"Captain...the Japanese reinforcements did not send troops to chase us. They divided two infantry squadrons to guard the battlefield. The remaining Japanese and puppet troops cleaned the battlefield and cleaned up the corpses of the soldiers." Duan Peng ran all the way and caught up with Huang Yu to report.
Zhang Xuan was confused after hearing this, and asked with a worried look on his face: "Captain, the Japanese reinforcements won't be playing any more tricks, right?"
"We have just wiped out their troops in the middle. The troops are exhausted. This is the perfect opportunity to chase us. The little devil is stopped on the battlefield now. Isn't that throwing away the military exploits he obtained? I don't understand."
Huang Yu seemed to have an idea, and asked Zhang Xuan's gaze: "The Japanese and puppet troops who are encircling and suppressing us do not know the specific strength and equipment of the guerrilla brigade."
Zhang Xuan shook his head: "If they had known that the guerrilla brigade only had one reinforced battalion of combat-ready soldiers, they would never have assembled six thousand elites to encircle Mao'er Mountain."
"You should have a rough idea of the equipment situation."
"Since we sent out troops, we have used a large number of mortars and infantry artillery. In their eyes, the guerrilla brigade has at least one infantry artillery company and two mortar companies."
Huang Yu suddenly showed a relieved expression: "Then I understand why the little devil dare not send troops to chase us."
"The equipment of our Eighth Route Army is very poor. The most elite main regiment only has one mortar company."
"You kid brought out so many artillery pieces at once, the Japanese would not even believe that you only have one reinforced battalion."
"The expectation is good: Okamura Neji must have felt that there are two main groups hidden in Mao'er Mountain."
"We only used less than one regiment in the ambush battle just now. The Japanese must have thought that the remaining regiment was hiding nearby, ready to reinforce the battlefield at any time."
"Perhaps the net is already set up on the only way we can retreat, and we are ready to lure the enemy in and destroy another Japanese and puppet army."
"I guess this is also the most fundamental reason why they arranged two squadrons to guard around the battlefield."
Zhang Xuan immediately showed a look of realization: "It's true."
"The battle is over. We have evacuated the battlefield. Logically speaking, there won't be any danger there. Just arrange a small team to guard it."
"The Japanese have deployed two squadrons from their precious troops to be on guard. This is too exaggerated."
"They must be worried that we will kill them and continue to hit them hard."
"But in this way, the Japanese will definitely become more and more cautious in their next raids. It will be difficult for us to encounter fighters like today."
Huang Yu shook his head: "If there is no fighter plane, we will create it ourselves."
"And we can make a fuss about the fact that the little devils don't know our real strength, and try to force them to end the sweep early and evacuate Mao'er Mountain."
"As long as we are given another two to three months of training time, the guerrilla brigade will be able to expand to more than a thousand people and form a combat effectiveness."
"If they send troops to sweep Mao'er Mountain again, we won't be as passive as we are now."
Fang Yu, the deputy political commissar of the guerrilla brigade, came after hearing the news: "Captain, the harvest of the troops we wiped out the Japanese in the middle has been calculated."
"A total of two infantry cannons, two mountain cannons, eight mortars, seven heavy machine guns, 300 rounds of infantry cannon shells, 300 rounds of mountain cannon shells, 960 rounds of mortar shells, and 6 heavy machine gun bullets were seized Wanfa.”
"We also seized 21 light machine guns and 1,057 rifles, half of which were made in Hanyang and had old sleeves used by the puppet army. The total number of bullets for various rifle machine guns exceeded 200,000 rounds."
"We also collected more than 3,900 grenades and hand grenades, and more than 300 special grenades for grenades."
"The captured rifle machine guns alone are enough for us to form two more reinforced battalions."
Huang Yu suddenly said: "Zhang Xuan, didn't you want to have a fighter plane to attack the little devil? Now you have it."
"On the battlefield, I was still worried that the troops would consume too many artillery shells, and the speed of seizure would not keep up with the speed of consumption. The guerrilla brigade's ammunition reserves would become less and less. After listening to Deputy Political Commissar Fang's report, I no longer worry."
"After replenishing the battle damage, there are still more than 400 rounds of captured mortar shells left. We will take 50 rounds of mountain artillery shells and infantry artillery shells each to collect 500 rounds of shells and attack the little devil tonight."
"We have already eliminated one of the three-way mopping up troops. As long as we consume more of the half-way mopping up troops, that is, seven to eight hundred days of puppet troops. The remaining two thousand days of puppet troops will not dare to stay in the mountains no matter how bold they are. Unless they are ready for total annihilation."
"The strength of the Japanese and puppet troops outside the mountain is already very tight. Okamura Neiji will definitely not allow the mopping up troops to be wiped out by us."
"As long as we severely damage the mopping up troops again, Okamura Neiji will have to withdraw his troops."
"Five hundred shells are not a small number. Once used, we can kill the Japanese and puppet troops before."
"I just want them to help me kill the puppet army for seven to eight hundred days, and there will be no problem."
…………
Poling is the temporary camping site just selected by Major General Ikeda.
The troops are stationed on the mountains, high up, and if they are attacked, they can immediately switch to defense and defend according to the danger.
At eight o'clock in the evening, the entire slope was filled with blazing bonfires. The Japanese and puppet troops sat around the bonfire to keep warm and rest. There were only a dozen tents set up in the middle of the bonfire as temporary barracks for the headquarters and the squadron and above headquarters.
Looking down from the air, these fires are like stars in the sky, densely packed.
Major General Ikeda sat in the main seat of the tent, with a table made of bullet boxes in front of him. Several left-level officers sat on either side of the lower head, all with solemn expressions and lowered heads, not daring to look into Major General Ikeda's eyes.
"General..." The adjutant who accompanied the attacking team hurriedly walked into the tent, holding a list of battle losses that had just been calculated. His face was very solemn, and he looked like he was hesitating to speak.
"Tell me, I can hold on..." Major General Ikeda said calmly.
"Hai..." The adjutant still didn't dare to look at Major General Ikeda and answered with his head lowered.
"The central mopping up force consists of an infantry brigade, two battalions of the Imperial Alliance Army, a mountain artillery squad, a cavalry squad, and a guard team, with a total of 2,123 people, including 623 Imperial Alliance Army troops, and 1,500 Of the imperial army, only 36 imperial army escort brigade leaders succeeded in breaking through, and the remaining more than 2,000 people were all wiped out."
"216 people were killed in the mopping up force on the left and 87 were seriously injured... 228 people were killed in the mopping up force on the right and 92 were seriously injured..."
"After all the mopping up troops from the left and right lines have merged, our army has a total of 3,549 people left, including 983 Imperial Army troops in four battalions and 2,566 Imperial Army troops in two infantry brigades."
"There are four heavy weapons left, four mountain guns, four infantry platoons, and two mortar squadrons with 24 mortars."
"Everyone..." Major General Ikeda suddenly interrupted: "Since entering the mountain, we have lost 40% of our troops and more than 30% of our heavy weapons. If we cannot capture Mao'er Mountain in the next battle, we will completely annihilate the Eighth Route Army inside the mountain. Everyone here will become the laughing stock of the empire, and may even be court-martialed by the Commander."
"The honor of Fangshan Mixed Brigade must not be destroyed in our hands. If you have any ideas, feel free to speak out. I have only one request: to destroy the Eighth Route Army at the minimum cost and capture Mao'er Mountain."
"General..." Ishii Shaozuo stood up from his chair first.
"The Eighth Route Army has the strength to eat up our army's mopping up troops in the middle, and it must also have the strength to eat up our other two mopping up troops. We can't be defeated in the next attack."
"Three thousand troops gathered together and marched straight to the Eighth Route Army station in Mao'er Mountain, forcing them to take the initiative to stand up and fight us. Don't worry about the guerrillas who harassed us along the way."
"I agree..." The other captain stood up immediately.
He was also frightened by the outcome of the central sweep force being wiped out. He was afraid that he would become the next target of being eliminated by the Eighth Route Army, so he quickly stood up to support them.
"The priorities of the troops' attacks must be clear. As long as the main force of the Eighth Route Army is eliminated, those guerrillas will no longer be a threat. We can fight however we want."
Major General Ikeda immediately made a decision: "It's settled then. Tomorrow morning we will go straight to the Eighth Route Army garrison at Mao'er Mountain and try to fight them in the afternoon to avenge the destruction of the middle route mopping up troops."
After finishing speaking, he was about to declare the meeting to be adjourned when the long-lost explosion reached his ears again. He looked up and saw a large amount of fire outside the tent. Many bonfires were hit by cannonballs, and the wood flew everywhere like goddesses scattering flowers. If it was hit, The little Japanese around them suffered from severe head injuries and bloody injuries, to severe injuries such as broken arms and legs, further increasing the lethality of the shells.
"Long-distance artillery fire attack... Bagh Ya Road, the Eighth Route Army wants to use artillery fire to sneak attack us, consume our army's strength, and make us unable to rest!" Major General Ikeda instantly saw the true purpose of this night attack, and gnashed his teeth to analyze.
He smashed a circle on the ammunition box in front of him, stared at a pair of big red eyes and began to give orders: "Notify the mortar squadron to counterattack immediately."
"The Eighth Route Army has mortars, and we also have...the combat effectiveness of our gunners is far superior to that of the Eighth Route Army. I don't believe I can't blow them up."
"The mountain artillery squadron is on standby with the two mortar squadrons. If the two mortar squadrons are not opponents, let them join the battle."
"The troops disperse immediately. Don't run around the campfire. Be careful to avoid artillery fire."
"Wait until the artillery destroys the Eighth Route Army artillery positions before going to sleep."
Major General Ikeda was as lucky as ever.
Artillery shells from both sides came back and forth, and the firing lasted for nearly ten minutes. However, the number of artillery shells fired into the garrison by the Eighth Route Army did not decrease.
Although the troops have been dispersed and hidden, as long as the artillery shells hit them, they can still be killed.
In the splashing fire, soldiers were constantly being blown over or even blown away, resulting in a tragic ending with no bones left.
"What's going on?" Major General Ikeda was a little anxious and shouted anxiously towards the tent door.
"What are the two mortar squadrons doing? They have been fighting for so long but they haven't destroyed the Eighth Route Army's artillery positions."
"Many infantrymen have died under the artillery fire of the Eighth Route Army. If they do not destroy the Eighth Route Army artillery positions, they will become criminals of the mixed brigade."
"Report to the general..." An artillery lieutenant rushed in with an anxious look on his face.
"The Eighth Route Army was so cunning. Not only did they have more mortars participating in the battle than we did, but the mortar positions were also very scattered. Two or three mortars were in one position, attacking us from different places."
"The surrounding terrain is complex. We have tried our best to fight back, but the effect is very limited."
