After listening to the division commander's analysis, the deputy chief of staff became even more anxious and immediately asked: "Master, what should we do next?"
"Without food, brothers, let alone fighting, even marching is a problem."
"Keep on going!" the division commander ordered through gritted teeth!
"Still going forward?" the deputy chief of staff asked with his big eyes wide open, his face full of disbelief.
The teacher affirmed: "Only by moving forward will we have a chance!"
"Withdrawing from the garrison base now will not only mean that our previous efforts will be in vain and we will not be able to complete the tasks assigned to us in the theater. It also means that the mountain artillery battalion and three supply companies will be lost in vain!"
"If my judgment just now is correct, the mountain artillery battalion and the baggage and ammunition we lost must be in the hands of the Eighth Route Army."
"Even if we withdraw our troops, they will not admit it, and they will continue to use the Japanese banner to ask us to provide food to exchange for the brothers from the Mountain Artillery Battalion and the baggage company, and then lose our troops at the expense of our wives."
"I will be the first one not to agree to such a result."
"If the matter reaches the war zone, the position of division commander under me will not be secure."
"Only by continuing to move forward can we have a chance to complete the mission. The mountain artillery battalion and several supply companies will not be lost in vain, and the big guys can keep their positions under their butts."
The deputy chief of staff agreed with the division commander's analysis, but there was one reality they had to face, and that was food.
Looking at the teacher, he asked bluntly: "What about the food?"
"Without food, brothers can only continue to starve."
"This place is 20 kilometers away from Hunyuan County. Under normal circumstances, it can be completed in three or four hours."
"Everyone is so hungry now that we might not be able to reach Hunyuan in five hours."
"And the brothers will definitely be more tired and hungry after arriving at Hunyuan. Once they are attacked by the Eighth Route Army, they may not even have the strength to resist, and they will have to be prisoners."
"Analysis from our current encounter: Faced with our seizure of the garrison base, the Eighth Route Army did not swallow its anger and was passively beaten."
"They have been resisting in ways we don't know, and no one knows what other tricks they have prepared to deal with us."
"If the troops remain exhausted and hungry, the next one to disappear may be the entire guard battalion."
The division commander gave a serious order: "Kill the horse to satisfy hunger!"
"Kill all the remaining horses in the army and let each brother drink a bowl of broth and eat a piece of horse meat so that he can have the strength to rush to Hunyuan County."
"The Eighth Route Army can move all the people in a village and prevent us from getting a grain of food."
"I don't believe they have the ability to evacuate a county in such a short time."
"So there must be food in the county. As long as we enter the city, the problem of hungry troops will be solved."
"Send another telegram to the chief of staff: Let the follow-up troops carry at least half a month's food supplies for the entire division into the garrison base to join us. The speed must be fast."
"While we are figuring out our own solutions, we will also ask the chief of staff to send us food. If we go hand in hand, we will definitely be able to completely solve the problem of food shortage."
"Once we have food and occupy Hunyuan City, the garrison will no longer be able to force us out of their base."
The Datong Independent Battalion Headquarters moved all the way to a small mountain village five kilometers outside Hunyuan City before stopping, and then received the latest intelligence from the reconnaissance platoon.
"Commander, the Jinsui Army is killing horses to satisfy their hunger, and seems to be competing with us." Huang Sheng reported after reading the intelligence.
"Competition is all about competition. This is our base and the mass base is good. No matter how hard we compete, I'm not afraid of them." Li Hao answered confidently.
Then analyze: "Your guard platoon and reconnaissance platoon successfully captured the Jinsui Army cavalry company and then captured three mounted scouts, so they must have no more than five horses left. If they kill them all, they won't have much meat, which is enough for them."
It will be good to wait until Hunyuan County, but we will still be hungry by then."
Instructor Teng Changyuan said: "Captain, I received news half an hour ago: We have moved all the villagers in Hunyuan County outside the city, and taken away all the edible things. Except for rats, there are no living animals in the city."
No, we guarantee that the Jinsui Army will not receive a grain of supply after entering the city."
Li Hao immediately ordered: "Then let them enter the city!"
"When they are so hungry that their chests are pressed against their backs and they cannot hold on any longer, they will naturally take the initiative to negotiate with us, and then the initiative will be back in our hands."
"But we cannot underestimate the enemy: intelligence shows that there are two regiments of nearly 4,000 Jinsui troops behind the third commando team. They can enter the base area at any time to transport supplies to the Jinsui troops that are about to enter Hunyuan."
"The task I give everyone is: as long as the food does not come in, the more troops come, the more confidence we will have in negotiating, and the greater the benefits we can gain."
"There are still two groups of Jinsui troops on the left and right, try to force them into Hunyuan City."
"When the three armies come together, we can better encircle them."
At the temporary station of the Jinsui Army on the middle road, more than a dozen large pots were scattered in every corner of the village, with steaming horse meat soup boiling in them.
The soldiers stared at the cauldron eagerly, swallowing saliva, hoping that the meat in the pot would be cooked quickly.
In a relatively clean house in the village, there is a map spread on the table in the middle, which clearly marks the deployment of troops in the garrison base area and the latest progress of the various units of the Shanxi-Sui Army.
The division commander stood next to the map with a serious expression.
He kept his eyes on the road between the current location of the troops and Hunyuan County.
Until now, he had not figured out how the cavalry company was killed by the Eighth Route Army.
But there was one thing he thought the same as the deputy chief of staff.
There are still twenty kilometers to go, and the soldiers under his command are very tired. The Eighth Route Army will definitely prepare new tricks on this stretch of road to wait for them to pass.
As a division commander, he must think ahead of possible accidents that may happen next and nip them in the bud.
After racking my brains and thinking for more than ten minutes, I unexpectedly received telegrams from the left and right troops asking for help.
"Master's seat, the deputy division commander is sending an urgent message: They have finished all the dry food in their hands. All the people in the nearby villages have been moved away by the Eighth Route Army, and they cannot find a single grain." The deputy chief of staff reported with a serious look.
"The troops are very tired. The soldiers are hungry and can no longer move forward. We request the division headquarters to send them supplies immediately."
After finishing speaking, he took out another telegram and continued to report: "This is a telegram from Commander Zhou. He faces the same problems as us. The troops have stopped because of hunger."
The division commander kept staring at the map, his expression not changing at all.
He had expected this result a long time ago. This was the base of the garrison, and it was impossible for them to deal with themselves and miss the other two groups of troops.
Pointing to two points on the map, he replied: "The deputy division commander and Commander Zhou are still nearly 50 kilometers away from the target they want to capture. The troops are equipped with few war horses, and they can't catch up by killing horses to satisfy their hunger, so their mission can only be temporarily abandoned.
"
"Call them back: Kill the horses to satisfy hunger, let the brothers have a full meal, and then immediately turn around and go straight to Hunyuan County, where we will meet."
"Occupy Hunyuan first, and then consider other base areas of the garrison after establishing a firm foothold."
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