Kong Jie heard the hidden meaning in Huang Yu's words and immediately asked: "The strength of the troops is not a problem. Can I transfer the guard company of the Duer Regiment to you?"
"If that's not enough, the fourth battalion can also give it to you... They are the reserve team on the battlefield for the decisive battle. They have no mission for the time being. After defeating Pingyang Town, they will return to Chenzhuang for repairs. It should not affect the final battle."
"Then I can kill five hundred more puppet troops..." Huang Yu answered confidently.
The tunnel fortifications in Pingyang Town were better than those at Taipingzhuang, but Huang Yu's estimated results were even less. This was not because Huang Yu lacked confidence, but because the Japanese and puppet troops already had experience in fighting tunnel battles after the battle at Taipingzhuang.
Huang Yu tried to use the same attack method to severely injure the Japs again, but the success rate was very low. He could only adapt to changes by staying the same and make improvised decisions based on the Japs' offensive methods.
The next blocking battle in Pingyang Town will definitely be more difficult to fight than Taipingzhuang, and the results will be smaller.
"That's enough..." Kong Jie said with excitement.
Five hundred people may not seem like a lot, but for the middle mopping up force with a total strength of only four to five thousand people, these five hundred people are likely to be the last straw that breaks their back. yoke
There were 500 people left behind in Shunping County, and more than 1,000 people were killed in Pingyang Town. The Japanese and puppet army's middle-road mopping up troops had less than 4,000 people left to kill Chenzhuang.
After deducting the artillery, baggage troops, puppet troops, and engineers in the team... there are at most 2,000 little devils who can fight.
With the Duer Regiment's current combat effectiveness and Chenzhuang's complete street fighting fortifications, it is still very safe to defeat them.
Then he ordered Shen Quan on the side: "Chief of Staff, immediately notify the guard company and the fourth battalion. After dark, use platoon units to disperse and reinforce Pingyang Town and accept the command of the Deputy Chief of Staff."
After saying that, he turned his attention to Li Yunlong: "Old Li, there should be no problem with the Wangdu garrison, right?"
Li Yunlong was still immersed in the shock of his march into Northeast China, and he didn't react until Kong Jie named him again.
I admire Kong Jie in my heart, but I don't admit defeat at all. yoke
He made a decision in a flash of his mind: "Lao Kong, there are still more than 600 people in the Wangdu garrison. After the Japanese sweep the troops from the left and occupy Wangdu, they will definitely leave some troops to defend Wangdu and protect the wounded and the ammunition."
"I plan to learn from Xiao Huang and kill them with a carbine, eliminate the Japanese and puppet troops left behind in Wangdu City, and replenish some ammunition for the troops."
"The total strength of the Japanese and puppet troops on the left will be sharply reduced to about 3,000 people. If you add the artillery, baggage troops, puppet troops, engineers, and Japanese combat troops in the team, there will definitely be less than 2,000 people."
"I want Xiao Huang's Shunping garrison to immediately lead troops to reinforce Zhangjia'ao after the Pingyang battle. The two garrison regiments will fight together to try to swallow up the little devils in this group. If they can't be swallowed, they will have to escape. Layers of skin."
As soon as Kong Jie heard Li Yunlong's tone of voice, he knew that he was confronting her again.
Seeing that he was about to eat a brigade of the Kwantung Army with his mouth opened, he was not convinced and wanted to eat the troops sweeping up the left flank in one bite.
He immediately asked, "Old Li, there are only about 600 people left in the Wangdu garrison. After the carbine attack, there should be about 500 people left."
"Xiao Huang's Junpei garrison should be similar. Wouldn't it be too risky to only rely on a thousand people to fight against the 3,000-day puppet army?"
Li Yunlong slapped his hand on the table and said confidently: "Kong Er, don't think that you look down on me because you are the leader of the group."
"Aren't they just the Three Thousand Days Puppet Army? I, Li Yunlong, really don't take them seriously."
"Thousands of people are enough to kill the mopping up troops on the left, just take a look."
Seeing Li Yunlong's persistence, Kong Jie couldn't say much.
From what he knew from many of his old comrades-in-arms, although people are impulsive and like to violate discipline, when it comes to fighting, this kid immediately gets into the mood as if he were a different person.
Moreover, this guy is not a loser. If an accident occurs during a combat operation, he will definitely withdraw his troops as soon as possible. He will not fight to the death with the Japanese and end up losing his wife and losing his troops. yoke
He immediately replied: "Okay, I'll leave the mopping up troops on the left to you."
"The next counter-mopping up in the base area will be carried out as we just said. The meeting is adjourned..."
…………
At the headquarters of the Japanese brigade in Baoding, Okamura Neiji's hatred for the base in the wing deepened, and at the same time he became more and more fearful. He stood by the sand table for two hours at a time.
The deputy chief of staff had not seen the commander like this for a long time. He wanted to comfort him several times, but he didn't know how to speak.
The grand sweep was just over half way through, and more than half of the three-way sweep force had already suffered casualties. This was something that had never happened in other sweeps. It has been a long time since the commander personally sat on the battlefield and paid attention to a certain large-scale raid like he is doing now. His brows were furrowed in worry and he didn't even think about food or tea.
In a blink of an eye, the communications staff officer suddenly ran over. yoke
The deputy chief of staff felt that he had found an opportunity to speak, but after he read the telegram, he did not know how to speak, and his face became increasingly ugly.
He opened his mouth several times before he answered bravely: "Your Excellency, Commander, something happened to Fujita-kun's troops and wounded soldiers left in Junpei Castle."
"At about twelve o'clock, Mr. Fujita received an urgent call from Junping County. A group of Eighth Route Army troops suddenly appeared in the city and quickly captured the military camp, field hospital, and headquarters... The remaining troops only lasted ten minutes before losing contact."
"They suspected that this was the Eighth Route Army's plan to attack the east and attack the west. They deliberately lured them back to support Shunping and buy time for the Yizhong Eighth Route Army to withdraw into the mountains."
"Fujita-kun decided to ignore Junpei and continue to raid Chenzhuang, trying to capture Chenzhuang before dark and cut off the Eighth Route Army's retreat channel."
Okamura Neji had a sullen expression and did not answer.
The Eighth Route Army in Yizhong had too many counter-mopping up methods, and they were endless. Until there is definite evidence, no one knows whether the attack on Shunping was an attack in the east or another conspiracy. yoke
It's not easy for him to give random ideas to the Yi County mopping up troops.
As a result, just ten minutes later, the communications staff rushed into the war room again. Without waiting for the deputy chief of staff to receive the telegram, he hurriedly reported: "Your Excellency, Commander, Wangdu County has been attacked by the Eighth Route Army and has lost contact..."
"The commander of the Kawasaki Brigade believed that this was a ploy by the Eighth Route Army to attack the east and attack the west, so he did not send troops to return reinforcements."
"Continue to lead the troops to implement the mopping up plan and attack in the direction of Chenzhuang."
"Something's wrong..."
Okamura Neji finally reacted and raised his eyebrows.
"Two counties have been attacked one after another. There is indeed the possibility of attacking from the east to the west to lure the raiding troops to return for reinforcements."
"But it is also possible that the Eighth Route Army took the opportunity to defeat them one by one and further consume the strength of the mopping up troops."
"More than half of the mopping up troops from the left and middle routes have been killed. The Eighth Route Army's carbine rifles killed more than 500 of them each. They also took the opportunity to cut off the retreat of the two mopping up troops. If an accident occurs, they will not be able to evacuate from the Eighth Route Army base area even if they want to."
While talking, he looked at the map and looked towards Chenzhuang along the path that the troops must pass through in the middle road sweep. He locked on Pingyang Town and stopped moving, pointing there.
"It's not easy to fight here..."
"The Baoding garrison once lost two infantry brigades here."
"Pingyang Town is also the headquarters of the Shunping Defense Regiment."
"Intelligence shows that the Eighth Route Army started digging tunnels after occupying this place."
"The tunnel fortifications in Pingyang Town are more complete than those in Taipingzhuang."
"Fujita-kun lost three infantry brigades and more than two battalions of the Imperial Alliance Army in Pingyang Town."
"If the Eighth Route Army gathers a large number of troops to defend Pingyang Town, Fujita-kun will probably not be able to kill them."
Having said this, another idea suddenly came to Okamura Neji's mind. He stared at the sand table and continued to ask: "How far is the left sweep force from Taiping Town?"
"It's less than fifty kilometers, and we can kill it by marching for eight hours." The deputy chief of staff answered, pointing to a point on the map.
"Order..." Okamura Neji made a decision in his mind after hearing this, and looked at the deputy chief of staff and said seriously.
"The original sweep plan has been cancelled. From now on, all three sweep forces will be under my command."
The deputy chief of staff was confused by Okamura Neji's move, and asked with a puzzled look on his face: "Your Excellency, Commander, why do you want to change the raid plan? I don't understand."
"Don't you think we've been passive in this big sweep since the beginning?
Do you want to fight..." The decision just now made Neji Okamura think about many questions in an instant. He stared at the sand table and asked thoughtfully.
"Taipingzhuang blocking battle, Tancun blocking battle, Wangdu County street fighting, Wangdu County offensive and defensive battle, Shunping County offensive and defensive battle..."
"There are authentic shadows inside..."
"It means that the Eighth Route Army has calculated exactly where the mopping up troops must pass and built tunnel fortifications in advance, waiting for us to go there and fall into the trap."
The deputy chief of staff was so frightened by Neji Okamura's inference that he was stunned for a while before he couldn't help but ask.
"Your Majesty Commander, are you saying that our raid plan was leaked in advance?"
"This is absolutely impossible..."
"Every tunnel fortification in the Yi Zhong base will take several months to dig."
"Our raid plan was improvised before the operation."
"No matter how leaked it is, the Eighth Route Army will never know it two months in advance."
"Are you mistaken?"
Neji Okamura asked with a stern face: "When did I say that the raiding plan was leaked?"
The deputy chief of staff became more and more confused as he listened, and continued to ask: "If the mopping up plan was not leaked, why could the Eighth Route Army dig tunnels in advance along the path that the mopping up troops must pass, and wait for us to attack."
Okamura Neji has the intention to hit people.
Compared with the chief of staff who stayed at the headquarters, the deputy chief of staff was very slow in thinking and out of breath.
"That's because our sweep plan is too old-fashioned..."
"It's always about sweeping through the Eighth Route Army base areas, forcing the enemy to a certain position, gathering them and annihilating them."
"As long as the Eighth Route Army determines our final assault target, it can calculate the approximate marching route of the mopping up troops."
"Be prepared in advance and wait for us to take the bait."
"If we don't temporarily adjust the sweep plan, the next operation will definitely be passive."
"One tunnel fortification killed more than a thousand of us, and several tunnel fortifications combined together wiped out all the troops."
The deputy chief of staff finally understood. He looked at Okamura Neji with a look of realization on his face and said, "Your Excellency, Commander, is wise."
"If I were the commander of the Eighth Route Army, I would definitely see the importance of Chenzhuang."
"As long as the troops surround Chenzhuang, the mopping up troops will definitely get bruised and bloody on the way to attack."
