kingnovel Chapter 1232 Buying Insurance
Chapter 1232 Buying Insurance
72nd Group Army Fourth Army Command
After a period of resistance, the Fourth Army had completed its mission, and continuing to hold out was no longer necessary. It was almost completely surrounded by the Japanese from the north and south. Although the Fourth Army could hold out, under the current circumstances, continuing to resist would result in staggering casualties.
Li Shaoyi had told Ma Leizi to hold on because they still had a mission to carry out in Pujiang, and they needed a route to retreat.
Furthermore, there is a tank regiment ready to rush in and join up with Li Shaoyi at any time. Now there are more than five divisions on each side, and the Fourth Army has been holding them back for a long time. The main problem is that the soldiers of the Fourth Army are very tired. If they continue to hold on, it's not that they can't do it, but the chances of making mistakes will increase exponentially.
Li Shaoyi was a veteran of the battlefield and naturally understood his brothers' combat situation. In the first few days on the battlefield, everyone was like tiger cubs descending from the mountain, able to maintain their fighting strength. However, after a while, they needed to rest and recuperate; otherwise, their nerves would be constantly on edge, making it impossible to maintain their original fighting capacity. Even with advanced weaponry, the soldiers' endurance had to be considered.
It has been a full seven months since the Fourth Army entered the battle, and no other troops have relieved them. Only the troops within the Fourth Army have been rotating through combat. Although this has provided high-intensity training, these men are now on the verge of collapse. Therefore, after receiving Li Shaoyi's order, Ma Leizi didn't say anything and began to arrange for the various units of the Fourth Army to take turns covering the retreat.
“I asked them why we had to retreat? The Japanese had been attacking us for months, and we hadn’t lost an inch of land. On the contrary, the Japanese had lost many men on this land. In this situation, how could we retreat? How could we face our fellow countrymen?”
At the headquarters of the Fourth Army, Zhang Haiguang confronted Ma Leizi on the table for the first time. Ma Leizi was based in southern Shandong, a densely populated area, and his Fourth Division had been fighting impressively against attacks from several divisions. Although they were now facing setbacks, they still didn't want to retreat, as it concerned millions of civilians.
Ma Leizi was known for his fiery temper. If any of his men were to slam their fists on the table against him, he would have kicked them long ago. But today, he was at a loss for words, his throat feeling constricted. Did he really want his men to retreat? The Fourth Army had sworn an oath that it would never retreat a single step. But now, considering the overall situation, retreat was unavoidable.
During the seven-month-long battle, the Fourth Army suffered over 10,000 dead and 5000 wounded. Although the overall number of soldiers in the Fourth Army did not decrease, these were veterans brought by Ma Leizi from the coastal areas, and all of them had undergone more than four months of training. The newly recruited soldiers had not undergone basic training at all; most of them were temporarily issued weapons and recruited on the battlefield, so their combat effectiveness was predictably poor.
Withdrawing them now is for their own good; if they were to continue fighting with them, the casualty figures would skyrocket. These men are far inferior to the trained Japanese veterans. Every day, the headquarters is horrified when they see the casualty numbers.
“Old Zhang, sit down first. I know what you're thinking, and I know how the local people feel about our troops. Do you think I don't know? Take my guard battalion for example; the villagers fed us so well during our rounds, but they themselves didn't eat a single bite. But you also have to look at our situation. We have no friendly forces around us anymore, and all the soldiers have been fighting for seven months; they're exhausted…”
If Li Shaoyi were here, he would probably be seeing Ma Leizi speak like this for the first time. You see, this guy has never been quiet since he was a child, but at this moment he truly felt sorry for these people.
However, the Fourth Army played a very important role. If they continued to fight the Japanese, according to some predictions from the General Headquarters, the fighting would only last for another 5 months at most. The Fourth Army would suffer more than half of its losses, and within a year, the Fourth Army might be completely wiped out.
According to the strategic requirements of the General Headquarters, the Fourth Army must continue to disperse and operate in enemy-occupied areas. This doesn't mean a complete retreat, but rather that the majority of the army will withdraw, while a small number of elite troops will break up into guerrilla units and enter the mountains to continue fighting the Japanese. This will also tie down the Japanese and allow for greater gains. If the entire Fourth Army remains here, it will be like a sitting duck, allowing eight or nine Japanese divisions to take turns attacking.
Furthermore, according to intelligence, the Japanese would absolutely not allow the 4th Division to continue occupying such a vast area of land. Therefore, they had formulated a new operational plan: even if it meant wiping out all eight or nine divisions and having to re-transport troops from Japan, they had to eliminate the 4th Army. This was mainly because the 4th Army posed too great a threat, hindering their north-south convergence.
Li Shaoyi had also considered launching a large-scale air force rotation plan, using transport planes to move large numbers of soldiers from the rear to the front lines and then bringing back the Fourth Army. This wasn't impossible, but it wouldn't be feasible to rotate everyone, as a number of veterans still needed to remain on the battlefield.
Who to keep and who to spare then becomes another question. Moreover, most of the veterans have been fighting continuously for months and deserve a rest. Furthermore, the upcoming battles may become even more intense. Without the constraints imposed by Nationalist troops in various locations, the Japanese army will be more concentrated, and all sorts of military weapons will be more readily available, making our situation even more difficult.
Under these circumstances, Li Shaoyi made a decision to order the Fourth Army to retreat. However, each unit was to withdraw one-quarter of its elite troops to remain in place to continue guerrilla warfare, maintain communication with headquarters, and receive supplies by air.
To be honest, this wasn't exactly guerrilla warfare; after all, no guerrilla force has ever used airplanes for resupply. It was impossible for the Japanese to completely occupy this vast area; we had ample resupply range.
It's just that many officers and soldiers can't stand it now.