In the Battle of Mashan, Ando lost nearly 200 officers and soldiers, seven light machine guns, four heavy machine guns, eighteen grenade launchers, one hundred and sixty-eight rifles, and five pistols.
The tragic defeat of Mashan alarmed the Japanese division headquarters in Zhouzhuang.
The next morning, the Linshui Regiment forwarded a call from the commander of the Miyamoto Division——
In order to completely eliminate the independent battalion and ensure that the Imperial Japanese Army permanently occupies Qiaonan, the division headquarters has ordered the Linshui Regiment to dispatch two squadrons to Qiaonan within five days.
In view of the serious attrition of your troops, the division and regiment headquarters also decided to strive to add 300 troops to your troops before mid-September. Only after the new troops are in place can the reinforcements near the water be evacuated from Qiaonan.
In the morning of that day, Ando held a meeting to arrange the clearing operation in advance, and all officers above the lieutenant level participated.
After the meeting began, Ando first announced——
Because Takasaki Ichiro sacrificed his life for the East Asian Jihad, and the lieutenant deputy captain of the 1st squadron was unfortunately killed in action, Shiro Ishikawa was appointed as the deputy captain of the squadron, and Tomita Ryohei was appointed as the captain of the 1st squadron.
On the next agenda, Ando made careful arrangements for the suppression operation.
According to Ando's judgment, the Independence Battalion is operating in the area around Mashan, and this area should be regarded as a key target for clearing up, and a carpet sweep should be adopted.
According to the unified deployment, this time the suppression troops were divided into two groups, with a total of more than 600 people deployed——
The group, commanded by Shiro Ishikawa, descended from the southwest of the county seat to Xianggou Town, and launched a search and suppression campaign in the sixteen villages and forests in the Xianggou area.
The other route was led by Tomita, extending westward along the perimeter of Heya Village, and then met up with Shiro Ishikawa.
Ando finally emphasized that before each unit reaches the designated area, only the participants can know about the clearing operation, and any violation will be punished under military law.
2
For two consecutive days, Shanzi spent time in extreme anxiety.
Although the traffic station invited another surgeon to the independent camp and the operation went smoothly, two seriously injured people died due to serious injuries, lack of specific drugs, and nursing conditions and technology.
In addition, many seriously injured patients have symptoms such as wound inflammation and high fever. If they are not controlled in a timely and effective manner, their condition will further deteriorate.
Chun'er also suffered from shrapnel penetrating deeply into her chest, and she has been in and out of consciousness after the operation.
At this time, Shanzi realized that due to frequent wars in the future, sick and wounded would appear at any time, and it was urgent for the independent battalion to have its own medical team.
So Shanzi instructed Xiaoru to send a report to the detachment to end Xiaoyan and the others' medical training ahead of schedule, and requested the detachment to dispatch two doctors and incorporate them into the independent battalion.
Shanzi also requested that the detachment must provide a batch of special medicines to meet the urgent need.
The telegram was sent at nine o'clock in the morning, but no reply was received until evening.
After dinner, Shanzi rushed into the report room again. As soon as he entered the door, he shouted: "Has the detachment called back?"
Seeing that Shanzi's face was as gloomy as a piece of black iron, Xiaoru hurriedly stood up and saluted: "Report to the battalion commander, I haven't received it yet."
Shanzi was about to have a seizure when he suddenly heard the ticking sound coming from the transmitter. Xiaoru quickly put on her earphones and recorded the numbers while listening to the signal.
Although this is a low-power radio with only two watts and can work with dry batteries, under the conditions at the time, especially among the Eighth Route Army, it was very rare.
The time was running out, so Xiaoru quickly translated the message and handed it to Shanzi excitedly: "Batalion Commander, the detachment agrees to your request. Xiaoyan and the others will arrive in a week."
Shanzi finally breathed a sigh of relief, but at this time no one expected that a devil's claw was quietly reaching towards Circle Ridge, and the base camp was facing a test of life and death.