In the woods where the third battalion of the garrison was hiding, more than a thousand people from the main force, local troops, and guerrillas were squatting or sitting, holding a rice bowl filled with vegetables in one hand and two large steamed buns in the other.
Devouring dinner.
In a very secluded tent, battalion commander Huang Sheng and his three company commanders were also eating.
No, to be precise, it should be a meeting to discuss tonight's attack.
As soon as the people arrived, Huang Sheng got straight to the point and said: "Comrades, the regiment headquarters requires us to take the initiative to attack the remaining Japanese and puppet strongholds in the guerrilla zone tonight."
"According to the order: each company only needs to capture two strongholds."
"However, based on this order, I decided to make it a little more difficult for everyone."
"Each main company will capture one more stronghold."
The three company commanders all looked at the battalion commander with their mouths open, their faces dumbfounded, and they stopped eating.
Huang Sheng explained: "No need to be surprised."
"The reason why I set such a high goal for everyone is not that I am aimless. There is a reason and a basis."
"For this sortie, our battalion brought a total of four mountain cannons, three heavy mortars, six mine cannons, and six medium-sized mortars. There are plenty of heavy weapons that can be used to attack fortresses."
"Last night, we killed three Japanese mobile units."
"Each mobile unit is equipped with two mountain cannons, four medium mortars, and four heavy machine guns."
"Excluding those that were blown up, we seized a total of three mountain cannons, eight medium mortars, and nine heavy machine guns."
"I plan to use them all tonight."
"Each company is equipped with two mountain cannons, one heavy mortar, two mine cannons, and four ordinary medium-sized mortars!"
"With such a powerful siege artillery, as long as there are enough shells, it can capture a medium-sized stronghold in up to an hour."
"In addition, I will strengthen each company with two district squadrons and five guerrilla teams."
"On the battlefield, the main force is only responsible for attacking."
"After taking the stronghold, the main force immediately moved to kill the next attack target."
"As for cleaning the battlefield, leave it all to local troops and guerrillas."
"So this task is not very stressful for us."
"The second reason is also good news."
"The regiment leader will also come to the guerrilla zone tonight, and come directly to our second battalion. He will fight with our second battalion for the next half month."
"Since we have the ability to capture nine strongholds in one night, let's work hard and treat it as a big gift to welcome the leader."
"I agree……"
The commander of the seventh company was the first to agree.
As soon as he finished speaking, the remaining two company commanders were not far behind and agreed.
Huang Sheng directly took out the map, pointed at the attack route marked on it and ordered.
"This was something the instructor and I did during the day."
"The Seventh Company attacks along this line: first capture the Wuzhen stronghold, where the total number of Japanese and puppet troops is less than 200. I ask you to end the battle within half an hour."
"Then quickly assemble the troops and march thirty miles to the Liuzhuang stronghold. After taking it, they will then march twenty-five miles to attack the Dongshan Town stronghold."
"It is the largest of the three strongholds and has the largest number of troops."
"As long as you march fast enough and can stay at least three hours to attack there, you can definitely win it."
"The Eighth Company attacked along the central line and ran a long distance of 60 miles in one night to capture three strongholds along the line."
"The Ninth Company attacked along the eastern front, and ran a long distance of 70 miles to capture the three strongholds of the front line."
"I'll stay here to greet the leader."
"After the mission is completed, each company will seize it. With the cooperation of the guerrillas, the troops will be divided and returned here."
At the Wu Zhen stronghold, the squadron leader has been standing on the top of the turret since dark, staring at the surroundings in person, his eyes moving around with the searchlights, and firing a flare into the sky every half hour to ensure that no one is approaching the stronghold.
.
The soldier's instinct told him that tonight would definitely not be peaceful.
Half an hour ago, the telegram from the brigade headquarters requesting the stronghold to strengthen its security confirmed his intuition.
If the stronghold was really attacked by the Eighth Route Army last night, he would not have the confidence to defend the stronghold at all.
The opponent is too strong. They have mountain cannons, heavy mortars, thunder cannons, heavy machine guns... whatever they want.
Reflecting on myself, the number of more than 500 people more than a month ago has dropped sharply to less than 200 now, of which the Imperial Alliance Army still accounts for more than half.
As for heavy weapons, except for two mortars and two heavy machine guns that were still usable, all others were destroyed and turned into a pile of scrap metal.
With such a small amount of heavy weapons, there would certainly not even be a chance to fight back against the mountain artillery and heavy mortars equipped by the Eighth Route Army.
If the brigade commander hadn't given the order to defend the stronghold, he would have given up the stronghold long ago.
Now I am personally on duty on the top of the tower, with one purpose: to survive until dawn.
If the Eighth Route Army really wants to attack the stronghold tonight, strike first, destroy their siege artillery, cause heavy damage to the Eighth Route Army's attacking troops, and force them to retreat... This is the only way to hold the stronghold until dawn.
Only by being on duty personally can you discover the enemy's situation immediately and respond immediately.
At eight o'clock in the evening, the outside of the stronghold was still as calm as ever, without any movement.
The squadron leader, who had been standing for more than half an hour, was about to sit down and take a breath when an accident happened.
"Boom boom boom..."
The explosion suddenly sounded in the bushes more than 300 meters away.
This sound was so familiar to him that his face suddenly turned pale, he subconsciously threw himself on the ground, and then shouted loudly: "Baga, it's a shelling... everyone take cover."
"The artillery will counterattack immediately. The enemy is hiding in the bushes 300 meters away. Fire immediately to destroy those artillery pieces. The Eighth Route Army will have no siege weapons."
"Rumble..."
A violent explosion soon sounded in his ears, directly interrupting his order. Then the squadron leader felt that the turret under his feet began to tremble, as if it had been hit by an earthquake and might collapse at any time.
"Rumble..."
Before he could recover from the explosion just now, a series of more violent explosions rang in his ears, making him dizzy and his ears buzzing.
"It's over..."
The squadron leader's mind was still clear, and then two words came out subconsciously.
Judging from the sound, there were not only ordinary mortars outside the city, but also mountain artillery and flying thunder cannons built by the Eighth Route Army themselves. They exploded in a large area and were extremely powerful.
In the face of such artillery fire, he had no chance to fight back.
The two guards reacted quickly. They got up from the ground and tried to leave the turret with the squadron leader in hand.
"Boom...boom...boom..."
As soon as I rushed out of the turret, an explosion sounded behind me, and then the turret collapsed.
All the soldiers who had not had time to escape were buried in the rubble.
Before the squadron leader had time to rejoice that he survived, the explosion sounded again, and this time the shell hit directly next to him and exploded.
The powerful air wave easily overthrew the squadron leader and then hit him heavily on the ground.
The moment he hit the ground, a piece of shrapnel pierced his thigh, cutting a big hole and blood gushing out like a fountain.
The pain from hitting the ground and the stinging sensation from the wound quickly spread throughout the body, causing the squadron leader to faint from the pain.