The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 423: Exaggerating the results and adding water

The so-called processing and inflating of the statistical results of battles, to put it bluntly, means exaggerating the achievements and results achieved by one's own side when reporting the battle situation to superiors, and exaggerating the merits of one's own troops.

He Wei doesn't think much of this kind of behavior, because exaggerating battle results and inflating records are things that have basically been done by armies from ancient times to modern times, from the Chinese army to foreign armies.

To put it bluntly, it is a very common and normal behavior for the two warring armies to exaggerate the number of enemies destroyed after a battle or campaign. It is just a question of how much to exaggerate.

The motivation for this behavior is not difficult to guess. First, accurate battle results are often difficult to count and are prone to deviations. Second, exaggerating the results can enhance one's own combat achievements and merits. This is human nature. Everyone knows that the more enemies killed, the greater the merit. Third, exaggerating the results and merits is also beneficial to boosting morale. In short, this is a very common behavior that is not difficult to understand.

Taking the Nationalist Army as an example, after a battle or campaign, when a unit submits a battle report or reports the results of the battle to its superiors or top units, there are mainly two situations in which the number of enemy troops killed is exaggerated.

The first situation is that after a certain unit wins a battle or a campaign, the victorious side that controls the battlefield makes estimates or exaggerations based on the statistics of the enemy's corpses on the battlefield.

This situation is relatively reliable. After all, the victorious side has already controlled the battlefield and knows exactly how many enemies they have killed and how much equipment they have seized. Even if they exaggerate, it will not be too outrageous. It can be classified as boasting with a basis and a bottom line.

The second situation is when a battle is lost or neither side has control of the battlefield, they exaggerate their own achievements and spoils without any basis.

This situation is rather exaggerated. Many times the battle results figures given are extremely exaggerated. Some are simply fabricated or even used to describe a major defeat as a major victory, and give outrageous figures that are completely unreliable and are pure nonsense.

In short, for the vast majority of armies, after a battle or a campaign, the enemy kill statistics and combat results in the battle reports submitted by the participating troops to their superiors are mostly exaggerated. As for the degree of exaggeration, it depends on the statistical caliber of the participating troops and the conscience of the troop commanders.

In the internal battle reporting process of the National Army, not only were the battle results usually exaggerated, but even the casualties and losses of the army were also full of tricks.

Logically speaking, if there is room for fluctuation in the statistics of battle results, then the number of casualties on our side should be much easier to calculate. After all, we know our own business, and it is not difficult to calculate how many people in our own troops have died and how much equipment has been lost.

However, there were many cases in which the national army reported false casualties in the battle reports submitted to superiors. Moreover, the false figures were not reported as understated, but rather as high.

For example, if a certain unit lost 200 people in a battle, many Kuomintang troops would report that 300, 400 or even more people were killed.

The purpose of the Kuomintang officers in reporting more and falsely reporting casualties was very simple. The more losses and casualties were reported, the more pensions, personnel and material replenishment they would receive.

Therefore, as long as the false reporting of casualties is not particularly outrageous, it can actually help you get more money, supplies, and troop reinforcements.

This situation of over-reporting one's own casualties sounds outrageous, but in fact it is because China's overall national conditions are too backward. The overall operating mechanism of the national army can hardly be called a fully modernized army. It is difficult to ensure that all troops' combat losses can be fully and timely replenished. Therefore, many unit commanders have to resort to this last resort and use this helpless way to obtain as many replenishments as possible to maintain the long-term operation of the troops.

In the middle and late stages of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, as the war situation in the country deteriorated and war resources became increasingly tight, the Kuomintang troops became increasingly guilty of concealing, falsifying, and exaggerating when reporting battle losses.

Even in the telegrams between the Nationalist Government's Military Commission, the Ministry of Military Affairs and the war zones and field troops, one could often see written orders from the Military Commission, war zone headquarters and other units strictly ordering their subordinate troops not to exaggerate casualties. This shows that this strange situation of exaggerating one's own casualties was also quite serious within the National Army.

Of course, the assault corps is wealthy and powerful, and does not need to rely on false reporting of casualties in exchange for reinforcements. All He Wei needs to consider is how to report the results of the battle.

In this regard, He Wei is definitely inclined to report more. As I said, this is human nature. He, He, also wants the reported results to look better than the actual statistics, but he exaggerates the reported amount. He Wei is still unsure for the time being.

Moreover, He Wei had always been winning battles, so he was somewhat uncomfortable with doing such tricks to exaggerate his achievements.

Looking at He Wei who was deep in thought, Wang Yuanling said, "Captain, I have been to the Army University and have also worked in high-level agencies in the rear. Our offensive against the Japanese Hata Detachment this time can be regarded as a battle in terms of the results and the size of the Japanese Hata Detachment's forces. Since we are required to report the results directly to the Military Commission, we might as well report more results."

"Anyway, we have killed enough enemies and seized enough weapons. If we make the results even greater, we can show them off in front of the Military Commission. When the time comes to reward people for their contributions, the awards given to our corps will definitely be much greater. Anyway, Captain, our record is solid, so there is no need to be so honest when reporting the results."

Seeing Wang Yuanling's playful eyes, He Wei nodded slightly and said, "Brother Yuanling has indeed been trained in the rear-line agencies. I am ashamed of myself in this respect."

Wang Yuanling smiled awkwardly and said, "That's indeed the case. Few troops can honestly report the results of their battles and the number of enemies they killed. Not to mention the cost of numbers, there are troops that lie about military intelligence and make up stories out of nothing. We don't need to feel any psychological burden. We might as well report more. Even if someone from the Military Commission suspects us and sends someone to investigate, we are not afraid. Our captured weapons and equipment are all there, and we have so many prisoners. Oh, and we even killed a Japanese major general. These are all real things."

"As for the specific number of enemy killed, there is no way to check it. Could it be that the Military Commission will count the number of Japanese bodies we killed one by one?" He Wei thought about the figures of battle results and seizures, and said, "Okay, then change the battle report. Didn't we kill more than 7,000 Japanese soldiers? Then change it to 10,000. Also adjust the number of weapons seized, and include all the weapons seized before this attack. In addition, emphasize the number of Japanese officers above the rank of major who were killed. Brother Yuan Ling, draft a telegram in my name and attach the battle report to the Military Commission directly."

Wang Yuanling nodded immediately, and then said, "Captain, why don't you add a little more? Anyway, our current results are enough to be called a great victory. It doesn't matter if we go all out. The Japanese Hata Detachment that was severely damaged by us is a reinforced brigade-level unit. It is better to directly say in the battle report that we wiped out a reinforced brigade of the Japanese army and killed more than 10,000 people below the rank of Major General of the enemy brigade. Raise the tone a little higher."

He Wei couldn't help but twitch his mouth when he saw that Wang Yuanling, who had always been honest and simple, could actually say such exaggerated battle results without changing his expression, and even lied about the enemy's situation.

He Wei originally thought that the inflated data he gave was exaggerated enough, but he didn't expect that Wang Yuanling was even more ruthless than him. Not only did he increase the data again, he even changed the severely damaged Japanese Hata Detachment to a complete annihilation!

Then, he smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying: "Brother Yuan Ling, it seems that I still underestimated your experience in the large organization in the rear."

Wang Yuanling laughed again and said, "Captain, this is not a bad thing. You can fight, and so can our assault corps. Our record is even better. With the combat power and record of our assault corps, it is actually a good thing to inflate and exaggerate our record. When the Military Commission investigates us, we can withstand the investigation. We have already met the standard of a great victory."

"Maybe if we inflate the battle record this time, we can get you a promotion, and expand the size of our assault corps. When our assault corps is expanded, your rank will also be promoted, which in turn will make it easier to beat the Japanese. The growth of our army will be good for the country and the people. In my opinion, we must inflate the record."

After Wang Yuanling finished speaking, he joked, "If you make up some lies in the battle report, maybe you can be promoted to colonel, captain. Tsk tsk, a colonel at the age of 23 is unique in the national army."

He Wei smiled bitterly and nodded, saying, "Alright, I don't care about this anymore. You can do whatever you want. You can do whatever you want, and report it to the Military Commission in my name."

Wang Yuanling nodded, patted his chest and said, "Leave everything to me!"

Just as Wang Yuanling said, the record of the assault corps in this battle was strong enough. It was indeed a heavy blow. It destroyed the Hata Detachment, a reinforced brigade-level unit. This in itself was enough to be considered a great victory. With such a strong record as a foundation, there was naturally a lot of room for bragging. After reporting to the Military Commission, it was also strong enough to withstand the investigation and questioning from above. He Wei was too lazy to think about this matter and simply left it all to Wang Yuanling.

Wang Yuanling was also very efficient. He spent two days leading the officers of the General Staff Office to work overtime to revise the battle report and recount the number of captured spoils. Finally, he produced an "optimized" battle report and a telegram reporting the battle situation, and immediately submitted the battle report and telegram to the Military Commission.

Since He Wei had handed the matter over to Wang Yuanling for full responsibility, He Wei only saw this new version after Wang Yuanling reported the revised battle report and telegram to the Military Commission. The content after Wang Yuanling's revision immediately made He Wei dumbfounded.

The number of over 7,000 enemy soldiers killed based on the corpses of Japanese soldiers left on the battlefield was turned into over 14,000 enemy soldiers killed under Wang Yuanling's Spring and Autumn style of writing, which doubled.

The originally defeated and severely damaged Hata Detachment was now completely annihilated. Anyway, the battle report after Wang Yuanling's revision could be called "heavyweight."

He Wei didn't know what to say after reading it. He thought that if those people in the Military Commission saw the battle report and the telegram, they would be shocked. The original record of the Assault Corps killing more than 7,000 Japanese soldiers, inflicting heavy damage and defeating the Hata Detachment was already dazzling enough. After being processed by Wang Yuanling, I'm afraid that the high-ranking officials of the Military Commission sitting in the offices in the rear would be dumbfounded!
As for how the Military Commission would react after seeing the battle reports and telegrams, that was not something he, He, knew.

After that, He Wei no longer cared about this matter. Instead, he rested and recuperated while organizing and commanding the assault corps to maintain a state of rest and alert. At the same time, he commanded the assault corps' artillery battalion and 150mm heavy artillery battalion on Banbi Mountain to support the Tianjia Town fortress on the opposite bank of the river with fierce artillery firepower across the river, entering a state of rest, alert and support for friendly forces at the same time.

In general, except for the artillery units, all the troops within the combat sequence of the Banbishan Garrison Command temporarily entered a relatively peaceful rest period after defeating the Hata Detachment.

Just one week after Wang Yuanling sent the battle report and the telegram informing the Military Commission of the battle situation, the Military Commission finally replied. The telegram was naturally sent to He Wei, the number one officer of the assault corps.

The content of the telegram was also very brief. First of all, it greatly commended He Wei and all the officers and soldiers of the Assault Corps who participated in the battle, and affirmed the value of the Assault Corps as a unit directly under the Military Commission and its excellent performance during this period.

Of course, not much emphasis was placed on the victory that the Assault Corps had just won. He Wei was just asked to lead the Assault Corps to stay on standby and on guard. At the same time, the Military Commission also specifically ordered the subordinate Military Training Department to send an inspection team to the Assault Corps to inspect the battle situation and the results of the battle.

When He Wei saw that the Military Commission was going to send someone from the Military Training Department to inspect the Assault Corps, he immediately understood the Military Commission's intention.

The so-called Military Training Department, whose full name is the Military Training Department, was formerly the General Directorate of Military Training. In February 1938, it was reorganized into the Military Training Department, which is affiliated to the Military Commission and is in charge of the national army training, reorganization, review and education in military schools. It has successively established the Advisory Office, Secretary's Office, General Affairs Office, etc., and has subordinate corresponding agencies of different military branches such as the Infantry Inspectorate, Cavalry Inspectorate, Artillery Inspectorate, Engineer Inspectorate, Quartermaster Inspectorate, Communications Inspectorate, and Mechanized Inspectorate.

The powers of this agency include the supervision and reorganization of the entire country's army, which itself has a bit of the nature of a patrol inspection and supervision. As early as when the Assault Corps was just formed, the Military Commission wanted to send people from the Military Training Department to inspect and examine the Assault Corps's training results, but it was unable to do so due to the urgent war situation.

This time, after receiving the battle report and victory telegram from the Assault Corps, the Military Commission decided to transfer personnel from the Military Training Department to the Assault Corps. Its intention was self-evident. Apparently, as He Wei and Wang Yuanling had previously estimated, the battle results reported by the Assault Corps this time were too eye-catching and too exaggerated, so the Military Commission specially sent people to the front line to verify and inspect.

(End of this chapter)