After Ono led his troops back to Laiyuan City, Laiyuan County was still under the control of the Japanese.

However, the huge losses not only shocked Ono, but the military department was also very angry, and even the idea of replacing Ono appeared.

In the end, although Ono stayed, the entire brigade was asked by the military headquarters to carry out an unprecedented bloodshed.

The chief of staff went to the captain below, and all of them were changed. Many of his confidants and favorite generals were directly replaced by the military department, no matter how much they pleaded.

Ono knew that this was the military department venting their dissatisfaction and anger on him.

Four thousand soldiers of the Imperial Army died on the battlefield, and such a large loss was almost worth a large-scale battle on the front line.

And what about the present? So many soldiers of the imperial army were all lost in a battle against Tubalu.

After a major change of blood in the brigade from top to bottom, new officers were quickly sent. Because it took time to familiarize himself with the situation of the troops, and the reinforcements given by the military department had not yet arrived, Ono could only act as a turtle with a shrunken head and order the troops to stick to Laiyuan City and not be allowed to go out.

Of course, Ono didn't do nothing.

Although this failed attack almost cost him the position of brigade commander, it was not without gain.

One of the biggest gains is a new understanding of the Imperial Army.

At this moment, the Imperial Army is no longer just cannon fodder in his eyes, it is used well on the battlefield, and they can do a lot of things for the Imperial Army. For example, in this attack, if it were not for the existence of the Imperial Allied Army, the casualties of the brigade would have been even greater, and even the offensive ability would have been directly lost in the end.

Therefore, before the military reinforcements came, in order to strengthen the strength in his hands, Ono was not idle, and directly reported to the military department, asking for the expansion of the Imperial Army.

Anyway, there are constantly prisoners and captured equipment sent down on the front line, and only a part of them is needed for the capture and equipment, and the empire does not need to pay much at all, and the Imperial Allied Army can be expanded.

In fact, it was not only Ono who recognized the importance of the Imperial Allied Army in the purge operation, but also many high-ranking officers of the Japanese army in the military department.

As a result, the report on the expansion of the Imperial Allied Army was easily approved by the Military Headquarters, and the Imperial Allied Army was directly allowed to be directly expanded into a garrison division on the basis of the garrison brigade, with a total strength of 7,000 troops.

When the Japanese army was sticking to the county seat and secretly expanding its strength, the Eighth Route Army was not idle.

The two main regiments that took Laiyuan City were not idle, one attacked to the west and the other to the east, constantly expanding the base area, and then recruiting troops to expand the Eighth Route Army.

As for the vast countryside of Laiyuan, neither regiment was moved, and it was directly left to the independent regiment that was regaining its strength.

At this time, a party committee with a dull atmosphere and a hint of joy was summoned in the conference room of the independent Youth League headquarters.

"Comrades, let me first read the telegram of commendation from the military region and the headquarters to us!" Political Commissar Cheng Xiao was the first to stand up at Wang Ping's signal.

"Whether it is the military district or the headquarters, this battle of our independent regiment is very positive, and telegrams have been sent. In addition, the regimental commander and I were reinstated from their posts, and commendations were issued throughout the entire military region. ”

"The headquarters was not in a hurry to give us credit for the independent regiment, and also gave us the honorary title of the Tiger Regiment. To know. In the entire military region, there are regimental troops with these titles, and our independent regiment is the only one! ”

"Let's talk about the military division, the commander is also very supportive of us, not to mention the commendation, in addition, he also agreed to the report that we should form a fire battalion, the battalion form a fire company, and the regimental headquarters should form a garrison battalion. In the end, the commander gave us a special grant of 5,000 oceans, so that we could pay the soldiers an allowance! ”

Although there are not many substantive things in the awards, such as promotions, rewarding some oceans. However, in the Eighth Route Army, cadres and soldiers at all levels still like to remember meritorious service and various honorary titles.

Therefore, as soon as the political commissar finished speaking, the conference room burst into very warm applause.

But soon, Wang Ping's words made the smile on everyone's face disappear in an instant, and the atmosphere in the conference room became tense from the relaxation just now.

"Why, everyone forgot about the comrades who died on the battlefield so quickly. Without the sacrifices of these people, would we have won this battle and received so many awards? ”

Political commissar Cheng Xiao hurriedly stood up: "Comrades, the regiment commander is right, we are happy, but we must not forget how this victory came about." At the same time, we must not forget all the difficulties that the Independent Regiment is now facing! ”

"Chief of Staff, you come to give you a briefing on the casualties, as well as the difficulties that our independent regiment is currently facing!"

Zeng Quan's face was very ugly, because all the numbers in his hands represented human lives, and now they are all gone.

After taking a deep breath, he replied: "After statistics, the main force of the regiment, the recruit battalion, and the garrison battalion lost a total of 2,199 comrades in this battle, including two deputy battalion commanders, three deputy instructors, three company commanders, and eight deputy company commanders and deputy instructors!" ”

"This is just sacrifice, there are still 561 seriously wounded lying in the field hospital, and after statistics, even if these wounded are all recovered, at least 200 people will have to leave the army because of their disabilities!"

"There were more than 3,600 troops before the war, and now there are more than 800 left, half of whom are slightly wounded. Among these more than 800 people, there are more than 200 people in the garrison battalion, and all the others are the main force, with more than 600 people. The first battalion was the largest, with more than three hundred people. The second battalion was the least, with only about a hundred people left, and the third battalion was a little better, with two hundred men. There are more than 40 people left in the cavalry company, more than 70% of the casualties of the guard company, and more than 70% of the casualties of other directly subordinate troops! ”

"It can be said that after this battle, our independent regiment has been completely disabled!"

"There is also the consumption of equipment and ammunition, because the devils have dispatched a large number of artillery and aircraft, and our losses are particularly large. In addition to artillery shells, the remaining ammunition is less than half a percent, especially grenades and grenades, all of which are used up! ”

"14 mortars were lost, 15 heavy machine guns, more than thirty light machine guns, and more than 1,500 rifles of various types were blown up! If it weren't for the large number of captures, even if our independent regiment recovered and recruited new soldiers, the equipment would not be enough! ”

"Everyone has heard it, this is the terrible situation that our independent regiment is currently facing!" Wang Ping suddenly interrupted!

"After me, the commissar, and the chief of staff applied to the military division, we have the equipment. Excluding the surrendered army divisions, we have a total of six mountain guns, 21 mortars, 21 heavy machine guns, and a large number of light machine guns. ”

"This equipment is enough for us to form a force of 3,000 men. However, our independent regiment now has less than 1,200 men, including the seriously wounded, and there is a shortfall of 1,800 men. Therefore, the next task of the independent regiment is one, recruit troops, let the troops be fully established as soon as possible, and then train to form combat effectiveness! ”

"Comrades, this time we have made the devil suffer a big loss, and even Laiyuan City has been occupied by us, and the devil will definitely not give up. So, we have to get back to strength as soon as possible. Let's not talk about attacking devils, at least you must have the ability to protect yourself! ”

"Political commissar, you are in charge of intelligence, expand our intelligence network, and see if there are any devil mines or prisoner camps around us, which are all veterans with combat experience, and they can go to the battlefield when they are reorganized."

"Director Deng is responsible for recruiting troops locally, and everyone in the independent regiment will cooperate with you, how many there are, but you must remember one principle, it is better to have a shortage than an excess, and the recruitment policy of our Eighth Route Army, don't do it alone!"

"The other is political censorship, we must ensure that there are no Japanese puppet army spies among all recruits, we have already suffered a big loss in this regard, and we must not suffer again."