When the news came that Teng County had fallen and that all members of the 122nd Division were killed from the commander down, Li Mu sighed. Even though he persisted for one day longer than in history, he still could not avoid it.

In fact, if you think about it, the outcome may have been doomed. Facing Xiao Benzi's elite division of more than 20,000 people, even though Li Mu helped carry out two waves of bombings, Xiao Benzi's loss in strength was not as great as imagined.

In order to complete the task of guarding Teng County, the 1st, 2nd and 2nd Divisions obviously would not retreat. They were on a collision course with a division from Xiao Benzi, and there was a huge gap in strength and equipment.

The ending may have been doomed when the 1st, 2nd and 2nd Divisions were stationed in Teng County.

From the newspaper, Li Mu saw another piece of news, which was also the only way for the 122nd Division to survive at that time.

At that time, Tang En's 81st Army stood still at Guanqiao, only fifteen kilometers away from Teng County. They did not attack from the flanks or relieve the siege. They just watched silently and waited for Wang Mingzhang's 122nd Division to be completely wiped out.

For dozens of hours from the time the Eighty-first Army arrived nearby on the night of March 16 until Teng County fell, Tang En's troops watched the fire from across the bank and did not take any action. The 10th Division was allowed to destroy the 122nd Division and occupy it.

Teng County.

Such "friendly forces" not only chilled the miscellaneous troops in the fifth theater, but also chilled the Sichuan troops.

Newspaper reports on this incident aroused public opinion even more fiercely, pointing the finger at Tang En's 81st Army, which put Guofu under great pressure for a while.

Fortunately, another major event happened on the front line, and people's attention was quickly diverted.

It was Li Mu who did this. Teng County fell and all the 1st, 2nd and 2nd Divisions were killed, which made him feel very unhappy. He originally thought he could change the outcome, but he didn't expect it to be like this.

When you feel unhappy and angry, you naturally want to find someone to vent to.

He took a fancy to the little book stationed in Teng County.

Before the start of the defense battle in Teng County, the 122nd Division knew that this place would become a front line and had already evacuated the people in advance. After all the 122nd Division were killed, Teng County became an empty city.

Subsequently, Teng County, which fell into the hands of Xiao Benzi, also became one of the places where Xiao Benzi stationed his troops.

According to comprehensive intelligence from the Military Intelligence Department and the North, there are approximately three thousand to five thousand Japanese soldiers of the Tenth Division stationed in Teng County.

In this case, Li Mu doesn't mind playing the fire tactic again and letting these little books be buried with the 1st, 2nd and 2nd Divisions!

At four o'clock in the morning the next day, Li Mu set off from Nanyang and flew towards Teng County.

It was past five o'clock when we arrived over Teng County. The sky was still dark. Li Mu took out his telescope and circled Teng County twice, roughly understanding the layout of Teng County.

The next moment, a hand reached out of the cabin, and instantly, more than seven meters away, a huge oil barrel appeared out of thin air and fell straight down.

Following a violent explosion, the gasoline turned into pieces of flame, splashing for hundreds of meters in a radius. Countless houses were set on fire, and countless Japanese soldiers ran out of the houses crying and howling.

Then, the second oil barrel fell, a violent explosion spread hundreds of meters in radius, and another sea of ​​​​fire formed.

Next, Li Mu drove the plane and kept circling over Teng County. The oil barrels fell down and turned into a sea of ​​​​fire.

The Japanese soldiers rushed out of the house wailing one by one, avoiding the sea of ​​​​fire that spread all over the city.

In less than two minutes, more than fifty oil barrels and more than fifty tons of gasoline were thrown down.

Seeing many little Japs rushing towards the city gate, trying to escape from the city, Li Mu threw two unbombed oil barrels at each city gate, and the four city gates also turned into a sea of ​​flames.

However, the area of ​​Teng County is not small. Even though many gasoline barrels have been thrown, many places have not been affected, and many Japanese have escaped and hid.

Li Mu smiled. He had expected this situation. After all, a county is so big that even if it is burned by fire, it would take a lot of time. The scene where oil drums exploded in the air and rained down fire gave him inspiration.

In the past two days, he specially made a batch of time-delayed explosives to replace aerial bombs and installed them in the grooves of oil barrels.

Nowadays, many places in Teng County are already on fire, and the air temperature is high enough. It’s time to add some fuel to them.

With a thought, the fuse of an explosive package in the space was pulled open. The next moment, the oil barrel and the explosive package appeared together more than seven meters away, falling straight down.

Ten seconds later, still a few hundred meters above the ground, the explosive package suddenly exploded, and the oil barrel was also blown to pieces. The gasoline turned into raindrops and even fire points, falling towards the burning county town below.

This process continued for more than ten times in a row, and more than ten tons of gasoline were sprinkled. The houses in the entire county were completely ignited. The raging fire quickly engulfed everything, including thousands of Japanese soldiers.

After achieving his goal, and seeing that he still had five or six minutes to spare, Li Mu flew his fighter plane to several other military camps of the Little Japs, dropped dozens of bombs, and left quickly before enemy planes arrived to encircle them.

The next day, when the intelligence department detected this situation and reported it, the Guofu government breathed a sigh of relief. Teng County was burned to the ground and thousands of little devils were buried with it, which was widely publicized.

When the people heard about this great victory, that they had avenged the 1st, 2nd and 2nd Divisions and eliminated so many Japanese, their attention was naturally diverted.

Tang En's matter gradually faded away, and the matter finally passed.

…

However, when this incident came to the ears of the commander of the Fifth War Zone, his expression was a bit dumbfounded. He was happy to have eliminated so many Japanese, but also lamented that his plan to lure the enemy deeper was probably in ruins.

In fact, they had already arranged for the decisive battle with the Japanese to take place in Taierzhuang.

With Teng County at the front for such a period of time, Taierzhuang has been fully prepared in all aspects. The person responsible for guarding is the Northwest Army, which is known for its good defense.

The original plan was to lure the enemy deeper, block Xiaobenzi at Taierzhuang, wait for work, consume Xiaobenzi's firepower and morale, and then cut off his logistics and attack his flanks.

In one fell swoop, most of the little devils were left here.

This strategy was originally very successful. Since the invasion of the Japs, it has been overwhelming. Not only are they proud and arrogant, but the competition between the divisions is also serious. They all want to take the lead and impress other divisions.

As long as there is a little temptation, the little Japanese who have just captured Teng County will definitely attack Taierzhuang, the northern barrier of Xuzhou, in order to seize the great achievement of opening up the north-south main road.

The deployment and purpose will naturally be achieved.

However, with the addition of Li Mu, the style of painting completely changed.

The Fifth Division, as an elite division similar to the Tenth Division, except for one cavalry that escaped, all the others were wiped out.

Such a large division, but an elite division that was boasted to the sky, was wiped out so easily in a short period of time.

This not only boosted domestic morale and gave the people confidence in the war of resistance, it also dealt a blow to many troops in the small army.

Such an elite fifth division has been wiped out. If they meet, can they win?

The response to the Tenth Division is that although they captured Teng County, the losses were so heavy. Is it still appropriate to continue southward and attack Taierzhuang now?

Will there be danger? Will it follow the old path of the Fifth Division?

No one can give answers to these questions.

However, since the 10th Division captured Teng County and directly stationed themselves on the spot for renovations instead of going south, their attitude was made clear.

Chief Li was already worried. The situation was already like this. What method should be used to lure the Japanese to attack Taierzhuang, a battlefield that had been set up for them long ago.

As soon as the incident of thousands of Japanese soldiers being burned in Teng County came out, all the strategies and inducement conditions turned into a sigh, and the tenth division, which was a small army, was already in a state of turmoil and was cautious.

Now that thousands of soldiers were killed for no reason, wouldn't it make them more sensitive, and they would continue to go south.

While Commander Li was distressed, Isoya, the commander of the 10th Division, was also under great pressure and could not make up his mind.

There are two ways in front of him. One is to attack, capture Xuzhou and open up the north-south transportation line; the other is to defend and stabilize the current results.

There are two paths, one radical and one conservative, making it difficult to choose.

In fact, if given a choice, Isotani would probably choose a conservative plan. Of course, there are no such things as that in the world.

Since the 10th Division's invasion, coupled with the thousands of people who were burned to death in Teng County and a number of people who were killed by aerial bombs, the 10th Division has now been reduced by nearly one-third.

With such heavy casualties and such serious attrition, there has been no major achievements so far. If he chooses a conservative plan at this time, the danger of the 10th Division will indeed be smaller, but his personal future will be over.

It is even said that this is not just a matter of the future. In the face of such heavy casualties, someone must be responsible for it. He, the division commander, is the best responsible person.

Caesarean section was not just a joke, he didn't want this to happen to him.

Since conservative solutions are not feasible, radical solutions can only be adopted.

Although the 10th Division suffered heavy losses, it still had a large number of personnel, was well-trained, and still had strong firepower.

If we go south at this time, take the opportunity to capture Xuzhou, open up the north-south artery, and connect the Japanese soldiers from the north to the south, it will definitely be a great achievement.

If he could accomplish it, the serious attrition of the Ninth Division would be nothing. Not only would he be innocent, but he would also have made great contributions.

Faced with these two choices, it seems not difficult to answer which one to choose!

After making a decision, the 10th Division reorganized its troops the next day and prepared to move south to Xuzhou.

When Chief Li received the news, he was a little confused. Before he could think of a solution, the Japanese went south. Aren't they afraid of getting dumped?

He is also a smart man. After thinking for a while, he suddenly understood. Although the 10th Division suffered a lot of losses when they captured Teng County, they were still within an acceptable range. After being held accountable by the superiors, they could still carry it out and there would be no consequences.

Too serious.

After Teng County was burned, thousands of soldiers were burned to death at once. The losses were huge and the problem was huge.

If we don't take the opportunity to make some great achievements and atone for our sins, the consequences will be serious, and the 10th Division will have to march towards Xuzhou.

…

At the base of the 10th Division, all units were ready, and Isogani began pre-war mobilization work.

"Gentlemen, I know that everyone feels very sad. We have lost too many excellent soldiers in Teng County. But for the sake of the next war, let us temporarily forget about these and Teng County. Now our goal is Xuzhou, and the only way to win Xuzhou is

, in order to open up the two fronts, the north and the south. This is a glorious and huge task."

"Now, I need you warriors to destroy the city for the 10th Division. From now on, I will personally go into battle and command the battle! Let us take Xuzhou together..."

Isoya's eloquence and speech were not very good, but he still infected many officers.

Everyone rushed to express their opinions: "Your Excellency, the division commander! The Segu detachment is willing to be the pioneer of the division!"

"Your Excellency, Division Commander, the Panasonic detachment is willing to be the pioneer."

"Your Excellency, Division Commander, the Inoue detachment is willing to be the pioneer, step on the Taipingerzhuang defense line, and go straight to Xuzhou!"

…
To be continued...