The battle ended very suddenly.
In Li Yunlong's plan: Hashimoto's brigade had four to five thousand men left, and the entire decisive battle would take four to five hours to end no matter how quickly it was fought.
As a result, the battle ended in only one hour because Hashimoto's brigade took the initiative to break through.
Looking at the corpses left by the Japanese soldiers on the battlefield, Li Yunlong was both happy and disappointed.
Huang Yu happened to come over: "Captain Li..."
"I just received news: The cavalry troops raided two Japanese artillery positions in succession and seized more than ten mountain field guns and a large number of artillery shells that were not destroyed by the Japanese."
"Now, not only did we not lose money on the shells we fired just now, we actually made a lot of money back."
Li Yunlong smiled bitterly and replied: "We just couldn't wipe out all the little Japanese Hashimoto Brigade."
"The soldiers searched the battlefield but could not find the body of the Japanese brigade commander."
"That old Japanese guy from Hashimoto probably took advantage of the chaos to break out and escape. It's a pity that he was such a good fighter, why didn't he be captured?"
Huang Yu didn't see it that way and shook his head to analyze.
"Captain Li, isn't he just a major general brigade commander? It's no big deal."
"There are hundreds or even thousands of major generals in the Japs' ranks, and the Guanghua North Front has dozens of them. One more unit, one less is a lot."
"Even if we are lucky enough to kill Hashimoto, Neji Okamura will be able to bring in a new brigade commander in no time. After all, it doesn't matter whether we kill him or not."
"But our casualties are down."
"Before the Japanese army decided to break out, we were on the offensive side and would definitely have to pay a heavy price to eliminate the Hashimoto Brigade."
"As soon as they broke through, the roles of both sides changed."
"We changed from the offensive side to the defensive side, and the Hashimoto Brigade became the offensive side."
"No matter what kind of battle we fight, the casualties on defense will be smaller than on offense."
"This trick of the Japanese will save our army from losing at least a thousand soldiers."
"With these veterans, we can build a team of 4,000 people in three months at the latest."
"We lose a major general brigade commander and get back so many veterans. No matter how we analyze this deal, we make a profit."
In Kong Jie's words, Li Yunlong is a monkey, and his expression changes faster than the weather when something happens.
The expression on his face that was solemn and silent just now turned into a proud expression immediately.
Looking at Huang Yu, he said arrogantly: "Of course."
"You don't even look at who is commanding this battle."
"I, Li Yunlong, always only take advantage in wars and never suffer losses."
"That old devil from Hashimoto can run away, but a monk can't run away from a temple."
"A reinforced brigade with more than 10,000 elite Kwantung Army members was buried in our base. As the brigade commander, even if he had the honor to go back, he would be sent to a military court by Okamura Neji."
"In short, this old devil is finished."
"Exchanging the lives of more than a thousand veterans with an old Japanese soldier who is doomed to have no future is indeed a good deal with a sure profit and no loss."
"Have you contacted Kong Er Lengzi and how is he doing there?"
"If the Japanese right-wing mopping up troops have withdrawn from our base, ask them to come back and join us as soon as possible."
"I can't wait to know how many Kwantung Army elites Okamura Neji lost in this sweep."
"How much equipment and ammunition did our Eighth Route Army seize?"
"How much loot can the only group share?"
"Before the war, only Kong Jie's Duer Regiment had a field artillery battalion."
"The counter-mopping up is over. My only regiment will pull up the field artillery camp no matter what."
"The Duer Regiment has all the equipment that the Duer Regiment has."
As soon as Huang Yu heard this, he knew that Li Yunlong was competing with Kong Jie again, so he smiled and did not answer.
…………
The deputy chief of staff of the Japanese Army Baoding Garrison Headquarters walked into the war room with a solemn look on his face: "Your Excellency, Commander..."
"The Hashimoto Brigade just sent the latest battle report."
"They have divided their forces to break out..."
"The main force of the brigade was wiped out by the Eighth Route Army in the battle. Less than 300 people successfully broke through and are quickly moving towards Baoding."
"The brigade commander, Major General Hashimoto, successfully broke through with the military flag and will be able to return to Baoding tomorrow."
Okamura Neji became angry after hearing this, raised his eyebrows and asked, "Does he still have the nerve to come back?"
"More than 10,000 elite members of the Kwantung Army were beaten down to just over 300 in just a few days. The Kwantung Army was completely embarrassed by him."
One word from Okamura Neiji determines the future of a major general brigade leader.
Although he didn't say it very clearly, the implicit meaning in the words was very clear.
Even if Major General Hashimoto returns to Baoding, he will still be responsible for the defeat of Hashimoto's brigade.
The deputy chief of staff wanted to give him a word.
In his opinion: Although Major General Hashimoto did not perform particularly well in the sweep, he did not make any mistakes.
It's so unfair to put the responsibility for the defeat of more than 10,000 Kwantung Army on him.
But someone has to be held accountable for this defeat.
The commander is in Baoding and cannot bear the main responsibility.
As the direct commander of the left sweep force, Major General Hashimoto has an unshirkable responsibility no matter how you analyze it.
I could only accept this fact with a long sigh and continue to report: "The right-wing mopping up troops have broken out of the Eighth Route Army's base area in the center of the wing."
"We are marching urgently to finish Baoding."
"By then, the garrison in Baoding will have returned to more than 10,000 people. No matter how bold the Yizhong Eighth Route Army is, they will not be able to capture Baoding a second time."
Okamura Neji still didn't answer, and after a while he asked with a stern face: "Is more than ten thousand people a lot?"
"The Kwantung Army Headquarters has mobilized more than 50,000 elite troops to reinforce us."
"In just a short period of time, more than 50,000 elite Kwantung Army troops have been beaten into more than 10,000 people."
"I don't have the shame to go to the Kwantung Army headquarters again."
The deputy chief of staff quickly explained: "Being humble does not mean this..."
"I just think that after the right-side sweep troops return to Baoding, Baoding's safety will be worry-free!"
"Okay..." Neji Okamura raised his hand to interrupt the deputy chief of staff who wanted to continue explaining, and said bluntly.
"The battle has been defeated. No matter how much explanation you have, it's useless..."
"Withdraw the troops first and count the battle losses..."
"The Eighth Route Army in Yi Zhong is more difficult to fight than I thought. This sweep proves that we can no longer use conventional methods to deal with them, otherwise no matter how many main divisions we go up, we will lose our wives and lose our troops."
"From now on, no one can come and disturb me without my order..."
After saying that, he walked into his room with a sullen face and closed the door.
…………
At the former enemy headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, the radio operator went crazy and rushed to the deputy commander-in-chief with excitement on his face: "Chief..."
"Great victory..."
"An unprecedented victory..."
"The anti-mopping attack in Yi Zhong was won..."
"Two of the three-pronged mopping up troops sent by Neji Okamura were eaten by us, and one was severely damaged. Only less than 8,000 Kwantung troops evacuated the wing and returned to Baoding..."
"Send me a telegram quickly..."
The deputy commander guessed that Kong Jie and Li Yunlong could win the counter-mopping up, but he did not expect that they could eliminate so many elite Kwantung Army troops.
More than 30,000 Kwantung troops participated in the war, and only less than 8,000 were withdrawn. That means that the remaining 20,000 Kwantung troops were all eaten by the Eighth Route Army in the wing. There are not so many Japanese divisions in an ordinary division. The result is too scary. .
