"Everyone, before the meeting, I would like to announce an order to you. It was sent to me by the brigade headquarters last night." The commander of the regiment was the first to speak.
Then he stood up from his seat: "Order, after the third and fourth brigades of the independent mixed brigade enter the combat area, all local garrison troops in the original second defense area will be under my command. If anyone disobeys the order, military law will be dealt with."
The first person sitting on the right is Lieutenant Colonel, the commander of the second defense zone appointed by Nakata Yamaro, and the captain of the Toyota Town stronghold defense brigade.
He immediately stood up and said, "Sir, don't worry, our garrison will definitely obey the command."
The co-captain sat down satisfied and continued: "Very good."
"I believe that with the cooperation of the local garrison, we will definitely win the battle, show off the majesty of the mixed brigade, and kill the Eighth Route Army here in the shortest time."
"Kawakami-kun, you are the former commander of the Second Defense Zone. You must be very familiar with the situation here. You can introduce it to us all first, and then decide where to attack."
"Hi!"
The lieutenant colonel quickly replied: "Sir, after investigation, it has been determined that a main battalion of the garrison regiment has been mobilized in the second defense zone, with a total strength of more than 700 people."
"Including what they call local troops and guerrillas, the total strength should be 1,500 people."
"It is divided into three and operates in these three areas respectively, with these three villages as the center."
"The humble position has been marked on the map."
"These three villages were the first to be captured by the guerrillas after they appeared in the defense area. Many Chinese people joined the guerrillas to fight against the imperial army. They should be regarded as fortress villages controlled by the garrison."
The captain suddenly interrupted: "How many places should there be troops stationed in the entire second defense zone?"
The lieutenant colonel quickly replied: "There are more than 600 imperial troops, divided into one garrison brigade and three garrison squadrons."
"The Imperial Alliance Army consists of 1,500 people, divided into one regiment and four battalions."
The commander of the regiment immediately said: "Including the 3,000 main troops I brought, that's 5,000 people. The total strength is three times greater than that of the Eighth Route Army."
"What's more important is that our troops can go directly to the battlefield and are well-equipped."
"The opponent only has half of the combatable troops, and the remaining half of the troops are guerrillas and local troops. It is okay to fight against the Imperial Army, but we will definitely be vulnerable to the Imperial Army. In this way, our advantage becomes even more obvious.
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"In addition, we have the advantage of artillery fire and aircraft reinforcements."
"Especially the independent mountain artillery brigade that cooperates with our operations has a large caliber, long range, and great power. It can participate in battles during the day and night."
"No matter how many thunder cannons the Eighth Route Army equips, it cannot be their opponent."
"Since the advantages are all on our side, I think we should not have any worries, but should directly launch an attack on the Eighth Route Army with overwhelming force."
"The two infantry brigades of the main force are divided into four. Each offensive force has two main infantry squadrons, a mortar squadron, a heavy machine gun squadron, plus a certain number of mountain artillery and infantry artillery, as well as heavy mortars.
We also need a few cannons."
"In addition, a squadron of local garrison troops and a battalion of the Imperial Association Army will be added to coordinate operations."
"They are familiar with the terrain and can be used specifically to deal with local Eighth Route Army troops and guerrillas. With them joining us, we will definitely get twice the result with half the effort."
"Three of the attacking troops went directly to these three villages, and the remaining attacking troops stayed in the rear as a reserve team to participate in the battle at any time."
From the Third Battalion Headquarters, the communications squad leader rushed in like the wind.
I was very tired from traveling continuously, my whole face was flushed red, and I was breathing heavily.
When he saw Huang Sheng, he didn't bother to rest and reported directly: "Batalion Commander, the Japanese are coming."
"The troops were divided into three groups. Each group had more than 800 Japanese soldiers and more than 300 puppet troops. They rushed into our activity area at the same time. The speed was very fast. The Seventh Company was already at war with them."
Huang Sheng's brows quickly knitted and he came back with a serious look on his face: "The Japanese are coming in a menacing manner. They plan to attack us all in one go."
"Order each unit to act according to the original plan, use guerrilla warfare to slow down the march of the Japanese troops, wear them out, and take them in circles in the guerrilla zone. Try to make the Japanese fat and thin, and drag them to death."
"But one thing is, you must not be stuck by the Japanese unless you have to."
"Local troops and guerrillas, in cooperation with the main force, will clear out the villages and towns within the fighting area in advance so that the Japanese will not be able to hurt any of our civilians or capture any of our civilians to use as hostages."
"Da da da... bang bang..."
Familiar gunshots sounded again on the hills on both sides of the team, dense and short.
Two imperial soldiers fell down in response, one dead and the other wounded.
The entire firefight took place thirty meters in front of the Japanese leader, and could be seen clearly with the naked eye.
The captain couldn't remember how many times this was the first time he had been attacked by surprise. Anyway, one or two imperial soldiers would be killed or injured in every sneak attack. He was used to it.
However, as an excellent and proud officer, he would never just watch his troops being beaten passively.
He already had a countermeasure in mind, but the time to use it hadn't come yet.
"Sir, there's a fork in the road ahead!" the forward team leader ran over and reported.
"We're finally here..." The captain's expression, which was calm just now, suddenly turned ferocious.
Then he ordered with a murderous look on his face: "Set up three mixed commandos immediately."
"Each commando team includes a squad for the main force, a combat detachment for the garrison, and a platoon for the Imperial Alliance Army. In addition, a mortar detachment and a heavy machine gun detachment will be reinforced."
"After arriving at the fork in the road, we immediately attacked. Under the cover of the aircraft, we marched quickly towards three nearby villages."
"According to the aviation report, perhaps because these three villages are too far away from the highway, we will not go there. The Eighth Route Army did not move the people there. I asked the third route commando to arrest all the Chinese in the villages and use them to force the defense
The main force of the regiment appears."
"If the main force of the garrison doesn't come out, I will kill people and directly pinch the Eighth Route Army's weakness."
"Don't they claim to be as close to the people as one family?"
"At that time, I will let them use actions to prove whether this statement is true or false. There are two choices: either we are like a family and take the initiative to stand up and fight us, and we will let those ordinary people go."
"Either you continue to hide like a coward and ignore the lives of these people, then we will kill people without hesitation."
"That's it. Let's make arrangements right away."
The squadron leader was also troubled by this elusive sneak attack.
Although the captain's method was a bit harsh, he didn't care.
After invading China for such a long time, if not fifty Chinese died at his hands, there must have been twenty or thirty, and he didn't care how many more.
Immediately he accepted the order and said: "Sir is wise, I will make arrangements for my humble position now."
