Draw the sword and cure the fear of insufficient firepower

"Report to the brigade commander! There's a call from the headquarters!"

"Inform the 9th Brigade, the 36th Brigade, and the 3rd Tank Regiment. The headquarters has received the tragic news. The entire locust army of the 36th Division has pledged loyalty to His Majesty the Heavenly Locust!"

"There is now a force of about 386 Eighth Route Army soldiers equipped with a large number of tanks, rocket launchers, and machine guns, as well as three regiments of the th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army moving towards Rongcheng!"

"General Shinozuka and Chief of Staff Miyano, strictly order the 9th Brigade, the 36th Brigade, and the 3rd Tank Regiment to withdraw from Rongcheng immediately!"

"All units, retreat as quickly as possible towards the Lingquan direction!"

"This order is extremely urgent. If you don't obey, you will be subject to military law!!"

"Telegram from Yoshio Shinozuka, commander of the First Army of the North China Front in Shanxi Province, and Kenfumi Miyano, chief of staff!"

Just as Ozawa Toru and others were preparing for the next move, the communications staff officer came running over with a telegram from the Taiyuan Command and read it loudly.

"Nani?!"

"The entire 36th Division was annihilated?!"

"What a bunch of losers! Idiots!"

"Even if there were more than 20,000 pigs, the Eighth Route Army wouldn't be able to catch them all in three days and three nights!"

"We have already occupied Rongcheng! Ahhh!! Yamagami Inujiro has misled me!!"

"Give me another month... no, give me another half a month, and I'm 80% sure that I can capture Yang County!"

"If we retreat now, all our efforts will be wasted!"

After hearing the telegram, the commander of the 9th Brigade, Osawa Che, looked incredulous. He quickly walked to the communications staff officer, snatched the telegram and examined it carefully.

At the same time, the commander of the 36th Brigade and the commander of the 3rd Tank Regiment also came over to watch.

Not only Ozawa Toru couldn't believe it, the other two couldn't believe it either.

Since the locust army attacked China, there has never been a precedent of destroying an entire division in just a few days.

Moreover, they were completely wiped out by an Eighth Route Army force of more than 4,000 people!

Who dares to believe it!

However, the telegram was sent in the name of Yoshio Shinozuka and Kenfumi Miyano, which means that the matter is true.

Then this is too terrible!

At this point, Toru Osawa finally believed that the death of the 8th Mixed Brigade was not because Sakamoto was incompetent, but because the 8th Route Army was indeed powerful.

If what the headquarters said was true, then the Eighth Route Army would already be on the way.

This was a serious matter; his retreat was cut off.

By then, we will be surrounded.

"No, retreat quickly!"

"Since the 36th Division was completely destroyed, it means that the intelligence of the Eighth Route Army was exactly as the Commander said!"

"If that's the case, even our three armies combined may not be their match!"

"Order the troops! Quickly withdraw from Rongcheng!"

"Leave a regiment behind to cover our retreat!"

Ozawa Toru was horrified, it turned out that he didn't take the Eighth Route Army seriously.

However, since the mopping-up operation began, whenever the locust troops encountered the Eighth Route Army, they seemed to have no other option but to die in battle.

What’s exaggerated is that it seems that no matter how many people there are in the locust army, they can eat them all.

I don't know how the Eighth Route Army did it.

But their top priority now is to retreat quickly!

The 9th Brigade was the Japs' elite force and responded very quickly.

Ozawa Toru ordered his Kojuro Regiment, the 10th Division of the Locust Army, and the 17th Mixed Brigade to stay behind to cover the retreat.

Now to his west, the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army has assembled six divisions and is building a defense line.

Although the east was the direction they came from, and the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army along the way had been eliminated by them, there were no other Chinese troops.

But to his north, the three divisions of the Central Army had already assembled and were on standby. It was only the infighting within the Chinese army that gave Ozawa Toru and his men the opportunity to capture Rong City.

Moreover, Yi County had already been occupied by them. In this case, retreating along their previous attack route would be the safest way.

No matter how powerful the Eighth Route Army is, they rely on their own two legs after all. The Locust Army has trucks and motorcycles. Are they still worried that they cannot outrun the Eighth Route Army?

Ozawa Toru quickly found the location of Liujiashan on the map, which was 264 kilometers away from Rongcheng, while their locust army was only 200 kilometers away from Lingquan's nest.

No matter what, the Eighth Route Army could not surround them.

But I wonder if those divisions of the Central Army will get involved.

Although the Central Army's weapons and equipment were better than those of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, they were still not enough in front of the Locust Army.

Let’s not talk about anything else, with just a tank regiment, what can the Central Army use to fight?

However, if the Central Army took action to intercept them, it would inevitably waste time.

The most precious thing for them now is time, and they must not be delayed by the Central Army or the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army.

The order to retreat was quickly given.

The Japanese withdrew from Rongcheng with the tank regiment in the lead, the 36th Brigade in the middle, and the th Brigade in the rear.

Before leaving, Ozawa Toru called Xiaoju over.

"Xiaoju-kun, your Xiaoju Regiment is the elite of our Ninth Brigade. We cannot afford to lose any of them."

"The reason why we asked you to cover our retreat is to reassure the Locust Alliance."

"Otherwise, once we retreat, the Locust Army will have no chance of holding off the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army's pursuers."

"They either surrender or they withdraw once we leave."

"So, be careful and let the Locust Army and the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army fight first. When they are stuck and can't get away, you can quickly lead the Locust Army to retreat!"

"do you understand?"

Ozawa Toru said earnestly.

In his eyes, the Locust Army was no different from cattle and horses, and sometimes they were even worse than cattle and horses.

After all, cattle and horses can carry supplies and can be used to satisfy hunger in difficult times.

The Locust Association's men received the Locust Army's military pay and ate its food, but they did not put in any effort in the battle and their combat effectiveness was extremely low.

In the eyes of the Japs, they were just cannon fodder.

Since we are cannon fodder, we should make full use of the power of artillery fire.

"Ha! I understand!"

"When the brigade commander retreats 100 kilometers, I will lead the locust army to retreat!"

The squadron leader Xiaoju bowed and said.

The brigade commander is the brigade commander. Not only is his attack fierce, but he also arranges his retreat clearly.

It’s just that the poor Locust Army is still thinking about winning the war, and their contribution will definitely be indispensable.

After returning, the locust army will be rewarded generously.

They had no idea what would greet them...

……

The Shanxi-Suiyuan Army’s position on the outskirts of Yang County.

This time, the commander-in-chief sent a general here to command the defense of Yang County.

"Report to Commander Fu! Report from the forward observation post, the Japanese have withdrawn from Rongcheng and are heading east!"

"Right now, there are only the Xiaoju Brigade of the Ninth Brigade and tens of thousands of Locust Army soldiers in Rongcheng!"

Cai Kun, commander of the 88th Division of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, came running to report.

"What?! Withdrawing from Rongcheng?!"

"what's the situation?!"

"Send someone to continue following us, and don't expose yourself! If the devils have any tricks, it will be troublesome!"

"At the same time, have the left and right defense lines step up their vigilance and send more people to investigate to see if the Japanese are planning to attack us from the flanks!"

Commander Fu looked confused. They were working overtime to build a defense line.

If the Japs suddenly launched a surprise attack from behind, they would not be able to withstand it...

The commander-in-chief issued a thundering order this time. Anyone who took a step back would die. If Yang County was occupied by the Japanese, he would have no chance of success. Whoever's position was breached would be beheaded.