"Second Commander, something happened!" Before Lieutenant General Ito could speak, the Chief of Staff rushed to report.

"Xingning County urgently sent a telegram. A large number of Eighth Route Army troops appeared in their territory. By the time of the telegram, several strongholds outside the city had been captured, and the Imperial Army had already suffered more than a hundred casualties!"

"They are worried that these Eighth Route Army will attack the county town after they attack these strongholds, so we will send troops to reinforce them immediately!"

Lieutenant General Ito walked to the map and found Xiangning County, the Chief of Staff had just mentioned.

Then he frowned and asked, "How many troops in Xiangning have lost more than 100 imperial troops and asked for help. Where did they usually bully the Chinese people go!"

The Chief of Staff immediately replied: "The Imperial Army has a garrison brigade, and the Imperial Army has a garrison corps~"

"However, this garrison brigade is not a reinforcement brigade, it is just a mixed brigade with three infantry squadrons, one heavy machine gun squadron and one mortar squadron. The infantry artillery and other artillery are not equipped, and the total force is less than 700."

"In addition to the Imperial Army, the total strength is more than 1,600, of which more than 900 are stationed in more than a dozen large and small strongholds outside the city, and more than 600 are stationed in the county town!"

"If the Eighth Route Army really could kill more than a dozen strongholds outside the city in a short period of time and enjoy more than 600 people in the city, they would definitely not be able to defend the county town!"

"When is Bageya Road, what are the other strongholds doing now? I sent them a telegram, gave up all strongholds outside the city, and concentrated their forces to defend the county town. As long as the county town is preserved, Xiangning County will still be ours!" Lieutenant General Ito ordered with a calm face.

"Hi!" the Chief of Staff replied immediately.

He hesitated and asked, "Would you like to send reinforcements to them?"

Lieutenant General Ito did not answer, but stared at the map and fell into deep thought.

It took nearly half a minute to answer: "No, we have no extra troops to send out!"

The division commander's answer must be perfunctory. Although the division lost troops and generals, more than 10,000 people were still gathered in Linfen City. Not to mention too much, it is still no problem to randomly extract two or three thousand people to reinforce Xiangning County.

However, the division commander actually said that there were no soldiers. The chief of staff immediately realized that there was something in the division commander's words, and there must be something that he had not said.

He hesitated and asked, "Secretary Commander, have you thought of something?"

"Not bad!" Lieutenant General Ito did not hide it.

Point to Xiangning County and Hepu County on the map to analyze the road.

"If the Eighth Route Army occupied these two counties, have you ever thought about what consequences would have for our Imperial Army?"

The Chief of Staff was stunned for a few seconds, and then suddenly reacted, "The Linfen City where we are located will become an isolated city, and our division will also become an isolated army!"

"The Eighth Route Army is everywhere around, and neither material nor equipment can be transported in. If the Eighth Route Army occupy these two counties and blocks all the roads leading to Linfen City, just the large amount of food consumed every day can drag us down!"

Lieutenant General Ito shook his head and replied.

"You only see one aspect and ignore another aspect!"

"After the Eighth Route Army occupied these two places, we will not only become an isolated army, but another division left behind in southwestern Shanxi will also become an isolated army! This is related to the safety of the 30,000 to 40,000 elite troops in the North China Front Army. There must be no accidents!"

The Chief of Staff was frightened and asked, "Second Commander, what do you mean is that the Eighth Route Army of Turkish is carrying out this plan, blocking us and the troops left behind in the southwest of Shanxi, turning them into an isolated army, slowly consuming us!"

"It's very likely!" Lieutenant General Ito replied with a calm face.

"Although there is no direct evidence yet, the battle during this period made me realize that our opponents are more cunning and difficult to deal with than we thought. If we can think of this, they can definitely think of it too!"

"Also, we just lost the battle and the morale of the troops was low. If I were the commander of the Eighth Route Army, I would definitely seize the opportunity and take these places!"

"The purpose of the Eighth Route Army must not be successful... These places must not be occupied by the Eighth Route Army, and our retreat cannot be cut off!" The Chief of Staff exclaimed directly.

Then he asked: "Second Commander, since he already knows the combat plan that the Eighth Route Army is likely to be implementing, can we make preparations now to defend these county towns, or directly send troops to reinforce them to defend the county town!"

"I believe that even if the front army knows this plan, it will order us to guard these county towns at all costs!"

"The reinforcements must not be sent!" Lieutenant General Ito answered very decisively.

"The Eighth Route Army is too cunning, and so far we are not sure about their real losses in this encirclement! Not only that, they also seized a large number of artillery that should belong to us in this war."

"They have everything, equipment, ammunition!"

"When there are no heavy artillery, they can concentrate their forces to kill one of our corps at a time. Although they have lost a lot of troops, they have supplemented a lot of heavy weapons, especially heavy artillery. One has increased and the other has deteriorated, and they will definitely have the strength to kill one of our corps."

"In this case, how many troops do you ask me to send to reinforce them!"

"If this is a conspiracy of the Eighth Route Army and we have sent fewer troops, it is a sheep entering the tiger's mouth."

"There are more troops sent out, and we don't have that many troops..."

"So, reinforcements must not be sent!"

The chief of staff continued to ask: "Then how can we defend these counties!"

Lieutenant General Ito immediately made a decision: "Tele to the garrisons of these counties right away."

"All garrisons abandoned their strongholds outside the city and concentrated their forces into the city to defend!"

"In order to ensure the Imperial Army's control over these places, we can temporarily hand over these strongholds to some Chinese who cooperate with our actions and let them assist us in controlling the places!"

This was the only way for the Chief of Staff to think of a solution to the problem. As soon as he was about to turn around and issue an order, a communications officer rushed in.

"Sir, the city of Hepu County is urgently powered!"

"There are a large number of Eighth Route Army troops in their territory, attacking the strongholds in their jurisdiction. Now three strongholds have been lost, and reinforcements are continued!"

Lieutenant General Ito's face sank and cursed: "Bageyalu... our reaction was still one step slower!"

"Go to the telegram immediately and retreat one minute earlier. The garrisons in those places will lose dozens of people less, and the number of troops to protect the county town will increase..."

The Chief of Staff did not dare to neglect and immediately replied: "Go to give orders now!"

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Chapter completed!