Yang Zhen insisted that he stay and gather the follow-up troops. Several military leaders, especially the deputy secretary of the Southeast Bureau, firmly disagreed. It was difficult for others to speak. But the deputy secretary of the Southeast Bureau said directly: "Comrade Yang Zhen .I object to your idea. You are now the political commissar of the New Fourth Army and the network reporter of the Southeast Bureau. In other words, you are now the supreme commander of the Southern Anhui Army."
"You are not the commander of the column. You are not the commander of the regiment. It is not appropriate for you to lead the team personally under the current situation. You are responsible for the central government. You are responsible for the entire army currently in southern Anhui. Rather than Responsible for that single unit of troops."
"You have to leave a senior cadre to accommodate the follow-up troops. I have no objection to this. But you have to stay in person. Please come to more and faster chapters. I think it is inappropriate. Comrade Yang Zhen. You are putting the cart before the horse. Comrade Yang Zhen. If you continue to insist on this decision, I will report it to the central government immediately and truthfully."
The words of the deputy secretary of the Southeast Bureau immediately resonated among all the personnel in the military department. Seeing a few people firmly objecting, Yang Zhen frowned. But he persisted and said to the commander: "Commander, this matter is... It’s settled. You immediately take all the military personnel and the rest of the troops to cross the Huihe River."
"I'll lead a battalion to stay here to stabilize the breach and coordinate with the special agent group and the teaching corps. We don't have much time to delay. The enemy's advance is very fast. Even if we want to leave after dawn, we can't leave. We must move quickly. .There can be no hesitation at all.”
Regarding Yang Zhen’s persistence, please come to more and faster chapters. The deputy secretary of the Southeast Bureau said: "Comrade Yang Zhen, I still firmly oppose your idea. I am a member of the Party Committee of the Military Branch and the deputy secretary of the Southeast Bureau. I have the right and obligation to object to you doing this."
"Comrade Yang Zhen, although I have been engaged in local work for a long time, I don't know how to lead troops, let alone how to fight. But one thing is clear to me. It is inappropriate for you to stay to support the follow-up troops at this time. You are a Leader of the army, you have to consider the consequences of doing this."
"Also, Comrade Yang Zhen, you must believe in your subordinates. Comrade Zhou Guisheng and Comrade Feng Dafei are currently commanding the southern front troops. They are veteran comrades who have been on the battlefield for a long time and have rich practical experience. You must believe that they can lead the special agent group. And bring it out with the teaching team.”
In response to the fierce opposition of some people, the army commander was silent for a while and said: "In this way, we will send people to get in touch with the special agent group first to see where they are. Then we will make a decision. If they have already reached the Changkeng Mountain line, .Then the political commissar insists on staying. If they are still on the Niulanling front line, then the political commissar must not stay."
The compromise proposed by the military commander was approved by other people in the military department. However, contrary to expectations, the radio stations of the military headquarters and the southern front troops were never able to contact each other. Several groups of correspondents were sent to look for them, but almost all of them failed to return. Facing the tense situation, Yang Zhen simply terminated the meeting, exercising his final decision-making power as a political commissar for the first time.
Facing Yang Zhen's stubbornness and persistence, several people from the military headquarters had no choice but to obey. After the military headquarters selected a group of capable personnel and left behind a radio station, they led the military headquarters to follow behind the fifth regiment and broke through. The 40th Division's artillery blockade area crossed the Huihe River and rushed towards the mountainous area in the northeast of Jingxian County.
In order to minimize the casualties when the troops passed through the fire blockade area, when the military headquarters broke through, Yang Zhen personally led Li Mingbo to the front line position and commanded the three Type 92 heavy machine guns and two Type 90 heavy machine guns that were left behind. mm mortars. Suppress the enemy troops on the hills south of Xingtan.
Although they were at an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers, Yang Zhen commanded the two mortars left behind. He immediately updated the tactics of post-strike and maneuverability and fought a wonderful mortar battle. With two mortars, he The artillery, however, suppressed the 40th Division's artillery on the hill south of Xingtan, which had superior numbers.
During the artillery battle, I took advantage of the range advantage of Japanese mortars to knock out the most threatening Italian 47-gun among the artillery groups of the 40th Division. I suppressed several heavy machine guns and used them. The power of artillery fire at the blockade breach was greatly weakened, greatly reducing the casualties of passing troops. Only after the military headquarters successfully passed through the artillery blockade area, Yang Zhen returned to Xingtan.
After seeing off the army commander and military headquarters, Yang Zhen sat in Xingtan. On the one hand, he used the radio to continuously call the southern front troops. On the other hand, he was closely related to the progress of the surrounding enemy situation, especially the 52nd Division on the northern front and the southern front. The 79th Division. The progress of these two fastest advancing direct troops of the Central Army.
Although Yang Zhen lost contact with the army commander for four hours when he moved the military headquarters, Yang Zhen was still relatively accurate about the entire battle situation. In the second half of the night, as he expected, after the main force left, the battle situation around Xingtan was still It continues to develop towards deterioration.
By about three o'clock in the morning, the sound of gunfire and artillery around Xingtan was getting denser and denser. The troops of the 40th Division gathered on several hills in the south discovered that Xingtan's troops had rushed across the Huihe River. The New Fourth Army confronting them had already After most of them had evacuated, they launched a counterattack desperately, trying to re-seal the breach and eat up the follow-up troops still in Hexi.
After the Forty Division concentrated its forces to launch a counterattack towards Xingtan, the main force of the Fifty-second Division on the Bangshan front line in the south also discovered that the New Fourth Army troops in front of them had withdrawn. Regardless of its shortcomings of not being good at night fighting, it obviously accelerated its advance. Already along the road from Bangshan to Sanxi, a fierce battle broke out with the rear-end troops of the Lao San Regiment, which served as flank cover for the military headquarters.
A battalion of the 45th Artillery Regiment temporarily assigned to the 52nd Division in the Third Theater. The shells of the German-style Bofors Mountain Cannon equipped with a range of more than 9,000 meters have begun to fall on the front line of Xingtan. There are also shells around Xingtan. In order to bypass the blocking position of the Lao San Regiment and infiltrate a small force of the 52nd Division.
At the same time, the 144th Division in the west also accelerated the pace of its eastward advance under the urging of the 32nd Army Headquarters. It has already reached the Gaotan and Shijingkeng lines. The 108th Division was obviously the slowest advance before. The division had also reached the north of Piling at this time. At this time, Yang Zhen's hand included the rear guard battalion that had not yet reached Xingtan. It was only more than two battalions in strength, plus the military guard company left behind by the commander. , engineer company and a communications company.
Faced with the deteriorating situation, Ye Chao, the deputy section chief of the Operations Section, and Yin Yang, the deputy section chief of the Reconnaissance Section who stayed with Yang Zhen in Xingtan Military Headquarters, were obviously a little uneasy. After a brief discussion, Ye Chao persuaded Yang Zhen. : "Political Commissar. Judging from the advancement speed of the 52nd Division, we will arrive at the front line of Xingtan at dawn at the latest. There is a danger of the breakthrough being re-sealed at any time. You see, it is time for us to withdraw. More Please come to the chapter soon."
"Judging from the advancement speed of the 52nd Division, we can reach the front line of Xingtan before dawn. If we don't leave, we won't be able to leave until dawn. We only have so few troops on hand. The commanding heights south of Xingtan are on the four sides. If it continues to be delayed in the hands of the Tenth Division, the consequences will be disastrous."
In response to Ye Chao's persuasion, Yang Zhen looked at the two men who were left behind by the army commander with anxious expressions. However, he waved his hands in a very calm tone and said: "Why are you so anxious when the fire has not yet reached the house?" .Continue to wait. I will not leave without contacting Zhou Guisheng and Feng Dafei."
When he saw two people, he still wanted to persuade him. Li Mingbo, who was beside Yang Zhen, dragged the two people out of the room that was temporarily used as Yang Zhen's command post and said: "Two section chiefs, I will update you as soon as possible. It's better not to continue to persuade." I know No. 1’s character better than you do. I can’t persuade him at this time. He said he won’t leave until he contacts the troops on the southern front. Then he will definitely not leave.”
"And I have a feeling that his stay in Xingtan is definitely not just to gather the follow-up troops. There should be other ideas. The top priority now is to contact the southern front troops. As long as he can contact the southern front troops, there will be no one on the 1st Reason to stay here and continue the adventure.”
Hearing what Li Mingbo said, Ye Chao couldn't help but stamped his feet and said to Li Mingbo: "How long has it been? You still say these useless things. You are the security platoon leader next to the political commissar. You know more about the character of the political commissar than we do. At this time, you don’t help us to persuade us, but you still stop us. What does the political commissar think? He is the chief and I can’t control it. But now, I only know that if I don’t leave, I really won’t be able to leave.”
Looking at the anxious Ye Chao, Li Mingbo couldn't help but smile and said: "I mean, Chief Ye, you can't persuade No. 1. Why are you so angry at me? And don't be too impatient. No. 1 is more complicated than this in the Northeast." He can handle many situations, but he won't take it to heart with such a small number of enemy troops."
"Besides, No. 1's trip to southern Anhui is just a temporary mission. There are still hundreds of thousands of troops in the Northeast waiting for him to return. There is no certainty that No. 1 will not be personally involved in danger. Don't forget that No. 1 is still the commander of the Northeast Military Region. He can still tell the seriousness of the matter. If he doesn't have certain abilities, the central government can send No. 1 here at this time."
"Two section chiefs, it is precisely because I know the character of No. 1 that I suggest you not to persuade No. 1 because you can't persuade them. The most important thing now is to seize the time to find a way to communicate with the southern front troops. The contact is established. As long as the contact is communicated with the southern front troops, No. 1 will have no reason to continue taking risks."
In fact, Li Mingbo didn't know what Yang Zhen was thinking about. He couldn't figure out what the No. 1, who was about the same age as him, even though he was a personal guard responsible for Yang Zhen's close guard. It was through his mind that his long experience of working beside Yang Zhen told him that this young man must have his reasons for doing this.
Although he couldn't guess why Yang Zhen stayed here to gather the follow-up troops, he was certain of one thing. Judging from Yang Zhen's current responsibilities, he would definitely not stay here and take risks alone for a few companies. Among them, it was definitely Don't have any secrets. If you were so indecisive, you would be able to create such a big world under such a dangerous situation in the Northeast.
Hearing Li Mingbo's words, Ye Chao wanted to say something else, but was stopped by Yin Yang beside him: "Master, what he said is right. So many military chiefs couldn't persuade the political commissar, and the two of us couldn't persuade him. Now we still have to find a way to contact the troops on the southern front."
When he saw Yin Yang, he said the same thing. When he was staying, he once accepted the special task of the military commander to kidnap the political commissar even if the situation worsened. But now Ye Chao was at his wits' end and could only stamp his feet: "Grandma, if I can't get in touch, I will go find the southern front troops myself. I don't believe that with Feng Dafei's ability, they can be eaten by those bastards from the 79th Division."