assemble several infantry regiments and assume a posture of reinforcing Shanxi at any time..."
"It can be seen from this: Although this big sweep was sudden, it must have been done by Neji Okamura."
"He suffered a big loss in Yi Zhong... He lost his wife and lost his troops. He wants to make up for it by winning two battles elsewhere."
"The Eighth Route Army in the Northwestern Shanxi Province was formed by Li Yunlong and Kong Jie. It has very strong combat effectiveness. It has severely damaged the Shanxi garrison many times."
"If they can dismantle the Northwestern Shanxi Eighth Route Army in one fell swoop and inflict heavy losses on them, Okamura Neiji can minimize the impact of the defeat in Yi Zhong..."
"Snapped……"
The deputy commander punched the table again and said seriously: "Then send troops from further away to reinforce northwest Shanxi..."
"Although the northern Shanxi base area lost half of its base area, they successfully moved the battlefield to the interior of the base area that the troops are more familiar with."
"Relying on the favorable terrain to fight guerrillas with the Japanese and puppet troops' mopping up troops...it won't be a problem to delay it for another half month."
"Enough for us to mobilize troops from other places to reinforce northwest Shanxi!"
The chief of staff nodded: "Although the Eighth Route Army in Northwestern Shanxi did not fight well at the beginning, it stabilized the battle situation!"
"Whoever breaks the deadlock first and finds a breakthrough will be able to take the initiative on the battlefield!"
"The troops we sent from other places to northwestern Shanxi are the breakthrough point."
"But the strength of this unit must not be too large, otherwise it will be noticed by the Japanese and puppet troops before they reach northwestern Shanxi and be blocked from Shanxi."
"But the combat effectiveness must be strong enough, otherwise we will not be able to break the war situation in northwestern Shanxi. Not only will we not be able to help the Eighth Route Army in northwestern Shanxi, we will also get ourselves trapped."
"In the end, I lost my wife and lost my troops..."
The deputy commander-in-chief, who was staring at the map, suddenly smiled and replied confidently: "We really have such a force..."
"I remember that when Kong Jie and Huang Yu first arrived in Yizhong, the northern Shanxi base area served as his natal home and provided them with cover!"
"Now that the base area in northwestern Shanxi is in trouble, as the founders of the base area in northwestern Shanxi, they should help based on both sentiment and reason."
"How about letting Xiao Huang lead an army to reinforce northwest Shanxi?"
"His mind works very quickly. Maybe he can think of other ways to break the situation when he reaches northwestern Shanxi."
