Chapter 41
After Harada Keiichi and Nishiyi led nearly 10,000 people out of the North Gate, they retreated straight towards the direction of New Capital City. They did not want to retreat in the direction of Haer Bin. Although it was a mountain, it would be difficult for Zhao Wenbin's troops to find them after they entered the mountain. It seemed that their chances of escaping would be higher.
However, they did not have any supplies now. Once they entered the mountains, they were very likely to starve to death. Moreover, it was such a cold day. They were cold and hungry. They simply could not withstand it. They were another army that had just experienced a defeat.
Therefore, they immediately retreated in the direction of New Capital City. However, their path of retreat was not that simple.
They were less than three kilometers away from Hailin County when the bombs fell from the sky.
They kept falling into the Japanese army.
"Damn it! Are the Chinese really going to eat us all?”
Harada Keiichi's face inevitably showed a panicked expression.
"Regiment Commander, the Chinese are chasing after us!”
At this moment, Chief of Staff He Zichuan pointed to the distance behind him and shouted.
Harada turned his head and saw a group of people chasing after him about a kilometer away.
"These damn Chinese people! Leave the lightly injured behind. The rest of you, follow me and retreat immediately! Then, give some ammo to the wounded!”
Some of the soldiers gave their remaining ammunition to the injured soldiers, and the injured soldiers stayed behind to stop the pursuing Chinese soldiers.
Keiichi Harada looked at the soldiers who quickly bid farewell to their comrades and could not help but tear up.
"Auntie Amaterasu! What's going on?!"
Harada Keiichi couldn't help but laugh bitterly. If these injured people stayed, he and Xiyi's army would only have around six thousand men left.
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Boli County, 20th division headquarters.
"Regiment Commander, why are we not moving? Aren't we going south to attack the Chinese people's nest?”
Chief of Staff Chizuru Masutaro looked at his Major General Nakajima and said with a puzzled expression. Ever since they arrived here last night, Nakajima had ordered the troops to rest well. This morning, he did not order the troops to continue advancing. This made him a little puzzled. He could not understand why Nakajima would do this.
"Thousand Crane Lord, you don't understand. "Our mission this time is actually more of a deterrent. It's not good for us to directly fight with the Chinese people. After all, we are on an expedition, and our troops are very tired. Additionally, I received telegrams from the 8th and 11th divisions. The Chinese have a large number of cannons. We don't even have a Field Artillery Regiment in Manchuria.
Our field artillery regiment is still on the mainland. How can we fight the Chinese without artillery? It was still fine when they fought the Chinese people at the Great Wall. After all, the Chinese army did not have any cannons. However, these Chinese people had a large number of cannons.
Moreover, if the Chinese people know that we have arrived at Boli County, they will definitely come back to help. With the support of the railway, they could return to Jixi County and Jidong County in a few hours. By the time we arrive, they will be ready. Once we are held back by them again, it will be difficult for us to leave.”
Nakajima looked at Chizuru Masutaro and said,""And don't you think that the Empire's forces in Manchuria are still too few? Let's wait a little longer. The troops that we left behind will be arriving soon. We will fight these Chinese people after we have replenished our troops.”
Zhao Wenbin and Nakajima Noaki both had many misgivings. Zhao Wenbin was worried that once Jidong County and Jixi counties were lost, the situation would immediately be disadvantageous to him. What Nakajima Noaki considered was that they did not have a cannon unit now. Once they fought, it was very likely that they would be delayed.
At that time, Zhao Wenbin's other troops would come back to help. This would be very disadvantageous to them.
"Report! The 8th division and 11th division have called. They have already left the pursuit range of the Zhina Army and are currently retreating towards New Capital City!”
At this moment, a confidential officer walked over and read a telegram loudly.
"They've finally retreated! Chirane-kun, go and give the order to the troops. We will retreat to Haer Bin immediately!”
Nakajima took a deep breath. The heavy burden in his heart was finally lifted. Since the 8th and 11th divisions had already retreated, there was no need for them to wait here. If they continued to stay here, the furious Chinese soldiers might vent their anger on him.
......................
The sky gradually darkened. Zhao Wenbin walked in the casualty camp, listening to the wails that came from time to time and smelling the smell of disinfectant in the air. He sighed in his heart.
In this battle, they had lost a total of 3,000 men and 3,000 wounded soldiers. This battle had almost caused the death of two infantry regiments.
As for the Japanese army, they had lost more than 7,000 people. Later, in order to successfully withdraw, they left almost all the light and heavy casualties behind, about 7,000 people.
In other words, when the Japanese army came, there were about 21,000 people. When they left, they only took away about 6,000 people. They had lost nearly fifteen thousand men.
After walking out of the casualty camp, Zhao Wenbin sighed again.
"The casualties are a little high! Fortunately, there would not be much of a problem after these wounded soldiers returned to the army. He could continue to recruit soldiers during this period of time to replenish the losses of the various infantry regiments!”
Thinking of the battle plan, Zhao Wenbin's heart shook slightly. He knew that in order to fully display the effect of this battle, he still had to look at the next action. Otherwise, when the Japanese reinforcements from the mainland arrived, the advantage he had previously fought would be gone.
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Fengtian, Kwantung Army Headquarters
"Nani? Losing 15,000 people? Only 6,000 people left? Nishiichi and Harada Keiichi, these two trash, they couldn't even eliminate a bunch of Chinese people? They had let down the Empire's expectations of them. Why didn't they die on the battlefield and pledge loyalty to His Majesty?”
Muto Shingi's angry voice echoed throughout the entire command center. In his opinion, it was just a bunch of Chinese soldiers. These two divisions, with more than 20,000 people, could not even wipe out a bunch of them.
"Commander, these Chinese soldiers shouldn't be simple. From the 8th and 11th division's telegrams, it wasn't hard to tell that the two major generals weren't to blame for this battle. Who would have thought that the Chinese would have hundreds of cannons.”
The Chief of Staff, Koki Kokuni, looked at Muto Shingi and sighed. This was something that no one had expected.
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