The Sword of Swords is a Guard for Kong Jie

Hundreds of Eighth Route Army soldiers attacked as if they were in an empty space, firing as they advanced.

Regardless of whether they were alive or dead, all the Kwantung Army soldiers who fell on the battlefield were shot again and continued to advance.

Some provided cover fire, some were responsible for follow-up shots, and some charged forward... The whole set of actions was very skillful, as if they had been rehearsed in advance.

The chief of staff was stunned, and at the same time he realized that the troops who had just rushed out of the base would not be able to come back.

In order to prevent the Eighth Route Army from pursuing the victory after eating up the counterattack troops and directly attacking the garrison under the cover of the flying thunder cannon, the chief of staff calmed down and ordered his subordinates around him: "The troops should switch to defense on the spot and set up a temporary defense line immediately."

"If the Eighth Route Army approaches our base, we will immediately use light and heavy machine guns, grenade launchers and mortars to repel them..."

Twenty minutes later, the chief of staff returned to the wing headquarters with a frustrated look on his face.

As soon as I walked to the door, I could feel the depressing atmosphere in the tent.

The commander of the regiment, Colonel Koike, stood in front of the map with a gloomy face, his brows furrowed, and he said nothing.

Several combat staff officers were all very careful and busy with their tasks, fearing that the noise they made would be too loud and affect the brigade commander, thus causing harm to the fish pond.

Seeing the chief of staff coming in, a combat staff officer rushed over as if he had found a savior and reported in a low voice: "Sir..."

"The counterattack troops from the east and north of the base were all devastated by the Eighth Route Army, and not a single person was withdrawn..."

"The counterattack force to the west of the base only retreated to less than one squad, and the rest were all wiped out by the Eighth Route Army..."

"The captain is very angry..."

After hearing this, the chief of staff finally understood why Colonel Koike was so angry and why the atmosphere in the command center was so depressing.

But soon a bitter smile appeared on his face.

Because he had no way to break the depressing atmosphere in the headquarters.

If nothing unexpected happened to the counterattack force south of the base, he could use this good news as an opportunity to make Colonel Koike happy, or at least make him less serious.

Unfortunately, an accident also occurred to the attacking force in the south of the base.

It would be a good thing if I didn't further anger the wing commander after I told them the bad news. Anyway, it would be impossible to calm his anger and break the depressing atmosphere in the command center.

But he is the wing chief of staff, so he has to speak up.

He gritted his teeth and asked Colonel Koike: "Sir... after this station... our direct losses have exceeded 3,000 people. The infantry has been almost wiped out. Although there are nearly 2,000 troops left in the garrison, they are basically artillery, baggage troops, and heavy machine gun troops. Their close combat capabilities are very poor..."

"If we are attacked by the Eighth Route Army at close range, the enemy and I will fight each other. The remaining troops will definitely not be a match for the Eighth Route Army..."

"Please make a decision as soon as possible on what to do next."

Colonel Koike is also considering this issue.

Tonight's counterattack resulted in the loss of almost eight infantry squadrons, with a total force of more than 1,400 people. Moreover, those killed by the Eighth Route Army were all elite infantrymen. The mortar squadrons, heavy machine gun squadrons, and baggage squadrons under the two battalions... were all left in the garrison.

If the eight infantry squadrons that were lost had been exchanged with the artillery and baggage troops that stayed behind, Colonel Koike would never have been so anxious. In a battle in the mountains, infantry can play a much greater role than artillery and heavy machine gun squadrons.

On a battlefield with rugged terrain, high mountains and dense forests, the enemy and our side may not be able to see each other even if they are fifty meters apart. Heavy machine guns and mortars are both long-range fire support weapons, and their effects are very small on such a battlefield. To be honest, they are not as good as the rifles, light machine guns, and grenades equipped by riflemen.

As a result, in just one night, the Koike Regiment lost more than a thousand elite infantrymen, including the mortar squadron, heavy machine gun squadron, and logistics troops that were useless in the mountains... but not a single one was lost.

Faced with this dangerous situation, Colonel Koike is no longer considering how to continue to sweep the Eighth Route Army and destroy them, but how to preserve the remaining troops in his hands and evacuate the battlefield alive.

But it's the middle of the night now, and even if I want to retreat, I can't do it immediately.

The Eighth Route Army is good at night combat.

You can guard the base by yourself without having to engage in close combat with them.

If we really retreat overnight, the Eighth Route Army might be waiting for us halfway and ready to sneak into their pocket.

At that time, they emerged from both sides of the mountain road, rushed directly into the team, and engaged in a melee with the remaining 1,000 people of the Koike League.

Given the close combat capabilities of the artillery and logistics troops, they will most likely just be able to passively take the beating.

This is definitely not the result that Colonel Koike wanted.

Based on this analysis, even if we want to retreat, we have to wait until daybreak before marching.

  But there are still five or six hours left before dawn. Will the Eighth Route Army, who are eyeing him covetously, let him live until dawn?

The answer is obvious.

If I were the commander of the Eighth Route Army, I would definitely try every means to pursue the victory. I would immediately launch an attack on the Koike Regiment while the Koike Regiment has just lost eight infantry companies, morale is low, and the garrison is short of troops. I would further weaken the Koike Regiment's combat effectiveness and strength until the Koike Regiment is completely wiped out on the battlefield.

Seeing the chief of staff staring at him anxiously, "We must evacuate the battlefield as soon as possible... The remaining troops of the Koike Regiment are no match for the Eighth Route Army. If we continue to stay in the mountains, we may become the first main regiment to be completely wiped out by the Eighth Route Army."

"But the problem we are facing now is how to survive until dawn at the lowest cost..."

"Our base was built to accommodate more than 3,000 people, and requires a large number of troops to defend it."

"Now that more than half of the troops have been killed or wounded, the garrison seems a bit too big. If it is too scattered, it will be easy to be divided and surrounded by the enemy, and there will not be enough troops to protect the safety of the garrison."

"If the Eighth Route Army takes advantage of the situation and launches an attack, the entire garrison will be in danger."

The chief of staff also thought of retreating, but he didn't think as far ahead as the commander. He was frightened and sweat broke out on his forehead again. He quickly replied: "We should shrink the defense line immediately, try to bring the troops together, and add all the artillery."

"If the Eighth Route Army really intends to continue to attack us, we should use artillery fire to attack them from a long distance as much as possible, hit them, prevent them from getting close to our base, and attack our base from close range."

The entire garrison was arranged by the chief of staff. No one knew the situation of the garrison better than him. He immediately came up with an idea: "Captain of the garrison..."

"We should order the scattered troops in the garrison to quickly move towards the wing headquarters."

"After the baggage troops supplement the remaining infantry in our hands, they will all be reorganized into temporary infantry squadrons to take on the tasks of guarding and defending and protecting the safety of the garrison."

"The artillery and heavy machine gun units set up a defense line around the headquarters in squadrons. If they found the Eighth Route Army's sneak attack units, they would use artillery fire to launch long-range attacks." (End of this chapter)