Just as the artillery unit was preparing to join the battle, the gunfire on the three blocking battlefields stopped, as if they had discussed it.
Colonel Nakatani had a flash of bad premonition.
After waiting for half an hour, a communications officer hurried back: "Sir, the enemy has escaped."
"When we arrived at the artillery position, it was already empty. Our captain asked us if we should follow the traces left by the retreat of the garrison regiment and pursue them."
"They brought mortars, so they won't be able to run fast."
The chief of staff had just returned to the station to make statistics on the losses. When he came back, he heard this sentence and hurriedly rejected it before the commander could speak.
"No pursuit!"
"We know nothing about the surrounding situation. If we pursue rashly, we will definitely be fooled by the Eighth Route Army. In the end, we will lose both my wife and our troops."
After finishing speaking, he reported to the commander of the company: "Sir, the damage to the station was very heavy. Nearly 500 corpses were found. There were many soldiers who were directly hit by artillery shells and no bones were left. In addition, there were nearly 100 lightly or seriously injured people who had lost their combat effectiveness.
."
"I did some calculations at the beginning and found that the garrison had just fired at least a thousand artillery shells. Our direct losses in the shelling were nearly 700 people."
"This does not include the casualties of the imperial army in the three blocking battles. The total number must be nearly a thousand."
"Moreover, the main forces of the regiment were all lost in the shelling. The garrison and the Imperial Army were stationed on the other two hills, so the casualties were very small."
"Including the equipment that was blown up, although we only lost 30% of our total troops, our combat effectiveness was reduced by at least 40%, maybe even 50%."
Colonel Nakatani finally understood why the Chief of Staff was so reckless just now, rushing to deny his subordinate's proposal before he could say anything.
The losses of the troops were too great.
If they continue to fight against the garrison, and they are good at mountain fighting and night fighting, the losses of the troops will definitely increase tonight. There is almost no possibility of winning, and the troops are wasted.
You can never do such a stupid thing yourself.
Colonel Nakatani no longer hesitated and ordered decisively: "The order of the chief of staff is my order. The troops will retreat immediately."
"Including the losses just now, the entire regiment has suffered more than half casualties, and until now, we still haven't figured out how many troops the garrison has hidden in the mountains."
"I want to report our situation to the brigade commander immediately. The information given to us by our superiors is wrong. Not only are the main force of the garrison hidden in the mountain, but there are also a very large number of them. It is not the small number of guard troops they reported."
Li Hao did not know how many casualties the night attack had caused to the Japanese army.
But one thing is certain, if more than a thousand artillery shells hit it, a blind cat would kill a mouse, and it would also kill many Japanese soldiers.
So when he returned to the station, he ordered the troops to take time to rest.
No one knows how long this battle will last or when the next battle will start. In order to keep the soldiers energetic for every battle, Li Hao must seize all free time to let the troops rest.
"Captain, the kid seems to be trying to escape!" Early in the morning, while Li Hao was still sleeping, the chief of staff's voice rang in his ears.
"Retreat?" Li Hao opened his eyes and got up, asking with disbelief.
There was also a hint of worry between his eyebrows.
"Yes!" Hong Linfeng affirmed.
"Observation post report: As soon as daybreak, the Japs started packing weapons and ammunition, burning the bodies of soldiers looking for death, and seemed to be retreating."
Just as he was about to continue speaking, the voice of "Report..." rang in his ears, and a combat staff officer hurried over and handed him a piece of information.
"The retreat has begun!" Hong Linfeng raised the information in his hand and continued to report.
"This is the news just sent back from the observation post. The Japanese and puppet troops began to retreat along the route into the mountains at a very fast speed."
After passing the information to Li Hao, he immediately judged: "I suspect that the little devils have seen our plan to eat them in the mountains and are in a hurry to exit the mountains to save their lives."
"We can't let them withdraw!" Li Hao put down the information and answered firmly.
"It's very difficult!" Hong Linfeng replied, shaking his head.
"As long as the little devil is determined to exit the mountain, there is no problem with the direction. There are roads everywhere in the mountain. He can go wherever he wants. Even if we send a blocking force to stop him, we don't know where to stop him."
Li Hao nodded and replied noncommittally: "You are right, if the Japs insist on retreating, we will definitely not be able to stop them, so we can only find ways to outwit them."
"We fought too hard yesterday. We ate a strengthened brigade in two battles, and most of the brigade at night. We must have frightened them. They were afraid that they would be eaten too, and then they hurriedly retreated."
"So what Zhonggu United really worries about is our strength in the mountains."
"If they know that we have withdrawn from the mountains and all the troops hiding in the mountains have left, Chief of Staff, do you think the Zhonggu Wing will stop and continue searching the mountains for arsenals, field hospitals, and logistics agencies?"
"Probably!" Hong Linfeng replied after thinking for a moment.
"One of the purpose of the devils' raids on us is to destroy the arsenal and make us lose the ability to produce our own weapons."
"If they feel that there are no enemies in the mountains that can threaten them and there is no danger, they will definitely choose to continue the mission."
Li Hao immediately turned his attention to the map: "Where are the little devils outside the mountain? Where is Deputy Commander Luo?"
"Here, the two armies are less than five kilometers apart." Hong Linfeng answered, pointing to a point on the map.
"How many county brigades are in place!" Li Hao continued to ask.
"Four, and five other district squadrons also rushed to the battlefield to cooperate with Deputy Commander Luo." Hong Linfeng thought for a moment and answered.
Li Hao nodded and analyzed: "We are less than forty kilometers away from Deputy Commander Luo, and we can reach there in six hours of urgent march."
"Last night we ended the battle at two o'clock in the morning, and now it's eight o'clock. There are exactly six hours in between."
"If the fighting ended last night, we would have met at Deputy Commander Luo's place. We should be there soon."
"Contact Deputy Commander Luo immediately, assemble the air defense battalion, reconnaissance company, two county brigades, and all the heavy weapons given to them by the regiment headquarters. Fight the Japanese within four hours. The louder the better, the battle will be over within half an hour.
Then retreat."
"Ask Deputy Commander Luo to formulate a combat plan immediately, and then report it to the regiment headquarters for approval."
Hong Linfeng's eyes lit up, his chaotic and clueless mind seemed to have opened a new world, and he shouted excitedly.
"I understand, Commander, what you mean is to let Deputy Commander Luo act like the main force, and let the little devils think that the county brigade outside the mountain is the main force, thinking that we have left the mountain at our feet."
Li Hao nodded and replied: "This alone is not enough, I have to add another fire to the little devil."
"After the concerns are resolved, if another big enough bait appears in the mountain, it will definitely make the little devil go crazy and risk everything to enter the mountain again."
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