Traveling through the sword to engage in military industry.

Chapter 142: North Border Area
Ren Zhong decided to return north ahead of schedule. In early October, he heard reports of counterattacks that had destroyed most of the Zhengtai Line and part of the Tongpu Line. A total of more than 10 regiments were dispatched, and four or five battalion-level Japanese troops were completely annihilated. There were countless squadron-level and below Japanese troops, and more than 20 Japanese troops were annihilated in total. As for the number of wounded Japanese troops, the number reached over .

The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th and 9th Mixed Brigades on the Japanese front line were not well prepared in the Eighth Route Army's counterattack. In the early stages, they basically counterattacked as battalions as attacking units, but the division and brigade commanders seized the opportunity and completed a battalion-level encirclement and killing brigades in an organized manner, resulting in heavy casualties. The six brigades were basically half-crippled and retreated to the county town and other strongholds.

Among them, the 38th Infantry Battalion and the 40th Infantry Battalion of the th Mixed Brigade were completely injured by the brigade commander, and even the battalion commander and his subordinate sergeants were wiped out, making it the worst brigade suffered by the Japanese in this round.

As for the puppet army, they killed and captured more than 2 people, including more than 2 who defected on the battlefield.

This was based on several considerations. On the one hand, after more than a month of fierce fighting, the weapons and ammunition reserves that Ren Zhong brought to the main force of the base were basically exhausted, whether it was bullets, rockets, mortar shells, explosive packs, or even mines and grenades. The reason why they won several beautiful annihilation battles in the first stage of the battle was basically due to the abundant weapons and ammunition. The guerrillas relied on grenades and mines to complete the arduous task of delaying and blocking reinforcements.

The main force had sufficient 82mm mortars to create an artillery advantage, and the large-scale use of grenade launchers effectively offset the Japanese firepower advantage at the front line, making it possible for four or five main regiments to encircle and annihilate a battalion.

Secondly, the Japanese had changed their tactics and mobilized heavy troops to respond. The 110th, 25th, 41st, 26th and 36th Divisions entered the battle area respectively, and no longer divided the troops into battalions, but at least dispatched them in regiments, and the distance between regiments was not more than 50 kilometers, so that the Japanese would be united into a brigade-level heavy force group within at least 4 or 5 hours.

Moreover, they have heavy firepower from mountain artillery and field artillery, so the main force of the base will not be able to fight against such a heavy force.

The advantage between us and the enemy begins to shift. If we continue the attack, our losses may increase dramatically. In the original historical time and space, the second and third stages suffered huge losses for this reason, and some military divisions and even main regiments were almost wiped out.

Thirdly, the current counterattack results have shocked the world and inspired the people. At the same time, it has vindicated the border region and the Eighth Route Army, allowing the United States and the United States to see the potential of the border region and take the initiative to contact and prepare to provide some necessary assistance to the border region. The people are even more excited, and the mainstream folk media praised this counterattack as a ray of light in the darkness.

But precisely because of this, the leader of the preserved fruits flew into a rage. He slammed the table and scolded the heads of the three armed forces, the Bureau of Statistics, and the Bureau of Secrecy several times. Then he ordered a complete cut-off of all supplies to the border areas and a blockade of supplies!

It's not just the huge financial loss, but the powerful combat capability that the Eighth Route Army has unleashed has already made the leaders of Guosu feel fearful from the bottom of their hearts. Now they have only exposed more than 20 regiments and tens of thousands of main forces. If they continue to dispatch more troops, I'm afraid it will be more than just a supply cut-off.

Therefore, Ren Zhong suggested to the brigade commander that this counterattack could end the large-scale fighting and start the preparation for the anti-mopping-up battle.

Ren Zhong's suggestion was well-reasoned. After receiving it, the brigade commander pondered over it for nearly a day and finally decided to submit Ren Zhong's suggestion to the leaders of the headquarters for discussion and decision-making. Based on Ren Zhong's suggestion, he also listed some of his own concerns and suggestions.

For the brigade commander who has a very strong sense of the overall situation, he knows more internal intelligence than Ren Zhong. Although this counterattack involved many encirclement and annihilation battles and seized a lot of guns and ammunition, in terms of consumption, in order to annihilate the surrounded Japanese battalion within a few hours, the brigade commander output ammunition to his subordinate main force without regard for the consequences!

Some main regiments used up half of their ammunition reserves overnight!

Ren Zhong's ammunition consumption was too great, and he was actually running out of bullets. After several battles, many main regiments returned to the situation before Ren Zhong came overnight, and the average number of bullets per person might be only ten or twenty!
Even for the stingy Li Yunlong Independent Regiment, the current ammunition reserves, plus the spoils of war, are now less than one-third of what they were before the war!
This is still the best level among the main regiments. Therefore, the brigade commander thought it was very necessary to remind the headquarters of Ren Zhong's suggestion.

Ren Zhong didn't think too much about it. He just finished what he was supposed to do, then changed horses in Chengdu and started his horseback journey north. At this time, his status as a major began to play a role again. No one was blind enough to stop him along the way, and he successfully entered the border area.

The Minister of Military Industry Jiang Chongjing, who was also there, took over.

"Boss Ren, thank you for your hard work. I'm Jiang Chongjing. Just contact me for any matters concerning the border area." A middle-aged man wearing glasses saw Ren Zhong and his group riding over on horseback. He recognized that Ren Zhong, who was running in front, seemed to be the leader, so he came up to him with a smile.

"Minister Jiang, sorry for the long wait!" Ren Zhong dismounted from his horse, walked forward and shook hands tightly with Jiang Chongjing.

"Boss Ren, you are too polite. It's my duty. Boss Ren, fellow comrades, let's go to the cave to have a rest first, and we will welcome you later!" Jiang Chongjing said with a loud laugh.

Then Hu Zi and others got off their horses and accompanied Ren Zhong to the cave.

It was the first time for Ren Zhong to see a cave dwelling. The first thing that caught his eye was a large earthen bed that took up half of the cave dwelling. The bed was covered with a blue-gray mat and a tofu-like quilt, which was simple and clean.

On the walls of the cave, there are some hoes, sickles and bamboo baskets hanging, and it is obvious that Minister Jiang is not away from labor.

In a corner of the cave, there is an octagonal table and four benches. On the table are a teapot, a thermos, and a stack of earthen bowls, which are almost all the furniture.

"Come, everyone, have some tea. I only have brick tea here, and I don't know whether Boss Ren and all of you comrades are used to drinking it or not." Jiang Chongjing said after pouring water for everyone.

"Minister Jiang, stop working, we can do it ourselves and just drink some boiled water." Ren Zhong felt a little embarrassed to see Minister Jiang busying himself while he and a dozen other people were just sitting there doing nothing.

"It's not a trouble. Boss Ren, how could I not even offer you a cup of hot tea when you come to the border area? I hear Lao Zhang often talk about you in meetings. You have really done an amazing job. This time in the border area, Boss Ren, you can make the arrangements, and I will cooperate with you!" Minister Jiang put himself in a very humble manner.

Third update
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(End of this chapter)