At nine o'clock in the evening, both the division commander and the chief of staff were at the division headquarters.
The ongoing battle on the Liulin front line is nothing to the division commander who commands more than 20,000 Japanese troops and more than 30,000 puppet troops.
However, it is related to whether the army's next mopping up attack on the Suide Military Region can get off to a good start. Therefore, both of them attach great importance to it and wait until the frontline battle report arrives before they can have a good night's sleep.
"Division commander, chief of staff, urgent call from the front line!" The communications staff officer finally rushed into the war room and brought the front line battle report that the two men were eager to know!
"Has the battle on the frontline already started? The frontline garrison is following the division commander's order to show weakness to the Eighth Route Army's offensive troops, and then consume them bit by bit in the defensive battle!" the chief of staff stared at the communications staff officer and asked!
"No...chief of staff..." the communications staff officer quickly replied.
"After the Eighth Route Army reached our stronghold, they were not in a hurry to launch an attack. They did not even conduct a tentative attack. They directly surrounded our stronghold, then built fortifications around the stronghold, dug trenches, and assumed a posture of besieging us for a long time!"
"What does the Eighth Route Army want to do? Trap our troops who are holding several strongholds~" the chief of staff asked in confusion.
Then he added: "If this is the case, when our main force reaches Liulin tomorrow, we can cooperate with the garrison in these places to attack from inside and outside and kill the Eighth Route Army that is besieging us around the stronghold. This will be of great benefit to us.
One harm!"
"Not necessarily!" the division commander hesitated and retorted.
"We dispatched heavy troops to attack Liulin. With the intelligence gathering capabilities of the Eighth Route Army, it was impossible not to know about such a big movement. Even though we knew that our main force was about to kill them, they still stayed around our stronghold waiting to be made dumplings by our main force.
Isn’t that going to death?”
"Do you think the commander of the Eighth Route Army is so stupid?"
The chief of staff shook his head.
We have fought against the Eighth Route Army not once or twice. They are not only good at catching fighter opportunities, flexible and resolute in combat, but also very powerful in combat. The word "stupid" has absolutely nothing to do with them!
Then he stared at the division commander and asked: "What do you mean?"
"If the judgment is not wrong, we should have been fooled~ The Eighth Route Army must have some new conspiracy waiting for us!"
"Wait a minute, there are still more than 2,300 people in our five frontline strongholds, of which the Imperial Army accounts for more than half. They are well-equipped, have sufficient ammunition, and have solid gun towers and positions for defense. The Eighth Route Army does not have artillery, even if it does
I don’t know what kind of conspiracy, if I insist on it for six or seven hours a night, there should be no problem..."
The two men stood guard at the headquarters and waited for almost an hour, but there was still no news from the front line.
The anxious chief of staff couldn't help but remind: "The Eighth Route Army's encirclement should have been almost completed in more than an hour. If they don't attack our stronghold, they will have no time... Division commander, do you want me to send a message to the frontline garrison now?"
Send a telegram to ask about the situation of the war!"
"Wait a minute!" The division commander was much calmer and shook his head in response.
Another half hour passed, and when the division commander could hardly sit still, the communications staff finally rushed in.
"Sir, something happened on the Liulin front line!"
"The artillery, the Eighth Route Army and the artillery have not been destroyed, and now they have appeared near our stronghold... Because the stronghold has been surrounded by the Eighth Route Army, even if they want to retreat, they have no chance and can only defend the stronghold!"
"How many artillery pieces have appeared near the strongholds? How many artillery pieces are there in total?" The worry in his heart became a reality. The division commander was more anxious than anyone else. He stared at the communications staff officer before the chief of staff could speak and asked.
"Two infantry cannons and two mountain cannons appeared near the stronghold where the second largest pair of troops are located!"
"The other strongholds are not equipped with radio stations and can only be contacted by telephone. Perhaps because their telephone lines to the outside were cut off by the Eighth Route Army, we lost contact with the remaining four strongholds an hour ago. We have not yet been contacted, and we have no contact.
Know the situation there!"
The bad premonition in the division commander's heart became even stronger. He frowned and ordered: "Send a telegram to the second team: Let them find out the situation of several surrounding strongholds immediately!"
"Also, order them to find a way to break out of the encirclement. The Eighth Route Army has mountain artillery and infantry artillery, plus they have sufficient ammunition. If the troops hold on to their strongholds, they will only end up being wiped out by the Eighth Route Army~"
"We must break through no matter what the cost, even if we only use one-tenth of our troops to break through!"
"Hi……"
The order from the division headquarters was sent and the Second Battalion received it. However, the Second Battalion had no chance to call back.
Just two minutes after receiving the order, two artillery shells hit the turret where the brigade headquarters was located.
The turret did not collapse, but a shell hit the outer wall of the turret where the Japanese Second Battalion's telecommunications room was located.
The violent explosion opened a huge hole in the turret, and the two operators and the radio were smashed by the flying masonry!
At the division headquarters, the chief of staff ran in from the telecommunications room with an anxious look on his face.
"Division commander, we haven't contacted the second brigade yet~ They seem to be missing. There is no message on the radio!"
"I just sent a telegram to the garrison that reoccupied Liulin County, asking them to send people to check these strongholds immediately. Any news will be sent back as soon as possible..."
The division commander's face had become very gloomy, and he affirmed with almost no hesitation: "Something must have happened to them!"
"Chief of Staff, now we must be prepared for all the garrison on the Liulin front to be wiped out by the Eighth Route Army tonight!"
"How is that possible?" The chief of staff still looked unbelieving.
"The Eighth Route Army has no artillery... How did they capture our heavily defended stronghold? There must have been an accident somewhere, and then we lost contact with them!"
"Conspiracy, I am at least 70% sure that the operation of the Eighth Route Army's Suide Military Region tonight was an outright big conspiracy from the beginning... Although I don't know what this conspiracy is yet? However, it is definitely and how to bomb our heavy defense.
It’s related to the stronghold!”
At four o'clock in the morning, the division commander and chief of staff, who had been waiting almost all night, finally received the report from Liulin County.
Seeing the communications staff officer walking towards him with a solemn look on his face, although he had not spoken yet, from his expression, the division commander had a premonition that his initial judgment had come true.
"Division commander, chief of staff, something happened in Liulin!"
"A total of five strongholds were captured by the Eighth Route Army, and all the defenders were killed. Apart from corpses, nothing else was found on the entire battlefield, not even a single bullet casing."
The chief of staff's face turned pale, and he didn't react for a long time.
The division commander reacted quickly because he had already made a judgment. He stared at the communications staff officer and asked, "Do you know how the Eighth Route Army captured our stronghold in such a short period of time?"
"I don't know!" the communications staff member replied, shaking his head.
"They reported that the Eighth Route Army cleaned up the battlefield too thoroughly, and the strongholds were bombed into ruins. No useful evidence could be found at all!"
"In other words, more than 2,000 troops stationed on the Liulin front line were completely wiped out by the Eighth Route Army in just one night without any reason!"
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