After finally staying up until dawn, the chief of staff finally walked into the tent where the headquarters was located with a pair of dark circles under his eyes.
"Have you checked clearly?" Ono stared at the chief of staff and asked with a stern face.
"General, we have found out! Although the Eighth Route Army recaptured the third line of defense and the high ground at night, they did not hold on. The reconnaissance troops we sent out retook these two positions. However, the mines left by the Eighth Route Army were
We caused more than twenty imperial army casualties!"
"According to the recollections of seriously injured soldiers who were alive on the battlefield, the Eighth Route Army used some unknown means to suddenly appear on the top of the mountain."
"Because the troops hiding at the top of the mountain were stationed on the mountainside, not many people were left on the mountaintop. The Eighth Route Army that suddenly appeared on the top of the mountain easily occupied the top of the mountain, and then threw grenades and hand grenades at our troops stationed on the mountainside from a high position!"
"The Eighth Route Army attacked us from a high position. Although the warriors resisted desperately, they could not withstand the unilateral massacre by the Independent Regiment of the Eighth Route Army."
"Less than half an hour after the battle started, our troops stationed on the mountain top had to retreat!"
Ono suddenly interrupted: "Then the Eighth Route Army followed our retreating troops and fought all the way to the third line of defense!"
"Hi!" the chief of staff replied, lowering his head.
"Baga, have you ever figured out how the Eighth Route Army got to the top of the mountain? Why didn't our troops stationed on the mountainside notice it?" Ono stared at the chief of staff and continued to question.
The chief of staff shook his head and replied: "No, the reconnaissance team has been investigating for nearly two hours and found nothing!"
It turned out that in order to prevent the tunnels left by the engineering company in the other two highlands from being discovered by the Japanese, Wang Ping directly had the entrances and exits of the tunnels blown up during the retreat.
Coupled with some other hands and feet, it looks no different from a bomb crater.
Unless the Japanese dig deep one or two meters, they will never find the existence of the tunnel.
However, it is obviously impossible for the Japanese reconnaissance troops to dig every bomb crater on the battlefield so deep.
Therefore, how the Independent Regiment reached the top of the mountain quietly became an eternal secret to the Japanese.
Seeing the chief of staff lowering his head, Ono was so angry that he wanted to chop him with a knife.
He had been waiting at the headquarters for such a long time, and the chief of staff didn't even understand the most important issue. How could he not be angry?
With anger, he smashed the items on the bullet box in front of him and shouted loudly.
"Revenge, so many warriors died on the battlefield at the hands of the Eighth Route Army Independent Regiment. As their brigade commander, we must avenge this!"
"Chief of Staff, assemble the troops immediately and have breakfast. Then call for air support. In an hour, I will launch an attack on the fourth line of defense of the Independent Regiment. I will reach their station before noon, fight them decisively, and annihilate them all!"
"Hi!" the chief of staff, who was also angry with the Independent Regiment, replied loudly.
But he did not leave immediately, but replied hesitantly: "But, General, there is a problem we must solve!"
"Otherwise, today's attack will not be possible at all!"
Ono frowned, stared at the chief of staff and asked: "What other problems are there? Let me tell you, no matter what problems there are, they can't stop me from annihilating the independent regiment today, and they can't stop me from avenging the warriors who died in the battle!"
"It's the military strength. We don't have enough troops!" the chief of staff replied hesitantly.
"Although we have more than 6,000 troops entering the mountain, the combat troops only have three infantry brigades, one regiment of the Imperial Association Army, and the brigade headquarters security troops!"
"With yesterday's attack and last night's battle losses, we have lost two entire infantry brigades, and almost one regiment of the Imperial Army has also been lost!"
"Now we only have one infantry brigade left to launch an attack, and we don't have the Imperial Army to coordinate with us."
"If we attack rashly, even if we can break through the remaining three lines of defense of the Independent Regiment, the remaining troops will not be able to fight a decisive battle with the remnants of the Independent Regiment?"
"Why are you reporting such a big thing now?" Ono asked sternly, staring at the chief of staff.
Continuous defeats on the battlefield have made him full of disappointment and dissatisfaction with his deputy, Chief of Staff.
If he can't give himself a satisfactory explanation, Ono doesn't mind using this matter to ask the military department to replace the chief of staff.
You must know that lying and deliberately delaying the reporting of military information are fatal mistakes that military commanders must never make.
The chief of staff was also aware of Ono's anger and did not dare to hide anything. He immediately spoke out all his thoughts word for word.
After listening to the explanation, Ono felt as helpless as if he had punched cotton.
The reason why the chief of staff concealed it and did not report it was all for himself.
In the end, he could only suppress the anger in his heart and cursed: "Chief of Staff, do you know that just because of your delay, we will have to wait at least half a day before we can continue to attack the independent regiment!"
"Immediately send a telegram to our troops outside the mountain and ask the Imperial Army's Second Regiment and a squadron to enter the mountain immediately to reinforce us!"
"As soon as reinforcements arrive, we will immediately send troops to attack the fourth line of defense of the independent regiment."
The chief of staff couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. After wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, he understood that he had escaped this disaster.
Not daring to show any signs of neglect, he immediately replied: "Please don't worry, General, I will give the order right away!"
"Also, in Xiamen next, the general will definitely not be disappointed by his humble position. After the reinforcements arrive, within three hours at most, he must command the troops to fight to the independent regiment's station!"
"Yoshi!" Ono finally chose to give the chief of staff another chance. After all, he had been partnering with him for several years and had always performed very well before.
At the enemy headquarters of the Independent Regiment, although Wang Ping had not rested all night, Wang Ping did not feel sleepy at all at this time. This was because the staff officer had just given him the loss information last night.
Facing the bloody casualty data, he was so heartbroken that he couldn't sleep at all.
The second battalion, plus the guard company and the third battalion fire company, had more than 600 people before departure. The chief of staff took away more than 200 people, and he took away nearly 400 people. In the end, less than half of them came back alive.
The Chief of Staff's side was a little better, because they were not captured at close range by the Japanese troops, so the losses were less, and nearly 130 people were finally withdrawn alive.
But even so, there were about thirty seriously wounded among the one hundred and thirty people, and more than half were lost.
The biggest casualties were among the troops he led. About 250 people died alone, and there were more than 30 seriously injured people. Only more than 130 people came back unscathed.
"Chief of Staff, that is to say, in one night, we lost 350 soldiers alone. Including the seriously injured, the loss was more than 400."
"Yes, commander!" the chief of staff replied, lowering his head.
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