The Sword of Swords is a Guard for Kong Jie

The former enemy headquarters of the Japanese army outside the mountain, Major General Ikeda, the brigade commander, personally sits here and directs the upcoming sweep.

The chief of staff stood aside, pointing to the map on the table to introduce his sweeping plan for the fifth time, his mouth was almost dry, and the brigade commander still didn't want to stop.

This doesn't mean that Major General Ikeda doesn't believe in this battle plan, but because this big sweep is too important, Okamura Ningji guards the results of the Beiping war, and there can't be any mistakes, so he can't help but pay attention to it.

"General, we have taken into account the loopholes that may arise during the sweeping process. As long as all the sweeping forces coordinate closely, strictly implement the sweeping plan, advance and retreat together, do not advance alone, and do not give the Eighth Route Army any chance to defeat us, we will at best fight against them in guerrilla warfare." Pay some price under the attack, and the final victory will definitely belong to us." The chief of staff was very confident in his plan, and after speaking, he assured Major General Ikeda.

Ikeda stared at the map, his mind was running fast, and he went through the whole plan in his mind again before speaking: "Yes, the plan is very complete, and the considerations are very thorough. There are almost no loopholes. I can't make any additional comments. Order The troops participating in the war strictly implemented the mopping up plan, and whoever disobeyed the command, except for problems, I will send to a military court.”

After finishing speaking, he looked away from the map, looked at the chief of staff and continued to ask: "Are all the participating troops ready?"

"Ha Yi..." the chief of staff reported seriously.

"In order to reduce the logistics supply pressure of the participating troops and prevent the troops from entering the mountains, the Eighth Route Army cut off our army's logistics supply line. The headquarters prepared three-day individual combat supplies for each participating soldier and carried them with him."

"A three-day reserve supply was also prepared for each participating force, which was carried by the transport troops. In case the sweeping stalemate persists and the battle does not end within three days, these reserve supplies are sufficient for the participating troops to last until the end of the battle."

"All heavy weapons are transported by mules and horses, reducing the pressure on infantry marching, and concentrating all energy on a decisive battle with the Eighth Route Army."

"The guides have also been found, and each infantry squadron is guaranteed to have one."

"As long as the brigade commander gives the order, the troops can enter the mountain immediately."

Major General Ikeda glanced at his watch and ordered: "Strictly follow the plan. It is now 07:30 in the morning, eight o'clock sharp, that is, half an hour later, and all participating troops will start on time."

…………

On the mountain path, more than 100 puppet troops are in front, and more than [-] devils are behind, armed with rifles, spread out in battle formation, scattered within a range of [-] meters centered on the path, and observe the surroundings while advancing .

When you encounter a suspicious bush, raise your bayonet-mounted rifle and stab it in to ensure that there is no danger before moving on.

This is the forward search team sent by the Japanese and puppet troops to ensure that there is no danger on the roadside when the main force passes.

"Da da da……"

More than 40 meters in front of the bushes, there was a sudden sound of machine guns and machine guns, and three Japanese and puppet soldiers who were searching and advancing fell to the ground. Each of them had two blood holes in their chests, and they knew at a glance that they were hopeless. .

The little devils in the team reacted very quickly. They squatted on the ground as soon as the gun rang, and they held the rifles flat in their hands at the same time. They pulled the trigger at the position where the gun was fired just now, and the crackling gunshots soon became one.

After the gunfire on the opposite side stopped, except for the Devil machine gunner who continued to shoot the bushes to suppress the opponent's firepower, the rifleman had already stood up from the ground, bent over, and quickly formed an offensive formation to kill the target, as if to kill the opponent.

"Boom..." Two explosions sounded in the crowd at the same time. In the smoke, three puppet soldiers and two devils fell to the ground. Three wounded were still awake, lying on the ground clutching the wounds from the grenade scream.

Although the two explosions did not stop the Japanese and puppet troops from attacking, they were frightened by the explosion, for fear that they would also step on a booby trap and follow in their footsteps.When rushing forward again, the steps under his feet were obviously much slower than before.

"Da da da... Papa pa..." The familiar gunshots sounded again, there were many more rifle shots than before, and there were several more positions. It felt like the Eighth Route Army was everywhere in front of it.

Five soldiers were shot, three were killed and two were injured. The remaining Japanese and puppet troops were so frightened that they had to squat down and lie down again, for fear that the opponent would launch stronger blocking firepower.

As a result, the gunfire only rang for one round and then disappeared, as if the attack just now had never happened.

The leader of the devil's team was irritated by the repeated sneak attacks of the Eighth Route Army. He drew out his command knife and pointed forward and ordered: "Ba Geya Road, the enemy wants to consume our troops through sneak attacks."

"There are not many troops, rush to destroy them immediately, cover with machine guns..."

The task of the forward search team is to clear all potential safety hazards on the marching road of the troops. Major General Ikeda's order not to take the initiative to attack does not apply to them.

As long as you don't run too far, in order to ensure the safety of the main force, it's okay to attack appropriately.

After the team leader gave the order to attack, none of his subordinates objected. He charged forward with a weapon in his hand. The speed was very fast, and he was proficient in various tactical moves. .

After a while, dozens of devils took down the bushes.

Except for a dozen bullet casings that were still steaming, there was not a single shadow of the Eighth Route Army.

The devil immediately searched around, trying to find the traces left by the opponent's retreat.

Although it was found, it also detonated two booby traps deliberately left on the road by the retreating troops.

In the violent explosion, several Japanese and puppet soldiers fell in a pool of blood.

…………

Ikeda Shaozuo went into the mountain together with the mopping forces in the middle road. As soon as he reached the mountain pass, there was a burst of machine gun fire in front of him.

The chief of staff saw that the face of the brigade commander suddenly turned ugly, and hurriedly stood up and explained: "General, the surprise attack on the forward troops by the Eighth Route Army is within our plan, and the possible price that the forward search team may pay is within our ability. Please Don't worry too much, the Eighth Route Army's sneak attack troops will be repulsed by them soon."

"When we reach Mao'er Mountain, the Eighth Route Army hiding in the forest and fighting guerrillas will have to stand up and fight us in order to protect the garrison. At that time, we will be ashamed and avenge the warriors who died in battle."

Major General Ikeda looked much better, waved his hands and said, "I know all about what you said."

"It's just that I didn't expect the troops to be attacked as soon as they entered the mountain, which shows that our opponents have made full preparations for this anti-mopping up, and our army's casualties in response to guerrilla warfare are likely to exceed expectations."

The chief of staff said indifferently: "Please rest assured, the general, the humble position has long been prepared."

"The two regiments of the Imperial Association Army are the cannon fodder for our guerrilla warfare against the Eighth Route Army."

"The vanguard search team is dominated by the Imperial Association Army. After being attacked, the casualties are also dominated by the Imperial Association Army. The proportion of the Imperial Army is very low."

"As long as there are no casualties in the main force of the imperial army, the combat effectiveness of the mopping up troops will not be affected, and we are absolutely sure that the Eighth Route Army will be wiped out in Mao'er Mountain."

Seeing that the chief of staff said so confidently, Major General Ikeda couldn't beat his confidence face to face, so he nodded to show that he believed in him.

Two minutes later, the sound of firefight from the forward search team finally stopped. Major General Ikeda also entered the mountain at this moment. Looking at the increasingly complicated terrain around him, and thinking of the sound of firefight just now, he felt a faint sense of uneasiness in his heart. It seems that something has not been considered.

When I wanted to think about this matter in depth, the inner anxiety disappeared again, and in the end I could only regard it as an illusion, thinking that I was under too much pressure and thinking too much.

"Report sir, the forward search team was attacked by the enemy..." A messenger suddenly ran to Major General Ikeda to report.

In order to reassure the head of the brigade completely, the chief of staff believed that all the accidents that happened in the mountains were within his plan, so he asked confidently, "Tell me in detail?"

"Hayi..." The messenger reported loudly: "About two infantry squads from the other side ambushed in advance on our army's final route, attacking us with light machine guns, rifles, and grenades from a long distance, but we have already repelled them."

"We were killed five imperial soldiers, two were seriously injured, six were killed by the Imperial Association Army, and four were seriously injured. In order not to affect the task of the troops, the wounded remained on the road, please arrange the troops to take over."

The chief of staff knew that the search team would suffer casualties, but he didn't expect them to suffer so many casualties. Including the Imperial Association Army, almost half of the platoon was lost.

"What about the casualties of the Eighth Route Army? After fighting for so long, their casualties should be no less than ours..."

Now it was the messenger's turn to be embarrassed, and he opened his mouth several times before mustering up the courage to report: "The search team only found some bullet casings left by the Eighth Route Army on the battlefield, but not a single corpse of the Eighth Route Army."

"The captain thinks that the Eighth Route Army took away the wounded and dead soldiers' bodies when they retreated..."

"This is impossible..." The chief of staff was even more embarrassed than before, his face full of disbelief.

As for the explanation of the leader of the search team, it is simply impossible.

The Eighth Route Army was in a hurry to evacuate from the battlefield, and time was precious, and a second of delay on the road could lead to death. No matter how stupid the opponent was, it would be impossible to retreat with the corpse. It would be nice to be able to take the wounded away.

It means that in the exchange of fire just now, the Eighth Route Army's surprise attack troops did not die, but half of the platoon of the mopping up troops was reimbursed, with a casualty ratio of almost [-] to zero.

If the following guerrilla warfare is the result of this, even if it does not affect the overall combat effectiveness of the sweeping troops, it will have a bad impact on the morale and morale of the troops.

Major General Ikeda had already prepared for the loss of troops to far exceed the plan, but it turned out to be so much more than that, and his heart was immediately cast a shadow over the next sweep.

With a long sigh, he said, "The appetizer prepared by the Eighth Route Army is too scary. We must find a way to break the situation, and we can't be passively beaten all the time."

"Immediately strengthen the forward search team with double the number of light machine guns and grenade launchers. After being attacked, immediately use grenade launchers and machine guns to cover the enemy's hiding place, so as not to give them a chance to escape."

"Twice as many light machine guns and grenade launchers are not enough, so triple it. I don't believe that those sneak attackers can't be wiped out."

The first update is delivered today, please make a full order!