At eight o'clock in the morning, Li Hao could tell that the sound of guns and artillery fired by the reconnaissance company to block the reinforcements was less than six kilometers away from the mine. They could kill them in two hours at most!
The Japanese and puppet troops are all well-equipped soldiers. The absentees and escort troops are either in poor health or have heavy loads. Once they are stuck to them, there is no possibility of escaping.
Therefore, time is running out. In order to safely return the rescued absentees and captured soldiers to the base area, the troops must retreat immediately!
Guard company commander Sun Jiawu, assault captain Xiao Yuan, newly established guard company commander Liu Senyun, as well as the platoon leader of the baggage company and the platoon leader of the mountain artillery company all stood in front of Li Hao waiting for orders!
"Comrades, the Japanese and puppet troops are marching fast, but we are marching slowly. Moreover, the Japanese and puppet troops can call in aircraft for reinforcements and stare at us from the sky!"
"If we are caught by the Japanese and puppet troops during our retreat, I am sure that we will be overtaken by them!"
"So we divide our forces and leave one force behind!"
"If there are Japanese and puppet troops targeting us for pursuit, we must take the pursuit troops to other places to ensure that those who are absent from work and captured can safely return to the base area."
"Commander, the guard company will leave cover, you lead the main force to retreat!" Sun Jiawu rushed to fight!
As the guard company commander, his first priority is to protect the safety of the regiment commander, and he is deeply afraid that the regiment commander may be in danger if he stays!
Li Hao saw Sun Jiawu's little thoughts at a glance, shook his head and replied: "Don't worry, with the surprise that the commando team just prepared for the Japanese reinforcements, there won't be much danger even if you stay behind!"
"I am the commander of the regiment. It is not the style of our Eighth Route Army to lead people to retreat first, and I will not do that. So you only need to carry out the orders I want to give and make sure to do your own thing well!"
"Yes, leader!" Sun Jiawu replied with an embarrassed look on his face.
Li Hao's face became serious, and then he began to give orders to several people: "Guard company, escort company, baggage platoon, mountain artillery platoon, take all the absentees and seizures and set off now, and march back to the base day and night!"
"Guard company commander Sun Jiawu is the commander-in-chief of the retreating troops. You must bring the troops back to the base safely for me. No absentees can be missed, and no captured items can be lost!"
"Can you do it? If not, I'll just replace you!"
Sun Jiawu was aroused by Li Hao's last words and replied with a serious face: "Don't worry, captain, I promise to complete the mission!"
Li Hao nodded, stared at Liu Senyun and ordered: "Liu Company Commander, you must cooperate with Company Commander Sun during the retreat!"
"At the same time, the escort company must also shoulder its due responsibilities. You are more familiar with those who are absent from work, so you must do a good job in their ideological work to ensure that no one falls behind during the rapid march of the troops, escapes, and exposes the position of the entire retreating troops!"
Liu Senyun quickly replied: "Yes, leader!"
Li Hao thought for a moment and continued to give the order: "The commando team will stay with me. They will first stay here to wait for the reconnaissance company and the guard company fire platoon, and then take charge of the rear!"
At around 9:30, the reconnaissance company and the fire platoon of the guard company, with only more than fifty people left, returned to the mine!
"Report to the leader, the reconnaissance company has successfully completed its mission! The Japanese and puppet reinforcements will be here in about fifteen minutes!" Chen Wei ran over to salute and report when he saw Li Hao!
"Well done, how many Japanese and puppet troops came in total?" Li Hao asked with satisfaction!
Chen Wei immediately replied: "There were originally 1,200 people, but we killed more than 200 people along the way. Now there should be more than 900 people left!"
Li Hao's originally frowning brows soon relaxed, and he analyzed with a serious face: "There are more than 900 Japanese and puppet troops. If we kill more than 300 of them later with the surprise we prepared later, then the Japanese and puppets who came over will be killed."
There are only 600 people left in the army!"
Xiao Yuan's reaction was even more frightening. He directly said with an excited face: "Captain, you also missed two of our friendly troops!"
"I saw that they retreated very hastily and with almost no precautions. More than a hundred people walked through the forest and left traces of hundreds of people. The Japanese and puppet troops will definitely send people to chase them!"
"But they have been walking for more than four hours. No matter how slow their marching speed is, they will still be more than 20 kilometers away from the mine. Unless the little Japanese pursuers bite them hard, they will definitely not be able to catch up with them!"
"But they will definitely be able to help us share a lot of our pursuers. There will definitely be two hundred of them if not more!"
"This leaves only 400 Japanese and puppet troops we need to deal with!"
Li Hao also had a smile on his face!
A crisis was solved because of my temporary decision to let go of some work and leave on my own. Coupled with the surprise I just prepared for the Japanese, it might turn into a fighter plane. Before leaving, I could easily kill hundreds of puppet troops.
!
He immediately ordered: "Since the Japanese and puppet troops are coming soon, let's retreat too!"
"The troops immediately withdrew to the hidden point, and the commando team moved to the rear. The fire platoon set up artillery at the hidden point to ensure that the first mortar hit the mine camp that had been blown into ruins, ensuring that the surprise we prepared for the Japanese was foolproof, and then hid in the hidden point.
Watch a good show!”
Major Zhuye was very frustrated. He had to walk for nearly six hours on a road that could only be walked in more than two hours. He lost many troops and generals, and had no place to vent his anger!
What worries him even more is that the sound of gunfire from the direction of the mine has stopped!
In the meantime, he used the radio to contact the mine once, but there was no reply!
When I thought about the gunfire that had stopped in the mine, a very bad premonition came to my mind!
As the captain of the garrison, he is very familiar with all the coal mines in his jurisdiction, especially the coal mine he is reinforcing!
The owner behind the coal mine is so powerful. Not only does he have a huge family background, he also has considerable influence in the military and political circles!
Even the steward of the coal mine, a descendant of the family lineage, is not someone he, a major captain, can easily offend!
Once something goes wrong in the coal mine, especially if something happens to the manager in his own jurisdiction, all he needs to do is say a word from the other party's family, and the rest of his military career will be over. He might be sent to a military court by his superiors, or spend the rest of his life in prison!
"Sir, the forward troops have rushed to the coal mine, but the coal mine has been captured by the Chinese army. It was blown into ruins and there seems to be no living person!" said the forward troops.
The second lieutenant team leader gasped and rushed over to report, interrupting Major Zhuye's thoughts.
Premonition becomes reality.
Major Zhuye's face instantly turned red with anger, and his right hand holding the command knife began to tremble involuntarily because it was too hard!
After a long time, his expression returned to calm, and he stared at his subordinates and asked, "Are you sure the coal mine was really captured by the Chinese army?"
"How is this possible? I have seen the coal mine fortifications and escorts. There are gun towers and bunkers, and they are all made of cement and stone. Even if a mortar shell is hit directly, it will only leave a white spot. How could it be possible
Break!"
"There are also escorts. Although there are only two hundred people, and half of them are Chinese, they are well-equipped, including mortars. Their overall combat effectiveness is stronger than a reinforced squadron of the Imperial Army's field troops!"
"Such a powerful convoy, relying on solid fortifications to hold on, could not even hold on for six hours. This is absolutely impossible!"
After a series of self-consolations, the second lieutenant standing in front of him was still unmoved!
Looking at Major Zhuye, he replied with certainty: "Sir, I am sure that the mine has been captured. I can't be wrong!"
"Many houses in the mine were bombed into ruins. Except for the central turret, all the remaining bunkers were bombed!"
"There are still corpses. The mine is full of corpses of the guards, including Chinese and Japanese!"
"It's over!"
These two words came to Major Zhuye's mind quickly, and then his face turned desperate.
But it didn't last long. A glimmer of hope rekindled on his despairing face, and he asked anxiously: "Where is the manager of the mine? He is the young man who has been to the garrison several times. Have you found him? Have you found him?"
Might still be alive!"
"He is a big shot. His family is very powerful in the country. Safety is more important than anything else. As long as he is still alive, we can catch the escaped workers and restore the mine to production. The fact that the mine was breached by the Chinese army will be a big deal."
It is very likely that the matter will go unnoticed, and our superiors will not hold us accountable for this!"
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