After the shelling ended, when Commander Zhou returned to the street, a large number of corpses of soldiers were still lying on the ground, and many wounded were among them, screaming in agony.
"Hurry up and save people, count the casualties, quickly..." Commander Zhou ordered with an anxious look on his face.
The number of wounded and corpses he saw in front of him alone exceeded that of a platoon. This did not include the losses of the mortar platoon and mountain artillery squad. Adding in the casualties he did not see, the guard company might have lost more than half.
This was still a guard company that he personally commanded. If the remaining nine main companies of the 16th Regiment were also attacked in the same way, then the troops would really suffer heavy casualties.
Captain Zhou did not dare to think any more and went straight to a wounded man who was lying on the ground screaming.
Two minutes later, the instructor of the guard company came towards him with a solemn expression: "Captain..."
"The situation is not good..."
"The guard company, mortar platoon, and mountain artillery squad, nearly one hundred and sixty people participated in the attack..."
"In the sudden artillery attack just now, a total of 59 people were killed, 11 people were seriously injured and lost their combat effectiveness, and a total of 70 people were lost, half of which came from the artillery!"
"What a cunning little devil..." Captain Zhou couldn't help but exclaimed.
"We used artillery fire to preemptively destroy all suspicious targets on both sides of the street so that the Japanese and puppet troops could not sneak attack us."
"The little devils will immediately stage a tit-for-tat battle for us, focusing their artillery fire on our attacking troops..."
"We were too careless!"
"I thought I had the support of mountain artillery and heavy artillery, so I forgot about it. I thought the Eighth Route Army could dominate the battlefield, and ignored the mortars equipped by the little devils."
"I forgot that this is a street fight. In the close-range exchange of fire between the two sides, the role of mountain artillery may not be as great as that of mortars..."
"As for the communications squad, we immediately sent people to contact other main companies and asked them to suspend the attack. The troops immediately dispersed and relied on the houses and barricades they had just occupied to switch from offense to defense. They established a defense line on the spot to avoid the imprisoned artillery fire..."
"The number of mortars equipped by the Japanese is limited, and it is impossible to attack our ten main companies at the same time. There must be many troops that have not been attacked."
"It will take time for the Japanese and puppet troops to move their artillery positions. It's still too late to issue dispersal orders... The communication squad will set off immediately, please go faster..."
This is the second time that Captain Zhou has urged his subordinates to speed up since entering the city, and these two urgings happened within just a few minutes, which shows how anxious he is now.
…………
As usual, Baoding City closes its gates before dark and no one is allowed in or out. Today is no exception.
As night slowly enveloped this important military town, Baoding City, which had been busy all day, gradually became quiet.
Except for the Japanese and puppet troops patrolling back and forth, not a single ordinary person could be seen in the streets.
At the top of the East Gate City, about 200 Japanese and puppet troops were still holding their posts.
A torch was placed every ten meters to illuminate the city top and the outside of the city to prevent the Eighth Route Army from sneak attack on the city head.
Some Japanese and puppet troops hid behind the battlements and stood guard, observing every move outside the city through shooting holes. Some Japanese and puppet troops formed patrol teams and wandered back and forth on the city top, searching for fish that had slipped through the net that the security forces might not have discovered...
At eight o'clock in the evening, when the whole of Baoding fell into silence, the closed east gate was suddenly opened, and a large number of Japanese and puppet troops walked out of the dark city gate at the same time.
More than a dozen little Japs and a platoon of puppet troops were exploring the way ahead. About two hundred meters out of the city, the main force of the Japanese puppet troops began to leave the city...
Rifles were carried on the backs, machine guns were carried on the shoulders... There were also people carrying heavy machine guns and mortar parts, pushing infantry guns and mountain cannons, pulling heavy baggage vehicles, and leading mules and horses... fighting out of Baoding in a mighty manner.
Go straight to Shijiazhuang.
Duan Peng arranged five commandos outside each city gate in Baoding, taking turns to rest and be on guard.
After a while, a figure emerged from a bush on the side of the road, bent over, and disappeared furtively into the darkness.
Twenty minutes later, a figure emerged from the roadside and entered a valley. Under the cover of corn straw, a simple tent blended into the surrounding environment. If you had not walked in and observed, you would not have been able to spot the tent no matter how wide your eyes were.
exist.
When the figure got into the tent, two commandos were already reporting the situation to Duan Peng.
"Company Commander, the total number of Japanese and puppet troops dispatched from the west gate is at least 4,000, about half of them are Japs and half of them are puppet troops..." A team member reported with a serious face.
"They were very well equipped and had plenty of ammunition. They also brought field artillery and infantry artillery. With two thousand Japanese puppet troops in front and two thousand Japanese puppet troops behind them, they fought their way out of the west gate in a mighty manner. Judging from the direction of march, this force
The real target of the Japanese and puppet troops is probably our base area."
"There are Japanese and puppet troops going out over there too?" Another commando standing next to him reported with a surprised look on his face.
After saying that, he said to Duan Peng: "Company Commander..."
"There are also a large number of Japanese and puppet troops leaving the city at the north gate of Baoding. The total strength is about 4,000 people, equipped with a large number of light and heavy machine guns, mortars, infantry artillery, mountain artillery..."
"There are more than 2,000 Japanese soldiers and more than 2,000 puppet troops."
"Judging from the direction of their march, this group of Japanese and puppet troops also headed towards our base area."
"I arranged for three commandos to keep an eye on them and report back as soon as there is news."
Duan Pengshu's brows immediately wrinkled.
The northwest and north gates of Baoding each dispatched more than 4,000 puppet troops to attack the Yizhong base area. The two forces combined totaled 8,000 or 9,000 people.
According to intelligence, the total number of Japanese and puppet troops in Baoding City is only more than 14,000. Once these troops leave, the Baoding garrison will be reduced sharply to more than 5,000.
Under normal circumstances, this small number of troops can definitely defend Baoding City.
But if the Eighth Route Army mobilized a large number of troops to besiege, this small number of troops would definitely not be able to defend Baoding.
Even if the Japanese and puppet troops in the city attack the base area to force the independent brigade to return to the base area in order to reinforce Shijiazhuang, there is no need to put Baoding City in danger... Duan Peng can't understand.
Seeing the shocked look on the face of the commando who had just rushed into the tent, Duan Peng thought he had brought some shocking news, so he quickly asked: "The one you are responsible for tracking is the east gate of Baoding... Don't tell me that you also have a large number of Japanese troops there.
The puppet troops left the city..."
The commando quickly reported: "Company commander, how did you know?"
"There are indeed a large number of Japanese and puppet troops leaving the city at the east gate..."
"The total force is more than 4,000, half of the puppet army, half of the Japs, carrying a large number of light and heavy machine guns, mortars, field artillery and infantry artillery, with a majestic momentum, heading straight to Shijiazhuang..."
"I just heard that more than 4,000 puppet troops were leaving the city in the north and west of the city. I thought I was wrong."
"The total number of Japanese and puppet troops in the city is more than 14,000. If more than 4,000 Japanese and puppet troops come out from all three gates of Baoding, some of them go to Shijiazhuang, and some of them attack our base area, then there are not all the Japanese and puppet troops in the city.
Gone."
"It is absolutely impossible for the Japanese and puppet troops to abandon Shijiazhuang easily, so there must be something wrong with those Japanese and puppet troops who leave the city."
