Yang Zhen set up a position for Kitano Takatsu Shaozo early, but this Kitano Shaozo was wandering in a place close to the old wife's ditch, and he was late to enter the mountain. In the situation that the Japanese army on the west route had already crossed the line of Laobai Mountain, Li Mingrui, who was responsible for the delayed task, could only delay due to lack of strength, but could not stop it. For Kitano Shaozuo's failure to take the bait, the battle could not start for a long time, which made Yang Zhen a little anxious.

Looking at Yang Zhen, who was a little anxious, the commander-in-chief, who had been somewhat opposed to Yang Zhen's adventurous operation before, showed the demeanor of a veteran who had been on the battlefield for a long time, and calmed Yang Zhen's anxiety in a few words. Ginger is still old and spicy after all.

After listening to the commander-in-chief's persuasion, Yang Zhen, who had been silent, suddenly showed a trace of inspiration in his mind. Are you a little specialized? Could it be that if you leave the mountain, you really won't fight an ambush and fight a war of annihilation? Don't you dare to come face to face with the devil?

Since this group of Japanese puppet troops huddled into a ball in front of the mouth of the ditch and did not enter the mountain for a long time, why did they have to brave the bitter cold of more than minus 40 degrees in the mountains, the risk of a large number of troops being frostbitten, and still wait in the mountains? Why can't you take the initiative. The devil may know that he is waiting for them in the mountains, but he will certainly not know his true strength.

More importantly, no one, including most of their own people, would not believe that the anti-coalition forces, who had always been accustomed to using the mountains as a barrier and setting up ambushes in the mountains, would dare to take the initiative to fight a war of annihilation with the Japanese puppet army on relatively flat terrain that was equal in number and even slightly inferior to the opponent. If the mountain doesn't come to me, then why can't I go to the mountain?

Thinking of this, Yang Zhen convened all the cadres to hold a military meeting. Hearing this, Yang Zhen put forward the idea of taking the initiative to attack under the condition that the Japanese puppet army in the mountain pass was slow to move, and just now he was still speculating whether there would be some accident when the regiment commander convened this meeting, and the officers at all levels suddenly blew up their nests.

Not to mention the company commanders and instructors below, it was Guo Bingxun and Li Yanping, and even the commander-in-chief who came to listen was taken aback by Yang Zhen's idea. They are accustomed to mountain warfare, and with mountains and dense forests as barriers, their first feeling for Yang Zhen's idea is bold, and the second feeling is whimsical.

Looking at the always steady commander-in-chief looking at him dumbfounded, as well as the commanders at all levels who were stunned by his unexpected idea, Yang Zhen sorted out his thoughts and said: "Now the Japanese puppet army outside the mountain is not moving, although we still can't understand the real reason for it. But there is one thing we have to make clear, that is, the devil can afford to drag it, and we can't afford it. ”

"Let's not talk about the adverse impact that the change in the enemy's situation will have on us, just talk about this weather, the troops have been hidden in the mountains and forests for a long time, and they can't even light fires during the day, and in this scorching cold of more than minus 40 degrees, even if they are fully equipped in winter, they will definitely not be able to hold out for a long time. After holding out for a few days, the troops will be frozen. ”

"The temperature outside the mountain is already higher than in the mountain, and the Japanese puppet army has tents to keep warm, while our troops can only squat outside. Moreover, our supplies are all supported by the secret camp, and the supply source is limited, and we are always in danger of running out of food after a long time. ”

"The most important thing is the change in the hostile situation. The Japanese puppet army on the west road has already entered the front line of Laobai Mountain, and can cut off our connection with the secret camp at any time. Once we are cut off from the secret camp, we are in danger of being completely cut off from supplies. And once the other two Japanese troops complete their plans, our army will be trapped on the front line of the bare mountains. ”

"We may now have the strength to defeat a Japanese brigade, but in any case we do not have the strength to face the encirclement of a large number of puppet Manchurian troops in the Japanese army. So the devil can afford to drag it, but we can't afford it. ”

"Experience is dead, man is alive. If the devil doesn't go into the mountains, why can't we take the initiative to go out to the mountains to seek war? In recent years, most of the battles of the various units of the Anti-Japanese Federation were carried out in the mountains, and very few battles were fought in the plains. Most of our sorties were mountain-based. This gives the devil the impression that we can only fight against the mountains as a barrier. ”

"If we send out a sortie to attack the Japanese puppet army stationed in a relatively flat area now, this will be the first surprise of the enemy, and the suddenness of the battle can be successfully achieved. This was one of the important reasons why I decided to take the initiative to attack when the Japanese puppet army was delayed in entering the mountains. ”

"Although our number is not large, without counting the puppet Manchu army, we are only roughly equal to the Japanese army outside the mountain. But our current firepower configuration is better than that of the Japanese army. Although we only carried three mountain guns, we had a large number of mortars and relatively sufficient shells. A wide range of light and heavy machine guns are well equipped. You can rely on the advantage of firepower to bully him. ”

"I went to reconnoiter last time and got a general idea of the firepower configuration of the Japanese army on this road. Two Type 92 infantry guns carried by its brigade artillery squad blew up one during our last night attack. And the mortar squadron attached to it is still lagging behind for some reason. In artillery firepower, we can speak of an absolute superiority. ”

"The excessive snow in the mountains did limit the movement of the Japanese puppet army, but it also limited our firepower superiority. Shells hit waist-deep snow and greatly reduce the lethality of the shells. And the camp of the little devils, which was cleaned by it, was exactly the place that was conducive to our advantage in firepower. The shell hit a thick snowdrift, but it was far less lethal than it hit the solid frozen ground. ”

"Under the hostile situation, we can achieve the sudden purpose of the battle, and we can give full play to our firepower advantage, so why do we have to wait for the Japanese puppet army to enter the mountain instead of taking the initiative to go out of the mountain to fight him? We must not only look at our own shortcomings, but also see our strengths. We must not only look at the enemy's strengths, but also see the enemy's weaknesses. ”

Yang Zhen's words fell, and the commanders at all levels present had different expressions. Some are lost in thought, others are whispering. More of them pricked up their ears high, wanting to hear Yang Zhen's next thoughts.

After listening to Yang Zhen's train of thought, unlike the commander-in-chief who was silent, or fell into thinking, or hesitated and Li Yanping, Wang Guangyu and others, Guo Bingxun said with bright eyes: "Concentrate the advantage of firepower and surprise the enemy?" Well, as long as the plan is detailed, this battle has a lot to offer. ”

Wang Guangyu, who pondered for a moment, also nodded and said: "The devil has always thought that we will not fight without the mountains and forests, but this time we want to give them an accident. Surprised, coupled with the absolute superiority in firepower, there is a great hope of winning this battle. ”

Seeing that Guo Bingxun and Wang Guangyu both expressed support for Yang Zhen's ideas, Li Yanping also chose to respect Yang Zhen's opinion. Li Yanping said: "Regiment Commander, since Lao Guo and Guangyu both agree with your opinion, and you are the military commander, then please make up your mind." ”

Li Yanping's voice fell, and Yang Zhen looked at the silent commander-in-chief again. I want to hear his opinion.

Seeing Yang Zhen turning his inquiring gaze to himself, the commander-in-chief smiled and said, "In this meeting, I only brought ears, but not mouths. You are the commander of this army, and you have a far better grasp of the battlefield and the enemy's situation than me. How to beat you to make up your mind, overstepping the command is not my style. ”

Seeing that several people agreed with his opinion, although the commander-in-chief did not say it explicitly, but also expressed his support, Yang Zhen no longer hesitated and said: "I am determined to secretly move to the flank of the Japanese puppet army tonight with all the forces at hand." At the same time, all artillery fire will be used intensively. ”

"After the movement is in place, with the strength of three infantry companies, wearing overcoats and using the white lining of the overcoats as a camouflage color, under my personal command, under the cover of night, as close as possible to the enemy camp, it is best to lurk 100 to 80 meters away from the enemy's camp."

"The devil only cleared the snow within 150 meters of his campsite. If we attack too far, the snow will not allow us to attack. As soon as we were slow to move due to the heavy snow, the attacking troops would be exposed to the open field and would be heavily wounded by enemy fire. ”

After that, Yang Zhen said that Qiu Jintang and Ma Qichang, who were in charge of artillery command, said: "You two divide the labor. Jintang, all mortars are under your command, mainly hitting enemy assembly points. Qichang, all the three mountain cannons I will bring are under your command. After the troops attacked, you fired directly at the mountain cannons, knocking out all the exposed fire points of the devils for me. Remember, the devil's light and heavy machine guns are not allowed to fire, and your mountain artillery is definitely not allowed to fire. ”

Hearing Yang Zhen's order, Ma Qichang pondered for a moment and said, "Regiment Commander, I will resolutely carry out your orders. But I wonder if we are using artillery fire to give the devil a little trick? You see that the devils are all veterans, they have excellent composure, and their tactical literacy is definitely enough. ”

"Our troops will not fire lightly from their light and heavy machine guns until they have launched an attack. And after we launched the attack, my mountain artillery was firing, and it was blocked by my own attacking troops, not to mention, and it could cause unnecessary accidental injuries. ”

"Do you think this is good, Company Commander Qiu's mortar fire attack has been changed from one time to two. After the artillery fire was extended, the latent troops did not move, and the follow-up troops launched a detailed attack. After luring the devils into the position and firing their light and heavy firepower, my mountain artillery and the mortar of Company Commander Qiu combined with fire coverage to kill the Japanese puppet army the most. ”

"After completing the task of providing fire cover for the attacking troops, we also divided the work. My mountain artillery was small in number, but it was lethal, and concentrated all its firepower on the Japanese army. And the mortar of the Qiu company commander is large, and it is better to divide it into two. Hit the puppet Manchu army with most of the artillery fire, and one coordinated with my mountain artillery to attack the Japanese army. ”

"These puppet Manchu troops are not trained by devils, the Jing'an Army, known as the flower of the Manchukuo Army, is just some ordinary puppet Manchu army. The combat effectiveness and the will to fight are too different from the Japanese army. As long as we defeat them with artillery fire first, and only the Japanese are left, this battle will be a little more certain. ”

Speaking of this, Ma Qichang hesitated for a while before raising his head and looking at several military and political chiefs and said: "Regiment commander, political commissar, chief of staff, although my idea can reduce the casualties of the troops, the consumption of artillery shells is very large. Maybe I'm a little abrupt, so it's best to use it as a reference. ”

"Why is it just for reference? Your idea is very good, I think it can be directly used as a direct plan for fire preparation. I just like people like you who love to use their brains to fight. What's the point of consuming more shells? As long as there are people, can we rob the devil again? In this way, I will deploy all the mountain artillery shells I carry to you, how many and how? You are solely responsible. For Ma Qichang's idea, Yang Zhen couldn't help but applaud loudly.

Seeing that Yang Zhen appreciated his ideas well, a big stone in Ma Qichang's heart fell to the ground, not to mention that he was somewhat grateful for Yang Zhen's weight.

Looking at Ma Qichang's slightly relieved expression, Qiu Jintang next to him smiled and said, "I told you a long time ago, if you have any good ideas in your heart, just put them forward." Our head is not the kind of person with a small belly. If your construction is good, the head of the regiment will only be happy, and there will be angry? Now you can rest assured. ”

After joking for a while after listening to his words, Ma Qichang, who was a little red-faced, raised his head and said to Yang Zhen and Li Yanping: "Regiment leader, political commissar, when I was in the secret camp of Lao Heidingzi, I had an idea that I always wanted to tell you, but Lao Ma stopped me and didn't let me say it. Today, since Lao Ma proposed such a good proposal, I will also take this opportunity to talk to you two leaders. ”

"It's good that I'm a mortar in the Sichuan army, but we're just an ordinary artilleryman, we don't have much culture, and we rely on experience to fight a war. Even now, this bit of culture is still learned from our troops. If you command a mortar, you can still do it. But commanding an artillery company is a bit difficult, and I am not afraid of the jokes of the two chiefs, and I still don't know what the secret position of this artillery is. ”

"Lao Ma graduated from the artillery department of the Wutang of the Northeast Army, and he is educated and leveled, and his ability to command artillery is far above me. I think that as long as the regiment commander is here, our artillery will not always be like this, and there will be a day when it will develop and grow. And my limited ability will affect the development of the troops. I think this company commander should let Lao Ma do it, and I will be his deputy. ”

Regarding Qiu Jintang's idea of making Xian, after Yang Zhen and Li Yanping looked at each other with satisfaction, Li Yanping said: "Company Commander Qiu, we are very pleased that you have this idea. This shows that you do not regard official positions as more important than the development of the troops. But for your unenterprising attitude, we are going to criticize you. ”

"It won't be, it's not the main reason, because it doesn't mean that it won't be in the future. Since you don't understand, Company Commander Ma is by your side, and he eats and lives with you, why don't you study hard with him? You can't be a mortar for the rest of your life, can you? It's you who do it, but the head of the regiment doesn't do it. ”

"We have a shortage of commanders at all levels, especially professional and technical commanders, you have to pick and choose, can this work? What's more, our troops will develop and grow in the future, and the artillery will also have to develop, and you, an old artilleryman, will not take on heavy responsibilities, so can you let the regiment commander personally command the artillery. Company Commander Ma is a talent, but he alone cannot support an artillery unit. Only when everyone gathers firewood can the flame be high. ”

Compared with Li Yanping's criticism and drizzle, Yang Zhen's tone was a little harsh: "What the political commissar said is not wrong, why don't you go to study?" Company Commander Ma is not only your deputy company commander, but also my scheduled artillery staff officer. You leave this man who is proficient in artillery tactics, what will happen to the regimental headquarters? You are short of people here, and the regimental headquarters that organizes the campaign is even more lacking in such people who are proficient in artillery. ”

"Why did I let him concurrently serve as the captain of the artillery training team, when the infantry manpower was not enough, I tried my best to transfer dozens of soldiers with a slightly higher education to form a teaching team, just in the hope of cultivating a qualified artilleryman, and there would be no more situations where the artillery was captured but no one would use it."

"Now that there are dozens of veteran artillery people from the Northeast Army who joined the army with Commander Ma, they can still cope with the situation. In the future, when our artillery expands, you can't always rely on those dozens of brothers to support the overall situation with you. Do you think they are all crabs with eight hands? ”

"I sue you, Qiu Jintang, and I'll give you another two months. When the time comes, no matter how well you study, I will transfer the company commander Ma back to the regimental headquarters to serve as an artillery staff officer to assist me and the chief of staff in commanding the operation. Remember the last two months, and don't wait for obsolescence. ”

"When the time comes, you will not only be able to command artillery, but also be able to teach recruits and cadres. If you say anything more and won't command the artillery, you go to the cooking class and give me a cauldron. Not to mention the deputy company commander, I made you not even an ordinary artilleryman. ”

Seeing Qiu Jintang's face red by Yang Zhenxun, it was the first time to see this always gentle and elegant regiment commander Ma Qichang hurriedly became more and more affectionate for his friendship, since joining the Anti-Japanese Federation, he gradually changed from estrangement to a brother who took care of himself like a big brother and explained: "Regiment commander, political commissar, don't be angry, Company Commander Qiu really studied hard and learned a lot of things. Moreover, although Company Commander Qiu's education level is somewhat low, he has rich experience in actual combat. ”

"If nothing else, the difficult skill of blind shooting in mortars alone under the premise of lack of scopes is comparable to none of my old brothers who have been rolling in artillery for many years. I believe that for a period of time, Company Commander Qiu must have far surpassed me in ability. It's just that it's going to take time. Artilleryman is not an infantry after all, he needs to learn too much. What others have learned in two or even three years, it is also a bit difficult for Lian Chang Qiu to learn in just two months. ”

Hearing Ma Qichang's intercession for Qiu Jintang, Yang Zhen stopped the idea of continuing to teach Qiu Jintang a lesson, turned to Ma Qichang and said, "Deputy Company Commander Ma, you are busy during this time. In addition to serving as the deputy commander of the artillery company and the leader of the teaching team, I also have to serve as my artillery staff officer. There's no way, I'm too short of talent right now. When your talent is cultivated, maybe it will be better. ”

After the plan for fire support was decided, the general battle plan was finalized. But there is one point, that is, Yang Zhen's idea of personally commanding the hidden troops has been strongly opposed by several people. Finally, Wang Guangyu said: "Regiment commander, you are the supreme military commander of the army, and you must be responsible for the command of the entire battle. The lurking troops are there, or I'll go. ”

Regarding Wang Guangyu's initiative to ask for help, Yang Zhen pondered for a while, then nodded and said, "Okay, that's it." You command the lurking troops, and the chief of staff and I control the overall situation. ”

After that, Yang Zhen glanced at the company commanders and instructors in front of him, and said in a resolute tone: "Set off at six o'clock tonight and move at full speed towards the Japanese camp in front of the mouth of the wife's ditch." At the same time, all troops should clean up all traces when marching. Avoid being detected by enemies. Tomorrow morning at 6 o'clock, the attack will be launched on time. ”