The Sword of Swords is a Guard for Kong Jie

Chapter 1369 Division Commander: Let them retreat (first update)

"How many of them are left now?" Lieutenant General Fujita immediately asked the most critical question.

If the strength of the mopping up troops in the mountains drops so sharply that even self-protection becomes a problem, then allowing them to continue fighting would be tantamount to death.

The Fujita Division has already suffered enough losses in this large-scale sweep against the Eighth Route Army. Before finding a new way to deal with them, it will be better to lose less troops if they can.

Otherwise, when the two sides really have to engage in a decisive battle in the future, it will be a joke if Fujita's division has no troops to use.

The chief of staff replied solemnly: "There are still two full infantry brigades left in the left sweep force..."

"But these two brigades, like the two brigades that were completely wiped out by the Eighth Route Army, have all been supplemented by a large number of new recruits and heavy supplies, and the proportion of real veterans is less than 50%..."

"In addition, there are more than 800 artillery, heavy equipment, and supplementary troops. The total number is less than 3,000..."

"Although there are still three full brigades of the right-wing mopping up force, these three brigades have also added a large number of heavy equipment and recruits. Together with the artillery and remaining heavy equipment, they still have more than 3,400 people."

"But the overall combat effectiveness has been reduced to 60% of what it was before the war."

I don't know, I was taken aback.

Although they had previously received telegrams that the mopping up troops in the mountains had been sneak attacked by the Eighth Route Army, there were even several sneak attacks in which several infantry squadrons were lost.

But Lieutenant General Fujita didn't take it seriously.

The two mopping up troops in the mountains were reinforced regiments, with a full strength of nearly 4,000 people.

Lieutenant General Fujita believed that the small loss would not hurt their bones.

But he ignored a very important fact.

Although the two mopping up troops in the mountains each had nearly 5,000 troops, only 3,000 of these 5,000 had real combat effectiveness.

The combat effectiveness of the remaining two thousand men was far inferior to that of the three infantry brigades.

If the three thousand veterans in the team are attacked heavily in a sneak attack and suffer heavy losses, no matter how many remaining Kwantung Army troops there are, they will not be as strong as before.

It was like the left-wing mopping up force that had just suffered a heavy blow from the Eighth Route Army.

Although the strength of a fully-equipped infantry brigade has not been reduced, the combat effectiveness of the unit has been directly reduced by 40% due to the loss of a large number of veterans and the replacement of a large number of recruits and heavy supplies.

If you continue to fight against the Eighth Route Army in the mountains, you will definitely suffer a lot.

The more Lieutenant General Fujita thought about it, the more solemn his expression became. A large amount of sweat appeared on his forehead at some point, and he felt a faint sense of uneasiness and anxiety in his heart.

Reason told him that the raids in the mountains could no longer continue.

Even if they insist on fighting, they must find a way to change their fighting style so as not to give the Eighth Route Army another chance to inflict serious damage or sneak attacks on them.

Otherwise, no matter how many mopping up troops there are in the mountains, they will be completely consumed by the Eighth Route Army's guerrilla warfare.

But emotionally I don’t want to give up.

The total losses of the two mopping up troops exceeded 4,000, and they were basically all veterans and elites.

After paying such a high price, it is likely that less than a thousand Eighth Route Army soldiers were wiped out.

In terms of casualty ratio, it was definitely the most useless battle that Fujita's division had ever fought.

If the mopping up troops were to return without success, the entire Fujita Division might become the laughing stock of the Kwantung Army, which would be too shameful.

But if they do not retreat, the casualties of the troops are likely to continue to expand, and the casualty ratio will become larger and larger. In the end, it will be you who will suffer.

Frowning his brows, he struggled internally for five minutes before finally making a decision.

Clenching his fists, with a ferocious face, he ordered through gritted teeth: "Retreat..."

"Let the mopping up troops in the mountains withdraw temporarily..." "First concentrate the superior forces to eliminate the Eighth Route Army operating outside the mountains, and then concentrate the forces into the mountains to mop up the Eighth Route Army inside the mountains..."

"In the past, I always thought that since we have a large number of troops, we can divide our forces for operations. We ignored that the division of troops would also create good opportunities for the Eighth Route Army to defeat us."

"learn from mistakes……"

"Now that we have suffered such a big loss because of the division of troops, we must adjust our tactics immediately..."

"Don't give the Eighth Route Army any chance to attack us..."

…………

Headquarters of the 1st Regiment of the Northward Detachment.

The operator rushed to Huang Yu with a happy face, obviously having received some good news.

"Captain..."

"The Kwantung Army retreated..."

"The two regiments of the Kwantung Army that were encircling us in the mountains suddenly turned around and retreated... The chief of staff and Battalion Commander Ma believed that the Kwantung Army's losses in the mountains were too great and they did not dare to continue fighting."

Huang Yu's face did not show the smile he imagined.

Hong Cheng's first reaction when he heard the good news was also happy. Seeing that Huang Yu's expression was very serious and not affected by the good news at all, Hong Cheng immediately realized that the Kwantung Army's withdrawal seemed to be unimaginable to Yi Tuan. So beautiful.

Looking at Huang Yu, he asked tentatively: "Captain..."

"Are you worried that after the Kwantung Army withdraws from the mountain, it will first concentrate its superior forces to besiege our troops outside the mountain, and then gather heavy troops into the mountain to besiege us..."

Huang Yu nodded: "At the beginning of the whole sweep, the Kwantung Army assembled a total of 20,000 elites into the mountains to sweep us away."

"The entire mopping up force is strong and well-equipped, just like a hedgehog covered in thorns. We can't even find a chance to attack them through guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare."

"We had to send troops to operate outside the mountains to force the Kwantung Army's mopping up troops to divide their forces..."

"We finally forced them to separate, and we also found a good opportunity to consume their troops."

"Now that the Kwantung Army is united again and transformed into hedgehogs covered with thorns, our chances of consuming their forces through guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare will definitely be reduced, and we may even lose opportunities for sneak attacks."

"So rather than withdrawing the troops, I would rather let the Kwantung Army continue to sweep us away in the mountains."

"Hi Wei Dayong and Ma Wenshan fought so hard that they scared away the Kwantung Army in the mountains."

"But the matter has come to this, we can only think of other ways to continue to deal with the Kwantung Army in Jinzhou, further depleting their troops and weakening their strength."

"Otherwise, when the Kwantung Army Headquarters mobilizes more troops to support the Jinzhou battlefield, the pressure we will face will increase."

"Call back to Wei Dayong and Ma Wenshan immediately: Since the Kwantung Army has decided to retreat, our previous anti-mopping plan will definitely not be implemented."

"Let them return to their base immediately, replenish and train the troops, and wait until the regiment headquarters comes up with a new anti-third-block method before letting them attack."

"By the way, send a telegram to Duan Peng and Cao Xing..."

"It is very likely that the two mopping up troops mobilized by the Kwantung Army from the mountains will join the mopping up troops outside the mountains to encircle and suppress them, deal with them, and ask them to strengthen their vigilance..."

"For a long period of time in the future...the troops will not take action if they can't..."

"The regiment headquarters will come up with new ways to deal with the Kwantung Army in Jinzhou as soon as possible and cooperate with their actions."

(End of this chapter)