Less than two minutes after the Japanese brigade headquarters in Linfen City came under attack, Major General Matsumoto received the news.
He hurried to the war room and stared at the chief of staff and asked: "How is the situation with the military columns? That is the food shipped by the headquarters to the front line. If something happens in Linfen, even if the headquarters spares me, several divisions on the front line
The leader won’t let me go either!”
"The situation is very bad!" the chief of staff lowered his head and replied in a serious tone.
"The Eighth Route Army was too cunning. Instead of letting the military column stop and launch an attack directly, they tampered with the railway track and caused the military column to derail and roll over. More than half of the guards on the military column were killed and wounded without even seeing the shadow of the Eighth Route Army.
The same goes for armored trains, which were smashed into scrap metal before they even killed a single Eighth Route Army soldier!"
A tragic scene of a military train derailed and rolled over immediately appeared in Matsumoto's mind.
After taking a breath of cold air, he stared at the chief of staff and asked: "Where is the railway garrison? The derailment and rollover of the military column do not seem to threaten them. Let them send troops immediately to guard the military column!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Major General Matsumoto retorted: "No, you cannot leave the stronghold. The Eighth Route Army is too cunning. It is very likely that they will be attacked by the Eighth Route Army as soon as they leave the stronghold and the entire army will be destroyed. If you stay in the stronghold, even if you are attacked,
It will last longer!"
"Hey, I have ordered them to stand still and wait for reinforcements, using firepower to support the military columns, so that the Eighth Route Army will not be able to rob the military columns easily!)"
"Also, I just took the initiative to report this matter to the headquarters and asked the headquarters to send aviation troops to reinforce the army!"
"As long as the aviation force arrives on the battlefield in time, even if the Eighth Route Army occupies the military column, it will be impossible for the aviation force to transport the food on the military column under its nose!"
Matsumoto's nerves that were tense at first suddenly relaxed a lot.
Staring at the chief of staff, he replied happily: "Yo Xi! Chief of staff, you did a good job!"
"There is one more thing you have to do right away. Quickly assemble the mixed brigade, cavalry brigade, and armored squadron, and march quickly to reinforce the battlefield. No matter what, you must save the food on the military columns. That is the food for tens of thousands of imperial troops on the front line. You must not
Something happened!"
Within half an hour, the chief of staff returned to the war room.
Major General Matsumoto still had a serious expression on his face, staring at the combat sandbox in front of him, motionless.
"General, reinforcements have been sent out. The only thing we can do now is wait!" the chief of staff quickly spoke to comfort him.
"The garrison at the two strongholds near the battlefield has lost contact. There must have been an accident! Now we can only wait for news from the aviation and reinforcements!"
Major General Matsumoto nodded helplessly, then returned to his seat, frowning and lost in thought.
Suddenly, Major General Matsumoto's closed eyes opened.
Staring at the chief of staff, he asked: "The intelligence department reports that the main battalions of the Eighth Route Army have not shown any signs of mobilization in the past few days, just like the military column where we transported equipment last time! However, the new regiment has troops attacking our military column.
, I want to know where these Eighth Route Army soldiers came from!"
The chief of staff frowned and replied: "General, the last time the military column was robbed has been investigated clearly!"
"We bribed a platoon leader of the new regiment, and he participated in the robbery of our military column that night!"
"He revealed that the troops who robbed our military columns came from several main battalions of the New Regiment. The reason why our intelligence department did not notice anything is because the Eighth Route Army mobilized its troops several days in advance!"
"This time is obviously different. The main battalions of the Eighth Route Army have always stayed at their stations. Our people have been monitoring them. There is no possibility of deploying troops!"
"Bagh Ya Road, if it is not from several main battalions, then where did these troops come from? Are there any secret troops in the new regiment that we don't know about?" Major General Matsumoto frowned and then cursed angrily.
road.
"I don't know about my humble position!" the chief of staff replied with his head lowered.
After hesitating for a few seconds, he added: "However, when our reinforcements arrive on the battlefield, everything will be clear!"
For Matsumoto, the current time is the most difficult, and every minute seems like a year.
Finally, the rapid footsteps of the communications staff sounded at the door of the war room.
Matsumoto and the chief of staff, as if they had reached an agreement, turned their attention to the door at the same time.
"General, the aviation troops who are reinforcing the battlefield sent an urgent message: They have arrived at the battlefield successfully, but the battle seems to be over! The military column derailed and rolled next to the track, but they did not find the Eighth Route Army troops around the military column!" Rushing into battle!
The communications staff officer in the office reported carefully.
"Baga, it's impossible!" The communications staff officer was right to be cautious. As soon as he finished speaking, Matsumoto turned into an angry lion and retorted, staring at the communications staff officer.
"It has only been an hour and a half since the Eighth Route Army attacked the military column. Could it be that the Eighth Route Army has already moved the food on the air column and retreated!"
The chief of staff then added: "The grain transported on the military train exceeds two million kilograms. Even if everyone in the new regiment comes to help carry the grain, it is impossible that the air column cannot be moved in such a short time!"
The communications staff hesitated and replied: "General, the aviation unit reported that they have searched all around the military column, and indeed no Eighth Route Army troops were found!"
"As for whether the food on the military columns was emptied by the Eighth Route Army, it is not clear since the aviation troops cannot go to the ground to observe!"
"Idiot!" Major General Matsumoto scolded without hesitation.
Then he ordered the communications staff officer in front of him: "Contact our reinforcements immediately and ask them to reinforce the battlefield under the cover of the aviation force to confirm whether the food has been stolen by the Eighth Route Army!"
Not long after, the communications staff member came back with a very ugly look on his face.
"General, the reinforcements have arrived on the battlefield. All the food on the military columns has been taken away by the Eighth Route Army. There is indeed no Eighth Route Army on the battlefield, but signs of their retreat have been found. The reinforcements judged that the Eighth Route Army should have retreated to the nearest railway station.
It’s a big mountain!”
The chief of staff immediately made a judgment: "General, the food that was robbed from us must have been hidden in this mountain by the Eighth Route Army!"
"Only in this way can the Eighth Route Army clear out more than two million kilograms of grain from our trains in such a short period of time!" Major General Matsumoto also showed an expression of sudden realization on his face.
The communications staff officer in front of him seized the opportunity and asked: "General, the reinforcements also reported that they are 80% sure to follow the Eighth Route Army's retreat traces to find the food we lost. Should the troops pursue these traces to find them and snatch the food back?"
"
If it had been done in the past, Major General Matsumoto would have agreed without hesitation.
But now, he hesitated.
The chief of staff also had a hesitant expression on his face.
After a minute, Matsumoto shook his head in surprise and replied: "No, let them stand by and garrison on the spot, waiting for the engineers and railway garrison to arrive and restore the Tongpu Railway line!"
"The mountains where the Eighth Route Army is hiding are too big, and the air force must return in less than two hours. It is too dangerous for the troops to enter the mountains at night. I don't want to lose another mixed brigade!"
"Now, all we need to do is to be patient, wait for the troops to regain their strength, wait for the reinforcements to arrive, and then gather heavy troops to rush into the base of the new regiment, retaliate with tit for tat, kill them all in one sweep, and take revenge!"
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