Anyone with a bit of military knowledge can guess that the Eighth Route Army wanted to strike while the iron was hot and use this momentum to bombard the Japanese-occupied areas to maximize the results.
The deputy chief of staff saw the brigade commander's worry and thought for a moment to comfort him: "General, there is no end to the problem. We still have hope!"
"The Eighth Route Army attacking us must not have received the news of the attack on the base area. As expected, they will definitely receive the news in another half hour."
"In order to ensure the safety of the base area and fight back as soon as possible, there is at least a 50% chance that they will retreat voluntarily and give up attacking Datong."
"We should send a telegram to the military headquarters and ask them to order the mopping up troops to step up their attack. At all costs, they should enter their base area in the shortest time, cause maximum damage, and make the garrison heartbroken."
"The harder they hit, the less interested the Eighth Route Army's siege troops were in attacking us, and the faster they retreated."
"We should also explain to the military how important Datong is to us. Even if the entire aviation force supporting us is destroyed, we must unconditionally cooperate with us to defend Datong."
"Although the effect of this telegram is not great, it is certainly useful."
"If we take both paths together, our chances of holding Datong must be more than 70%."
"Unless the Eighth Route Army attacking us no longer has its base and decides to fight us to the death here."
The brigade leader's face looked much better, and he thought for a moment before replying: "They will definitely not kill them all."
"The Eighth Route Army's combat style is: preserve its vitality while fighting us, and never fight the opponent until it is absolutely necessary."
"The Eighth Route Army attacking us has obviously not reached this point, so they will not fight such a life-and-death battle."
"Just do what you just said and send a telegram to the military headquarters now."
"If the Eighth Route Army does not retreat after receiving the news that the base area was attacked, it will not be too late for us to fight tooth and nail."
The head of the Japanese military headquarters and intelligence department in Taiyuan rushed into the military commander's office with excitement on his face.
"Your Excellency, Army Commander, an urgent message has just been sent back from the direction of Laiyuan."
"In order to block our attacking troops, the garrison deployed a large number of guerrillas and local troops from various places to join the battlefield."
"Our intelligence officers lurking in the garrison watched these people go to the battlefield with our own eyes."
The army commander stared at the sand table and asked, "How are the attacking troops doing?"
"We have broken through the two lines of defense of the garrison and are launching an attack on the third line of defense." the chief of staff replied.
The person in charge of the intelligence continued to report: "The intelligence also said that in order to block our attack, the garrison mobilized civilians to build eight blocking positions on the battlefield overnight."
"There are still a large number of local troops and guerrillas rushing to the battlefield from various places."
"Although they have a large number of troops, their combat effectiveness is very poor. To repel an imperial army attack, the blocking force would have to suffer casualties of at least 60% of the soldiers, and they would almost lose their combat effectiveness."
The chief of staff said: "Your Majesty General, this is very consistent with the battle situation reported by the attacking troops."
"They also reported that the blocking force's combat effectiveness was poor. A blocking position had to be abandoned after holding on for more than an hour."
"According to the current offensive, we will definitely be able to capture all the Eighth Route Army's blocking positions before dark."
"Pa bang bang..."
A knock on the door suddenly sounded at the door of the office. The communications staff officer stood at the door, looking nervously into the office.
"What's the matter?" the military commander asked bluntly.
"Your Excellency, Army Commander, urgent call from Datong!" the communications staff officer reported as he walked.
"The Datong garrison hopes that we will strengthen the offensive against the garrison base area, force the main force of the garrison to retreat early, and save Datong City."
"In addition, one-third of Datong has been occupied by the Eighth Route Army."
"If you want to keep Datong, you must see no hope of capturing Datong in a short time before the garrison retreats."
"They hope that the military will give the aviation force a death order and reinforce them at all costs to defend Datong City."
This was bad news. The commander's brows, which had been relaxed just now, instantly wrinkled.
The chief of staff's reaction was even more exaggerated, and he analyzed with a stern face: "Your Excellency, Army Commander, the battle situation in Datong has deteriorated faster than we planned."
"The military must agree to their request, otherwise Datong City will definitely be lost."
"If I were the commander of the garrison, and I had occupied most of Datong when I learned about the attack on the base area, and I was about to win, I would definitely not be willing to retreat."
The person in charge of intelligence also frowned: "But the garrison is too cunning and has been prepared for it."
"Although the local troops they are gathering have poor combat effectiveness and poor equipment, they have many people."
"Coupled with their temporarily repaired blocking positions, it will be difficult for us to advance into the base area in a short period of time."
"Even if we step up our offensive, the effect will be limited."
The chief of staff suddenly suggested: "Can we send more aircraft to the front line and strengthen the offensive through aircraft reinforcements?"
"The intelligence says that these fortifications were temporarily repaired by the Eighth Route Army. They must be civil fortifications. It only takes a few aerial bombs to be dropped, and the blocking position will be razed to the ground."
"If the attacking troops launch an attack again, they will definitely take it down as easily as picking out an object from a bag."
"With this attack, the time it takes for us to break into the defense regiment's base can be reduced by at least half."
The intelligence chief's eyes lit up: "This is a good idea."
"As long as we can break through the Eighth Route Army's defense line and advance into their base within a few hours, the main force of the garrison will definitely be in a hurry to retreat."
"But we also have to satisfy the Datong garrison's other request."
"Chief of Staff, you just analyzed that if the Eighth Route Army sees hope of taking Datong, it will not be willing to retreat even if the base area encounters a crisis."
"So before the garrison retreats, we must not let them see the hope of taking Datong."
"The number of aviation forces supporting our garrison in Shanxi is limited. After the large-scale reinforcement of the Laiyuan battlefield, I don't know if there are any extra aircraft to reinforce Datong."
"The main force of the garrison is more cunning than the troops staying in the base area."
"Disincentivize aviation from attacking them by releasing smoke."
"If an aircraft wants to accurately attack the enemy on a battlefield where we are intertwined, it must fly, find the signal smoke, and then launch an attack."
"In this way, they will be hit hard by the Eighth Route Army's light and heavy machine guns."
"Of the three planes that were sent to reinforce them in the first round, one crashed on the spot and one was seriously injured on the battlefield. It crashed on the way back to the airport. Only one made it back safely."
"Of course, this is a loss caused by the aviation force without any preparation."
"They will definitely be particularly vigilant in the next reinforcement operations, but it is almost impossible to achieve zero losses."
"So if we want to keep Datong, the aviation force must be prepared to lose a large number of fighter planes."
"The intelligence department has roughly calculated that we will lose at least six fighter planes in the entire reinforcement operation."
The cost of losing six fighter planes in one battle was too high. Except for the military commander, no one else in the office could make such a big determination, nor could they bear such a big responsibility.
So, several subordinates agreed and looked at the commander at the same time, waiting for him to make up his mind.
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