79: Chapter 79 Things have gotten out of hand!!

Eighth Route Army Headquarters.

The Chiefs had not slept all night.

"Calculating the time, over there... it should have started by now, right?" One Leader could not help but put down the pencil in his hand, looking up at the sky outside the window, which was turning slightly pale.

"According to the plan, the operation began at midnight. It's almost dawn now, so it's very likely reached the most intense stage," another Leader said.

The Deputy Commander did not speak; he only silently rolled another cigarette, lit it, and took a deep drag.

He constantly simulated various possible situations in his mind. Although he had confidence in the equipment brought by Shen Wang and the command of the Brigade Commander, attacking a county seat was, after all, a first, and there were too many variables.

"As long as the casualties aren't too high, taking it down is a victory!" another Leader said in a deep voice.

Just then, the door of the headquarters was pushed open violently. A young Communications Staff Officer, his face full of excitement, almost ran in.

"Report to the Leaders! Yang Village... no, urgent telegram from He County! Urgent telegram from the Brigade Commander! A great victory! A shocking great victory!"

Swish!

All the Leaders stood up instantly, their gazes focused uniformly on the staff officer.

"Read it quickly!" the Deputy Commander said urgently.

"Yes!" The staff officer excitedly unfolded the telegram and read aloud: "Report from the Brigade Commander: Our unit launched a surprise attack on He County at midnight... Relying on the absolute advantage of the new equipment, the progress of the battle was extremely smooth..."

"Less than ten minutes after the battle began, the enemy's main resistance forces and command center were destroyed... Currently, the county seat is completely under our control, and we are carrying out pacification and cleanup work..."

"What! Ten minutes?"

Before the staff officer could finish reading, one Leader exclaimed in shock, and the cigarette in his hand dropped.

"Good heavens... this... this is much faster than we expected!" The Chief of Staff also had a look of disbelief on his face.

The Leaders had originally thought that it was the most intense moment of the battle, but as it turned out, they had taken it in ten minutes!

They were already doing the cleanup work now!

"What about our army's casualties?" The Deputy Commander was more concerned about this point.

The staff officer continued to read, his voice even higher: "Preliminary statistics of the battle results: Over six thousand Japanese and Puppet Army killed or captured! Among them, about thirty-eight hundred, including the Japanese Regiment Commander Xiao Pu Jiro, were killed! More than twenty-six hundred Puppet Army!"

"Our army's casualties..." The staff officer paused and took a deep breath.

"Sixty-seven slightly wounded, twenty-six seriously wounded, not one person sacrificed! Not a single death!"

...

Dead silence!

"Not one person sacrificed?" The Leaders murmured.

Over six thousand enemy troops killed or captured, our side had less than 100 wounded, dead... 0?

Isn't this the kind of battle record the Japanese Army often achieved against the Nationalist Army?

Now... it's our turn?

A brief silence appeared in the command post, and then a huge cheer erupted!

"Good! Well fought!"

"The Brigade Commander fought this battle beautifully!"

"Zero deaths! Taking down a Japanese regiment with zero deaths! This is an unprecedented feat!"

"Hahaha! This fully proves that as long as we have hard equipment in our hands, the Japanese are nothing special!"

"The soldiers of our Chinese nation are absolutely no worse than anyone else!"

"That's right! This battle is so inspiring!"

The Leaders were all so excited that their faces turned red. They slammed the tables hard and punched each other on the shoulders, as if they had become a dozen years younger.

"How long has it been, how long has it been since we fought such a tough battle!" The Chief of Staff could not help but sigh with emotion.

The Deputy Commander was equally surging with emotion: "If we calculate strictly, it's been... about 100 years, I suppose..."

The Leaders were stunned, and then they realized.

If counting from 1840, it was indeed so!

For the past hundred years, they had always been bullied by enemies relying on their weapons!

Now, it was finally their turn to bully others!

Satisfying!

Too damn satisfying!

One Leader said excitedly: "Next, as long as we can successfully hold He County, this battle will become a benchmark!"

"Proving to the whole country and the whole world that we are no worse than anyone!"

The Chief of Staff smiled and chimed in, his tone full of confidence: "Hold it? I don't think that's a problem!"

"The Brigade Commander chose the point well. He County is located at a key point in the mountains, with only two main channels in the north and south, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack."

"They have 14 invincible heavy tanks in their hands, 20 107 rockets that are comparable to heavy artillery, and three Anti-Aircraft Battalions equipped with Proximity Fuze!"

"Unless the Japanese bring all their forces in Shanxi Province to bear, wanting to take back He County will be as difficult as ascending to heaven!"

All the Japanese in Shanxi Province?

Just to take back one county seat?

The Leaders smiled and shook their heads.

"Having lost a regiment and a county seat, the Japanese will definitely not give up! But to say they will mobilize all the Japanese in Shanxi Province, I don't think it's likely!"

"That's right! The most likely to be dispatched is at most the 36th Division to which the Xiao Pu Regiment belongs."

"If they really dare to come... relying on the favorable terrain and powerful firepower, we might just be able to make something happen!"

"Fighting a beautiful blocking battle, we might even be able to eat up a few more of their regiments!"

"Old Zhang is right, I think we can make something happen!"

At this moment, the Leaders had unprecedented confidence!

They actually wanted to eat up a Japanese division!

However, this was not blind self-confidence; the Brigade Commander had routed an infantry regiment in just ten minutes, so a B-class division was no big deal.

The 36th Division belonged to the B-class division, with a total of only 3 infantry regiments, although now only 2 infantry regiments remained.

As for the artillery regiment, those 12 105mm Howitzers were about the same as one 107 rocket.

Therefore, they really weren't afraid of a single division now!

"Alright, the Brigade Commander fought a beautiful battle, we should carefully calculate the next work."

The Deputy Commander spoke up, interrupting the Leaders' discussion.

Being happy for a while was enough!

Taking the county seat was just the first step!

Next, they had to make various contingency plans to deal with various situations that might arise.

However, the atmosphere in the command post was generally relaxed.

Holding He County was not a big problem.

The Chief of Staff waved at the Communications Staff Officer: "Alright, you go down first. If there is any situation with the Brigade Commander, report it at the first opportunity."

"Yes!"

The reporting staff officer saluted, but did not leave immediately; instead, he said again:

"Leaders, the Brigade Commander mentioned in the end of the telegram that when they were clearing the Japanese regimental headquarters, they captured a Japanese regimental banner, and requested instructions from the headquarters on how to handle it."

This staff officer did not know what a regimental banner was; he just reported it according to procedure.

However, as soon as the words fell—

"You... what did you say?"

"A regimental banner?"

"The Brigade Commander captured a regimental banner?"

The atmosphere, which had been somewhat relaxed just a moment ago, was instantly frozen.

The smiles on all the Leaders' faces stiffened.

The Chief of Staff stepped forward violently and questioned: "Are you sure... what is written in the telegram is... a regimental banner? Not the Japanese Rising Sun Flag?"

The Communications Staff Officer was startled by the sudden violent reaction of the Leaders, stunned in place, and stuttered to confirm:

"Ye... Yes, Chief of Staff, the Brigade Commander's telegram... it is written like that in the telegram... captured... captured a regimental banner..."

"Hiss—!!"

After confirmation, a sound of gasping echoed in the command post!

The Deputy Commander-in-Chief's face instantly became extremely solemn.

He walked quickly to the map, looked at the location of He County, and then looked at the possible reinforcement routes of the surrounding Japanese Army, his brows tightly locked in a deep frown.

"Now... things seem to have escalated..."