The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 526: Victory and Worry

Commando Command Post
"Report to the commander-in-chief. According to preliminary statistics, our army killed 2,013 enemies in this battle, captured 24 wounded enemies, and seized one usable 37mm tank defense gun, one Type 41 mountain gun, one Type 92 infantry gun, 15 Type 92 heavy machine guns, 24 light machine guns, 1,045 Type 38 rifles, and 27 grenade launchers."

"Among them, the highest-ranking enemy officer confirmed to have been killed was a major. Based on the enemy corpses and the results of the interrogation of enemy prisoners by the General Staff, it was confirmed that the enemy engaged in this battle was the 5nd Infantry Regiment of the 21st Infantry Brigade of the 42th Division of the Japanese Army. Its numbers include the 42st Infantry Battalion, 1nd Infantry Battalion, 2rd Infantry Battalion, the artillery company directly under the regiment, and the rapid-fire artillery company of the 3nd Regiment. Based on the enemy's organization and the results achieved by our army, it can be determined that our army annihilated most of the 42nd Regiment of the Japanese Army in this battle and inflicted heavy damage on it."

"According to the seized documents, the Japanese 21st Infantry Regiment, which was repelled by our corps at the first line of defense in Qisha, was also a regular unit under the 21st Brigade. After this battle, the two regular regiments under the brigade were severely hit, and the combat effectiveness of the entire brigade was reduced by more than half, which can be regarded as a heavy blow."

As soon as Chief of Staff Wang Yuanling finished speaking, there was thunderous cheers in the command post and the officers applauded loudly. After only one day of fighting, a fully equipped Japanese infantry regiment was crippled and the combat effectiveness of an entire brigade was reduced to more than half.

Such results are certainly worth the officers and soldiers' excitement.

What excited the officers was not just the results achieved.

In this battle, the Assault Corps cooperated with the tank battalion and its large-scale infantry-tank coordinated attack tactics were also very dazzling. The brand-new tactics, brand-new combat form, autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves style of fighting, and the use of large-scale tank clusters equipped with small and medium-caliber artillery really gave many Assault Corps officers a refreshing understanding of tactics.

He Wei sat at the table calmly, which was very inconsistent with the heated atmosphere in the command post. Compared with others, he was very calm. He waved his hand, signaling Wang Yuanling to continue reporting.

Wang Yuanling's expression froze, and he continued, "In this battle, one lieutenant and deputy company commander and below were killed in our assault corps, 19 soldiers were injured, 56 officers and soldiers were seriously injured, six officers and soldiers of the tank battalion were slightly injured, and the th Regiment of the newly formed th Division of the friendly army and the field supplementary regiment suffered a total of more than casualties."

"At present, our corps and all friendly forces have completed the cleaning and clearing of the battlefield. All units of our corps have withdrawn to their concealed positions. Friendly forces are reinforcing and repairing the main positions. The evacuation of the wounded and the burial of the bodies of the fallen officers and soldiers have been completed."

The results of the battle were very brilliant, but victory did not come in vain, and naturally a price had to be paid. The Assault Corps played a decisive role in the battle, joining in the middle and late stages of the battle, so the casualties of the troops were not heavy. However, the friendly 19th Division suffered heavy casualties. The division's field replacement regiment and the 56th regiment played the role of maintaining the front line in the battle. They suffered heavy casualties under the joint firepower attack of the Japanese army's land and air, and later suffered heavy casualties in close combat and hand-to-hand combat.

After all, the division was a new unit. With the quality of its officers and soldiers and its firepower inferior to those of the Japanese, it was extremely rare for it to fight hand-to-hand with the Japanese and hold its position until the assault corps launched a counterattack.

And judging from the number of casualties on both sides, the number of Japanese soldiers killed plus the number of wounded who cannot be counted is definitely still higher than the sum of the assault corps and the new 19th Division. It can be said that although the new 19th Division in the position was also crippled, even at this cost, in exchange for turning a main infantry regiment of an elite Japanese division into an empty shell, it is still very cost-effective.

He Wei nodded slightly, looked at the officers around him who were in high spirits, and said solemnly: "We fought beautifully in this battle, and our friendly forces also fought well. We were able to defeat a Japanese field infantry regiment in just one day of fighting. It was a very brilliant victory. Our corps, whether it is the front-line combat officers and soldiers or the staff of the General Staff Headquarters, have made great contributions. However, the current situation is still very serious. Don't slack off. The Japanese heavy troops are right in front of us. We must guard against arrogance and rashness, fight well in the next battle, and win greater honor for our corps." "Yes!"

All the staff members in the command post answered in unison

He Wei's solemn speech immediately calmed down the somewhat boiling command post. After cheering, the staff officers returned to their respective jobs one after another. The temperature in the command post seemed to have dropped, but the enthusiasm in the hearts of the staff officers never diminished. Instead, they worked harder and more seriously.

Everyone knows that the captain's words were definitely not meant to pour cold water on others, but rather were based on higher-level considerations. In fact, He Wei did think so.

Although the battle was fought beautifully and He had a great time, as it severely blocked the Japanese attack, from an overall strategic perspective, the landing Japanese army still had a huge force. If they changed the direction of attack, or went crazy and launched a full-scale attack, using all their forces without leaving any reserves, the battle situation would still not be optimistic.

More importantly, the top leaders of the Nationalist government have not yet made any effective deployment towards southern Guangxi. In particular, on the issue of sending central army troops to reinforce, the Nationalist government and the local power faction of the New Guangxi clique headed by Bai Chongxi are still in an ongoing struggle. Therefore, to date, the central army troops have not entered Guangxi.

He Wei naturally had no idea about the details of the factional struggles and wrangling among the top leaders. He only knew that the Central Army troops had not entered Guangxi so far.

In other words, since the Japanese landing, no reinforcement troops have entered Guangxi. Not only did the Central Army not come in, even the Guangxi Army's own troops fighting in other provinces did not come back, and the Guangdong Army troops in neighboring provinces also did not make any movement.

This was very bad for the overall strategy. Therefore, although he had just won a victory that could be called a great victory, He Wei could not be happy because he was worried about the overall deployment.

More importantly, he had been thinking recently whether he could do something to urge his superiors to send reinforcements to Guangxi as soon as possible.

Amid the noise in the command post, He Wei racked his brains, and even the victory he had just won was quickly forgotten.

Suddenly, He Wei thought of the battle results that Wang Yuanling had just reported. After thinking of a certain possibility, his eyes suddenly lit up. Then, as if he had made up some kind of decision, he slammed his fist heavily on the table.

(End of this chapter)