"Have you calculated the statistics? How many soldiers did not come back last night?"
In the headquarters of the 5th Division, Matsui Tataro looked at Chief of Staff Hamajima Yanro.
In Hamajima Yanlang's hand, he held a list of statistics from each infantry regiment on the number of Japanese soldiers who did not return after participating in the battle last night.
Obviously, the Japanese soldiers who did not return were either shot dead or captured by the Eighth Route Army.
However, the soldiers of the Fifth Division have a high spiritual understanding of Bushido and a strong will to fight, so they are almost unlikely to be captured.
"Your Excellency, Division Commander."
"Preliminary statistics show that there are more than 5,000 soldiers who did not return from the battle last night..."
Hamajima Yanro looked at the list of dead soldiers in his hand and reported to Matsui Tataro with disbelief.
Last night, Hamajima Yanlang did not go to the front line to participate in the battle to command the attack on the Eighth Route Army. Instead, he defended the position to prevent the Eighth Route Army from detouring and attacking the position.
In just a few hours of fighting, the losses of the Fifth Division actually exceeded 5,000 people!
The Fifth Division has been attacking the US and British forces in Southeast Asia for several months, but it has not lost so many people.
Is the Eighth Route Army really that strong?
However, fortunately, it was Matsui Taitaro who directed the battle last night, otherwise his face would have been swollen by Matsui Taitaro.
"The loss is so huge?"
Matsui Tataro's pupils suddenly shrank, and then he felt a burst of heartache.
Although he had expected it, Matsui Tataro was still in disbelief when Hamajima Yanro said it.
The soldiers of the A-type division are not as easy to replace as the Japanese soldiers of the second-line division and the third-line division.
Each Category A division is the treasure of the Japanese base camp, and enjoys priority in the recruitment of weapons, ammunition, and personnel during the war.
An ordinary soldier who wants to join the Class A Division must undergo six months of high-intensity training, including armed cross-country, armed swimming and precision shooting.
What is particularly perverted is that the soldiers of the Class A Division must hit the target with all five bullets at a distance of 300 meters, and the distance between each bullet should not exceed 5 centimeters.
This resulted in almost all of the soldiers of the Class A Division being sharpshooters who could shoot enemies at a distance of 300 meters.
The Fifth Division, known as the Steel Army, fought against more than 70 Chinese armies in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War and rarely suffered defeats.
Although the current combat effectiveness of the Fifth Division is not as good as before.
However, the soldiers of the Fifth Division were still the best in the entire Japanese Army, which made Matsui Tataro feel extremely sad.
"The combat level and air support of the new regiment of the Eighth Route Army are indeed amazing..."
Staring at the casualty report in his hand with wide eyes, Matsui Tairo was stunned for a long time, and then said in a solemn tone.
The Eighth Route Infantry has strong firepower, strong artillery firepower, and night air support capabilities. In a field battle, 15,000 elites cannot defeat a reinforced regiment of the Eighth Route Army.
That’s outrageous…
At Kunlun Pass, the Chinese Fifth Army fought fiercely with the Fifth Division for more than 10 days, but they were able to kill more than 5,000 people of the Fifth Division.
The first time I fought against the new infantry regiment of the Eighth Route Army, I suffered a big loss.
The main reason was that Matsui Tataro didn't know that the Eighth Route Army planes could arrive at night for reinforcements.
But even if there were no Eighth Route Army aircraft that could not be dispatched at night, it would be difficult for the Fifth Division to destroy the Eighth Route Army, but the casualties would be much smaller.
"No wonder the Eighth Route Army was able to almost wipe out the First Army. It turns out that this new regiment has such a strong combat effectiveness."
"Immediately report the battle process and casualties last night to the First Army and the North China Front Army Headquarters."
After this battle, Matsui Tataro had a clearer understanding of the combat effectiveness of the new regiment of the Eighth Route Army.
In a field battle, the Fifth Division would never be an opponent of the new regiment of the Eighth Route Army.
"Hi!"
Hamajima Yanlang suddenly lowered his head and turned around to draft a telegram.
then.
Matsui Tataro stared at the map, frowning.
The combat effectiveness of the New Regiment of the Eighth Route Army far exceeded his expectations. Even on the European battlefield, the combat effectiveness of the New Regiment could be ranked among the best.
Now we can only rely on tunnel tactics to see if we can kill a large number of the Eighth Route Army, and then move to the east of Hebei Province.
Can this tunnel tactic really kill a large number of Eighth Route Army soldiers?
It was the first time Matsui Tairo used this tactic and he felt uncertain.
"Damn Okamura Neji, you didn't give the order to retreat..."
Matsui Tataro was full of resentment:
"It's too late to retreat to Hebei Province now, but when the Eighth Route Army completes the encirclement, it will be too late to retreat."
The Fifth Division is the elite force of the empire, and Matsui Taitaro does not want this elite force to be lost here.
…
at the same time.
Niangziguan.
The Japanese 23rd Division and the 110th Division have arrived at Niangziguan overnight and are preparing to launch an attack on the Du 2nd Brigade at Niangziguan.
The 35th Division is on its way to Niangziguan.
Because the 23rd Division, the 35th Division and the 110th Division had just participated in the mopping up of the Jizhong Military Region.
The losses of each division were not small.
However, these divisions were not far from Niangzi Pass. After two nights of running nearly 100 kilometers, the 23rd Division and the 110th Division finally arrived at Niangzi Pass.
The 2nd Independent Brigade built complete fortifications at Niangziguan.
Although the speed of the enemy's arrival was somewhat unexpected, the commander of the 2nd Independent Brigade did not panic at all when faced with the attacks of the two divisions.
While ordering the soldiers to prepare for battle, they also called for air support from the headquarters and the new regiment.
Even if it is an attack by two divisions, the Japanese will not feel easy in the face of the air support from 80 aircraft of the Eighth Route Army.
As the 2nd Independence Brigade called for air support, all the fighter jets and bombers of the new 1st Regiment of the Eighth Route Army and the flying group directly under the headquarters immediately filled up with fuel and ammunition and took off, flying towards Niangziguan.
A regiment of Japanese soldiers formed a skirmish line and launched an attack from the east of Niangziguan to the Eighth Route Army's Niangziguan position.
Two artillery regiments, various infantry guns and mortars opened fire simultaneously, and artillery shells of various calibers fell continuously on the position of the 2nd Independent Brigade of the Eighth Route Army.
After half an hour of shelling, the civil engineering positions of the 2nd Independence Brigade were blown to pieces.
However, the Independent 2nd Brigade dug a lot of tunnels on the position. Except for the observers, the soldiers entered the tunnels to defend themselves from the artillery, so the bombardment of more than 100 Japanese artillery pieces had little effect.
Immediately, the Japanese infantry began to attack.
The battle became intense as soon as it began.
The Japanese adopted the tactic of charging with infantry and bombarding with artillery.
As a result, the 2nd Independent Brigade suffered heavy casualties.
The Japanese attack was not a swarm of swarms, and then the soldiers of the 2nd Independent Brigade fired at the Japanese with their light machine guns and heavy machine guns, and then the Japanese fell one by one.
Rather, like the Japs of the Fifth Division, these Japs also hunched over when attacking, running from one bunker to another, during which they could even raise their guns to shoot at the Eighth Route Army soldiers.
However, the marksmanship of these Japs is quite different from that of the Japs of the Fifth Division.
Although the equipment of the 2nd Independent Brigade is very good among the Eighth Route Army, it is only slightly better than that of the Japanese.
Moreover, the Japanese artillery firepower was superior, causing some Japanese soldiers to rush into the Eighth Route Army's position, and hand-to-hand combat broke out between the two sides.
However, the Japanese's subsequent supporting troops were blocked by the artillery fire of the 2nd Independent Brigade and were unable to advance.
The Japanese who rushed into the position were quickly eliminated.
After summing up their experience, the Japanese immediately joined another regiment and launched an attack on Niangziguan.
But this time the Japanese attack had just begun when the Eighth Route Army planes arrived.
Planes from the flying group directly under the headquarters arrived first and bombed the attacking Japanese indiscriminately.
After the planes from the headquarters flying group flew away, the planes from the new flying group also arrived, focusing on bombing the artillery positions behind the Japanese.
After two bombings, the Japanese suffered heavy losses.
The commander of the 23rd Division and the commander of the 110th Division discussed and prepared to abandon the daytime attack and switch to a night attack.
The order they received was to capture Niangzi Pass at all costs.
Although attacking Niangziguan is bound to cause heavy losses, orders are orders, and even if both divisions are exhausted, orders must be carried out.
…
Dagu Town Airport.
In order to facilitate the command and contact with the regiment headquarters.
Xing Zhiguo moved his headquarters to a building next to the airport tower in Dagu Town.
This is the canteen for the pilots. Xing Zhiguo and several combat staff have also been enjoying in-flight meals with the pilots in the past few days.
At the entrance of the cafeteria, Xing Zhiguo looked at the watch on his hand and looked at the sky to the east, with a look of expectation on his face.
Medium bombers and new aerial bombs should be arriving soon.
In order to make room for the medium bombers, the five transport aircraft and five reconnaissance aircraft at Dagu Town Airport have been flown by pilots to the independent regiment's airport.
Then the pilot took a jeep from the independent group's airport back to Dagu Town Airport.
After about 5 minutes, the buzzing of airplanes sounded in the sky, and Xing Zhiguo raised his telescope and looked at the sky.
I saw more than 10 aircraft flying in formation and flying towards the airport while descending in altitude.
The corners of Xing Zhiguo's mouth turned up, it's finally here!
These medium-sized bombers and new aerial bombs are the price tag for killing General Naosaburo Okabe.
Xing Zhiguo has already read the information on bombers and aerial bombs.
If Xing Zhiguo was asked to comment, it would be two words: exciting!
After a while, 16 aircraft successfully landed at Dagu Town Airport, including 8 medium bombers, 4 escorting Saber fighter jets and 4 transport aircraft.
Since there were not many pilots, Li Yunlong only exchanged for 8 medium bombers this time.
16 planes were parked on the runway, and Xing Zhiguo issued an order to the control tower, asking the flight group that was going out to perform the mission to land at the airport of the New Second Regiment first.
"Deputy Commander Xing, these are 8 improved models of B25 medium bombers and 12 goblet aerial bombs. Please accept them."
A major wearing an aviation combat uniform handed Xing Zhiguo a folder with a stern expression.
Xing Zhiguo took over and signed for Li Yunlong, indicating that the goods had been signed for.
Xing Zhiguo had long been accustomed to the cold attitude of the other party. The technicians sent by Boss Chen to the airport also had the same expression.
Xing Zhiguo looked in the direction of the transport plane. The huge goblet aerial bomb was being unloaded from the transport plane by Boss Chen's personnel using machines.
