In the woods nearly one kilometer away from the mountain pass, the Japanese and puppet troops who had been running for more than ten minutes were resting here to replenish their strength for a short retreat.
The chief of staff was not idle. He took the time to count the casualties and find out the family background.
Soon, he appeared in front of Zhou Yunian with a serious face.
He opened his mouth twice in a row before reporting: "Regiment, the casualties and losses have been calculated!"
"There were 16 Japanese in total who entered the mountain. The highest-ranking one was a second lieutenant. The others were all dead. The mortars, heavy machine guns, and ammunition they brought into the mountain were all lost to the Eighth Route Army, causing heavy losses.
!”
"It's over!"
Zhou Yunian seemed to have been drained of all his strength in an instant, and almost fell to the ground.
Then he replied: "With so many people dead at once and all heavy weapons lost, Commander Noda will definitely not let us go!"
"We must find a way to give an explanation to the commander!"
The chief of staff hesitated and reminded: "Putting the responsibility to Huang Sheng of the Fifth Company, he said that they had colluded with the Eighth Route Army a long time ago and killed the Japanese while we were not paying attention to the internal and external attacks. In this way, we only have to bear the disadvantage of supervision.
Responsibility for command errors!”
Zhou Yunian calmed down a little, thought for a while and affirmed: "That's it, we must have a unified voice when the time comes. Only in this way can we avoid Commander Noda's accountability, otherwise the two of us will shed a layer of our skin even if we don't die!"
"
"Yes, Tuanzuo!"
After the biggest problem was solved, Zhou Yunian breathed a sigh of relief and continued to ask.
"What about our own losses and casualties? How many people are there in the troops entering the mountain?"
The chief of staff's face became even more ugly.
He lowered his head and replied: "The first battalion only withdrew a battalion headquarters and a platoon from the first company. No one from the second battalion and the fifth company was withdrawn because of the battlefield!"
"We still have a fourth company, a sixth company, a guard company, plus dozens of remnants of a battalion, and there are less than 400 people left!"
Zhou Yunian took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down: "This means that we have suffered nearly 400 casualties since we entered the mountain, and three of the companies were completely destroyed!"
The chief of staff lowered his head and answered in a low voice: "There are more than 360 troops left in the mountain army, including dozens of wounded. Our direct losses exceed 400, and including the wounded, the total is nearly 450.
ten people!"
This time Zhou Yunian really lost his balance and fell to the ground with a plop.
"Gentleman, please calm down and hold on. The remaining brothers in the regiment are pointing at you to take everyone out!" The chief of staff was anxious and rushed over to support him and persuaded him.
"Although our losses are a bit heavy, the main force is still there, and the three battalions remaining in the county are still fully staffed. As long as we return to the county safely, it won't take long to regroup and come back to take revenge."
"Yes, I still have troops, a battalion in the county, and the capital to regroup!" The desperate Zhou Yunian suddenly reacted, and hope rekindled on his face.
After forcing his body to stand up, he replied with a serious face: "Although we have suffered a lot in this battle, if we think about it carefully, it is not without gain!"
"Huang Sheng, the biggest hidden danger in the group, is gone. This is a good thing!"
"When we return to the county seat, we will directly drag him out to take the blame, let the Japanese find him on a large scale, and then kill him to completely eliminate this hidden danger."
"As long as he doesn't cause trouble in the regiment, we can reorganize the troops when we return to the county seat and form a main regiment that will obey our command unconditionally!"
"The second good thing is to understand the strength of the Eighth Route Army and know that they are not as easy to deal with as the Japanese say!"
"When we fight against the Eighth Route Army again in the future, we will no longer know everything, and we will no longer be blind or deaf!"
"And avoid fighting with them if you can, and try to hide behind the Japanese."
The chief of staff knew that the regiment leader was trying to comfort himself, but he still complimented him and said, "The regiment leader is right, this is indeed a good thing!"
Zhou Yunian's heavy face suddenly looked better, and then he began to give orders.
"This place is too close to the mountain pass defended by the Eighth Route Army. They may come over at any time!"
"The woods below are too dangerous. The Eighth Route Army is everywhere and can sneak up on us and beat us. The troops must withdraw immediately!"
"As long as we leave the forest and return to the stronghold of Hongquan Village, we will be safe!"
"The troops will rest for another five minutes, and then we will set off. Without stopping all the way, we will march directly out of the forest and back to the Hongquan Village stronghold!"
Li Hao obviously didn't intend to give them this rest time.
Zhou Yunian panted heavily and sat on the ground regardless of his appearance. Less than three minutes later, a communications soldier from the Sixth Company behind him rushed over.
"Sir, we are chasing you!"
"There are many of them, and they also bring light machine guns and heavy machine guns!"
"The Eighth Route Army is forcing us to die and wants to kill us all!" Zhou Yunian frowned and cursed.
Then he patted his butt and stood up from the ground and ordered: "Retreat, march quickly and retreat, we can't let them catch up with us!"
The chief of staff suddenly reminded: "Regiment leader, I suggest leaving one unit behind to hold off the Eighth Route Army's pursuers!"
"Leave an army behind? Isn't that like putting a sheep in the tiger's mouth and letting them die...?" Zhou Yunian subconsciously retorted.
But as soon as he said the word "death", he understood.
"Are you worried that the Eighth Route Army will chase us all the way?"
"Yes!" the chief of staff affirmed.
"The Eighth Route Army is more familiar with this forest than we are. As long as they are willing, some of them will take shortcuts and run in front of us to block us and attack us. In that case, it will be very difficult for the troops to successfully withdraw from the forest. Even if they withdraw, the troops will suffer losses.
heavy!"
Zhou Yunian came to a complete understanding: "Throw away the vehicle to protect the commander, and leave an army behind to ensure the safe withdrawal of the main force from the forest! This is indeed a good way to minimize the losses and casualties of the troops!"
"The regiment is wise!" The chief of staff seized the opportunity and took another photo of the group, even though this method was his own.
Zhou Yunian no longer hesitated and made a decisive decision.
"This may not be fair to the rear troops, but this is the best way to ensure that the main force of the regiment can safely withdraw from the forest. I agree!"
"Let Sixth Company stay, they are usually closest to Fiveth Company Huang Sheng!"
"Order the Sixth Company to set up a defensive line on the spot, and must block the Eighth Route Army's pursuers for five hours before retreating, otherwise military law will be imposed!"
"The other troops will retreat immediately, return the same way they came, and march quickly out of the woods!"
"Tell brothers, except weapons and ammunition, throw away everything you can throw away, and you must rush out of the forest as fast as possible!"
The chief of staff replied with a look of admiration on his face: "Tuanzuo, your move is really too good!"
"It not only delayed the pursuers of the Eighth Route Army, but also eliminated dissidents, killing two birds with one stone!"
"I'll go and give the order immediately!"
After receiving the order from the Queen, the captain of the sixth company knew that he had been abandoned by the regiment and became an outcast!
He would definitely not want to execute the order, stay here and fight to the death with the Eighth Route Army, and finally die here.
He did not dare to disobey orders and retreat.
The leader was ruthless, and he had the backing of the Japanese. In addition, he was not popular with him in the first place, so he might be shot because of this incident.
After thinking for a long time, the Sixth Company Commander could not think of a solution, so he could only take it one step at a time.
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