"Fifty thousand Kwantung Army, is Neji Okamura crazy?" Kong Jie's eyes quickly widened, showing a stunned expression.
He grabbed the telegram from the hands of the communications staff and sighed as he read it: "The total number of the Eighth Route Army in our wing is less than 10,000."
"Neji Okamura takes action and it's 50,000 Kwantung Army."
"There's no need to be so exaggerated about killing a chicken with a bull's-eye."
"What are our virtues and abilities?"
"Hurry up and contact Li Yunlong, Huang Yu, and Shen Quan, and ask them to report to the enemy headquarters immediately, as quickly as possible." After that, he frowned and fell into thought.
If Okamura Neiji really prepared 50,000 Kwantung troops to sweep the Yizhong base area. The combat pressure faced by the troops will be at least four times greater than the last counter-mopping operation.
In the last counter-mopping operation, the troops paid a heavy price to win. Kong Jie couldn't imagine how much the base area would pay in this counter-mopping up, and whether it would be possible to hold on to the base area and preserve the troops.
"Kong Er is stupid..."
"The decisive battle is about to begin. Now call us to the headquarters. Did you take the wrong medicine?" After a while, Li Yunlong's shouting sounded at the door of the war room.
"Something big happened!" Kong Jie said without any nonsense when Li Yunlong walked into the headquarters. He handed the telegram over and introduced it solemnly.
"This is the latest enemy situation report sent to us by the head of the headquarters."
"That old devil Okamura Neji thinks too highly of our Eighth Route Army."
"Last time, more than 20,000 elites were assembled in the Yizhong base area and suffered a defeat."
"This time, 50,000 Kwantung Army troops will be directly dispatched south to deal with us."
"The Kwantung Army is not an ordinary little devil. Not only is it powerful in combat, but its equipment is also better than that of the North China Front Army. It is known as the army with the most powerful combat effectiveness among the little devils."
"This time we have hit a hard wall."
"Maybe even if my teeth are smashed, I won't be able to defend the base."
"The enemy is at hand."
"Tonight's attack plan must be reconsidered." Li Yunlong read the telegram in his hand at the same time, and the arrogant expression on his face was replaced by solemnity at this moment.
He is arrogant and firmly believes that the brave will win when faced with a narrow road, but he is not stupid. In the face of absolute strength, no amount of rhetoric and big words can solve the problem.
If the opponent only has 10,000 or 20,000 Kwantung Army troops, the Yi Zhong Eighth Route Army can still rely on the base area to maneuver around. Okamura Neiji has now mobilized a full 50,000 Kwantung Army, which is completely beyond the capacity of the base area.
If the troops lose another two to three thousand men in tonight's decisive battle, they will have no room to fight back against the 50,000 Kwantung Army marching south.
In order to cope with the subsequent counter-mopping up and give the troops a better chance of victory, the most important thing the Yizhong Eighth Route Army should do now is to stop attacking Baoding and return to the base area to accumulate strength.
So it was no problem for Kong Jie to suddenly call him to the headquarters. Then Kong Jie said: "You want to stop the general offensive and return to the base to prepare for counter-mopping up." Kong Jie said bluntly: "The enemy is too strong."
"We don't have many troops to begin with. If we lose a few more troops in a strong attack, we will be even less of a match."
"Now return to the base area to make preparations, maybe there is still a chance of winning." Li Yunlong nodded: "The plan cannot keep up with the changes."
"For the sake of the base area, we can only give up this piece of fat that we have already bitten into our mouths."
"I agree to retreat." Huang Yu stood next to Li Yunlong at some point, picked up the telegram on the table, read it, and suddenly interrupted: "Captain, Commander Li."
"I am against retreat."
"Tonight's decisive battle must not only last."
"We must fight cleanly, win quickly, and end the battle at the minimum cost and in the shortest time."
"As for the 50,000 Kwantung Army going south."
"We are indeed no match for head-to-head competition."
"But we can hit it with ammunition."
"The Japanese and puppet troops have countless ammunition hoarded in Baoding City."
"If we capture them all, we can kill more than 10,000 little Japs with artillery shells alone."
"Fifty thousand Kwantung Army seems like a lot. They are strong and unstoppable, but they have a fatal weakness."
"These little devils are not affiliated with the North China Front. They were seconded from the Northeast by Okamura Neji at a huge cost."
"No matter how bold Okamura Neji is, he will not dare to let anything happen to the 50,000 Kwantung Army."
"As long as we find a way to kill 20,000 of the Kwantung Army, I guess Okamura Neji will not dare to continue fighting with us."
"Storming Baoding and wiping out the remaining garrison in Baoding has another benefit."
"The little devils in the city have fought tunnel battles with us, and they must have some experience in tunnel battles."
"With their cooperation, the 50,000 Kwantung Army troops will suffer less from tunnel warfare after entering the Yizhong base area."
"If all the little devils in the city are wiped out."
"With fifty thousand soldiers from the Kwantung Army going south, no one knows how to fight in tunnels."
"No matter what, we have to lose thousands of people as tuition fees." Li Yunlong's frown slowly relaxed and his eyes lit up.
"Ha ha……"
"Xiao Huang's brain works very fast."
"If our regiments cooperate well, the Kwantung Army's loss of thousands of men as tuition fees will be light."
"If you are unlucky, you may lose ten thousand people." Huang Yu continued: "There is a third benefit to the Kwantung Army's capture of Baoding City before it goes south."
"After the troops take Baoding, it will become an empty city."
"If the 50,000 Kwantung Army wants to have any worries, Anxian must have a stable rear area to raid our base area."
"That old devil Okamura Neji also wants a rear headquarters."
"Baoding City is undoubtedly the best choice."
"I want to defend Baoding and protect Neji Okamura's safety."
"No matter how arrogant the Kwantung Army is, it will still leave five or six thousand people behind."
"The Kwantung Army that could actually be used to attack us was suddenly reduced to 45,000 men."
"Thousands more people will be lost to pay for our tuition."
"We destroyed more than 10,000 people with artillery shells."
"The 50,000 Kwantung Army troops were defeated by us in one fell swoop, and more than 20,000 of them were killed."
"If Okamura Neiji wants to keep the remaining 20,000 Kwantung Army troops, he can only withdraw the troops and end the sweep, and the base area will be saved." Kong Jie and Li Yunlong neither answered, but stared at the map on the table with serious faces.
Sometimes his brows are furrowed, sometimes his brows are relaxed, and from time to time a smile appears on his face. Then the two people looked at each other as if they were discussing, and said together: "Then continue the fight." Huang Yu continued: "Fight is a fight, but the casualties must be controlled."
"The little devils in the city must have received news that the Kwantung Army is about to move south, and they will definitely resist until the reinforcements reach Baoding."
"During the battle, each regiment must take out all their own weapons."
"If the problem can be solved with artillery shells, we must use artillery shells."
"As long as we can win Baoding, we will make sure to replenish as much as we can fight out." Kong Jie suddenly interjected: "This proposal is too petty. I will replenish everyone at double the amount."
"Each unit fires one shell during the battle. When the battle is over, I will add two more."
"If you destroy one mortar, I will replace it with two more."
"The same applies to all other weapons and ammunition. Don't save weapons and ammunition for me in battle."
