binnovel Chapter 179 Attack (1)
Chapter 179 Attack (1)
Commander Tang of the 20th Corps is very depressed now. The Japanese army suddenly chased his troops from three sides and attacked all the way south. He was a little puzzled at first. He could understand the Japanese army rushing from the direction of Linyi, but the 10th Division actually sent the 10th Regiment in Yi County to attack southward. This made him wonder if the Japanese army was crazy. Did the Japanese army not want Yi County anymore? This made him feel too strange. Did the Japanese army want to surround and destroy his 20th Corps?
This is not right. The Japanese army has not shown any intention of encircling the 20th Corps. Now the Japanese army is desperately attacking southwards and has not deployed troops to the flanks. This is not an encirclement strategy.
"Commander, the theater command sent a telegram." Corps Chief of Staff Wan Jianfan hurriedly walked into the corps' temporary command post with a telegram.
Corps Commander Tang took the telegram and read it carefully. After reading the content of the telegram, he finally understood why the Japanese army behaved abnormally. He did not expect that the 102nd Division was so fierce. Not only did they withstand the Japanese attack for more than eight days in Taierzhuang, but they were also able to organize a major counterattack, and the counterattack was successful. Not only did they drive the Japanese army out of Taierzhuang, but they also divided and surrounded many Japanese troops in the city. No wonder the three Japanese troops behind him attacked desperately. Now everything made sense.
He was in a bit of a difficult situation now. The 102nd Division could still rely on the houses and courtyards in Taierzhuang City for defense, but his th Corps was completely on the plains and had to withstand the three-way attacks of the Japanese army. According to the orders of the war zone, how long would he have to hold out?
But he had no other choice now and could only hold out against the Japanese army. At the same time, he hoped in his heart that the 102nd Division could quickly wipe out all the Japanese troops in Taierzhuang, so that the Japanese troops behind him would naturally retreat.
After knowing the strategic intentions of the Japanese army, Corps Commander Tang also had a clear idea in his mind, so he picked up the water cup on the table and prepared to take a sip of water to moisten his throat. But just when he put the cup to his lips, he suddenly thought of a key question, that is, how many people are left in the 102nd Division now? They have been fighting with the Japanese army for so many days. Can they eliminate the Japanese army in Taierzhuang?
Zhang Wenwu led his troops to continuously eliminate the houses and courtyards occupied by the Japanese army. After a busy day, they had completely eliminated the more than 50 locations originally occupied by the Japanese army. The speed of elimination was achieved only because Zhang Wenwu managed to accomplish it without caring about the loss of artillery shells. At the end of the day, the infantrymen had the easiest time, basically just constantly cleaning up the battlefield.
However, the soldiers in charge of pushing the cannon and other artillery brothers were so tired that they could hardly lift their arms. Although they had satisfied their addiction to firing cannons the whole day, it was indeed too tiring. This was the true pain and pleasure.
After the Japanese troops in the city were basically wiped out, Zhang Wenwu asked Ouyang Heng to hurry up and clean up the battlefield. He took a squad of soldiers back to the railway to wait for the officers and soldiers recruited by Cao Huaguo from Xuzhou. Zhang Wenwu knew that if he wanted to eliminate the Japanese troops outside the city, his troops must add enough manpower. Although Commander Huang only gave him one day, during that day, the officers and soldiers of his troops took turns to encircle and suppress the Japanese troops in the city. Basically, everyone got a certain amount of rest. Cao Huaguo would be able to get him at least a few hundred people that day. When the newly recruited officers and soldiers arrived, his troops would be able to recover a lot of combat effectiveness.
At seven o'clock in the evening, a train coming from Xuzhou slowly stopped at the area where Zhang Wenwu was waiting. As soon as the train stopped, Zhang Wenwu saw the fat and white Cao Huaguo was the first to jump out of the door of the first carriage.
"Huaguo, this way." Zhang Wenwu waved his hand and called Cao Huaguo over.
Cao Huaguo trotted over to Zhang Wenwu and saluted, "Brigade Commander, I brought here all the people we recruited from the hospital today, a total of 722 people."
When Zhang Wenwu heard that Cao Huaguo had recruited more than 700 people for him in one day, he was also surprised and asked: "Huaguo, there are only two or three of you, how did you recruit so many people?"
When Cao Huaguo heard Zhang Wenwu's question, he said happily: "Brigade Commander, our division is probably famous all over the country now. At the press conference held in the theater today, Commander Li introduced to the reporters the victory we won in Taierzhuang. After the officers and soldiers in the hospital learned that our division was recruiting people, they all clamored to join our division. I guess the news has not spread yet. After the news spreads tomorrow, the recruitment speed will be faster." He is also proud now. Today, when he went to the hospital and announced the name of his unit, he immediately gained everyone's respect. Even the female nurses in the hospital looked at him several more times.
Zhang Wenwu patted Cao Huaguo on the shoulder, encouraged him with a few words, and then took Cao Huaguo to the officers and soldiers who were getting off the vehicle and lining up.
"Brigade Commander, Deputy Director Liang has no more guns in stock to sell to us, so now more than half of the officers and soldiers are without weapons and equipment." After seeing the officers and soldiers wearing new uniforms but empty-handed, Cao Huaguo quickly explained to Zhang Wenwu that there was nothing he could do about it.
Zhang Wenwu nodded. He was not short of guns. The 102nd Division had more than a thousand Chinese-made rifles recovered from the battlefield in the division's quartermaster department. This time, they also seized so many Japanese equipment, which was enough to arm the more than people in front of them. So he said as he walked, "It's okay. The equipment issue can be solved here now. You don't have to worry."
When Cao Huaguo heard that Zhang Wenwu did not blame him, he felt relieved. He was now afraid that Zhang Wenwu would be unhappy because he did not do things perfectly, which would be very detrimental to his future survival.
Zhang Wenwu did not waste too much time here. He asked the officers to organize the team, and then took the more than 700 people to the quartermaster department to collect all the guns, and then entered the manor through the pontoon bridge. Now time was too tight, and the newly recruited officers and soldiers could only be dispersed and supplemented into the troops directly in the manor, allowing the various troops below to integrate and arrange themselves.
When Ouyang Heng saw that Zhang Wenwu brought more than 700 reinforcements, he immediately made appropriate distributions according to the previous losses of each unit, and asked the chief officers of each unit to come and take all the people away. He was a little happy to have these 700 reinforcements at this time. These recovered veterans would keep the combat effectiveness of the troops at a relatively high level, which would be of great help to the attack that was about to be launched.
"Brother Ouyang, how is it going here? Have you figured out the situation of the Japanese troops outside the city? What's your plan?" After Zhang Wenwu picked up the kettle and took a few gulps of water, he asked Ouyang Heng anxiously. He was still a little worried about the upcoming battle against the Japanese troops outside the city.
You know, this is an attack on the Japanese army on an open plain, which is quite difficult. Although the Japanese army lost a lot of artillery in the city, the firepower of the Japanese army outside the city is much stronger than that of the Chinese army. If they charge hard, the losses of the troops will definitely be huge.
Ouyang Heng also put down the map in his hand, took out a cigarette and lit it up with Zhang Wenwu. After taking two puffs of the cigarette, Ouyang Heng said to Zhang Wenwu: "Brigade Commander, I sent people to investigate the situation of the Japanese army outside the city. According to the investigation, the Japanese army outside the city built fortifications about three kilometers away from Taierzhuang. About three kilometers behind the Japanese position, there is an artillery position with an unknown number of artillery. In addition, there is about a squadron of infantry defending this artillery position. I roughly estimated that there are at least 1,500 Japanese troops and artillery outside the city. It is not a good idea to charge in."
Zhang Wenwu's heart sank when he heard that there were still at least 1,500 Japanese soldiers outside the city. His own reinforcement brigade now had less than 2,800 people. A forceful charge would definitely not work. Not to mention the heavy casualties, he was afraid that after suffering heavy casualties, he would still be unable to break through the Japanese defense line, which would be a waste of time.
"Brother Ouyang, how do you think we should fight this battle?" Zhang Wenwu took a puff of cigarette, looked at the map, and asked Ouyang Heng beside him without raising his head.
Ouyang Heng thought for a moment and said, "Brigade Commander, the Japanese troops outside the city are now huddled together. It seems that they intend to hold out. They have been reinforcing their ring fortifications. No matter which direction we attack from, our losses will be huge. We can only mobilize the Japanese troops and use our numerical advantage to eliminate them."
After hearing Ouyang Heng's idea, Zhang Wenwu nodded and said, "Brother Ouyang, I agree with you. We can't withstand a large number of attacks with such a small number of people. The plain outside the city is not good for our attack. The Japanese soldiers' individual equipment and tactical literacy are still very strong. I think we can make use of the artillery position behind the Japanese army to do something."
"That's right, Brigade Commander. The plan I made is to send a suicide squad and a regiment of officers and soldiers to bypass the Japanese defense position and go back to the rear of the Japanese to attack the Japanese artillery position. Now the Japanese have lost a large number of artillery in the city. If we attack this artillery position on a large scale, the Japanese commander will have to send troops to rescue it. If they don't keep this only artillery, it will be difficult for the Japanese to defend their position. We will surround the Japanese position on three sides and leave one side open. As long as the Japanese send troops to reinforce the artillery position, we will ambush and block them halfway. In the absence of artillery support, if the Japanese want to attack our blocking line in this plain area, they can only rely on human lives. In this way, we can slowly eat up the Japanese army one by one and minimize casualties."
After listening to Ouyang Heng's battle plan, Zhang Wenwu also said that this plan was feasible. That is, to surround the point and attack the reinforcements, and force the Japanese army to launch an attack on his own troops in the plains. In this way, his side would become the defender, which could greatly consume the Japanese army's defensive power. This was clearly an open conspiracy.
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