Li Meng, who had suffered some minor injuries in the previous battle and still had a bandage on his arm, hesitated for a moment about Liu Guanghua's proposal and said, "Old Liu, your suggestion is good. But now that the Japanese army is besieging from all sides, the structure of this Tianjin urban area is complicated, and the large and small alleys are like a labyrinth. We are fighting alone, at least for now, the main forces will not be able to rush up in a short time. ”

"If the price paid is too great when breaking through and interspersing, then some of the gains outweigh the losses, and it will greatly weaken the little strength we already have left. Lao Liu, my suggestion is to continue to stick here. Judging from the current situation of the surrounding enemy forces, desperate to destroy us, it is obvious that it is not just because they are worried about being attacked on their backs. ”

"As long as we nail it here, we will create good fighters for the fraternal troops who break through head-on in the Japanese concession. Therefore, my suggestion is to stick to the spot and attract as many Japanese troops as possible. As for penetrating into the enemy's depths, I have reservations. ”

Regarding Li Meng's worries and thoughts, Liu Guanghua smiled and said, "Lao Li, you can rest assured." Although the Japanese counterattack was fierce, it was mainly concentrated at the junction of the Japanese Concession and the French Concession to the south. In their northwest near the direction of the Chinese border, not many troops were invested. If I concentrate my forces and attack in a northwesterly direction, it will not be too much of a problem to tear through their defenses. ”

"And don't look at the momentum of their counterattack now, but their front is still under pressure from our brother forces. If I guessed correctly, the Japanese troops in the Japanese Concession, who are fighting on two sides, not to mention on three sides, are afraid that the current forces in depth are quite empty, and as long as we stab him, even if they are reluctant, they will have to draw troops back to help. ”

"Whatever the reason, let them see us as a thorn in their side, and we must pull it out and quickly. But one thing is certain, the pressure they are under on the frontal battlefield in the Japanese Concession is far greater than ours. As long as I get into their depth, they can only draw troops back from here. ”

"As long as I can divert most of the surrounding Japanese troops, the Japanese army will probably adjust their tactics here, and will not adopt the method of heavy siege, but will focus on siege, so that your pressure will basically disappear. You and these seriously injured people will be safe. ”

"As for the complicated terrain of Tianjin, Lao Li, don't forget that I am a native of Tianjin. Before I was caught by the devil and sent to the Northeast as a laborer, I worked as a stevedore at the Haihe Wharf in Tianjin. Especially in the Japanese concession where we are now, I am very familiar with it. I used to pull rickshaws here before I went to the dock to work as a stevedore. ”

"Even the current puppet Manchurian Emperor Kant has run to the place where he lives in Tianjin. The only time I have ever seen this emperor is when he was pulling a rickshaw in the Japanese concession in Tianjin, and he met in Yamato Park. Every brick and tile, grass and tree, every alley and street here is very familiar. I'll take the troops to attack, you can rest assured, you will definitely not get lost. ”

"Even if the devil is a strong dragon, he can't suppress me, the head snake. I want to see what secrets the little devils are hiding in this Japanese concession, so that they will regard our small army as a thorn in the side and a thorn in the flesh, and even more important than one or more regiments in front of us. ”

Speaking of this, Liu Guanghua lit a cigarette, took a deep breath, and handed it to Li Meng on the opposite side and said: "Lao Li, in fact, judging from the unusual movements of the Japanese troops around us after we crossed the river, I found that there must be an article here." We are nothing more than a formed infantry battalion, and we have basically not brought heavy weapons, so to speak, a light infantry battalion. ”

"Judging by the number of Japanese troops in the Japanese Concession and the pressure from our brother forces attacking from the front, their pressure on the front is far greater than the pressure we put on them. I still know the Haihe River in this season. There is basically no way to cross the river except through the bridge, after the ice has been blown open. ”

"Since the Japanese bridge, which we seized, was destroyed by the Japanese naval guns, we have lost contact with the main forces. For the Japanese army, the threat of one of our battalions is much less great than that of our frontal brothers. From the very beginning of our crossing, at least four squadrons of Japanese infantry or more were concentrated around us. ”

"And as the war changed and casualties grew, the Japanese continued to increase their forces in front of us and to the south. I have carefully observed that within these four hours, the Japanese army has increased its strength by at least two squadrons or so. That is to say, around one of our battalions, the strength of two infantry brigades of the Japanese army was actually concentrated. ”

"Almost half of the ship's guns fell on our heads before the ships on the Haihe River were dealt with by the superiors. The amount of ground artillery fire that fell on our heads was much larger, the furthest even in the northeastern corner of the city, and most of it was large-caliber shells. It is a bit unusual that we should be treated at such a high level with the strength of a light infantry battalion. ”

"Under the extreme pressure of the frontal and southern fronts, is it simply to avoid being attacked from the flank? This is somewhat unreasonable. That's why I thought of taking advantage of my familiarity with the terrain and taking my troops deep into them. Look at what ulterior secrets are hidden in this Japanese concession? ”

"The most important thing is that I want to take a gamble on him. If we all stay here, we can only be consumed by the devils around us who have an absolute advantage in military strength. It doesn't matter if we sacrifice, but after we sacrifice, what will happen to the remaining seriously injured? Don't let the devils pick all of them with bayonets? ”

"So, I want to take advantage of the devil's rush to destroy our minds. With his troops, he protruded from the northwest corner, where the Japanese were relatively weakly surrounded. Taking advantage of my familiarity with the terrain in this area, I attracted the main forces of the Japanese army around me and led them by the nose to circle around the Japanese concession. Take the pressure off on you to stay here, make sure the seriously wounded survive, and create planes for friendly forces that are attacking head-on. ”

When Liu Guanghua said this, Li Meng didn't say a word and just smoked quietly. After smoking this cigarette, he used his only remaining hand to take out Liu Guanghua's cigarette from the pocket of his military uniform and light another one. And when Li Meng was smoking, Liu Guanghua did not urge him.

As a military cadre, Liu Guanghua, who has a very thin cultural foundation, has always respected political cadres with a relatively high level of education. When I was in the company, I partnered with the two instructors very well. Although in this matter, as the military commander-in-chief, according to the regulations and regulations of the Anti-Japanese Federation, he can completely make his own decisions. But he decided to make a decision after consulting with the instructor.

Li Meng didn't answer him immediately, and Liu Guanghua didn't urge, and the two of them just sat here quietly. The Japanese troops on the opposite side may be adjusting their deployment, maybe they are tired of attacking, or maybe the Japanese fleet on the Haihe River has been destroyed, which frightened them. During this time, there was no attack. In this local battlefield, there was a rare brief silence.

In fact, whether it is Liu Guanghua or Li Meng, their minds are now running rapidly. Especially Li Meng, although he didn't agree before. But he also found that behind such a fierce counterattack by the Japanese army, there must be unusual significance, and he still agreed with Liu Guanghua's idea from the bottom of his heart.

The most important thing is that Li Meng drew a situation that he judged to be likely from the rapid and rapid counterattack of the Japanese army before. That is, the Japanese army moved so much, and it was most likely the supreme headquarters of the Japanese Tianjin defenders, perhaps not far from their surroundings.

With this speculation, Li Meng, with the sensitivity of a political cadre, keenly perceived what kind of changes would be brought to the entire Tianjin war situation if he could knock out the supreme command of the Japanese defenders in Tianjin. If you can create convenience for the brother troops to completely recover Tianjin, then what is it if you and all the people are sacrificed here?

Thinking of this, Li Meng squeezed the remaining cigarette butts on the ground fiercely: "Lao Liu, since you have made up your mind, follow your ideas." However, in terms of the distribution of troops, we cannot do what you say. You leave me a squad, a general-purpose machine gun, and you take the rest of the troops and equipment with you. ”

After that, Li Meng used his only remaining hand to open his pistol spare magazine bag with great difficulty, took out all three spare magazines inside, and stuffed them into Liu Guanghua's hand. Although he didn't say anything more, he had already expressed his support for Liu Guanghua with his actions.

took the pistol magazine handed over by Li Meng, but Liu Guanghua shook his head and threw it to the correspondent behind him: "Lao Li, it's enough for me to bring three platoons." In addition to foreign banks in this area, it is a bank, and it is not a garden villa area. Compared with our Chinese boundary, the density of buildings is much smaller, and the streets are much wider. ”

"Even in the Japanese civilian settlement, the number of houses in this house is not like our Chinese settlement, almost door-to-door. There are too many soldiers, but it is difficult to move. And you have so many wounded here, what exactly will the Japanese army do after I leave, we are still unclear, it is just a rough guess, and it will definitely not work to leave only one squad. ”

"In this way, the distribution of troops will be done according to what I said. I'll leave you with those captured Japanese machine guns and anti-aircraft guns, and all the ammunition. I'll take the general-purpose machine gun with me, and you and I will each have two large-caliber machine guns. Lao Li, this matter is settled. It's going to get dark and we don't have much time to argue. ”

After saying this, Liu Guanghua immediately began to adjust the distribution of troops. Abandoned all positions except Okura & Co., and withdrew all troops to Okura & Co. The original three infantry companies and nine infantry platoons, together with three company fire platoons, a total of 12 platoons were reduced to four reinforced platoons.

The original company-affiliated firearms were all lowered to the platoon level, and the company commander and instructor were assigned to the platoon commander, and the platoon commander was the squad leader after work. At the same time, Liu Guanghua relied on his own memory to draw a rough map of the surrounding situation around his chosen attack route. To each platoon commander, a copy was issued.

Several platoon commanders were instructed to attack the Japanese consulate in the southeast direction once the troops were scattered by the surrounding Japanese troops in the middle of the battle. The meeting point of the whole army is at the Japanese consulate. This deployment should be given to each infantry squad.

After completing the adjustment and deployment, Liu Guanghua redistributed the weapons at hand. Li Meng was left with a reinforced platoon with half of the 60 mortars, and the two flamethrowers were also left. All the machine guns and all the ammunition captured by the Japanese army, and nearly 100 boxes of Japanese grenades captured in Okura & Co., were also left to Li Meng.

Considering that the battle does not know when it will end, when the main forces will be able to rush over. Liu Guanghua left all the dry rations on the attacking troops, cadres and soldiers for the wounded and the troops left behind. After taking advantage of the brief calm before the next round of Japanese charges, he led his troops to the west of Okura and made the final preparations for the attack.