The troops of the 3rd Battalion of the 232nd Regiment retreated safely with the remnants of the 2nd Battalion, but the news that almost the entire 2nd Battalion of the 232nd Regiment had been wiped out also reached Pang Bingxun's ears.

It was a telegram personally sent by Peng Shouyu, commander of the 232nd Regiment, informing him that more than half of the 1st Battalion had been killed and wounded, and that almost all of the 2nd Battalion had been wiped out. Only the 3rd Battalion and the regiment's guard platoon were left with combat effectiveness.

After hearing the news, Pang Bingxun felt very anxious: How long had it been? Two of the five regiments had been maimed, and the 230th regiment had also been maimed half!

It's only been a week, and two and a half regiments have been crippled. It won't be long before the entire 40th Army will be wiped out!

"No, no." Pang Bingxun shook his head, hurried to the communications room, and said to the communications staff: "Immediately call the theater commander's department and tell them that if we don't send reinforcements, our 40th Army will be wiped out!"

It didn't take long for Li Zongren's reply to the telegram to arrive: "Linyi is the Taiwan and Xu barrier, and must be resolutely defended to resist the enemy's advance. In addition to ordering Zhang Zizhong's troops to go for reinforcements, Xu Zuyi, chief of staff of the headquarters, has also been sent to take command nearby. Commander-in-Chief of the Fifth War Zone

Li Zongren called back at 12:37 noon on March 5, 27th year of the Republic of China."

"It seems that we still need to hold on in Linyi for a while..." Pang Bingxun took the telegram, and he didn't know what his mood was. Anyway, his face was expressionless.

"Old Pang, we still can't let the enemy defeat Tangtou. If they defeat Tangtou, Linyi will be in trouble. At least until reinforcements arrive, Linyi cannot be lost." Wang Showu said.

Due to the battle plan proposed by Zhang Tianhai, the trajectory of history has slightly shifted, and Li Zongren's reply telegram was also advanced four days. Originally, the battle at Tangshan Au was just a small battle. The 1st Battalion of the 232nd Regiment was involved in this battle.

I just lost one company.

Now, the 232nd Regiment lost half of its regiment in Tangshan Col. The defense battle in Tangtou Town has also changed from the 232nd Regiment as the absolute defense force to the main force. The Linyi Security Regiment, which previously existed mainly as a reserve force, also went to Tangtou.

The front line is now.

Also starting from this day, the Japanese Katano Regiment, in collaboration with the 11th Regiment of the 9th Brigade, began to contact Tangtou Town, and the battle became increasingly fierce.

Enemy planes carried out fierce bombing on Tangtou Town every day, and continued to bombard it with artillery. Tanks covered the infantry rushing forward. The level of artillery fire was even worse than that on the Tangshan Ao battlefield.

Perhaps because the battle at Tangshan Col was too fierce and the Japanese army was eager to advance, Katano Sadaki did not send troops to search the mountains.

After all, in the eyes of these arrogant Japanese officers, these "China troops" with backward equipment and weak combat skills dared to ambush them? So what if they were ambushed? With their bravery, they would definitely defeat the opponent.

The battle in Tangtou Town lasted for two or three days. Because the national army officers and soldiers fought bravely and were not afraid of sacrifice, Tangtou Town did not fall.

However, due to the heavy losses of the 232nd Regiment and part of the Linyi Security Regiment stationed in Tangtou Town, Tangtou Town had to be abandoned.

After Tangtou withdrew its defense, the south of Tangtou Town was peaceful, and the battle at the White Tower immediately became tense.

Katano Sadaide commanded the troops to go south, and it could be said that they were advancing with great success. Taipingzhuang and Baitazhuang fell to the enemy on the same day.

Seeing this, Pang Bingxun ordered Liu Fusheng of the 231st Regiment of the 116th Brigade to lead his troops to defend the southern villages and be sure to hold back the main force of the enemy.

In addition, Pang Bingxun also transferred the field supplementary regiment from Duozhuang to copy the enemy's right rear from the north of Gegou. He also transferred Shao Ensan's 229th Regiment from the 115th Brigade from Xianggongzhuang to copy the enemy's left rear along the east bank of the Shu River.

.

A fierce battle broke out, with the momentum of encircling the Japanese 21st Regiment and part of the 11th Regiment from three sides!

"Your Excellency, Captain! The troops at Tongfo Guanzhuang were fiercely attacked by the Chinese army and have suffered heavy losses! Should we withdraw now?" A combat staff officer ran to Katano Sadami and reported.

Katano Sada clenched his teeth and was very unhappy. Of course, he still knew what his situation was like——

The attack on Tangshan'ao, the forward position of Tangtou, had already caused the loss of more than 600 of the 3,000-strong forward force. When attacking Tangtou Town, another 400 to 500 people were lost.

Excluding the troops divided on the left and right wings, more than 600 people were sent. Katano Sadami's offensive force on the southern front of Tangtou Town was less than two brigades, which was more than 1,300 people.

Katano Sadami thought about it carefully. If the troops on the left and right wings were defeated, then the more than 1,300 people in his frontline troops would undoubtedly become turtles in the jar!

Soon, Seiji Aichi, who was in the rear, also ran over to Katano Sadami and said: "Your Excellency, Captain, we should withdraw first! It doesn't matter if Linyi is captured a day later. There is still one day for reinforcements."

We are here. If we don’t retreat, if the forward troops are surrounded and annihilated, you and I will not be able to escape the blame. His Excellency Commander Juichi Terauchi’s plan to join forces at Taierzhuang will be over!"

Katano Sadami took a long breath, slammed the katana in his hand on the ground, and then turned around and left with great reluctance.

"Withdraw troops from Tangtou Town and wait for reinforcements!" Katano Sadami angrily issued the order to withdraw troops.

On March 8, under the orders of Commander Katano Sadami, the Japanese army was forced to abandon the occupied villages in the Taiping and Baita area.

It is worth mentioning that when Wang Dazhang, commander of the third battalion of the 229th regiment, jointly attacked Tongfoguanzhuang with the second battalion of the regiment, he took the lead and charged into the battle. As a result, he was hit by the enemy and died heroically, resulting in many casualties among his officers and soldiers.

More than 80 people were also beaten.

Linyi, the former enemy headquarters of the Third Army.

When the news that the national army had regained the southern line of Tangtou Town was sent back to the headquarters, the entire headquarters cheered - after all, this was the only time since the reinforcements in Ju County that the situation was regained a little momentum.

Looking at Pang Bingxun's calm face, Wang Showu sighed and said: "Old Pang, you are so calm. If I were the commander, when I ordered the supplementary regiment and the 229th Regiment to launch a counterattack, I would have

Zhang Tianhai's Zhiyi Regiment has been mobilized. Let them block the Japanese army's retreat and directly encircle and annihilate the outstanding enemies in this unit."

Pang Bingxun pointed at Tangtou Town on the map with the baton in his hand, and said in a deep voice: "The fighter planes have not arrived at this time. According to the intelligence sent back by the frontline combat troops, we can know that there are still more than 2,000 enemy troops in this unit.

Everyone, they only need to withdraw and defend Tangtou Town and wait for reinforcements. With the strength of our army, we may not be able to take Tangtou Town. Once the Japanese reinforcements arrive, they can launch a two-sided attack on the first regiment directly under Zhang Yulin's third theater.

Their group is doomed."

"But as long as we can annihilate this enemy force, we will slow down the situation in Linyi." Wang Showu said.

I saw Pang Bingxun shaking his head and saying: "It cannot be slowed down. The enemy's reinforcements will immediately be used as a big stick to continue the attack. By then, the situation of our army will only be more unfavorable. It is better to wait for the Japanese reinforcements to arrive and then we will launch another big attack."

!”

"A big one? But now we can't even protect ourselves. How can we talk about counterattack?" Wang Showu expressed worry.

"Brother Xiao, don't forget that not only the Japanese army has reinforcements, we also have them. As long as we can hold out until Chief of Staff Xu arrives in the theater with Zhang Zizhong's reinforcements, it will be the end of this arrogant enemy in front of us!

Shi Zhang Tianhai's regiment is of great use!" As he said that, Pang Bingxun poked his baton on the table, obviously full of confidence!

"I've learned a lesson, sir." After saying that, Wang Showu gave a military salute.

"Actually, from your point of view, there is no problem. But your combat thinking is too conservative, because you are afraid of losing Linyi. But I want to win a big victory in the southeastern Shandong area." Pang Bingxun concluded.

"What if we are defeated?" Wang Showu asked again.

Pang Bingxun smiled and said: "The big deal is that we will stick to Linyi in the end, and we will live and die with Linyi."

…

PS: The second update is here!
Chapter completed!