Just when the North China headquarters of the Yue Army was in a mess and formulating the retreat routes of the various attacking troops, Liu Hua had already taken the three main regiments that were about to be crippled and hid in the mountains. Liu Hua, who had only focused on the battle in Changle Village for two consecutive days, finally had free time to pay attention to the current pattern of the entire Jindong battlefield.

Chief of Staff, tell me how far the other armies of the Chinese army have now penetrated deep into the base areas. Liu Hua asked the chief of staff with a tired face.

"Commander, in the Ninth Route Army, the first road has just been eaten by us, and the two main armies of the 129th Division have been trapped along the Tongpu Railway by two regiments of the 129th Division, and they have not penetrated into the base area at all. There are three large armies, which are on the way to reinforce the 117th Wing, and they are less than 20 kilometers away from here. The remaining armies have all penetrated deep into the hinterland of the base area, and one of them is less than 150 kilometers away from our base camp Zhangjiazhuang. After the two armies penetrated deep into the base areas, they were disturbed by the local militia, the garrison regiment, and the newly formed regiment along the way, and stopped in the vicinity of Changgang Village and Zhujiazhuang respectively. ”

"Okay, I really didn't expect that not only the three main regiments in our base area can fight tough battles, but also the newly formed regiments, garrison regiments, and militia are also good, I really didn't expect it" Liu Hua looked at the map and said.

"By the way, Chief of Staff, what do you say the army will do when they know that their 117th Wing has been completely annihilated by us? Whether to retreat, or to continue the offensive. Liu Hua raised his head and asked.

"Report to the commander, after the unanimous opinion of our general staff, we believe that the army will withdraw in the shortest possible time," the chief of staff immediately replied.

"Uh, why?" Liu Hua then asked.

"Commander, it is like this, we believe that since the invasion of China, the army has never been completely annihilated by a single wing. The annihilation of a wing this time will not only cause a shock in the whole of North China, but even cause a sensation in the whole country and the entire military circles of the Chinese army. Therefore, the pressure on the North China Headquarters of the Army must be very great, and they do not dare to lose even a little more troops. Even if you want to retaliate, you can't do so until you have enough troops. Because, our Jindong base area already has the strength of a wing of the whole annihilation army. Therefore, we have considered that the army must retaliate against us, but not now. So, they will withdraw their troops very quickly. The chief of staff looked at Liu Hua and said what the staff department thought.

"Well, the reason is very good, and I also think so, the army will definitely withdraw in the shortest possible time. According to the efficiency of the army, the order to retreat will be received tomorrow morning at the latest. Of course, I won't let go of this beating of the water dogs. A smile appeared on the corner of Liu Hua's mouth.

"But, Commander, the casualties of our three main regiments are too great, and the soldiers are very tired. I'm afraid that the soldiers won't be able to stand it" After listening to Liu Hua's words, the chief of staff was taken aback, and quickly objected euphemistically.

"Don't worry, Chief of Staff, I know the situation of the soldiers, and I won't let the soldiers fight hard, I just don't want the Yue Army to go so easily, give them a little bitterness, let them know that the Jindong base area is not so easy to enter, since they have come in, they have to pay a little price."

"Chief of staff, you go and count the casualties of the three regiments, be detailed, and call the cavalry battalion commander Wang Hu over, I have a task for him." Liu Hua continued.

"Yes, Commander." The chief of staff saluted and said.

"Report, the commander of the cavalry battalion, Wang Hu, came to report." Not long after the chief of staff left, the sound of horses' hooves was heard at the door of the headquarters, and then a report came in.

"Wang Hu, come in, come, sit down, drink saliva." Looking at Wang Hu who came in, Liu Hua poured a glass of water and handed it to him, only to see him take the water cup, regardless of the water temperature, he drank a glass of water cleanly. Put down the cup, wiped the water stains at the corners of his mouth with the sleeves with gunsmoke, a typical look of a Shandong man.

"Commander, is there anything you called me over?" Wang Hu immediately asked.

"Battalion Commander Wang, don't worry? I would like to know how many casualties your cavalry battalion had suffered in the morning. The loss of war horses is serious and not serious. Liu Hua looked at Wang Hu's eagerness and asked with a smile.

"Report to the commander, in the morning, our cavalry battalion lost a total of two platoons of troops, and 87 horses were lost in the war horse attack, but a part of it was replenished from the war horses captured by the devils, and now it has basically reached one person and one horse, but those soldiers who have lost, we can't directly replenish it" As he spoke, the strong man lowered his head.

"Well, two platoons, how many troops do you have in your cavalry battalion now?" Liu Hua asked bluntly.

"Report to the commander, now there are a total of 276 people left in the cavalry battalion, all of whom can participate in the battle." After listening to Liu Hua's questioning, Wang Hu stood up straight. Answer out loud.

"Okay, 276 people, Wang Hu, after going back, immediately divide these 200 people into three parts, that is, three companies, each company is equipped with a radio station, and set off now to go to these three positions. There are three main wings of devils here, and your task is to monitor the devils of these three wings and report the situation as soon as there is a situation. Liu Hua pointed to the three locations just marked on the map and said to Wang Hu.

"Yes, Commander, the cavalry battalion resolutely fulfills the task." After speaking, he saluted Liu Hua and said.

"Go, remember, don't cause casualties, and tell you in advance, I'm going to expand your cavalry battalion into a regiment, so these soldiers will be the backbone of the cavalry regiment in the future, and they must be brought in their entirety." Liu Hua said solemnly.

After listening to Liu Hua's words, Wang Hu was both excited and nervous, and the cavalry regiment had never thought about it, "Yes, commander, I will definitely live up to your trust." Wang Hu replied excitedly, and quickly left the headquarters, and immediately, the deafening sound of horses' hooves was remembered at the door of the headquarters.

After assigning the task to the cavalry battalion, Liu Hua sat quietly at the table, looking at the current deployment map of the enemy's forces, and quietly fell into deep thought, until the chief of staff walked in, only to realize that he had been watching for several hours.

"Commander, what are you thinking? I heard the staff officer of the headquarters say, you haven't moved for a few hours," the chief of staff asked as he looked at Liu Hua, who had recovered his senses.

"The chief of staff is back, I just looked at the map, and I was fascinated by it. I didn't think about anything, that is, the next direction of development for our base areas after we repelled the attack of the Japanese army this time. Liu Hua replied embarrassedly.

"By the way, Chief of Staff, have the casualties of several regiments been counted?" Looking at a list in the chief of staff's hand, Liu Hua asked.

"Well," after listening to Liu Hua's question, the chief of staff's face suddenly turned cloudy.

"Are there many casualties?" Liu Hua also began to be worried.

I saw that the chief of staff nodded, picked up the list and began to read.

"Commander, you have to be mentally prepared, first of all, the artillery battalion, a total of 6 mountain guns, 7 thunderbolts, 16 mortars, shells, except for some mortars, all the others are exhausted. The losses of the fighters were also very large, with a total of 43 killed, 4 seriously wounded, and 104 lightly wounded. Speaking of this, the chief of staff paused and looked at the commander in front of him, only to see that the commander frowned after hearing the casualty loss data, but quickly changed it.

"The three main regiments, one regiment, lost 352 people, 23 seriously wounded, 139 lightly wounded, 4 heavy machine guns, 6 light machine guns, 20% of the ammunition remained, and the grenades were exhausted. The 2nd Regiment lost 298 people, 47 were seriously wounded, 260 people were slightly wounded, 6 machine guns were lost, 2 light machine guns were lost, and about 30% of the ammunition remained. The third regiment lost 380 men, 40 seriously wounded, 199 lightly wounded, 8 heavy machine guns, 4 light machine guns, and 50% of ammunition remained. Basically, each regiment has lost half of its troops, most of its ammunition has been consumed, and it is no longer capable of fighting a tough battle with the devils. After the chief of staff finished speaking, he also accentuated the tone of the last sentence.

After listening to the words of the chief of staff, Liu Hua was also silent. Originally, I was mentally prepared for heavy casualties, but I didn't expect so many casualties, which was too unexpected. The current troops are really like the chief of staff said, only half of the combat effectiveness is left.

However, is it really easy to let go of the devils of the three wings and leave easily? No, absolutely not, no matter how much damage the devils of these three wings have caused in the base area, they must not be allowed to leave easily. Thinking of this, Liu Hua seemed to have made up his mind.

"Chief of Staff, record the order. Order: The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 3rd regiments were each reduced to one battalion, but these were temporary, and in order to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the grassroots units, each regiment was reduced to six companies. They rushed to the vicinity of the garrisons of the three companies of the Japanese army and waited for the plane in concealment. In the process of retreating, the army used sparrow warfare, mine warfare, tunnel warfare, and so on to constantly harass the enemy along the way, so that they could not march normally, kill and wound them as much as possible, and capture their baggage. Although the chief of staff who had recorded the order had an incredulous expression, seeing the commander's determined eyes, he immediately went out to convey the order.

The three regiment commanders who received the order, although they knew that the troops were now very tired and low on ammunition. However, they all knew that this was a good opportunity to beat the water dogs and avenge the sacrificed comrades, so after giving the order to the soldiers, no one felt tired and shouted that they were going to avenge their comrades and kill the devils, so the morale of the soldiers in the entire camp was once again raised a lot by a telegram from Liu Hua.

(To be continued)