"Then we won't fight and just watch the Japs burning down our base!" Sun Jiawu asked anxiously.
Li Hao shook his head and replied: "We must fight, but we must change the method!"
"First of all, "from now on" the troops can no longer be concentrated and must be dispersed. The size of each combat force cannot exceed one infantry squad!"
"Everyone has just seen the power of aerial bombs, which is far beyond our imagination."
"If a bomb explodes nearby, it can wipe out our entire platoon or even our company!"
"Only by spreading our troops as far apart as possible can we minimize the threat posed by Japanese aircraft to us!"
Sun Jiawu and Zhao Wen both looked unwilling, but the casualties of the troops were there, and they could not refuse.
In the end, I could only follow the order like Li Hao, with a look of helplessness on his face.
At five o'clock in the afternoon, the Japanese and puppet troops finally arrived at the fifth village they raided today.
The four villages in front have been burned to ashes by the troops. As expected, the village in front of us will also be burned to ashes early tomorrow morning.
But now this village is still useful, and it can temporarily protect the troops from the wind.
"The troops will camp here tonight. Our battle plan remains unchanged tomorrow. We will continue to raid villages one by one, and then set fire to them, forcing the main force of the independent battalion to come out and fight us!" Watanabe ordered as he stepped out of the armored vehicle.
"Hi!"
The adjutant said with a flattering look on his face.
"Since you asked for the plane, sir, our troops have not been attacked by large groups of the Eighth Route Army."
"Although sporadic sneak attacks continued, basically all the Imperial Army soldiers died. The Imperial Army's casualties were very small!"
"In my humble judgment, as long as we burn ten more villages tomorrow, thousands of people in the so-called base areas of the Independence Camp will be homeless, and their people's hearts and morale here will also experience a huge test. In addition to standing up and fighting us,
Stop us from continuing to burn and restore the morale of the people and the military. I can't think of any other ways they can do it!"
"And as long as we force the Independence Battalion out, we will definitely win this sweep!"
"Sir, your move against the Independent Battalion was more powerful than I expected. It hit the vitality of the Independent Battalion in one fell swoop and forced them to sleep!"
From the moment the plane arrived on the battlefield, Watanabe was in a very good mood, but he did not lose his mind and answered calmly.
"We did hit the independent battalion's weak point with a punch, but we still can't underestimate the enemy!"
"Many of our officers suffered heavy casualties along the way because they underestimated the enemy!"
"I'm sure that the current independent battalion must be very anxious and are trying every means to keep us here and prevent us from continuing our raids tomorrow!"
"So your reminder just made me realize that tonight will definitely be a sleepless night!"
The adjutant reacted quickly, staring at Watanabe and asking: "Sir, you mean that the Independent Battalion may attack us tonight!"
"It's not possible, it's certain!" Watanabe judged!
"We don't have aircraft support at night, so it's difficult to use all our heavy firepower. Moreover, night is a very suitable time for the Eighth Route Army to hide. They won't let go of such a good opportunity to sneak attack on us!"
"When we set up the camp later, all the guard posts will have both light and dark posts, and the guard range will be expanded to two kilometers around the camp!"
"Patrol troops and mobile troops must all be arranged!"
"The artillery and heavy machine gun units must also have people on duty!"
"Be fully prepared to meet the Eighth Route Army who will come to attack us tonight, and try to prevent them from coming back!"
At the Independent Battalion station a few kilometers away, except for a few light and dark sentries who were still staring at the surroundings with big eyes to guard against enemy invasion, most of the soldiers were leaning on each other, holding their rifles in their arms, keeping each other warm and resting.
There was only one tent in the entire camp, and it was very small, but it was covered so tightly that no light could shine through.
Battalion Commander Li Hao stood next to a table made of several ammunition boxes, looking at the map above with the help of a lantern, his face very solemn.
Commando captain Xiao Yuan, reconnaissance platoon leader Chen Wei, guard company commander Sun Jiawu, and reconnaissance company commander Zhao Wen all stood nearby without saying a word.
Without exception, these people's faces were very ugly.
I don’t know how long it took, but Li Hao finally spoke.
Staring at Sun Jiawu, he asked: "Your statistics are definitely correct! Today, more than 500 houses have been burned down by the Japanese and puppet troops!"
Sun Jiawu shook his head and replied: "This does not include the villages currently occupied by the Japanese!"
"When they leave tomorrow, they will definitely burn down the place. Including them, there are 650 houses, and almost 3,000 people will be homeless."
Li Hao took a breath and replied: "For more than 600 houses, if all the financial compensation is provided, even 10,000 yuan may not be enough!"
"Even if our army provides money to help people rebuild these houses, it will still require at least 5,000 yuan to purchase materials, and it will also require a lot of manpower and time!"
"Winter is coming soon. Folks must not be homeless, otherwise they will freeze to death!"
"If we let the Japanese continue to burn all the way tomorrow, even if our independent battalion takes out all the money, it will not be enough to compensate the villagers!"
"And once the compensation cannot be paid, the people are homeless, and some people freeze to death and suffer from frostbite, then the public morale and military morale that our independent battalion has finally built up in the base area will definitely be completely wiped out!"
"To put it further, without the support of the common people, our independent camp will definitely not be able to survive in Lingqiu!"
"Even the army will collapse if it fails!"
"Nowadays, most of the soldiers in the Independent Battalion are locals. If they lose popular support and military morale, they will not support us like they do now. Those soldiers may become deserters, and then the Independent Battalion will be completely finished!"
"This little devil's move is so cruel, it hits our weak spot and drives us to a dead end step by step!"
Sun Jiawu couldn't help shouting: "Batalion Commander, we can't sit still and wait for death. The worst we can do is fight with the Japs!"
"We must not lose the morale of the people and the military. The troops have been depleted. As long as there is the moral support of the people and the military and the people continue to support us, it won't take long for the lost troops to be reorganized!"
"You can't fight hard!" Xiao Yuan interrupted.
As the former commander of the security company and Sun Jiawu's former immediate boss, Xiao Yuan was not polite at all.
He frowned and analyzed: "Old Sun, you think too simply!"
"With the current strength of the Japanese and puppet troops, we will definitely not be our opponents in a head-to-head fight. It is certain that the independent battalion will suffer heavy casualties!"
"It would be best if our independent battalion could inflict heavy casualties on the Japanese and force them to retreat, but this possibility is slim!"
"There is another situation. Our independent battalion is exhausted, but the strength of the Japanese and puppet troops is left behind!"
"Without the protection of the troops, the soldiers and people in the base area will be completely exposed to the iron heel of the Japanese and puppet troops. With the methods of the Japanese and puppet troops, the morale of the military and the people will still be lost. By then, we will not even have a chance to make a comeback."
Xiao Yuan's answer was reasonable and well-founded. Sun Jiawu couldn't think of any reason to refute, so he could only shout anxiously.
"Then what should we do? We can't just sit here and wait for death!"
"Before you have absolute strength, you must not go out and fight with the Japanese!" Xiao Yuan replied seriously.
"I judge that the reason why the Japanese set fire to villages one after another is to force us out and fight them decisively!"
"In this way, they can rely on their firepower advantage and troop advantage to kill us with the positional warfare they are good at!"
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