Half an hour later, the calculated battle damage results were sent over by his subordinates. The chief of staff just glanced at them and his face darkened. He watched Lieutenant General Sato report carefully!
"Division Commander... In the artillery raid just now, all four blocking positions were attacked..."
"Only some officers and artillerymen of the four infantry brigades defending there are equipped with gas masks. Ordinary soldiers have no preparations for gas protection!"
"The independent regiment first used high-explosive bombs to disrupt us, then fired poison gas bombs to force the defenders out of the bunker, and finally fired several rounds of high-explosive bombs to continue killing our troops who had withdrawn from their positions..."
"According to statistics, more than 1,100 soldiers died directly from poison gas, nearly 400 people died from high-explosive bombs, and more than 200 people were seriously injured..."
"All four infantry brigades suffered more than half of their casualties..."
"Because the losses are basically infantry. If we analyze purely from the perspective of combat effectiveness, the four infantry brigades only have less than 40% of their strength left!"
"Including last night's losses... there are only more than 6,400 people left in the entire Sato division, including more than 700 seriously wounded!"
"If we remove the indispensable gunners and heavy machine gunners... there will be less than 4,000 infantrymen left who can actually fight, mainly concentrated in the division guard brigade and the fifth infantry brigade..."
Lieutenant General Sato was very angry, but as the division commander and the hope of everyone in the army, he could not show it no matter how angry he was.
Suppressing the anger that bubbled up in his heart, he looked at the chief of staff and asked calmly: "Have we got all the gas masks that the military airdropped to us?"
"Hayi!"
The chief of staff nodded and said: "The military has allocated 7,500 gas masks to us. Nearly 2,000 were blown up in the firefight just now, and there are more than 5,500 left!"
"Coupled with the thousand gas masks brought during the airdrop of gas bombs yesterday, we can already meet the standard of one per person... As long as you nod, I will send someone to distribute them immediately!"
"Send it now!" Lieutenant General Sato ordered urgently!
"Although the Independent Regiment only took away more than a hundred gas bombs last night... the firefight just now destroyed more than a hundred gas bombs, but they are too cunning and cannot guard against them!"
"In case there are gas bombs hidden in our hands, gas masks can minimize our losses!"
The chief of staff was dumbfounded and asked with a hint of disbelief: "Division commander... you mean we have to continue fighting!"
"Reconnaissance shows: In the firefight just now, the Independent Regiment did not lose too many artillery. The artillery advantage is still in their hands. We have less than 4,000 combat troops left. Even if poisonous gas bombs are used to help, they can still use artillery fire to strike at long distances. Us, kill and injure our troops..."
"If we continue to fight, it will definitely be us who suffer!"
"This humble position recommends that the troops withdraw from the independent regiment base area immediately and stop fighting!"
"The Sato division must not end in our hands. Please consider carefully, division commander!"
Sato's division was silent for a moment and replied: "If our division is the main force in this sweep, I will definitely retreat now..."
"Unfortunately, we are just the mopping up troops in this big sweep..."
"Whether or not to withdraw must not only consider the safety of Sato's division, but also the overall situation!"
"If we hold on to the independent regiment base for one more day, we will be able to fight for one more day by mopping up the other two divisions in northwestern Shanxi!"
"Based on the analysis of the battle situation reported to us by the military headquarters, the other two mopping up troops are progressing very smoothly, and the situation they face is better than ours."
"As long as they successfully eliminate any unit of the New First Regiment and the New Second Regiment, they can immediately gather two infantry regiments to reinforce us, help us take revenge, and completely capture the Independent Regiment!"
"It's not that I don't want to retreat, but the overall situation forces us to not retreat!"
The chief of staff understands!
The military headquarters wanted the disabled Sato Division to continue to hold back the main force of the Independent Regiment and create opportunities for the other two main divisions to annihilate the enemy.
Although it may pose a fatal threat to Sato's division, as long as they can capture northern Shanxi, the deal will not be a loss.
More than half of Sato's division has suffered casualties...
Replacing the remaining few thousand remaining soldiers with tens of thousands of Eighth Route Army troops is a profit no matter how you analyze it.
As for the political impact of this victory, it is even more immeasurable!
But the chief of staff was not someone who wanted to be cannon fodder. As soon as he understood the situation of Sato's division, he began to think about ways to break the situation. He stared at Lieutenant General Sato and asked expectantly: "Division commander, how will we fight next?"
"Hold on here!" Lieutenant General Sato blurted out.
"We only have this few troops left... If we continue to attack, once we encounter heavy artillery, it won't be enough to put a gap in the teeth of the independent regiment!"
"If they get bolder, they can set up a pocket formation for us and we will die faster!"
"Only by holding on to our position can we seize the initiative in the battle, use the terrain advantage to our advantage, and hold on longer at the minimum cost!"
"I've thought about it... As long as we don't retreat, the Independent Regiment will gather heavy troops around to stare at us. There will be no way to divide the troops to reinforce the New First Regiment and the New Second Regiment. The mission assigned to us by the military headquarters will be completed!"
This answer was just what the chief of staff thought of, and he immediately flattered him: "The division commander is wise..."
"It's just that our current strength is nearly 2,000 less than yesterday. If we continue to use yesterday to build defensive positions, our strength will definitely be insufficient..."
"Humble suggestion: Abandon all peripheral positions immediately..."
"Wide and deepen the inner defensive positions...arrange five hundred people in each direction...the remaining troops serve as reserves and are stationed around the division headquarters, ready to go to the battlefield at any time!"
"All the original artillery positions were moved back five hundred meters!"
Lieutenant General Sato thought for a moment and added: "One line of defense is not enough!"
"Last night, a small group of troops from the Independent Regiment broke through our internal and external defense lines, penetrated directly into the artillery positions, and stole a large number of our poison gas bombs!"
"If they use the same tactics to attack us again, they won't go directly to the division headquarters!"
"The original inner position was expanded into a peripheral defense line... Build an inner position between the outer defense line and the artillery position, and station an infantry squadron, just in case!"
"You go and set up the position, and I will send a telegram to the military headquarters to inform the commander that the independent regiment fired poison gas bombs at our army, put pressure on the World War II zone in the name of the military headquarters, and strive to capture Kong Jie, the leader of the independent regiment... …At the very least, we should transfer him away from Shanxi!”
"I have learned about this army: Kong Jie is indispensable for the independent regiment to be what it is today!"
"He is the soul of the Independent Regiment. If he is transferred away from Shanxi, the soul of the Independent Regiment will be gone. It will be much easier to eliminate them again!"
The atmosphere at the enemy headquarters in front of the Independent Regiment was particularly depressing.
Kong Jie and Li Wensheng both had serious faces, thinking in their minds about how to deal with the aftermath and how to minimize the impact of this incident.
Half an hour after the battle ended, Huang Yu returned here dusty.
As soon as he entered the door, he felt something unusual, and several eyes focused on him at the same time.
Several staff members hesitated to speak, wanting to remind Huang Yu.
After seeing the solemn expression on Kong Jie's face, he decisively chose to shut up...
At the same time, I prayed to Huang Yu in my heart, hoping that he could get through this difficulty...
Huang Yu was well prepared, took a deep breath, and strode up to Kong Jie: "Regiment leader, chief of staff... I'm here to ask for punishment!"
"I ordered the special forces and artillery to fire out the gas bombs. If you want to punish me, punish me!"
"If my superiors come to hold me accountable, I will bear all responsibilities and ensure that the reputation of the independent group is not affected..."
"Bullshit..." Kong Jie became even more angry after hearing this and cursed.
"I'm not dead yet. It's me who takes the blame. It's not your turn yet..."
The chief of staff responded: "I discussed it with the regiment commander... The order to use poison gas bombs was given by me and the regiment commander together, and it has nothing to do with you!"
"We are angry because you are so self-righteous... You don't even discuss such a big matter with us... If an accident happens, who will fix it for you!"
Upon hearing this, Huang Yu knew that his unauthorized use of poison gas bombs had passed the test with the regimental commander and chief of staff. He took a long breath and replied with an embarrassed look on his face: "Aren't you afraid that you won't agree?"
Seeing that Kong Jie's expression had softened a lot, he immediately spoke out what he had already thought of on the way back.
"Captain, I don't think this is a big deal!"
"The gas bombs belong to the Japs and have nothing to do with us!"
"In the firefight just now, the artillery shells fired by our army unfortunately hit the poison gas bombs stored by the Japanese on the battlefield, detonating the gas bombs, causing a large number of little Japanese to be poisoned and killed..."
"The little devil himself is also to blame for this!"
"Who allowed them to risk the disapproval of the world and use poisonous gas bombs that are banned by all troops... This is called asking for trouble!"
Kong Jie laughed in anger and couldn't help scolding: "You are asking for trouble...you think other people are fools, so what do you say?"
Huang Yu explained firmly: "It is precisely because others are not fools that others will believe our words!"
"Our army is notoriously poor. We don't even have a rifle per man, let alone advanced poison gas bombs!"
"Even if we tell outsiders that the Independent Regiment is equipped with poison gas bombs, I guess no one will believe it!"
"The independent regiment is not equipped with gas bombs, how can they attack the little devil with gas bombs!"
Kong Jie held back his anger and felt speechless when faced with Huang Yu's question.
Chief of Staff Li Wensheng was directly moved by Huang Yu. He looked at Kong Jie with a thoughtful look on his face and said, "Captain, I think what Xiao Huang said makes sense!"
"Our independent regiment cannot be equipped with poison gas bombs, so we have no chance to attack the little devils with poison gas bombs!"
After saying that, he stared at Huang Yu and continued to ask: "Xiao Huang, if you have any other ideas, tell them all..."
"Take the initiative to send a telegram to the brigade headquarters to report that we detonated Japanese gas bombs during the shelling, so as to prevent the little Japanese from attacking us and threatening us!"
"Report the fact that we were attacked by poison gas bombs to the war zone...let everyone know about the poison gas bombs launched by the Japanese against the independent regiment."
"They will preemptively let everyone know that the Japanese used poison gas bombs on us first, causing a large number of casualties to the troops. Even if the Sato division wants to use what happened just now as an excuse, no one will believe it."
The second update arrived today! Please order in full!
(End of chapter)
