"Sir, this news is definitely the best news we have received in this period!" the chief of staff shouted happily!
"With the reinforcements of a brigade, plus our defensive troops stationed around the garrison and the troops staying in their hinterland, the total of the Imperial Army of Light is more than 13,000!"
"With the addition of the Imperial Alliance Army, the total strength directly exceeds 20,000 people!"
"The artillery strength is also unprecedentedly powerful!"
"With two field artillery brigades and the mountain artillery units directly under each unit, the mountain artillery is more than one regiment!"
"There are more mortars. Almost every infantry brigade has a mortar squadron, ranging from nine to twelve mortars, to provide close artillery support to the imperial army!"
"There is also the Independent Mountain Artillery Brigade. There are twelve large-caliber mountain artillery with a range of more than eight kilometers. It is absolutely a giant to the Eighth Route Army!"
"On the battlefield, as long as they participate in the battle, the Eighth Route Army can only be passively beaten!"
"Even if they are equipped with 150mm heavy mortars captured from the imperial army and secret weapons produced by themselves, they will not be able to reach our mountain artillery positions due to the limited range, and will have to be passively beaten!"
The chief of staff became more and more excited as he spoke, as if victory was just around the corner and it must be his own!
The military commander is also very happy!
Killing the garrison, as Nakata YamarÅ's direct boss, I have done the same thing!
But he is much more rational!
The imperial army has been defeated by the garrison many times, which proves that the garrison is a very powerful opponent!
Even if the superiority in military strength and firepower is on the side of the imperial army, it may still be defeated. The previous attack and defense battle of Lingqiu is the best example!
As the commander of the army and one of the beneficiaries of this siege, he did not dare to be careless at all.
He must eliminate all adverse factors that may affect this battle and ensure that he can win the battle after the reinforcements are in place.
The strength or weakness of the garrison's combat effectiveness is directly related to the victory or defeat of the imperial army and the final price paid!
Therefore, I must find a way to prevent the defense group from forming combat effectiveness!
He raised his eyebrows, stared at the chief of staff, and asked, "Are you ready with the countermeasures plan I asked you to prepare?"
The chief of staff's face quickly returned to seriousness: "Ready, there are three plans in total, which were jointly discussed and formulated by the staff department and the intelligence section. They have also gone through tactical deductions. The probability of success is more than 80%!"
It took the commander a full half hour to read the three plans against the map, and then he thought about it for another five minutes before finally pulling out one of the plans!
"Just use this!"
"Chief of Staff, you personally intervene and direct the entire countermeasures operation. You must hold back the garrison and prevent them from forming combat effectiveness!"
"I will immediately give an order to the front-line garrison, asking them to cooperate with you unconditionally, to give you soldiers and equipment to you!
Outside the south gate of Laiyuan City, nearly two hundred soldiers were stationed at the headquarters and guard company of the secret service camp. Some were practicing marksmanship and some were practicing tactical movements. It was very lively.
Li Hao stood next to the training ground and looked at everyone, sometimes frowning, sometimes relaxing, and sometimes showing a satisfied smile!
Suddenly, Jin Yunian, the instructor of the secret service camp, rushed over in a hurry, with a solemn look on his face!
"I just received a report from the local army that something happened in Zhoucun, fifteen miles away. All thirteen members of the village guerrillas, including the captain, were killed last night!"
"The news has spread in the village, and the entire Zhoucun has become panic-stricken, especially the families of the guerrillas, who are distraught and crying and asking the garrison to pay for the lives of their sons!"
A dozen guerrillas were killed overnight. This was definitely a provocation to the garrison! In addition to the Japanese, Li Hao could not think of any other murderers!
And Li Hao has a hunch that this matter is definitely not as simple as everyone seems on the surface!
His face darkened immediately, and he decisively ordered: "Let's go to Zhoucun now!"
"Instructor Jin, please bring a few more political cadres with you to appease the families of the guerrillas!"
When Li Hao led the guard platoon to Zhoucun, the village was already under martial law by the nearest district squadron!
Nearly a hundred soldiers surrounded the village tightly. At important village entrances and intersections, at least one squad of soldiers were on guard with guns. On the surface, it looked heavily guarded. Not even a fly could fly into the village!
But Li Hao was not satisfied at all!
Compared with the main force, the proportion of recruits in the local army is higher!
Except for the cadres who are veterans, the others are all new recruits!
Although more than ten days of training have allowed them to stand upright, their combat effectiveness is almost zero!
What's more important is that many of them have a trace of panic and nervousness on their faces!
They must have known about the deaths in the village!
A dozen or so members of a guerrilla group were wiped out. It was the first time they were exposed to death at such a close distance. For these new recruits who had never been on the battlefield, the shock was too strong!
Although he was very dissatisfied with these troops in his heart, Li Hao had no choice!
The strength of the base area is limited, and the main troops have not yet formed combat effectiveness, let alone these local troops. Li Hao is powerless!
"Hello, Captain..."
At this time, the captain of the district squadron trotted over and reported solemnly!
"I have found out everything. Yesterday evening, a team came to the village, wearing our Eighth Route Army uniforms. The guerrillas took them to the village entrance to rest, and then this happened!"
"This morning, a family member of a guerrilla came to the guerrilla camp to look for his son before he returned. No matter how hard he knocked on the door, no one answered the door. Finally, when he opened the door, he found the bodies of more than a dozen guerrillas!"
"We found signs of fighting between the two parties at the station!"
"Some team members must have reacted and wanted to counterattack, leaving it behind!"
"In addition, the villagers did not see the specific time when this team left the village, but they heard dogs barking in the village around early morning, so we judged that this group of enemies left around early morning!"
"They are definitely not our Eighth Route Army!" Liu Senyun immediately shouted!
"Due to limited military uniforms, currently only the main force has changed into the uniforms of our Eighth Route Army. The local troops are still wearing the captured Japanese and Imperial Army uniforms! As for the main force, except for the reconnaissance squads of each company operating around Laiyuan City, other troops are stationed at the station.
For training, it is simply impossible for so many troops to appear at one time!"
"Also, no matter how stupid our soldiers are, they will never kill their own people!"
"It must be a little Jaap pretending to be the Eighth Route Army and causing trouble and killing people in the base area. Not only can he deceive others and facilitate his transfer and concealment, but he can also blame our Eighth Route Army so that the villagers no longer believe in our Eighth Route Army and prevent us from establishing a base here!
"
Li Hao replied solemnly: "It's definitely impossible to frame the fault!"
"The folks all have brains, even with their eyes closed they know that we can't kill our own people!"
"There is no doubt that this team is disguised as the Japanese and puppet troops. I judge that they are pretending to be our Eighth Route Army and killing people in the base area. This must be to deceive others and facilitate their activities in our base area!"
"As for the other reason, 80% of it is to confuse the villagers so that they can't tell the difference between the real and fake Eighth Route Army."
"In order to prevent ourselves from being retaliated by the Eighth Route Army disguised as Japanese and puppet troops, in the following days, no matter whether we are the real Eighth Route Army or not, when they see us again, they will have the same concerns as before and hide as far away as possible!"
"Once this happens, all our previous efforts will be in vain. Without the support and trust of the people, it will be difficult to establish a base area. It will definitely be even harder to twist all the villagers into one rope!"
