bookmarkrole #142 - North Upper Border Area
#142 - North Upper Border Area
Ren Zhong decided to return north ahead of schedule. In early October, he heard battle reports of the counterattack that had destroyed most of the Zhengtai Line and part of the Tongpu Line. A total of more than 20 regiments were deployed, completely annihilating four or five Japanese squads at the battalion level, and countless Japanese soldiers at the company level and below. The cumulative number of Japanese soldiers annihilated exceeded 10,000, and the number of wounded Japanese soldiers was as high as 30,000 or more.
The Japanese army's 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, and 9th Independent Mixed Brigades suffered heavy casualties in this counterattack by the Eighth Route Army due to insufficient preparation. In the early stages, they basically launched counterattacks in battalion-sized units. The division commander and brigade commander seized the opportunity to systematically encircle and kill battalion-level units, resulting in heavy casualties. The six brigades were basically beaten into semi-crippled states and retreated back to county towns and strongholds.
Among them, the 38th Infantry Battalion and the 40th Infantry Battalion of the 9th Independent Mixed Brigade were completely wiped out by the brigade commander, from the battalion commander to the subordinate sergeant. This made them the most miserable brigade in this round for the Japanese army.
As for the puppet troops, more than 20,000 were eliminated or captured, including more than 2,000 who defected on the battlefield.
This was based on several considerations. First, after more than a month of fierce fighting, the reserves of weapons and ammunition that Ren Zhong had brought to the main regiments of the base area were basically exhausted. Whether it was bullets, rockets, mortar shells, or explosive packs, even mines and hand grenades were consumed in large quantities. The reason why the first stage of the battle won several beautiful annihilation battles was basically due to the abundant weapons and ammunition. The guerrillas relied on hand grenades and mines to complete the arduous task of delaying and blocking reinforcements.
The main force had sufficient 82mm mortars to form a firepower advantage, coupled with the large-scale use of grenade launchers, effectively offsetting the Japanese army's firepower advantage at the front, which made it possible for four or five main regiments to encircle and annihilate a battalion.
Secondly, the Japanese army had changed its tactics and mobilized heavy troops to respond. The 110th Division, 25th Division, 41st Division, 26th Division, and 36th Division entered the combat area separately, and no longer dispatched troops in battalions, but at least in regimental units. Moreover, the regiments ensured that they would not be more than 50 kilometers apart, so that the Japanese army would unite into a heavy troop group of a brigade within at least 4 or 5 hours.
Moreover, they possessed heavy firepower such as mountain guns and field guns. In this way, the main force of the base area would not be able to confront such a heavy troop group head-on.
The balance of power between the enemy and us began to shift. Continuing the offensive, our army's losses might increase sharply. In the original historical timeline, the second and third stages suffered huge losses for this reason, and some military sub-districts even had their main regiments almost wiped out.
Thirdly, the current counterattack results have shocked the world and inspired the people, and at the same time, it has rectified the names of the border area and the Eighth Route Army, allowing the US and Russia to see the potential of the border area and take the initiative to contact them, preparing to provide some necessary assistance to the border area. The people were even more jubilant, and the mainstream civil media praised this counterattack as a ray of light in the darkness.
But because of this, the head of the Guomindang was furious, slammed the table, and scolded the heads of the three armies, the Statistics Bureau, and the Secrecy Bureau several times, and then ordered a complete cut off of all supplies to the border area and imposed a material blockade!
Not only was there a huge financial loss, but the powerful combat power that the Eighth Route Army was now showing had made the head of the Guomindang feel genuinely fearful. Now only more than 20 regiments and tens of thousands of main troops have been exposed. If more troops and designations continue to be deployed, I am afraid it will be more than just cutting off supplies.
Therefore, Ren Zhong suggested to the brigade commander that this counterattack could end large-scale battles and instead begin to transition to anti-mopping-up battle preparations.
Ren Zhong's suggestion was well-founded. After receiving it, the brigade commander pondered for nearly a day, and finally decided to submit Ren Zhong's suggestion to the headquarters leaders for discussion and decision-making, and on the basis of Ren Zhong's suggestion, he also listed some of his own worries and suggestions.
For the brigade commander, who had a very strong overall view, he knew more internal information than Ren Zhong. Although this counterattack had fought many encirclement and annihilation battles and seized a lot of guns and ammunition, in terms of consumption, in order to annihilate the encircled Japanese battalion in a few hours, the brigade commander did not care about the consequences of ammunition output to his subordinate main regiments!
Some main regiments used up half of their regiment's ammunition reserves overnight!
Ren Zhong's ammunition consumption was too large, and he was actually running out of ammunition. After several major battles, many main regiments returned to the situation before Ren Zhong came overnight. The average number of bullets per person may be only a dozen or twenty!
Even the stingy Li Yunlong's Independent Regiment, the current ammunition reserves, plus the captured ones, are now less than one-third of what they were before the war!
This is still the best level among the main regiments.
Therefore, the brigade commander believed that Ren Zhong's suggestion was very necessary to remind the headquarters.
Ren Zhong didn't think so much, just did what he should do, and then exchanged for horses in Rongcheng, and began his horseback life all the way north. At this time, his major status began to play a role, and no one with no eyes dared to stop him along the way, and he successfully entered the border area.
He connected with Jiang Chongjing, the Minister of Military Industry, who was waiting there.
"Boss Ren, you've worked hard all the way. I'm Jiang Chongjing. From now on, you can contact me for liaison matters in the border area." A middle-aged man with glasses looked at Ren Zhong and his party riding over, recognized Ren Zhong who was running in front as the leader, and greeted him with a smile.
"Minister Jiang, I've kept you waiting!" Ren Zhong dismounted and stepped forward to shake hands with Jiang Chongjing.
"Boss Ren, you're too polite, it's all right, it's all right, Boss Ren, comrades, let's go to the cave to rest for a while, and we'll have a reception for you later!" Jiang Chongjing said with a loud laugh.
Then Hu Zi and others dismounted together and accompanied Ren Zhong to the cave.
This was the first time Ren Zhong had seen a cave. The first thing that caught his eye was a wide adobe bed, which occupied a small half of the cave's space. The bed was covered with cyan-gray cushions and tofu-like cotton quilts, simple and clean.
"Minister Jiang, don't bother, we'll do it ourselves, just drink plain water." Ren Zhong felt a little embarrassed to see Minister Jiang busy alone while he and more than a dozen people were sitting there.
"It's no trouble, Boss Ren, how could we not treat you to a cup of hot tea when you come to the border area? I often hear Lao Zhang mention you at meetings. You have really created a remarkable career. This time in the border area, Boss Ren, you arrange it, and I will cooperate with you!" Minister Jiang put his posture very low.
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