Age of Rebirth

Chapter 540 The Battle of Xuzhou ([-])

Tong Batu, commander of the Second Cavalry Brigade of the Independent Division, not only wants to fulfill the orders of the division commander Tang Qiuli, but also has his own plans. He fell in love with the more than 3000 Eastern war horses of the Yingzuo Cavalry Regiment. This is a good thing. He There is a regiment in the second brigade of China, which is equipped with big oriental horses. In terms of speed and impact, it is the best in the whole brigade.

This time, looking at the Japanese cavalry, Tong Batu swallowed his saliva, not only wanted to kill the little devil, but also captured the horse, and he couldn't let go of a Japanese soldier. Not in a hurry, not in a hurry to rush back to Zhengzhou, and gave him more than a day, Tong Batu led a large group of brigade staff to look aside the terrain near Mengjin.

The place of Mengjin has been an ancient ferry since ancient times, with the Yellow River in the north and Yanshi in the south. There is a large plain of Yimapingchuan, and there are small hills with low terrain in the east and west. It is very suitable for cavalry warfare, but it is not ideal when it comes to ambushes. The location, but apart from here, there is no such terrain condition in the direction of Zhengzhou.

After seeing the terrain and returning to the temporary headquarters, Tong Batu still didn't have a clear battle plan in his mind. To defeat or annihilate most of the Yingzuo Cavalry Wing, with the strength and combat effectiveness of the Second Cavalry Brigade, Tong Batu didn't even have to worry about it. A frontal group assault, outflanking the left and right wings, can beat the Japanese army to pieces, but there are still several requirements and restrictions! [

Discussions come and go, and there is no particularly good way for everyone to fulfill the three requirements at the same time. At this time, the head of the first regiment, Temur Bagen, and Han Mulin, the head of the first regiment of the Ma Chaoyang Division of the Second Independent Brigade Cooperating, the first opener Temurbagan, who completed two eagle strikes in one night, stood up.

"Brigade Commander, I have an idea!" He said in a low voice, and Tong Batu was refreshed when he heard it, "Tell me, what good idea do you have?" At this time, let alone a regiment commander under him, Even if a cook has a way, Tong Batu will regard him as a savior.

"Then let me tell you," the other regiment leaders were dissatisfied, "Ba Gen, what are you trying to do? You want to whet everyone's appetite, don't you? Just say what you have to say, where is your energy? Fighting for the main task Back then, you had a louder voice than anyone else, but now you look like a big girl!" There was a burst of laughter.

"About ten kilometers to the south from Mengjin, there is an abandoned river course of the Yellow River. Although it is winter, I don't know what's going on. There is only a layer of ice. It's fine for people to walk on it. Horses are definitely not good. Let's take the small Where should the devil's cavalry be driven, we can guarantee that even people and horses will fall into it, and we can use a jar to catch the bastard, and we didn't run away!" After Temurbagen finished speaking, he looked at the brigade commander helplessly, not knowing what to do. Can it work?

When Tongbatu heard this, his eyes lit up. Unexpectedly, Temurbagen still had this hand, and he didn't notice it. When he looked at the terrain, he only saw a white patch of ice. However, he was very strange. , how does this guy know where the situation is?He then asked, "Special Commander, how did you know about this situation?"

When the brigade commander asked, Temurbagan's old face blushed, and he confessed honestly with embarrassment. After the troops arrived in Mengjin, he took a few guards and went out to try his luck to see if he could catch game. During the rapid march of the day, in order to save time, he ate only dry food, and the birds faded out of his mouth. He wanted to improve his food and get rid of his alcohol addiction by the way.

I was lucky. After running for more than ten miles, I saw a big wild rabbit, so I slapped the horse and chased it. Seeing the rabbit sprinting onto the ice, he was about to chase it, and a few horses were walking nearby. The soldier waved his hands desperately at him. After asking, he found out that the ice surface here is a trap. Just now, a soldier walking a horse didn't know how deep it was, but he and his horse got stuck in it. It took a lot of effort Only then did I drag it out, and I found out about this situation after I asked a fellow villager nearby.

As soon as Temurbagen finished speaking, the roar of laughter grew louder. One of the group leaders joked, "Team leader, it turns out that being greedy is good too!"Let's try it tomorrow, and there was another burst of laughter, but Tong Batu said: "Commander, when this battle is over, I will reward you with a roasted whole lamb, three catties of old Baiganer, go to the field!"

When we arrived at this section of the abandoned river course of the Yellow River, this was indeed the case. Everyone put forward a lot of supplementary suggestions, and led the soldiers to sprinkle all the ice on this section of ice, so that the cavalry of the little devils would choose this place as an escape without hesitation. route.

The troops were divided into three parts, all the way to intercept Mengjin's front, and all the way to cut off the retreat of the Yingzuo cavalry unit after the front was fired, to prevent him from rushing back to Luoyang, bypassing this section of the river all the way, and laying in ambush between Mengjin and Yanshi, Prepared to eliminate the Japanese army that has become infantry, Tong Batu judged that the Japanese army was attacked from two sides, one side was the surging Yellow River, Yingzuo had only one way to go south to Yanshi, and the final decisive battle was between Mengjin and Yanshi .

For this reason, he planned to personally lead two regiments and the troops directly under the brigade headquarters, about [-] troops, to take on the task of finally annihilating the Japanese army under Yingzuo's command, and the other two regiments were responsible for forcing the Japanese army into the ambush circle. , The original plan to ambush the Japanese army in the Mengjin area was all cancelled, and he reported the changed combat plan to the division commander.

Tang Qiuli, who received Tong Batu's telegram, nodded approvingly, secretly thinking that this Mongolian man also knows how to use tricks, and he no longer blindly rushes to kill. For the Second Brigade, it was a gratifying progress, and they all grew up. He signed a few words on the reply, "I agree with your department's latest combat plan, very good!" The staff was about to leave with the telegram, but he stopped him again , Picking up a pen and adding a few more words, "Brigade Commander Tong, your own safety is the first priority, remember!"

These are the few words that Su Jingfeng must sign when he replies to the telegrams to the commanders of each theater, each brigade, and each corps since Su Jingfeng was killed in battle.

After getting the approval, the Second Cavalry Brigade was launched according to the plan, and a large net was quietly opened, waiting for the unaware Yingzuo Cavalry Regiment. He and his subordinates were destined to end the fate of the invaders here.

On the Shangqiu battlefield at this time, Zhang Zizhong relied on four fortifications to resist the continuous attack of the Japanese First Army. On the outskirts of Shangqiu, the Japanese army blocked him for more than a day. Opportunity, abandon the fourth position, and withdraw all the troops into the urban area of ​​Shangqiu.

The casualties of his troops have reached more than [-] people. Isotani Rensuke became ruthless. He had to pass through Shangqiu at midnight today. When providing fire support for the front, it was severely suppressed by the firepower of the Japanese heavy artillery, and more than half of it was lost.

The artillery of the Sulu Mobile Corps, which mainly uses light artillery, did not take any advantage in the battle with the Japanese artillery. In the end, they had to adopt the tactic of quickly changing positions after firing a few shots, so as to avoid the danger of annihilation of the entire army. However, such a In the future, the fire support to the front will be greatly weakened.

Zhang Zizhong had no choice. He didn't blame the artillery commanders at all. He knew that they had done their best. The casualties of the troops made him very sad. They were all from the 29th Army, but they were not cheap. The corpses of more than 1 Japanese soldiers were laid out in front of their own positions, and they were blocked for two days. It seemed that there was no problem.

In the direction of Wuxiang, the 10,000+ Japanese troops commanded by Yamaguchi attacked the defense line of Wuxiang for many days. Except for throwing away tens of thousands of corpses, there was no progress at all. His head was bleeding and he was exhausted, so he was forced to stop the attack, and the two sides became in a confrontational state. [

Yamaguchi felt bitter in his heart, and he knew that he was unable to attack now, and there was no reason to retreat. Kiyoshi Kazuki did not let him give up the order to attack Wuxiang, so he could only bite the bullet and insist. Logistics supplies have always been a headache for him. All the supplies come from Shijiazhuang, hundreds of kilometers of transportation lines, 10,000+ troops, the daily consumption is an astonishing figure, plus the cavalry of the independent division, haunting like ghosts, constantly attacking his transportation troops.

If he turns around and retreats now, Yan Xishan's Jin army will catch up with him, not to mention Tang Qiuli, who he is most worried about, is still staring at him from the side. These two forces combine into one, and Shankou will never have a good life However, he felt more and more that the Taihang Mountains were like a big quagmire, where he and his 10,000+ troops were trapped.

In the direction of Datong, both the Japanese army and the Jin army are on the defensive. There has been no large-scale battle between the two sides. With the current strength of the Japanese army on the western front, they have no intention of launching an offensive at all. They are also happy that the Jin army will not take the initiative to attack. Avoid disrupting the current temporary balance.

In the direction of Niangziguan, apart from maintaining a certain pressure on Chen Bing Jingxing Pass, the Japanese army has not launched a new offensive recently. On the contrary, there are signs of transferring troops outside. There has been no large-scale war on the Niangziguan battlefield recently. It was once suggested that three brigades be transferred from the Niangziguan troops and strengthened to the division commander's Taihang Mountain Field Corps, so as to encircle and annihilate the Japanese troops at Yamaguchi in the next step.

Tang Qiuli seriously considered Feng Jiwu's proposal and thought it was inappropriate. First, the Niangziguan garrison regiment was composed of the original Jin army troops and the main field brigade of the independent division. If the main field brigade is transferred back to the Taihang Mountains, once there is a change in Niangziguan, it will be too late to rescue. Second, the Japanese army has not given up and opened the intention to attack Niangziguan, the east gate of Taiyuan. It is not appropriate at this time Reduce troops.

Therefore, he instructed Feng Jiwu to take advantage of the temporary calm of the Niangziguan battlefield to carry out the transformation of the Jin army as soon as possible, so that small-scale active offensive battles can be carried out. On the actual battlefield, the combat effectiveness of the Jin army and the soldiers The basic quality of the army should be targeted, and the reorganized Jin army should be built into the main force of the independent division as soon as possible.

The western front was relatively calm, only the eastern front, where the First Japanese Army was aggressively attacking, and Xuzhou was their target. In order to cope with the actions of the First Army, the Japanese troops in Cangzhou, the Songhu area and the Hangzhou Bay all took Actively cooperate with action.

(To be continued)