Age of Rebirth

Chapter 520 Contact

Hebi fell, and the 53rd Division fought alone. At the cost of more than 1 lives, it blocked the Japanese army for more than two hours. This is a precious two hours. If Tang Enbo of the Eighth Army can use these two hours to adjust its strategic deployment , Press the main force to the Xinxiang defense line, and the Japanese army's southward march will stop at Xinxiang. At the very least, it can stop the Japanese army for a few days, and it will give Tang Qiuli, the commander-in-chief of the theater, time to reinforce the Henan battlefield.

But, no, Tang Qiuli has never contacted Tang Enbo, the commander of the Eighth Army since the sudden start of the battle in Henan. The specific battle situation in Henan is unknown, and the information sent back by intelligence stations in various places is all about the outcome of the battle. All of them are not good. The news came that Hebi had fallen again. He pinned his last hope on Xinxiang. If the Xinxiang defense line could stop the Japanese army for three to five days, he could transfer the Zhang Zizhong Department of the Sulu Garrison Corps in Xuzhou (formerly adapted from the 29th Army) to rush to the rescue. Zhengzhou.

However, this Tang Enbo has never been contacted. Where is he commanding the troops, what are the specific deployments, and what is the defense of Xinxiang?Tang Qiuli didn't know it at all, so he had no choice but to order Yu Deshui, the director of intelligence, to order the person in charge of the Xinxiang intelligence station, as the liaison officer of the theater command, to directly contact the supreme commander of the Central Army in charge of Xinxiang's defense, and immediately open a contact The radio communication of the theater command must be fast, he urgently needs to know the specific situation of Xinxiang.

He had a premonition that the morale of the Japanese army that went down to two cities and defeated or wiped out the four central military divisions was high, and the offensive was like a rainbow. There was not much time left for him. He was very puzzled by one question. With such combat power and attack power, within a few hours, with more than 9 troops, more than [-] people from the Central Army of four divisions were defeated one after another. Like Cao Guangtu in Xinxiang, he still didn't know the real reason for the fall of Anyang and Hebi. reason. [

The person in charge of the Xinxiang Intelligence Station of the Intelligence Department of the Independent Division walks through the precarious Xinxiang streets, where there is an atmosphere of disaster. People fleeing the city can be seen everywhere. Like wings, it spread all over the city, which aggravated the panic of the citizens. The wealthy families fled with their families in big cars and small vehicles, and ordinary people, supporting the old and the young, followed them to their deaths.

Fortunately, he was the first to find the Cao Guangtu Division of the [-]th Division, which was at the left-behind office in Xinxiang City. However, the division commander Cao Guangtu was not there. He dared to neglect, and immediately sent him to the forward command post of the [-]th Division. The division commander Cao Guangtu was slightly taken aback after hearing what he said.

The matter was urgent. The person in charge of the Xinxiang intelligence station had already activated the radio station he carried with him, and sent the news of his contact with Cao Guangtu, the commander of the [-]th Division, back to his teacher as quickly as possible. Tang Qiuli's first telegram, Ask Cao Guangtu directly: "Mr. Cao, do you know the real reason for the fall of Anyang and Hebi?" The specific situation of the soldiers who were routed from the two places is unknown, and the staff department also thinks this is very strange?"

Tang Qiuli was taken aback when he received the telegram. The Japanese army, with more than [-] soldiers, had eaten up more than [-] soldiers from the Central Army within a few hours. You sent a second telegram: "Master Cao, where is Commander Tang's current command position? How can I get in touch?"

After reading the telegram, Cao Guangtu gave a wry smile, and then called back: "General Commander Xun Jian, since the Anyang War, he has lost contact with the Army Headquarters except for the order from the Army Head to strictly guard Xinxiang. Unknown." This time it was Tang Qiuli's turn to be in a daze. How could it be possible that the Central Army's highest commanding body in Henan was missing while his troops were still on the front line? What the hell?

Before he could send another telegram, Cao Guangtu's telegram came first, "Commander Xun Jian, the Japanese army has arrived at the forward position of our 61th Division, and the staff department wants to command the battle. I will report the specific situation later. Please rest assured the commander-in-chief." , All the more than 67 officers and soldiers of my [-]th Division will join the [-]st and [-]th Divisions of our neighbors to defend the Xinxiang defense line, even if the battlefield is bloody, and we will fight to the last man, we will not hesitate."

Tang Qiuli breathed a sigh of relief. Xinxiang had three divisions of the Eighth Army Corps defending, and it would not be a problem to support him for three to five days. Especially the division commander, Cao Guangtu, felt the iron and blood of a real soldier from the telegrams. Xinxiang has this People can save Yu for the time being, so he immediately ordered Zhang Zizhong's troops deployed in Xuzhou, Jiangsu, to march westward at night and rush to Zhengzhou for reinforcements.

He immediately sent back a telegram: "Mr. Cao, please take good care of yourself. The Japanese army is fierce. Your own safety is really important. The headquarters should not be too close to the forward position. The Xinxiang defense line depends on you. There is another reminder. Based on my many years with the Japanese army Based on combat experience, the Japanese army mostly used fierce artillery bombardment as a pre-attack method, with the intention of consuming our vital strength, and then used a large number of infantry to make uninterrupted ferocious assaults. Your troops should rely on favorable fortifications to hold fast. .”

"However, you can use the night as a cover to organize a small group of troops to carry out sneak attacks and harassment. The purpose is to exhaust the Japanese army. The specific tactics, I ask Master Cao to decide on his own. Please pass my opinion on to the other two division commanders. I will mobilize reinforcements urgently. Xingye rushes to the direction of Zhengzhou, and besides, is there any news from the commander of the Tang army, and can there be follow-up reinforcements?" Tang Qiuli sent this telegram because he was afraid that Cao Guangtu would not know the details of the Japanese army, and he would suffer from the Japanese artillery. It's all gone, what do you use to defend your position?

Whether it was Tang Qiuli in the Taihang Mountains or Cao Guangtu in Xinxiang, they never expected that the left and right wings of the 61th Division, the 67st Division and the 49th Division would receive the [-]th Division and Wang Guangpu's troops on the Hebi defense line. The same order, the camera retreats, and the preservation of strength is the top priority. Cao Guangtu thought that he would join hands with the brother troops on the left and right wings to turn Xinxiang into an iron gate that the Japanese devils could not break through.

Tang Qiuli still has another unit in his hand, that is, the Su Jingfeng Department of the Yellow River and Henan Defense Line Defense Corps deployed on the front line of Kaifeng. There are more than 3 people, which are used by him to prevent the Japanese army from entering Shandong. He dare not move. Once the Japanese army breaks through Zhengzhou, the west, east, and south directions are all possible targets. In addition, he still has deep worries. With less than [-] people, he will face more than [-] Japanese troops. The difference in strength is too great. Su Jingfeng's troops went up hastily, which was more or less auspicious.

At ten o'clock in the morning on December [-]th, Cao Guangtu, who was in the forward headquarters, had clearly seen the Japanese troops swarming all over the mountains and plains. He immediately ordered the troops to prepare for battle. The first wave of Japanese attacks was fierce. Hit the forward position of the [-]th Division.

The [-]th Division, located in the middle of the Xinxiang defense line, directly withstood the fierce Japanese attack. The silent land of the Central Plains was fired with guns and guns. The [-]th Division, which had been prepared for a long time, gave the Japanese a head-on blow, like The fierce waves hit the standing rocks, and flesh and blood flew everywhere.

The Japanese army receded like a tide, leaving the corpses of Japanese soldiers on the forward position, and more than ten Japanese tanks emitting black smoke. The Katayama Brigade, which has been the vanguard of the Japanese army attacking Henan, has 28 tanks as the main force. The assault force, attached to the first attack launched by the two regiments, was simply repelled by the [-]th Division.

However, just by resisting the first attack of the Japanese army, the [-]th Division suffered more than [-] casualties. At this price, it killed more than [-] Japanese troops, plus [-] tanks. The legion's fist troops were full of kingly demeanor. Cao Guangtu's troops had an extra mountain artillery battalion, and most of the casualties of the Japanese army were caused by this mountain artillery battalion.

Looking at the retreating Japanese army, Cao Guangtu breathed a sigh of relief. The Japanese soldiers rushing up all over the mountains and plains just now made his scalp numb. To be honest, he was also in a state of anxiety about whether he could withstand the fierce Japanese attack. , especially the Japanese army is equipped with a large number of tanks. Now, he has a solid foundation in his heart. As long as he persists, the commander-in-chief will definitely find a way to deal with this Japanese army.

Cao Guangtu has always admired Tang Qiuli, the highest military officer in the war zone who has been in close contact with each other for a long time but has never met. Cao Guangtu, who was fighting everywhere in North China and living in Xinxiang, paid close attention to every battle. From experience, every battle is remarkable, and I am full of admiration. Fortunately, there is such a wise commander in the northern theater.

Especially today, the commander-in-chief exchanged telegrams with him personally. He picked up the last telegram he received and felt a sense of being known. This was also his greatest psychological comfort. He didn't know the reason for his personality and talent, but the follow-up troops didn't come up, so maybe the legion commander was going around in circles in the headquarters?

With 10,000+ troops in hand, I don’t know how to dispatch them. However, this is a scandal within the Eighth Army. Cao Guangtu, who values ​​the collective honor, sighed a long time and did not intend to report this matter to the commander-in-chief Tang Qiuli, Tang Enbo lost his face, that is, the Eighth Army was ashamed as a whole, and as his direct subordinate, he himself followed suit. [

Sure enough, as the commander-in-chief said, after the Japanese army retreated, they covered the forward positions of the [-]th Division with fierce artillery fire. The gunpowder smoke filled the air, but it was not enough to do any real damage to them. During Cao Guangtu's stay in Xinxiang, he did not waste his time and made solid preparations for battle.

The artillery fire extended, and the Japanese army launched a new round of attack, but they did not gnaw at the position of the [-]th Division. After leaving a piece of corpses, they retreated. This time, there was a long time interval, and no new attack was sent. Cao Guangtu Just as I was feeling puzzled, intense gunfire sounded almost simultaneously from the left and right flanks of the [-]th Division.

(To be continued)