The communications officer lowered his head and said nothing!
This is what the telegram he received said. As for the specific reason, perhaps only the Eighth Route Army itself knows!
The Chief of Staff is a little more sensible!
Seeing that the communications staff seemed to still have something to say, he immediately asked: "What else did the telegram say?"
"The encircling troops immediately conducted reconnaissance around them, trying to find the Eighth Route Army's retreat route, but found nothing! The Eighth Route Army that ambushed Lieutenant Kimura seemed to have disappeared out of thin air!"
The army commander didn't regain his senses until then, and immediately ordered: "Look for it. If you can't find it, look for it for me!"
"How could a troop of hundreds of people, with so many weapons and ammunition, disappear out of thin air!"
"Even if the other party is a cunning rabbit, it will leave some traces when walking through the forest!"
"Tell the captains on the front line that if they can't find the garrison, they won't come back!"
After saying that, the commander turned his attention to the sand table in front of him, staring at the mountains to the west of Lingqiu, thinking about the possible escape direction of the garrison!
The chief of staff analyzed seriously: "Sir, I speculate that the Eighth Route Army will probably circle around the mountains, try to find a way to get rid of our pursuing troops, and then turn around and go south to return to their base!"
"Our sweep of the Eighth Route Army base area in Lingqiu was terminated before it was over because Lingqiu was occupied. Eventually, all the remaining anti-Japanese armed forces in Lingqiu entered the mountains south of Lingqiu. The possibility of completely wiping them out is almost zero.
!”
"If the breakout troops of the garrison regiment return to the base area at this time and join these anti-Japanese armed forces! Then the strength of the garrison regiment will definitely expand again, and it will be more difficult for the imperial army to eliminate them!"
"Yo Xi!" The military commander agreed with this analysis!
A pair of eyes quickly shot out two rays of light and asked: "Including the follow-up reinforcements that are about to arrive at Lingqiu, how many people do we still have in Lingqiu!"
"Three of the five infantry brigades have already entered the mountains!" the chief of staff replied like a treasure trove!
"Order!"
The army commander quickly made a decision: "The three brigades entering the mountain will continue to search for traces of the garrison and try to eliminate them in this mountain!"
"The two subsequent reinforcement brigades will set up defenses at the line where the garrison regiment comes out of the mountains and returns to their base area!"
"At the same time, each of the two brigades will deploy a mixed reinforcement squadron to re-enter the Eighth Route Army's base area in Lingqiu and weaken the anti-Japanese armed forces there as much as possible!"
"We need to advance on both sides to completely dismantle the anti-Japanese armed forces in Lingqiu!"
"Even if the breakout troops of the garrison have a chance to get rid of our pursuing troops, break through our blockade, and return to the base area, there is no strength there for them to develop and grow again!"
At the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, the deputy chief of staff rushed to the deputy commander-in-chief and excitedly reported: "Boss, good news!"
"The garrison has successfully broken through the encirclement and entered the mountain! When the troops were reunited, Li Hao had more than 500 troops in his hands. He also killed a Japs with a carbine on the way to the breakout. He successfully killed the pursuers all the way and got rid of other Japs pursuers.
!”
"Next, the garrison will start radio silence, move to Datong to regain strength, and then wait for the opportunity to fight back to Lingqiu!"
"Good vision!" the boss exclaimed with his eyes lit up!
"Li Hao has chosen a good place. The Datong Japs have taken away two brigades and are seriously short of troops. Li Hao will definitely get a lot of advantages by killing him now!"
"I guessed right, Li Hao must have taken a fancy to the coal mine in Datong!"
"There are absentees in the coal mine, and they are all captured anti-Japanese soldiers. Replenishing them to the army can quickly restore the strength of the garrison!"
"Moreover, the base areas of Datong and Lingqiu are in different directions. If you break out and fight there, you won't even think about it. It also plays a role of surprise invisibly. This is a good choice!"
"Chief of Staff, you immediately send a telegram to the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region and ask one of their divisions to send troops to move and assume a posture of rushing into Lingqiu to meet the garrison to confuse the little devils!"
"The defense group made the most contribution in the entire anti-mopping up campaign. Now that the counter-mopping up victory is over, it's our turn to help the defending group!"
"Also, let them contact the remaining troops of the Lingqiu Defense Regiment to help them regain their strength as soon as possible!"
The intelligence staff of the Japanese military headquarters in Taiyuan hurriedly walked in and reported!
"Sir, there is a situation in Lingqiu!"
"Two regiments of troops from the First Division of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region of the Eighth Route Army are moving towards Lingqiu!"
"Their offensive is very fierce, and three strongholds of the imperial army have been occupied! We judge that these Eighth Route Army troops must have gone to Lingqiu for the garrison!"
The army commander walked to the sand table, and the positions of the two regiments of the Eighth Route Army had been marked on it!
At a glance, you can tell that these two groups are indeed heading towards Lingqiu!
The commander's initial judgment was that the garrison regiment would fight back to Lingqiu. Now the sudden appearance of these two regiments further confirmed his judgment!
He ordered with a stern face: "We must not allow the garrison regiment hiding in the mountains to merge with the Eighth Route Army's response troops, otherwise the face of the Empire of Japan will be completely lost!"
"Chief of Staff, haven't the troops in the mountain found any trace of the garrison yet?"
The chief of staff shook his head and replied helplessly: "Not yet!"
"The garrison seemed to have disappeared out of thin air, leaving no trace behind!"
"Also, these mountains are so big. There are only a few hundred people in the garrison. Hiding in it is like a fish in the sea! Although we have three brigades, because we are worried about the garrison's counterattack, the troops do not dare to spread out too much to search! So there are two
Tianlai's search area is very small compared to the entire mountain!"
"Trying to find the garrison regiment in the mountains with three brigades is like finding a needle in a haystack. It is very difficult!"
"Baga!" the army commander couldn't hold back and cursed loudly!
Then he made a decisive decision: "Since I can't find it, I won't look for it!"
"Instead of wandering around in circles inside the mountain, it's better to wait outside the mountain!"
"Order: The three brigades will come out of the mountain immediately to confront the two main regiments of the Eighth Route Army heading toward Lingqiu!"
"The tasks of the two brigades that have been deployed outside the mountain remain unchanged and will continue to block all passages for the garrison regiment to return to their base!"
In the mountains more than 20 kilometers north of Datong City, after two days of walking day and night, the garrison finally arrived here!
Seeing the tired troops, Li Hao's first thought was to restore the troops' physical strength and morale!
"Xiao Yuan, I remember correctly. When we raided the coal mine and retreated last time, there was a lot of food hidden on the road. You should bring some back immediately and let the soldiers have two hot meals to recover their strength!"
"After this is done, lead the reconnaissance company to find out all the Japanese and puppet forces and coal mines within a radius of 30 kilometers!"
"Whether our garrison can make a splash here and regain its strength in a short time depends on your reconnaissance and fighting in the next few days!"
"Yes, leader!"
Li Hao himself did not expect that the food he accidentally left behind could now play such a big role!
After two steaming meals, the fatigue on the soldiers' faces was immediately wiped away, and their morale began to slowly recover!
At this time, what the garrison needs most is a battle, and a victory at that!
While waiting anxiously, Xiao Yuan is back!
"Captain, everything has been checked!"
"The main force of the Japanese army in Datong is divided into three. One brigade defends Datong, one regiment confronts the base area in northwestern Shanxi, and another regiment confronts the Shanxi-Sui Army south of Datong!"
"The scattered troops outside the city add up to a large group. They are all stationed in traffic arteries and important towns. There are basically no mobile troops to mobilize!"
"Originally, there were two groups of mobile troops in Datong, but they went to Lingqiu and were killed by us!"
"After we take action, unless the little devils directly mobilize troops from the front line, they will not be able to send troops to threaten us!"
This result was expected when Li Hao decided to move to Daquan, but after Xiao Yuan actually confirmed it, he felt excited.
Immediately asked: "This is simply an opportunity given by God to our garrison to rise. Immediately tell me all the coal mines controlled by the little devils around you. The more detailed the better! If possible, the problem of soldiers can be solved in one battle."
Got it!"
"Yes, leader!"
Xiao Yuan took out a hand-drawn sketch and introduced it!
"This is our current location. There is a coal mine ten kilometers to the west, but it is not large in scale. The total number of absentees is only more than 400 people. It is protected by a guard team formed by the little devils from the mine. The total strength is nearly two
The team is also equipped with heavy machine guns!"
"There is a medium-sized coal mine fifteen kilometers northwest of the country. There are more than 900 absentees inside!"
"It is close to the base area in northwestern Shanxi. The little devils in the mine have formed a reinforced squadron of guards, equipped with mortars and heavy machine guns. They have also built several gun towers and bunkers with stones around the mine. Heavy machine guns are mounted inside.
It’s hard to defend!”
"The Eighth Route Army once tried to build this coal mine, but it failed because it didn't have the heavy weapons to attack the enemy!"
"Also, it is close to the Japanese defense line that confronts the base area in northwestern Shanxi. The Japanese can dispatch a brigade from the front line to the coal mine in up to three hours!"
"Across Datong, there is a large coal mine 35 kilometers southwest of us. There are more than 1,500 people absent from work and more than 500 escorts. They are well-equipped!"
"There are two small coal mines to the east of us. One is absent from work for more than 500 people, the other is absent from work for more than 600 people, and has more than 100 guards!"
Li Hao frowned and made a quick decision: "Let's attack these four coal mines!"
"First concentrate our forces to attack this medium-sized coal mine, and then divide our forces to capture three small coal mines with lightning speed!"
"Fight quickly and hide deep in the mountains before the Japanese reinforcements arrive!"
"The Japanese army in Datong is short of troops. Even if they transfer troops from the front line, these troops cannot be transferred for too long, otherwise there will be trouble on the front line!"
"So as long as we hide in the mountains for the first few days, the little devils who have gained nothing will retreat on their own!"
"When we finish digesting the results of the battle in the mountains and replenish our troops, we can fight back to the base area and catch the Japanese by surprise with a powerful offensive!"
Under the cover of darkness, the two mountain cannons were pushed three hundred meters outside the mine before stopping!
The two most powerful gunners in the artillery battalion personally control the artillery!
The black gun barrel was lifted up little by little, aiming at the three-story turret in the middle of the mine!
"Cannonball!"
The two gunners shouted in a low voice!
"Bump!"
There was a slight sound of metal collision, and two artillery shells had been pushed into the barrel, so get ready for the bombardment!
"fire!"
Yuan Qingfeng half-crouched beside him, his eyes shining and he ordered!
"Boom!"
Pulling the gun rope, the dull sound of shelling can be heard in your ears!
Orange-red flames and strong and pungent white smoke spurted out from the muzzle!
Before anyone could react, the outer wall of the turret was blasted with two balls of flame!
Bricks and stones flew everywhere, and two large holes appeared directly on the staircase!