At the Datong Japanese Army Command Headquarters, facing a new round of attacks by the Eighth Route Army, the brigade commander was no longer as calm as he was half an hour ago.
He walked around the war room in a panic, and his face became more solemn every time the war staff brought bad news.
This main attack came too suddenly, exactly as Li Hao had predicted: it caught all the city defense troops in Datong by surprise.
When they came to their senses, the defending troops suffered more casualties in just a few minutes than they did when they repelled the Eighth Route Army's two feint attacks in the middle of the night.
"General, the east of the city has been attacked by the Eighth Route Army's heavy artillery. A gap has been blown out of the city wall. The defensive forces are organizing troops to fill the gap, but their troops are too few and they are in urgent need of reinforcements!" A staff officer put down the phone and ran over to report.
"What about the other three directions?" the brigade leader asked solemnly.
With the appearance of heavy artillery and the dozens of vehicles the Eighth Route Army had assembled at the east gate, the brigade commander was 80% sure that the east gate was the main attack direction of the garrison.
As long as the attacks from the other three directions are not strong, he will use all the power of Datong City to reinforce the east gate.
If the troops are still not enough, he will mobilize troops from the other three directions to reinforce the east of the city.
A staff officer just put down the phone and quickly reported: "General, the west side of the city is under fierce attack by at least 2,000 Eighth Route Army troops. They are equipped with more than a dozen mortars and a large number of light and heavy machine guns."
"Because after the five mortars were transferred, three of the remaining five mortars have been destroyed by the Eighth Route Army's superior artillery counterattack, and the remaining two are fighting an arduous battle with their opponents. They are no match at all."
"In this case, the light and heavy machine guns we set up on top of the city will be called upon by the Eighth Route Army mortars as soon as they fire..."
"The attack has just begun, and we have already lost ten light and heavy machine guns and a large number of troops."
"The enemy is constantly approaching the city wall under the cover of light and heavy machine guns and mortars, and may rush to the foot of the city wall at any time to blast."
"I hope the command headquarters can send some light and heavy machine guns to make up for battlefield losses."
The brigade leader's face instantly darkened.
This result was completely opposite to the judgment in his mind.
Originally, I thought that the east side of the city would be the main attack direction of the Eighth Route Army, which would put the greatest pressure. The other three directions were only feigned attacks by the Eighth Route Army, and the pressure would be very small.
The Eighth Route Army, who had no intention of attacking them, was so ruthless that they turned their feint attack into a main attack and charged forward with a life-threatening attitude.
As a result, his plan to mobilize troops from them to reinforce Dongmen had to be declared bankrupt before it even started.
After a long sigh, he looked at the deputy chief of staff and asked: "Immediately arrange for people to transfer five heavy machine guns and ten light machine guns from the arsenal and send them to the west of the city as quickly as possible."
"Hi!" The deputy chief of staff rushed to make arrangements.
Surprisingly, the combat staff officer who had just reported did not leave. He looked at the brigade commander with a hesitant expression.
After the deputy chief of staff left, he bit the bullet and continued to report: "General, the garrison in the west of the city said one more thing!"
"In the previous battle against the Eighth Route Army's feint attack, they lost more than 400 people."
"Now the Eighth Route Army's attacks are getting stronger and stronger, the firepower of the attacks is getting fiercer, and the casualties of the troops are rising sharply."
"If the Eighth Route Army continues this offensive, there will be defense holes in the west of the city in another hour due to heavy losses in troops."
"Please command the headquarters to arrange the troops and be ready to reinforce Ximen at any time."
The brigade commander shouted in disbelief: "What did you just say? The troops stationed in the west of the city are not enough?"
The communications staff officer did not dare to lie about the military situation and affirmed as the brigade commander looked at him with a murderous look.
"Yes, they reported that the Eighth Route Army's offensive firepower was so fierce that soldiers were injured and killed every minute."
"Less than ten minutes after the general offensive began, they had already suffered nearly a hundred casualties."
"Without reinforcements, they would have suffered more than half of their casualties within an hour, and there would have been a large number of defense holes in the city wall that stretched for nearly one kilometer."
The heavy expression on the brigade leader's face slowly turned to panic.
The reserve team at hand is limited, and one east gate is enough to bother him. Now there is an additional west gate. Unless he has the ability to spread the beans into an army, it is impossible to reinforce two city gates at the same time.
After thinking about it, I still feel that the pressure on the garrison in the east of the city is greater.
Not only did they have to face heavy machine guns and mortars that were several times their own, they also had to face mountain artillery, more than a dozen heavy artillery pieces.
Without reinforcements, we might not even be able to hold out for half an hour.
He quickly made a decision in his mind: "Call the garrison in the west of the city immediately. There are no reinforcements, but I can give them fifteen light and heavy machine guns to block the Eighth Route Army's attack at all costs."
After saying this, the brigade commander looked at several other staff officers and asked: "How is the situation in the south and north of the city? Can they divide their troops to reinforce the east of the city?"
"General, there is news from the south of the city!" a staff officer immediately reported.
"They were attacked by more than a thousand Eighth Route Army troops. Although they were small in strength, the offensive firepower was fierce. They had at least fifteen heavy machine guns and at least fifteen mortars. They suffered heavy losses in equipment and manpower and were in urgent need of support."
The brigade commander was even more panicked than before. Before he could speak, another staff officer came over to report.
"General, the garrison in the north of the city reported that they were attacked by nearly 3,000 Eighth Route Army troops. The enemy's attack firepower was very fierce and the troops suffered heavy losses. Reinforcements will continue."
"General: Urgent report from the troops stationed in the east of the city. The troops have suffered heavy casualties and can hardly close the gap created by the heavy artillery." A staff officer just put down the microphone and reported anxiously.
The brigade commander was so panicked that he immediately ordered: "Quickly transfer two squadrons from the reserve to reinforce the east of the city. Go and give the order now to block the gap and prevent the Eighth Route Army from entering Datong City."
A staff officer rushed out of the war room to give orders. The brigade commander looked at his slowly disappearing figure, his expression not returning to calm.
After thinking for a moment, he continued the order: "The remaining two squadrons of the reserve team will also go to reinforce the east of the city."
"Build a temporary defense line behind the gap created by the Eighth Route Army."
"In case the city defense garrison fails to block the gap, let the Eighth Route Army come in."
"These two squadrons must guard the temporary defense line for me, cooperate with the garrison in the east of the city to eliminate all the Eighth Route Army entering the city, and turn the east of the city into a meat grinder to eliminate the Eighth Route Army's effective strength."
The deputy chief of staff rushed back after giving the order. He happened to hear these orders and quickly reminded them.
"General, think twice. Once all four squadrons of reserve teams are dispatched, we will have no one in our hands. If there is another accident somewhere, we won't be able to solve it even if we try to solve it?"
How could the brigade leader not know this truth?
But other than doing this, he couldn't think of any other way.
The top priority now is to defend the east side of the city. Only by winning this battle will everyone have the opportunity to talk about the future.
If the east side of the city cannot be defended, it will be useless no matter how many reserves you have on hand.
It's better to send all these reserve teams out to fight the enemy, maybe they can survive the desperate situation and turn defeat into victory.
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