"The division commander, it is indeed useful to use a slow horse to detonate the landmines buried on the Eighth Route Army. As long as we have a sufficient number of slow horses, we can easily crack the landmines of the Eighth Route Army!" The Chief of Staff said happily.

Lieutenant General Ito's tense face also relaxed a lot, but he still reminded: "The slow horse is also the wealth of the Imperial Army of the Great Japanese Empire... If there are too many slow horses lost, the logistics corps will not be able to ensure the speed of the troops' march. Therefore, the best way is to use the Chinese people to force the Eighth Route Army to give up using landmines. At least, they should use the livestock they snatched from the Chinese to the vanguard troops to open the way for us and detonate the landmines!"

"What the division commander said is that the troops have been sent out, and it will not take too long to bring back the young and strong we need."

However, the Chief of Staff was frustrated that until four o'clock in the afternoon, the troops arresting young and strong along the highway still did not return.

If they hadn't had the strength of an infantry brigade, and there were almost no dense sounds of gunfire around them except for sporadic gunfire. The Chief of Staff almost doubted that something happened to the infantry brigade he sent out.

"Sir, the vanguard troops reported that they had arrived at the evening camping site designated by the division command. There was no ordinary person in the whole village, no livestock was found, and even a chicken was not seen!"

Lieutenant General Ito frowned, showing an incredible expression of shock.

But soon he realized: "It must be the Eighth Route Army that transferred all the people in the village~"

"However, for this encirclement and suppression operation, we have prepared enough ammunition and material supplies. It is absolutely delusion to defeat us through small means such as strengthening the walls and clearing the field and forcing us to withdraw our troops!"

"Command..." Speaking of these two words, Lieutenant General Ito's face instantly became serious.

"Forward troops, strengthen vigilance around the garrison to ensure that there are no Eighth Route Army troops within five kilometers of the temporary camp!"

"The main force speeds up and arrives at the campsite as soon as possible, finish breakfast, and rest early... At the same time, Chief of Staff, you must arrange the evening alert. This is the Eighth Route Army base. They will definitely not miss the opportunity to attack us at night, so we must seize the time to rest as soon as possible, and one more minute is one minute!"

"Hi……"

It was not until the troops were arranged and the chief of staff found Lieutenant General Ito to report that the infantry brigade sent out to arrest people during the day carried dozens of corpses back in a panic.

"The division commander, chief of staff... there is no one in the villages on both sides of the highway, even a livestock or a chicken... The Eighth Route Army is too cunning and transfer all the people in the village in advance!"

"Also... the village not only has no ordinary people, but also has many Eighth Route Army guerrillas and local troops hidden. Although they are poorly equipped and insufficient training, they don't fight with us at all. They just hide in places we don't know about shooting us cold guns, and run away when they shoot. From time to time, they buried a mine on the road we must pass, making it difficult for us to guard against..."

"In one afternoon, we lost 53 Imperial Army members and killed 39 people in battle~"

Lieutenant General Ito frowned and cursed: "You have an infantry brigade, not an infantry squadron~ You have not fought back, find a way to kill them!"

The Chief of Staff immediately replied: "I have found a way... but it's useless... We are not familiar with the terrain. We just sent people to chase us, and the Eighth Route Army that sneaked us ran away without knowing where..."

"You are just a stupid pig... Go down, I don't want to see you again..." Lieutenant General Ito cursed with a frown.

Before his anger was gone, a major rushed in immediately.

"Report...Sir: There is something wrong with the campsite~"

Lieutenant General Ito frowned and asked, "Camp? I didn't hear a gunshot. What problems can happen in the camp~"

The master quickly replied: "It's the water source... We searched all the camp and found no clean water source... Now all the logistics troops are waiting for the water source to cook!"

"Impossible~" Lieutenant General Ito denied it without thinking!

"There is a village in our camp, a large village with hundreds of people. There is no water source. How do they live... I look for it. There must be a well in the village. It must be that the Eighth Route Army evacuated the people and hidden the wells~"

The master gritted his teeth in response to the division commander's anger, "Don't worry, the division commander, calm down. There are indeed water wells in the village, and there are five wells. We have found them all...but, these wells were deliberately polluted by the Eighth Route Army. There were many corpses of mice and livestock thrown inside, and they were useless at all~"

"If the troops are arranged to clean the wells now, there will be no time to go up, and there will definitely be no water available tonight!"

"No..." Lieutenant General Ito's face finally became serious.

The army with more than 20,000 people traveled for a day and needed a large amount of water for both eating and drinking. If there was no clean water source to replenish, the morale of the army would definitely decline, and maybe even the combat effectiveness would be reduced!

So, this problem must be solved, and asked with a frown.

"Does there be clean wells in the nearby villages?"

"No, Bei Yi has arranged for the cavalry to go over and see. All the wells were polluted, and the reconnaissance troops also encountered sneak attacks by the Eighth Route Army guerrillas, losing three elite cavalrymen!"

"The cunning Eighth Route Army is actually attacking us everywhere. When I find you, I will definitely tear you all to pieces~" Lieutenant General Ito's anger suddenly surged up and cursed at his subordinates without hesitation.

No matter how he scolded, he did not forget another difficult problem since he sent troops. He frowned and ordered: "Chief of Staff... Map... I remember there is a river nearby... The Eighth Route Army can pollute water wells, but it is not possible to pollute the entire river. Immediately arrange for the troops to use cars to get water from nearby rivers, and make sure that the troops have sufficient amount of drinking water!"

"Also, send more escort troops over... The Eighth Route Army is too cunning, especially their guerrillas and local troops, which are simply everywhere. There are five kilometers from the base to the river. They will definitely not miss this opportunity to attack us!"

"Hi... I'll do it right now!"

On a small hill two kilometers away from the base, Lieutenant General Ito's first target, Xiong Changhe, battalion commander of the 1st Battalion of the New First Regiment, was hiding here. Holding a telescope, staring at the huge Japanese army camp without moving, constantly making a sigh of emotion.

Seeing a team of Japanese cavalry and infantry protecting ten cars rushing out of the station, a smile flashed quickly across Xiong Changhe's mouth.

"Haha... Comrades, don't look at the Japanese who are crowded and well-equipped, heavy artillery, tanks, and whatever they want... But after entering our Eighth Route Army base, we are still fooled by us~"

"Look, our little trick to pollute the well forced them to send troops to fight the water source!"

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Chapter completed!