Chapter 1109 The commander's strategy to break the situation
"Captain, our new battle plan is working!"
At the headquarters of the garrison regiment, Hong Linfeng rushed in with a telegram and reported excitedly.
"This is what three independent battalions have just put together: Ever since the front-line troops dug a blockade trench to the entrance of the stronghold and used thunder cannons to attack and shell the stronghold, the Japanese and puppet troops trapped in the stronghold began to become anxious."
"They all rushed out of their strongholds to destroy the thunder cannons and blockade trenches."
"Our troops took the opportunity to launch an attack and used guerrilla warfare to consume a large number of Japanese and puppet troops."
"The three battalion commanders assured in the telegram: As long as there are no accidents on the battlefield, within a month at most, they will be able to consume more than half of the Japanese and puppet troops trapped in the strongholds, and then take the opportunity to launch a counterattack, seize all the strongholds, and completely take back the blockade area.
"
Li Hao shook his head and replied: "No, one month is too long."
"The Japanese troops are not fools. They cannot be suppressed and beaten by us all the time. They will definitely find a way to break the situation. Therefore, we must kill more people before the Japanese and puppet troops react to reduce the pressure on the next battle."
"Reply a telegram to the three battalion commanders: "Ask them to increase their offensive, force the Japanese and puppet troops out of the stronghold a few more times, and take the opportunity to kill more Japanese and puppet troops."
Hong Linfeng agreed: "The Japanese are indeed more difficult to deal with this time than before. I will send them a telegram now."
It took nearly ten days for the Japanese military headquarters in Taiyuan to receive a telegram requesting help from the front line.
When the stronghold was first attacked by thunder cannons, many commanders thought they could solve the problem and did not report it in time.
Of course, there are also some little thoughts of their own in this.
If the stronghold asks for help from its superiors as soon as it encounters difficulties, then the meaning of its existence as a commander will be lost, and it will definitely leave a lot of bad impressions on its superiors, which will eventually affect its promotion...
It wasn't until the casualties of the troops were increasing, morale was low, and the security of the stronghold began to be affected, that they dared to report to their superiors and request support.
"Sir, in just over ten days, each stronghold has already lost more than 2,000 people under the attack of the garrison's new tactics."
"The total number of garrison troops in the nine strongholds is less than 8,000, which is equivalent to nearly 30% of the troops being defeated by the garrison."
The army commander read the telegram three times in a row before speaking: "The garrison is really powerful!"
"Blocking ditches and flying thunder cannons to attack strongholds will not create any logistical pressure, but they can put huge pressure on the garrison at the stronghold. No matter whether we stick to the stronghold and get bombed, or break out of the stronghold to counterattack, we will lose troops and generals, falling into their trap and consuming us.
the goal of."
"We must find a way to change this situation."
"If the frontline garrison loses another 2,000 men to the garrison, our strength advantage will be gone. They will definitely pursue the victory and launch a full-scale counterattack against each stronghold, defeat them one by one, and completely eliminate all our troops stationed in their base areas.
Even if Amaterasu protects us, there is nothing we can do to save our lives."
After saying that, the army commander turned his attention to the map, and after a few minutes he suddenly asked: "How is the situation in the three counties of Laiyuan, Yuxian, and Guangling?"
"It's all in the hands of the imperial army," the chief of staff replied.
"Each county is stationed with a reinforced squadron of the Imperial Army and a battalion of the Imperial Associated Army."
"The Eighth Route Army was frightened by the threat from the Imperial Army's aircraft and did not dare to dispatch heavy artillery at will. In addition, there were a large number of civilians stationed in the county, and they did not dare to use thunder cannons for fear of accidental injury. The three county towns have not been attacked."
"But there are a lot of Eighth Route Army troops operating around the county."
"The humble official judged that they were waiting for an opportunity, so they rushed into the city and took back the county seat."
The army commander replied with a cold snort: "They have no chance."
"Pass my order for the frontline troops to abandon all strongholds and retreat to the county seat."
"The reason why the new battle plan of the garrison can control the lifeline of the imperial army and consume a large amount of the imperial army's strength is that the stronghold is too small and there are no ordinary people inside to serve as hostages for the imperial army."
"The garrison can attack us without hesitation and use thunder cannons to send explosive packages into the stronghold to kill and injure our troops."
"It's different in the county town."
"It is surrounded by a city wall four to five meters high, and there are ordinary people inside who are serving us as hostages. Even if the defense regiment digs their offensive position a hundred meters outside the city, they will not dare to use flying thunder cannons easily."
"Flying thunder cannons are notorious for their short range and poor shooting accuracy."
"If there is an explosive package that can cross the four- to five-meter-high city wall and smash into the city, the power of the explosive package will definitely accidentally injure ordinary people. The Eighth Route Army will never want to see such a result."
"As for hitting the city head, the probability is too low. If not, the explosive package may fly into the city and accidentally injure civilians. The Eighth Route Army will definitely not take risks just for a small chance."
"Calculated this way, the impact of the thunder cannon on us will be minimized or even have no impact."
"As long as the imperial army defends the county seat and does not come out, the garrison will not be able to do anything to them."
"As for their food supplies, they can be obtained by raiding villages and towns near the county seat under the cover of aircraft."
"And this is the only chance for the garrison to consume us, but as long as we control the number of times the imperial army goes out to raid the city, there will definitely be no problem with more than 2,000 garrison troops in each county holding on for two to three years."
"Of course, if the garrison group gathers heavy troops and uses heavy artillery to attack the city, the result will be uncontrollable."
"But the imperial army can also consume a lot of the garrison's manpower through city defense battles. This is not a bad thing."
The chief of staff's eyes lit up and he agreed: "Sir, you are wise."
"The Imperial Army's offensive in other battlefields is not optimistic either. Faced with the Eighth Route Army's ubiquitous guerrilla warfare, many troops have switched from offense to defense and have entered a long-term confrontation with the Eighth Route Army."
"Under this situation, what the Imperial Army needs most is to stabilize the war situation, ensure the stability of the occupied areas, and then re-build its strength to launch a new sweep against the Eighth Route Army in the future."
"We have assembled heavy troops to defend the three counties of Laiyuan, Guangling, and Yu County. In order to ensure the safety of the base area, the garrison regiment will inevitably deploy heavy troops to carry out siege."
"In this way, they will have no extra troops to attack the areas occupied by the imperial army."
The army commander nodded in agreement, and then continued: "I have studied the garrison. When they first captured Laiyuan, the imperial army also defended Laiyuan City, but they only lasted less than half a year before being defeated."
"The reason is simple: they underestimated the enemy."
"In the face of the garrison regiment's tactics of diverting troops away from the mountain and substituting advantages and disadvantages, they rushed out of Laiyuan City. In the end, the entire army was destroyed, causing Laiyuan City to be captured by the garrison regiment."
"We must not make the same mistake twice."
"After the troops retreated to the three counties of Laiyuan, apart from grabbing food and supplies, there was no order from the military headquarters. Even if the garrison was exposed under their noses, the troops could not attack."
"After entering Laiyuan, the troops will continue to strengthen the city's defenses."
"If I remember correctly, when we first built the barrier ditch, we stocked up a lot of steel and concrete in several counties."
"Let them use them all, and I will build the three county towns into an unbreakable military fortress."