The chief of staff thought for a moment and replied: "Union Captain..."
"You said that the 1,000 Eighth Route Army should no longer exist..."
"Kill the enemy by one thousand and lose eight hundred by yourself..."
"The guerrilla brigade annihilated more than 2,000 of our troops by encircling the points and bringing reinforcements, and also captured the stronghold of Xiashibao... Our soldiers are not weak, no matter how strong their combat effectiveness is, they will still make a big sacrifice in the battle. cost."
"We lost more than 2,000 people, and the guerrilla brigade lost more than 1,000 people in the battle. It should be considered a victory with a huge casualty ratio..."
"The humble official thought that the few thousand men in the guerrilla brigade were wiped out on the battlefield."
Colonel Kawaguchi is very confident in the combat effectiveness of his men...
Including the garrison at Xia Shibao, the number of imperial troops that he has lost so far in the battle is as many as five fully-equipped infantry squadrons...
Including artillery, heavy machine gun squadron...the Imperial Army lost more than 1,400 people.
With so many elites, not to mention only 1,000 Eighth Route Army troops were wiped out. Even if the Chief of Staff said they would kill 2,000 Eighth Route Army troops on the battlefield, Colonel Kawaguchi believed it.
After the chief of staff explained, the wing leader believed it on the spot.
Little did they know that the actual losses of the guerrilla brigade in this encirclement and reinforcements attack were less than 500 people. To be precise, it should be 482 people. Only more than 300 people were really sacrificed.
The reason why so many Japanese and puppet troops were able to be killed at such a small cost was not because of how powerful the guerrilla brigade was, but because they used a large number of light and heavy machine guns and artillery in the battle.
Just like the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War.
The Japanese invaders were well-equipped, while the Chinese army was poorly equipped.
On the battlefield, a large group of little Japs can suppress a single regiment of Chinese troops.
A regiment of the Chinese army was severely damaged and lost more than a thousand people, but the little devils who participated in the war only lost more than a hundred people, which was almost ten times the casualty ratio.
The huge disparity in combat effectiveness is one aspect, and the quality of equipment is also an important reason.
On the battlefield where the guerrilla brigade ambush the Japanese and puppet reinforcements, although the Japanese army's equipment level has not deteriorated, the equipment level of the guerrilla brigade has been improved by several levels.
In addition, the guerrilla brigade took a preemptive strike, first killing the Japanese heavy machine gun squadron and artillery squadron, then the machine gunners and officers in the team, and finally taking care of the ordinary riflemen!
Without the blessing of light and heavy machine guns and mortars, the Japs with only a group of riflemen, no matter how strong they are, their firepower level is only 20 to 30% of that of the guerrilla brigade.
At the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, the comparison of firepower between the enemy and ours was suddenly reversed. The guerrilla brigade killed more than 2,000 Japanese puppet troops at the cost of 400 to 500 casualties, and there were still hundreds of puppet troops as prisoners. This was very normal. .
Colonel Kawaguchi did not know that the firepower comparison between the enemy and ourselves on the ambush battlefield had changed drastically. He still analyzed the defeat from the old perspective, so he overestimated the casualties of the guerrilla brigade.
What he didn't expect was even more.
Although the guerrilla brigade lost four to five hundred men during the battle, the puppet troops who had more than a hundred prisoners after mobilization actively requested to join the Eighth Route Army... which was equivalent to a direct reduction of less than three hundred men in the guerrilla brigade.
Coupled with the remaining hundreds of prisoners bluffing outside Fangshan City, the number of available soldiers for the guerrilla brigade not only did not decrease, but increased by several hundred.
Colonel Kawaguchi didn't know these things.
After hearing the explanation from the Chief of Staff, he showed a look of relief, and then replied: "Since the main force of the guerrilla brigade has gathered outside Fangshan City, the reinforcements sent to us by the Commander can march all the way..."
"Kill Fangshan as fast as possible..."
"Work with us to attack the guerrilla brigade from both inside and outside, and annihilate them all outside Fangshan City..."
…………
On the only road from Peiping to Fangshan, more than a thousand little Japanese were marching in a hurry.
Two cavalry squadrons escorted the front and rear of the team. From time to time, dozens of cavalry would break away from the team and rush to the front of the team to conduct reconnaissance to ensure that there were no Eighth Route Army ambush troops on the roadside...
"Sir..." the operator reported after catching up with the captain who was on his way.
"Captain Kawaguchi, who is stationed in Fangshan, just sent an urgent message: More than 2,000 main troops of the guerrilla brigade have gathered outside Fangshan City. They are repairing offensive positions and may launch an attack at any time."
"The enemy is equipped with a large number of mountain artillery and mortars, and is very capable of attacking difficult positions. The troops stationed in Fangshan are seriously insufficient. We are worried that they will not last long. We must speed up the march, reach Fangshan in the shortest time, and join them to attack the guerrilla brigade from both inside and outside. , wipe out all enemies..."
The Japanese army still trusts its colleagues.
What's more, the person who sent him the telegram was the captain of the Major Corps, the next immediate boss of the army.
He is in urgent need of support and wants to reach Fangshan safely by himself more than anyone else. He will never joke with himself about safety issues.
Since Colonel Kawaguchi said that the main force of the guerrilla brigade is in Fangshan, it must be in Fangshan. The next march will at most encounter some scattered blocking troops and sneak attack troops, and will never encounter an ambush.
Thinking of this, the captain felt as if he had been given a shot of blood, and directly ordered with a fanatical expression: "Fangshan County is in danger..."
"Our marching speed needs to be accelerated..."
After glancing at his watch, he continued the order: "According to the planned plan, we will complete the mission if we reach Fangshan within four hours!"
"In order to trap the guerrilla brigade in Fangshan, gather them together and annihilate them, and avoid future troubles, I decided to fight to Fangshan half an hour in advance...quickly..."
"Da da da……"
When the reinforcements were still about ten kilometers away from Fangshan, a burst of machine gun fire suddenly sounded at the front of the team.
The captain was stunned when he saw two cavalrymen galloping towards him. When he was still seven or eight meters away from him, he turned over and fell off his horse, and strode over to report.
"Sir...there are Eighth Route Army blocking troops on the high ground ahead..."
"The strength is about one reinforced platoon...equipped with three light machine guns..."
"The forward cavalry was attacked and lost seven people..."
This accident was completely unexpected by the captain.
Any officer with a little bit of rationality would allocate some troops for reinforcements when attacking an important target.
Although the main force of the guerrilla brigade is in Fangshan, some non-main force units will definitely be dispersed around the battlefield to guard and block reinforcements that may outflank their retreat.
As long as the opponent's blocking force is small, the captain is not worried.
After hearing the report, he snorted an order: "A reinforced platoon dares to stop us. These Eighth Route Army troops are overestimating their capabilities..."
"Let the First Squadron rush up and kill them..."
"Hurry up, we have to rush to support Fangshan County..."
"As expected, the news of our arrival should have been sent to Fangshan County by the blocking troops. We must rush to block the guerrilla brigade's retreat before they retreat!"
