"General..."
The chief of staff lowered his head and reported quietly.
"Including yesterday's losses, the three infantry brigades we attacked Pingyang Town only have two infantry brigades and one infantry squadron left."
"If we continue to fight at this loss rate, we..."
"...We...will have to lose at least three squadrons to end the battle and capture Pingyang Town."
"boom……"
Major General Fujita was so angry that he punched the table in front of him.
With a sweep of his arm, the map on the table, the tea cup... all fell to the ground.
Still not relieved after it was over, he pulled out his command knife and struck it hard at the table in front of him.
The sharp blade sank into the table gum for more than ten centimeters before stopping.
Seeing this, everyone in the headquarters was frightened, fearing that the brigade commander would vent his anger on himself.
"boom……"
Major General Fujita put away his command sword, inserted it into its sheath, and then punched the knife on the table before speaking.
"Bagh Yalu, I have been fighting for so many years, and I have never felt so aggrieved as I do today."
"A small town."
"Planes, heavy artillery, explosive packets..."
"I used everything I could use, but I didn't win for two days."
"The Kwantung Army has lost all face by us."
The chief of staff stood aside and did not dare to express his anger.
The brigade leader has always been known for his iron fist, is very capable in fighting, and is also extremely arrogant.
Otherwise, he would not have stood out from the many brigade commanders in the three eastern provinces to represent the Kwantung Army to reinforce the North China Front.
The result turned out to be like this.
No matter how angry Major General Fujita was, it was within his tolerance.
Until the brigade commander got tired of scolding him, he stared at the brigade commander with his peripheral vision and whispered comfort: "General, calm down..."
"We are not entirely responsible for the troops being like this."
"We are from the Kwantung Army and have never been exposed to tunnel warfare."
"The North China Front troops who are familiar with tunnel warfare have been defeated many times, let alone us."
"The damage today is really huge."
"But the results are also very gratifying."
"Half of the tunnels in Pingyang Town have been destroyed by us."
"As long as we end the battle successfully."
"This proves that our method of attacking the Eighth Route Army's tunnel warfare is effective."
"In the next battle, we can mobilize the left and right mopping up troops to reduce the losses of the middle mopping up troops."
"After all, this is fighting in North China."
"We are here to help, they are the protagonists on the battlefield."
"Just because we have strong combat capabilities, we can't turn against the customers and take away their business."
Reducing troop losses and killing the Eighth Route Army in the Wing are the two things Major General Fujita wants to do most right now.
The Chief of Staff's proposal solved both of these problems.
The angry expression on his face visibly relaxed.
He glanced at the increasingly dark sky outside the headquarters and gave a decisive order.
"Inform the demolition team to evacuate the town, and the blockade troops will be on heightened alert to prevent the Eighth Route Army in the town from sneaking up on us at night."
"Continue to blast the tunnels tomorrow and completely capture Pingyang Town."
…………
At the underground headquarters of Shunping Guard Regiment, several battalion commanders gathered here again.
Compared with the dejected mood last night, everyone is in a much better mood today.
Although I couldn't see the high morale at the beginning, my mood was at least not as low as last night.
Wang Lin was the first to speak: "Captain..."
"After strengthening and expanding, the tunnels in the town will be more conducive to our operations."
"Throughout the whole day today, we killed at least 800 Japanese puppet troops, including 387 puppet prisoners."
"Self-inflicted casualties are very small."
"58 people were sacrificed and 14 were seriously injured, which is completely within the range of the troops."
"In terms of casualty ratio."
"Today's battle can definitely be called a great victory."
"The only problem is there aren't many tunnels left."
"According to the Japs' blasting progress today, the first layer of tunnel will be completely destroyed tomorrow."
"The troops can either break out of the tunnel and fight the Japanese, or they can retreat to the second-floor tunnel."
First Battalion Commander Chen Jia suddenly interrupted: "We definitely can't break out of the tunnel to fight the Japanese."
"There are more than 3,000 puppet troops left in the middle route mopping up force, and their strength is more than twice ours."
"The two sweep forces on the left and right are guarding the town and ready to join the battle at any time."
"It's equivalent to us having to carry tens of thousands of puppet troops on our own."
"Even if the soldiers are all heavenly soldiers and generals, they are no match."
The commander of the third battalion, Huang Yong, followed up and answered: "The second layer of trenches was dug by us in case of emergencies."
"Because it is too deep, the length of the tunnel is less than one-third of the first floor."
"There is no tunnel leading out of the town."
"If the first-level tunnel is completely destroyed by the Japanese, all troops will retreat to the second-level tunnel."
"We are completely in a desperate situation, and there is no place to retreat no matter how much we want to retreat."
The more Wei Dayong listened, the more anxious he became. He frowned and asked, "I don't want to go up, and I can't do it down here. Isn't this the fourth way?"
After saying that, he stared at Huang Yu expectantly and asked.
"Captain..."
"Do you have a third way..."
Speaking of this, Wei Dayong suddenly thought of the miracles Huang Yu had created before and said with certainty.
"there must be……"
"In my impression, there is nothing that the leader can't do."
"Stop showing off..."
"If you don't tell us, we will die of panic."
Huang Yu was silent for a while before answering: "I do have an idea..."
"I thought of it last night, but I definitely can't do it unless I have to."
Wang Lin suddenly interjected: "Now is the critical moment for the survival of the Shunping Defense Regiment."
"Captain..."
"If there is no better way, the army will be doomed."
"You tell me, as long as I can defend Pingyang Town and keep the troops, I can accept any price no matter how high it is."
Wei Dayong seemed to see something from Huang Yu's embarrassed expression and asked again.
"Captain..."
"Do we need troops to carry out dangerous missions..."
"Don't be embarrassed..."
"Even if I hand it over to the Second Battalion, I, Wei Dayong, promise to complete the mission."
Huang Yu did not deny it and said seriously: "The Japanese army did not dare to blast the tunnel at night because they were afraid that we would sneak attack them under the cover of night."
"In fact, we can also sneak attack the Japanese demolition team on the ground during the day."
"But we need to create a battlefield environment that is favorable to us."
Wang Lin didn't quite understand: "How to create a battlefield environment?"
"The town has been bombed into ruins by the Japanese army, and there is not even a place to hide."
"The troops will be exposed as soon as they emerge from the tunnel."
"Not only will there be no chance of a sneak attack on the Japanese and puppet troops, but they will also become a living target for the Japanese and puppet troops."
Huang Yu immediately answered: "Have you ever heard of the words "fishing in troubled waters"..."
"As long as we mess up the battlefield."
"The troops will have an opportunity to take advantage of it."
"Japs will not cause chaos without reason. Someone must take the initiative to attack to disrupt them."
"The attacking troops were exposed on the ground."
"Not only did we have to face the joint attack of the Japs with heavy artillery and aircraft, but we also had to endure the joint encirclement and suppression by the Japanese and puppet troops, narrowly escaping death."
"That's why I haven't told everyone about this method."
Wei Dayong is an old man who follows Huang Yu. No matter what happens, he will not embarrass the leader and will immediately stand up and ask for help.
】
"Captain..."
"You underestimate me, Wei Dayong."
"This is not the first time we have done this mission of narrow escape."
"I picked a hundred people from the second battalion to come out of the tunnel and attack the little Japanese demolition team. I will ensure that the battlefield is disrupted and the Japanese and puppet troops will not be able to distinguish between south, east and north."