"Chief of Staff, we've captured it... Although a lot of artillery and supplies were blown up by the Japs, the guard battalion couldn't hold it back and rushed too fast. They directly dispersed the little Japs who were ordered to blow up the supplies. Others were not blown up.
The supplies and artillery have been saved!" The correspondent from the guard camp reported as soon as he rushed to Zhong Chenggong, with an excited look on his face.
"That's good, how many heavy artillery and mountain field artillery are left that haven't been blown up?" Zhong Chenggong stared at the correspondent and asked expectantly.
"There are eight heavy artillery left, eight field artillery, four mountain artillery, the smallest number of infantry artillery, only two, and seven rapid-fire artillery. There are a total of materials and various ammunition that have not been destroyed.
There are 38 cars, all of which are fully loaded."
"In addition, there is a large amount of materials on the battlefield that were blown up by grenades before leaving but were not destroyed. There should be quite a lot of them after sorting them all out!"
"Okay, good job!" The smile on Zhong Chenggong's face grew wider.
"With these seizures, our trip was not in vain. Our comrades all fought very well... Order, the third battalion, the newly formed third battalion, immediately withdraw from the battle to rest and replenish physical strength. We will set off in two hours and take a small road.
Bypass Linfen City and go directly to Ji County and Xiangning County. The assault battalion has also withdrawn from the battle. Set off now to follow the Japanese and continue to harass and sneak attack them along the way. Then stay in Linfen and form a new fifth battalion and garrison on the spot.
camp!"
"Stay the guard camp, eliminate the remaining enemies, clean the battlefield, and transfer the captured materials and equipment!"
"The Japanese will definitely send out planes to bomb after dawn, so before dawn, all seizures must be transferred and dispersed and concealed!"
After traveling for a day and a night, at four o'clock in the afternoon the next day, the walls of Linfen City finally came into view of Lieutenant General Ito.
Dozens of Japanese officers hurried over.
"Reporting to the division commander, the commander of the troops left behind in Linfen City has been ordered to come and greet us. We have prepared dinner in the city, and the troops can enjoy it when they enter the city!" A senior officer first saluted Lieutenant General Ito with a military salute, and then said
reported the compliment with a face.
"Yoshi...very good..." Lieutenant General Ito's tense nerves suddenly relaxed.
After taking a long breath, he replied: "The troops are too tired. You are responsible for arranging barracks in the city for all the returning troops. From now on, except for the troops stationed in the forward positions outside the city, all other troops will be stationed in the city... Also, the losses of the troops
The casualties and casualties will be counted as soon as possible. I want specific data tomorrow night, the more detailed the better!"
Lieutenant General Ito is too tired.
As his status became higher and higher, even when he was out marching and fighting, he would ride in cars and armored vehicles. It was not like today, where he would ride on horseback for a day and a night without rest in between.
After a simple dinner, Lieutenant General Ito took a rest and slept until noon the next day.
The chief of staff appeared in front of him as promised, and reported after seeing that Lieutenant General Ito was in a much better mood.
"Division Commander, the division's losses in the entire anti-encirclement and suppression campaign have been calculated. Including the troops left behind, the losses are very heavy, far beyond our imagination!"
"The troops staying behind are also back!" Lieutenant General Ito was stunned for a moment and then asked.
What he is most worried about now is the remaining troops he sent to the rear. More infantry than a regiment are active in the hinterland of the base area. They are constantly being watched by the new regiment of the Eighth Route Army. If not, another infantry brigade may be lost.
Therefore, when he retreated, he issued a retreat order to them, requiring them to leave a reinforced brigade and all the puppet troops who had joined the imperial army to stay in the county, and all other troops to retreat to Linfen.
Hearing that they had withdrawn safely, Lieutenant General Ito was obviously relieved. Then he thought of another sentence reported by the chief of staff just now, that the troops suffered heavy casualties.
He frowned and asked: "I want specific data, how many troops were killed in the battle, how many were injured and lost combat effectiveness, and how many soldiers are left to fight. All losses of weapons and equipment must also be reported, especially heavy weapons.
Only when the front army is replenished can the troops be re-equipped!"
"Hi……"
The chief of staff lowered his head and replied: "The total strength when we set out was nearly 19,000 people. The Eighth Route Army left 1,500 people in the base area. We brought back 7,000 people. Major General Hamasaki brought back 2,500 cavalry infantry.
The rest of the troops were gone, and more than 7,000 people died in the direct battle. Among them, the 135th Infantry Regiment was completely destroyed, the 137th Regiment lost more than half, the division's direct guard brigade lost more than half, the Engineer Regiment, the Field Artillery Regiment,
More than half of everything is lost!”
"The strengthening of the front army caused the loss of more than half of our heavy artillery regiment, the loss of more than 60% of the cavalry regiment, and almost the entire tank brigade was destroyed!"
"The 136th Regiment suffered the smallest losses, and it is also the unit with the strongest combat effectiveness and the largest number of troops in the division at present!"
"Of the more than 11,000 lieutenant generals who retreated to Linfen, there are over 600 soldiers who were injured and lost combat effectiveness!"
"Including the more than 3,000 people who stayed in Linfen City and the more than 4,000 people who were transferred away by the front army, the division has more than 30,000 people and less than 20,000 people are left, a direct loss of nearly 40% of the troops!"
"In terms of equipment, the heavy equipment we brought into the Eighth Route Army base area, including field artillery, heavy artillery, mountain artillery, infantry artillery, rapid-fire artillery, tanks, chariots, as well as cars and baggage vehicles, were all lost..."
The good mood on Lieutenant General Ito's face suddenly disappeared.
Sitting on the stool, he looked completely weak and his eyes were dull.
After a long time, he sighed and said: "The loss is too great... I can't give the front army an explanation for such a huge loss!"
He hesitated and asked: "Where are the casualties of the new regiment of the Eighth Route Army? We have lost so many troops, how many Eighth Route Army have been wiped out in total!"
The chief of staff's face turned even more grim, and he frowned and replied: "There is really well-documented evidence that only more than 1,300 bodies of the Eighth Route Army can be seen in the battle.
However, many of the Eighth Route Army soldiers we killed and wounded on the battlefield were dragged away by the Eighth Route Army during the battle. Especially the battle in which the 135th Regiment was completely wiped out by the Eighth Route Army! We lost so many elites, even if the Eighth Route Army had armored vehicles to cover them, their
The casualties cannot be too small."
"According to the statistics of various troops, in this encirclement and suppression operation, we wiped out more than 5,000 people from the main force of the New Regiment, and more than 2,000 people from the local Eighth Route Army troops and guerrillas. In addition, we also destroyed a large number of villages and towns in the areas controlled by the Eighth Route Army, leaving them with a
A mess, weakening their strength through post-war reconstruction!"
Lieutenant General Ito's face became even more ugly.
He asked with a stern face: "In other words, it cost us more than 10,000 people to eliminate more than 7,000 Eighth Route Army. These more than 7,000 Eighth Route Army may still have water. They were false reports from the troops and there is no evidence!"
"Hey... but it's definitely not much different from the real data!" the chief of staff comforted.
"The disparity is huge!" Lieutenant General Ito sighed again, then frowned and replied.
"In this case, we have no way to report it to the front army!"
Seeing the chief of staff lowering his head and saying nothing, the irritated Lieutenant General Ito waved his hand and ordered: "That's it, you don't have a solution even if I ask you!"
"Go out and leave everything in your hands. I'm going to draft a telegram and send it to the front army. All these things will come in handy!"
After holding back in the room all afternoon, Lieutenant General Ito didn't know how to start the telegram to the front army.
Suddenly, a burst of rapid footsteps sounded behind the door, and then the door was pushed open.
The anxious and panicked figure of the chief of staff appeared directly in front of Lieutenant General Ito.
The second update is here today~ Please collect it! Please subscribe! Please vote for me monthly!
