The final result was that of the more than 3,000 people from the three brigades who entered the city, only more than 400 people escaped alive. This was the result of Lin Fangtaro's desperate use of artillery fire to provide fire cover for the troops...
Under normal circumstances, Lin Fangtaro would not be able to use artillery fire to provide fire cover for the troops after the Japanese invaded the city. This was mainly because of the obstruction of the city wall. In addition, it was difficult for the enemy and the enemy to occupy the civilian houses. Even if there were artillery observers in the city, it would be difficult to control them.
Artillery fire is directed to the correct area for bombing without accidentally damaging friendly forces.
but……
Lin Fangtaro made some calculations: If the fight continues like this, the troops outside the city will not be able to enter the rescue, so it is better to take a risk and still have some hope.
So, Lin Fangtaro almost gritted his teeth and ordered: "Fire! Aim at the city wall and cover the retreat of the troops!"
The Japanese artillery almost used artillery shells to blast an escape route for the trapped troops. They carried out indiscriminate carpet bombing on the city wall and plowed it back and forth twice. Only then did they suppress the Eighth Route Army's crossroads on both sides of the gap.
Firepower.
The so-called "suppression" refers to the fact that the original firepower point was blown up and the soldiers stationed there were sacrificed, and the soldiers and firepower to be supplemented were temporarily unable to come up due to artillery fire.
The Japanese took advantage of this gap to pull the remaining troops back from the city.
Even so, the Japs still suffered heavy casualties, and they only withdrew after the Japs abandoned their wounded soldiers... It is common for the Japs to abandon their wounded soldiers. They are ruthless to their enemies and ruthless to their own people. To put it simply, it is like
They are beasts that only care about survival. Those injured soldiers are a burden to them. If conditions permit, they may take them with them. Otherwise, they will stuff a grenade or explosive pack into the wounded soldier, which is known as "Jade Broken".
”.
Then what the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army saw. When they followed the Japanese and chased them out, they found that the wounded soldiers were shouting and igniting the fuses of grenades and explosive packs...
This successfully stopped the Eighth Route Army from pursuing him, but it also saved the Eighth Route Army some trouble as they no longer had to accept any more prisoners.
After this battle, the Eighth Route Army only captured seven prisoners, which shows how cruel this battle was.
After this battle, the Eighth Route Army was able to stabilize the morale of the army and the people, especially the morale of the people... Originally they thought that the Eighth Route Army would definitely not be able to defeat the Japanese, so they always hesitated and were in deep fear.
No wonder people think so.
I still remember vividly how the Japanese only needed a few cavalry to occupy a city. Although they were stubborn and unsatisfactory troops, the Japanese were 1:3 or even 1:5 against the Eighth Route Army!
Based on this ratio, the Japanese should only need about 2,000 men to capture Datong.
But now the Japanese have a division of more than 10,000 people. Wouldn't it be as easy to take down Datong as eating melons and slicing vegetables?
If the Japanese are sure to capture Datong, then if they join the Eighth Route Army in fighting the Japanese, will they suffer crazy revenge from the Japanese?
As a result, more than 100,000 people in Datong helped the Eighth Route Army carry the wounded, while only more than 1,000 civilians transported supplies.
The reason why these more than a thousand people helped the Eighth Route Army was because they were determined to die. They saw this group of people very clearly. While helping the Eighth Route Army, they yelled at the people who were hiding in their houses and did not dare to move along the way.
call:
"Folks! You're going to die anyway, why not die with your back straight?"
"The Japanese have entered the city and are not going to kill them? There is only one way to survive. Help the Eighth Route Army to defend Datong!"
"Even if I die, I still have to fight with a few Japanese to make up for my loss! I'll risk my life!"
…
But there are only a few people who have the courage to think like this. Although everyone understands the truth, when it comes to making a life-or-death decision, more people would rather hide in the house and tremble. Their legs are so weak that they can't even stand on the road.
Can we still expect them to step out of their rooms and help the Eighth Route Army?
However, after the Eighth Route Army repelled a wave of Japanese attacks, the people were temporarily reassured.
In particular, some militiamen personally participated in the encirclement and suppression of the Japanese. They knew how many people the Japanese had killed and injured and quickly spread the news in the city.
When the people heard this, they started talking among themselves:
"It seems that this matter is not yet certain?"
"Yes, the Eighth Route Army killed more than 3,000 Japs in this battle. This is not a minority..." (Note: The militiamen exaggerated the results of the battle with half-truths and half-falsehoods. This is something combat troops often do)
"If you think about it this way, if the Eighth Route Army fights two more battles like this, will it be able to wipe out all the Japanese?"
…
People often use such simple thinking to calculate casualty ratios. Of course they don't know that war is far from as simple as they imagine.
However, this is good, the people have confidence, and more and more people will go out to help the Eighth Route Army.
The number of more than 1,000 people soon increased to more than 2,000 people, and soon doubled again.
Those who delivered water, food and ammunition, those who helped take care of the wounded, those who helped prepare supplies, etc. basically gave the Eighth Route Army no worries.
To be precise, not only did they have no worries, but immediately more people wanted to join the militia to fight directly against the Japanese.
Previously, only more than a thousand militiamen were organized. If calculated in proportion, how could there be five or six thousand militiamen out of more than 100,000 people...
The conscription ratio in peacetime is usually five to one, which means that one out of five people is old enough to join the army.
But during the war, especially in the areas occupied by the Japanese, it was difficult to pick out a young man of the right age out of ten or even twenty. The young and strong were all captured by the Japanese to serve as soldiers or as coolies, and those who farmed at home were all old people.
However, if you pick out five or six thousand people out of hundreds of thousands of people, the ratio is nearly thirty to one. This is still no problem.
The reason why there are only a thousand militiamen and some of these militiamen are lesbians and older people is the same thing: the people have concerns. They are worried that the Eighth Route Army will not stay in Datong for a long time, and the Japanese will come after the Eighth Route Army leaves.
, if anyone joins the Eighth Route Army... then the whole family, including the neighbors, will suffer.
This is also the power of the Japanese Baojia system. The people's fears and concerns are not so easy to let go, which makes it difficult for the Eighth Route Army to get help from the people. This can be regarded as a kind of drain on the bottom of the cauldron.
As a result, the Eighth Route Army seized a large number of guns and ammunition from the Datong warehouse but was unable to distribute them.
It's different now. The people were stimulated by the battle of the Eighth Route Army and asked to join the militia to fight the Japanese with the Eighth Route Army.
There are also many old men and young people who have not yet reached their age.
Zhao Gang originally did not allow them to join the army, but the people said to Zhao Gang: "Political Commissar, if we can't stop the devils, the devils will come into the city and kill us all. Anyway, we will all die, why don't you let us pick up the guns?"
What about resistance?"
Zhao Gang fell silent as soon as he heard this and could only nod his head in agreement.