In response to Ye Chao's doubts, Yang Zhen waved his hands and said: "It is precisely because there is no gunfire in the northeast that we cannot break out in that direction. It is also precisely because the southwest is the enemy's main attack direction that we have to break out in that direction. The reason
Quite simply, the absence of gunfire does not mean that the enemy is not ambushing us."
"With a large number of enemy troops already appearing in three directions: due east, southwest, and north of our army, don't you think the northeast is a little strangely quiet? Indeed, the northeast is occupied by the 52nd Division and the 40th Division.
The joint part, but the joint part does not mean that the troops are weak. Don't forget that a regiment of the 52nd Division has bypassed the blocking of the Third Regiment and is moving southward."
"According to the original plan, the Third Regiment has already evacuated the road from Bangshan to Langqiao at this time. In other words, there are no more troops of our army to defend the front of the 52nd Division. The main force of the 52nd Division should also be on the way now.
They are pressing towards us. But we still don’t know where they are now. The information we have is already a few hours old.”
"In front of two enemies, light and dark, if it were me, I would choose the open enemy. Moreover, the enemy's 40th Division in the southeast came from the Sanxi front line to reinforce Xingtan, and fought fiercely with our army for half a night. It was already extremely tired and suffered no casualties.
Light. And after a fierce battle in the middle of the night, we already know the entire deployment situation of the enemy in the southeast of Xingtan."
"Choose the southeast direction to break out. Although it may take a hard battle, it is much better than encountering one or even two fully formed regiments. When the enemy's situation is unknown, it is more appropriate to choose an opponent who has been exposed.
. You must know that it is easy to hide from open guns, but difficult to guard against hidden arrows."
Just when Ye Chao, who heard that Yang Zhen finally decided to retreat, was about to go out to convey the order, the battalion commander who stayed to block the 40th Division's counterattack and cover the main force's breakout was carrying a shell gun with the nose of the machine wide open.
He came in happily and said: "Political Commissar, Chief Ye, the enemy troops in front of us suddenly withdrew. And there was intensive gunfire just now from the direction of Madu Bridge behind Xingtan. It seems that our troops have hit
Madu Bridge."
As soon as Yang Zhen heard this, his heart suddenly moved. He immediately grabbed the telescope on the table, stood up and said to Ye Chao and Yin Yang beside him: "Ye Chao, hurry up and prepare, wait for the rear guard camp to arrive."
The whole army broke through. Yin Yang and I went to the front to see what was going on."
When he arrived at the forward position, Yang Zhen discovered that the enemy in front of him was just as the battalion commander said. Not only had all the troops disappeared, but judging from the large amount of supplies left behind, it could be said that the retreat was in a panic.
At this time, except for dozens of wounded soldiers, the Forty Division's already empty position not only dropped a large amount of ammunition, but also dropped a Type 24 heavy machine gun with its legs in the air.
There were even dozens of wounded soldiers who were not able to evacuate in time. Yang Zhen stepped forward and touched the water-filled sleeve outside the barrel, but it was still hot.
Looking at the messy enemy position and hearing the gunshots coming from the direction of Madu Bridge, Yang Zhen did not hesitate at all. He turned his head and said to the defenders who had arrived: "I will give you my guard company. You guys
Everyone, put on bayonets for me, bring all the light machine guns, and attack me immediately towards the front line of Madu Bridge."
"When encountering the enemy, don't hesitate. Use grenades and light machine guns from a distance, and use bayonets from close range. In short, no matter how many enemies you face, in one word, just hit me hard. Wherever there is gunfire, go there.
Rush. Remember, I am right behind you."
After hearing Yang Zhen's order, Ye Chao hesitated for a moment and then said: "Political Commissar, could you be more careful and send a unit to conduct reconnaissance? Don't you think that with the Forty Division having the upper hand, their retreat is somewhat
Inexplicable? He was so panicked that he even lost his heavy machine gun."
Regarding Ye Chao's worries, Yang Zhen pondered for a moment, but then shook his head and said: "There is nothing to worry about. No matter what kind of medicine they sell in the gourd, these enemies in front of us are all obvious enemies to us.
As long as we chase their butts, there won't be any big problems. When it comes to ambushes and ambush warfare, they are still far behind. Just execute it, the worst it will be is a bloody battle."
The rearguard battalion commander heard Yang Zhen's order and knew that the situation was urgent. Without any hesitation, he left one company as the rearguard, and the rest, together with the attached guard company, formed a three-way column with bayonets on the guns.
An assault was launched towards the front line of Madu Bridge.
After the rear guard battalion launched the breakout operation, Yang Zhen gathered the remnants of the battalion originally deployed in Xingtan into a company to cover the heavy machine guns and mortars, providing fire cover for the troops' breakout operation. These heavy machine guns and mortars
Yang Zhen never thought that he could take the artillery across the river. The bullets and mortar shells were like splashing water on the troops of the 448th Regiment of the 148th Division who were retreating to the Sanxi front line.
When Yang Zhen's breakout operation began, the 448th Regiment, which was retreating to the Sanxi front line, was obviously deceived. In fact, if the reinforcements in Xingtan were the troops of the 40th Division, this dramatic turning point would not have occurred so quickly.
.The 40th Division, which was adapted from the Tax Police Corps, is not only well-equipped, but its combat effectiveness is second only to the elite 52nd Division of the Central Army in the third theater.
However, Fang Riying, the commander of the 40th Division, as the general of the Central Army, obviously did not trust the 148th Division, which was reorganized from the 5th Division of the Sichuan Army before leaving Sichuan. At the most critical moment of the war, in addition to the general who had been defeated in Xingtan,
The remaining 120th Regiment withdrew outside Sanxi Town, where the division headquarters was located, and the first part of the 119th Regiment was deployed on the Langqiao line.
The 118th Regiment, which originally played a key role in the Xingtan counterattack but suffered heavy casualties in the previous battle, withdrew behind the 448th Regiment, and the 448th Regiment took over the main attack. And his
The 118th Regiment built a position behind the 448th Regiment, not only to build a second line of defense, but also to watch the 448th Regiment, a miscellaneous force, play a disguised role in supervising the battle.
What Commander Fang didn't expect was that the Central Military System, which he and almost all the Central Army generals upheld, had always adhered to the style of plugging holes with miscellaneous troops and direct troops sitting behind and supervising operations. However, at this critical juncture,
Something went terribly wrong.
As a miscellaneous unit from the Sichuan Army, the 148th Division was adapted from the miscellaneous troops recruited by the King of Sichuan during the melee in Sichuan. As a miscellaneous unit among miscellaneous names, this division has been involved in the whirlpool of the civil war in central Sichuan for decades.
The awareness of self-preservation is very strong.
Moreover, as a miscellaneous unit, its own combat effectiveness, equipment, and training are not comparable to those of the Forty Division, which is the elite of the Central Army, or the 144th Division, and the 145th Division, which are trained by the Sichuan Army's most elite instructors, model divisions, or
Compared with the troops adapted from the main troops of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd divisions, they are also very different.
If compared to the 40th Division, the 52nd Division and other central armies, the 144th Division, the 145th Division and other local troops are all miscellaneous. Then this one was adapted from the 5th Division of the 21st Army of the Sichuan Army.
The 48th Division is a no-name among the no-names. Although it is better than the super no-names like the 22nd Army, it is not much better. At best, its weapons and equipment are not so shabby.
Moreover, adhering to mutual vigilance, the Sichuan Army generals were afraid that the Central Army would use their swords to kill people. The 448th Regiment of the 148th Division was sent to reinforce the 40th Division. As an unknown force among the elite Sichuan Army, its equipment and training were even worse.
There are many. The entire regiment has no more than a thousand combat soldiers, and its equipment is mainly Sichuan-made rifles when it came out of Sichuan.
Among the three battalions, only one battalion was equipped with rifles made in Hanyang, but Commander Fang left him to look after his home. There were only two heavy machine guns in the whole regiment, and only two light machine guns in each company. They were copied from the Sichuan Arsenal.
The Kirari light machine gun. The equipment was shabby and not much better than that of the Eighty-eighth Army, which was equipped by the commander himself.
For those generals of the motley army, who is a good boy who will live on someone else’s bed? Especially when they are cooperating with the Central Army in fighting. After two years of war of resistance, they have become accustomed to the Central Army’s tricks of killing people with a knife and even disarming and annexing them.
There is no local army general who is very thorough, but when cooperating with the Central Army to fight, there is no one who does not have some reservations. He is afraid that the troops he relies on for survival will be swallowed up by others inadvertently.
However, as a member of the Sichuan King's direct troops, although he is a no-name, he is a little stronger than those no-names among the no-names. In addition to being equipped with heavy machine guns that are not commonly found in the Sichuan army's no-name troops, the 448th Regiment also has
Two Sichuan-made 47mm mortars.
It was not uncommon for the Central Army and the miscellaneous army to be on guard against each other on the frontal battlefields during the War of Resistance. The Central Army looked down on and distrusted the local miscellaneous forces. On the battlefield, they often placed the miscellaneous troops in the most dangerous positions.
Above. Even in coordinated operations, miscellaneous troops are often used separately. Even this encirclement and suppression of the southern Anhui troops was no exception.
The Third War Zone used the 108th Division of the Northeast Army system, but the 108th Division was dismantled to pieces. Of the two brigades and four regiments under the 108th Division, all three regiments participating in the war were assigned
The 52nd Division of the Central Army commanded. One division headquarters and two brigade headquarters were vacated in the blink of an eye. Except for one regiment under his command, even the division's directly affiliated teams were taken away.
Although the Sichuan Army participating in the war belonged to the 50th Army, the 21st Army, and the 1st Section of the 23rd Army, they all came with troops, and the command organizations remained in place. Each unit was not assigned to the Central Army for command.
It is directly under the command of the Army Headquarters. The original military headquarters became the Air Force Commander.
A regiment with the smallest strength among the regiment-level organizations among the three war zones participating in the war was now split into two parts. After arriving at the front line of Xingtan, it was directly pushed to the front line. It was originally equipped with elite equipment.
The Central Army has become a bystander and also supervises the battle team. No one will be too happy about this change.
When gunshots rang out on the front line of Madu Bridge, the 118th Regiment of the 40th Division behind them turned back and marched eastward to reinforce the front line of Madu Bridge. The 448th Regiment, who did not want to stay and be the scapegoat, simply did not stop doing anything and directly responded to the 118th Regiment.
In the name of the 18th Regiment, they immediately withdrew their troops and withdrew. For fear of accidentally staying here to take the blame for the 119th Regiment, the 448th Regiment, its wounded soldiers and the 40th Division had just arrived at the Xingtan front line to replenish their
I didn't even bother to pack up the ammunition.
Even because they left in such a hurry, one of the only two heavy machine guns in the entire regiment was simply discarded because it had a fault that was not too big and could be repaired in a short period of time. In
From the perspective of these people, as long as they keep their roots, that is, their troops, they can still think of ways if their weapons are lost. But if all their troops are destroyed, then they will have nothing.