"Tell me, how many troops have been lost?"

Sato Jio looked very gloomy in the temporary brigade headquarters in the night, and directly waved his hand to the chief of staff Kenjiro Kawaguchi and asked, "I want the actual number of casualties!" ”。

"This?"

Seeing this, Kenjiro Kawaguchi hesitated for a moment, and then said bitterly: "The actual casualties of the 18th Infantry Wing totaled 2,377 people, which is the number of Imperial soldiers killed in battle. ”。

"In addition, there are more than 100 more injuries and minor injuries."

After listening, the commander of the 9th Brigade, Jio Sato, couldn't help but gasp in his heart.

This attack didn't take more than ten minutes, and so many troops were reimbursed at once, and when it came out, wouldn't the other Imperial Army colleagues want to laugh him to death Sato Jio?

However, before Haruo Sato could continue to speak, outside the door of the temporary brigade headquarters of the 9th Brigade, there was a voice of devil soldiers standing up and saluting, "Your Excellency General!!" ”

Soon, the curtain of the military tent of Haruo Sato's brigade headquarters was lifted, and sure enough, it was the commander-in-chief Zhenxiong Nakamura who opened the curtain and walked in with a gloomy face.

All of a sudden, Haruo Sato, the chief of staff of the brigade, Kenjiro Kawaguchi, and other officers and some devil staff officers in the military tent at the brigade headquarters all stood up with serious expressions.

"Your Excellency General!!"

"Your Excellency General!!"

"Your Excellency General!!"

Nakamura Zhenxiong waved his hand and asked directly at Jio Sato with a gloomy face: "How many casualties did the 18th Infantry Wing have?" ”。

"Your Excellency, General!!"

Knowing what Nakamura Zhenxiong would ask as soon as he came in, Sato Jio could only stand up and say bitterly: "More than 3,000 Imperial soldiers of the 18th Infantry Wing of our brigade accompanied the 1st Tank Attack Detachment to attack the enemy, with a total of more than 2,300 Imperial soldiers killed and wounded, and more than 100 lightly and seriously wounded. ”。

"That is, the 18th Infantry Wing has already lost the strength of two infantry brigades?"

When Nakamura Zhenxiong heard this, he couldn't help but gasp.

Although he was observing the attack from a high position on the hillside in front of his military tent headquarters, he also roughly judged the number of casualties of the 18th Infantry Wing, which belonged to the Sato Haruo Brigade this time.

However, the confirmed casualties from Haruo Sato still shocked Nakamura.

Immediately, Nakamura Zhenxiong felt shame!

Unexpectedly, the attack on Qingzhou City had been fought for almost an hour, and when the first tank attack detachment came out to carry out a coordinated attack on infantry and tanks, it would actually trigger the full output of the enemy's defenders' firepower.

It seems that in the previous attack of more than 40 minutes, the other party hid the firepower in his hand and did not move.

Moreover, Nakamura Zhenxiong saw that several of the tanks rushed to less than ten meters in front of the opponent's outer position.

However, it was still smashed by the other party's dense Molotov cocktails and exploded.

Without exception, those tanks were burned and lost after the explosion.

It seems that the enemy troops defending Qingzhou City have received information that their own attacking forces have tanks.

This is, ready for anti-tank!

At this time, Haruo Sato said bitterly: "Your Excellency, the enemy firepower at the east gate is too fierce. ”。

"Especially when the other side actually has a huge minefield, the moment it is detonated, the casualties of the 18th Wing are the largest at first."

Nakamura Zhenxiong's eyes were gloomy, and then he waved his hand and said: "Victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers, and this time I was careless." ”。

"I didn't expect that the enemy commander in Qingzhou City would have the means of tank countermeasures, and the minefield they laid was not affected by five artillery strikes."

After a pause, Nakamura Zhenxiong also blamed himself, "This is also my Nakamura Zhenxiong's underestimated enemy."

"Your Excellency General!!"

When Nakamura Zhenxiong said this, he took the responsibility for the heavy casualties on himself.

Waving his hand, Nakamura Zhenxiong said to Haruo Sato: "Now it seems that without the cover of the tank attack detachment, the infantry attack may suffer heavy casualties. ”。

"Our raid on Qingzhou City in the early hours of the morning and night has failed."

When Haruo Sato and Kenjiro Kawaguchi, chief of staff of the brigade on the side, heard this, they looked at each other.

Subsequently, Sato Jio also said helplessly: "Your Excellency General, then what should we do next?" ”。

"Do you want to continue the attack?"

Nakamura Zhenxiong stared at the topographic map of Qingzhou City placed on the table in the military tent headquarters of the 9th Brigade Headquarters, and then gritted his teeth and said: "The casualties are too great, it is still early in the morning and night, and the attack is already unfavorable to us." ”。

"We can only stop the attack for a while, wait until after dawn, after the air force fighters have taken off, and carry out heavy bombardment and strafing of the enemy defenders' positions in Qingzhou City, and then attack the city."

When Haruo Sato heard this, he and Kenjiro Kawaguchi, the chief of staff of the brigade, glanced at each other, and then stood up in unison and said, "Yes, Your Excellency General." ”。

"Order the troops, retreat one kilometer back and camp to rest!"

Nakamura waved his hand and ordered.

"Understood, Your Excellency!!"

Sato Jio said heavily, and he was secretly relieved in his heart.

He was also afraid that Nakamura Zhenxiong would force the siege to continue, so he could only send a direct report to the headquarters of the First Army of Taiyuan City and ask for a direct order from Shinozuka Yoshinan.

After Nakamura finished speaking, he immediately walked out of the military tent of the 9th Brigade and regimental headquarters, returned to his military tent headquarters, and then gave the general order to retreat one kilometer to the east.

"Division Commander!!"

In Nakamura Zhenxiong's military tent headquarters, the devil staff officer who had received the order had already asked people to pack up their things and prepare to retreat one kilometer east, and at this time, the chief of staff, Kita Taijiro, walked quickly and reported: "The commander of the 15th Brigade, General Okamoto Youichi, has called several times to attack the defensive position of the 2nd Battalion of the Independent Regiment at the entrance of the town east of Liujia Town, but they have not succeeded. ”。

"General Okamoto reported that the second battalion of the Independent Regiment of the Eighth Route Army was defending the position east of Liujia Town and the mountains on both sides of it, and there were more than a dozen reinforced concrete pillboxes, and they were very hidden."

After a pause, Kita Taijiro also said helplessly, "Unless the 15th Brigade has large-caliber howitzers or heavy artillery in its hands, and it is a direct hit, it will not be able to break through the reinforced concrete pillbox fortifications built by the enemy's defensive position at the entrance of the town east of Liujia Town." ”

"Nani?"

Hearing this, Nakamura Zhenxiong's face also changed slightly, and he said in surprise: "The Independent Regiment of the Eighth Route Army actually built a hidden bunker fortification in the defensive position at the entrance of the town east of Liujia Town? ”。

"Yes, division commander!!"

As the chief of staff of the 36th Division, Mu Duo Taijiro said with a solemn look in his eyes: "Moreover, the more than a dozen reinforced concrete bunkers built by the other party on the defensive position at the entrance of the town east of Liujia Town have indeed made Okamoto Youichi suffer a lot." ”。

"But the casualties of the 15th Brigade are not large, at least the large force is intact, the division commander."

When Nakamura Zhenxiong heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, at least the 15th Brigade on the other side, the casualties were not large, which was also a good thing.

"Your Excellency, General!!"

At this moment, the devil staff officer in charge of communication on the side of the military tent headquarters hurried over, interrupted the conversation between Nakamura Zhenxiong and Kita Taijiro, and said in a low voice: "The communication corps intercepted a clear telegram sent by Li Yunlong, the commander of the Independent Regiment of the Eighth Route Army, announcing that they had annihilated a tank attack detachment of the Imperial Army and more than 2,000 Imperial Army soldiers outside the east gate of Qingzhou City. ”。

"Clearly electrified?"

Hearing this, Nakamura Zhenxiong's face changed greatly.

"Yes, Your Excellency!"

The communications staff officer said in a low voice.

"Poof!!"

Hearing this, Nakamura Zhenxiong couldn't help it, and a mouthful of old blood spurted out angrily, and he staggered directly to fall.

(End of chapter)

Lewen