The reason why Yang Zhen and Guo Bingxun were so angry was not because of anything else, but because when the Second Brigade was advancing to the front line of General Shi last night, a squad leader of the former Tangyuan Independent Regiment, who was newly incorporated into the Second Brigade, actually disappeared with a gun. After Liu Changshun and Wang Xiaoming, who found out that there was one less person in their troops at dawn the next day, reacted, this person had long since disappeared.

When the Second Brigade was marching towards the first line of General Shi, someone disappeared with a gun, which made Yang Zhen extremely angry. Missing with a gun, what other reason can there be besides defection? Since the establishment of several newly formed independent regiments, there have indeed been quite a few deserters. These recruits who formed the new independent regiment and whose homes were local were different from those who had come from laborers and had nowhere to run. They are very familiar with the local area, and they can easily run home.

Now that you are a soldier, you have to go to the battlefield, and you are afraid of death, and you are reluctant to go home, and you are reluctant to have your wife and children, which is normal. But these runners basically left their weapons in the troops, and no one took them away. And the person who escaped with a gun, this person was the first. Although it was not a new thing to run a soldier during the war years, the danger posed by this person when the 2nd Brigade was about to arrive at the intended battlefield, especially after it was almost certain that he had defected, was extremely dangerous.

Although this defector was only a squad leader of a newly organized unit because of his low position, he did not know much about the entire deployment, and his defection would not reveal many secrets. However, he only had to leak the march route of the Second Brigade to enable him to judge his entire combat intentions.

The Japanese are not fools, and when they suddenly find that there is a force of tens of thousands of men and a large number of artillery troops hidden around them, they will not fail to judge the tactical intentions of their opponents in the next step. It is true that the Japanese are somewhat narrow-minded on strategic issues. But tactically it is quite good. The reaction speed is also absolutely top-notch.

Once their strategic intentions are exposed, not only will the 24th Division slip out of their palms, but if they don't get it right, they will suffer a big loss in the follow-up operations.

Looking at Yang Zhen's uncertain face, Liu Changshun and Wang Xiaoming, who knew that they had caused a big disaster, did not dare to come out, and stood aside honestly. It's not that the two of them don't know about the danger brought by this defector, and they have also tried to find a way to get this guy back. It was already half of the night when I found it, and it was too late to arrest him again.

Knowing that the commander's entire plan is likely to be nullified because of the appearance of this defector. Even when the high price paid by Wang Guangyu in the bloody battle in the past few days was likely to be all in vain, the two of them couldn't raise their heads in shame.

Especially Liu Changshun, when he led the troops to Qunce Mountain to receive the new troops, Yang Zhen had repeatedly told him that he must firmly control the troops, and there must be no unstable shape. But what he didn't expect was that he was about to arrive at the battlefield, but something still happened.

Liu Changshun, who was full of remorse, couldn't wait to catch the guy who almost ruined the entire battle plan at this time, and he could only get out of this evil anger in his heart with a thousand knives.

Although he wanted to kill these two careless guys, Yang Zhen also knew that the sooner he made a decision about this emergency, the better it would be. After being silent for a long time, Yang Zhen raised his head and looked at Liu Changshun with a guilty face, and said as slowly as he could: "Where is the position of the main force of your second brigade now?" ”

Hearing Yang Zhen's question, Liu Changshun hurriedly walked to the map, pointed to the map and said, "Report to the commander and chief of staff, our department has now all arrived at the designated location and is on standby." According to the plan of the General Headquarters, the main forces of the 4th and 5th Regiments, as well as two battalions of rocket artillery and one battalion of field artillery directly under the operational headquarters of our unit, have arrived at the west of the Jiahe railway line between Daheli River and Junde to wait for concealment. ”

"One battalion of the Sixth Regiment and the Fifth Regiment, one battalion of field artillery directly under the headquarters, and one artillery battalion directly under the brigade have all arrived at three miles west of Yongchang, an important town on the Jiahe Highway, to stand by. Once an attack order is received from the headquarters, the Jiahe Highway and the Jiahe Railway can be cut off at any time. ”

After Liu Changshun finished reporting, Yang Zhen looked at the location of the second brigade on the map, and pondered for a long time before saying to Guo Bingxun: "Old Guo, I don't think we can wait." Regardless of whether this defector ran to the Japanese side, we can't afford to wait any longer. The Japanese were not fools, such a large force entered their flank, and could not be detected for a long time. I think we have to start our scheduled plans in advance. ”

Although Guo Bingxun was slightly hesitant, he finally nodded and said, "This person disappeared when the Second Brigade was moving to the front line of General Shi. Almost certainly defected to the side of the Japanese army. Otherwise, he would have run a long time ago, so why wait until the Second Brigade was already close to the preset battlefield and run away? ”

"Although this person's defection is not very secretive because of his position. But he exposed the marching route of the main force of the 2nd Brigade, so that our tactical intentions were almost completely exposed. If we still want to eat this 25th division, then we can only act in advance. Commander, I think this decision can be made. ”

With Guo Bingxun's support, Yang Zhen, who quickly made up his mind to fight in a very short period of time, pointed to the map and said to Liu Changshun and Wang Xiaoming: "Don't delay here, return to the army immediately." When you return, you must be ready for battle in the shortest possible time. ”

"The headquarters is determined to form a northern cluster under the unified command of the brigade commander Liu Changshun and chief of staff Ma Chunsheng with the main forces of the 2nd Brigade, 4th Regiment and 5th Regiment, which have already arrived east of Yongchang, and attack and advance eastward with the current location as the starting point, and go straight behind the 40th Wing, the main force of the Japanese army on the front line of Jiangjunshi."

"The mission of the North Cluster is to seize Junde as quickly as possible and cut off the connection between the 40th Wing and the Japanese field detachment. With the 1st Brigade against the 40th Wing, they formed a north-south flank attack. ”

"With the six regiments and one of the five regiments that have now arrived west of Yongchang, and the cavalry battalion directly under the military region under the command of Wang Xiaoming, the acting political commissar of the second brigade, the southern cluster will be formed, and Yongchang will be the starting point to sweep eastward with all its might. It is necessary to seize Xinhua, the key point of the Jiahe railway line, and cut off the Jiahe railway line in the shortest possible time. ”

Speaking of this, after Yang Zhen looked at the time on his watch, he said to Liu Changshun and Wang Xiaoming: "It's nine o'clock in the evening, and I can only give you six hours to complete the final preparations." Tomorrow at two o'clock in the morning, you must give me a start on time. ”

"Remember that after the battle started, don't care about the entanglement of small Japanese troops. Concentrate the main forces and artillery fire, and give me ** to the depth of the Japanese army. It is necessary to complete the division and encirclement of the Japanese army in the shortest possible time. ”

Regarding Yang Zhen's deployment, Liu Changshun did not have much opinion. However, as for his personnel arrangements, he said with some hesitation: "Commander, there is basically no problem with starting at 2 o'clock in the morning tomorrow, but there is one thing that you still need to consider." The 6th Regiment and the 1st Regiment of the 5th Regiment were now far away on the Yongchang line, and if Political Commissar Wang rushed over from the Jiangshi line, he would have to make a long detour in order to avoid the Japanese position. ”

"Even if he is fast, at least it will take about one o'clock in the night to reach the front line of Yongchang. With less than an hour left for him to prepare, did it seem too rushed? The troops on the front line of Yongchang are now under the command of Chief of Staff Ma, so let's see if the command layout is adjusted. Chief of Staff Ma commanded the troops of the southern front in the vicinity, and political commissar Wang and I commanded the main forces of the fourth and fifth regiments of the northern front? ”

Regarding Liu Changshun's opinion, Yang Zhen and Guo Bingxun glanced at each other, then nodded: "Yes, just do what you want." You and Wang Xiaoming are under unified command of the troops on the northern front, and the troops on the southern front are under the command of Ma Chunsheng. You immediately return to the troops and give orders in accordance with this deployment. ”

After that, Yang Zhen emphasized again: "I don't care what difficulties you have now. But at two o'clock in the night, I will hear you strike on time. As for how to fight, you are all brigade-level cadres, and you should have a number in your heart. The Chief of Staff and I can ignore the process, but we must see the desired result within the specified time. ”

Seeing that Yang Zhen nodded in agreement with his opinion, Liu Changshun and Wang Xiaoming did not dare to delay, and after hurriedly saluting the army, they walked out of the headquarters and hurriedly returned to their troops. After the two left, Yang Zhen shook his head with a wry smile and said to Guo Bingxun: "I told me a thousand times and told me ten thousand times, but I didn't expect that something would happen to them." ”

"Don't they know how much danger such an inconspicuous negligence can bring in wartime? Because these independent regiments were formed in too haste, it was impossible to screen them in detail, and the structure of the soldiers was very complicated. In addition to the local people, there were also many captured puppet Manchurian military and police personnel, and they were not unaware of this. ”

"Why don't they be more careful? Their negligence made the offensive that we could have prepared more fully could now only be launched in a hurry. Do they know that their oversight will cost us more than we could have avoided? ”

From Yang Zhen's tone when he said this, Guo Bingxun could clearly hear that he was very dissatisfied with Liu Changshun and Wang Xiaoming's mistake. To be honest, Guo Bingxun was also very angry about such a big mistake between the two of them before the battle. But when I calm down and think about it, I don't think it's a big deal.

When the war is about to begin, the defection of one's own troops will indeed have a certain impact on the battle plan. But if it's fatal, it's unlikely. As long as you can quickly adjust your deployment according to the changes in the shape, although the impact cannot be ignored, it will not be too great.

Although Guo Bingxun didn't think it was too big of a deal, he saw another problem from this matter: "Commander, don't be too angry. The enemy situation in the northeast is far more complicated than that in the Guannai, and the Japanese puppet spy forces are also far stronger than those in the Guannai. Whether it is the commander-in-chief and political commissar, or the commander and political commissar of the First Army, I have heard that they have not suffered the losses of the Japanese puppet spies. ”

"These members of the Independent Regiment are different from the laborers who were mainly rescued before us. It is not uncommon for us to have a situation in which they are recruited on the spot and in the base areas, and the members themselves are complex, and we lack effective means and methods for screening. ”

"The two of them are the brigade commander and the brigade political commissar, and they are responsible for a brigade, not a company or platoon. A brigade of tens of thousands of people, how can they do everything? And I suspect that if the missing man was really a defector, then he was able to run away for most of the night and not be found until dawn, which means that this matter is not an isolated matter. ”

"Although I do not advocate the expansion of this matter indefinitely, there is one thing I wonder if the commander has considered it? This person is a squad leader, although he is only the head of the soldiers, but after all, he is the squad leader in charge of a squad. Isn't it strange that he disappeared for most of the night and was not found? ”

"Even when he marched at night, his battalion and company commander did not notice that there was no one left. But the platoon commander, who needed him to convey orders to the soldiers of his squad, could not have known that he had lost a squad leader under his command? There is also the soldier of that squad, whose squad leader disappeared for most of the night, but he didn't notice that this was possible? ”

"If I'm not mistaken, this man's defection is definitely not an isolated thing. At least his platoon commander is subject to strict scrutiny. We can't just wronged a good person, but we can't let a bad person go. If this platoon commander also has a problem, it really explains the problem. ”

"You must know that the cadres we used to form those independent regiments were all drawn from the three old main regiments. If this platoon commander also has problems, then it means that our old troops also have some problems that should not arise. ”

Regarding Guo Bingxun's words, Yang Zhen nodded slightly and said, "I don't feel right either." A squad leader disappeared in the middle of the night, and the troops did not have a sense of sleep, even when it was a night march, but this was almost impossible. It's just that the battle of the troops is imminent, and it is impossible to conduct strict scrutiny of the parties involved. We'll have to wait until the battle is over. ”

"However, although this matter cannot be expanded now, it must be reported to Liu Changshun, not only the platoon commander, but also the company commander of that company must be closely monitored. In particular, close surveillance should be carried out during the period between the full deployment of the troops of the 2nd Brigade and the start of the battle. And until the battle is in full swing, the order must not be communicated beyond the battalion level. ”

"Until the last five minutes, all relevant battle plans are not to be communicated to the front-line troops. In case a similar incident happens again. If this squad leader defected on the march, the threat to us was not too great. If, after the forces have been fully deployed, a similar time would occur again, it would be fatal to our entire offensive deployment. ”