The regiment leader is the superior of their immediate superior, and his words are imperial edicts. No matter how the third company commander feels it is inappropriate, he can only obey them.
After chasing forward for another twenty minutes, when the regiment leader's firm heart began to loosen a little, good news finally came from the forward troops.
"Captain, we are almost catching up. I saw the shadow of the Eighth Route Army's rear troops. They are setting up traps on the mountain road to slow down our pursuit!" The second company commander ran over panting heavily and reported excitedly.
The regiment leader regained his confidence and gave a firm order: "The troops will pursue with all their might."
"If someone steps on a trap and is injured, just stay here and leave others alone and continue to pursue. Today we must capture the people."
Another ten minutes passed after this pursuit.
Because everyone is running forward with their heads high and at high speeds, their vigilance inevitably drops, and the chance of falling into a trap is greatly increased.
Within ten minutes, at least twenty injured soldiers were left on the mountain road.
As for the rear troops of the Eighth Route Army, they kept appearing in the sight of the forward troops, but they could not catch up with them.
"Captain, half an hour has passed. If we continue to chase, we will definitely not be able to get out of this mountain before dark!" the third company commander couldn't help but remind.
The worry between his eyebrows is getting thicker and thicker.
He felt that the troops had been deceived, but he did not dare to say it directly.
This judgment that the common people are in front was made by the group leader, and he was very sure of it.
If you directly say that everyone has been fooled, it will be a slap in the face of the group leader. If you anger him and leave a bad impression, you will not be able to stand out in the group in the future.
After much thought, he decided to use a tactful tone to persuade the group leader to stop.
"Call the second company commander over!" The regiment leader was also a little anxious.
He didn't want to lose his wife and lose his troops here. It would be a big loss to lose himself in this mountain just to catch some people.
"Commander, what's going on?" The second company commander ran over, very excited.
The next decision was related to everyone's life and death to a certain extent. The regiment leader didn't waste any words and asked directly: "What did you do? Didn't you say that the rear troops of the Eighth Route Army were in front? Why did you not catch up after chasing for so long?
."
The second company commander's excited expression disappeared, and he answered aggrievedly: "Guanzu, I don't know what's going on?"
"At least twice in the middle, the distance between us and them has been shortened to more than 100 meters. If we work harder, we can catch up."
"But all of a sudden, the Eighth Route Army behind them seemed to have been given a boost. Their retreat speed suddenly became faster, and the distance between them was suddenly extended to more than two hundred meters."
"But no matter how fast they speed up, they never get out of our sight."
"I can confirm that the Eighth Route Army at the rear has two infantry squads."
The third company commander couldn't bear it any longer and reminded him tactfully again: "Team leader, I think there is something wrong here."
"The Eighth Route Army at the rear are soldiers. Can they really speed up their retreat suddenly?"
"But the people they are covering are all ordinary people. There are also old, weak, women and children among them. After running for so long, how can they still have the energy to speed up the retreat?"
The regiment leader is not a fool, and he will understand it as soon as the third company commander mentions it.
His brows furrowed deeper and deeper, obviously realizing the seriousness of the problem.
After thinking for two minutes, he slapped his head and shouted: "No, we have been fooled."
"Captain Li just reminded you right. If there are people in front of us, they will definitely run slower and slower. They will never run faster and slower. They don't have that much physical strength."
"So all this was a trap set up by the Eighth Route Army, which made us mistakenly believe that we had found the common people along the way, and then gave up the wounded and continued chasing into the mountains, taking the opportunity to weaken our strength."
"No, the wounded we left on the mountain road are in danger."
"The troops stopped immediately, the rear team became the front team, and they marched quickly out of the mountain. Get out of here quickly."
The troops withdrew from the mountain at eight o'clock in the evening, and the result was exactly as the regimental commander had predicted.
None of the wounded who were left on the road when entering the mountain survived, and all were missing.
On the way back, the destroyed traps were restored to their original state by the Eighth Route Army. Although the regiment commander kept ordering the troops to be more vigilant, there were still nearly a hundred wounded people in the team.
It's equivalent to going into the mountains. Not only did you not catch anything, but more than 100 people were missing and nearly 100 people were injured...
The atmosphere in the conference room at the Hunyuan Jinsui Military Division Headquarters was very dull.
The three armies that attacked in the morning all returned. Without exception, they all returned without success, and each of the attacking armies suffered heavy losses.
"Master, the Eighth Route Army is too cunning. They moved the people away early and deliberately left traces outside the village for us to pursue." The deputy division commander who commanded the other troops to attack opened his mouth and complained to his immediate superior.
"After a few hours, not only have we not caught anything, but there are also a lot of injured people in the team."
"I don't think taking the initiative to attack is feasible. According to today's approach, within a few days, all the troops in the city will be wounded and lose their combat effectiveness."
The regiment leader suffered the greatest loss and immediately agreed: "I also feel that we can no longer attack blindly."
"In order to find the common people, as soon as we left the city, we were led by the Eighth Route Army. We were also stared at by them. Every move we made could not escape their eyes. It was impossible to defeat them."
"I want to apologize to the commander. If I had not made the decision without permission, disobeyed the command of the commander, and asked the troops to abandon the wounded and pursue them lightly in order to catch the common people hiding in the mountains, more than a hundred lightly wounded people would not have been captured by the Eighth Route Army."
"Master, please punish me. I can accept any punishment."
The teacher was indeed dissatisfied, but he endured it.
The troops have been busy all day and have not gained anything, and they have lost soldiers and generals. This is the time when morale is low.
If another punishment is given to his subordinates and the news spreads, the morale and morale of the troops will definitely be hit again.
He shook his head and replied: "I'll remember this for you first. If you are guilty, you will have merit. When we completely control Hunyuan, we will discuss the merits and demerits together."
The leader breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you, Master!"
The division commander nodded and continued: "Today's attack made me understand that taking the initiative to attack does not work. We have far underestimated the influence of the Eighth Route Army among the people, and underestimated the people's trust and cooperation in the Eighth Route Army."
"Since the common people are on the side of the Eighth Route Army and are fully cooperating with them to avoid us, then we can only use force."
"Starting tomorrow, the troops will continue to attack, but they cannot enter the mountains."
"In addition to continuing to search for ordinary people, we also have another task: burning down houses."
"Force the people in the mountains to come out by burning their houses."
"The Eighth Route Army is notoriously poor. It's definitely impossible to help them rebuild their houses. As long as we burn down the village, their homes will be gone. I believe the people can't bear such a high price!"
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