The brigade commander had not experienced the battle in which the Yizhong Eighth Route Army captured Shunping, otherwise he would have felt a sense of deja vu.
A unit suddenly broke away from the control of the brigade headquarters and disappeared without a trace.
No matter how many scouts and messengers he sent to investigate, it was impossible to find out the news in a short period of time. The scouts and messengers he sent also suffered heavy losses in the operation.
At 9:30 in the morning, the first batch of messengers sent out by the staff on duty did not return to the city on time.
Except for the brigade commander, everyone else in the headquarters still did not think about the worst situation. They only thought that the messenger had an accident on the road and failed to return to the county in time.
Half an hour later, the staff officer on duty stood on the top of the city and waited eagerly, but still did not see the messenger.
Even if there are five or six messengers who are attacked on the march, it will be difficult for the whole army to be destroyed at the speed of the war horses.
Now they are just like missing. There is no news. The most likely reason is that the Third Brigade had an accident. They were attacked at the Third Brigade's station and had no chance to evacuate.
His face slowly became heavy, and he continued to wait for the second wave of troops he sent.
In addition to the messengers, there are also scouts here, who are very vigilant. If an accident happens to the third brigade, they will definitely be able to break through a few and come back to report the news.
At 11 o'clock in the morning, the staff officer on duty still did not see the troops leaving the city, and the expression on his face became more and more serious.
When he was about to wait at the top of the city, a Chief Cao suddenly ran towards him.
"Sir, the general asked you to return to the brigade headquarters immediately. The aviation reconnaissance results have been sent."
The staff officer on duty rushed all the way to the door of the war room. Before he stepped in, he felt the oppressive atmosphere in the room.
The brigade commander and the chief of staff were studying the sand table with calm faces. Several combat staff officers were doing what they were doing very carefully, for fear of making too much noise; the other combat staff officers were standing next to the sand table with nervous faces, not daring to say a word. Say more.
At this time, the fool also knew that something happened to the third brigade.
He hurriedly walked into the war room. Before he could apologize, the chief of staff handed over a telegram: "Let's take a look..."
"If the entire Third Battalion attacked, some heavy troops would be left to protect the station. However, the reconnaissance plane circled over the station for several times and failed to find anyone."
"We haven't found a single garrison at the Guanjiapu stronghold."
"If an accident happened to the Third Battalion, there should be traces of firefights around the station, but the reconnaissance plane found nothing."
"The more than 500 people who pursued the Eighth Route Army deep into the mountains, the more than 100 people who were stationed at the Guanjiapu stronghold, and the more than 500 imperial troops who stayed at the garrison, just disappeared out of thin air without any trace. This is so abnormal."
The staff officer on duty was shocked by this result.
He was already prepared for an accident in the Third Brigade, and he was scolded. However, the Third Brigade actually appeared in front of everyone as missing out of thin air, with no one alive or dead. This was too weird.
He quickly told the result of his waiting at the city gate tower: "The headquarters sent two groups of scouts and messengers to the third brigade. They all rode forward, but no one has returned to the county seat yet."
"The humble officer believes that something unexpected happened to them at the Third Brigade's station."
"If we want to find out the real situation there, we must send heavy troops there."
The brigade commander's attention was focused on the sand table and showed no intention of answering. The chief of staff seemed to be very interested in his subordinate's proposal and asked directly: "How many troops do you think the brigade headquarters should send to reinforce the third brigade?"
"A full infantry brigade, a cavalry squadron, a chariot squadron..." The staff officer on duty, with the idea of meritorious deeds, thought about it for a while before answering.
"If there is an accident in the Third Brigade, the reinforcements will be covered by chariots and cavalry, and they will be able to escape unharmed when attacked. They will definitely be able to find out whether there is an accident in the Third Brigade before dark."
"Shut up..." The brigade leader couldn't bear it anymore and interrupted with an angry look on his face.
"Don't you think you've caused enough trouble?"
"Originally I had no intention of pursuing him.
I hold you responsible for delaying the report of the war situation and delaying the military situation. However, you still come up with bad ideas and talk nonsense here. I am so disappointed. From now on, you are no longer the combat staff officer of the brigade headquarters, get out immediately..."
The staff officer on duty was dumbfounded by the scolding. He didn't expect that the combat staff officer he had managed to get through would be lost like this.
He was unwilling to give up and planned to try again, but the brigade leader refused to give him a chance and continued to curse.
"As a qualified combat staff officer, how can you help the headquarters with advice if you have forgotten the most essential conditions for fighting a war?"
"Because of your arrogance and arrogance, you have made the big mistake of delaying the reporting of military information. You thought you would learn a lesson from the increase, but in the end, you are still the same as before. You completely ignore your opponents and rely on your own guesses for all the battle plans you propose. There is no basis in fact at all.”
"If the brigade headquarters sends reinforcements to the Guanjiapu stronghold as you suggested, the reinforcements might disappear without a trace overnight."
"Get out immediately. Arrogant people like you are not welcome in the war room."
What the staff officer on duty had already said was blocked by the brigade commander. He wanted to refute, but racked his brains and couldn't find a reason.
He could only walk out of the war room with despair on his face.
The chief of staff did not speak for his subordinates, and the brigade commander was furious. To rebut him now would be to add fuel to the fire. Not only would he not be able to help his subordinates, but he might further anger him.
In fact, from the bottom of his heart, he did not agree with what the brigade commander just said: there were indeed mistakes in the proposal of the staff officer on duty, but it was definitely not as exaggerated as the brigade commander said.
The Baoding mixed brigade suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Peking guerrilla detachment pretending to be the Eighth Route Army in the Wing, which made the brigade commander also have serious concerns about them, as if they were bitten by a snake once and feared for ten years.
Now that the guerrillas commanded by the Yizhong Eighth Route Army were being beaten at a loss, and a brigade had been lost again, my worries were heavier than before, and maybe I was already a little afraid of being beaten.
The staff officer on duty proposed to reinforce the Guanjiabao stronghold at this time, and sending troops when the enemy's situation was unknown was tantamount to hitting the muzzle of the brigade commander's gun, and it was difficult not to get scolded.
But as a brigade commander with heavy troops, if you want to defeat your opponent, you must pay attention to the enemy, but you must not be afraid of the opponent, otherwise you will lose the battle before it is fought.
The chief of staff decided to remind the brigade commander not to be too cautious.
No matter how integrated the guerrillas are, they are still guerrillas. Even if they are trained by the Yizhong Eighth Route Army for a period of time, their combat effectiveness cannot be improved much.
Besides, their strength is limited. Even if the Yi Zhong Eighth Route Army trains each of them into elites, their overall combat effectiveness will be just that.
A full complement of troops plus a cavalry squadron and a tank squadron are enough to deal with various emergencies.
As if he had guessed what the chief of staff was thinking, the brigade commander took a quick step and asked, "It's easy to wipe out an infantry brigade of our army, but what's difficult is to quietly wipe out a fully-replacement brigade of our army within a few hours."
"Chief of Staff, how many troops do you think the opponent has and what tactics do you use?"
"Could it be that the Yizhong Eighth Route Army that had retreated came back after learning that the commander was sending reinforcements to Peiping?"
"In this case, the reinforcements for a strengthened brigade will be too few."
"If something unexpected happens, we will lose both my wife and our troops."
"It is not possible to send all the mobile troops in the city to the Guanjiabao stronghold. If this is the Eighth Route Army's plan to attack the east and attack the west, it will hit the enemy's guns."
"I think the most urgent thing to do right now is to find out the current situation of the Third Brigade. If they really had an accident, who did it? How many people are there and where are they now?"
"Knowing ourselves and our enemies will ensure victory in any battle. We must not send troops hastily before we understand the true situation of our opponents."
"The Eighth Route Army tried every means to block information about the Third Brigade, just to confuse us, make us anxious, and then make mistakes in the chaos, giving them an opportunity to take advantage of. We must not fall into the trap."
The chief of staff thought of a lot of reasons to persuade him. After listening to the brigade commander's order, he rejected all those reasons.
Even he himself was persuaded by the brigade commander,
I began to recognize the prudence of the brigade commander and felt that the mixed brigade really could not send troops hastily.
Immediately accept the order: "The humble officer will continue to send scouts to the Guanjiapu area to find out the current situation of the Third Brigade at all costs."
"The intelligence department has already started taking action. With our two-pronged approach, we will definitely be able to figure out the enemy's situation before dark."
…………
At the headquarters of the Japanese North China Front in Peiping, Okamura Neiji rarely had time to relax. He sat around with a few close friends to drink tea and discuss the next development direction of the North China Front.
The atmosphere was very good, and the discussion lasted from morning to noon, and there was still an expression of unfinished understanding.
"Your Excellency, Commander..." A staff officer suddenly walked up to Okamura Neji, whispered something into his ear, and then saw the smile on his face disappear.
He stood up from the chair and said angrily: "Why is it related to the Yizhong Eighth Route Army? Why are they like dog-skin plaster? Their shadows are everywhere."
After saying that, he strode towards the war room and asked as he walked: "What is the response to the Fangshan mixed brigade?"
"The inexplicable disappearance of a full complement of troops shows that the opponent's strength cannot be underestimated. They are deliberately attacking. This is clearly a trap for them. They must not act rashly."
The staff officer followed Okamura Neiji and replied: "The mixed brigade is holding back for the time being. We plan to find out the enemy's situation before taking action."
"All our reconnaissance troops and intelligence personnel have been dispatched, and there should be accurate news soon."
Okamura Neiji walked all the way to the sand table, glanced at the terrain northwest of Fangshan and analyzed it with a frown: "Intelligence shows that there are at most 500 Eighth Route Army guerrillas operating in the northwest of Fangshan, even if the Eighth Route Army left equipment for them. Ammunition and commander, the overall combat effectiveness is not too strong, and they definitely don’t have the strength to eat up a large group of mixed brigade.”
"There must be other Eighth Route Army figures here."
"The Eighth Route Army in Yizhong was able to evacuate Peiping from the mountainous areas quietly, and it can definitely go through the mountainous areas and fight back."
"Immediately send a telegram to the mixed brigade, asking them to seize the opportunity to eliminate the Yizhong Eighth Route Army that has repeatedly violated the border."
