"Sir, according to our deduction, the battle ended an hour ago, but the news has not come back yet. Did something go wrong on the battlefield?" The chief of staff couldn't help it anymore and walked to the commander to ask for instructions.
"I suggest sending them a telegram immediately and asking them about the situation."
The army commander couldn't bear it anymore and ordered with a hint of bad premonition: "Send a telegram now..."
Ten minutes later, the chief of staff came back with a serious look on his face: "Sir, we can't contact them!"
"No matter how many times I called on the radio, there was no response from the frontline headquarters."
The bad premonition in the commander's mind became stronger and stronger. He stared at the sand table and ordered: "Continue calling them on the radio."
"Order the intelligence department to contact our intelligence personnel lurking in Datong to find out whether the main force of the garrison that captured Datong is still there."
"Contact the troops who raided the Laishui Independent Regiment and the Huaiyuan Independent Regiment to confirm that the Laishui Independent Regiment and the Huaiyuan Independent Regiment are still in their base areas."
"Find a way to contact the imperial army strongholds around the battlefield and ask them to send people to the battlefield to investigate and understand the battle situation."
The atmosphere in the military headquarters suddenly became tense.
Some staff officers started making phone calls, and another staff officer rushed out of the war room to give orders. All the radios in the telecommunications room were turned on, and the orders just issued by the commander were sent to the execution troops...
After arranging everything, the chief of staff returned to the corps commander and asked carefully: "Sir, do you suspect that something happened to the attacking troops?"
The army commander did not deny it: "We have gathered more than 5,000 people on the front line and are equipped with several radio stations. It is impossible for them all to lose contact for no reason."
"So something must have happened to them. The most likely reason is that the headquarters was attacked and the radio station was destroyed."
"It is impossible for the local troops and guerrillas of the garrison to have such a big appetite. The only ones that can threaten the safety of the offensive troops are the main force of the garrison and the nearby Laishui Independent Regiment and Huaiyuan Independent Regiment."
"So I have to be on guard and prepare for the worst..."
The sound of gunfire at the Laiyuan Independent Battalion station on the main battlefield has completely stopped.
More than 200 remnants of the Japanese and puppet troops rushed out of their base and fled to the northeast of the battlefield.
The cavalry battalion is chasing them in platoon units. Even if they cannot completely annihilate them and some fish slip through the net, it will not affect the situation of the battle.
Zhao Wen dragged an injured arm to find Li Hao and reported with a serious face: "Captain, the Laiyuan Independent Battalion has successfully completed its mission. Please return to the team!"
"Is the injury serious?" Li Hao looked at his bandaged arm and asked with worry on his face.
"I was bitten by a stray bullet. It's a penetrating injury. I can fully recover in a month at most." Zhao Wen answered with a nonchalant expression.
"Don't be careless!" Li Hao reminded, shaking his head.
Then he ordered: "Go to the field hospital now to re-bandage the wound. Do whatever the doctor tells you to do. Let Liu Wenxuan do the next report."
Zhao Wen didn't want to leave and wanted to struggle. Before he could say anything, Li Hao's look made him swallow it back.
He could only answer: "Don't worry, captain, I will go to the field hospital now and try to recover as soon as possible and return to the team."
Then he looked at Liu Wenxuan and said: "Old Liu, the army will be left to you during my absence. First, find a way to fill the vacancies in the army, and then train..."
After Zhao Wen reluctantly left, Liu Wenxuan reported with heartache: "Regiment Commander, Chief of Staff, Laiyuan Independent Battalion had a total of 1,158 people participating in the battle. By the end of the battle, there were still 143 people, including six seriously injured and 49 lightly injured.
Of the members, only 85 were intact."
"There are three company-level cadres left, five deputy company-level cadres left, and 43 squad and platoon leaders left. All other cadres have died."
Li Hao was so frightened that he choked up and looked at Liu Wenxuan unable to say a word.
The independent battalion suffered too many casualties. It is conceivable that if the artillery fire of the regiment's main force had arrived a few minutes late, Liu Wenxuan would have never had the chance to stand in front of him.
It took a long time before I could hold back the words: "Comrades are all good."
"We were able to eliminate so many Japanese and puppet troops tonight, and the Laiyuan Independent Battalion deserves the first credit."
"Chief of Staff, immediately organize the guerrillas to send the Laiyuan Independent Battalion to the rear to rest and recuperate. Find all the remains of the sacrificed soldiers of the Laiyuan Independent Battalion and bury them properly. They are all heroes of the garrison."
"Comrade Liu Wenxuan, you will temporarily act as battalion commander until Zhao Wen returns to the team."
"As soon as we reach the rear, we will immediately re-build the independent battalion's frame."
"The cadres who died at the deputy company level and above will be promoted internally if possible. If there is no one available, ask the political commissar for them."
"I will send a telegram to the political commissar. Veterans and cadres who have recovered from the field hospital will be given priority to replenish you."
"Don't rush to replenish the sacrificed ordinary soldiers. After our next battle is over, I promise to give you five hundred well-trained veterans."
Liu Wenxuan left with expectations.
Hong Linfeng was not idle, and immediately ordered his subordinates to lay out a map with all the strongholds in the no-man's land in front of Li Hao.
"Captain, this is a piece of data I just compiled based on the latest intelligence."
"There are still 53 large and small strongholds in the no-man's land in front of us."
"Although the mobile troops inside have been drained, there is still a reinforced squadron of Japanese soldiers and at least two companies of puppet troops left in the large stronghold."
"The medium-sized stronghold left two squads of Japanese soldiers and one company of puppet troops."
"The small stronghold left one detachment of Japanese soldiers and two platoons of puppet troops."
"They rely on the favorable terrain and fortifications of their strongholds to stay in seclusion. If we want to capture them, we can only attack them by force."
Li Hao asked while looking at the map: "Have you counted all the heavy machine guns and mortars captured on the battlefield?"
"After supplementing the losses of the main force, there are still 21 heavy machine guns, 24 mortars, six mountain guns, and four infantry guns." Hong Linfeng blurted out.
These heavy weapons are a sign of whether the troops have the ability to attack fortresses. Hong Linfeng began to count their numbers as soon as the battle ended.
Li Hao's eyes were still on the map, but his mind was already working rapidly, allocating these heavy weapons based on the enemy's situation.
I soon got a clue: "The extra heavy machine guns and mortars were all equipped with ten mixed battalions that were temporarily formed before dark. If there were not enough heavy machine guns, use light machine guns, and if there were not enough mortars, use grenades.
Ensure that each mixed battalion has the firepower of one artillery platoon and one heavy machine gun platoon."
"Mountain artillery and infantry artillery are all assigned to the Datong Independent Battalion, Guangling Independent Battalion, and Hunyuan Independent Battalion."
"Coupled with their own mountain field artillery, it is guaranteed that each infantry company has a siege artillery."
"Half an hour later, the entire regiment divided its forces into company units to attack the Japanese and puppet strongholds in no-man's land."
"Each main force company has a mixed battalion. After the attack starts, the main force company takes the lead and is responsible for tearing holes in the enemy's stronghold, then withdraws from the battle and continues to attack the next stronghold."
"The mixed battalion is responsible for taking over the battlefield. For large and medium-sized strongholds, two mixed companies and a certain number of heavy weapons are left to deal with the remaining enemies and completely occupy the stronghold."
"Other troops continue to follow the main force and attack the next stronghold."
"It is now half past nine in the evening. The troops will set off at ten o'clock. There are still eight hours to fight before dawn. If everything goes well, each main company will be able to assault thirty kilometers into the uninhabited land and capture at least two strongholds."
"After daybreak, the troops divided up and lurked in no-man's land to rest and standby."
"If there is no main force of Japanese and puppet troops to reinforce the no-man's land tomorrow night, we will continue to attack the interior of the no-man's land and capture the entire no-man's land."
"If the Japanese and puppet troops reinforce the no-man's land, I will give you new orders."
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