"First add 100 people to each main camp!" Li Hao thought for a while and made a decision.
"The captive soldiers are different from the local troops. Although they all have strong combat effectiveness, they can participate in the battle with additional troops. However, the training methods of the two troops are different, and the combat methods are definitely different."
"Coupled with their status, the captive soldiers will definitely not be integrated into the army as quickly as the local troops."
"Too much replenishment at one time will definitely affect the overall combat effectiveness of the unit and be counterproductive."
"One hundred people is just enough. On average, three veterans will lead one captive soldier. This should allow them to quickly integrate into the army and form combat effectiveness."
"Chief of Staff, you immediately conduct a simple assessment of all the captured soldiers and select the best 500 among them to directly replenish the army."
"Send the others to the political commissar and let Deputy Commander Luo lead the training."
After saying that, Li Hao continued to ask: "Have I let all the false news released by the troops get out? Our action plan can't wait until it succeeds. The key point is whether these false news can be believed by the little Japs in Laiyuan City.
"
Hong Linfeng quickly replied: "Don't worry, captain, the news has been sent out."
At least ten prisoners were let go by us during the day today. The reconnaissance platoons of each battalion were keeping an eye on them. Except for three people who escaped, all the others entered Laiyuan City."
"In order to atone for their crimes, they must report this information to the little devil as soon as possible."
"Very good..." Li Hao's eyes quickly shot out two rays of light and then answered.
"Now that the bait has been put out, we are just waiting for the little devils to take the bait. What we still need to do next is to open a big net and swallow up the Japanese and puppet soldiers who took the bait."
"Guard, please inform the heavy artillery battalion Yuan Qingfeng to come to the headquarters immediately, along with the reconnaissance company commander Chen Wei and the cavalry battalion commander Zhou Wu."
At the Japanese brigade headquarters in Laiyuan City, the brigade commander was visibly relieved after learning that the garrison that attacked him outside the city had withdrawn.
What I lack most now is time.
The withdrawal of the garrison means that Laiyuan City can be defended for at least one more day.
As long as the main force that captures Datong is ready to send troops and attack the garrison from the direction of Datong, the danger of Laiyuan will be lifted.
However, the brigade leader's tense nerves did not completely relax.
The garrison is too cunning, and there is no guarantee at what moment they will kill someone and catch themselves off guard.
Thinking of this, the brigade commander decisively ordered: "The troops will continue to strengthen their alert, and the infantry brigades will continue to renovate street fighting fortifications. I will turn the entire Laiyuan City into a battlefield. We will kill as many people as the garrison kills in."
"The reconnaissance force will leave the city immediately to ensure that there is no main force of the garrison within ten kilometers around Laiyuan City."
At six o'clock in the evening, the brigade commander who had been inspecting the fortifications all afternoon was just getting ready to eat when the deputy chief of staff rushed in with a smile on his face, as if he had won a battle.
"General, we know the news about the garrison!"
"Several prisoners escaped from the garrison this afternoon, and they brought back exact information about the garrison."
"Although we suffered heavy losses last night, the garrison also suffered heavy casualties, and the offensive force lost more than two-thirds."
"There were more than a thousand corpses carried back alone, and there were hundreds of seriously injured people who were unable to march. The total loss was more than 1,500 people."
"Intensifying the losses in the attack on Lingqiu and the ambush of our reinforcements, the entire garrison has less than 1,500 people left, and the real combat force is estimated to be less than 1,000 people.
"One battalion of the main force was beaten until only one infantry company remained."
"In order to make up for the loss of troops, the garrison directly recruited more than a thousand new soldiers from among the prisoners to supplement the troops."
The brigade leader's expression was calm. Facing this good news, he did not show the slightest smile on his face.
Putting down the bowl and chopsticks, he thought for a minute and then asked: "Is it possible that this is false news released by the garrison to deliberately confuse us, and when we relax our vigilance, they will suddenly attack and catch us by surprise."
The deputy chief of staff replied with certainty: "It's all true, General. I dare to vouch for it with my own head."
"I interrogated the Imperial Alliance soldiers who escaped back separately. There is no way they could have colluded in advance and reported the same information to us."
"Also, the corpses of the soldiers killed in the garrison, as well as the lightly and seriously injured, were all carried back by them personally. Each of them signed a military order with me and took responsibility for what they said. There must be no problem."
"In addition, I asked the Imperial Army in the city to check out these people who escaped. They all sincerely support the Imperial Army of Japan and there is no way they can deceive us."
The brigade leader's calm face finally showed a trace of expression fluctuation.
He ordered the troops to continue to renovate the street fighting fortifications, and he personally inspected the street fighting fortifications in the afternoon... He did all this to defend Laiyuan City.
If the garrison really suffers heavy casualties and loses its ability to attack, without the need for the main force to attack, the crisis at Laiyuan will be lifted.
Staring at the deputy chief of staff, he continued to ask: "Send someone immediately to investigate this matter."
"I don't want to listen to the one-sided reports of those prisoners. I want accurate and true information."
At eight o'clock the next morning, the deputy chief of staff once again visited the brigade commander's headquarters.
"General, the reconnaissance force reported that the garrison has replenished the troops with the newly captured Imperial Army."
"At least half of the soldiers on the training ground are wearing the uniforms of the Royal Association Army, and they are undergoing running-in training."
"Also, last night, a large number of cavalry troops appeared around Laiyuan City, and many of our scouts were killed."
"On the road from Laiyuan to Lingqiu, the Eighth Route Army stopped the people from building fortifications under the cover of night."
"After daybreak, all these fortifications were concealed."
The brigade commander frowned and asked, "Have any prisoners of the Imperial Alliance Army escaped from the garrison?"
"Yes...but..." the deputy chief of staff hesitated and continued.
"When they entered the city, they were killed by the cavalry troops of the garrison that were blocked outside the city. No one entered Laiyuan City alive."
"The reconnaissance troops had no way to enter or exit the city gate. They climbed over the city wall from several hidden locations to enter and exit Laiyuan City."
"Based on my humble opinion, the garrison must have known that there were prisoners who brought their information into Laiyuan City."
"In order to prevent more intelligence from leaking, we sent cavalry to search for these escaped prisoners and prevent them from entering the city."
"The reason why we built fortifications on the road from Laiyuan to Lingqiu is because we are worried that we will attack Lingqiu City and reoccupy their base camp after knowing their true situation."
After two full minutes of silence, the brigade leader finally chose to believe it.
"It seems that the garrison really has no offensive capability. The crisis in Laiyuan has finally been lifted."
The deputy chief of staff immediately suggested with an eager expression: "General, since there are only more than a thousand people left in the garrison, should we pursue the victory and break out of Laiyuan City, annihilate them all first, and then attack Lingqiu and reoccupy them?
Base camp.”
"Baga! Haven't you suffered enough from the garrison?" the brigade leader cursed.
"Although the garrison suffered heavy casualties, it only lost the ability to attack Laiyuan City, not its combat effectiveness."
"If you rush out of the city, you might be caught off guard again."