"Only a 70% chance of winning?" Zhang Xuan asked Li Wen's gaze.
"Political Commissar, you underestimate the combat effectiveness of our guerrilla brigade."
"We have four main battalions, a guard battalion with strengthened company structure, a reconnaissance company, an artillery battalion, and a cavalry company... plus other messy regiment-affiliated troops, the total strength exceeds 3,600 people."
"Both the baggage troops and the artillery troops have undergone long-term military training and can be used as infantry."
"Even if we leave a thousand people here to attack the Shibao stronghold, there will still be more than 2,600 people who can fight an ambush."
"We chose the terrain for the ambush battle. The troops set up light and heavy machine guns in advance and launched a sudden attack. They can definitely kill the Japanese and puppet reinforcements by surprise."
"With our current firepower level and well-arranged firepower points, we can kill one or two squadrons of imps with just one rapid fire attack."
"Don't say 70% chance of winning, I think 90% is considered low."
"The first battalion will stay here to attack the Shibao stronghold after the Chief of Staff returns..."
"The other troops followed me around the stronghold, bringing all the light and heavy machine guns and mortars equipped by the guerrilla brigade, and headed to Changgou Valley to set up an ambush."
"That's the only way for the Fangshan garrison to reinforce Xia Shibao."
"As long as the Japanese and puppet troops get into their pockets, they will be defeated."
…………
Under the darkness of night, the Xiashibao stronghold seemed particularly quiet.
Except for the patrol team and the guard post, all other Japanese and puppet troops, including the squadron leader, huddled in the barracks and slept.
The winter in the north is particularly biting, and the cold wind is like a knife hanging on the face. It is cold, painful, and very uncomfortable.
Whenever possible, the soldiers on patrol would huddle in the corners of the turrets to avoid the cold wind, or two or three would huddle together to keep each other warm.
In the second half of the night, the situation became even more serious. Almost no one stared at the cold wind to operate searchlights and observe the situation outside the stronghold.
Of course, the reason why the Japanese and puppet troops were so bold was not because they underestimated the enemy, but because the Xiashibao stronghold had not been attacked for three or four consecutive months since its establishment.
This situation gave all Japanese and puppet troops confidence that they would defend their own strongholds.
Feeling that the stronghold under their feet was indestructible, the Peiping guerrilla brigade did not dare to attack.
Otherwise, they would attack the stronghold when it was first established and the defenders were not familiar with the conditions of the stronghold. They would not wait until the defenders were completely familiar with the stronghold and even knew the terrain around the stronghold before launching an attack.
The cold wind whistled in my ears, covering up the sound of a battalion digging trenches more than a hundred meters away.
At one o'clock in the morning, when Chief of Staff Feng Jiashan rushed to the battlefield with six grenade launchers, the stronghold guard post still did not find the existence of the 1st Battalion, let alone that the 1st Battalion had dug its offensive position 150 meters away from the stronghold.
The gunner carried the thunder cannon made from gasoline barrels, bent down, and touched the forefront of the position along the trench before stopping...
"Rumble..."
A thunderous explosion soon sounded in the southeast corner of the stronghold, with flames shooting into the sky and thick smoke billowing, which suddenly woke up all the Japanese and puppet troops in the stronghold.
The Japanese squadron leader didn't even wear a military uniform. He grabbed the gun and armed belt on the table and rushed towards the firing hole in the gun tower.
As soon as he opened the door, he was bumped into the subordinates rushing towards him: "Sir... the stronghold was attacked..."
"The bunker in the southeast corner was attacked by unknown artillery fire. It was very powerful. I have never seen such a weapon before."
"Step aside……"
Not getting any useful information from his subordinates, the squadron leader directly expressed dissatisfaction with his orders, then bypassed his subordinates and went straight to the gun tower firing hole.
Looking along the shooting hole in the direction where the explosion sound came from, the fire rising into the sky just illuminated the area.
The stronghold wall connecting the bunker had been blown down, and two huge craters appeared next to the bunker. Judging from the size of the craters alone, the caliber of the shells that had just exploded was at least 100 millimeters.
Even in the well-equipped Japanese army, this is like a heavy artillery.
The Eighth Route Army had poor equipment and insufficient ammunition. It would definitely not have such heavy weapons that even the Japanese army rarely equipped.
The squadron leader shook his head decisively, throwing away the thoughts and ideas about the Eighth Route Army being equipped with heavy artillery.
"Rumble..."
The second round of explosions soon sounded in the southeast corner of the stronghold, and the hot air waves quickly spread to the surroundings along with the shock wave.
The turret where the squadron leader was located was at least fifty meters away from the bullet impact point, and hot air waves were still pouring in from the firing holes in the turret.
He was so frightened that he took a breath of cold air, and at the same time, he also saw that what exploded just now was not the shells he had inferred at first, but explosive packets the size of millstones.
He was well-informed and could tell at a glance that it was an explosive package fired by the Eighth Route Army's thunder cannon.
Quickly ordered: "Don't panic..."
"The Eighth Route Army attacking us is not equipped with heavy artillery...the ones attacking us are flying thunder cannons...the range is short and the shooting accuracy is poor. Just kill them!"
"The artillery immediately found the Eighth Route Army's flying thunder artillery position, right next to our stronghold..."
"After finding the target, fire back immediately..."
"Destroy the thunder cannons, and the Eighth Route Army will be unable to do anything to our gun towers and bunkers. No matter how many troops we have, they will be wiped out outside our stronghold..."
"Faster..."
"Don't let the Eighth Route Army use thunder cannons to destroy the bunker in the southeast corner of the stronghold..."
Feng Jiashan, chief of staff of the guerrilla brigade, comes from the Sixth Army Division of Yizhong. He has used flying thunder cannons many times on the battlefield and is very aware of the various shortcomings and problems of flying thunder cannons.
Before the battle began, he spared the Japanese troops.
Although the six torpedo cannons were placed at the forefront of the offensive position, in order to avoid being overwhelmed by Japanese counterattacks, all the torpedo cannons were placed in the trenches and were particularly dispersed.
Even if the Japanese and puppet troops stationed in the Shibao stronghold mobilized all their mortars to counterattack, they could only kill two thunder cannons at the same time.
As for the remaining flying thunder cannons, the Japanese and puppet troops stationed at the stronghold must not even have a chance to fire.
The guerrilla brigade not only has an artillery battalion equipped with more than ten mountain cannons, but each main battalion also has a firepower company equipped with six heavy machine guns and six mortars.
To be honest, the firepower level of the first battalion of the guerrilla brigade was stronger than that of the Japanese and puppet troops stationed at the Xiashibao stronghold.
Officially, because they were hiding in the stronghold and protected by turtle shells, the guerrilla brigade could not do anything to them.
If they really go head-to-head in a field battle, a single battalion of the guerrilla brigade can easily wipe them out...
Only the Japs inside the stronghold dared to fire artillery counterattacks. The six mortars equipped by a battalion could immediately target the Japanese and puppet artillery and launch artillery counterattacks immediately to kill them.
Artillery does not agree with light and heavy machine guns, and can only fire artillery when it is set up on the surface.
Once the Japanese and puppet troops lose the protection of bunkers and gun towers, they will become a bunch of lambs waiting to be slaughtered, and they can only defend their strongholds and be passively bombed!
