Chapter 1113 I will turn Laiyuan City into a meat grinder
"Order!"
The colonel thought for a long time before making up his mind: "From now on, all the troops defending the city will be on heightened alert. Especially at night, no Eighth Route Army troops can be allowed to get close to the city wall."
"Without wasting ammunition, resolutely repel any possible attack by the garrison and ensure the safety of Laiyuan City."
In a mountain depression three kilometers outside Laiyuan City, Zhao Wen, commander of the Laiyuan Independent Battalion, built his battalion headquarters directly here.
At dawn, the four company commanders under his command gathered here to report on the battle situation last night.
Before the division, the independent battalion had three companies, each of which had considerable development behind enemy lines.
After the Japanese army retreated to Laiyuan, Zhao Wen saw the divided troops for the first time.
The best-developed main force company has a total strength of nearly 300 men, and the worst one has nearly 200 men.
Zhao Wen immediately reorganized the entire battalion and expanded a main company on the basis of the original three companies to ensure that each main company was fully staffed with 150 people. Finally, a new company was established to train prisoners and recruits who had just joined the army.
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"Battal Commander, last night we kept using feints to force the Japanese and puppet troops to counterattack." The first company commander first reported.
"Two heavy machine guns and four iron barrels filled with firecrackers formed a posture of six heavy machine guns, forcing the little devils to fight back with mortars and grenade launchers, desperately firing shells into the iron barrels. I reckon.
After a while, the little devils used at least two hundred mortar shells on us last night."
"The light and heavy machine guns mounted in the bunker on the city wall have never stopped."
"Facing our feint attack troops, the bullets were shot out as if they were free, causing dust on the ground to fly."
A satisfied smile appeared directly on Zhao Wen's face.
Consuming the ammunition of the Japanese and puppet troops in the city is the most important purpose of this operation. Judging from the report of the first company commander, this task has been completed well for the time being.
He immediately asked the question he was most concerned about: "Are there many casualties among the troops?"
"It's not even time to actually attack the city. If the troops suffer too many casualties just to consume some ammunition, then the gain outweighs the loss."
The first company commander's face was obviously not as good-looking as before. He thought for a moment before speaking: "Eleven were sacrificed, three were seriously injured, and a reinforced class was lost!"
Zhao Wen frowned at that time: "How could the casualties be so heavy?"
The first company commander explained that the casualties were already very small.
Although the troops launched a feint attack, they still had to attack during the feint attack and exposed the troops to the enemy's guns.
The Japanese have both light and heavy machine guns and mortars, and ammunition can be shot out for free. A blind cat can kill many soldiers even if it kills a mouse.
But the battalion commander was furious, and the first company commander, although very aggrieved, did not dare to utter a single word of argument and could only lower his head and remain silent.
Zhao Wen directly turned his attention to the second company commander: "What about you? How are the casualties?"
"Report to the battalion commander, 12 people from the second company died, two were seriously injured, and there are no statistics on the minor injuries." the second company commander reported.
Zhao Wen's face became even more ugly. He looked at the third company commander and continued to ask: "What about you?"
"Report to the battalion commander that we did not feign an attack. We dug tunnels to force the Japanese to fire, but eight of them were killed and five were seriously injured by the Japanese's artillery fire..." the third company commander reported.
The fourth company commander was the cadre supported by Commander Chen and had the lowest qualifications. Before Zhao Wen could speak, he reported: "Battalion Commander, nine people from our company died and three were seriously injured."
Zhao Wen replied calmly: "The casualties are too great."
"According to this method of fighting, the ammunition of the Japanese and puppet troops in the city will indeed be exhausted, but our troops will also be almost exhausted."
"When all the troops are exhausted, how can we attack Laiyuan City?"
"We are all trying to figure out how to reduce troop losses while continuing to consume the ammunition of the Japanese and puppet troops."
"Batalion Commander, we can build earthen tanks!" the fourth company commander suggested.
"A wall of sandbags is piled on top of the cart, and people hide behind the sandbags. Bullets from a heavy machine gun 100 meters away will never penetrate the sandbag wall. I have used this before when I was in the old army's stronghold."
"The only problem is that the tanks cannot get too close to the enemy."
"Otherwise, a grenade can wipe out the tank, and the soldiers hiding behind will not survive."
Zhao Wen's eyes lit up and he replied: "This is a good idea!"
"Our purpose is to scare the little devils, force them to shoot, and consume their ammunition. It is not to attack Laiyuan City. As long as we put out the tanks and attack a few dozen meters forward, the Japanese and puppet troops on top of the city will definitely be defeated.
Frighten them, and then shoot wildly to prevent us from approaching the city wall."
The first company commander said: "Battalion Commander, we can build more tanks, line them up in a row, and approach the city together."
"We don't really attack, but under the cover of earthen tanks, we dig trenches right in front of the little devils' noses. This will definitely scare them."
"I also have an idea for digging a tunnel..." the fourth company commander continued.
"We can attack the east and the west."
"The Japanese and puppet troops mistakenly thought that we were digging a tunnel at one point, but the real entrance and exit of the tunnel was more than 100 meters away."
"Move all the excavated soil to the entrance of the tunnel that the Japanese and puppet troops mistakenly thought it was, and let them blow it up."
"The real tunnel entrance is hidden during the day, and we continue to dig at night. Maybe we can really dig a tunnel and extend it to the bottom of the city wall."
"This is a good idea!" Zhao Wen smiled directly on his face.
"Everyone continues to think, no matter what I do, as long as it can reduce the casualties of the troops, it is a good method."
That night, the garrison was dispatched again.
Not only did they use earthen tanks and thunder cannons, but they also dug three secret passages at the same time by attacking from the east to the west, extending bit by bit towards the head of the city.
From ten o'clock in the evening, the sound of gunfire did not stop until five o'clock in the morning.
It was still the same on the third night...
As time passed, the Japanese and puppet troops actually started to get used to it. Every night when they saw any movement outside the city, they would greet them with bullets and artillery shells.
The colonel gradually got used to it, and he continued to lie on the bed and sleep amidst the intensive sound of gunfire, without being affected at all.
"Woooooooo..."
A piercing scream suddenly reached the colonel's ears.
The colonel was sleeping soundly, but he was still frightened. He opened his eyes, jumped up from the bed, and shouted loudly: "It's heavy artillery. The heavy artillery unit of the garrison has been dispatched."
"They must be attacking Laiyuan City, otherwise they wouldn't use heavy artillery."
"Order all troops to prepare for battle."
"Hi!" the deputy who hurried over quickly replied, and then followed the colonel to the war room.
"boom……"
When I walked to the door, there was an explosion and the ground shook.
The colonel was certain that the explosion point was very close to the headquarters, so he became even more excited and continued to shout.
"The garrison is definitely going to attack Laiyuan City. The shelling just now was a test firing, and there will be more intense artillery fire next."
"Inform the troops to prepare for artillery defense. The artillery will immediately calculate the ballistic trajectory and find the specific location of the heavy artillery unit of the garrison. If possible, we will counterattack. If we can't, we will all be on standby. Prepare to bombard the garrison's attacking troops. I want to turn Laiyuan City into a mass
The meat grinder that killed the garrison became their tomb."