As soon as the wing leader walked into the war room, a staff officer followed him in.
He is an artillery staff officer in the headquarters.
Looking at the commander's face, he reported solemnly: "Your Excellency, commander, the Eighth Route Army is too cunning."
"They separated the more than ten mortars and mountain artillery that attacked us, and fired at the train station indiscriminately, from all directions. The artillery needed time to distinguish and calculate their specific positions before they could counterattack."
The commander of the regiment immediately replied: "Hurry up and make calculations. We must kill these artillerymen."
After saying that, he rushed out of the headquarters, climbed to the roof, raised his telescope and looked towards the explosion point.
Explosions went off one after another, and the fireballs rising from the ground turned into a sea of fire, lighting up the sky red.
"Rumble..."
Another series of earth-shaking explosions reached his ears. The moment the fireball soared from the ground, a large vehicle loaded with ammunition was blown away in an instant.
Ammunition boxes were smashed everywhere like flowers.
In the process of flying out, many of the ammunition were detonated by flames and high temperatures, causing a larger explosion.
The captain's face became paler and paler, and his eyes turned red, as if he were about to spit out fire.
He gritted his teeth and cursed: "What do artillerymen do for food? Why don't they fire!"
No one answered the captain's words. Everyone here knew that he was furious now, and anyone who answered might get burned.
Half a minute later, the chief of staff suddenly shouted with excitement on his face: "Sir, the enemy's shelling seems to have stopped!"
The sound of the explosion did become weaker, and the fireballs began to become sparse.
Half a minute later, the artillery units began to counterattack, and the explosions at the baggage train station completely stopped.
The captain returned to the headquarters and sat on the chair with a helpless expression. He knew very well that he had lost the firefight tonight and suffered heavy losses.
As for artillery counterattacks, 80% of them will end in vain.
The Eighth Route Army stopped firing half a minute in advance, which was enough time for them to evacuate the artillery positions and move to a safe area.
An hour later, the chief of staff who rushed to the baggage train station in person came back.
With a very ugly expression on his face, he lowered his head and replied: "Commander Captain, the situation in the baggage train is even worse than we thought."
"Judging from the explosion marks on the battlefield, in addition to shelling, the Eighth Route Army also buried a large number of explosives at the garrison station in advance, and these explosives were detonated during the shelling."
"The violent explosions we heard were all caused by explosive packets, not heavy artillery."
"The humble official ordered people to click on the crater, and they buried at least fifty explosive packets."
"Nearly 80% of the materials and ammunition of the baggage train were completely destroyed, and more than 70% of the troops were lost."
"The artillery unit lost one heavy artillery piece, two mountain artillery pieces, four infantry artillery pieces, and 158 gunners. Most of them were caused during the rescue of equipment."
"Preliminary statistics show that the remaining food in the baggage train and the dry food carried by the soldiers can last for six days."
"Ordinary ammunition can support the troops for two battles, but the artillery shells are only enough for all the artillery to fire continuously for twenty minutes."
The commander of the regiment suppressed the anger that kept pouring out of his heart and listened to the chief of staff's report. Then he punched the table in front of him and shouted with a ferocious expression: "The Eighth Route Army's artillery attack tonight has achieved its purpose and successfully destroyed our supplies.
We are short of food and ammunition."
"However, it is wishful thinking to use these trivial tricks to defeat us and force us to retreat."
"Contact your Excellency the Chief of Staff immediately to report that the baggage train was attacked and that the baggage and ammunition were heavily lost. Please ask the Chief of Staff to immediately send troops to replenish our ammunition and baggage, and if possible, replace the ammunition we lost."
"Tomorrow during the day, the troops will only attack and advance twenty kilometers."
"While waiting for logistical supplies, we are searching for hidden Chinese."
"The important reason why the defense group dared to attack us so unscrupulously is that we don't have any hostages for them to use as a weapon."
"As long as there are hostages in hand, their mines will be ineffective, and they would not dare to cover the Imperial Army's garrison with artillery fire, let alone bury explosives at the Imperial Army's garrison in advance."
The Japanese set off at dawn the next day. Just like yesterday during the day, engineers were manually clearing mines in front, and the Imperial Army followed to build the road. Finally, the main force passed.
Upon hearing the news, Zhao Wen looked puzzled.
If he hadn't seen that the remaining large vehicles of the Japanese army were only 20% of the original size, and several artillery pieces were missing, he would have doubted whether the troops had really severely damaged the Japanese baggage train and artillery unit last night.
Otherwise, with the Japanese style of retribution, we would definitely not remain indifferent.
It wasn't until twelve o'clock in the afternoon that he figured out the Japanese army's operational thinking.
A scout rode a fast horse to catch up with the moving headquarters of the independent battalion. When he saw Zhao Wen, he reported anxiously.
"Battal Commander, Instructor, there is movement among the Japanese and puppet troops!"
"One reinforced brigade of the Japanese army and one battalion of the puppet troops, which did not carry heavy weapons, just suddenly broke away from the troops and fought towards the northeast."
"That's the direction into the mountain!" Zhao Wen blurted out.
The instructor's expression changed immediately, and he said with a worried look: "Battal Commander, the people in the surrounding villages are hiding in the mountains. Do you think they were the purpose of the Japs' killing?"
Zhao Wen said nothing, but his expression became more and more solemn.
Finally, he looked suddenly enlightened and shouted: "Instructor, the Japanese have not given up the idea of taking ordinary people as hostages."
"After gaining nothing in Huangcun yesterday and losing more than a hundred cavalry, we have learned a lesson today."
"On the surface, they are standing still and continuing to attack steadily as yesterday to confuse us. In fact, they are secretly searching for the common people hiding in the base area."
"When you find the target, send heavy troops to kill it directly to avoid losing your wife and troops again."
Liu Wenxuan also came to his senses and replied solemnly: "Batalion Commander, we must never let the villagers fall into the hands of the Japanese."
"This is a fatal order given to us by the regiment headquarters."
Zhao Wen agreed and replied: "Indeed not."
"If the Japanese and puppet troops had villagers as hostages, our landmines would not be able to be used, and our artillery would not dare to cover their bases unscrupulously. If they were to fight with their hands tied, many more soldiers would definitely be lost."
"The communications class immediately sent people into the mountains to notify the local troops and guerrillas inside. Everyone took action to cover the villagers as they continued to move into the mountains."
"The guard company sets off now and marches in a hurry to get in front of the Japanese, slowing down their march at all costs and buying time for the main force of the battalion to establish a blocking position."
"The first company, the second company, and the fire company rushed to the mountain pass to establish a blocking position."
"Build more lines of defense and block the attack layer by layer until dark, and the puppet troops will definitely retreat."
"Other troops continue to focus on the main force of the Japanese and puppet troops."
On the highway, the Japanese commander's face looked very scared.
The defense team responded too quickly.
The attacking troops were attacked less than an hour after they separated from the main force. Mine warfare, sparrow warfare, and block warfare were all used.
The commander of the regiment immediately knew that the Eighth Route Army had discovered its purpose: to slow down the march of the attacking troops and buy time for the people in the mountains to move.
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