Chapter 1114 Capture the thief first and capture the king?
"Woooooooo..."
A few minutes later, a more piercing scream began to reach their ears, and the sound became closer and closer.
"Sir, listening to the sound of artillery, the garrison has dispatched at least four heavy artillery pieces." The artillery staff finally found a place to use it and reported immediately.
"Rumble..."
The screams lasted for several seconds before the explosion rang in their ears. It was deafening and the ground beneath their feet shook with the explosion.
"Something's wrong, is there something wrong with this shelling?" The excited smile on Colonel's face disappeared, and he frowned and shouted.
"If the garrison is to attack Laiyuan City, the artillery shells must hit the city. The first artillery shell test fire may not be accurate, and the artillery shells will be fired into Laiyuan City. Now it is obviously a formal shooting, but the artillery shells did not hit
At the top of the city, there is still an explosion in the city, and it is very close to us."
A major made a bold judgment: "Sir, the Chinese have a saying that to capture the thief first, capture the king. Could their target be us?"
"It's very possible!" The faces of many officers in the war room changed.
What hit the city were heavy artillery shells. Unless the reinforced concrete fortifications could withstand it, other fortifications were as vulnerable as paper toys in front of them.
The headquarters house is made of brick and wood, and a cannonball could level it to the ground.
If the target of the heavy artillery unit of the garrison is really here, as long as one round of artillery shells hits the target, everyone here will be finished, without even a chance to escape.
The colonel reacted quickly and made a decisive decision: "Everyone immediately retreated to the underground headquarters. Even if this place is destroyed by heavy artillery, the command system of Laiyuan City cannot be disrupted."
Before anyone could move, the third round of shells screamed.
At the same time, a captain rushed in anxiously: "Sir, our material warehouse and ammunition depot were attacked by heavy artillery!"
"Nani?" Colonel understood, and then a dumbfounded and shocked expression appeared on his face. Thinking of the attack outside the city, he immediately reacted, and then shouted out loud.
"On Bageya Road, the real target of the garrison's shelling is the ammunition depot, not us. They want to destroy our ammunition reserves."
"Quick, dispatch troops to the ammunition depot immediately and snatch out the ammunition inside."
"The ammunition depot is mixed in among the material warehouses. It's too big inside, so it's not so easy to hit!"
"Boom..." The third round of explosions suddenly sounded, interrupting his unfinished order, as deafening as ever.
Just as the colonel was about to continue speaking, a more violent explosion came over, and the ground beneath his feet shook even more violently.
"No, something must have happened to the ammunition depot..." Colonel shouted.
Then he rushed outside the war room.
Fireballs continued to rise at the location of the ammunition depot, with the largest one dozens of meters high.
Rolling black smoke rose together with the fireball, forming thick black smoke columns.
Almost half of Laiyuan City was illuminated by the roll-up ammunition depot.
The headquarters is more than 300 meters away from the ammunition depot. Standing in the yard, Colonel can still feel waves of hot air constantly sweeping toward him.
"It's over!"
Colonel's face turned pale instantly. He looked at the red fire that kept rising from the ammunition depot and was stunned for nearly half a minute before he reacted.
The deputy knew the importance of the ammunition depot best, and reported with a heartbroken look: "Sir, the ammunition depot has stored nearly 70% of the ammunition supplies for the Laiyuan garrison, and the remaining 30% of the ammunition is scattered among the various troops."
"Now that the ammunition depot has been destroyed, if we reduce the ammunition used by the defending troops in the past few days, and if we continue to fight at the current ammunition consumption rate, our remaining ammunition can last for up to three nights, and the shells that have lost the most may not be able to last for more than three nights.
I can’t last two nights.”
After hearing what the vice-captain said, the faces of everyone around him began to turn pale.
Without ammunition, no matter how strong the city defenses are, no matter how strong the imperial army's combat effectiveness is, Laiyuan City cannot be defended.
Everyone turned their attention to the colonel, waiting for him to make up his mind.
At this moment, Colonel's mind was in a mess, but as the backbone of all the troops defending the city, he had to force himself to calm down no matter how panicked he was.
He strode into the war room and ordered with a sullen face: "Why are you so sullen? We are not defeated yet, Laiyuan City is still in our hands, and the remaining ammunition can last for three days, which is enough for us to recover.
"
"Tell all the city defense troops: New ammunition will be sent to Laiyuan City in a maximum of two days. During this period, no one can disturb the morale of the army by mentioning the destruction of the ammunition depot. It is a violation of military law."
"Now everyone is at your place and you can do whatever you have to do. I will figure out a way to solve the ammunition problem."
Outside Laiyuan City, Zhao Wen stood on a high hilltop, holding a telescope and staring at Laiyuan City without blinking.
Seeing a mushroom cloud-like fireball suddenly rise in the city, he jumped up from the ground with excitement and shouted excitedly.
"Hit. The heavy artillery battery hit the Japs ammunition depot."
"Only an ammunition depot explosion can produce such a large fireball."
A few minutes later, the communications squad leader rushed over: "Battal Commander, the commando team reported that the Japanese ammunition depot was completely destroyed."
"Okay!" Zhao Wen's last trace of worry disappeared, and then he began to give orders.
"Immediately notify several company commanders that the Japs ammunition depot has been bombed, and the defenders will definitely be running out of ammunition."
"Let them strengthen their offensive and use up the remaining ammunition in the hands of the Japanese and puppet troops as soon as possible. I will make the guns in the hands of the Japanese become fire sticks and become useless to us."
"Also, tell the instructor that all the things I asked him to prepare must be ready before dawn."
"After the ammunition is used up, the Japanese and puppet troops will definitely find a way to replenish it. Airdrop is the most direct and least dangerous way."
"We must take advantage of this opportunity to kill more enemies. If we are lucky, it would be good to get some ammunition back."
At the Japanese military headquarters, Colonel stood in front of the map with a sullen face, thinking about a solution.
The deputy stood nearby, frowning and analyzing: "Sending weapons and ammunition from the occupied area into Laiyuan City, no matter which direction you go, you have to pass through the garrison base. You will definitely be intercepted by the garrison."
"Go this way!" the colonel replied, drawing a line on the map.
"All the ammunition that supports us is transported by mules and horses, which allows the baggage train to get rid of its dependence on roads. Even if the garrison regiment completely destroys the tools, the baggage train can still march forward quickly."
"Along this line, under the cover of aircraft, we can reach Laiyuan City from the occupied area in ten hours of rapid march."
"Leave at eight o'clock in the morning and arrive at six o'clock in the afternoon to avoid marching at night."
The deputy thought for a moment and reminded: "Sir, you are talking about emergency march under normal conditions."
"As long as there is an accident during the entire march, the baggage team will not be able to enter Laiyuan City before six o'clock."
"The garrison is too cunning. Even if we deploy heavy troops to protect the baggage train and there are planes in the sky to cover it, we can't guarantee that the march along the way will be smooth."
"Once the baggage train fails to arrive on time, they will lose their aircraft cover before entering Laiyuan City, and then be violently attacked by the garrison."
The colonel nodded in approval, his face obviously more solemn than before.