The chief of staff hesitated and reminded: "Sir, do you want to recruit two more brigades to reinforce Lingqiu?"
"According to the original battle plan, we had six brigades attacking Lingqiu. Now we have directly lost more than 2,300 people, and almost two reinforced brigades have been lost!"
The lieutenant general made the decision without thinking: "Continue to increase the number of troops!"
"Draw three more reinforcement brigades for reinforcements, and I will kill all the Eighth Route Army defending Lingqiu City!"
"After recapturing Lingqiu, the troops continued to fight and carried out a new sweep of the Eighth Route Army in Lingqiu, completely wiping out all the armed forces in Lingqiu that were fighting against the imperial army!"
"And their leader, Li Hao, must be captured alive if possible and sent to the military headquarters. I will personally chop him alive to vent my hatred!"
In a forest five kilometers outside Lingqiu City, several battalion and company commanders were gathered around, all with serious faces!
They had just received the telegram from Hong Linfeng. Li Hao did not hide anything and directly informed everyone of the news that Chen Bing had died and more than half of the defenders had been killed!
"Commander, let us go up! Cavalry battalion commander Zhou Wu was the first to shout!
"I've checked everything. The kid's mountain artillery is still outside the city! It's going to be dark now. As long as you give the order, commander, the cavalry battalion guarantees that they will all attack!"
"How to attack?" Li Hao retorted angrily!
Chen Bing died and the defenders suffered heavy casualties. Seeing this news, Li Hao immediately reflected on the battle plan he had formulated!
The Chief of Staff’s concerns are not unreasonable!
If the city defenders are defeated, then the entire battle plan will be over, and so will the independent regiment, which will completely fall here!
But in the end Li Hao decided to continue executing the original battle plan!
The defending troops suffered heavy casualties and were in danger. This is a fact!
Similarly, the Japanese troops who attacked the city did not fare much better. They paid at least three times the price of casualties!
More importantly, those killed on the battlefield were all infantry and front-line combat troops!
In terms of military strength, more than 2,000 people only account for a little more than one-third of the existing Japanese troops in Lingqiu City!
But from the perspective of combat effectiveness, the loss of more than 2,000 people reduced at least half of the combat effectiveness of all Japanese troops in Lingqiu City!
Even if they piece together more than 2,000 people to attack Lingqiu City, the combat effectiveness of these Japanese troops will definitely not be as good as that of the Japanese who have already been killed!
Therefore, without reinforcements, the Japanese offensive will definitely become weaker!
On the other hand, although nearly half of the city's defenders suffered casualties, all those who remained were elites and veterans!
Otherwise, they would not survive on the bullet-filled battlefield!
Therefore, although the number of troops is reduced, the combat effectiveness of the troops has not been reduced much, and maybe it has been slightly improved!
Besides, apart from the garrison troops commanded by the chief of staff on the battlefield, these people under my command are not just soldiers and generals!
With his cooperation, the Chief of Staff will definitely be able to guard Lingqiu City for at least one more day!
Zhou Wu didn't know that Li Hao's mind was racing. He thought that the regiment leader was asking him about his battle plan, so he answered immediately!
"My idea is the same as last night. Under the cover of darkness, I would reach near the Japanese artillery position and then launch a sudden attack!"
"The Japanese attacking troops suffered heavy casualties during the day. There must be no one to protect the artillery! The cavalry battalion suddenly attacked them and they will definitely be beaten to death!"
Li Hao had a clear battle plan in his mind. After hearing Zhou Wu's answer, he immediately retorted!
"Where are the Japanese cavalry? You think they are fools and watch you attack the artillery positions without doing anything!"
Zhou Wu was confused and opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word!
There are four small Japanese cavalry squadrons outside Lingqiu City, adding up to more than 500 cavalry!
Even when the cavalry battalion was still at full strength, they were no match for them, not to mention that the cavalry battalion had now suffered more than half casualties!
After thinking about it for a long time, I couldn't find a solution, and finally I bit the bullet and shouted: "The worst thing is that we have to fight with them!"
"Anyway, the cavalry battalion has killed enough soldiers yesterday. Now we can earn one for every more Japanese we kill!"
Li Hao glared at Zhou Wu directly, and then cursed: "What nonsense are you talking about?"
"Are you turning a deaf ear to my usual orders?"
"Have I ever said that unless absolutely necessary, we must not lead our troops to fight head-on with the Japs!"
"It doesn't matter if you die, those soldiers are innocent!"
"They had a chance to survive, or they could kill more little Japs before they were sacrificed! You can't lead them to die in vain because of the impulse of you commanders!"
"If this happens, even if you die in battle, you are still not a hero!"
Xiao Yuan is an old subordinate who has been following Li Hao, and he immediately heard something different from these words!
Staring at Li Hao, he asked: "Captain, do you already have an idea?"
"How are we going to fight at night? The chief of staff leads the main force in a bloody battle with the Japanese in Lingqiu City. We can't just stay around and watch and do nothing. It's too scary!"
Li Hao did not deny it, pointing to the map and analyzing: "According to the intelligence reported to us by our superiors, the Japs still have two reinforced brigades on their way to dare to come, probably entering Lingqiu territory in the early morning! Tonight, our main task is to attack
them!"
"I don't ask for total annihilation, and we don't have the ability to do so, but we must suffer heavy losses!"
"Only in this way, the pressure on the Chief of Staff to defend the city will not increase tomorrow!"
"What about the first half of the night? The Japanese entered Lingqiu territory in the early morning and marched here in a hurry at least three o'clock in the morning. We can't do nothing before then?" When he heard that there was a battle, Zhou Wu's eyes immediately started to light up and he was anxious.
Asked further!
Among the battalion commanders, he has the most fiery temper and the most impatient one. He wants to go to the battlefield right now!
Li Hao thought for a moment and replied: "Didn't you just want to attack the artillery and cavalry left by the Japanese outside the city? Our target in the first half of the night was them!"
"Especially the four Japanese cavalry squadrons, which come and go like the wind, pose a great threat to the infantry and must be killed!"
"I agree!" Xiao Yuan immediately supported.
"The cavalry is too fast. If we are overtaken when we break through in the future, no one except the cavalry battalion will be able to escape their pursuit!"
Li Hao nodded without saying anything, but his face slowly became more and more serious, then he looked at Zhou Liang and ordered!
"Immediately send a telegram to the chief of staff: In order to ensure the combat effectiveness of the troops and facilitate command, all troops in Lingqiu have been reduced in formation. The company is directly under the infantry squad. Try to ensure that each infantry squad is full!"
"He Jun, the former commander of the first company of the first battalion, is temporarily acting as the commander of the first battalion!"
"After dark, if the Japanese army continues to attack, the troops will still use street fighting to consume them. During the battle, we must make more detours, take the initiative, and attack the Japanese from behind!"
"If the Japanese army suspends their attack, we cannot stop. Each company will take turns to attack as a squad and take a rest to attack the Japanese. This will continue to consume their troops. At the same time, it can also consume their physical strength and reduce the defensive pressure on the next day!"
"Send the telegram now, and then have an hour to eat. When it gets completely dark, we will start taking action. First, we will attack the Japanese cavalry who may affect our breakout!"
The intelligence staff of the military region headquarters suddenly rushed in!
"Commander, emergency!"
"The Japs who were sweeping up the base area separated into three reinforced brigades and suddenly retreated. They were marching very fast. Judging from their marching direction, their final destination should also be Lingqiu!"
"Something must have happened to Lingqiu!" The commander made a judgment with a frown on his face!
The chief of staff affirmed: "Eighty percent yes, and it should be a good thing for us!"
"In addition to the two reinforced brigades that already existed in Lingqiu, the Japanese have divided four brigades from the front to deal with the independent regiment. No, they should be called the Lingqiu garrison now!"
"Six brigades besiege one of our regiments. Even if the garrison regiment is very powerful and has a county seat to defend, there is still no chance of victory!"
"There is only one explanation for the Japanese troops moving to Lingqiu when they had an absolute advantage: they lost troops and generals in Lingqiu City. In order to maintain these advantages and completely kill the independent regiment, they had to mobilize troops from the front line!"
After speaking, the chief of staff asked the intelligence staff officer: "Have any troops been sent to follow them?"
"It stands to reason that the possibility of the garrison severely injuring the Japs in Lingqiu is very small! We do not rule out the possibility that the Japs suddenly mobilized troops to Lingqiu just to make a false shot, then suddenly turn around after we were fooled, and then re-enter our base area!"
"Each brigade is followed by a battalion!" the intelligence staff replied affirmatively!
"No matter what the purpose of these three brigades is, we cannot let them come and leave whenever they want!"
"The temporary task assigned to them by the military region is to use guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare to continuously harass them with sneak attacks, slow down their marching speed, and kill and injure them in large numbers to drive out the little devil's ultimate goal!"
"This method is good!" the chief of staff affirmed!
At this time, the commander spoke: "Chief of Staff, don't be idle. Contact the garrison immediately. What happened to Lingqiu City!"
"If the garrison really inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese in Lingqiu, and these three brigades went to Lingqiu, then this might be a fighting opportunity for our military region!"
"Originally, the advantage in this sweep was all with the Japs. Two days ago they transferred four brigades, and now they have transferred three more brigades. Those advantages are gone. We can definitely seize the opportunity and fight a few counterattacks!"
The chief of staff leaves quickly and comes back quickly!
Seeing a telegram in his hand and a smile on his face, the commander also laughed!
My judgment was correct. The garrison must have won the battle in Lingqiu City, and it was a great victory!
As expected, before he could speak, the chief of staff reported excitedly: "Commander, Li Hao reported: They fought street battles with Japs in Lingqiu City this afternoon, and killed at least two thousand Japs in one afternoon!"
"But they also paid a huge price. More than 700 soldiers died, and not a single seriously injured person left the battlefield. They all chose to die with the little devil!"
"Although I did not participate in this battle, I am sure that this battle will be very tragic!"
"well played!"
The commander shouted excitedly!
"I knew this Li Hao would not let us down, but I didn't expect that he would be so capable and kill more than two thousand Japanese in one afternoon!"
"The Japs lost more than 2,000 people in Lingqiu City in one afternoon. In addition, Li Hao was powerful enough. In order to avoid losing another 2,000 men, the garrison group slipped away from them. The Japs with a guilty conscience had no choice but to leave.
Continue to mobilize troops on the front line to ensure our strength advantage!"
"Our judgment is correct. Those three brigades of Japanese soldiers are going to Lingqiu City, not just a false shot!"
The first update is delivered today! Please collect! Please subscribe! Please **! Please reward! (To be continued)