Check in from the bright sword

Sun Ming said: "What a waste of such good equipment. If these equipment are given to our independent regiment, Heyuan County and even Ping'an County can be taken in minutes."

Wang Yan said: "Even if we don't have these equipments, we can still win Heyuan County and Ping'an County."

While speaking, Wang Yan jumped up from the hideout and shouted: "Give me an order, the 1st company of the cavalry immediately retreat and break away from the little devils! The Spike Squad and the guard squad alternately cover and retreat towards Dagu Mountain."

Two hours later, the 1st Company of Cavalry led by Sun Desheng joined the Spike Squad and the Guard Squad led by Wang Yan.

Sun Desheng happily reported to Wang Yan: "Chief of Staff, this time we really made a fortune, and one guy captured more than 160 military horses!"

"So many military horses are enough to expand two cavalry companies."

"It's just that the training of the cavalry is a big problem. It will take several months to expand the expansion of two companies."

"What are you afraid of delaying for a few months? There are no major combat missions now." Wang Yan said, "Hurry up and expand your army while you have time to train, otherwise, your cavalry battalion will still be there when there is a major combat operation." Training soldiers, then you can only catch the blind."

"Yes yes yes." Sun Desheng said, "I will expand it later."

At this time, Wei Dayong hurried over with Wei Xiaoyong and Wei Xiaowu.

"Chief of Staff, the devils have withdrawn." Wei Dayong panted, "However, before retreating, the devils set fire to Shuanghe Town and a dozen nearby villages."

"Damn it, these bastards who kill a thousand swords." Sun Desheng, Sun Ming and the others immediately sank when they heard this.

The devils burned Shuanghe Town and a dozen or so nearby villages. The people in this area suffered, and so did their independent regiment, because they had to provide supplies to help the affected people.

Otherwise, these people will die if they lack food and clothing and no place to live.

Fortunately, there are now more and more factories in the northwestern border area of ​​Shanxi, and the scale is also getting bigger and bigger, so there is no need to worry about having no place to house these people.

Wang Yan was not very angry in his heart.

By doing this, the devils are actually helping their independent regiment expand its influence in a sense.

Because Shuanghe town was originally a guerrilla area, it belonged to the middle area where both Chinese and Japanese armies were fighting. The people here neither completely surrendered to the Japanese army, nor fell to the Eighth Route Army.

But now that the Japanese army set fire to it like this, the people in Shuanghe Town directly fell to the Eighth Route Army.

Before long, Shuanghe Town and its surrounding areas will also become part of the Northwest Border Region of Shanxi Province, and thousands of people here will also become hardcore supporters of the Independent Regiment of the Eighth Route Army.

This also means that the Independent Regiment of the Eighth Route Army will have several hundred more soldiers!

This also means that the situation of the Japanese army in Shanxi will become more difficult, and the situation of the Independent Regiment of the Eighth Route Army will become more favorable. Although this variable is small, it will be very considerable over time!When this variable accumulates to a certain level, it will change from quantitative to qualitative, triggering a subversive reversal of the situation in Shanxi!

Ryoichi Yamamoto has been keenly aware of this.

Therefore, after returning to Ping'an County, Yamamoto Ryoichi made it clear to Inoue Zhenwei.

"Division Commander, we don't know what the situation is in Jinzhong, Jinnan, and Southeast Shanxi, but the situation in Northwest Shanxi is already very serious." Ryoichi Yamamoto said, "The defeat of this ambush further illustrates this point. "

"I found that although the imperial army's technical and tactical level has declined in the past two years, and the Eighth Route Army's technical and tactical level has increased, there has not been a fundamental reversal or imbalance in the technical and tactical levels of the two sides."

"That is to say, apart from a few elite units of the Independent Regiment, the Imperial Army's technical and tactical level still has an advantage."

"But why can't it be reflected in actual combat? Instead, it will be subject to the Eighth Route Army everywhere, and even become difficult to move?"

"The main reason is that the Eighth Route Army has a huge enemy in terms of intelligence that the Imperial Army cannot match. The Eighth Route Army knows every move of the Imperial Army."

"But the Imperial Army knows nothing about the movements of the Eighth Route Army."

"Even the presidents of the township maintenance associations in various counties, due to the situation, have begun to disobey the imperial army."

"This made the imperial army's situation more difficult. When they left the county, the imperial army immediately became deaf and blind. It would be strange not to suffer defeat under such circumstances!"

"Like this sortie."

"We thought we were doing it unnoticed."

"But in fact, the Eighth Route Army already knew the overall plan of the Imperial Army."

"It is precisely because the Eighth Route Army knew about the imperial army's plan that it made a highly targeted deployment, and actually hid the ambush under the imperial army's nose, but the imperial army was ignorant of this."

Inoue Zhenwei frowned more and more, and said, "So, what is your conclusion?"

Ryoichi Yamamoto took a breath, and said in a deep voice: "My conclusion is that our division has reached the moment when we must shrink. We must abandon the outer strongholds and concentrate our main forces on more than a dozen counties and along the Tongpu Railway. The main stronghold, as for other strongholds, let’s give up all of them.”

Chapter 447

"No."

Inoue Sadae flatly refused: "Yamamoto-kun, do you still remember the Six Kingdoms theory I told you?"

"Hayi, of course I remember." Ryo Yamamoto paused and said, "However, Commander, the current situation is very different from before, and we can no longer blindly abide by the original standards."

"Different?" Inoue Zhenwei frowned, "What's the difference?"

Ryoichi Yamamoto sighed and said, "Is the head of the division testing me?"

Inoue Zhenwei said: "You mean, the strength of the Eighth Route Army has increased?"

"It's not just that the troops have increased." Ryoichi Yamamoto shook his head and said, "More importantly, the combat experience and combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army have also been greatly improved!"

"So, right now, the security pressure our 69th Division is facing can be said to be double or even triple what it was before."

"At this time, we continue to maintain the original law and order standards and stick to the hundreds of strongholds on the periphery. As a result, these hundreds of strongholds will become bleeding points that continue to lose blood."

"Until the last drop of blood of our division is exhausted."

"In the end, not only the outer strongholds cannot be defended, but even Ping'an County and even the Tongpu Railway cannot be defended, and even the entire northwestern Shanxi region will become the territory of the Eighth Route Army!"

"Master, such a result is absolutely unbearable for us."

Inoue Zhenwei immediately fell silent, because he knew that what Yamamoto Ryoichi said was the truth.

In recent months, the number of troops of the Eighth Route Army in Northwest Shanxi has indeed expanded rapidly.

Although there is no exact figure, according to the estimates of the intelligence department, the Eighth Route Army in Northwest Shanxi, including the Li Yunlong Independent Regiment, the Ding Weixin First Regiment, and the Kong Jiexin Second Regiment, may have a total strength of more than 2 troops!

In other words, the total strength of the Eighth Route Army has surpassed the strength of the Japanese army in Northwest Shanxi!

Because the Japanese army in Northwest Shanxi has only one 69th Division, the full staff is only 18000 people!

What worries Zhenwei Inoue even more is that all infantry brigades of the 69th Division are severely short-staffed.

Therefore, the actual strength of the 69th Division is actually less than 15000 people. This number seems to be a lot, but when divided among more than 500 large and small strongholds, each stronghold has an average of more than 30 people.

Of course, in fact, there are far less than 30 Japanese troops in each stronghold, not even half of them.

Because at least half of the 69th Division's strength is a mobile force, not a garrison.