Rise from eight hundred.

Chapter 1486: Is Director Tang out of his mind?

It's already hot in Hunan Province in late May.

It was early in the morning, the sun was scorching the earth, and the hot and windless valley was as hot as a big steamer.

Leng Feng, the chief of staff of the Sihang Regiment, rode a large black foreign horse, followed by a cavalry squad and holding a whip, running along the mountain path. At the invitation of Ge Youcai, the commander of the 10th Reserve Division, he rushed to Huangchaling to inspect the newly completed fortifications.

Among the three division commanders under the 10th Army, Ge Youcai was the only one promoted from the 3th Reserve Division. When Fang Xianjue was still the commander of the 10th Reserve Division, Ge Youcai was the commander of the 10th Regiment. When Fang Xianjue was promoted to army commander, Ge Youcai became the deputy commander of the 30th Reserve Division. By the end of 10, Fang Xianjue's close friend Sun Mingjin, the commander of the 1943th Reserve Division, died in battle, and Ge Youcai was promoted to division commander.

This time, because General Xue used tricks to force Fang Xianjue to resign, the 10th Reserve Division resisted particularly fiercely. The division commander Ge Youcai took the lead in signing, and all officers above the rank of colonel in the 10th Reserve Division jointly expressed their willingness to boycott the arrival of the new army commander.

Whether in the 10th Army or the 9th Theater, the commander of the 10th Reserve Division, Ge Youcai, is the most trusted and beloved general under the command of Army Commander Fang Xianjue.

Otherwise, the positions in the south of the city that Fang Xianjue identified as the main attack position of the Japanese army would not have been handed over to the 10th Reserve Division. That was absolute trust. Even the elite Four-Line Regiment did not get this task.

But Ge Youcai did not become the commander of the 10th Reserve Division just by being loyal to his superiors or being brave in battle. This brave general with a full beard and looking like a fierce Zhang Fei actually had a delicate mind that was extraordinary.

When Fang Xianjue returned, he told him that the Four-Line Regiment had set up a simulated defense training ground at the foot of Hengshan Mountain, and that many of the fortifications there were built in a way that amazed him. In the future, they would provide drawings for reference by various departments so that they could build fortifications according to local conditions.

If it were an ordinary person, at this time when there are so many things to do before a war, he would at most pay more attention to the fortification drawings and instruct his subordinates not to ignore the help of friendly forces. But this master commander was different. As soon as he came out of the command center, he immediately took a dozen officers under his command and went to the field for an on-site inspection in a truck.

Fortunately, a group of engineers left behind by the Sihang Regiment were planning to demolish the huge training ground by dynamite in order to avoid being seen by the Japanese army. They had already buried the explosives but had not yet started the blasting, leaving this man with a two-hour opportunity to conduct a field inspection.

Ge Youcai was amazed at the wide trenches that looked like killing machines. He even felt that they were tailor-made for the hilly and mountainous areas in southern Hengyang. After returning that night, he ran to find Director Tang, who was busy and overwhelmed, and asked him to find an opportunity to visit his 10th Division's position to inspect and guide the work.

How could Tang Dao refuse such a condescending request from a great commander? However, he had been so busy these past two days that he had no time to go there. He could only recommend Leng Feng to help him with the mission, and he specifically asked Leng Feng on the phone: "Everything must be based on facts. Good is good, bad is bad. If there are any problems, they must be pointed out. Friendly forces can be embarrassed, but they cannot be sad because of heavy casualties!"

Although Tang Dao knew Leng Feng's personality very well, Ge Youcai was a lieutenant general and a division commander after all, so he would eventually be concerned about the face of the lieutenant general of the army.

Huangchaling is one of the famous ancient battlefields in Hengyang. Its original name was "Huangchaling". In the late Tang Dynasty, Huang Chao led 10 troops on rafts down the Xiangjiang River and set up camp again to fight. It is unknown when the place was renamed "Huangchaling" by the people.

The shadow of war had long shrouded this land, and the villages along the way had long been deserted, but the hillsides along the way were filled with groups of bareheaded, barefoot, dark-faced, mud-covered soldiers crawling around.

The issue of shaving one's head was the first military order issued by the newly appointed Chief of Operations Tang Dao, which required the military and civilians in Hengyang to cut the hair of women to the temples and shave all the men's heads bald.

This is not to better identify friend or foe, but to consider what happens after being injured. If a head injury requires surgery or bandaging, the nurse will have to spend time shaving the patient's hair. Saving lives on the battlefield is like putting out a fire, so there is so much time to waste. It is better to prepare before the battle.

All the male soldiers and civilians in Hengyang, including the supreme commander Fang Xianjue, had bald heads, while the female soldiers of the Four Lines Regiment, including Tan Tai Mingyue, had short hair that exposed their ears. If it was not short enough, they would just use their daggers to cut it short, which was very quick.

Leng Feng's first impression of the 10th Reserve Division came from these working officers and soldiers, and the impression was extremely good.

Wherever we went, from the battalion commander down to the officers and soldiers at the company headquarters, everyone was shirtless, wearing only military pants, working hard in the heat wave, sweating profusely. From afar, we could only see a group of yellow mud men waving hoes and shovels one after another in the yellow mud. It was impossible to tell who was the officer and who was the soldier.

It has only been three days since Tanzhou fell and Hengyang was declared to be in a state of war. The officers and soldiers of the 3th Reserve Division and more than 10 civilian laborers have built more than 8 miles of deep trenches in the south of the city. The Huangchaling area defended by the 10th Regiment of the 30th Reserve Division, which Leng Feng wanted to focus on, had more than 2 miles of deep trenches dug.

The commander of the 30th Regiment was the commander of the rd Battalion when Ge Youcai was the regiment commander. He was a calm, middle-aged man. Being calm, he inevitably lacked flexibility.

The reason he became the commander of the 30th Regiment was perhaps not because he was better than his other two colleagues, but because during the third Tanzhou Defense Battle, less than 30 people from the 300th Regiment survived, and he was the only battalion commander who was seriously injured but not dead.

The colonel commander attached great importance to Leng Feng's arrival. He personally rode a horse to accompany Leng Feng, who was one level lower in rank than him, to inspect the positions where thousands of people were digging in full swing.

Leng Feng rode his horse along the deep trench, looking around as he walked. At first he thought it was okay. The officers and soldiers of the 30th Regiment and the laborers were all working very hard. There were also professional engineers beside them guiding them in digging according to the map. If they continued at this pace, they would be able to reach the position standards of the th Regiment in another five or six days.

At this time, the Japanese vanguard was still more than 200 miles away from Hengyang, and there were troops constantly blocking the way along the way. There were only about seven or eight days left to reach Hengyang, which was enough time.

But the further they walked forward, the more Leng Feng's brows furrowed. He felt that something was wrong. It was not that they were lazy and did not dig the trench deep enough, but that the 30th Regiment's position seemed a little too large.

Normally speaking, for an infantry regiment of 30 people like the 2000th Regiment, the defense surface is about 1300 meters wide. Only in this way can the defense in depth be guaranteed. No one would be stupid enough to cram all 2000 people into the front line. There must also be defense on the left and right wings, defense must be deployed in depth, and reserve troops must be kept.

However, the width of the 30th Regiment's frontal defense surface is as wide as a kilometer based on the completed parts. According to the current construction progress, it will be more than 2500 meters or even wider.

If this is the case for one regiment, what about the entire 10th Reserve Division?

After a brief exchange with the colonel commander whose face was a little stiff, Leng Feng immediately notified Tang Dao.

Upon hearing this, Tang Dao immediately dropped what he was doing, took Yuanxiao and three guards, got on a jeep, and rushed to the headquarters of the 3th Reserve Division at lightning speed.

When Ge Youcai heard that his 10th Division's position had such a big flaw, he was furious. He immediately got on Tang Dao's jeep and rushed to Huangchaling.

Leng Feng and the colonel commander of the 30th Regiment stood at the highest point of the mountain and stared at each other for less than 40 minutes when Ge Youcai and Tang Dao arrived, which showed how anxious they were.

It was difficult for these two people. Leng Feng didn't talk much, and the guy from the 30th Regiment didn't talk much either. Now they felt that there was a problem with the position arrangement, and they had no mood to talk anymore. The two grown men could only squat on the highest point of the mountain and smoke one cigarette after another.

Seeing two jeeps and several war horses running towards them from afar, the two men hurried down from the top of the low mountain to greet them.

The group walked towards the top of the mountain. Leng Feng handed the telescope to Ge Youcai, pointed to the south of the Hunan-Guangxi Railway and said, "Two miles ahead of here is the main position of our 10th Reserve Division. I think it would be difficult for an army to hold such a large position, let alone the 10th Reserve Division. It would be difficult to support it!"

Ge Youcai looked at Leng Feng in surprise, but he was full of admiration for the young lieutenant colonel who was recommended by Tang Dao to come and see his 10th Division position. A regimental chief of staff, in front of a lieutenant general division commander, actually made an assessment that the army and division positions were not enough to support it. This is not something that ordinary people can do.

The key point is that he had already discussed this issue with Hengyang War Zone Chief of Staff Zhao Ziling, but Zhao Ziling believed that Hengyang already had national defense fortifications, and it would be a waste if they were not used. Moreover, they only had seven or eight days, and it was too risky to dig the position again. It would be better to rely on the original fortifications and add some field fortifications provided by Tang Dao as supplements.

Zhao Zili has an excellent command level, but his position is different from Ge Youcai. As Fang Xianjue's deputy, he must and can only consider the entire Hengyang defense war from the perspective of the entire war. Naturally, he hopes to provide more effective materials to places that need them more, and naturally try to save as much as possible in other places.

Ge Youcai looked like a tough guy. When he was the regiment commander, he held a machine gun and led the soldiers to charge. However, this Zhang Fei was also a rough but meticulous person. He knew that he could not convince Zhao Zili by himself, and if he went directly to the army commander, Zhao Zili might be unhappy. So he set his sights on Tang Dao, the chief of operations. As long as Tang Dao spoke, Zhao Zili, the chief of staff, would have to reconsider the position deployment.

He originally wanted to wait for Tang Dao to take a look and discover the problem himself, but who knew that one of Tang Dao's subordinates had such a keen eye and even had the courage to speak out in front of him, the lieutenant general and division commander.

  Could this be the legendary 'there are no weak soldiers under a strong general'?

"Captain Ge, look, to the south of the Hunan-Guangxi Railway is an open rice field, and one mile ahead is a hillside. This is Huangchaling, Oujia Town, and Torikeng, which are the main positions originally designated.

The urban area of ​​HY is not big, only 3 miles wide from east to west and 4 miles long from north to south. Except for the Xiangjiang River in the east, which does not require too many troops, the other three defense areas add up to 11 miles. Considering the reserve, at least 8 regiments of troops are needed. Now my Hengyang army has only 8 regiments in total, and the guard regiment has no field combat experience. We cannot send all the troops out of the city to fight the Japanese invaders in the field and then withdraw them to defend the city.

  Although the idea is good, the battlefield situation changes rapidly, and no commander can guarantee to withdraw to the city intact. Moreover, the fortifications and defense areas in the city also require the defenders to spend a certain amount of time to familiarize themselves with them, otherwise the two armies will be blind in the street fighting. Aren't we giving up this geographical advantage?

In addition, the main position now extends far beyond the urban area, and the farthest point extends nearly 2 miles south of the Hunan-Guangxi Railway. This is equivalent to doubling the city defense area, and the required manpower must be doubled accordingly. The defense area is really too wide and too large.

The relationship between troops and positions is like wearing clothes. The most important thing is to fit them. Too big or too small is not suitable. Napoleon said this back then. "Leng Feng's words made the officers and soldiers of the 10th Reserve Division look at him with new eyes.

This Chief of Staff Leng is not only courageous but also has vision and ability. His speech clearly analyzed the current problems of the 10th Reserve Division.

"Then Chief of Staff Leng, what do you think we should do?" Ge Youcai grinned, glanced at the Tang Dao, and asked with a smile.

"My personal suggestion is to shrink the positions in the south of the city appropriately. Don't seek to increase the size, but to make it solid and reliable. It's like a battle between two people. You have to clench your fists first to punch out with force." Leng Feng also glanced at the Tang sword that indicated that he didn't need to hold back, and said confidently.

After Tang Dao arrived at the 10th Division Headquarters, he saw that the burly man had been waiting for him, and he knew that he was probably being "used" by this rough-looking Army Lieutenant General. He did not want to provoke the Chief of Staff Zhao Zili, who was responsible for the position planning of the entire Hengyang War Zone, and wanted him to speak.

However, Tang Dao is not averse to such "exploitation". If the problem is discovered and hidden, it will be of no use to the impending war, and may even be used by the Japanese army, which would be terrible.

Before Tang Dao came, he also took the previous city defense planning map of Hengyang, and discovered several hidden problems in the previous city defense planning map of Hengyang.

In the past, Hengyang was built as a military fortress, and a lot of manpower and material resources were invested. In 1943 alone, more than 2 laborers were deployed, and it took a month to excavate and repair fortifications inside and outside the city.

But the biggest problem is that all the defensive positions were designed based on three infantry armies. A bunch of high ramparts and deep trenches were built in the mountains south of the city. It looked very intimidating, but now all the defenders combined have the strength of only one infantry army, which is unable to support such a huge position.

If the front of the position is too wide and the troops are too scattered, it will easily cause the position to collapse. Once a gap is created, the entire front position can easily be dragged down.

After all, not all infantry regiments have the same strong continuous firepower as the Four-Line Regiment. Even if a battalion holds a 1500-meter front position, it can ensure that there are no fire gaps on the position.

But that requires a firepower deployment with a large number of submachine guns or semi-automatic rifles.

Secondly, the original positions were all fighting alone, lacking communication with each other, unable to form cross-fire and unable to support each other.

Some bunkers paid too much attention to the wide field of vision and firing range and neglected concealment. Many firing holes faced the enemy directly. However, the Japanese army was equipped with a large number of direct-fire guns, and blindly attacking the enemy would only result in casualties.

Moreover, if you stand on the top of the mountain and examine some of the positions that have been prepared, you will find that the main position has a gentle slope and few trees. Many fortifications are exposed outside, with only a few sparse bushes for concealment. If the troops are mobilized in front of the enemy or ammunition is replenished, the wounded are retreated, or even the cooks are transported to and from work for three meals, they will be exposed to the Japanese artillery fire. It is indeed not a very ideal position.

"I agree to withdraw our position. I will report the situation to Commander Fang and Commander Zhao when I return!" Tang Dao made the final decision.

"My suggestion is to abandon all the previous positions before the Hunan-Guangxi Railway, retreat to the north of the Hunan-Guangxi Railway, and rebuild the main position along the Hunan-Guangxi Railway. This area has Wuguiling, Fengshushan, Zhangjiashan, Tianmashan and other mountains, which are suitable for the main position." Ge Youcai suddenly spoke again.

The Hunan-Guangxi Railway passes from east to west along the south of Hengyang City. The West Railway Station is located in the middle. To the south of the railway is open rice fields, and to the north are rolling mountains. This area has dense mountains, steep slopes, dense trees, and many ponds in the mountains. It has good concealment and is not easily threatened by enemy artillery fire. It is indeed a good place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Leng Feng showed surprise on his stern face. This was also the suggestion he wanted to make, but he didn't expect that the Army Lieutenant General thought almost exactly the same as he did.

"Commander Ge, you have taken so much trouble. I think you have run around this area at least ten times!" Tang Dao looked at the man with a rough face but a lot of tricks on his body with a half-smile on his face.

"Hehe! Director Tang knows me well. How can you say these things without an on-site investigation? That's just nonsense!" Ge Youcai couldn't help blushing at Tang Dao's look, but he quickly calmed down.

Who told you that you, Captain Tang, are capable and well connected? You have to be the one to talk about this. Old Ge, who had met Tang Dao a few times and had some friendship with him, was now playing with the mentality of "you are strong, you take the blame".

"Okay! We can redeploy the positions according to your suggestion, Commander Ge. However, I personally have some slightly immature opinions. I wonder if Commander Ge is willing to listen to them." Tang Dao said with a raised eyebrow.

"Director Tang, you say." Ge Youcai was slightly stunned.

"I think! Your army has been working hard for three days here in Huangchaling, and there are original national defense fortifications. It would be a pity if it is abandoned. It is better to use this place as a nail on the front line of the main position of the 10th Reserve Division. If the Japanese army wants to attack the main position of the 10th Reserve Division, it will hurt them whether they pull out this nail or not." Tang Dao said with a smile.

"This..." Ge Youcai and the officers and soldiers of the 10th Reserve Division were stunned.

Leng Feng has just clearly pointed out the disadvantages of the Huangchaling position. Why is it that Tang Dao, which has already agreed to completely withdraw its main position, is competing with this area again?

Not to mention that a regiment does not have enough soldiers to defend, it would take at least 4 infantry battalions or more. The key point is that this position is just 900 meters in front of the main position. It is really like what Tang Dao said, it is a nail. Before the Japanese army launched an attack on the main position, how could they not pull out this nail that could pierce into the flesh at any time?

  The two or three thousand people who stayed here would be dead! Who would be willing to defend a position that was purely for consumption?

"Leave Huangchaling to the defense of the First Battalion of the Fourth Regiment! The 900 brothers of the First Battalion of the Fourth Regiment will fight under your command, Commander Ge. Please take care of them." Tang Dao's next words made all the generals and soldiers freeze on the spot.

Director Tang must be out of his mind! Sending his sharp knife battalion to this place where they are sure to die?