For Liu Changshun's questioning. Wang Xiaoming didn't know how to answer. But as a political cadre, he can only try his best to think about the good side and find a way to explain. After being silent for a long time, Wang Xiaoming said: "I don't feel that the chief of staff doesn't want to reinforce us, I'm afraid the chief of staff doesn't have any soldiers on hand now." ”

"Your Wang Guangyu's brigade was almost completely disabled some time ago and became an empty shelf, and it is still continuing to be repaired on the front line of Qunce Mountain. And Du Kaishan, the 3rd Brigade, under the command of Deputy Commander Zhao, was still circling the 14th Wing of the little devils on the front line of the Haoliang River to prevent them from detouring our flank. ”

"As for the retreat, we are so tightly bitten with the 2nd Division, how can we retreat? As soon as we withdraw, the little devils will be able to follow immediately. In the face of its absolute superiority in ground-to-air firepower, the troops were not defeated, but let the little devils crush them. Don't forget, the little devil also has a completed cavalry wing. ”

Speaking of this, Wang Xiaoming looked at his old fellow and said, "Lao Liu, don't guess, there must be a reason why the head of the headquarters did this." We still have to fight our own battles well according to the deployment of the head of the headquarters. I don't think the political commissar and the chief of staff will sit idly by and watch the Second Brigade run out. You should know what the chief of staff is like. ”

Hearing this, Liu Changshun smiled bitterly: "I know, but in such a big battle, the commander is really not used to the cold absence." You said that the commander usually looks quite resolute, but at least he scolded me very vigorously. How can you be so sad for a woman? This little devil is really fucking lacking in morality, and if he can't beat him on the battlefield, he will be angry with other people's wives. ”

"Grandma, is this fucking a soldier? They still boast all day long about the majesty of the imperial army and their invincibility. These bastards are so fucking lacking in virtue and smoking. What you can't get on the battlefield, the cowhide is blown out, and you play conspiracy. Lao Tzu is out this time, even if the Second Brigade is really gone, he will avenge Xiao Zhang. ”

Looking at Liu Changshun, who was angry at the mention of Zhang Ting, Wang Xiaoming smiled bitterly, this guy is a brigade commander, why is he still this kind of donkey temper? Just now, he was saddened by the casualties of the troops, and when he mentioned the sacrifice of Zhang Ting, he became menacing again. Even in June, the sky did not change as fast as him.

In fact, Wang Xiaoming thinks about more things than Liu Changshun. He always felt that Yang Zhen's illness this time was not as simple as the political commissar and chief of staff conveyed. From the beginning of the second phase of the campaign, in the face of the completely different tactical deployment of this operation, although Wang Xiaoming felt unfamiliar, he always felt that there was an indescribable and unclear smell of familiarity in it.

He didn't know why he always felt that the current situation was more like a trap deliberately set up by the commander for the Japanese army. It was hard for him to imagine that someone as resolute as the commander would be knocked down with such a light blow. If it is said that Yang Zhen lost his command ability because of serious injuries, but if he was too sad because of the sacrifice of his fiancée and could not command the troops during the war, Wang Xiaoming did not believe it at all.

If it is said that Zhang Ting's sacrifice, the commander is not sad, this is impossible. But to say that the commander would be knocked down because of this, Wang Xiaoming didn't believe that a person who would never say die would be knocked down so lightly. It's just that the commander-in-chief, political commissar and chief of staff conveyed this, and he didn't dare to make a rash comment.

Liu Changshun said that he would not hesitate to kill the second brigade, but in fact, this guy said one thing and did another. Although he didn't dare to explicitly ask for retreat or ask for reinforcements, he reported his casualty figures to Guo Bingxun every day.

But it's also a little difficult for him. It was indeed quite difficult for him to block the three wings of the Japanese army advancing in unison with the strength of one brigade. In order to maintain sufficient strength in the front of the wide blockade, on the third day of the blockade battle, Liu Changshun not only left a small number of reserves, but also put all the troops at hand, even the non-combatants such as horsemen and clerks at the brigade headquarters, into the front-line position.

On the sixth day of the battle, when the 2nd Brigade, which had been fighting and retreating, had already retreated to the front line of Dong'an and Yongxing, the last two companies on hand that were used as the last reserves, that is, the guard company of the 2nd Brigade and the engineer company directly under the brigade, had been put into the front-line position. At this time, Liu Changshun, who had exhausted all the reserves on hand, really had to ask Guo Bingxun for reinforcements again this time.

After receiving Liu Changshun's telegram requesting reinforcements again, Li Yanping raised the telegram and said to Guo Bingxun: "Old Guo, Liu Changshun is a little unbearable. Judging from the casualty figures he has reported these days, I am afraid that his second brigade has suffered nearly half of the casualties by now. By now, I feel like we've done enough of it. Is it possible to give Wang Guangyu an order to attack? ”

"From the Songhua River to the Jiangjun Stone Line, except for a few Mangang, almost all of them are plains with a flat river. Fighting the Japanese army, which has the superiority of ground-to-air firepower, on this terrain is actually very disadvantageous to us. Liu Changshun only has nearly 10,000 troops in one brigade, but his defensive front is as high as forty or fifty kilometers. This kind of formation lined up can be attacked by an elite division of the Japanese army, and it is difficult for him to hold out for six days. ”

"You once told me that in a defensive war, we must certainly not pay attention to the defense of the whole front, but it is more important to choose the key points to be defended. The forces must not be evenly distributed, and the front-line commanders must have a strong reserve at hand, so as not to be shaken by a breakthrough of the entire front. But now Liu Changshun is fighting exactly the kind of battle that you said you absolutely should avoid.

"He has already suffered a third of the casualties there, and the reserves at hand have consumed the embers, and the shape is already critical. If it drags on any longer, I'm afraid that once a little bit is broken through, the reserves have been exhausted, and I am afraid that there will really be a collapse of the whole line. ”

Guo Bingxun, who was lying on the map marking the progress of the Second Division, shook his head when he heard Li Yanping's words: "Political commissar, the commander said that as long as this Second Division does not divide troops for a day, Wang Guangyu's brigade will definitely not move. The Japanese were still cautious, and the cordon of their cavalry wings remained at about fifty kilometers. ”

"We moved, interspersed and detoured, and even at night we avoided the cordon set up by this cavalry wing. Judging from its current situation, once there is any trouble, this second division will definitely shrink into a ball. Judging from the current strength of the Second Division and its combat effectiveness, once it is fully reduced, it will be very difficult for us to achieve our strategic objectives. ”

"Although this Yasui Toji should be resolute and not soft, his overall tactics are still too cautious. It adopts the tactic of three wings moving in tandem, and the distance between the three wings is less than five kilometers. Liu Changshun showed weakness several times, but instead of being able to lure him into dividing his troops, he almost didn't break through the flank. ”

"And judging from the situation on Deputy Commander Zhao's side, although the offensive of the 25th Division is very fierce, its butt has never left the line of the Haoliang River. That is to say, no matter which direction, we do not have the right fighter now. The 1st Brigade and the three independent regiments commanded by Wang Guangyu are the last cards we have in hand, and once they are revealed, there is no room for redemption. ”

"And judging from the current combat effectiveness of this second division, if it is always unwilling to divide its troops, even if we press all the troops on hand, I am afraid we will not be able to help them. It's hard to even fight a rout battle, and if you don't get it right, you'll be bitten back. ”

Speaking of this, Guo Bingxun paused and said: "Liu Changshun must insist there, as long as the Japanese army does not divide its troops for a day, they cannot retreat." Dong'an and Yongxing are located between the Nata River and the Heli River, and are flanked by large swamps, and their defensive fronts can be greatly shortened. Moreover, this area is crisscrossed by rivers, although the amount of water is not large, but it can form a natural blocking position. ”

"Once this place is broken through, there will be no danger from Dong'an to Jiangjun Shi. As long as it is stuck here, it will be able to contain the passage of the 2nd Division to the north. If the second division can't be attacked for a long time, even if he Yasui Toji doesn't want to divide his troops, I think Umezu Mijiro will force him to divide his troops. ”

"To the east of this area is the vast swampland on both sides of the Wutong River, and even if the Japanese knew that there was a way to go, it would not be able to accommodate a large number of troops. If the 2nd Division wanted to divide its troops north into Xing'an Street, then it could only bypass the smaller marshlands on both sides of the Nata River in the west and take the Yuanbao Mountain line. ”

"And this line can not only detour the left flank of our army, but also take advantage of the situation to seize the line of Qunce Mountain and recover this former largest secret strategic warehouse of the Kwantung Army. I think this fruit should be quite tempting for Umezu Mijiro. ”

Speaking of this, Guo Bingxun turned his head to an operational staff officer beside him and said, "Send a telegram to Brigade Commander Liu, asking him to shrink his position and give up some unnecessary cover positions." Shrink all forces to the three points of Dong'an, Yongxing, and Xinghua. As long as he held these three points, according to the terrain there, he would have absolutely no problem holding on for another forty-eight hours. ”

"But I don't need him to hold on for forty-eight hours, I just need him to hold on for twenty-four hours. Tell him that a battalion of reinforcements will be given to him before dark. But if he can't hold out for 24 hours, even if the political commissar is affectionate and I am affectionate, the military law is ruthless. ”

"In addition, you go and order all the non-combatants of the headquarters here to assemble, including the grooms and clerks, all for me. In addition to leaving one platoon in the guard battalion, Deputy Chief of Staff Chai personally led the team to reinforce the Second Brigade. You go to the deputy chief of staff of Sù Chai, no matter how many difficulties you encounter on the road, you must rush to the position of the 2nd Brigade before dark. ”

After this staff officer hurriedly went to convey the order, Li Yanping looked at Guo Bingxun, who had a resolute face, and said after a deep sigh: "Old Guo, do you think you want to ask the commander?" See what opinion the commander has? If Liu Changshun can't hold out for 24 hours, you can't really engage in military law against him. ”

Regarding Li Yanping's construction, Guo Bingxun, who had finished arranging, quietly looked at the map for a long time before calmly replied: "Political commissar, I understand what you mean." But if we need to ask for advice on everything, what else do we need to do? Since the commander has appointed me to take full command of the forward war, I must fulfill my duty. ”

After that, Guo Bingxun looked at Li Yanping and smiled a little unnaturally on his face: "Political commissar, don't worry, don't look at Liu Changshun who is complaining about it now." But I'm sure it's hard for him there. But definitely not as difficult as he said. He doesn't call, call, where can he go to ask for reinforcements? He still has at least thirty percent of his strength there and has not used it. According to the topography of the Dongxing line, there is absolutely no problem in insisting on 24 hours. ”

Guo Bingxun's answer silenced Li Yanping. has been in the team for almost a year, and he still knows Guo Bingxun's character very well, and he knows that Guo Bingxun is a person who hides needles. He doesn't look gentle and elegant on the surface, but he is actually very stubborn in his bones. I don't make up my mind, but once I make up my mind, it's hard to change it.

In terms of decisiveness, it is actually no worse than Yang Zhen. It's just that Yang Zhen is here on weekdays, and he generally attaches great importance to maintaining Yang Zhen's authority, and he is always inconspicuous. However, once he commanded the battle independently, the strength of his character was exposed. On the surface, his and Yang Zhen's personalities are very complementary, but in fact, both of them are generally strong characters.

It's just that compared to Yang Zhen's overly exposed strength, Guo Bingxun's strength is more hidden in his bones, he is also very open-minded, and his temper is not as impatient as Yang Zhen sometimes has. He pays great attention to maintaining Yang Zhen in his daily work and operations, so most people don't know much about his character. Even because of their fear of Yang Zhen, many cadres were willing to find Guo Bingxun, who at least seemed gentle on the surface, when they asked for instructions, but did not dare to go to Yang Zhen.

When Yang Zhen was leaving, he repeatedly explained that Guo Bingxun was solely responsible for the military this time, and no one should interfere with Guo Bingxun's military command determination. Li Yanping knew that the reason why Yang Zhen, who never inked on trivial matters, made an explanation specifically for this matter, I am afraid that he also knew the true character of this guy.

Thinking of this, Li Yanping couldn't help but smile bitterly, it's really not good to partner with these two guys without a certain amount of open-mindedness. Otherwise, don't do anything for a day, just quarrel. And I am afraid it would be too much to ask Guo Bingxun to ask Yang Zhen for the new deployment. These two guys have long been aware of military issues, and it is redundant to do this by themselves.

Li Yanping's guess was not wrong, after receiving the latest deployment telegram from Guo Bingxun, Yang Zhen, who was in retreat at the moment, only replied with twelve words: "The front-line war, please ask the chief of staff to handle it at his discretion." "I didn't say a word else.

At this time, Yang Zhen, who was still recuperating from his illness, did not come to the front line to command on the surface, and from the beginning of the campaign, he never interfered with Guo Bingxun's deployment and command. But he has been in constant communication with Guo Bingxun on the telegram. None of the front-line hid anything from him. In fact, the deployment of the front line was all negotiated between him and Guo Bingxun.

Regarding the telegram sent by Guo Bingxun, Yang Zhen really thinks that now is not the time to fight back. In terms of the choice of counterattack, Yang Zhen and Guo Bingxun did not disagree. They all believed that as long as the Second Division did not divide its troops for a day, this counterattack could not be fought.

Of course, for Yang Zhen, when the first phase of the battle had just ended, and the veterans and backbones suffered heavy losses, he ate all the second division, which was known as the first combat power of the Japanese army and had a combination of infantry and cavalry artillery, and he thought that he did not have this good appetite. But he thought he still had the ability to knock out the front teeth of the 2nd Division and kick his ribs.