A regiment leader noticed the anxiety of the chief of staff and made a tentative suggestion: "Chief of staff, if you want to deliver the food to Hunyuan on time, you must abandon the heavy baggage vehicles and move the troops forward lightly, bypassing the potholes on the road!"
"I suggest that the food on the baggage train be distributed to each soldier, and everyone marches with the food on their backs. This way we can reduce our dependence on roads."
"We have nearly 4,000 people here. Each person carries 30 kilograms of grain, and the total can carry 120,000 kilograms."
"Then the mules and horses that pull the carts are specially pulled out to form a team of mules and horses. Each mule and horse can transport 300 kilograms of grain. More than two hundred mules and horses can transport 60,000 kilograms. The total is 180,000 kilograms of grain, which is enough for the whole country.
The army will eat for ten days."
"What should we do with the remaining food?" the chief of staff was a little moved, staring at the regiment leader and asked.
"Leave an infantry company to guard the remaining food and supplies. After the first batch of food is delivered to Hunyuan, we will come back immediately to deliver the second batch of food and supplies. If we go a few more times, we will definitely be able to bring the baggage and ammunition we have brought.
Send them all to Hunyuan."
"Although this is slow and inefficient, and the brothers will be very tired, it is better than dragging them forward like a tortoise here. It can also relieve the pressure on the teacher's seat and successfully complete the task."
Military orders cannot be violated.
The master asked me to arrive at Hunyuan City before dark tomorrow, so I must arrive, otherwise the military law will be dealt with lightly.
The chief of staff, who couldn't think of any other way, made a decisive decision: "You go and make arrangements now. I will send a telegram to the division immediately for instructions. As long as he agrees, we will set off!"
In Hunyuan City, the teacher was in a very bad mood, even a little restless.
Although the Chief of Staff did not explicitly say that the follow-up troops would not be able to arrive on time, he did not say that they could arrive on time. The telegram was all about the difficulties that the follow-up troops are currently facing.
Just like my previous experience, the road was completely destroyed.
If you want to bring hundreds of thousands of kilograms of food and supplies to Hunyuan City smoothly, you have to build roads while traveling.
As for the division of troops, the division commander was frightened by the inexplicable disappearance of the cavalry company and the mountain artillery battalion, and repeatedly told the chief of staff that the troops could not be divided.
The division commander had just walked through the ruined road and knew how difficult it was for heavy goods vehicles to travel on that road.
There is a vague feeling in my heart: the chief of staff cannot arrive on time.
At that time, the troops in the city will be hungry for a longer period of time. If the officers at all levels fail to control it well, not only will the morale of the troops be in chaos, but the troops will also collapse, and then they will be doomed.
"Master's seat, the chief of staff has an urgent call!" The deputy division commander who had just entered the city suddenly walked in.
"What did he say? Can the food be delivered to the county on time?" the division commander asked anxiously.
"Yes, but there are two questions!" the deputy division commander replied.
"In order to ensure the marching speed, they decided to abandon the heavy baggage vehicles and deliver the food here on time by carrying it on people's backs and shoulders."
"The first batch can deliver 180,000 kilograms of grain, of which 60,000 kilograms of grain will be transported by mules and horses pulling carts, and 120,000 kilograms of grain will be carried by soldiers. Each soldier will carry thirty kilograms of grain and rush here.
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The teacher's anxiety gradually eased.
As long as the food can be delivered, even if it is only 10,000 kilograms, it can stabilize the morale of the more than 3,000 troops in Hunyuan City.
Immediately ordered: "Call the Chief of Staff back, I agree with them!"
After finishing speaking, I suddenly thought of the deputy division commander's first words and quickly asked: "You just said there are two questions, which ones are they?"
The deputy division commander reported: "The follow-up troops brought nearly 400,000 kilograms of grain and ammunition. After deducting the 180,000 kilograms of grain that can be transported immediately, there are still more than 200,000 kilograms of grain and ammunition."
"Because there are not enough troops, the chief of staff plans to leave only one company of troops to guard the remaining supplies."
"Wait for the main force to deliver the first batch of supplies to Hunyuan and then return immediately to deliver the second batch of supplies."
"There must be at least two days in between. They are worried that the remaining troops and supplies will be in danger."
"The division headquarters has repeatedly reminded them that there are Eighth Route Army and Japanese puppet troops hiding nearby, and they must not divide their troops to give their opponents every opportunity to defeat them. Now the chief of staff has to divide his troops, and he is a little undecided."
The division commander immediately thought of the mountain artillery battalion and baggage company whose troops had disappeared.
A force of nearly 400 people could be captured silently by the opponent, and the chief of staff only left one company. Isn't that a sheep entering a tiger's mouth?
Immediately deny: "One company has too few troops."
"Reply a telegram to the Chief of Staff and the troops will be split into two."
"One main group stayed behind to guard the remaining supplies, and the other main group took all the mules and horses to transport the first batch of food for us."
"As long as we can transport 100,000 kilograms of grain, the pressure here at the division headquarters will be gone."
"What's the second question?"
The deputy division commander thought for a moment before speaking: "The chief of staff didn't find the wounded we left behind on the way here!"
"What?" The teacher became anxious again.
Most of the wounded left on the road were lightly wounded and could be restored to health in ten days and a half. Not only was it not a burden to me, but it was also a valuable asset.
They added up to more than 300 people. This was only the force left by their own group. Together with those left by the other two groups, the total was more than 500 people, which was the strength of an entire reinforced battalion.
More importantly, in order to prevent accidents and have self-defense capabilities, they left all their weapons, including more than a dozen light machine guns.
The wounded are gone, and these weapons are definitely gone, which is definitely a huge loss.
On the battlefield, even if you eliminate hundreds of Japanese puppet troops, you may not lose so many men and guns.
Now that a battle has not been fought, and the Eighth Route Army has not even been seen, it is absolutely a shame for me to suffer such huge losses.
The deputy division commander continued to report: "The chief of staff also said that he sent people to check the place where the wounded were staying, but no traces of exchange of fire were found."
"Just like our baggage troops, they disappeared without any reason."
"He was worried that there would be wounded soldiers on the way to deliver food to Hunyuan. If the wounded were left behind, they would definitely go missing. If we marched with the wounded, it would be equivalent to three soldiers losing their combat effectiveness, and they would have to throw away ninety kilograms of food, and they would also have to lose 90 kilograms of food.
It will affect the marching speed of the troops."
"We were trapped in traps along the way and got more than 300 wounded people. They have more troops, so there will definitely be more wounded people."
"By the time they get to Hunyuan, they will have lost at least 30,000 kilograms of grain."
The division commander frowned and analyzed: "After losing 30,000 jins of 100,000 jins of grain, we still have 70,000 jins left, which is enough for us to last until the next batch of grain arrives."
"Reply a telegram to the Chief of Staff. I want the wounded without food."
"The wounded can form combat effectiveness after they recover. If a new soldier wants to be trained like this, the military pay and cost can be enough to buy five thousand kilograms of food."
"So I will never abandon a wounded person for ninety kilograms of food."
"I'll send a telegram to the chief of staff now and send my order."
"He has completed his mission if he delivers 70,000 kilograms of grain to me before dark tomorrow."
"But there is a prerequisite: we must not throw away a wounded person."
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