"Your Excellency, Army Commander, in the face of the absolute superiority of artillery fire, the troops counterattacking Huaiyuan will undoubtedly be defeated. Should we redeploy heavy troops to counterattack Huaiyuan?" the deputy chief of staff suggested hesitantly.
The military commander shook his head like a rattle and refused without hesitation.
"We can't move any more troops."
"The garrison captured a large number of artillery and ammunition in Huaiyuan, and its morale was high. They sent people there to add fuel to the fire and let the troops die."
"I decided to stay away from the edge for the time being and not attack."
"Wait until the imperial army regains its strength, equip the frontline garrison with enough artillery, and let the artillery advantage return to the imperial army's hands, and then deal with the garrison."
On the Luojiawan battlefield, the sound of gunfire has stopped.
The battlefield is littered with corpses and scattered weapons and ammunition...
Inside the headquarters, Hong Linfeng was reporting the results of the battle to Li Hao, with a smile on his face.
"Commander, the companies responsible for the encirclement reported that all the Japanese and puppet troops who tried to break through their defense lines were killed, and no one escaped."
"Preliminary statistics show that we have killed a total of 558 imps, 198 puppet soldiers, and captured 101 puppet soldiers."
"I won't talk about ordinary rifle machine guns. There are too many and too complicated. We are still counting. There are five heavy machine guns left alone, four mortars, one infantry gun, and two mountain cannons."
"The other artillery pieces were either blown up or damaged. With the capabilities of our garrison arsenal, at least half of them can be repaired."
"In addition, there are more than 600 rounds of various artillery shells that have not been destroyed."
Li Hao thought about the order for a moment: "Chief of Staff, in addition to replenishing battlefield losses, the remaining weapons and ammunition of the garrison regiment will be left to Commander Zhou to form the Huaiyuan Independent Regiment."
"The prisoners will also be kept by Commander Zhou."
Captain Zhou was embarrassed to reply: "Captain Li, how can you be so embarrassed?"
"If the garrison hadn't assembled so many artillery pieces to join the battle, the battle would certainly not have ended so quickly."
"So the garrison must take the bulk of these seizures!"
Li Hao shook his head and refused: "Captain Zhou, the Huaiyuan Independent Battalion has just been established, and the demand for weapons and ammunition must be greater than that of the garrison."
"Captain Zhou should know that the garrison has its own arsenal."
"In the three battles of Wushanao and Pingshui Town, where the remaining troops fought guerrillas, more than 10,000 weapons were damaged on both sides. As long as half of them can be repaired, it will be enough for the garrison."
"If the garrison is really short of weapons, I will definitely not ask you for help. I will get as much as you need."
Commander Zhou was convinced: "Okay, then I will accept all these weapons and ammunition."
After dividing the spoils, Commander Zhou turned his attention to the map in front of him and analyzed with a thoughtful look on his face: "Captain Li, after this battle, the Japanese troops who raided the garrison base area have been reduced to ten, and almost all have been lost.
Almost exhausted.”
"My analysis is that the Japanese and puppet troops will definitely not dare to touch the brows of our two regiments again in the short term."
"What do you think?"
Li Hao smiled and answered confidently: "If I were the Japanese commander, I would definitely order the troops to stand still."
"There are three battles in Wushan'ao, Pingshui Town, and here. We all won through artillery raids."
"No matter how stupid the Japanese commander is, he knows that we have a powerful artillery force."
"Unless he wants the troops he has worked so hard to mobilize to be destroyed by a burst of artillery fire from us, he will never act rashly."
Hong Linfeng suddenly interrupted: "Captain, Commander Zhou, our situation is far from that good."
"The two regiments do still have more than a hundred mortars, and there are also twenty or thirty field artillery and infantry artillery, but there are not many shells left."
"More than 10,000 rounds of artillery shells of various calibers were seized from the Huaiyuan Japs Logistics Base. More than 11,000 rounds were used in the Wushan'ao ambush battle. More than 3,000 rounds were used in the encirclement and annihilation battle just now. The total is 15,000 rounds. In addition,
The consumption on other battlefields must be 20,000 rounds."
"Not only have all the artillery shells captured in Huaiyuan been used up, but the captured artillery shells in several battlefields have also been almost used."
"I made a rough calculation and found that the average number of remaining mortar shells is less than fifty rounds per gun. Due to the slow rate of fire of mountain guns, there are a little more left, but each gun can only average eighty rounds.
"
"It only takes a moderately sized battle for these shells to be used up."
"As for the arsenal, due to the blockade by the Japanese and puppet troops, many raw materials for the production of artillery shells can only be supplied in small quantities, so the production of artillery shells will not increase until the blockade is lifted. The monthly output is only 1,200 rounds, 900 rounds of 81 mm caliber
Mortar shells, four hundred rounds of 120 mm large-caliber mortar shells.”
"On average, each mortar only has ten rounds, so it doesn't get hit at all."
Captain Zhou's expression immediately became solemn.
It was as if the Japanese and puppet troops might send heavy troops to kill him at any time, and he was worried.
Li Hao was not affected and looked at the two people answering confidently.
"Chief of Staff, don't worry."
"The troops are short of artillery shells. Only a few of us know about it, but the Japanese don't."
"In their eyes, we seized a large number of weapons and ammunition in Huaiyuan."
"Countless weapons and ammunition have also been seized in Wushan'ao, Pingshui Town, and here."
"As for how much ammunition was used in several battles, only a few of us know."
"Based on what the Japanese know about us, they certainly don't believe that we used more than 20,000 artillery shells in just a few battles."
"Because with the fighting style of our Eighth Route Army, even if we have artillery shells, we will use them sparingly, and we will not fight such a luxurious battle."
"Yes, Commander Li is right, the Japanese don't know that we have used up all the shells!" Commander Zhou immediately agreed.
"The Japs have suffered enough losses in this raid. They definitely don't have the guts to take risks with thousands more people, so they will definitely stay put and accumulate strength. At the very least, they will have more equipment and greater caliber than us.
of artillery before attacking."
Li Hao said: "Don't worry about this issue anymore. There will definitely be no Japanese provoking us again in a short time."
"Even if the Japanese Army Commander thinks about it, I will fight him back."
After spending two months with Li Hao, Captain Zhou became as excited as the cadres of the garrison regiment when he heard the word "war".
In addition, he is now the head of the Huaiyuan base area, has guns, cannons, and ammunition in his hands, and he is more confident to fight.
Looking at Li Hao's eager face, he asked: "Captain Li, how do you fight back?"
"Go in three steps!" Facing this neighbor who shared life and death, Li Hao did not hide anything.
"The first step: Replenish the troops with prisoners in the shortest possible time, set up the main force and local troops, and equip all weapons and ammunition."
"The second step is to clear out the Japanese and puppet troops in the no-man's land."
"If large strongholds cannot be defeated, then attack small and medium-sized strongholds. Capture the target at the minimum cost. This can not only train troops and restore the combat effectiveness of the troops as soon as possible, but also seize our few weapons and ammunition, and then hoard them to increase the future combat potential of the troops.
."
"The third step is to open up the communication channel between the garrison regiment and the Huaiyuan Independent Regiment and Laishui Independent Regiment."
"The three armies are each other's horns and cover each other. If the Japanese want to attack us, we must carefully consider them."
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