In fact, not only Mu Changfeng could not find the Fifth Brigade, but Wang Guangyu, who was at Daotai Bridge at this time, could not find the whereabouts of the Fifth Brigade. In order to find this person, he detoured the left wing of the Sixth Division and cut off its direct connection with the Fourteenth Division.
To contact the two regiments, Wang Guangyu turned on the radio and walkie-talkie at the column headquarters, but no matter how he called, he could never get through to the fifth brigade.
In this battle, the main combat objectives of the fifth brigade were to forcibly penetrate along the junction of the 6th and 14th divisions to Jiaxin Mountain and the logging greenhouse line, and to forcibly cross Songhua along the line from Niuxiangpaotun to Yangdali on the west line.
After Jiangsu, they penetrated directly into the eastern mountainous area of Fangzheng County, seizing the commanding heights in the eastern part of Fangzheng County and cooperating with the independent fourth brigade reorganized from the original three divisions on the front line of Hu Tieling Mountain, completely cutting off the connection between the Sixth Division and the Fourteenth Division.
After completing the first step, the fifth brigade will continue to penetrate along the Zhangguangcailing mountainous area at the junction of Yilan and Linkou counties with no less than one regiment of troops to the Bangchuiling line of the Sixth Division in depth to seize the Bangchuiling line.
, cooperated with the first brigade to attack from the front, and completed the encirclement of the Sixth Division in the Yilan area.
This circuitous route is basically in the Zhangguangcailing Mountain area. Although there are only a small number of regular Japanese troops, there are a large number of Puppet Manchukuo military police, especially those Puppet Manchukuo forest police who are very familiar with the terrain and local snakes. The fifth brigade is now always in contact
If not, Wang Guangyu is very worried. Although those forest policemen are not strong in combat effectiveness, they are local snakes.
Moreover, these forest police forces, specially established by the Japanese and puppets in order to suppress the Anti-Japanese Alliance, live in mountainous areas all year round and are familiar with mountain and forest warfare. They are also familiar with the terrain, and may cause a lot of trouble to the outflanking troops.
Wang Guangyu is now worried that the Fifth Brigade will encounter an ambush by the Japanese and puppet troops during the detour. Secondly, he is also worried that the Fifth Brigade will get lost during the detour. This area is located at the northern foot of Zhangguangcai Ridge, with steep mountains and a vast virgin forest area.
, except for a few hunters, ginseng gatherers, and Puppet Manchukuo lumberjacks, there is almost no human habitation. Once the Fifth Brigade loses its way in the mountains, the consequences will be serious.
Although they were very confident in the ability of the commander of the fifth brigade, they were almost marching in the mountains and forests along the way. Many times they had to face attacks from both sides by the Japanese and puppet troops. In the early morning, they broke through the Japanese defense lines and attacked the enemy.
After the deep penetration began, we never got in touch.
In order to ensure the success of this detour, Wang Guangyu did not even use his old unit, the First Brigade, but called the Fifth Brigade, whose former Chief of Staff Yi Liangpin was appointed brigade commander. This was because in his opinion, Yi Liangpin was
This kind of long-distance attack, the ability to control the troops in large depths and roundabouts is better than Mu Changfeng's.
Yi Liangpin is an old Red Army cadre transferred from Guan Nei. He once served as the commander of the main regiment and political commissar of the Fourth Red Front Army. When the Fourth Red Front Army was changed to the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, he successively served as the commander of the 129th Division.
The leader and political commissar of the 772nd Regiment among the four main regiments.
After graduating from the Anti-Japanese University last year, the 129th Division originally asked him to return to serve as the principal of the camp school that trains key personnel and grassroots commanders. However, he did not want to be selected by the central government to work in the Northeast. When he first arrived in the Northeast, he first served as the leader of the teaching group.
Later, during the Autumn Campaign, he was transferred to the Chief of Staff of the 1st Brigade. He was a brave general with both military and political skills. When the army was expanded last year, Yang Zhen originally wanted to transfer him to the Third Division as political commissar, but Wang Guangyu refused to let him go and wanted to transfer him.
Yi Liangpin was transferred to the first column as chief of staff.
Wang Guangyu bluntly told Yang Zhen that it was unfair to change Yi Liangpin from a military cadre to a political cadre. He was an all-rounder in military and political affairs. If he could not be transferred to the main brigade as the brigade commander, then he would be transferred to the first column and then serve as the staff officer. Commander, if you really can't, you can still serve as deputy commander.
In the end, it was Li Yanping who made the final decision and transferred Yi Liangpinping to the Fifth Brigade as brigade commander. This allowed Wang Guangyu, who never made irresponsible remarks on cadre selection, to go to Yang Zhen and Li Yanping several times, which also explained this person from another aspect. He is extremely capable, but the situation on this roundabout route makes Wang Guangyu very worried.
Looking at Wang Guangyu who was a little anxious, Yi Danping on the side looked up from the map and said: "Old Wang, don't be anxious. They are marching in a hurry along the way. They may not have time to set up a radio station. Maybe the mountains are high and the forests are dense, which affects the radio station. Signal, the Headquarters Reconnaissance Battalion has a platoon operating in that area, there should be no problem with their cooperation."
"Yi Liangpin served as the military and political leader at the regiment level when he was in the Red Army. He is very capable and has rich combat experience. The two regiment commanders are old bones. In addition, although the area is deep in the Japanese army, most of the troops deployed there are The combat effectiveness of the puppet Manchukuo military and police is much inferior to that of the Japanese army, and there are also four independent brigades to disperse the strength of the Japanese and puppet troops, so there should not be any big mistakes."
Wang Guangyu lit the cigarette in his hand and took a deep breath before saying: "The fifth brigade cannot be contacted. The sixth division's main force is now on the first brigade. The little devils dispatched dozens of tanks at once. Their There is a lot of pressure on the side. Judging from the battle situation from early morning to now, this Sixth Division is the toughest opponent we have ever encountered."
"Since the beginning of the battle, even though there are only half a division of troops, they are still fighting against the First Brigade. In one morning, the First Brigade suffered casualties of nearly a regiment. If the fight continues, even if the Sixth Division can be defeated If these troops of the regiment are eaten, I am afraid that the entire brigade will be crippled."
"One brigade has more than 9,000 troops, but two-thirds of them have never been on the battlefield. Although they have participated in many combined exercises, they lack actual combat experience. What's more, the devils there dispatched more than 60 tanks and armored vehicles to coordinate operations. , to continue fighting like this is not the same thing."
"I was wondering whether to temporarily stop the attack. Since the afternoon, the first brigade has actually been on the defensive under the coordinated counterattack of Japanese infantry and tanks. Instead of using up all the effective forces bit by bit, it is better to wait until the enemy comes into the night. After the aircraft were withdrawn and the artillery resumed its activities, the attack continued."
Before Yi Danping could answer, Yang Zhen's voice sounded from behind Wang Guangyu: "No, tell the first brigade not to stop and let them continue to attack the Japanese army. If they stop attacking, the Japanese army that originally occupied the commanding heights will take the initiative. If you seize the power, you will be in trouble in the next battle."
Hearing the voice coming from behind, Wang Guangyu and Yi Danping quickly turned around and stood at attention. Seeing Yang Zhen, Wang Guangyu quickly said: "No. 1, why are you here? This place is too close to the front. Are you back?" Get some distance."
Yang Zhen did not answer him, but walked to the map, pointed at the map and said: "The entire battlefield situation now seems to be very beneficial to us, but in fact, we have invested all the effective forces at hand into production and construction. There is a problem with the mobilization of the Corps. If we want to get enough reserves, we still need to fight for another three to five days to complete."
"The Japanese 11th Division in Mishan, the 12th Division from Suiyang to Dongning, and the 29th Division that are now moving north to Muling to take over the 8th Division can go north to join the battle at any time, and we are now There is not even a regiment of reserves, so we must choose a direction and fight quickly."
"Judging from the current comprehensive battle situation, although the heavy equipment of this Sixth Division is the worst among the four Japanese divisions on the front line, its combat effectiveness is the strongest. It not only undertakes the main operations on the Western Front, but also Responsible for the intermediary role of the entire Japanese defense line.
"We often say that when you hit a snake, you hit it seven inches, and this Sixth Division is the seven inches of the Japanese army's entire front line of defense. We can only truly capture the entirety of the chessboard if we can eat up the part of the Japanese Sixth Division in southern Yilan in one go. You have survived, but now your journey is difficult. In fact, it was really hard on the Tao Jingfei side of the Eastern Front."
"In the afternoon, the Japanese army gave up its original battle plan, and all the main forces of its Eighth Division moved westward to reinforce the Tenth Division. In addition to dispatching all the Eighth Division, the Japanese army also urgently mobilized one of the troops originally stationed in Muling. The heavy artillery regiment and a tank regiment went into attack."
"There are only five regiments in Tao Jingfei's place, and there is also a divisional unit with poor equipment. They have to block five Japanese regiments with a large number of aviation, heavy artillery and tanks, and more than 20,000 Japanese troops. Think about the pressure they bear. Big or not?”
"If Du Kaishan hadn't forcibly transferred a regiment from his right wing to advance eastward, I'm afraid that Tao Jingfei's army would no longer be able to support it at this time. Just this afternoon, in half a day, one of Tao Jingfei's main regiments suffered casualties of two-thirds. It can be said that he has been disabled."
"The key to how long Tao Jingfei needs to persist is not with them, but with you and Du Kaishan. The sooner you resolve the battle, the less pressure they will have. So no matter how difficult it is for you, you must grit your teeth and persevere. Moreover, the Japanese army is counterattacking so vigorously now, which is a rare opportunity for us."
"The greater the intensity of the Japanese army's counterattack, the more difficult it is for them now. You see, from the map, almost all of the border area between Yilan and Linzhou is primitive mountain forest, which is deserted. Even on the map drawn by the Japanese themselves, There are almost no roads there except one or two."
"If the unprepared Japanese army retreats there, the result may be difficult to predict. Since the fifth brigade has been setting off for nearly a day, it is impossible not to encounter the Japanese and puppet troops. The Japanese army is not a fool, and they should know by now that we have sent troops to attack them. It outflanks.
"For the Sixth Division, once its back route is cut off by us, judging from the terrain here, they will have to move eastward to join up with its eastern reinforcements, or they will desperately withdraw westward and join forces with the Fourteenth Division. Otherwise, no matter how reluctant they are, they can only enter the deep mountains and old forests."
"The Japanese generals are not stupid. The Sixth Division was transferred from the Guannai battlefield not long ago. Even if there is a detailed map, the Sixth Division has never been stationed in the Northeast. Everything here is extremely unfamiliar to them, including the terrain and climate. , they are all unfamiliar, and unless they are desperate, they will not easily retreat into the mountains and forests."
"The more fiercely they fight back now, the more it shows that they are eager to gain room for maneuver. In other words, their current thinking is to stick to their treatment. Only when the room for maneuver is larger, can they expand as much as possible in the next battle. The defensive range will buy more time for their defense."