Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Major Sugimoto Mamoru quickly rushed to the nearest heavy machine gun position. Five Japanese soldiers who were killed by the sharpshooters of the new 210th Division were lying next to the heavy machine gun. Major Sugimoto Mamoru dragged away the bodies of the soldiers behind the heavy machine gun, and then he operated the heavy machine gun and started shooting. Two soldiers followed him, and they were responsible for loading the heavy machine gun.

After Major Sugimoto Mamoru had been operating the heavy machine gun and firing wildly for thirty seconds, he suddenly felt a pain in his chest, and then his whole body was carried backwards by a huge inertia. Major Sugimoto Mamoru knew that he had been hit by the Chinese army.

Major Mamoru Sugimoto now had only the blue sky in his eyes. He heard unclear shouting in his ears. He knew that it must be the two soldiers at his heavy machine gun position calling him, but he felt his eyelids getting heavier and heavier. He tried hard to open his eyes and told the soldiers loudly to keep shooting, but he found that he no longer had the strength to control his mouth to speak.

The two soldiers at the heavy machine gun position where Major Sugimoto Mamoru was located were now extremely anxious, as their captain had been hit by the bullets of the Chinese army. They were no longer able to operate the heavy machine gun to continue shooting, and they crawled to the captain, Major Sugimoto Mamoru, to check on his injuries.

The two soldiers saw that the uniform of the battalion captain, Major Sugimoto Mamoru, was stained with blood, so one soldier quickly carried Major Sugimoto on his back. They needed to quickly send the battalion captain to the medical station at the back for treatment. If the battalion captain was gone, given the current situation of the First Battalion, it would basically be ruined.

When Major Sugimoto Mamoru was evacuated, the officers and soldiers of the attacking First Battalion were a little overwhelmed. The troops in the front actually wanted to withdraw, and now the heavy machine guns on their side had basically stopped firing. Without the suppression of heavy machine gun fire, they could not rush to the Chinese army's position with just their number of people. But now without orders, they could not retreat, which forced the remaining officers and soldiers of the First Battalion to hold on in front of the defensive position of the New 210th Division.

"Mr. Sato, what is the 1st Battalion doing? Why are the troops' actions so disorganized? And the troops in the front are obviously hesitant. How is Sugimoto Mamoru commanding?" The regiment commander, Colonel Kanichi Okabe, saw the current predicament of the 1st Battalion through the telescope. He was very dissatisfied with the current offensive of the 1st Battalion.

Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Sato Hideaki also didn't understand why the 1st Battalion's attack had turned out like this. There was a period of time before when the 1st Battalion's attack was clearly improving, but now the situation was that the 1st Battalion was pressed by the Chinese army at a distance of 100 meters in front of the defensive position and could not move.

"Your Excellency the Captain, I'll go and see what happened." Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Sato Hideaki decided to go and see for himself what had caused the First Battalion's attack to fail.

The regiment commander, Colonel Kan'ichi Okabe, uttered "hmm" softly, and then continued to hold the telescope to observe the attack situation of the troops in front.

Five minutes later, the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel Sato Hideaki, came to the commander of the regiment, Colonel Okabe Kanichi, with an anxious look on his face and whispered, "Your Excellency, the commander of the First Battalion, Major Sugimoto Mamoru, was shot in the chest by a bullet from the Chinese army. He has been rushed down from the front, but he died before he could be taken to the medical station. Therefore, the First Battalion is now without a commander. I have asked Major Oshima Hisatada of the Second Battalion to take his troops to replace the soldiers of the First Battalion and withdraw."

"What? Major Sugimoto Mamoru died? Damn, how could he be hit by the Chinese army? Did he personally lead the troops to charge?" The regiment commander, Colonel Okabe Kanichi, put down the telescope in his hand in surprise, turned his head and looked at the chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Sato Hideaki with surprise.

Colonel Kan'ichi Okabe had to be shocked. A battalion commander was killed on the first day of the official attack. This was not a good sign.

"Mr. Sato, you must personally reorganize the officers and soldiers who have withdrawn from the First Battalion. Also, let the officers and soldiers of the Third Battalion be ready to launch an attack at any time." Colonel Kanichi Okabe also gave consecutive orders.

Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Sato Hideaki bowed and turned to carry out the order of the regiment commander Colonel Okabe Kanichi. At the same time, he began to think about the reorganization of the 1st Battalion.

At the starting position of the 41st Regiment, the officers and soldiers of the retreating First Battalion were all sitting on the ground to rest. It was after they retreated that they learned the news that their commander, Major Sugimoto Mamoru, had died, which made everyone feel very depressed.

Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Sato Hideaki came to the resting place of the First Battalion. He asked all the surviving officers of the First Battalion to gather together. He needed to understand the specific situation of the First Battalion first, and then reorganize the officers and soldiers of the First Battalion.

Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Sato Hideaki looked at the five officers in front of him. He couldn't believe that the First Battalion only had so few officers. He pointed at the highest-ranking captain present and asked uncertainly, "Captain, what's your name? Have all the officers of your First Battalion been assembled? Are you sure?"

When Captain Sakata Nakajiro saw that Lieutenant Colonel Sato Hideaki, the chief of staff of the regiment, was asking him, he immediately stood at attention and said, "Your Excellency, the chief of staff, all the officers of the first battalion who are still there have been assembled. My name is Sakata Nakajiro, and I am the captain of the second squadron of the first battalion."

The Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel Sato Hideaki, looked at the officers in front of him. In addition to Captain Sakata Nakajiro, there were two lieutenants and two second lieutenants. He asked Captain Sakata Nakajiro helplessly, "How many people in your First Battalion can participate in the next battle?"

"Your Excellency Chief of Staff, there are still 380 soldiers in the First Battalion who can participate in the subsequent battles." After Captain Nakajiro Sakata said the number of officers and soldiers currently left in the First Battalion, he lowered his head deeply in embarrassment. Just now, when he counted the number of people in the First Battalion himself, he was also shocked.

After hearing the number said by Captain Nakajiro Sakata, Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Sato Hideaki was stunned where he was. This First Battalion could be directly organized into a squadron, and in future battles it could only be used as a squadron.

"Captain Nakajiro Sakata, now you go and reorganize the remaining soldiers of the 1st Battalion. As the regiment's reserve force, you will be responsible for guarding the departure position together with the regiment's escort squadron. Also, let the soldiers have a good rest first." Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Sato Hideaki could only let the remaining soldiers of the 1st Battalion serve as the regiment's reserve force. The soldiers of this squadron would not be able to play a big role in the battle on the front line.

After hearing the order from Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Sato Hideaki, Captain Nakajiro Sakata felt relaxed. Now the remaining soldiers of the First Battalion, including himself, could survive. He seemed to have an indescribable feeling about the positions of the Chinese army. He had never encountered such a difficult army on the battlefield in China. This was far beyond his comprehension.

After Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Hideaki Sato finished arranging matters for the 1st Battalion, he quickly walked to the side of the regiment commander, Colonel Kan'ichi Okabe. He needed to report and explain the matter to the regiment commander, Colonel Kan'ichi Okabe, so that the regiment commander, Colonel Kan'ichi Okabe, could use the troops more reasonably.

"Your Excellency the Regiment Commander, everything about the First Battalion has been arranged. I have currently asked Captain Nakajiro Sakata, the commander of the Second Squadron of the First Battalion, to be in charge of reorganizing the troops. The First Battalion now has only 380 soldiers, and only five officers can continue to fight. It is only enough to form a squadron. I have arranged for them to guard the departure position together with the escort squadron." Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Hideaki Sato explained the situation of the First Battalion in detail to Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Hideaki Sato.

After hearing the report from the chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Sato Hideaki, the commander of the regiment, Colonel Kanichi Okabe, was shocked. Two-thirds of the First Battalion were wiped out. The attack of the Second Battalion in front was not going well. The troops had not even been able to advance within a hundred meters of the Chinese army's position after attacking for so long. It seemed that he had to withdraw the troops and discuss the specific tactics with everyone.

"Mr. Sato, let the people from the Second Battalion withdraw. They have been attacking for so long without any breakthrough. Even if the Third Battalion continues the attack, I don't think there will be any progress. I think we should summarize the previous battles and study what methods to use to deal with future attacks." The commander of the regiment, Colonel Kanichi Okabe, said in a low voice to the chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Sato Hideaki.

Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Sato Hideaki also nodded in agreement. He felt that the attack of the troops should indeed be stopped. The losses of the First Battalion were really frightening. If the battle continued at this rate of losses, he couldn't say whether the Chinese army could occupy the position, but the 41st Regiment would definitely be destroyed.

The order to stop the attack and retreat from the regiment commander, Colonel Kan'ichi Okabe, was quickly executed by the officers and soldiers of the Second Battalion. Major Hisatada Oshima of the Second Battalion also quickly led the retreating officers and soldiers back to the starting position. With a painful look on his face, he took inventory of his Second Battalion.

As for the result, it was quite bad. The Second Battalion suffered the same casualty rate among officers as the First Battalion, and the loss of soldiers was also considerable. There were only 593 people left in the entire battalion. Faced with such a result, Major Hisatada Oshima felt that he must advise the regiment commander that the war could not be fought like this any longer, and other means had to be used.