But the smile on the old devil's face did not last long, and soon solidified.
The Japanese chief of staff rushed to the headquarters and then reported another battle report to Yoshio Iwamatsu.
The casualty data in this battle report is simply shocking.
The actual casualty figures for the Shanxi Garrison, Niu Dao Manchu Division, and the Sixth Division were frighteningly high. Almost every step forward required a price of blood.
According to incomplete statistics, it has been nearly two weeks since the May Day raids were officially launched, and the daily battle losses of the Japanese troops on the front line are only the confirmed number of killed, which is hundreds.
Once the Japanese army carries out too many charges, the battle losses on that day may even exceed a thousand people.
The Japanese officers who commanded the front line commanded with cold expressions during the day, but cried in their arms at night. After gathering the corpses of the imperial warriors, the urns needed for cremation were almost not enough.
This almost created a tragic history of the fastest casualties suffered by the Japanese army on the Chinese battlefield since the Sino-Japanese War.
But even with such a huge sacrifice, very few results were achieved, and the loss of technical arms and heavy firepower was particularly serious.
After listening to the chief of staff's report, Iwamatsu Yoshio put away his frozen smile and said angrily: "These idiots, what on earth are they doing, why is the battle going so tragic?
Also, why didn't they report this specific battle report to the Commander-in-Chief? Why did they hide the truth?
Is it just for the sake of good looks and the so-called maintenance of military morale, but in exchange for a lot of sacrifices and blood of the warriors of our empire? "
Why was the battle so brutal?
You must know that even on the frontal battlefield, when fighting the Central Army of the Chinese army, the imperial troops have never fought so fiercely.
This is the biggest confusion in Yoshihiro Iwamatsu's heart at this moment.
The Japanese chief of staff analyzed the situation on the sidelines: "General, I think that at this point in our large-scale sweep and the battle with the Eighth Route Army, many things have surfaced.
After analysis, it is not difficult for us to find that today's Eighth Route Army is completely different from the beggar-like Eighth Route Army we knew a year or two ago with backward equipment and scarce ammunition.
It was also the large-scale mopping up operations carried out by our army and the counter-mopping up operations carried out by the Eighth Route Army, but the strategic defense and counterattack they carried out were completely different from those in previous years. "
The Japanese chief of staff analyzed the map and said: "General, please see, according to the deployment of the Commander-in-Chief, our army has launched a blockade and sweep of the Eighth Route Army base areas in the two major battlefields of Shandong and Shanxi.
According to past situations, the Eighth Route Army would often avoid our army's frontal front, try to break through the gaps in our army's encirclement network, and try to escape.
After the official launch of the May Day raids, the Eighth Route Army's fighting style has obviously changed. They seem to have been dragging our army to fight, and have been using the terrain along the way to continuously consume our army's effective strength. .
In accordance with the magnetic tactics proposed by the Commander-in-Chief, our army took advantage of artillery and air force advantages to forcibly capture every position and hilltop of the Eighth Route Army.
In the face of our army's powerful artillery fire and air force superiority, the Eighth Route Army will indeed temporarily avoid the edge, but their base areas spanning hundreds or even thousands of miles have sufficient strategic depth to abandon our positions. , there are simply too many hills to count.
In addition, in less than two years, we did not expect that the Eighth Route Army had already built quite solid and comprehensive defenses in various base areas.
The positions they built everywhere were almost all specially built concrete structures. Even if our army used the advantage of artillery fire to forcibly capture and destroy them, it would not be easy.
Using this method, the Eighth Route Army did not even need to consume a single shot or bullet, let alone pay many casualties. They could use these stone and concrete positions to continuously consume our army's artillery fire and drag our army's mopping up troops deeper and deeper. Invisibly, it has greatly increased the logistical burden on our army. "
"Especially these Eighth Route Army troops. They were born and raised in the mountains and are particularly familiar with the terrain of the mountains. Once night falls, they will send a large number of intersecting troops to bypass our army's rear areas to carry out harassment and destruction. This seriously threatens us. The army's rear transportation line.
In serious cases, they can even burn tens of thousands of kilograms of our army's food in just one night. "
"Once they avoid the direction of our army's heavy artillery advance, the Eighth Route Army will use specially built fortifications to deploy a large amount of firepower to block the attack.
But it didn't look like a blocking battle at all. The Eighth Route Army deployed a small number of troops and used powerful firepower to create slaughterhouses one after another.
They don't care about the loss of firepower at all. The Eighth Route Army is no longer the three-gun Tubal Road of the past. They also have all kinds of machine guns and artillery.
And those who were ruthlessly slaughtered were the warriors of our Japanese Empire! "
"Especially around the battlefields such as Licheng, Xiangyuan, Shexian, Liaoxian, and Lucheng. In order to conquer these positions, the corpses of the soldiers who died every day in our army could be piled up into a hill."
At this point, the Japanese chief of staff sighed with emotion: "General, we can't continue fighting like this. If we continue fighting like this, our troops may be empty, and the blood of the warriors may be shed!"
After listening to this, Yoshio Iwamatsu was silent for a long time. If you look closely, you will find that this old devil, who has always been as calm as a mountain, is actually trembling slightly at this moment.
Finally, he breathed a sigh of relief and called the headquarters of the Japanese Army's North China Front in Peiping.
…
…
Taihang base area, the former enemy headquarters of the Eighth Route Army.
The boss hasn't had much rest during this period. Of course, don't get me wrong, it's not because he is full of worries, but more because of excitement.
This game of chess is too big.
He couldn't help but relax his nerves.
The deputy chief of staff led a group of staff members to analyze the evolution of the war situation in the entire Shandong, Shanxi and even northern Shanxi, western Inner Mongolia, and Jizhong regions on the huge military map in front of them.
He made an overall analysis: "The current situation of the entire battle, the advantage is rapidly reversing in our army's favor.
Starting from May 1, the Japanese army mobilized troops on a large scale and advanced towards our army's base areas in Shanxi and even Shandong and Jizhong.
In addition to the Japanese First Army originally stationed in Shanxi, there was also the Japanese Twelfth Army stationed in Shandong.
It also includes the Japanese Third Field Division in Shandong, the Japanese Sixth Field Division in Shanxi, the Ushijima Division of the Kwantung Army, and the Japanese 13th Division advancing in the central Hebei direction.
Our army carried out counter-mopping up in accordance with the highest strategic policy formulated this time, in one word - drag.
The Tuozijue operations of each unit went relatively smoothly. In the Taihang Base Area, our units relied on the terrain along the way and the solid defenses we built over the past year to continuously lure the enemy deeper.
On the Shandong battlefield, our brother troops also continued to carry out guerrilla warfare with the help of the mountainous areas and the Japanese, holding back a considerable part of the main force of the Japanese army.
The Jizhong, Jinan and other military regions also relied on comprehensive tunnel tactics to drag the Japanese army step by step, constantly consuming the Japanese army's manpower and logistical resources.
Including the Taiyue area, the Zhongtiao Mountain area, and even the northern Henan area, comrades from various units are coordinating the main force to carry out counter-mopping operations. "
There was a smile on the face of the Deputy Chief of General Staff: "Comrades, the situation can be said to be getting better and better. If we continue to delay, if we continue to delay, the rainy season will soon come. Once the rainy season comes, the roads will be muddy. For the Japanese mechanized troops and logistics troops, this was a disaster.
Sooner or later, we will wait until our army launches a full-scale counterattack! "
Then he talked about the troops with the most outstanding performance in each base area this time.
The deputy chief of staff said without hesitation: "Of course the iron triangle defense zone created by Kong Jie, Li Yunlong and Ding Wei performed the best.
Especially before the official start of this operation, Comrade Kong Jie proposed it at the meeting.
What to propose?
He pointed out that the anti-mopping operations we are going to conduct this time are completely different in nature from those in previous history.
What we have to do this time is to beat the little devil thoroughly, beat him until it hurts, and beat him until he bleeds dry, all his soldiers are dead, and he is completely scared to the core.
Only when we defeat all the elite Japs in one breath can the entire anti-war situation behind enemy lines be completely stabilized.
This time our Iron Triangle warriors performed extremely well.
Especially the several battlefields mainly located in Licheng, Xiangyuan, Liao County and She County.
With the smallest number of troops and the most superior firepower, our soldiers held back a large number of Japanese troops, causing a heavy drain on the Japanese army's effective strength. "
Having said this, the deputy chief of staff said with high spirits: "Comrades, if we continue to fight like this, it is no exaggeration to say that all the little devils in North China will be wiped out. We are afraid that this long-lasting anti-Japanese war will soon end." We are about to see the dawn of victory!”
Then, Brigadier Chen of the 385th Brigade talked about the operations of mobile troops led by Kong Jie and Li Yunlong in western Inner Mongolia.
"These two brats gave us another surprise!"
"In these battles in Western Mengxi, our mobile troops led by Kong Jie and Li Yunlong have completely demonstrated the prestige of our Eighth Route Army armored forces!"
"The anti-Japanese situation in the entire northern Shanxi and western Inner Mongolia region was completely opened up because of these battles."
Having said this, a cadre then asked: "After the fighting in western Inner Mongolia, where will Kong Jie and Li Yunlong be arranged?"
The boss smiled and said: "I have received a notice from Yan'an. Kong Jie and Li Yunlong have led the remaining mobile troops and have gone to Yan'an to report!"
The deputy chief of staff smiled and said: "It seems that the comrades in Yan'an are also eager to take a look at the armored troops of our Eighth Route Army who can continuously defeat the two elite tanks of the Japanese army in the western Inner Mongolia area."
Brigadier Chen said: "This is a good thing! In addition to the unique terrain of Western Inner Mongolia, there is basically no opportunity for our armored troops to show off their capabilities on the Shanxi and Shandong battlefields.
Kong Jie and Li Yunlong once again stabbed the ant's nest in western Mengxi. Sooner or later, this little devil will take revenge severely.
As the elite unit of our Eighth Route Army, the treasure unit, this armored unit, I think it should indeed be withdrawn to the rear as soon as possible, so as to be safe.
Going forward, our Eighth Route Army's armored units, which became famous in the first battle in western Inner Mongolia, even if they do not appear on the battlefield, their reputation in these battles alone is enough to frighten the Japanese army! "
"What's the most important thing?"
"The most important thing is that if these two brats Kong Jie and Li Yunlong don't lead the team back, no one can take over my place in the 385th Brigade!"
The old brigade commander on the side was not happy when he heard this, raised his eyes, looked at Brigadier Chen with a smile and said: "I said, Fatty Chen, what, without Butcher Zhang, we have to eat pigs with hair on them?
My 386 brigade is short of everything else, but the most indispensable thing is tiger generals. Without Kong Jie and Li Yunlong, my comrades in the 386 brigade will kill the little Japanese, and that will still be unambiguous! "
As he said this, the generals couldn't help laughing.
But if you think about it carefully, this is really the truth.
Although Kong Jie and Li Yunlong are no longer in the Iron Triangle defense area, Ding Wei is still there. Old Ding, nicknamed Ding Wanwan, is having a lot of fun this time.
Commanding three strong troops, he almost caught up with the division commander Niu.
If the various base areas of the Eighth Route Army can be compared to a quagmire, making it difficult for the Japanese army to move forward, then the Iron Triangle's defense area, which has opened its door to the Japanese army this time, is simply like an abyss with no bottom at all.
Ding Wei's combat style has always been sharp and bold.
Even in the early stage when the Japanese army was at its peak and the Iron Triangle was mainly defensive, Ding Wei was still able to direct a mobile annihilation war from a fixed position defensive war.
Lure the enemy deep, encircle them, ambush and annihilate them, bloom at multiple points, attack at night, and cover them with artillery fire...
Various enemy-annihilation tactics were almost used to perfection under Ding Wei's command.
Back then, when there was a shortage of guns and ammunition, Ding was able to beat the little devils by blowing up bridges.
Now that the army's equipment level has been fully developed, Ding Wei is fighting heartily in one rich battle after another...
After returning to the topic, the cadres discussed the subsequent evolution of the situation.
The deputy chief of staff pointed out: "At present, the several major sections we have built have firmly restrained the main force of the Japanese army, including the five-city regional section such as Licheng and Liao County, Taihang Taiyue, Zhongtiao Mountain and other base sections. There are battlefields in Shandong, Henan, northern Shanxi, northern Hebei, central Hebei, southern Hebei, and even western Inner Mongolia.
To lure the enemy deeper, the planned annihilation battle within the solid fortifications of Huangyadong is also being implemented.
But I always feel that there is still something missing in this. "
The old brigade commander laughed. He was the first to understand the deputy chief of staff's thoughts.
"Lao Zuo, what you are saying is that our side is still a little short of fire after all.
what is it then?
The trigger that can completely anger the little Japs and make them rush to our preset battlefield regardless of the cost, even losing their minds? "
The deputy chief of staff laughed when he heard this and said: "My parents gave birth to me, and the one who knows me is you Chen Shukang!"
But then everyone got a headache again. Where should we find this fuse now?
Everyone was thinking about it, and for some reason, two faces appeared in their minds surprisingly unanimously. One was that of Kong Jie, who seemed to be honest and honest, and the other was always baring his big teeth, resembling... The big-headed Li who killed a hungry wolf...
(End of chapter)
