As the vanguard of the 22nd Group Army, before the independent regiment set out for the expedition, Deng Xihou, the superior commander of the independent regiment, had already reported by telex to the commander of the second theater, Shanxi Laohan.

For the arrival of Liu Lang and the independent regiment, the old man of Shanxi naturally warmly welcomed him, first ordered the 22nd Group Army to quickly go north to reinforce Jindong, and then directly ordered Liu Lang, who had already sworn to go on the Sichuan-Shaanxi Highway, through the field radio.

He was ordered to rush to the Niangziguan area in eastern Jindong before the end of the month to strengthen the defenses there.

Although they received the military order to march quickly, Liu Lang and the independent regiment could not go for the time being. But this time it's not man-made, it's a natural disaster.

Because of the continuous drizzle in the past few days, the landslide on the side of the Sichuan-Shaanxi Highway caused the simple road that could pass the trucks to be completely buried by the rocks and mud. But because there are no large-scale tools, we have to rely on manpower, and progress is quite slow.

If the independent regiment is only pure infantry, it is better to say, it is enough to leave behind the baggage troops and garrison troops, and the whole army can set off over the hill. However, the current independent regiment can be regarded as a semi-mechanized army, although there are no tanks or trucks, but all the members of the regiment can travel at full speed, and can reach a speed of 30 yards per hour when moving at full speed, and can move more than 200 kilometers to the destination in a day, which can also be regarded as a very strong mobility in China at that time.

However, there is something to be gained, there is something to lose, and the price of gaining mobility is that the dependence on machinery is too high, and once there is a problem with the road, the army will not be able to move an inch. In the face of natural disasters, thousands of armies can only wait.

However, Liu Lang is not too anxious, since he is going to Jindong Niangzi Pass to fight, he still has a month, and Guangyuan to Niangzi Pass, the distance is 1200 kilometers, if you go at full speed, it will only take 6 days to arrive, even if there is any delay on the road, it will only take 8 days at most.

You must know that in the past time and space, 20,000 people of Sun Zhen's 41st Army of the 22nd Group Army walked the 2,400 miles in straw sandals and with a pair of iron feet, and it took a month and a half to rush to Jindong, Shanxi, and also caught up with the battle after the fall of Niangzi Pass.

At this time, it had already left the base of the independent regiment for 50 kilometers, Liu Lang looked up at the sky, and estimated the progress of the engineer company, and there was not a day when this artery connecting Sichuan and Shaanxi could not be repaired.

Because Yu Xiancheng led the special brigade to the forefront, Liu Lang and Zhang Ruhao discussed it and ordered the whole army to camp along both sides of the Sichuan-Shaanxi Highway in a wartime formation, each of the four infantry battalions to occupy the surrounding commanding heights, the artillery battalion artillery to get off the car, all officers and soldiers to dig field trenches, establish defensive positions, everything is carried out in accordance with wartime regulations, and anyone who slacks off will be dealt with by military law.

Of course, there will be no enemies here, but since the military order of the regimental commander has been issued, the officers and men of the regiment have no complaints, and they are busy performing their duties one after another.

Liu Lang and the regimental headquarters of the Independent Regiment found a cave by the guard platoon, and after camouflage, they moved the radio, map, and table board into it to become a field headquarters, and the warning area was expanded to 700 meters.

After all the arrangements were made, he inspected outside the camp and saw that all the armies and units were arranging field camps in accordance with wartime regulations, and Liu Lang, who had returned to the regimental headquarters, and Zhang Ruhao, deputy of the regiment, studied the military order that he had just received from the commander of the second theater.

The Battle of Niangziguan, Liu Lang is very familiar, it was a very important battle in the Taiyuan Defense War that broke out in Shanxi after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, and its importance was almost no less than the Battle of Xinkou with hundreds of thousands of Chen soldiers on both sides of China and Japan.

There is naturally a reason why the commander of the second theater of operations, Shanxi Laohan, is so eager for Liu Lang to send troops to reinforce Jindong. Since the 77 Incident, after the Japanese army captured Beiping and quickly swept through Pingjin, it divided its troops to attack along Jinpu Road, Pinghan Road, Pingsui Road and Zhangjiakou.

In particular, the main force of the Japanese army in North China, the Fifth Division led by the First Army of the Japanese Army, Itagaki Seishiro, is leading nearly 100,000 troops to Xinkou in northern Shanxi, and their purpose should not be difficult to be guessed by the shrewd Shanxi old man. It is nothing more than that the Japanese are eyeing Shanxi and Taiyuan.

That's right, in the past time and space, at the end of September, the Japanese high command decided to advance the Shanxi operation in order to disintegrate the bald headmaster's regime in China, taking into account the strategic position of Shanxi. And if you want to control Shanxi, Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi, is naturally a place that must fall. The 100,000-strong army of the Fifth Division, led by Seishiro Itagaki would go straight to Xinkou and open the road to Taiyuan from there.

And the reason why it is said that the old man of Shanxi, who has seen through the combat intentions of the Japanese invaders, is in a hurry, because most of his 300,000 Jin Sui army is deployed in northern Shanxi, and the main force is deployed in Xinkou and on both wings.

But how easy are the Japanese? The main force led by Seishiro Itagaki had an obvious intention to move south to Xinkou along Chunxian and Yuanping, but they still felt that they were not enough, and there were more than 20,000 people from three brigades and six infantry wings, one cavalry wing, one field artillery wing, and one engineer wing headed by the 20th Division and supplemented by the 31st Infantry Brigade of the 109th Division, which approached Shijiazhuang, an important town in Hebei.

At this moment, the cold hairs on the back of the old man in Shanxi stood up. Although Shijiazhuang belongs to Hebei, but between Shijiazhuang and Taiyuan, the most important communication line connecting Shanxi and Hebei, is the Zhengtai line, if the Japanese army along the Zhengtai line, if the Japanese invaders through Jindong directly to Taiyuan, then he fought in Xinkou no matter how good it is, Taiyuan will be lost. If Taiyuan is lost, most of Shanxi will be lost.

And the defenders of the Niangzi Pass area, the most important pass in eastern Jin, are only a part of the Jin Sui Army, and it is a fool's dream to resist more than 20,000 Japanese troops.

From the old man in Shanxi, who has always been calm and calm, asking for help from the bald boss, to the commander's command ordering the 26th Route Army and the 27th Route Army of the First Theater, including the 22nd Group Army that had just sworn to go to the army, and the 122nd Division of the Eighth Route Army that had just changed its cockade to rush to the aid of Jindong, we know how much importance the old man in Shanxi attaches to the Jindong defense line behind Taiyuan.

If Xinkou in northern Jin is the main battlefield of nearly 400,000 troops and 100,000 Japanese invaders, then the Niangziguan area is the secondary battlefield that is about to be named the Taiyuan Battle, and its role is even no less than the main battlefield.

"Tuanzao, this battle is not easy to fight!" Zhang Ruhao stared at the map and shook his head slightly.

"How?" Liu Lang set his sights on his partner.

Although the two have been partners for more than three years, and this political commissar comrade sent by the Red Central Committee through the Military and Political Department has already reflected the high quality of the Whampoa Military Academy cadets in various military training and internal management, but it is really the first time for the two to really analyze the future battlefield that the whole regiment will soon be put into action.

Liu Lang naturally knew the outcome of this battle, if he and the independent regiment had not joined. He also wants to hear the analysis of his high-achieving partner now. The level of Zhang Ruhao's military quality is also very important to the independent regiment, he will often go to the front line in person, and the regimental headquarters of the independent regiment must have a person who can make a decision and give military orders at any time according to the situation on the battlefield. Originally, there was Tang Yongming, but now that Tang Yongming had gone to Songhu with Liu Xiang's 23rd Group Army, he could only rely on himself, the red political commissar.

"Tuanzuo, the Second World War Command ordered us to support the Jindong operation, because we were afraid that the Japanese invaders who had occupied Pingjin would divide their troops into two routes, all the way to attack Xinkou, and all the way along Zhengtai Road to attack Niangzi Pass and force Taiyuan. The Xinkou garrison has the main force of the Jin Sui Army and the main force of our Eighth Route Army, and the Central Army also has troops participating in the battle. It is that the Jindong army is weak, if the more than 20,000 Japanese invaders who are forced into Shijiazhuang will attack Shijiazhuang along the Zhengtai Railway to attack Niangzi Pass, once the Jindong gateway Niangzi Pass is lost, then Yangquan and the principle of peace are all under the Japanese army, and once the important town of Shouyang in Shanxi is lost, the principle of Tai is in danger! Zhang Ruhao's finger swiped across the map, and Liu Lang nodded frequently.

He analyzed the march route of the Japanese army in time and space, and if the Battle of Taiyuan had not been lost too quickly, the main force of the Fifth Division led by Itagaki Seishiro, who had fought fiercely in the Battle of Xinkou, would not have been able to capture Taiyuan so quickly.

The Whampoa Military Academy is worthy of being the cradle of the best soldiers in modern China, and based on his vision alone, Zhang Ruhao does not disgrace the reputation of his alma mater.

"However, the Second Theater Command has already said that in addition to our 22nd Group Army, there are still 5 divisions and 10 brigades of the Sun Lianzhong Division of the 26th Route Army, 3 divisions and 6 brigades of the 27th Route Army Feng Qinya, and another brigade of the 1st Division of our Eighth Route Army, with a total strength of nearly 50 regiments, 100,000 against 20,000, five times the enemy's strength, so they will not lose!" Liu Lang set his eyes on the mountains outside the headquarters, and leisurely took out a cigarette from the cigarette case and handed it to his partner.

"In terms of troops, we naturally have the advantage, but Ru Hao is also worried about this." Zhang Ruhao heard Liu Lang say that his side was about to deploy troops, and his face was full of worry.

After taking the cigarette handed over by Liu Lang, lighting a match and taking a hard breath, he continued: "This participating army, there are the Central Army, the Northwest Army, our Red Army, the Jinsui Army and our Sichuan Army, the five major forces, the composition is extremely complex, once there is a deviation in command, the combat effectiveness is not as good as the strength of an army!" ”

Liu Lang's gaze at the mountains was slightly condensed, the concern of political commissar Zhang Ruhao was also his worry, the reason why the battle of Niangziguan failed in time and space was also one of the important reasons.

If you don't have a brain that can unify and coordinate enough wisdom, no matter how strong your limbs are, how much strength can you exert yourself?

When I was thinking about how to answer.

"Whew~~~~" A terrible wolf howl came from far away in the mountains.

There was desolation in his voice, and there was a bit of 。。。。。。

Liu Lang and Zhang Ruhao were both slightly stunned, this voice is a little familiar!