"No, there is a way!" the captain thought for a moment and replied.
"We can't find the underground path of the tunnel or its specific location, but we can find its entrance and exit. As long as the tunnel entrance and exit are destroyed, it will be useless no matter how deep the tunnel they dig, and the Eighth Route Army who is digging the tunnel is still
They will be buried inside, turning the tunnel into a tomb for their Eighth Route Army, killing two birds with one stone."
"Contact the headquarters immediately, report the situation here, and request artillery support. I will cover the tunnel entrance and exit with artillery fire and blow it up."
At five o'clock in the morning, the sound of gunfire surrounding Laiyuan City finally stopped, and the battlefield became quiet again.
When the sky was completely bright, not even a shadow of the Eighth Route Army could be seen on the position outside the city.
Only a few freshly dug trenches and bomb craters are left.
"The garrison seems to have retreated. Sir, would you like to send someone out to take a look?" a second lieutenant on the top of the city suggested.
The captain shook his head and refused: "No, the commander has strict orders. Without his order, no troops can leave Laiyuan City."
"Immediately report the situation here to the headquarters. Let the commander decide whether to attack. We just need to obey the order."
At the Japanese Army Headquarters in Laiyuan City, gunfire started outside the city, and the colonel stayed in the war room without rest.
Assemble heavy troops, retreat to Laiyuan City, and rely on the tall and strong city defenses to defend. The thunder cannons equipped by the garrison will be ineffective, and the initiative on the battlefield will return to the hands of the imperial army. They can advance and attack, but retreat and defend.
.
If the garrison regiment dispatches heavy artillery to attack Laiyuan City, with the strong fortifications of Laiyuan City, even if it is eventually occupied, it will consume a large amount of the garrison regiment's troops and achieve the goal of severely damaging them.
If the garrison regiment besieged but did not attack, in order to protect the security of the base area around Laiyuan, they would definitely station a large number of troops outside the city to prevent themselves from suddenly coming out and raiding their base area.
In this way, the main force of the garrison will be dragged outside Laiyuan City by itself, which will not threaten the security of the area occupied by the imperial army and buy time for the imperial army to prepare for the next major raid.
This combat plan of the military department can be said to be absolutely foolproof, without any loopholes.
Of these two ideas, the colonel believed that the first one was the most likely.
The garrison is a force with strong combat effectiveness and great military exploits.
Such troops are often very proud and will never allow themselves to drive a nail into their opponent's heart.
Moreover, the garrison has heavy artillery, so it is fully capable of taking down Laiyuan City if attacked by force.
The weather, location, people, and people are all on their side. There is no reason not to attack and pull out the nail in Laiyuan City.
So when he heard the gunfire outside the city, the colonel's first reaction was that the garrison was going to attack Laiyuan City, and he immediately ordered the troops to enter the position and be prepared to fight the garrison to the death.
Disappointment: I waited for several hours but did not hear the sound of heavy artillery fire.
Without heavy artillery, the possibility of the garrison taking over Laiyuan City using ordinary siege methods was almost zero. This was something the Colonel still had confidence in.
But there is a premise: the defending troops must counterattack with all their strength, use intensive firepower to intercept the attacking troops, and prevent the defending regiment from getting close to the city wall.
Otherwise, without heavy artillery, they could still use explosive packets to blow up the city defenses and enter the city.
But in this way, the defending troops will inevitably consume a lot of ammunition.
And this was what the colonel was most worried about in the middle of the night.
Food can be obtained from the people in the city. As long as the people are trapped in the city, the garrison will not dare to blockade Laiyuan City, and food will flow in and eventually be used by the imperial army.
Ammunition was not available, so they could only transport it from the area occupied by the imperial army, and then pass through the garrison base area and enter Laiyuan City.
During this process, the garrison will definitely intercept them step by step.
No matter how much ammunition is sent from the occupied area, it is very likely that even the last bullet will not be able to enter Laiyuan City.
It is for this reason that I specifically emphasized at the meeting that the troops must save ammunition in the next battle.
And according to the way we played last night, the ammunition in stock in Laiyuan City will be exhausted in half a month at most...
"Sir, the city defense troops are asking for instructions whether the troops can go out of the city to conduct reconnaissance and confirm that the Eighth Route Army has evacuated Laiyuan City." A major came over and reported.
"no……"
The colonel frowned and refused.
A picture immediately appeared in his mind, which often happened when he was stationed at the stronghold before retreating to Laiyuan.
After dawn, it seemed calm outside the stronghold, and there was not a single Eighth Route Army soldier.
Once the imperial army was out, the painting style changed.
The Eighth Route Army emerged from their hiding spots like escaping gophers, shooting at the Imperial Army's attacking troops and running away after hitting them, giving the Imperial Army no chance to counterattack.
In one attack, the imperial army could easily lose more than ten or twenty men.
Now Laiyuan City is bigger, and there are more places to hide people outside the city.
If they repeat their old tricks, the attacking troops may lose hundreds of people.
The colonel didn't want the same thing to happen again, so he frowned and began to give orders: "Order the reconnaissance troops to put on Chinese civilian clothes, open the city gates, and go out of the city with the common people to find out the situation outside the city."
Three hours later, a staff officer walked in and reported with a stern face: "Sir, the investigation team has found out everything."
"The Eighth Route Army that attacked us last night all retreated, and there was no one outside the city."
"Is the Eighth Route Army really digging tunnels outside the city?" a major asked.
"Hi!" the staff officer replied quickly.
"Not only were they dug, but there were more than one, but they were all destroyed in the imperial army's artillery attack last night."
Another major analyzed: "Sir, I believe that this is probably a feint attack by the garrison, deliberately consuming our ammunition."
"Even if it is a feint attack, we must resolutely push them back. If they get to the foot of the city wall and use explosives to blow up the city wall, the feint attack will immediately turn into a main attack, and then they will charge into Laiyuan City." Another major replied.
.
"There are also tunnels. If they don't destroy the tunnel entrances and exits and let them keep digging, what if there are tunnels dug all the way to the foot of the city wall."
"I have been to Jizhong in my humble position. The Eighth Route Army there often buried hundreds or even thousands of kilograms of explosives in the tunnels. No matter how strong the gun towers and city walls were, they would be blown into ruins."
"In the words of the Eighth Route Army: Let the Imperial Army fly in their earthen planes and disappear together with the artillery towers."
"So we must eliminate all opportunities for the Eighth Route Army to get close to the city wall."
The colonel did not speak, but his increasingly solemn expression expressed his inner views.
Facing the garrison's attack on Laiyuan City, he was also very troublesome.
Even if he knew that this was a conspiracy by the garrison to consume Laiyuan City's limited ammunition, he still had to order his troops to counterattack at all costs.
Because if something unexpected happens in this matter, what is waiting for him is probably to die here.
The price is too high and I simply can't afford it.