Once the war machine of the Japanese army is put into action, its efficiency will be much faster.
Within an hour, the deputy chief of staff came over and reported excitedly: "General, everything has been investigated!"
"The Eighth Route Army attacking us comes from the garrison. It is true that there are only four main battalions, but each battalion is equipped with a large number of artillery, as well as a large number of siege mountain artillery!"
"The garrison regiment?" the brigade leader thought for a moment and replied: "Is it the Eighth Route Army unit that repeatedly suffered losses for the Shanxi garrison? If I remember correctly, the garrison regiment played a vital role in the reason why Datong was captured by the Eighth Route Army."
"Hi!" The deputy chief of staff quickly told him the information he had just learned about the garrison.
"The garrison regiment has always been famous in the Eighth Route Army for being well-equipped and good at fighting tough battles."
"There is news that with the same number of troops, the equipment of the garrison is better than that of the imperial army."
"And the garrison also has a mysterious heavy artillery unit. The number of artillery pieces is unknown, but they are all large-caliber mountain cannons and howitzers."
"It was this heavy artillery force that opened a gap in the city wall of Datong, and then the Eighth Route Army entered."
"There is another rumor: It is said that the garrison regiment used the tanks and armored vehicles captured by the Imperial Army to form an armored force. This force rarely takes action. Once it does, it will definitely severely damage or completely annihilate the Imperial Army's participating troops."
The brigade commander suddenly interrupted: "Bage Yalu, why did I hear you talk about how powerful this garrison is, and I didn't hear you say that the imperial army is also very powerful. If others' ambitions destroy your own prestige..."
"General, calm down!" The chief of staff would not have dared to accept such a big crime even if he had given him ten more courages, so he quickly explained.
"What I just said is the information shared with us by the front army headquarters and the intelligence department. I have no intention of raising others' ambitions and destroying my own prestige."
"Although the garrison is very powerful, there are only four reinforced battalions attacking Baoding, with a total strength of less than 4,000. Excluding the troops leaving the city, we still have more than 7,000 troops in the city, a double strength advantage. They want It is absolutely impossible to capture Baoding City."
The brigade commander shook his head and replied: "No, in this battle I not only have to defend Baoding, but also severely damage the garrison that attacked us."
"Let the front army see that the garrison that has repeatedly defeated the imperial army will not survive if it encounters our Baoding garrison."
"Not only do we have twice the manpower advantage, we also have the artillery advantage."
"Originally, the garrison brigade only had one brigade of mountain and field artillery. After deducting those from the city, there were only four mountain cannon and four field artillery."
"But last night the transport team delivered a total of twenty artillery pieces, not only mountain artillery, but also heavy artillery."
"Although these artillery pieces are not given to us, there is no problem in borrowing them."
"I decided to assemble all the artillery and four mixed brigades to take the initiative and kill the garrison outside the city who wanted to attack us. If we can't annihilate them all, we can just inflict heavy damage."
The enemy headquarters, staff and guards of the garrison regiment are packing information and documents in preparation for transfer to the front line.
The only thing that didn't move was the communications platoon. The radio station controlled by Zhou Liang kept flashing red light to ensure that the communication between the regiment headquarters and the front-line troops was not interrupted.
"Regiment Commander, Fifth Battalion Commander Zhao Wen sent an urgent message that there is movement among the little Japs in Baoding City."
"The comrades lurking in the city sent a message: "The garrison troops in the city and the supplementary troops in the city before dark are gathering to replenish a large amount of weapons and ammunition. Thousands of people have gathered at each city gate."
"Before dark, all the twenty mountain cannons and heavy artillery in the city took off their gun jackets. In addition, the eight mountain field cannons equipped by the garrison brigade were divided into four, and an artillery position was built at each city gate."
"Something's wrong..."
The soldier's intuition made Li Hao full of doubts about this matter. He looked at Hong Linfeng and asked: "Chief of Staff, have the four main battalions started attacking?"
Hong Linfeng shook his head: "Except for the seventh battalion that blew up the city gate tower, the other troops are all digging trenches and building offensive positions!"
Li Hao's suspicion grew stronger: "That's strange!"
Before we even started attacking, the Japanese troops gathered all their troops at the gate of the city, as if they were going to fight us. Don't you think this is abnormal?"
"If I were the commander of the Japanese army, even if the four gates of Baoding City were attacked at the same time and some gates were in danger, I would only send reinforcements one squadron after another, and I would certainly not send all the main forces there at the beginning."
"If something unexpected happens somewhere during the battle, we won't even have a mobile unit on hand."
"The top commander of the Baoding garrison is a brigade commander. He has experienced many battles and must understand this truth."
"There is another thing that makes me feel wrong: the replenishment regiment in the city before dark and the weapons and ammunition of the Japanese army going south. Logically speaking, the Baoding garrison has no right to mobilize and use them. Unless Baoding City is already in danger and has to be used."
"Baoding obviously hasn't reached this point yet. The Baoding garrison started using them before the siege started. There must be a conspiracy."
At this point, if Hong Linfeng still doesn't understand the meaning of Li Hao's words, then his role as chief of staff will be in vain, just watching Li Hao blurt it out.
"The devils are going to take the initiative..."
Li Hao showed an expression of approval: "I think so too."
"We currently have only more than 3,000 troops exposed outside Baoding City. There are more than 6,000 Japanese troops in Baoding City alone, and there are more than 1,000 puppet troops. If I were the commander of the Japanese brigade, I would not sit still and wait for death."
"Immediately send a telegram to the heavy artillery battalion, anti-aircraft battalion, tank company, and cavalry battalion. The troops are all on hold. Wait for my order when to start taking action."
"If the Japanese army really intends to take the initiative to attack, this is an excellent opportunity to consume a large number of them. We must not alert the enemy."
"Send a telegram to the four main camps on the front line and convey our analysis to them."
"If the Japanese army really comes out of the city to attack them, each battalion must be prepared in advance to kill and injure a large number of Japanese and puppet troops at the minimum cost."
"We wait until the frontline battle begins before taking action, so that the Japanese will be frightened into retreating in the middle of the counterattack, so that the four main battalions can take the opportunity to kill the Japanese with a carbine, beat up the drowned dogs, and kill some enemies."
In Baoding City, everything is ready and all it needs is the east wind.
The deputy chief of staff came over with expectation and reported: "General, the troops are ready to attack."
"In order to strengthen the offensive firepower of the troops leaving the city, I took 40 mortars and 40 heavy machine guns from the weapons and ammunition going south to strengthen the front-line troops. As long as they engage in firefights with the Eighth Route Army outside the city, they will definitely be able to use their firepower advantage
Suppress the opponent, not give the Eighth Route Army any chance to counterattack, and press them to fight."
"Let them stand still!" the brigade commander ordered.
"I just gave an order to the troops on the blockade. As long as we are sure that no follow-up troops from the garrison will come over, we can attack."
Outside Baoding City, boxes of landmines were delivered to the offensive position, and then buried beside them by soldiers, leaving only the final step to hang them.
At the battalion headquarters, Zhao Wen was arranging tasks for several company and platoon leaders: "The regiment commander just sent a telegram that the Japanese and puppet troops in the city are likely to leave the city to counterattack. Let us seize the opportunity to severely damage the Japanese and puppet troops leaving the city."
"After the battle, the Japanese army will definitely concentrate artillery fire on our offensive positions. In order to avoid unnecessary casualties, I will only leave the first company behind."
"After the Japanese troops left the city, they retreated after a brief blockade and used landmines to deal with the Japanese who left the city."
"The second company, the third company, and the artillery company will respond at the mountain pass one kilometer behind, lead the Japanese into the mountain, and slowly deal with them."
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