binnovel Chapter 320 April Offensive
Chapter 320 April Offensive
The "April Offensive" formulated by the Military Commission was mainly designed for the Fifth War Zone. After all, the Fifth War Zone now has the strength of 40 infantry divisions, making it one of the most powerful war zones in China.
According to the "April Offensive" plan formulated by the Military Commission, the Fifth War Zone needed to use part of its forces to carry out powerful harassment on the southern section of the Pinghan Railway, and use the other part to launch an attack on the Japanese strongholds in the Zhongxiang area east of the Xiang River to recover some of the territory occupied by the Japanese army.
At the same time, the Military Commission also wanted to attract the Japanese army to attack northward according to its own intentions. Otherwise, if the Japanese army attacked the Nanxun Line on the south bank of the Yangtze River first, the troops dispatched by the government would be useless.
Commander Li of the Fifth War Zone was also specially recalled to Shancheng by the Military Commission for discussion. At the meeting, Commander Li listened carefully to the combat plan formulated by the Military Commission, and also quickly calculated in his mind whether his war zone was capable of completing such a task.
After the people from the Military Commission finished introducing the battle plan, Commander Li did not say anything. He was still a little unsure about the battle plan.
Commander Li basically approved of this combat plan. He felt that with the current situation of the troops within the Fifth War Zone, there was a great chance that they could complete the combat tasks assigned by the Military Commission.
The problem now is that if the Japanese army also sends troops to attack northward, whether our troops are sufficient? Otherwise, the territory that we have recovered with great difficulty will be occupied by the Japanese army, and all our efforts will be in vain.
"Commander Li, do you think there is anything that needs to be supplemented in this plan? Or do you have any requirements that you can raise? Let's discuss it together. The top government attaches great importance to this counterattack and wants us to fight this battle well. You also know that the defection of the eternal runner-up has brought very bad influence to the entire war of resistance. The top government also hopes to launch a beautiful counterattack to enhance the enthusiasm of the whole country for the war of resistance." Commander He, the actual person in charge of the Military Commission, also explained the situation to Commander Li with a smile.
As soon as Commander Li heard what Commander He said, he knew that this operation must be carried out, otherwise the highest level of the government would blame him. Moreover, he personally believed that it was necessary to boost the enthusiasm of the whole country for the war of resistance and strengthen the belief in victory.
"What Commander He said is right. I basically agree with the battle plan formulated by the Military Commission. Since Commander He wants me to talk about the problem, then I will tell you my thoughts. According to the battle plan formulated by the Military Commission, I think it is necessary to dispatch at least one more capable government-run army-level unit or above to fight in the Fifth War Zone. At the same time, the new 22nd Army in Xiangyang must also be transferred to the Fifth War Zone's combat sequence. In this way, we will have enough strength to defend these recaptured areas after recovering part of the territory." Commander Li also stated his needs directly. He believed that the top government leaders would agree to his request because the top government leaders needed victory too much right now.
When Chief He heard Commander Li's request, he secretly sighed in his heart that Commander Li really knew how to choose the right time to make requests. He knew that the highest level of the government would definitely agree to Commander Li's two conditions.
Sure enough, the next day when Commander He reported Commander Li’s request to the top government leaders, the top government leaders immediately agreed to Commander Li’s request and dispatched the 31st Army Group of Commander Tang, a direct subordinate of the government, to the Fifth War Zone. This also demonstrated the importance the top government leaders attached to this counterattack.
Commander Li returned to the Fifth War Zone Headquarters: Fancheng in a very good mood. His trip to the mountain city was very fruitful. Not only did he assign two very powerful troops of the government to his Fifth War Zone, but he also requested a batch of additional weapons and ammunition from the Military Commission.
After returning to the theater command, Commander Li ordered the commanders of various units to come to the theater command for a meeting. At the same time, he also needed to refine the Military Commission's counterattack plan.
Inside the headquarters of the 11th Japanese Army, Commander Lieutenant General Yasuji Okamura was also listening attentively to the staff officer explaining the battle plan of attacking northward on the sand table.
"Commander, this time our army is attacking the Chinese army north of the three towns. The staff believes that we should adopt the tactics of dividing and attacking, conical breakthrough, and encirclement on both wings. The 3rd Division and the 4th Cavalry Brigade will be the two wings, encircling the northern part of Sui-Zao Basin from the northeast of Sui County and west of Zaoyang respectively."
"At the same time, after the 13th and 16th divisions captured the area west of Zaoyang, they turned eastward to annihilate the Chinese troops surrounded in Zaoyang and Suixian areas."
"In order to achieve this operational goal, the Third Division needs to attract and contain the main force of the Chinese army in the direction of Xianghua Road and cover the operations of friendly forces. This is also the most critical point of this operation. Therefore, the General Staff should strengthen the artillery unit of the division."
"The 4th Cavalry Brigade needs to have sufficient mobility and combat capabilities to quickly complete the encirclement of the western and northern parts of the Sui-Zao area in a short period of time. Therefore, we should assign all the cavalry units of each division to the 4th Cavalry Brigade to fight. In this way, the 4th Cavalry Brigade will have a force size of three cavalry regiments plus one cavalry battalion."
After listening to the staff officer's explanation, Commander Lieutenant General Yasuji Okamura was also very satisfied with the combat plan.
The purpose of this operation was to strike at the effective strength of the Chinese army, capture and annihilate the main force of China's Fifth War Zone in the Zaoyang area in one fell swoop, and clear the threat from the north for the subsequent westward advance.
Now, the headquarters has also dispatched the 33rd Division and the 34th Division to join its 11th Army's combat sequence, in preparation for replacing the 9th Division and the 16th Division that are about to be transferred back to the mainland.
When the new troops had arrived but the old troops had not yet left, the strength of his 11th Army had reached the size of nine divisions plus one independent brigade.
Commander Lieutenant General Okamura Yasuji also decided to take advantage of this rare opportunity to deal a devastating blow to the Chinese government's Fifth War Zone troops northwest of the three towns.
The new 22nd Army was once again assigned to the combat sequence of the Fifth War Zone, which also made Commander Huang and Chief of Staff Zhao Dong sigh.
Our 102nd Division became famous in the Battle of Taierzhuang in the Fifth War Zone. After so many twists and turns, we didn't expect to return to the Fifth War Zone today.
The most coincidental thing is that Commander Tang’s 31st Army was also dispatched here, which makes people sigh that fate is always so coincidental.
Commander Tang of the 31st Army Group shared the same sentiments as Commander Huang. He still remembered the Battle of Taierzhuang very clearly.