At ten o'clock in the evening, everywhere was dark, with the exception of the stronghold. Several huge searchlights illuminated the place brightly, and there were vaguely visible guard posts and patrols everywhere.
Whistle can't be overstated.
The first battalion had to stop when it reached 800 meters from the stronghold.
However, this does not affect the subsequent attack.
Tonight, the real protagonists were the heavy artillery battalion’s twenty-eight heavy guns and nearly five hundred rounds of heavy artillery shells.
As long as they take action, the stronghold will definitely be razed to the ground.
What the infantry needs to do is rush onto the battlefield under cover of artillery fire to eliminate the remaining enemies, and then clean up the battlefield.
Compared with the tight security outside the stronghold, the security inside the stronghold is much laxer.
It's not that the little devil doesn't want to be more vigilant, but the conditions don't allow it.
In the past two days, the warehouses had been filled with supplies and ammunition delivered to the stronghold. Nearly half of the supplies and ammunition had to be piled in the open air of the stronghold. The piles were like hills.
The garrison at the stronghold also nearly doubled in two days. The limited barracks were definitely not enough. The Japanese army had to set up a large number of tents in the open space of the stronghold and establish temporary camps.
Mountains of supplies and ammunition, as well as tents, are all concentrated in the open space of the stronghold, mixed together. If the commander can ensure that the stronghold is not in chaos, it is already very good.
Of course, these are the treatments for ordinary soldiers of the Japanese and puppet troops, and the accommodation conditions of officers have not been affected, especially senior officers of several brigades and above.
In the stronghold commander's room, a welcome banquet has been going on for almost three hours and is not over yet.
This was organized by the base commander to welcome the captains who were stationed at the base during the day.
Just when they were planning to go to the surrounding villages to raid the surrounding villages tomorrow, stretch their muscles and make some extra money.
"Woooooooooooo..." A piercing scream came from the sky and reached their ears.
Although several people were a little drunk, the soldiers' vigilance was not affected too much.
They are all veterans of the battlefield, and many things have been deeply ingrained in their bones, forming conditioned reflexes that they cannot forget even if they want to.
Two officers reacted on the spot, their faces turned pale, and they shouted loudly: "There are heavy artillery shells flying towards us, everyone spread out and take cover..."
"Rumble..."
Before he could finish his words, there was an explosion, so deafening that even the ground beneath his feet began to tremble, and layers of ash continued to fall from the roof.
The two officers' faces turned even paler, and they were so frightened that they could not even speak.
"It's... a heavy artillery group... at least... one of the heavy artillery group's... artillery pieces is attacking us..."
Two of the several officers belonged to the Lichuan Regiment. They had fought against the garrison and reacted immediately.
"The main force of the garrison must have come over. Only the garrison around us is equipped with heavy artillery. They must want to take over our outpost."
The kid with the highest military rank decisively took over the command and began to issue orders: "Then why are you still standing there? Immediately command the troops to enter the position and defend the stronghold."
"The supplies and ammunition for our offensive garrison are piled inside the stronghold, so nothing can happen."
"Operator, contact the division headquarters immediately. We were attacked by the garrison. They dispatched at least twenty heavy artillery pieces. The troops suffered heavy casualties. We are requesting reinforcements..."
From the Japanese division headquarters in Datong, a telegram requesting assistance was sent to the division commander as soon as possible.
"idiot……"
The division commander slapped the telegram on the table and cursed angrily.
"The garrison was so bullying. They dared to attack us first before we took action."
"What does the mixed brigade do? I remember clearly. The mixed brigade said in the farewell telegram that they had severely damaged the garrison and made them lose their ability to attack. What we need to do is to enter their base area and eliminate the remaining forces of the garrison.
, kill them completely to avoid a resurgence."
"Now they are using more than 20 heavy artillery to attack our heavily defended stronghold. Does this mean they have lost their offensive ability?"
"Order the garrison at the stronghold to stand firm and wait for reinforcements!"
"The Lichuan regiment will set off immediately and march urgently to reinforce the battlefield."
"Tell Mr. Lichuan to send scouts in advance to find out the specific location of the heavy artillery group of the garrison. First, eat this heavy artillery unit, and then reinforce the stronghold."
"This heavy artillery group poses too great a threat to us."
"The reason why Laiyuan City was lost and the reason why the mixed brigade was killed was all because of this heavy artillery group."
"As long as we can kill this heavy artillery group, it doesn't matter if the stronghold is lost."
The chief of staff of the division rushed into the telegraph room like a wind to send a telegram. He came back ten minutes later, with Danla shrugging his head and looking solemn.
"Sir, the Lichuan Regiment has been contacted, the order has been issued, the troops are gathering, and they will definitely be able to set off within twenty minutes."
"But we can't contact the base."
"The phone, the radio, no matter what we called they didn't respond."
"My humble judgment is that something has probably happened to the stronghold, or the radio station has been destroyed."
"However, the former is more likely. The reinforcements stationed in the stronghold in the past two days have also brought two radios. Even if the radio is destroyed, it is impossible for all three radios to be destroyed."
"Nani?"
The division commander couldn't sit still anymore, stood up from his chair, looked at the chief of staff with his eyes wide open, and shouted with disbelief.
"How is this possible? Contact was lost so soon after the stronghold was attacked. There were more than a thousand people stationed there, two-thirds of them were imperial troops. How could it be killed so quickly?"
"Even if there are more than a thousand pigs, it will take a lot of effort for the garrison to kill them all."
"Order the telecommunications room to continue calling them, contact the Lichuan Regiment, and speed up reinforcements..."
At three o'clock in the morning, the telegram from Lichuan United arrived.
The expectant expression on the division commander's face disappeared instantly, and was replaced by solemnity. He sat down on the chair, frowning and lost in thought.
The stronghold was still lost.
When the Lichuan Regiment arrived at the battlefield, the battle was already over. And even the battlefield had been cleaned up.
In the stronghold that had been bombed into ruins, apart from more than a thousand corpses, not even a bullet casing was left.
"Sir, there is an urgent telegram from the Lichuan Regiment: They have found the heavy artillery position of the garrison, but it is empty." The chief of staff said, holding the second telegram from the Lichuan Regiment.
"A total of twenty-eight gun positions were found on the battlefield, all of which were left behind by large-caliber heavy artillery."
"Hundreds of craters were blasted out of the stronghold. According to preliminary statistics, the heavy artillery group of the garrison fired nearly 500 heavy artillery shells at the stronghold."
"Judging from the traces of fighting and lurking left on the battlefield, there were at least 1,500 Eighth Route Army troops participating in the attack."
The division commander replied solemnly: "I understand, the garrison is flexing its muscles and showing its strength to us."
"Showing muscles?" the chief of staff looked puzzled.
The brigade commander replied with certainty: "The stronghold is so big. If you were the commander of the garrison, would you dispatch 28 heavy artillery pieces at once and fire nearly 500 heavy artillery shells?"
"Even if the Imperial Army is rich and wealthy, they will not do this."
The chief of staff looked suddenly enlightened and exclaimed: "It's true! In the imperial army, heavy artillery is only used in large-scale battles or to attack fortresses. In general battles, mountain artillery is mostly used."
"But I don't understand, what is their purpose in doing this?"
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