But the smile on the old devil's face did not last long, and soon solidified.
The Japanese chief of staff rushed to the headquarters and then reported another battle report to Yoshio Iwamatsu.
The casualty data in this battle report is simply shocking.
The actual casualty figures for the Shanxi garrison, Niu Daoman Division, and the Sixth Division were frighteningly high. Almost every step forward required a price of blood.
According to incomplete statistics, it has been nearly two weeks since the May Day raids were officially launched, and the daily battle losses of the Japanese troops on the front line, just the confirmed number of killed, are hundreds.
Once the Japanese army carries out too many charges, the battle losses on that day may even exceed a thousand people.
The Japanese officers who commanded the front line commanded with cold expressions during the day, but cried in their arms at night. After gathering the corpses of the imperial warriors, the urns needed for cremation were almost not enough.
This almost created a tragic history of the fastest casualties suffered by the Japanese army on the Chinese battlefield since the Sino-Japanese war.
But even with such a huge sacrifice, very few results were achieved, and the loss of technical arms and heavy firepower was particularly serious.
After listening to the chief of staff's report, Iwamatsu Yoshio put away his frozen smile and said angrily: "These idiots, what on earth are they doing, why is the battle going so tragically?
Also, why didn’t they report this specific battle report to the Commander-in-Chief, and why did they hide the truth?
Is it just for the sake of your own good looks and the so-called maintenance of military morale, but you have to pay for it with a lot of sacrifices and blood of the warriors of our empire?"
Why was the battle so brutal?
You must know that even on the frontal battlefield, when fighting the Central Army of the Chinese army, the imperial troops have never fought so fiercely.
This is the biggest confusion in Iwamatsu Yoshi's ambition at this moment.
The Japanese chief of staff was analyzing the situation: "General, I think that at this point in our great sweep and the battle with the Eighth Route Army, many things have surfaced.
After analysis, it is not difficult for us to find that today's Eighth Route Army is completely different from the beggar-like Eighth Route Army we knew a year or two ago with backward equipment and scarce ammunition.
Our army also launched a large-scale mopping up operation, and the Eighth Route Army launched a counter-mopping up operation, but their strategic defense and counterattack were completely different from those in previous years."
The Japanese chief of staff analyzed the map and said: "General, please see, according to the deployment of the Commander-in-Chief, our army has carried out blockade and raids on the Eighth Route Army base areas in the two major battlefields of Shandong and Shanxi.
According to past situations, the Eighth Route Army would often avoid our army's frontal attack, try to break through the gaps in our army's encirclement network, and try to escape.
After the official launch of the May Day raids, the Eighth Route Army's fighting style has obviously changed. They seem to have been dragging our army to fight, and have been using the terrain along the way to continuously consume our army's effective strength.
.
In accordance with the magnetic tactics proposed by the Commander-in-Chief, our army relied on its artillery and air force advantages to forcibly capture every position and hilltop of the Eighth Route Army.
In the face of our army's powerful artillery fire and air force superiority, the Eighth Route Army will indeed temporarily avoid the edge, but their base areas spanning hundreds or even thousands of miles have sufficient strategic depth to abandon our positions.
, there are simply too many hills to count.
In addition, in less than two years, we never expected that the Eighth Route Army had already built quite solid and comprehensive defense fortifications in various base areas.
The positions they built everywhere are almost all specially built concrete structures. Even if our army takes advantage of artillery fire and wants to forcibly capture and destroy them, it will not be easy.
Using this method, the Eighth Route Army did not even need to consume a single gun or bullet, let alone pay many casualties. They could use these stone and concrete positions to continuously consume our army's artillery fire and drag our army's mopping up troops deeper and deeper.
Invisibly, it has greatly increased the logistical burden on our army."
"Especially these Eighth Route Army troops. They were born and raised in the mountains and are particularly familiar with the mountainous terrain. Once night falls, they will send a large number of intersecting troops to bypass our army's rear areas to carry out harassment and destruction, posing a serious threat to us.
The rear transportation line of the army.
In severe cases, they only need to spend one night to burn tens of thousands of kilograms of our army's food."
"Once they avoid the direction of our army's heavy artillery advance, the Eighth Route Army will use specially built fortifications to deploy a large amount of firepower to block it.
But it didn't look like a blocking battle at all. The Eighth Route Army deployed a small number of troops and used powerful firepower to create slaughterhouses one after another.
They don't care about the loss of firepower at all. The Eighth Route Army is no longer the three-gun Tubal Road of the past. They also have all kinds of machine guns and artillery.
And those who were mercilessly slaughtered were the warriors of our Japanese Empire!"
"Especially around the battlefields such as Licheng, Xiangyuan, Shexian, Liaoxian, and Lucheng. In order to conquer these positions, the corpses of the soldiers who died every day in our army could be piled up into a small mountain." At this point, the Japanese chief of staff sighed with emotion: "General, we can't continue fighting like this. If we continue fighting like this, our troops will be exhausted, and the blood of the warriors will be shed!" After listening to this, Yoshio Iwamatsu was silent for a long time. If you look closely, you will find that this old devil, who has always been as calm as a mountain, is actually trembling slightly at this moment.
Finally, he breathed a sigh of relief and called the headquarters of the Japanese Army's North China Front in Peiping.
……
……
Taihang Base Area, former enemy headquarters of the Eighth Route Army.
The boss hasn’t had much rest during this period. Of course, don’t get me wrong, it’s not because he is full of worries, but more because of excitement.
This game of chess is too big.
He couldn't help but relax his nerves.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
The deputy chief of staff led a group of staff to analyze the evolution of the war situation in the entire Shandong, Shanxi and even northern Shanxi, western Inner Mongolia, Jizhong and other regions on the huge military map in front of them.
He made an overall analysis: "The current situation of the entire battle, the advantage is rapidly reversing in our army's favor.
Starting from May 1, the Japanese army mobilized troops on a large scale and advanced towards our army's base areas in Shanxi, even Shandong and Jizhong.
In addition to the Japanese First Army originally stationed in Shanxi, and the Japanese Twelfth Army stationed in Shandong.
It also includes the Japanese 3rd Field Division on the Shandong side, the Japanese 6th Field Division on the Shanxi side, the Ushijima Division of the Kwantung Army, and the Japanese 13th Division advancing in the central Hebei direction.
Our army carries out counter-mopping up in accordance with the highest strategic policy formulated this time, which is one word - drag.
The Tuozijue operations of each unit went relatively smoothly. In the Taihang Base Area, our units relied on the terrain along the way and the solid defenses we built over the past year to continuously lure the enemy in.
On the Shandong battlefield, our brother troops also continued to carry out guerrilla warfare with the help of the mountainous areas and the Japanese, holding back a considerable amount of the main force of the Japanese army.
The Jizhong, Jinan and other military regions also relied on comprehensive tunnel tactics to drag the Japanese army step by step, constantly consuming the Japanese army's manpower and logistical resources.
Including the Taiyue area, the Zhongtiao Mountain area, and even the northern Henan area, comrades from various units are coordinating the main force to carry out counter-mopping operations."
There was a smile on the face of the Deputy Chief of General Staff: "Comrades, the situation can be said to be getting better and better. If we continue to delay, the rainy season will soon come. Once the rainy season comes, the roads will be muddy. For
For the Japanese mechanized troops and logistics troops, this was a disaster.
Sooner or later, we will wait until our army launches a full-scale counterattack!"
Then he talked about the troops with the most outstanding performance in each base area this time.
The deputy chief of staff said without hesitation: "Of course the iron triangle defense zone created by Kong Jie, Li Yunlong and Ding Wei performed the best.
Especially before the official start of this operation, Comrade Kong Jie proposed at the meeting.
What to propose?
He proposed that the anti-mopping operations we are going to conduct this time are completely different in nature from those in previous history.
What we have to do this time is to beat the little devil thoroughly, beat him until it hurts, and beat him until he bleeds dry, all his soldiers are dead, and he is completely scared to the core.
Only if we defeat all the elite Japs in one breath can the entire anti-war situation behind enemy lines be completely stabilized.
This time our Iron Triangle warriors performed extremely well.
Especially the several battlefields mainly located in Licheng, Xiangyuan, Liao County and She County.
With the smallest number of troops and the most superior firepower, our soldiers held back a large number of Japanese troops, causing a heavy drain on the Japanese army's effective strength."
Having said this, the deputy chief of staff said with high spirits: "Comrades, if we continue to fight like this, it is no exaggeration to say that all the little devils in North China will be wiped out. We are afraid that this long-lasting anti-Japanese war will soon end."
We are about to see the dawn of victory!"
Then, Brigadier Chen of the 385th Brigade talked about the operations of mobile troops led by Kong Jie and Li Yunlong in western Inner Mongolia.
"These two brats gave us another surprise!"
"In these battles in Western Inner Mongolia, our mobile troops led by Kong Jie and Li Yunlong completely demonstrated the prestige of our Eighth Route Army armored forces!"
"The entire anti-Japanese situation in northern Shanxi and western Inner Mongolia was completely opened up by these battles."
Having said this, a cadre then asked: "After the fighting in western Inner Mongolia, where will Kong Jie and Li Yunlong be arranged?"
The boss smiled and said: "I have received a notice from Yan'an. Kong Jie and Li Yunlong have led the remaining mobile troops and have gone to Yan'an to report!"
The deputy chief of staff smiled and said: "It seems that the comrades in Yan'an are also eager to take a look at our Eighth Route Army's armored forces, which can continuously defeat the two elite tanks of the Japanese army in the western Inner Mongolia area."
Brigadier Chen said: "This is a good thing! Except for the unique terrain of Mongolia, there is basically no opportunity for our armored forces to show their strength on the Shanxi and Shandong battlefields.
Kong Jie and Li Yunlong have once again stabbed the ant's nest in western Mengxi. Sooner or later, this little devil will take revenge.
As the elite unit of our Eighth Route Army, the treasure unit, this armored unit, I think it should indeed be withdrawn to the rear as soon as possible, so as to be safe.
Going forward, our Eighth Route Army's armored units, which became famous in the first battle in western Inner Mongolia, will be enough to frighten the Japanese army just by relying on their reputation in these battles, even if they do not appear on the battlefield!"
"What is the most important thing?"
"The most important thing is that if these two brats Kong Jie and Li Yunlong don't lead the team back, no one can take over my place in the 385th Brigade!"
The old brigade commander on the side was not happy when he heard this. He raised his eyes, looked at Brigadier Chen with a smile and said: "I said, Fatty Chen, what, without Butcher Zhang, we have to eat pigs with hair on them?
My 386 brigade is short of everything else, but the most indispensable thing is tiger generals. Without Kong Jie and Li Yunlong, my comrades in the 386 brigade will kill the little devils, and that will still be unambiguous!"
As he said this, the generals couldn't help laughing.
But if you think about it carefully, this is really the truth.
Although Kong Jie and Li Yunlong are no longer in the Iron Triangle defense area, Ding Wei is still there. Old Ding, nicknamed Ding Wanwan, has had enough fun this time.
Commanding three strong troops, he almost caught up with the division commander Niu.
If the various base areas of the Eighth Route Army can be compared to a quagmire that made it difficult for the Japanese army to move forward, then the Iron Triangle's defense area, which has opened its door to the Japanese army this time, is simply like an abyss with no bottom at all.
Ding Wei's combat style has always been sharp and bold.
Even in the early stage when the Japanese army was at its peak and the Iron Triangle Force was focused on defense, Ding Wei was still able to direct a mobile annihilation war from a fixed position defensive war.
Lure the enemy deep, penetrate and encircle, ambush and annihilate, bloom at multiple points, attack at night, cover with artillery fire...
Various tactics of annihilating the enemy were almost perfected under Ding Wei's command.
Back when we were short of guns and ammunition, Ding could just blow up the bridge and beat the little devils howling.
Now that the army's equipment level has been fully developed, Ding Wei is fighting heartily in one rich battle after another...
After returning to the topic, the cadres discussed the subsequent evolution of the situation.
The deputy chief of staff pointed out: "At present, the several major sections we have built have firmly contained the main force of the Japanese army, including the five-city regional section such as Licheng and Liao County, Taihang Taiyue, Zhongtiao Mountain and other base sections.
There are battlefields in Shandong, Henan, northern Shanxi, northern Hebei, central Hebei, southern Hebei, and even western Inner Mongolia.
To lure the enemy deeper, the planned annihilation battle within the solid fortifications of Huangyadong is also being implemented.
But I always feel that there is still something missing in this."
The old brigade commander laughed. He was the first to understand the thoughts of the deputy chief of staff.
"Lao Zuo, what you're saying is that we're still a little behind on the fire after all.
What is it?
Is it the trigger that can completely anger the little Japs and make them rush to the battlefield we have designed regardless of the cost, even losing their minds?"
The deputy chief of staff laughed when he heard this and said: "My parents gave birth to me, and the one who knows me is you Chen Shukang!"
But then everyone had a headache again. Where should we find this fuse now?
Everyone was thinking about it and didn't know what was going on. Two faces appeared in their minds surprisingly unanimously. One was that of Kong Jie, who seemed to be honest and honest, and the other was always showing his big teeth, which looked very similar to Kong Jie's.