The Sword of Swords is a Guard for Kong Jie

Chapter 815 Smells a Smell of Conspiracy (Part [-])
At the Baoding Garrison Headquarters, Ningji Okamura is enjoying the scene of the mopping up troops gathering and destroying the Eighth Route Army by the sand table.

Thinking of the joy, the corners of his mouth curled up unconsciously.

"Your Excellency, Commander..." The deputy chief of staff suddenly ran over and pulled him back to reality.

With a happy face, you don't need to guess to know that he has brought good news.

"Good news... The central mopping-up force commanded by Lieutenant General Sakuragi succeeded in reaching Chenjiazhuang."

"There are still more than [-] soldiers left in the whole army, and the Eighth Route Army stationed in Chenjiazhuang still has only two reinforced battalions."

"He intends to assemble three infantry brigades to launch a strong attack, and strive to take down all the Eighth Route Army in one assault, occupy Chenjiazhuang, establish a defensive line on the spot, and cut off the retreat of the Eighth Route Army in the wings."

"That's great..." Ningji Okamura couldn't help laughing, and said excitedly.

"This battle is the key to whether we can wipe out the Eighth Route Army in Yizhong. Mr. Yingmu must fight well, completely wipe out the defenders, and leave no hidden dangers for the next defensive battle."

"As for the tunnels built by the Eighth Route Army in Chenjiazhuang, use them if they can be used, and destroy them if they can't be used, and don't give the Eighth Route Army any chance to take back Chenjiazhuang through the tunnels."

The deputy chief of staff thought so, and immediately took the order: "The humble officer will send a telegram now."

The combat staff on the side marked the latest situation of the enemy and ourselves on the sand table at the same time.

Okamura Ningji knew at a glance that the two sides were going to start a large-scale battle in Chenjiazhuang.

Two hours passed in a flash.

Okamura Ningji has been waiting for news in the war room.

On the sand table, Chenjiazhuang still has the green flag representing the Eighth Route Army.

Red flags representing the Kwantung Army are all over Chenjiazhuang.

The number of flags on both sides represents the strength of their respective troops. The sweeping force has nearly ten times the strength advantage, as well as absolute firepower superiority and air support.

No matter how you analyze it, the sweeping troops can end the battle within two hours and wipe out all the Eighth Route Army stationed in Chenjiazhuang.

As a result, two hours have passed, and the headquarters has not received the good news from Lieutenant General Sakuragi.

It shows that the situation on the front line is not as smooth as expected.

Thinking about it, Okamura Ningji's stretched brows frowned again.

Several times I wanted someone to send a telegram to ask about the latest battle situation on the front line.

When the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back.

Maybe the battle on the front line is coming to an end soon, and the headquarters sent a telegram to inquire about the battle situation at this time, which is likely to make the commanders on the front line feel that they don't trust them, which is not conducive to unity and the next battle.

This wait was another half hour.

When Ningji Okamura couldn't bear it again, the figure of the deputy chief of staff finally appeared at the door of the war room.

Holding a telegram in his hand, he hurriedly ran towards him with a very solemn expression.

Okamura Ningji's heart skipped a beat, and a bad premonition flashed in his mind at the same time.

Just when he was about to speak, the deputy chief of staff had already reported one step ahead: "Your Excellency, Commander..."

"Chenjiazhuang's offensive and defensive battles have changed."

"The Eighth Route Army's will to fight is beyond imagination."

"Relying on tunnel fortifications, we can fight to the death without retreating."

"Lieutenant General Sakuragi assembled three infantry brigades to launch a strong attack but failed to take it down, and lost more than 2000 people."

"But the telegram also said: The Eighth Route Army of the two reinforced battalions also suffered heavy losses, and there are less than 200 people left to continue fighting."

"They plan to completely wipe out their opponents in the next attack and occupy Chenjiazhuang..."

Neiji Okamura seemed to smell a hint of conspiracy.

In the last big raid, the Yizhong Eighth Route Army also defended a certain place first, consuming a large amount of sweeping troops through offensive and defensive battles.

After the strength of the two sides was equal, the Eighth Route Army's hidden troops immediately appeared to kill the mopping up troops by surprise, and then surrounded and annihilated the mopping up troops.

He vaguely felt that the Eighth Route Army's defense of Chenjiazhuang was not as simple as it seemed on the surface.

But these ideas are all self-inference, without any real evidence.

Immediately ask: "After subtracting the losses, how many people are left in the middle raid team..."

"After deducting the artillery and non-combat soldiers in the team, how many infantry are left that can go directly to the battlefield, and count them immediately. The more detailed the relevant data, the better."

Although the deputy chief of staff didn't know why Neiji Okamura suddenly asked this question, as a subordinate, he still took orders readily.

Several combat staff members calculated together, some counted the battle damage before the sweeping troops in the middle, and some counted the proportion of infantry among the casualties, the number of weapons and ammunition consumed...

In just 5 minutes, the deputy chief of staff walked up to Neiji Okamura with a serious face.

"Your Excellency, Commander, there are two main battalions under the central raid force, one guard battalion, and one supplementary battalion battalion. There are ten infantry battalions in total."

"Before reaching Chenjiazhuang, the ten infantry brigades lost a total of three brigades. Just now they lost more than 2000 troops in the attack on Chenjiazhuang. Now there are less than five brigades remaining."

"After subtracting the cavalry that has been wiped out and the chariot regiment that has been hit hard, there are more than 500 of the remaining 500 people, more than [-] are artillery, and the remaining more than [-] are engineers."

Okamura Ningji's face was obviously heavier than before, staring at the sand table and analyzing: "The sweeping troops in the middle have lost so many troops, and they haven't taken Chenjiazhuang yet."

"As for the battle just now, the Eighth Route Army fought an offensive and defensive battle with us relying only on the outer defense line. They haven't fought the street fighting they are best at."

"My expectation is good: they will probably retreat to Chenjiazhuang and fight a street fight with us next."

"At that time, neither the artillery superiority nor the air superiority of the mopping up troops could be brought into play."

"The enemy is in the dark, and I am in the light. The casualties of the troops must be very heavy."

"If they lose another brigade, the total force will drop sharply to less than four brigades."

"Chenjiazhuang is the hinterland of Yizhong's base. In case of an accident with the mopping forces in the middle, and the mopping forces on the left and right fail to reinforce in time, it will be too dangerous..."

The deputy chief of staff immediately objected: "There is absolutely no way the mopping up troops in the middle will be in danger."

"Your Excellency, Commander, we have calculated before that the Eighth Route Army in the Yizhong has no troops to threaten the safety of the sweeping troops in the middle, otherwise they would not have only deployed two reinforced battalions to defend Chenjiazhuang."

Neiji Okamura stared at the sand table for a long time before speaking: "No...they still have troops..."

"According to our previous calculations, the Eighth Route Army in the Wings and Centers arranged at least one main regiment along the way to block and sweep the troops in the middle, consuming their strength."

"Now that the raiding force has successfully reached Chenjiazhuang, the main force should also be active around Chenjiazhuang."

"Reconnaissance by aviation shows that there have been two regiments of the Eighth Route Army near Chenjiazhuang transferring weapons, ammunition and supplies into the mountains."

"If they are also lurking near Chenjiazhuang, the opponent facing the Yingmu Division will not be the two battalions of the Eighth Route Army, but the three regiments of the Eighth Route Army."

"Since the anti-sweep began, our troops have only encountered the Eighth Route Army's Feilei artillery units, mortar units, and even mountain artillery units rarely."

"Information shows that the Yizhong Eighth Route Army is equipped with at least [-] various field artillery and mountain artillery."

"If all these artillery pieces are hidden in Chenjiazhuang, they will definitely pose a huge threat to the Yingmu Division."

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(End of this chapter)