Several company commanders also frowned involuntarily.
Zhao Wen was the first to speak: "Battalion Commander, the little devils' marching formation is so scattered, the effect of directly sending troops to attack at close range is very poor."
"A flurry of bullets couldn't hit a few Japs, but they were immediately counterattacked by at least four Japanese heavy machine guns."
"Even if the terrain on both sides of the road is very convenient for us to move and retreat, with such fierce firepower, the sneak attack troops will inevitably suffer casualties! Maybe the casualties of the sneak attack troops will be greater than the casualties we inflicted on the Japanese, and the gain will not be worth the loss!"
Xiao Yuan frowned and complained: "Then there's no need to fight!"
"A long-distance artillery attack won't work, a close-range sneak attack with guerrilla warfare won't work, and an ambush on the forward troops won't work. I can't think of any other way!"
Li Hao shook his head and replied: "No, there is another way!"
"Aren't the enemy formations dispersed? Then we will find a way to force them to gather together, and then launch a sudden attack on them with artillery fire to attack them!"
"What can be done?" Jiang Tianhong asked.
Several other company commanders also unanimously focused their attention on themselves, waiting for the next step.
Li Hao flashed a hint of mystery before replying: "Use the tactics the Japanese want to see most to fight against them!"
"Head-on confrontation?" Zhao Wen was the first to react and shouted in disbelief.
Three mortar shells screamed from the sky and hit the Japanese.
The hit rate was very poor, with only one shell accurately hitting the side of the road.
The lethality was also very poor, because the formation of the Japanese was very scattered. When they heard the scream of the shells, they would lie on the ground in alarm. Only two Japanese, one dead and one injured, fell to the ground.
Three shells killed one Jaap and injured another. Such a result can definitely be described as horrific.
Even the Japs with sufficient ammunition would be reluctant to fight a second round in the face of such a result, which would be a waste of artillery shells, not to mention that the ammunition relied entirely on captured Eighth Route Army troops.
But the result was just the opposite, beyond everyone's expectation.
The shelling did not stop, and the second round of shells followed closely.
The effect of this round of shelling was even worse. Only one Japanese was injured!
"The artillery will counterattack immediately. The troops disperse to avoid the artillery attack area. We continue to move forward!" the Japanese Major who led the team cautiously ordered.
Lieutenant Colonel Watanabe gave instructions and reminders on how to respond and counterattack after the reinforcements were attacked. What the Major needed to do was to prescribe the right medicine and make targeted decisions.
The Japanese artillery squadron quickly assembled the artillery and set up twelve mortars.
Before they had time to adjust their firing, the shelling stopped after three rounds, leaving only the footsteps of soldiers marching on the road, as if there had been no shelling just now.
"The enemy must have retreated, hit and run, a typical guerrilla tactic!" the major judged.
Then he ordered: "The troops continue to advance and march quickly to Lingqiu!"
"The Eighth Route Army must be using this method to hold us back and slow down our march. We must not let their plot succeed!"
The troops stopped walking less than half an hour later.
The major looked puzzled. Just as he was about to send someone to the front to take a look, a sergeant from the forward team rushed over.
"Sir, the road ahead has been destroyed, and several large pits and two horizontal trenches have been dug! The troops can pass by, but the artillery and baggage trucks cannot!"
"It must be the Eighth Route Army. Lieutenant Colonel Watanabe reminded us that they slowed down our march by destroying the highway!" the major replied with a serious face, and his face became ugly at that time.
Then he ordered: "We have brought too much baggage and ammunition, as well as mountain artillery. It is impossible to abandon the cart and carry it all the way to Lingqiu County!"
"The troops stopped, and three squadrons of supplementary soldiers immediately went to the front to repair the road, as long as the large vehicles can pass!"
"Others are on alert to prevent sneak attacks!"
Ten kilometers away, on the only way for the Japanese army to go to Lingqiu County, a high mountain ridge blocked it, forcing the road to change its course and go around the foot of the mountain for a half circle and continue to extend towards Lingqiu County.
More than two hundred soldiers from the Independent Battalion were digging trenches with shovels on the mountainside.
There were dozens of soldiers building positions thirty or forty meters behind the trench.
There is no complete trench between the positions, but more like a single soldier bunker.
"Chen Bing, your fire platoon has six heavy machine guns, which are placed in these individual bunkers!" Li Hao ordered, pointing to the well-formed position in front of him!
"All the heavy machine guns have been hidden by me. Without my order, no one can expose the target in advance!"
"Once you receive the order to fire, don't try to save bullets. You must give me the strongest firepower to kill more little devils in the shortest time!"
"After receiving the order to retreat, the six heavy machine gun squads cannot stay for more than a second and must withdraw from the position as soon as possible!"
"You will need to check every shooting position later to ensure that there are no blind spots for heavy machine gun shooting, and at the same time plan the retreat direction and route!"
"Japanese artillery and grenades are not vegetarians. After the battle is over, I don't want to hear about any casualties in your fire platoon!"
Chen Bing replied excitedly and nervously: "Don't worry, battalion commander, the fire platoon is guaranteed to complete its mission!"
Li Hao nodded and replied: "Then I'll leave this place to you!"
After saying that, Li Hao rushed towards the artillery position not far away.
"Hello, battalion commander!" Yuan Qingfeng reported excitedly when he saw Li Hao.
Although the current independent battalion replaces guns with cannons and is well-equipped, when it comes to the most confident company commander, it is undoubtedly his artillery company.
Looking at the entire military division, his artillery battery is also unique.
Three mountain cannons and six 81mm caliber mortars. It is possible to put this artillery configuration into other units and directly organize it into an artillery battalion.
This means that although he wears the hat of a company commander on his head, he commands a battalion of artillery.
"How are you preparing?" Li Hao asked bluntly.
"The arrangements will be ready when the third row comes back!" Yuan Qingfeng replied quickly.
"According to your order, battalion commander, three mountain cannons are deployed on the high ground two kilometers away, specifically to attack the Japanese mortar positions!"
"Although two kilometers does not exceed the range of Japanese mortars, we have terrain advantages and height advantages. As long as the Japanese place their mortars on the road, they will not be able to reach our mountain artillery positions!"
"Mortars are deployed here to bombard the Japanese gathering place at the foot of the mountain at close range. They will definitely blow up their corpses everywhere!"
Li Hao thought for a moment and asked, "What if the Guizishan Artillery Squadron counterattacks?"
"Mountain artillery can reach your mountain artillery position, and the Japanese have six mountain artillery. The artillery is well-trained. Once a fight begins, we will definitely not be opponents!"
Yuan Qingfeng immediately replied: "Batalion Commander! I haven't forgotten the tactics you used mortars against the enemy's mountain artillery last time!"
"I have already thought about it. As soon as the enemy starts setting up mountain artillery, the mountain artillery platoon will retreat immediately!"
"I have prepared two reserve positions for the mortars. In the first round of artillery fire, each gun will fire five rounds. After the attack, it will be moved to the reserve artillery position!"
"If the enemy dares to set up mountain cannons, I will use mortars to blast them."
"Six mortars versus six mountain cannons. Our rate of fire is fast and our movement is fast. We can definitely hit them hard!"
"Not bad!" The smile on Li Hao's face became even wider!
"It depends on what the little Japs choose at that time. Maybe our head-to-head confrontation can severely damage the Japs reinforcements!"
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