After hesitating for a few seconds, he calmly asked: "Has the combat effect of the flying thunder cannon met our expectations?"
The deputy chief of staff quickly replied: "It's much better than expected, especially at the beginning of the entire offensive war!"
"In the past, when faced with small Japanese strongholds, even if there was only one gun tower, it was very difficult for the troops to take it down! They would either use mountain artillery and infantry artillery to blow it up, or they would use human lives to fill it and send death squads to rush up and blow it up with explosive packs!"
"What we lack most is heavy weapons, and we are reluctant to use human lives to fill them. We can only watch them stand on the edge of the base area and block us. There is no solution!"
"With the help of flying thunder cannons, our offensive troops can truly be called divine aids!"
"Dig trenches to advance the offensive position to a position more than 100 meters outside the gun tower, and then set up a torpedo cannon to blast it!"
"With a maximum of three explosive charges, one turret will lose its combat effectiveness!"
"After the attacking troops rush over, all they need to do is clean up the battlefield!"
"When the attack reached the second half, the Japanese and puppet troops were prepared. Our offensive slowed down obviously, and we also lost a lot of thunder cannons due to the Japanese counterattack!"
"But our commanders were impatient, and they didn't fight hard!"
"On the battlefield, the advantages of the flying thunder cannon's light weight and easy transfer are fully utilized!"
"Carry thunder cannons and fight guerrillas with the Japanese!"
"Although many medium and large strongholds were not taken down, they were blown to pieces by thunder cannons, and the defenders also suffered heavy casualties!"
"As long as we attack again tonight, according to the commander below, we can capture at least thirty strongholds, all of which are medium and large strongholds with more than one infantry squad stationed there!"
The deputy commander was moved and immediately asked: "In other words, although our flying thunder cannon has weaknesses, the troops have found ways to overcome these weaknesses!"
"Yes, boss!" the deputy chief of staff affirmed!
The deputy commander no longer hesitated. Just when he was about to give an order, the communications staff hurried in and interrupted what he was about to say!
"Chief, urgent report from the front!"
Before the deputy chief of staff received the telegram and had time to read it, the intelligence staff also rushed over with an excited look on his face: "Chief, our intelligence personnel from the independent mixed brigade that is watching the Japanese have just sent an urgent report!"
"They suddenly stopped advancing, then quickly turned around and retreated. They divided their forces and retreated to their original positions. They were marching very fast!"
The deputy chief of staff also read the telegram in his hand at this time, with a very complicated expression!
"Boss, the frontline combat troops reported that the Japanese and puppet troops are deploying troops from counties and large strongholds to reinforce the strongholds that we did not capture last night!"
"The strength of each stronghold has now returned to 80% of its pre-war level."
The deputy commander analyzed with a serious face: "The little devil is planning to hold on to the stronghold and fight us to the end!"
"If we continue to attack tonight, the independent mixed brigade that just retreated will take the opportunity to launch a counterattack against us, give our attacking troops a wake-up call, knock off our offensive momentum, retaliate in kind, and make up for the losses last night!"
The deputy chief of staff hesitated and reminded: "Boss, since the little devil is already prepared!"
"The independent mixed brigade that was attacking Laiyuan took the initiative to retreat. Our purpose of this attack has been achieved!"
"Then let's stop fighting and stop immediately to preserve our current results!"
"Every base area was expanded a lot last night, and a lot of equipment was seized!"
"Just take this opportunity to digest the results of the battle, develop the villages and towns you just captured into base areas, and expand your troops!"
"When our strength improves, it won't be too late for us to attack again!"
The deputy commander shook his head and refused: "No, keep fighting, we can't withdraw our troops yet!"
"Stop now. The independent mixed brigade that has just retreated will be able to regroup immediately and continue to fight towards Laiyuan. It is only a few days later than before, and it will be of little help to the garrison!"
"Only by allowing the independent mixed brigade to participate in the battle and fight with our offensive troops! It will not be so easy to assemble quickly at that time. Only in this way can we help the garrison!"
"Order: The troops continue to attack tonight!"
"From now on, each base area can fight according to the enemy's situation, with the purpose of killing a large number of Japanese troops and protecting themselves!"
"Now that the frontline commanders have solved the problem of the shortcomings of the thunder cannon, even if the stronghold they attack is reinforced, it is a problem that can be solved by spending more attack time and using a few more explosive packs! Not only that, we can also
Take this opportunity to defeat them one by one and consume the Japanese and puppet reinforcements bit by bit!"
"If we use up all of them, then it might be a good idea to attack large strongholds and even capture several counties!"
"The only thing you need to worry about is the area where the independent mixed brigade will return for reinforcements!"
"The Japanese army will definitely counterattack our attacking troops there!"
"But for us, the Japanese counterattack may not be a new fighter opportunity!"
"The Japanese want us to lose our wives and lose our troops. We can use this trick to defeat their counterattack troops!"
"If you can't finish one bite, take several bites. If you still can't finish it, their forwards can always take it!"
"In a word, the attacking troops can only take advantage and cannot suffer losses!"
"Deputy Chief of Staff, go and give the order now, just as I just said!"
"Especially for those base areas where the Japanese independent mixed brigades retreated, the telegram must focus on explaining: You can only take advantage, not suffer losses, but you must draw the Japanese independent mixed brigades into the flames of war and let them participate in the battle!"
"In addition, send a telegram to the garrison: the headquarters promises to hold the Japanese independent mixed brigade for a month. They can do whatever they need to do, don't worry!"
At the Lingqiu Defense Regiment Headquarters, the most difficult half month has finally passed!
With the end of reclamation, soldiers and civilians in the base area began spring plowing one after another, and Li Hao's tense nerves finally relaxed!
Faced with the two options of twenty kilograms of grain and Dayang worth thirty kilograms of grain, as long as the folks who still have food at home, without exception, all choose Dayang!
The base area could only sustain food for a few days, but it managed to last for more than half a month until spring plowing began!
But the real problem is not solved!
The food that everyone saved through clearing wasteland is only enough to last until the end of spring plowing!
After spring plowing is completed, whether you continue to reclaim wasteland or build water conservancy projects, a large amount of food is needed to prepare for the coming drought!
I have already made a guarantee that I will take care of all the food myself!
The key to solving this problem lies in the commandos and reconnaissance companies that have already started taking action!
As long as they can clearly understand the enemy situation around Laiyuan and Guangling, they will have a way to solve the remaining food gap, and at the same time solve the large-scale attack that the Japanese are about to launch at once!
"Captain, the commando team needs an urgent call!"
Communications platoon leader Zhou Liang suddenly broke in and brought Li Hao back to reality!
Li Hao took the telegram and just glanced at it, his face lit up with joy!
Hong Linfeng stood nearby. After reading the telegram, a completely opposite expression appeared on his face!
There is solemnity and worry!
Looking at Li Hao, he asked in confusion: "Captain, have you read it wrong? This is obviously bad news. Why do you think you are so happy?"
"A total of 10,000 puppet troops are scattered in various strongholds and counties around us. Even if the puppet troops have poor combat effectiveness, they can still put huge pressure on us!"
"Especially when there are Japanese soldiers supervising the battle, the combat effectiveness is even stronger than that of our local troops!"
"If these puppet troops also join in the next heavy raids and help the Japs control the occupied areas, then our guerrillas and small groups operating behind enemy lines will have almost no room to survive. It would be very difficult to cut off the Japs' food routes as before.
difficulty!"
Li Hao still had a smile on his face, as if he hadn't heard what he just said!
Hong Linfeng became anxious and continued to remind: "Commander, please don't underestimate the enemy!"
"I know you have always looked down upon the puppet troops, let alone their combat effectiveness!"
"But we can't handle the large number of them!"
"With ten thousand puppet troops, no matter how poor their combat effectiveness is, under the supervision of the Japanese, they can still defeat two or three thousand of us with no problem!"
"And they are local snakes. With them protecting the Japanese rear, our guerrillas have almost no place to survive!"
"And with their presence, when the Japanese attack us, they don't have to dedicate troops to defend the rear!"
"They can always concentrate superior forces and firepower to attack us without giving us a chance to defeat them individually!"
The smile on Li Hao’s face was still unaffected!
Looking at Hong Linfeng, he comforted him with a confident expression: "Chief of Staff, don't worry, I'm not so arrogant that I don't take 10,000 puppet troops into my eyes!"
"Not to mention 10,000 puppet troops, even if there are 10,000 pigs, it will take a lot of trouble for us to kill them on the battlefield!"
Hong Linfeng was even more puzzled: "Then why are you so happy?"
"It's very simple!" The confident expression on Li Hao's face became more and more intense!
Then he gave an astonishing answer: "I will not give them a chance to go to the battlefield, let alone develop combat effectiveness!"
"Some time ago, the base area has been under sneak attack by the Japanese action team. Their purpose is very simple, not to allow us to establish the base area and not to allow our newly recruited recruits to develop combat effectiveness!"
"I'm going to give them tit for tat!"
"Also, isn't there a food shortage in the base area?"
"To train 10,000 puppet troops, the Japanese will definitely prepare a large amount of weapons, ammunition and food!"
"Get rid of the puppet troops, and the food, weapons and ammunition will also be ours. Kill two birds with one stone!"