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July 5th, 10am.

Baoding and Xushui, this county town located in the eastern foothills of the Taihang Mountains and the central Hebei Province, has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. After the Baoding Encirclement and Annihilation Station Battle began, as the war continued to progress, the Southwest Army

Under the aerial reconnaissance and surveillance of the Kuomintang, two divisions of the Kuomintang finally intercepted a Japanese reinforcement division at the foothills of Xiangshan Mountain outside Xushui City.

The Japanese army seemed to have a certain hope for the Fifth Division, which was surrounded by nearly three main Chinese divisions (the Third Division and the Fourth Division, and the other two regiments they carried on the hasty march out of Peking), plus a second-class Kuomintang division.

The idea of ​​​​rescuing the enemy was slightly slow in the early stages of the battle, and then decisively attacked after the situation was understood. Two divisions were transferred from the front line of Peiping and directly dispatched from Tianjin. They marched into Baoding from Xushui in the north of Baoding and Xin'an in the east.

battlefield.

The Japanese army attempted to rescue the besieged Fifth Division by relying on two divisions. More than 40,000 Japanese troops marched under starlight and night, throwing away almost any unnecessary equipment except artillery, and arming themselves with as many combatants as possible.[

The replenished Sixth Division and an independent 15th Brigade that had just arrived in China encountered the obstruction of the two Central Divisions of the Kuomintang in Xin'an. The Kuomintang's 18th and 19th Divisions broke out just as they came into contact with the Japanese army.

Fierce fighting.

Since the two armies also lacked sufficient heavy equipment, the Japanese army also lost the cannons on the Tianjin-Beijing battlefield. Both sides relied on small-caliber artillery, almost using the method of World War I, relying on the number of people to charge and the number of people to defend. The battle situation

The fight was very fierce, and the Japanese who were red-eyed after beating Shirakawa Yoshinori had to exert all their energy under the reprimands and orders given by Shirakawa Yoshinori. If they acted too late, the Fifth Division would be annihilated.

After experiencing many defeats, Shirakawa Yoshinori had developed a deep fear of the troops in the Southwest. You must know that it was not the two divisions of the Kuomintang that besieged the Fifth Division, but the powerful Southwest Army. Each division was besieged.

It is not necessarily possible to defeat the opponent's "division that temporarily has three infantry regiments", let alone being suddenly surrounded by nearly three divisions. As for the strong firepower of the Chinese, it goes without saying.

When the Fifth Division attacking Baoding was massacred by Chinese submachine guns, he almost collapsed on the spot. The moment he got the news, he knew that his end seemed to be doomed, but he still had to do his best to save the division.

group.

The three strategic points of Xushui, Xin'an, and Baoding formed a triangle. After the two central elite divisions of the Kuomintang in Xin'an intercepted the Japanese Sixth Division and the 15th Brigade, the two Kuomintang divisions in Xushui also fought with the Japanese Army's 3rd Infantry Division.

A fierce battle broke out in the 14th Division. The 21st Division of Class A and the 38th Division of Class B Division combined were not as numerous as one Japanese division. With a few thousand fewer people,

Lacking solid positions and defensive artillery support, a fierce battle broke out as soon as contact was made.

The 21st Division alone withstood the attacks of nearly three regiments, while the 38th Division withstood the attacks of multiple regiments. Regardless of other factors, in terms of numbers alone, both ** divisions were

At a disadvantage.

"boom……"

On the Xiangshan Blockade battlefield, a small grenade fired from a grenade exploded near a bunker. The not-so-violent explosion still raised a cloud of dust.

"Cough cough cough..."

Zhang Zizhong, the commander of the 38th Division, was choked and coughed violently. He didn't rest for a whole night, and his brows were furrowed all day long because he was worried about the war.

"Commander, the Second Regiment's position is almost unstoppable. There are too many Japanese."

In the bunker, the communications officer shouted to him on the phone.

Zhang Zizhong rushed over and took the phone, "Han Bingchen, this is Zhang Zizhong."

On the other end of the phone, although there was no violent artillery explosion, the sound of gunshots and small-caliber artillery explosions filled his ears. Even through the phone, Zhang Zizhong frowned even more. At least one brigade of the Japanese army was attacking the second regiment's defense.

position.

When Han Bingchen heard that it was Zhang Zizhong's voice, he immediately cried on the other end of the phone, "Master, please provide more support. The brothers have fought so hard. This is the seventh time that the Japanese army has launched an attack. There is no pause at all. This way

Sooner or later, everything will be exhausted if we go down."

"There is no support for Han Bingchen. Don't be a coward to me. I just sent you a support thirty minutes ago. It was already the last reserve team." Zhang Zizhong punched the phone table, not to send Han Bingchen a message.

The fire was just an opportunity to vent their anger against the Japanese army.

"Commander, it doesn't matter whether I, Han Bingchen, am a coward, but without support, the Second Regiment can only hold on for another fifteen minutes at most."

"Captain, the Japanese are here again."

"Fuck him, fuck me with a knife..."[

Listening to the busy tone on the other end of the phone, Zhang Zizhong put down the phone dejectedly. In the original battle plan, although it was considered that the Japanese army would send a large number of troops to rescue the Fifth Division in Baoding, he did not expect that the Japanese would actually use two divisions.

After aerial reconnaissance learned that the Japanese troops were divided into two groups, the Japanese blocking force had to be divided into two groups. The main force was responsible for blocking the Sixth Division and the independent brigade, while the 21st Division and Zhang Zizhong's 38th Division were responsible for blocking.

Responsible for blocking the 14th Division.

The battle turned out to be more brutal than at the gates of Peiping City. Zhang Zizhong did not expect this. He was not afraid of defeat, let alone dying in Xushui. What he was afraid of was that if two divisions could not stop the Japanese division, they would be let go.

, the encirclement and annihilation troops of the Southwest Army will definitely have to devote their attention to dealing with it. Whether the battle plan of annihilating the fifth division can be achieved by then will be a big question mark.

As for the Peiping direction, because they learned that the Japanese reinforcements were greater than expected, they had already ordered the reinforcements to be sent out. It is estimated that they will not be able to catch up with the battle.

Zhang Zizhong came to his senses and asked the combat staff, "The battle ahead is too miserable and there are no reserves available. I would like to ask if the 21st Division can provide some support."

Although he knew that the 21st Division was also engaged in a bloody battle with the Japanese army, he had no other choice. In a radius of nearly a hundred miles, in addition to the 21st Division, which was also organized by the Japanese army, there was also the Xin'an blockade, which was also engaged in a bloody battle twenty or thirty miles away.

The two divisions on the battlefield were either the main southwest division thirty miles behind.

After much deliberation, he had to try to see if he could borrow some reinforcements from the 21st Division. This was at least a full first-class division with a force of more than 10,000 people. Compared with the 38th-class second-class division with more than 6,000 people,

Come on, they are not a little bit stronger, but they have to be responsible for an additional multi-Japanese army coalition.

After a day and night of fighting, the staff officer understood that the division commander no longer had a single platoon of reserve troops, so he silently picked up the phone and called the 21st Division headquarters.

"Commander, Deputy Commander Fang Shuhong of the 21st Division asked you to answer the phone." After the staff member called, he frowned and handed the phone to Zhang Zizhong before mentioning the reinforcements.

"Hello, I'm Zhang Zizhong."

"Mr. Zhang, I am Fang Shuhong, acting commander of the 21st Division."

Hearing this, Zhang Zizhong felt a thud in his heart, "Deputy Division Commander, Acting Division Commander, too bad..."

Sure enough, Fang Shuhong's next words shocked him, "Commander Zhang, I was about to inform you that Commander Huo Shouyi was unfortunately killed while personally commanding the battle on the front line. He sacrificed his life for the party and the country on the spot.

The Japanese attack is too fierce, let’s shrink the defense line.”

"Death in action shrinks the defense line"

Zhang Zizhong was shocked, Huo Shouyi died like this? Huo Shouyi, who was arrogant and always competed with his peers in everything, was actually killed in battle.

Shrink the defense line. If the defense line is shrunk, the Japanese army only needs to use one force to contain the two Japanese divisions, and they can successfully pass through Xushui and march to Baoding, which is more than 20 miles away. This is tantamount to declaring that the blockade has failed.

"Commander Fang, we must not shrink the defense line. As long as we hold on to the existing positions of the two divisions, the Japanese army will be able to pass through in a short time. As long as we buy more time for the troops in Baoding, we can achieve the final victory."

There was silence for a while on the other end of the phone, and then Fang Shuhong's voice came, a little deep, "Commander Zhang, do you think the two divisions in the southwest can annihilate a main Japanese division in one day? If not, maybe, we can

The sacrifice will become meaningless..."

"I believe it." Zhang Zizhong closed his eyes and seemed to think of the southwest soldiers he had seen. They all had a confidence on their faces that the Japanese soldiers did not have. Their equipment was far better than his own troops, and even more so.

, their officers and soldiers had a fighting spirit to kill the enemy that made even the Japanese army tremble.

"Then let us persevere until the end and do our best for the party, the country, and the nation."

Without saying anything else, Fang Shuhong hung up the phone.[

Zhang Zizhong also knew that the 21st Division had too many Japanese troops to deal with. He seemed to see Fang Shuhong on the other end of the phone, and after hanging up the phone, he went to the firing line with his gun in hand. Although Fang Shuhong didn't say much, he felt that the other party

The tone in his voice was as if he was ready to die.

Pulling off his military cap, Zhang Zizhong stood up in confusion, "Let's go, organize everyone from the division headquarters, I will personally lead the team."

He will lead the last reserve team of the 38th Division onto the line of fire.

"boom……"

"Bang bang bang..."

"Da da da..."

Throughout the Xushui interception battlefield, the positions of the 38th Division of the Japanese Army were filled with gunpowder smoke. The Japanese army seemed to have noticed that the Chinese Army lacked heavy weapons, and the thrower can better suppress the Japanese army's backward Maxim machine gun.

Questions, constantly launching crazy attacks.

"Commander, why are you here?" When Han Bingchen, who was bandaging his arm, saw Zhang Zizhong personally leading a team to support him, he knew that the commander had also been forced into a corner.

"Did you lose? You take a rest and I will lead the team for a while."

Zhang Zizhong was also fought hard on the battlefield, and today's Anti-Japanese War is different from previous civil wars. From him down, the officers and soldiers fought very hard.

The "reserve" arrived and finally defended the most dangerous position of the 38th Division.

"Send someone to clean up and come back with some guns and medicine."

Thinking of how little "medicine" the troops had left, although Zhang Zizhong led the team to repulse the Japanese attack, he was not happy at all. He organized his men to clean up the battlefield while thinking of ways.

"This is not the way to go. The position will definitely not be defended until dark." Looking at the sun above his head, Zhang Zizhong knew that he could not stop it by just fighting hard and to the death. If nothing else, the position would be lost when it gets dark.

Already.

Taking advantage of the break in the Japanese attack, Zhang Zizhong and Fang Shuhong, the acting commander of the 21st Division, met to discuss a solution.

"This is the only thing left. The railway line has not yet been completed. If we want to get support from the direction of Peiping, there is not enough time, and the support is also very limited. We need assistance, but we also need to prepare for the worst."

"Well, let me tell you." Although Zhang Zizhong was reluctant to do this, for the sake of the overall situation, he had to call the phone. Fortunately, the three battlefield telephone numbers in Baoding battlefield were connected. **The battlefield telephone numbers in Xushui and Xin'an were

If it is connected, then towards Baoding, there will be a transfer point, which is indirectly connected to the southwestern team of Baoding.

"Hello, I am Zhang Zizhong, commander of the 38th Division. Please tell your army commander, General Ma Wenwu, that the Japanese attack is very fierce and we will fight until the last minute. However, please be sure to prepare for the worst.
To be continued...