Chapter 159 Harada detachment requests evacuation

In the Yuanpingcheng area, on the west side of the Tongpu Railway, the Sato Detachment and the Harada Detachment of the Yue Army failed to attack the Shanxi-Sui Army troops and were forced to retreat to their original positions.

The two detachment leaders quickly arranged for the staff to count the casualties of each department. When they learned that their remaining combat strength was 4,000.

Lieutenant Colonel Sato and Colonel Harada widened their eyes and showed incredulous expressions. This was something they had not expected at all.

"Nani? The two detachments, together with the artillery, engineers, transport troops and other personnel are outside. They only have 4,000 people left?"

"Bagaya Road, what's going on? Can their Harada detachment have more than 5,000 troops before setting off?"

"They have three infantry brigades, two artillery brigades, and one engineering brigade. They have an absolute advantage."

"Even if successive battles failed to annihilate the Shanxi-Sui Army troops, they would not have paid such heavy casualties."

"Now counting the Sato detachment, they have a force of 4,000 people. How can he go back and explain to the division headquarters!"

"Could it be that we told the division commander Ge Dong that their Harada detachment faced more than 2,000 Shanxi-Sui Army troops and more than 1,000 Eighth Route Army troops, and thus suffered such heavy casualties?"

"Bagaya Road, don't forget, they started a positional battle with them one after another, and they received aviation support!"

Colonel Harada couldn't accept the calculated casualties, and he roared angrily.

Since the Yuan army captured most of the towns in Jin Province, the Jinsui Army retreated to the western Shanxi region, and they rarely carried out combat operations.

Especially after Yan Laoxi contacted the little Japanese, the Jinsui Army focused on preserving its strength and would hardly launch combat operations with the Yue Army.

That's why the First Army of the Yue Army in Jin Province said that beating their helmets with wooden sticks could scare away the Jin-Sui Army.

Even if the Jinsui Army is at its most capable, a combat detachment of more than 5,000 people can at least defeat their troops of about 20,000 people, so there is no problem at all.

As for the Eighth Route Army, due to the gap in weapons and equipment, they rarely engage in positional warfare. Most of them do ambush, guerrilla and other combat methods.

But facing a Yue Army combat detachment of more than 5,000 people, it would be difficult for the Eighth Route Army to achieve results.

However, now that the Harada detachment and the Sato detachment have suffered such a level of casualties, Colonel Harada feels it is simply a shame.

When he led his troops to fight in the southeast, Colonel Harada really wanted to obtain military exploits so that he could be promoted to a higher rank.

It turned out that the troops suffered a disastrous defeat and suffered such casualties. He could not imagine how he would explain it to the division commander Kuroda Shigenori after returning.

"Harada Osaka East, the casualty statistics of each department are unmistakable. Currently, they have 4,000 combat troops."

"So far, their Sato detachment has suffered more than 3,000 casualties, and the remaining strength is only 1,000."

"Our Harada detachment has suffered at least 2,000 casualties and losses, and currently has about 3,000 troops."

"In the battle with the Jinsui Army, the Eighth Route Army and other troops, most of their troops were killed, and a few were seriously injured."

"If we count the seriously wounded, their remaining strength may be more than 4,000, but those seriously wounded have completely lost their ability to fight."

"The Shanxi-Sui Army troops are defending in the hilly area to the east of the port, and the Eighth Route Army troops are scattered and hidden in the south."

"They achieved greater results in that battle, and they continued to enhance their combat effectiveness through seizures."

"And judging from the current situation, they have been supplemented by troops one after another, so their combat effectiveness has hardly been weakened from the beginning of the war to now."

Lieutenant Colonel Sato took a deep breath, looked at Colonel Harada, and said with a solemn expression.

Colonel Harada frowned and looked at the map with complicated emotions on his face.

But soon, Colonel Harada called the communications corps. He asked the communications corps to send power quickly to contact the 26th Division Headquarters.

After coming to the East calmly, Colonel Harada soon had a worry.

Then both the Harada detachment and the Sato detachment suffered heavy losses, and their combat effectiveness was significantly weakened.

Now they can rely on aviation support to hold on in place, but once morning comes, the aviation force will have no way to dispatch.

By that time, the nearby Jinsui Army and the Eighth Route Army will be able to launch combat operations.

In addition to the establishment of the Harada detachment, is there an independent 13th infantry regiment, and are they regular field regiments?

Did they carry the regiment flag in that battle? Colonel Harada, who also served as captain of the regiment, began to worry that his regiment's regiment flag would be seized.

After all, the troops suffered casualties, and in serious cases they were removed from their posts, demoted, and transferred to other troops.

Is it possible that once the alliance flag is lost or seized, it will lead to a dead end?

Under such circumstances, Colonel Harada first requested to ensure the safety of the regiment flag.

Secondly, he hoped that the division headquarters could quickly dispatch troops to help their troops withdraw to the northern Shanxi area.

Colonel Harada was no longer willing to stay there and continue fighting. He began to contact the division headquarters and request tactical guidance.

At the same time, in the message, Colonel Harada emphasized the situation of the alliance flag.

After all, the flag of the elite Third Regiment of the First Army East had been seized, and the news had already spread throughout North China.

Could it be that because the regiment flag was seized, the number of the third regiment was directly revoked.

Not to mention the First Army Headquarters, even the North China Front Army Headquarters was affected.

Front Army Commander Tada Shun was also punished for this.

Please tell me if there is an accident with the regiment flag of the 13th Independent Infantry Regiment, Colonel Harada’s life is at risk, and the commander of the 26th Division will definitely be affected by this.

"The flag protection squadron makes every effort to ensure the safety of the regiment flag, and the Harada detachment builds a defensive position with the regiment flag as the core."

"Contact the flag protection squadron and prepare relevant items. Once the position is breached and the regiment flag is threatened, burn it quickly."

After the telegram was sent, Colonel Harada had a serious expression on his face, and he immediately issued the combat order.

Now he wants to ensure that even if he cannot protect the safety of the regiment flag, he at least wants to be able to burn it at the critical moment without being captured.

When Lieutenant Colonel Sato saw that scene, he knew that the Harada detachment was no longer interested in fighting.

He sighed deeply and hurriedly started to contact the military headquarters.

"I really didn't expect that the battle would end up in such a situation."

"The First Army organized the Sato detachment with more than 4,000 people, and the Mongolian Army organized the Harada detachment with more than 5,000 people."

"A force of 10,000 people attacking from the north and south clearly has an absolute advantage and can completely annihilate the Jinsui Army."

"Is it possible that by now, the damn Jinsui Army has joined forces with the Eighth Route Army again, causing them heavy casualties?"

"Did they mistake those troops and there was nothing they could do about it?"

After the Sato detachment arranged for the communications troops to generate electricity, he slumped on his chair and murmured to himself.

In fact, the combat effectiveness of the Little Devils is not weak, as can be seen from the combat losses of the two detachments.

The Sato detachment, organized into the independent third brigade, suffered the greatest losses.

Can the Harada detachment organized by the 26th Division be fielded? It is not yet possible to continue fighting.

And in a series of battles, did the Harada detachment bring the greatest losses to Chen Ziyun's troops?

Whether they fought in the Suohe Town area or in the hilly areas, they almost completely broke through the Shanxi-Sui Army defense line several times.

Especially that battle in the hilly area, if Li Yunlong's troops had not appeared in time, the consequences would have been disastrous.

The little Japanese suffered heavy losses, but Chen Ziyun's troops continued to fight, and the overall casualties were not small.

The guard company of more than 200 people withdrew at about 11 o'clock in the afternoon, and so far they have suffered dozens of casualties.

Wu Ziqiang and Shi Yu formed two independent infantry battalions, with a total strength of 1,600 people. At present, the remaining combat strength is less than 800 people.

That means they paid half of their casualties, and their killed troops exceeded 400!

The cavalry company currently has more than 40 casualties, and its combat strength is only about 200.

As for the artillery battalion troops, they have always been in perfectly concealed positions.

In addition to the casualties suffered by more than ten people from air strikes, there were no other casualties.

The 7th Battalion of Zhang Fujun's Independent Infantry, which subsequently participated in the battle, has suffered about a hundred casualties so far.

The total casualties of the troops commanded by Chen Ziyun were more than a thousand. They achieved considerable results in that battle, but their own losses were also not small.

After the Moon Army troops withdrew and launched defense on the spot, Chen Ziyun contacted Chu Yunfei immediately.

The two sides communicated repeatedly through telegrams, asking whether Chu Yunfei had agreed to Chen Ziyun's request for combat.

The three independent infantry battalions all withdrew, and at the same time they were followed by Zhou Wenbo's field artillery company.

Two mountain artillery companies, a guard company, a cavalry company, and a hundred heavy troops were left behind by Chen Ziyun.

Did Chen Ziyun, who came from the east, plan to use guerrilla tactics to attack the Japanese army?

Otherwise, if we continue to fight positional warfare, the casualties and losses will be even greater.

The overall losses of Wu Ziqiang and Shi Yuji's battalions were considerable. They asked if they could continue to fight eastward, as this would be to the point of breaking their muscles and bones.

A troop is the same as a young man. Skin trauma will not have much impact, but if it has injured its muscles and bones, it will be difficult to recover without a period of rest.

In order to ensure the capability of these two battalions for subsequent operations, Chen Ziyun will withdraw them directly.

As for the 7th Battalion of Zhang Fuli's Independent Infantry, Chen Ziyun didn't think it would be a hindrance to them to stay there at all.

Zhang Fuxin asked if they could stay there. Special troops would have to be dispatched to guard them.

Therefore, Chen Ziyun left all his trustworthy troops in the east, so that he would not be able to command them with ease.
To be continued...