Regarding the actual combat effectiveness of the entire Wannan Army and the capabilities of commanders at all levels, Yang Zhen admitted that he did not know much and was not comprehensive. This is why Yang Zhen dared to boldly delegate power to the commander of the Xiyi Army and granted him the right to form the New Fourth Army. Afterwards, it never gained real military command authority.
For Yang Zhen, it is better to let someone who is familiar with the army take command than to be a stranger. Yang Zhen, who is a real soldier, thinks that he will not be inferior to the commander in front of him on the battlefield. But when facing the army In terms of understanding, he can only be said to be an outsider so far.
As the founder of an army, except for the deputy commander who has arrived in Yan'an, it is obvious that no one is more familiar with the combat effectiveness of his subordinates than this army commander. Leave the battle to someone who is familiar with the army. The command is always much better than the one who doesn't understand this army.
This is not the Northeast, and the troops he leads are not the new anti-resistance alliance that he created and knew well. Although most of the commanders at the regiment level and above are from the old Red Army. Basically, all of them have gone through the test of three years of guerrilla war and the Long March. Veterans who have experienced battles for a long time. Many of them have even served as division-level commanders in the Red Army, but they are still quite unfamiliar to Yang Zhen.
Lin Jianqiu and Xiang Yongzhang were originally selected to stay, in addition to the recommendation of a team commander and political commissar who was familiar with the military situation. The resumes of the two people were also one of the reasons for Yang Zhen to make up his mind. Lin Jianqiu was a veteran guerrilla. , rich experience in guerrilla warfare.
Moreover, Lin Jianqiu was not the main commander of the army. He was left to insist that the combat effectiveness of each unit would not be affected by adjusting the military chief. Compared with Lin Jianqiu, the reason why Xiang Yongzhang was selected was simpler. Because he himself was from Wannan. People are quite familiar with the terrain and people here.
If he had time to get more familiar with these cadres, Yang Zhen would never be so hasty when choosing candidates. At least for military chiefs, he would still consider them carefully. But now, in When the troops were about to set off and it was not suitable for the military and political officers of each regiment to change, Yang Zhen thought it was a good choice to transfer these two people.
The lack of a deep understanding of the combat effectiveness of the troops was one of the main reasons why Yang Zhen delegated power to the army commander. But now, since Yang Zhen has said that he will not interfere in combat deployment, he really means what he says. When the army commander deploys operations, At that time, although he was sitting on the edge, he said nothing.
When the military commander finished his deployment and looked at him habitually, wanting to ask for his opinion on the deployment, he just emphasized the basic strategic requirements of meeting in a narrow road and concentrating troops and firepower. Say one more word. Just sit there, not knowing what you are thinking.
Looking at Yang Zhen who said nothing and even looked like he was concentrating with his eyes closed, the army commander and several senior generals around him could only shake their heads with a wry smile. The young new political commissar also acted too relaxed. Well. As a political commissar, you must at least play a supervisory role.
According to regulations, the political commissar has the final decision-making power. In combat, he is responsible for the final control of the entire combat operation. But you, the political commissar, have not said a word, and now you have even closed your eyes. It is obvious Act like I trust you completely. Is this political commissar that serious?
In fact, Yang Zhen's name and experience are basically known to all the senior generals here. Since the battle started, everyone wants to see what this young general who has built such a big world in the Northeast from scratch has to do. There. But he didn't expect that the new political commissar would put on such a posture when he arrived on the battlefield.
Compared with the cadres at all levels around him, the military commander who finally obtained the real battlefield command had mixed feelings in his heart. Compared with the previous distrust and even rejection, this commander was almost a whole year younger than him. The commander was quite unaccustomed to the trust given to a twenty-year-old young man at critical moments.
After adjusting the deployment, the army commander turned around and wanted to ask Yang Zhen for advice on his entire deployment. Unexpectedly, Yang Zhen just said a few words and then closed his eyes and calmed down. Helpless Then, the army commander had no choice but to turn around and continue discussing the battle situation ahead.
What everyone present didn't know was that Yang Zhen seemed to be resting his mind at this time, but in fact his head did not rest for a moment. He heard clearly what the military commander had just deployed. But in Yang Zhen's view , it is undoubtedly an extremely correct decision to concentrate our forces at the moment to defeat the Forty Division first.
Only by taking advantage of the surrounding divisions to get rid of this obstacle and enter the Tianmu Mountains of Jingde before the other divisions on all sides can encircle them, can the southern Anhui army truly escape from danger. Under the current situation where there is only one road with Huashan, even if he takes action personally, he will not be able to escape. There is no other better way.
Although Yang Zhen did not express his position on military deployment, his attitude and previous orders silently told everyone that he trusted the commander in military command. And at present, almost everyone knows that the Third War Zone With the troops in southern Anhui already encircled, the calmness he showed calmed everyone down in response to the sudden enemy situation.
Yang Zhen's actions as an example clearly gave the military commander and everyone in the military great confidence. Without interference, the military commander, who had gained battlefield command for the first time since the formation of the New Fourth Army, It was almost a superb performance. Orders were passed out from the commander's mouth one after another, and the troops in front became more and more courageous as they fought.
The battle continued until noon. Under the intensive fire cover of six 90mm mortars and eight Type 92 heavy machine guns randomly flown in by Yang Zhen, the Fifth Regiment and the Old First Regiment, which attacked eastward from Piling, took the lead in taking the lead. They made progress and broke through three blockades of the 40th Division in succession. They successively seized the commanding heights along Jiangjun Mountain, Caojiashan, and Lugong Mountain.
The 120th Regiment of the 40th Division deployed along the line from Piling to Lugong Mountain was severely damaged by the superior firepower and the fierce attacks of the two regiments. Most of the regiment's direct team and its three battalions were wiped out, and the remaining troops withdrew. They arrived at Xingtan to join the 119th Regiment. After the 120th Regiment was defeated, the forward battalion of the Old 1st Regiment, which launched an attack along the ridge on the west side, had already reached the west of Xingtan.
An hour after the forward of the Old First Regiment arrived at Xingtan, the main force of the Fifth Regiment, which launched the attack from the east, also arrived less than five miles southwest of Xingtan. At this time, the Old First Regiment and the Fifth Regiment, which launched the frontal attack from the military headquarters, had already attacked Xingtan has formed a pincer-shaped offensive. As long as Xingtan is scooped out, it means that the entire blockade deployed in the southeast by the third theater will be torn apart. As long as the entire southern Anhui army passes through Xingtan, it will enter the Tianmu Mountains, which means that It means escape and ascend to heaven.
While making great progress in the middle, the column on the left wing, after a hard fight until 15:00 in the afternoon, defeated the interception of a reinforced battalion of the 52nd Division and the division's search company, pistol company and the first section of the special agent battalion. , completed the task assigned by the military headquarters to forcibly cross the Huihe River and seize Bangshan, an important place in the east of Hedong.
After completing the first phase of combat tasks assigned by the military headquarters, the first column left the deputy commander to command and the third regiment to build positions on the spot to block the follow-up troops of the 52nd Division in the north. , the New Third Regiment made a 90-degree turn.
The first column concentrated the strength of two regiments and the strength of two directly affiliated special agent battalions, under the cover of three mortars and more than ten Czech light machine guns and Hotchkiss heavy machine guns reinforced by the military headquarters at all costs. , forcibly attacked and advanced to the south. Before sunset, they successively captured Jushan and rushed to the front line. The forwards directly threatened the flanks of the main force of the 40th Division in Xingtan and the covered bridge where the 40th Division's supplies were located.
The breakthrough of the first column on the left wing forced the 40th Division to transfer a battalion of the 119th Regiment from the front and rear of the 120th Regiment and the division's special agent battalion and engineer battalion to the line from Jushan to Madu to stop the attack. The fierce offensive of the column. Although this action of the 40th Division temporarily stopped the offensive of the first column, it weakened Xingtan's strength.
The Forty Division is a direct line unit of the Central Army in the Third Theater Zone. Although its equipment is not as elite as the 52nd Division's full set of French equipment, it is one of the best in the entire Third Theater Zone. Not only is it equipped with light and heavy machine guns, but it also has a mountain artillery battalion attached to the division. The artillery shells are also sufficient. The combat effectiveness is also top-notch among the troops currently deployed in southern Anhui.
However, under the two-sided attack from the first column and the troops directly under the military headquarters that attacked frontally, the Forty Division, although it resisted desperately, fell into a situation where the left and the right were trapped under the firepower of the troops regardless of the loss of ammunition. On the front and the left Constantly being breached, division commander Fang Riying couldn't help but scratch his head while constantly adjusting his deployment in order to plug the growing loopholes.
He couldn't help scratching his head when he received a report that the forward troops had suffered heavy casualties and had to retreat under the intensive firepower of the New Fourth Army troops in front of them, especially the intensive machine gun fire and mortar fire. It was not that the New Fourth Army in southern Anhui was short of guns and ammunition. Is the equipment extremely poor? But how come it is on top of me that on one attack surface alone dozens of light and heavy machine guns can be concentrated, as well as a large number of mortars?
The ammunition was like splashing water, and it didn't look like it was in short supply at all, especially when equipped with a large number of portable machine guns. How could you become so rich all of a sudden? Not to mention being able to fight against your own troops, in Can the intensity of firepower still suppress one's own troops?
What puzzled him even more was that his mountain artillery battalion, which was deployed in the rear position on the east bank of the Huihe River and was equipped with eight French 75 Schneider mountain cannons, which he regarded as eye-catching, was lost after only firing a few rounds. Contact. When someone was sent to check, all that was left of the mountain artillery battalion was a pile of bombed-out wreckage, except for the artillery pieces that had been disarmed inexplicably.
As for the artillerymen who were blinded, they didn't know who did it until the whole army was destroyed. They only knew that they were a group of people wearing colorful clothes and holding a strange kind of weapon in their hands. The people who had seen automatic firearms, with the cooperation of some small groups of New Fourth Army troops, used the gaps in the frontline troops to infiltrate the artillery positions. After disarming the artillery, blowing up all the artillery, they hurried away before reinforcements arrived.
The entire artillery force was destroyed, all artillery pieces were lost, and the artillerymen who had lost a full set of weapons and equipment did not know anything about it. Fang Riying, who had not obtained any useful information, was furious, but had no choice but to shoot the artillery battalion commander who he considered to be a serious dereliction of duty. It's over.