At the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, the deputy chief of staff hurriedly walked in holding a telegram.
The boss stood in front of the map, frowning.
Too many things have happened recently, and many of them are very detrimental to the overall situation of the war.
Especially the recent rise in the curve to save the country.
Encouraged by this traitorous policy, many anti-Japanese troops operating behind enemy lines defected.
Under this situation, the Eighth Route Army became increasingly isolated, and could even be said to be fighting alone.
As the atmosphere of surrender became stronger and stronger, many soldiers and civilians in the base area began to lose confidence in the war of resistance.
The Japanese obviously saw this, and many troops took the opportunity to launch attacks on the base areas in an attempt to undermine the determination of the soldiers and people in the base areas to resist Japan and completely defeat the Eighth Route Army.
In this situation, there is only one way to break it.
That is to win the battle, to face the difficulties and fight an unprecedented victory.
What the boss is thinking about now is how the Eighth Route Army can win a great victory under such unfavorable circumstances.
The deputy chief of staff knew this very well. Although he wanted to share the good news he had just received with his boss, he held it back in the end.
Decided not to interrupt the boss's thoughts and wait until the boss figured it out before speaking.
This stop lasted more than half an hour.
As soon as the deputy commander looked away from the map, the deputy chief of staff couldn't help but report: "Boss, good news, and this good news was brought to us by Comrade Li Hao."
"Haven't we been planning a major counterattack these days?"
"Since it is a counterattack, and our opponents like to hide in gun towers and county towns to defend, we will definitely need a lot of heavy siege weapons to kill them. Otherwise, the soldiers will have to risk their lives, which is not cost-effective."
"But what our Eighth Route Army lacks most is heavy weapons. Comrade Li Hao, who is in Chongqing, the rear area, actually helped us solve this problem."
"The Eighth Route Army Office in Chongqing just sent a telegram. Comrade Li Hao has prepared 150 large-caliber mortars for us in Chongqing, all of which are 150 mm in diameter and equipped with 100,000 rounds of artillery shells. On average, each
There are more than 600 rounds of artillery shells, and we have also prepared 12,000 rounds of heavy artillery shells for the heavy artillery battalion of the garrison regiment, which has already fired all the shells."
"Currently, the first batch of weapons and ammunition is on its way to Xi'an, and the underground party is responsible for handling it."
"Excluding the artillery shells prepared for the garrison, the first batch of weapons and ammunition includes six heavy mortars and 300 rounds of artillery shells, which is exactly the equipment and ammunition for a heavy mortar company."
"Yan'an requested that these weapons and ammunition be sent directly to the front line and asked us which unit to equip first. The underground party sent them directly through underground transportation lines."
The deputy commander's brows, which had been furrowed for several days, relaxed for the first time.
After receiving the telegram and confirming it several times, and confirming that what the deputy chief of staff said was true, he said with emotion.
"God is really helping our Eighth Route Army!"
"With these heavy weapons and artillery shells, we will have a greater chance of winning the next major counterattack, and the casualties among our soldiers will definitely be much smaller."
"Return the call immediately. These equipment and ammunition will be sent directly to northwestern Shanxi, where the Japanese are attacking. Six heavy mortars and mortars are sent there now. It will definitely provide help in times of need and play a big role."
"Tell the underground party that the faster the better, the frontline soldiers are waiting for them."
In the northern Shanxi base area, a battle has been going on for an hour and is getting more intense.
In order to protect the headquarters offices, field hospitals, schools, and civilians at the commander's station, a total of more than 5,000 soldiers and civilians escaped the pursuit of the Japanese and puppet troops.
The guard battalion, recruit battalion, artillery company, and a main regiment directly under the headquarters have been guarding here for a full hour.
In one hour of fighting, the total strength of the Japanese and puppet troops not only did not decrease, but increased from 1,000 to 2,000.
The artillery force also increased from one mortar squadron to two mortar squadrons and one mountain artillery squadron.
In contrast, the Eighth Route Army had only two infantry guns and two mortars in the artillery company directly under the headquarters.
The main regiment's artillery battery only has four mortars, adding up to six mortars and two infantry guns, which are not at the same level as the Japanese artillery!
Not long after the battle began, the Eighth Route Army's artillery troops withdrew from the battle with more than half of their losses.
Although the Japanese army also lost five artillery pieces, there were still 19 pieces left.
Without the threat of the Eighth Route Army's artillery, the Japanese artillery became completely unscrupulous, concentrating all artillery fire to support the infantry, hoping to break through the Eighth Route Army's defense line.
As soon as the commander and the political commissar of the Eighth Route Army's former enemy headquarters walked in, the former enemy commander-in-chief frowned and reported anxiously.
"Chief, the kid's artillery fire was too fierce, and the troops suffered heavy casualties."
"The artillery has been disabled, and the position is completely supported by the infantry. If we continue to fight, the troops will be disabled in another hour."
"You have to hold on even if you can't hold on!" the commander replied solemnly.
"The agencies directly under the headquarters, field hospitals, schools, ordinary people, five to six thousand lives are all in your hands."
"Hold the position and they will survive."
"If they cannot hold their position, they will fall into the hands of the little devils."
"There is still an hour before dark. As long as we hold on until dark, the troops can alternately cover and evacuate their positions."
The former enemy commander-in-chief, who was also the head of the main regiment who was fighting hard on the battlefield, could only answer bravely: "Commander, please rest assured, the people are in the position."
"We will never let those soldiers and civilians fall into the hands of the little devils, otherwise they will definitely die."
After saying that, the regiment leader ordered the chief of staff to the side: "Order the reserve team to prepare for war."
"The baggage company will take out all the remaining ammunition in the regiment and send it to the battlefield together with the reserve team later."
"For the safety of thousands of soldiers and civilians in the rear, I can't do anything more."
The commander followed the order and said: "I will hand over the headquarters guard camp and the recruit camp to you, and guard them until dark at all costs."
Suddenly, the political commissar of the headquarters rushed over in a hurry, followed by the commander of the artillery company directly under the headquarters and a stranger.
When he saw the commander, he reported excitedly: "Commander, good news, we have reinforcements."
"Reinforcement? I don't think I asked my superiors for reinforcements, and there are no troops nearby to reinforce us?" The commander frowned, looking confused.
"It was sent to us by the Eighth Route Army headquarters, and it is not an ordinary reinforcement. It can definitely be called a timely help." The political commissar explained.
"This is Comrade Chen Yunian, the person in charge of the underground party in this area, who was ordered by the Eighth Route Army headquarters to send us a batch of weapons and ammunition, a total of six large-caliber mortars and 300 rounds of artillery shells. I took Captain Zhou of the artillery company to see them.
It’s a real heavy weapon.”
Captain Zhou of the artillery company finally found a chance to speak. With a smile on his face, he excitedly reported: "Report to the commander, those six mortars are not ordinary mortars, they are large-caliber heavy mortars, more powerful than the mountain cannons equipped by the little devils."
Several times bigger.”
"Although there are only six, I am confident that I can use these six heavy mortars to kill the enemy's artillery force."
It was only then that the commander came out of his confusion, looked at the artillery company commander, and asked with an uncertain look on his face.
"The Japanese still have nearly twenty artillery pieces, including four mountain cannons. You only have six cannons, you can really kill them."
"I dare to issue a military order!" Captain Zhou replied confidently.
"The Japanese are so arrogant. In order to concentrate firepower to support the infantry, mortars and mountain artillery are all deployed together, and the gun positions are very dense. An artillery battle is simply looking for death."
"The caliber of the heavy mortar is 150 millimeters, and it is very powerful. As long as one shell hits their artillery position, the artillerymen within 20 meters will definitely be killed or injured."
"I calculated that at most twenty artillery shells can cover the entire artillery position."
"When the time comes, we can still attack the Japanese infantry. We can attack the enemy gathering areas and hit them with one shell. At least twenty Japanese can be killed."