For Yang Zhen's deployment. Guo Bingxun was a little skeptical: "Commander, in addition to the Japanese roundabout detachments on the front line of Xihe and Fuguitun, there are also six squadrons of the Japanese army, and the total strength adds up to nearly two wings. Wang Guangyu wanted to entangle them with the strength of three regiments, but the strength seemed to be a little thin. ”

"Fuguitun is only a dozen miles away from Wang Duzitun in a straight line, and the two battlefields seem to be divided into two sections, but in fact they are a whole. I think it is better to unify the entire southern front war under the command of Wang Guangyu, Wang Guangyu still has the ability. Besides, it's time for us to exercise his ability to organize large corps. ”

"Moreover, the deputy chief of staff of the firewood and Ma Chunsheng rushed to the southern front, not only in time, but also in great danger. They had to rush from the general's stone to the front line of Fuguitun, and almost the entire battlefield had to be crossed. We need to mobilize a large number of troops for cover. The commander did not gain more than he lost. ”

Guo Bingxun's opinion was very pertinent, Yang Zhen nodded after hearing it and said, "It's me who is a little thoughtful." However, Wang Guangyu is shoulder-to-shoulder, unlike the other two brigades, which have a capable political committee member who can share the burden. He was in charge of the entire southern front alone, and it was inevitable that he would not have enough energy. Therefore, Chai Shirong and Ma Chunsheng had to rush to the southern line at least. The opportunity to exercise is that this is a tough battle, and we can't train people at this time. ”

Guo Bingxun is very clear about what Yang Zhen means. The southern front is the focus of this battle, and it is necessary to strengthen the command capability. But from the first line of General Shi to Wang Duzitun, he has to cross almost the entire battlefield, and this safety, as the chief of staff, he can't help but consider. At present, there is an acute shortage of senior commanders, and we absolutely cannot afford to lose anyone lightly.

Guo Bingxun knocked on the ammunition box that was temporarily used as a table and said, "In this way, the headquarters cavalry battalion has not participated in the war since it was formed. And the first line of the general's stone is mountainous, and the cavalry battalion staying here has little effect. So let the cavalry battalion protect them, and walk from the right flank close to the battlefield. ”

"The cavalry moves quickly, and if Shun Lì does not encounter the enemy, it should be able to reach the southern front before midnight to join Wang Guangyu. Our cavalry battalion has been recuperating and it's time for the battle. After arriving at the West and the front line, let the cavalry battalion take part in the battle on the spot. ”

Regarding the solution proposed by Guo Bingxun, Yang Zhen nodded and said, "Just follow your idea." Let them set off with the cavalry battalion at once. As for you and me, we will wait for the battle to start in a while, and we will go down to the second and third brigades respectively and personally command the front line. This battle will determine our future development, and we must have first-hand information. You go to the 3rd Brigade, I'll go to the 2nd Brigade. ”

Speaking of this, Yang Zhen said to Guo Bingxun in a firm tone: "Old Guo, you go and issue an order immediately." Sue Liu Changshun and Du Kaishan, I will hear them within fifteen minutes. ”

After receiving the order from the headquarters, Du Kaishan and Liu Changshun immediately stopped the handover of positions, and without any hesitation, they put all their forces into the counterattack. Compared with Du Kaishan, who looked very dignified, Liu Changshun, who was not required to be transferred to the west, was very excited when he learned that he was finally left on the front line of General Stone to participate in the war. Although the troops to replenish him had not yet arrived, he now had only one regiment of troops on his hands.

Compared with Liu Changshun, who was a little overly excited, Du Kaishan was much more stable. His 7th Regiment had just been handed over to the 2nd Brigade, and the positions had not yet been completed. Political Commissar Tao Jingfei was commanding the 8th and 9th regiments and the artillery directly under the brigade, and was making a detour to the flank of the Japanese army, far from reaching the designated attack position. Even now, he can't get in touch with Tao Jingfei, who is in action.

For Du Kaishan, what is more distressing is not only the lack of troops on hand, but also the lack of artillery. The artillery assigned to the 3rd Brigade by the commander was still on its way and had not yet arrived. Except for the light and heavy mortar company and infantry artillery company directly under the Fourth Regiment, he hardly had any covering firepower at hand. The opponent had a whole artillery wing.

The most important thing is that the troops have just arrived to receive the defense, and they still have no idea about the deployment of the Japanese troops on the other side. The lack of troops, the weak covering firepower, and especially the unknown enemy situation made Du Kaishan never let go of his brows after receiving the order. After hesitating for a moment, Du Kaishan still picked up the phone, ready to ask Yang Zhen for instructions, and postpone the counterattack time for half an hour, at least to give himself time to find out the situation of the Japanese army.

Just as Du Kaishan picked up the phone and was about to call the headquarters, he went to see Guo Bingxun, who was supposed to be commanding operations at the headquarters, and walked into his headquarters. Seeing the chief of staff come in, Du Kaishan hurriedly put down the phone he had just picked up.

Seeing that Du Kaishan hadn't taken action yet, Guo Bingxun frowned slightly and said, "Didn't your second brigade receive an order from the headquarters?" Why don't you take action? I think the headquarters has written very clearly in the telegram to you, fifteen minutes must be fired. It took me at least twenty minutes to get here from headquarters. What are you procrastinating? ”

Hearing the displeasure in the chief of staff's tone, Du Kaishan hurriedly said: "Chief of staff, it's not that we deliberately delay. As you know, I, Du Kaishan, am not the kind of person who likes to talk about conditions. But now the artillery is not yet in place, and my roundabout troops are still on the way. The most important thing is that the latest enemy situation in front of us has not yet been figured out, how can this battle be fought? ”

"The enemy briefing issued by the headquarters is not up-to-date, and we don't know at all whether the deployment of the Japanese army has changed now. We can't just be like headless flies, can we? I hope that the headquarters will give me half an hour to at least feel the enemy situation in front of me before taking action. ”

After listening to the reason why Du Kaishan did not carry out the order, although Guo Bingxun was a little dissatisfied, his tone was slightly relieved and said: "Your difficulties, the headquarters is very clear. But Wang Guangyu had already encountered the Japanese army on the front line of Wang Duzitun and had already started a fierce battle. Wang Guangyu encountered the Japanese army in advance, and he was already startled. Once the 2nd Division is reduced to a single mass, our attack will pay an even greater cost of casualties. Therefore, even though the latest enemy situation is not yet clear, you must attack immediately. ”

"If you talk about what you're afraid of, you'll fight indiscriminately. The Japanese army was deployed in a short period of time, and even if there were adjustments, it would not be too big. If you don't move for a long time, and wait for the Japanese army to complete its deployment, how much more will it cost you to fight you at that time? As for artillery cover, wouldn't you have fought without artillery cover? Besides, the mortars and infantry guns you have at hand are all decorations? ”

As soon as Guo Bingxun's words fell, a dense burst of gunfire came from the flank of Du Kaishan's position. Hearing the sound of gunfire for a while, knowing that Liu Changshun, who had just withdrawn from his position, had already begun to move, Guo Bingxun walked to the observation port of Du Kaishan's headquarters and raised his binoculars to carefully observe the situation ahead, and said in a very firm tone: "Don't hesitate, the fighter plane is a little inferior, you will attack on all fronts immediately." ”

"As for Tao Jingfei, you don't have to worry, I think he will understand everything when he hears the sound of gunfire coming from here. Your roundabout troops have been on for almost an hour now, and judging by the time, if not the designated area, they are almost there. ”

Hearing the non-negotiable tone of the chief of staff, Du Kaishan gritted his teeth and said, "Chief of Staff, since the headquarters has made up its mind, then I promise to launch an attack within five minutes." I personally went to the front to direct so that I could grasp the situation first-hand in the shortest possible time. ”

After saying that, Du Kaishan saluted Guo Bingxun, grabbed the telescope and stepped out of the hidden department in a few steps. Du Kaishan was on the front line, and the commander of the Seventh Regiment behind him dared to stay in the concealment department, and went directly down to the attack force to personally command the first wave of attack troops.

Yang Zhen's determination to launch an attack in advance was very timely, if Wang Guangyu still launched an attack at the scheduled time after Wang Guangyu encountered the Japanese army's roundabout troops, Yasui Fujiji, who was already fighting cautiously, would really shrink into a ball, or even retreat directly to the front line of Fuguitun and join his rear troops.

After receiving a report from Major General Saburo of Katayama Province that he had encountered a large number of well-equipped enemy troops on the front line of Wang Fool Tun behind his flank, Yasui Fujiji couldn't help but gasp when he found the location of Wang Fool Tun on the map. He was immediately sure that his opponent was trying to outflank his back.

After confirming the report of Major General Saburo Katayama again, the first thing Toji Yasui did was to scold the Hattori Takushiro who had fooled him again. Didn't this guy say that the main forces of the opponent are now on the front line of the Haoliang River, and they are fighting fiercely with Lieutenant General Kuwabara Shiro? But the tens of thousands of enemy troops that appeared behind him fell from the sky?

After giving vent, Yasui Toji immediately ordered Major General Saburo Katayama to immediately stop the roundabout operation, and to command the six squadrons remaining on the Fufutun and Xihe front lines, as well as the roundabout troops, to be sure to crush the enemy forces that appeared in the direction behind his flank, so as to ensure the safety of the rear of the main force of the division.

However, although Yasui Toji felt extremely dissatisfied with Hattori Takushiro fooling him again, he also keenly felt that although the situation in front of him was a crisis for the Second Division, it was a rare fighter. The appearance of a large number of enemy troops in the rear of his flank shows that the main force of the opponent has been attracted to his side, and judging from the combat effectiveness of the second division, he is completely sure that he will defeat the main force of the opponent in one fell swoop.

It's just that the experience of the 24th Division and the 104th Division made him hesitate. If the second division was all here, he would naturally not be afraid. With the combat effectiveness of the second division, as long as they are concentrated, no matter how many troops come from the other side, there is nothing to worry about. What kind of unit is the 2nd Division? It is known as the division with the strongest combat effectiveness of the Imperial Army.

But at present, the main force on the front line of General Shi is only more than three large teams, which is really a bit thin. And it is even more lonely hanging on the line of the general's stone. If the opponent still has the strength to launch a counterattack from the front, once he cuts off the connection with the troops behind him, the front, including the division headquarters, will be separated by the opponent and the troops behind him.

Thinking of this, Yasui Fujiji immediately made up his mind that no matter whether the opponent still had the strength to launch a counterattack on the front, the most important thing he should do at present was to temporarily retreat and join the troops on the front line of Fuguitun and Xihe. Shrink the entire 2nd Division's troops in the territory of Tsurugate and Yubara into a single group, and crush the opponent's main force in one fell swoop.

But before Yasui Fujiji gave the order to retreat, the dense sound of gunfire from the front couldn't help but stunned him, and then reacted, this is the opponent has launched a counterattack from the front. Listening to the sound of gunfire at the front, Toji Yasui, who knew that it was too late to retreat, immediately ordered all of them to fight.

In fact, without the order of Yasui Toji, when the Second Division, which had a strong sense of active attack, suffered the first wave of attacks, the front-line troops were already under the command of their respective commanders, and they were in a group with Liu Changshun and Du Kaishan, who launched a frontal attack on the General Shi Line.

Liu Changshun, who had been fighting with the Second Division for several days and already had an understanding of the combat effectiveness of the Second Division, did not care about the strong combat effectiveness displayed by the Second Division. But as soon as Du Kaishan fought, he felt that this second division was definitely different from the Japanese army he had been in contact with before.

Not only was his resistance to his own attack extremely tenacious, but he even constantly launched counter-charges and fought against the attacking troops. Although the division belonged to the mountain artillery, because the two armies had been mixed up, they could not open artillery support. However, the artillery fire of the mountain artillery squadron of the wing and the infantry artillery squadron of the brigade was guided by the frantically fired flares, and the hit rate was extremely high. In less than an hour of counterattacking on the whole front, the 7th Regiment and 1st Battalion, which were the vanguard battalion and took the lead in the attack, suffered one-third casualties and lost its ability to attack.

The commander of the first battalion, Sima Feng, who had made great contributions in the battle of Qunce Mountain and had been scheduled to be the deputy commander of the seventh regiment, was shot in the chest by a Japanese machine gun guided by a flare when he was commanding the troops to charge, and died on the spot, and Lei Wancheng, an instructor of the first battalion, was seriously injured. Two of the three company commanders of the battalion were killed and one was slightly wounded.

The attacking infantry suffered heavy losses, and the regimental infantry artillery batteries, which served as the cover of straight-line fire, suffered even greater losses. In the battle with the first-line Japanese artillery, two-thirds of the artillery casualties of the six Type 92 infantry guns of the whole company were inflicted, and only one artillery piece remained.

Seeing that the vanguard battalion was crippled in such a short period of time, and love was about to die, Du Kaishan's distressed heart was about to bleed. This battalion is the strongest battalion of the 7th Regiment and the backbone of the entire 3rd Brigade. Its company platoon cadres, and even the squad leaders with older qualifications are the backbone of the old black top secret battalion. This time he filled in a third of it, and Du Kaishan's eyes turned red.

Du Kaishan, who was red-eyed, said to Du Ziqi, the commander of the 120-mm mortar company directly under the Seventh Regiment: "I don't care what method you use, even if you use people and shells to fill me, within 15 minutes, you will also knock out all the light and heavy machine guns and infantry guns on the front line of the little devils." Otherwise, Lao Tzu will shoot you. ”

Du Ziqi, who was born in the Sichuan Army, is also a Chaotian pepper temper, and he has received this treatment there. Looking at the brigade commander's crimson eyes, Du Ziqi didn't say a word, picked up his pistol and said angrily to his subordinates: "Brothers, let's smash the pot and sell iron today, let the brigade commander see if our mortar company is a bad seed." ”

"You give the cannon to Lao Tzu to a distance of 200 meters in advance, and Lao Tzu will personally give you an artillery observer today. You give Lao Tzu the ability to take care of the house. If anyone loses our face, he will get out of Lao Tzu. We don't even need scrap wood. ”

With that, the guy ran to the front line with a pistol. Behind him, his subordinates rushed to the front-line positions with mortars on their shoulders. At a distance of 200 meters, it can almost be said that it is already face-to-face with the Japanese army. But none of these artillerymen hesitated, picked up the guy in their hands and rushed forward with the company commander.