allonlinenovel Chapter 1124 Where Did the Arms Come From?
Chapter 1124 Where Did the Arms Come From?
The sound of grenades quickly shattered the surrounding tranquility, and the Japanese soldiers immediately rushed over.
However, when they tried to search the surrounding area, they found that the forest they had traversed several times before was no longer the same. If you dared to enter, there would be landmines everywhere.
How could that be? A few days ago, all the Nationalist army units that were supposed to retreat had already retreated.
Where did these landmines come from?
Many Japanese officers and soldiers were confused about this, but no one dared to go in and search after dark. The next day at dawn, the Japanese called in a large number of engineering troops. When they saw the landmines inside, they could hardly believe their eyes.
Many of the landmines weren't even dug in the ground; they were just left there openly. No wonder the people who went into the mountains last night didn't come out. If anyone managed to escape from such a massive minefield, they were truly lucky.
"Have you found any clues? Which regular Nationalist army unit is nearby?"
Nearly three hundred of his men had been killed or wounded. A Japanese lieutenant colonel stormed over, and when he saw the mountain of landmines beside him, he was speechless. Where did these things come from? They were clearly not landmines.
"Sir, we've basically pieced together yesterday's situation. First, a checkpoint was attacked. After surrounding troops came to reinforce it, they immediately began clearing the forest. However, at the entrance to the mountain, there was at least one landmine per square meter, causing us to lose over two hundred men. By the time we entered the forest, the enemy had completely retreated, leaving the landmines more than a hundred meters away. Fortunately, we didn't continue the pursuit yesterday, otherwise..."
Upon hearing this density, the Japanese lieutenant colonel, though expressionless, was inwardly speechless with astonishment. If each square meter contained one gram of landmines, it meant the ground was riddled with mines; no matter who you sent in, they would likely not survive.
Which army is so wealthy? You should know that since the end of the Battle of Pujiang, the National Revolutionary Army's major military depots have been basically emptied. In addition, we have blockaded the ports of import, so the National Revolutionary Army's own munitions production is almost negligible.
These landmines are clearly used by the armies of various countries and are not landmines made by the locals. Have they found another transport port?
"Immediately bring the division commander to me."
Realizing this, the Japanese officer dared not delay and immediately reported to his division commander. The deaths of several hundred men were a minor matter. However, if this matter was not thoroughly investigated, more munitions might be shipped in in the future, which would be a huge blow to Japan's strategy.
Ordinary Japanese soldiers were unaware of the current situation, but the officers were very clear that the Japanese army had suffered a series of defeats in the past six months and was now on the verge of collapse.
Japan still has sufficient manpower, after all, it has tens of millions of people, but those are all ordinary civilians. If the training regulations of the Japanese Army are followed, the entire reserve force in the country is already on the battlefield. If there are large-scale losses in the future, then civilians will probably have to be forcibly conscripted into the army.
During their latest batch of reinforcements, this Japanese lieutenant colonel also realized that 450 of his soldiers had not received any military training. They had only undergone half a month of military education and usually helped maintain order in the local area. Now they were being sent directly to the battlefield.
These men also suffered the heaviest casualties; in the battles against the Nationalist second-line troops, more than a third of these hundreds had been lost. If they had been deployed during the most intense fighting at Pujiang, they would probably have been wiped out in a single day.
He had also reported this problem to his superiors, hoping that they would not send these people to the battlefield, as this was part of the empire's war potential. However, the officers above told them that either they should continue to use these people in the war, or they should not complain that they had not been given additional troops. That was the current situation.
Although Li Shaoyi and his group escaped unscathed, after witnessing the devastation around them, Li Shaoyi lay in the carriage, letting it sway from side to side. He had no interest in admiring the scenery; wherever they were within Japanese-occupied territory, desolation reigned.
Of course, some good news also came in. Because of the strong resistance in various places, the Japanese were now unable to make any progress. After occupying Nanjing, they did not advance rapidly to the surrounding areas as before, but instead made slow progress every day. The number of casualties continued to increase, which made the Japanese commander feel a bit of a headache.
They fabricated this victory to reduce their battlefield losses. They knew the real losses in their hearts, but in order to present a rosy picture to the Japanese people, they erased the loss of 100,000 troops.
Therefore, Japan has always hoped that they would advance quickly and occupy a large amount of land in China, in order to boost the morale of the somewhat disheartened Japanese people.
The problem is that the 100,000 troops on the map are now like ghosts, they don't exist at all. How can they continue to advance rapidly according to the orders of headquarters?
"Reporting, sir, this is a new telegram from the Pujiang area. The East China Expeditionary Army has dispatched approximately three new divisions northward along the Jinpu Railway..."
Just as Li Shaoyi was lying in the carriage, sulking, Wang Manli, dressed in men's clothing, came over to report on her work.
After occupying Pujiang, the Japanese Second Army kept ordering the East China Expeditionary Army to send troops to attack Ma Leizi's army from both the north and south, but at that time they simply couldn't spare the resources.
With explosions happening all the time on our own territory, how can we possibly care about what's going on over there? But now, under pressure from the Japanese General Headquarters, they can only send about three divisions, two fewer than before. But no matter what, I have still sent troops north.
This order was originally given to your Second Army, instructing you to lead your troops south to support us.
You're stuck on the banks of the Yellow River, and now we, the East China Expeditionary Army, have to send people to rescue you. This is a disgrace to your Second Army, no matter how you look at it.
“Ma Leizi can handle it himself.”
Li Shaoyi considered the situation in the provincial capital. When Ma Leizi was guarding the island city, he was constantly training and recruiting soldiers; who knows how many hidden abilities he possessed? After the 72nd Army expanded into the 72nd Group Army, his 4th Division also became the 4th Army, and troops sprouted up like weeds…