The Japanese army responded quickly, and it took only more than a minute for the artillery to start counterattack.
But the independent battalion artillery unit was faster.
One cannon has five shells, and it shouldn't take half a minute to shoot them all.
Then a group of four or five people carried the mortar parts and began to disperse and move.
When the artillery shells fired by the Japanese army came over, there was no one here, not even a mortar could be seen.
As soon as the artillery bombardment by the Independent Battalion ended, the explosions at the baggage train station slowly stopped.
All the intact carts were pulled onto the road and spread out and hidden to prevent any more shells from hitting them.
Hundreds of little Japs were putting out fires inside the camp, rescuing burning food and ammunition scattered everywhere, trying to recover losses as much as possible.
Half an hour later, the chief of staff walked into the tent with a sullen face: "Liant Commander, the losses of the baggage train have been calculated."
"The enemy fired five rounds of one hundred artillery shells at us. The Imperial Army and Imperial Alliance Army lost a total of 124 people, 89 of whom died directly in battle."
"Where is the baggage and ammunition? Is the loss big?" This was the question that the commander was most concerned about, and he asked immediately.
The chief of staff's face was obviously a little heavier than before.
The commander's heart skipped a beat when he saw it, and a bad premonition came into his mind. He stared at the chief of staff and asked, "Is the loss huge?"
"Hi!" the chief of staff replied, lowering his head.
"A total of 19 grain trucks were bombed. We only managed to snatch less than 10,000 kilograms of grain, and the rest were all burned."
"Eight large trucks transporting ammunition and baggage were bombed. Except for some bullets that did not explode, they were blown up everywhere. They are being collected everywhere. All the remaining supplies and ammunition have been destroyed."
The commander asked with a stern face: "Does this mean we are short of ammunition supplies for at least two days?"
"Hi!" The chief of staff lowered his head and did not dare to say any nonsense.
"Bagh Ya Road..." The captain's anger suddenly surged up and he cursed.
"Ten days of ammunition supply, three days of ammunition were lost on the road, and two days of ammunition were lost tonight. The troops have only five days of ammunition left before they start the attack. Without sufficient ammunition supplies to support, how can we carry out tomorrow's attack?
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"At most, we can attack twenty kilometers toward Lingqiu and then we can't go any further!"
"And we need to send a telegram to the logistics base now, asking them to send us a new baggage team immediately, send it out in the shortest possible time, and transport us ammunition supplies for twenty days at a time."
"We attack twenty kilometers forward, and the baggage train will have to walk an extra day on the road."
"When they come, we will have exactly one day's worth of supplies left."
"If the baggage train sets off one day later, or if there is an unexpected delay on the way, the remaining supplies will definitely not be able to support the arrival of new supplies, and the troops may run out of food."
"You immediately formulate an attack plan for tomorrow. The troops can only advance twenty kilometers and then find suitable terrain to set up camp. Only after all new ammunition supplies are in place can we continue to attack."
At the Japanese garrison headquarters in Huaiyuan County, the chief of staff was woken up by his subordinates just as he fell asleep.
He walked into the headquarters and asked dissatisfiedly: "Why is it so urgent? Can't we wait until tomorrow to deal with it?"
"Urgent call from the East Route Attack Force!" the staff officer on duty reported carefully.
"They were just attacked by artillery fire from the Eighth Route Army and lost a large amount of supplies of baggage and ammunition."
"The ammunition supply we just sent them can still last for five days. We are required to send new baggage troops immediately to send them ammunition supplies. It is best to send twenty days' worth at a time."
"Nani, why are the losses so huge?" the chief of staff shouted with surprise.
After receiving the telegram handed over by the staff and reading it carefully, he replied with a sullen face: "What do the front-line troops do for food? Ammunition supplies cannot be defended in a heavily protected camp. What use do I need them for?"
"For these ammunition supplies, the imperial army not only lost a large number of escort troops, but also a large amount of supplies. As a result, it could only last for five days. This price was too high."
The staff officer answered bravely: "Your Excellency, Wing Commander, the price is a bit high, but the baggage that should be sent must still be sent. We cannot affect the front-line troops' operations because of problems with ammunition supply."
"Of course I knew we had to send a baggage train, but I just couldn't get angry!" the captain of the unit scolded with dissatisfaction.
Then he looked at the captain of the baggage regiment and ordered: "Immediately prepare supplies for the front-line troops. Just follow their requirements and transport them twenty days of ammunition supplies at a time."
After the captain of the baggage regiment ordered his men to carry out the order, he hesitated and reminded: "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, there is no problem with the ammunition supply. We have stockpiled combat supplies for the 20,000 troops here for three months. Even if some are lost, the rest will be
The supplies are also sufficient for the frontline troops."
"But there are not many troops left in the city."
"In the past few days, we have sent two baggage detachments to the attacking troops on the east route, and one baggage detachment to the attacking troops on the middle route and one to the west."
"Except for the baggage train that was eaten up on the east road, which only had one reinforced squadron to escort it, the remaining three baggage train companies all sent half a brigade of escort troops."
"Including heavy troops, we have sent out more than 2,200 people in the past few days."
"The total garrison in Huaiyuan County is less than 6,000 imperial troops and one regiment of the Imperial Association Army. There are still more than 5,000 troops left."
"Sending ammunition supplies to the front line for twenty days at a time, while resting for one night at the garrison base, will definitely require a large number of troops to escort."
"If we go too much, the baggage trains sent to the central and western offensive troops will definitely need so many people, and there will be fewer troops left in the city."
"If we go too little, there will be so much baggage and ammunition in the garrison base without protection, and we will definitely be attacked by the Eighth Route Army and suffer heavy losses."
"Maybe twenty days of ammunition supplies will be left in the hands of the frontline troops only for ten days."
The chief of staff frowned deeper and deeper and thought for two minutes before answering.
"The deeper the offensive troops go into the garrison base, the more difficult it will be for us to transport ammunition supplies to them, and the losses will be greater. We must increase the transportation volume to reduce the number of ammunition supplies delivered to the front line to achieve the purpose of reducing losses."
"It's not just the eastern offensive troops."
"Next, we will need to send twenty days' worth of ammunition supplies to the other two attacking troops at once."
"As for the escort troops, send as many escort troops as you can."
"The garrison has obviously set its sights on our baggage train. There are fewer escort troops. The ammunition supplies sent there will either be cheap for the garrison or destroyed by the Eighth Route Army, which is not cost-effective."
"Huaiyuan is located in the hinterland of the area occupied by the Imperial Army, and there are very few Eighth Route Army activities."
"As long as there are more than 2,000 troops stationed in the county and there are sufficient ammunition supplies in the city, I won't be afraid even if the Eighth Route Army brings in a division to attack."
"If you arrange it this way, it is best to have a thousand escort troops and heavy troops on each route. When entering the garrison base area, front-line troops will be sent to support them to ensure that ammunition supplies are safely delivered to the front line."
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