Resistance against Japan: Starting with the local militia

Chapter 191 Tang Xiaohu's Scheme

The next morning, after receiving the latest orders from the regimental headquarters, Deputy Battalion Commander Shen Lei went to Tang Xiaohu's house. At this moment, the Tang family mansion had become Tang Xiaohu's temporary command post.

"Battalion Commander, the regimental headquarters has ordered us to move all three mortar companies to Wolong Mountain to assist in the defense," Shen Lei said.

"Just follow the regimental headquarters' orders." Tang Xiaohu was sitting at the table studying the tunnel map of Tangjia Town.

"Ah, Battalion Commander, all three mortar companies have been transferred. Why don't we ask the regimental commander to let us keep one mortar company?" Shen Lei advised.

"No need. This time we're mainly fighting tunnel warfare, so there's not much room for mortars. Besides, we still have the artillery battalion. They're more than enough to provide us with fire support, so we don't need to worry about not having artillery fire."

"But Battalion Commander,"

"Alright, just follow the orders from the regiment headquarters." Shen Lei was about to say something more when Tang Xiaohu interrupted him.

"Alright then, Battalion Commander, I'll arrange for the mortar company to return to Wolong Mountain right away."

"Okay, you go first. Also, call Staff Officer Yao Xing over here."

"Yes."

Shortly after, Staff Officer Yao Xing arrived at the command post.

"Battalion Commander, you wanted to see me."

"Ah."

"How's the evacuation drill for the residents of Tangjia Town going?" Tang Xiaohu asked.

"We conducted a drill yesterday, and we are currently making improvements based on the problems that arose yesterday to ensure that the public can be safely and quickly evacuated to the tunnel."

"By the way, we really owe a lot to Grandpa Tang's help yesterday," Yao Xing replied.

The old man Tang that Yao Xing mentioned is Tang Xiaohu's father and the old housekeeper of the Tang family.

"Hey, my dad's always so restless. Guard, go and keep an eye on him, make sure nothing happens to the old man," Tang Xiaohu shouted to the guard outside the door.

"Yes." After saying that, the guard outside the door walked towards the old butler's room.

"How long will the transfer take?" Tang Xiaohu turned his head and asked.

"About three hours," Shen Lei said.

"Okay, so all the common people's assets have been moved underground?"

"Except for the chickens, ducks, cattle and horses raised by the villagers, all of them have been moved underground. Today we are going to move all the villagers' livestock to the back mountain."

"Sure, but we need to send someone to take good care of it. These days, a cow or a horse is almost half of an ordinary person's wealth. If any damage occurs during the transfer, it must be registered, and our battalion will compensate in full."

"Yes, I have already given instructions to them to take good care of the child."

"In addition, regarding the matter of taking care of the livestock raised by the villagers, we can hire some people from the town to take care of them, which will alleviate the pressure of our manpower shortage. You can ask me, the old man, for specific arrangements."

Although Tang Xiaohu didn't want to trouble his old man, he had no choice but to bring him out at this crucial moment.

"Yes, Battalion Commander, I'll go talk to the old man about this later."

"Well, how are the wounded soldiers from our battalion doing?" Tang Xiaohu continued.

"I have contacted Dean Chu. The condition of all the seriously wounded has stabilized. In addition, more than 200 people have minor injuries and, after treatment at the hospital, will be able to return to Tangjia Town tomorrow and rejoin the battle."

"Very good. After these people return, don't send them back to their original units. Put them as reserves. As for the personnel arrangements for the reserves, you'll have to work hard to reorganize them."

"Yes, I'll make arrangements as soon as they get back."

"Furthermore, notify all companies to leverage their collective strength and do everything possible to quickly familiarize themselves with the Tangjia Town tunnel network and prepare for combat."

"Yes."

"Okay, you can make the arrangements first."

"Yes." After saying that, Yao Xing left the room.

Tang Xiaohu then continued studying the map on the table. After three o'clock in the afternoon, Tang Xiaohu took the map to the makeshift artillery command post located behind the town.

"Xiaolong, there's something I need to discuss with you," Tang Xiaohu said to Tang Xiaolong.

"Commander Tang, please speak quickly. As long as our artillery battalion can do it, I will do my best to meet your requirements."

Hahaha, I'm relieved to hear Xiaolong say that.

"Xiaolong, take a look at this map first." With that, Tang Xiaohu spread the map he was carrying on the table.

Tang Xiaolong glanced at the map and saw that it showed the distribution of Tangjia Town, but many places were marked with red circles.

"Battalion Commander Tang, what does this red circle represent?" Tang Xiaolong asked curiously.

"This is why I called you here today. Here's what I'm thinking: we'll use the terrain of Tangjia Town to lure the Japanese to the red location I've marked on my map."

"At that time, I will have your artillery battalion fire on the marked areas. This will maximize the power of the infantry guns and inflict heavy casualties on the Japanese."

"Battalion Commander Tang, your idea is brilliant!"

Tang Xiaolong said excitedly. In the past few days, he had also been thinking about how to cooperate with the First Battalion's defensive operations. Since the First Battalion's defensive positions were spread throughout the entire Tangjia Town, even though he had the deployment map provided by the First Battalion, he was still worried about the artillery accidentally hitting the soldiers of the First Battalion.

The plan Tang Xiaohu just proposed was exactly what he wanted to hear. It would maximize the power of the infantry artillery while minimizing friendly fire. This plan was simply brilliant!

"So you're saying your artillery battalion is fully capable of achieving that?"

"Yes, no problem. Our artillery battalion has calculated the impact points of the shells in advance, so we can carry out precise strikes on these locations when the battle begins."

"I will arrange for someone to conduct an on-site survey in Tangjia Town tomorrow," Tang Xiaolong added.

"it is good."

"But the only problem is communication. How can we get the latest intelligence from the front lines to me in a timely manner so that our artillery battalion can carry out precision strikes based on real-time intelligence?" Tang Xiaolong raised his question.

"Well, there's no need to worry about that. I'll have each company report the latest battle situation to the battalion headquarters, and then we'll coordinate with you all for artillery support." Tang Xiaohu had already considered this point, so he shared his thoughts.

"This method is good." Tang Xiaolong nodded in agreement.

"Battalion Commander Tang, there's one more thing. We need to number the designated artillery points so we can report their locations directly when the time comes, which will be both more accurate and less prone to errors."

"Alright! As for how to number them, we'll have to trouble Battalion Commander Xiaolong." Tang Xiaohu said, looking at Tang Xiaolong.

"Haha, Battalion Commander Tang, you're too kind. It's just my duty."

“That’s what I think,” Tang Xiaolong continued.

“We’ll use the Tang residence in the center as the core, dividing it into four directions: east, west, south, and north. Each firing point will be numbered. For example, this firing point can be simply called West-1 firing point,” Tang Xiaolong said, pointing to one of the points.

"Yes, very good. It's simple and clear. Do it the way you said." Tang Xiaohu nodded.

"Okay, I'll start numbering now."

"Hard!"

After Tang Xiaolong finished speaking, he began numbering the points on the map, and also adjusted the locations of the artillery fire points.

The two worked until nightfall to finish revising the new artillery bombardment map. Tang Xiaolong also made a copy of the new map and handed it to Tang Xiaohu, while keeping the old map with him.

Finally, Tang Xiaohu returned to the command post with the new map, completely satisfied.