Gritting his teeth and sighing for a while, he said urgently: "It's really going to be bad now. There are not many troops in Gaizhou City anymore, and the only reinforcements are the two guard battalions from the brigade headquarters and the second division headquarters. Damn it.
, the Japanese army made it clear that they wanted to take advantage of the arrival of reinforcements from Yingkou to defeat us in one go. This is really a bad thing."
Others also expressed varying degrees of worry. What really happened was that the house leaked and it rained all night, which made the situation worse.
Zhang Dingwen did not appear too anxious. He continued calmly: "Sir, I don't think we should care about the gains and losses of the southwest position at the moment. As long as Gaizhou City is still there, our defense line will not be lost."
Zhao Shanhe didn't understand what Zhang Dingwen meant for a moment, and said in an impatient tone: "What are you talking about? If the position is lost, how can Gaizhou hold on? Isn't it only a matter of time before the defense line is lost?"
Zhang Dingwen further said: "With the current strong offensive of the Japanese army, although we can use small areas to effectively kill the enemy if we hold our position, the enemy can also use these small areas to consume us. At the moment, we do not need to fight with the Japanese army.
Instead of fighting to the death, we are trying to delay the war. The longer the war is delayed, the more beneficial it is to us. The top priority is that we should decisively sacrifice land for time!"
Zhao Shanhe calmed himself down. He could tell that Zhang Dingwen must have had his own ideas to say such things, so he calmly asked again: "Tell me carefully, is there any way to hold back the battle line?"
Zhang Dingwen added neatly: "What I mean is to immediately start the defense in Gaizhou City, take the initiative to abandon the southwest position, open this gap to allow the Japanese army to come in, use street fighting to destroy, harass and delay the pace of the Japanese army. Wait until Yingkou
When the reinforcements there arrive, they will either expand the scale of the street fighting or attack the rear of the Japanese army from the southeast."
Zhao Shanhe frowned and fell into deep thought. He had never thought of such a risky method.
Several other staff officers and attendants also had different expressions of surprise, and looked at each other, feeling quite embarrassed.
"Once there is a hole in our position, other positions will also be implicated. This is no joke." The staff officer who had spoken to Zhao Shanhe said worriedly.
"The southwest position is a flank position, and the transportation connection with the main position can be directly converted into a fire line. Now the southwest position is facing the Japanese army from one side. After giving up the southwest position, the troops were withdrawn a certain distance, and the main
The position will be filled up to the flank defense line, and when the Japanese army moves in deeply, we will have two sides to meet the enemy." Zhang Dingwen said.
He was worried that others would not understand what he meant, so he walked to the map table again and made a stroke on it with a pencil.
To put it simply, it is the open space left by the retreated defense line. The enemy has to deal with Gaizhou City and the harassment from the flanks of the main position. If the Japanese army concentrates its forces to attack Gaizhou City, then the main position can take the initiative to attack the Japanese army.
flank; if the Japanese army wants to concentrate its forces to attack the main position, Gaizhou City can immediately send reinforcements to contain it. In this way, the Japanese army will not be able to concentrate its forces to attack in one direction.
"Despite this, you must also know this. The Japanese army has to deal with two sides, and our main position also needs to deal with two sides. Now the Japanese army has begun to transfer offensive firepower and take the opportunity to attack the main position. Once the flank misses, we are afraid that we
We haven't had time to make proper arrangements. According to the current offensive of the Japanese army, the main position will be swallowed up soon." Zhao Shanhe looked at the pattern on the map and said in a very solemn tone.
"The southwest position is already shaky. Several battalions were thrown there during the day. It is like a bottomless pit. Sooner or later, it will be lost. My method is to take this into account, so I have to take a gamble no matter what. The southwest position
We can still preserve some of our strength by withdrawing our brothers. Moreover, after the little devils take over our flank positions, it will take some time to adjust. As long as we wait for today and tomorrow, when the reinforcements arrive, we will naturally be able to strengthen the defense of the main position.
." Zhang Dingwen insisted.
Zhao Shanhe sighed slightly, still a little unsure for the moment.
Other staff officers also felt that Zhang Dingwen's words were reasonable, but such a countermeasure was too risky. Defending the southwest position, even if it could only be delayed for a day or two, would at least be holding back the front with a mere flank position, and besides, it could still be delayed
Inflict a certain cost of casualties on the Japanese army. Once the southwestern position is abandoned, if the whole body is affected by one move and the whole game is lost, then there will be no real way to save the day and there will be no hope at all.
"The Japanese army is eager for success. Although the southwest position is critical, it has not yet been defeated. However, the Japanese army has now begun to divide its forces to attack our main position. It is clear that it is anxious to defeat us in one go. In this case
, I predict that after the Japanese Army's West Route troops capture our flank positions, they will not necessarily attack the main position, but will take advantage of the situation and push straight into the city. Right now, we just need to grasp this." After a while, Zhang Dingwen said with serious intentions.
He spoke again.
"Oh, that's it. You're right, it's the little devils who are the ones who can't keep their composure now. When they see our southwest position taking the initiative to retreat, nine out of ten will think that we can't withstand the pressure of their powerful offensive. It's very likely that
We will take advantage of the situation and pursue them into the city. Staff Zhang, now you personally organize the remaining troops in the city to start setting up defenses for street fighting. Once the preparations are almost complete, I will order the southwest position to withdraw its defenses. We will take this gamble." Zhao Shanhe said seriously.
I sighed and finally made my decision.
Although others thought it was risky, no one spoke against it. Since it was a critical moment, it was inevitable to take risks, not to mention that everyone knew very well that the Japanese army was eager to attack, so it was not unsafe.
Immediately, the headquarters immediately began to take action. In addition to Zhang Dingwen going out to organize street fighting and defense in the city, Zhao Shanhe also arranged for several officers to go to the city to evacuate the people in advance, or organize the people to participate in street fighting and defense. After everything was explained, he
He also contacted the Second Division Headquarters and informed him of his battle plan.
After Tian Wenlie heard the news, he was so surprised that he went to the First Brigade Headquarters to see Zhao Shanhe in person, and repeatedly asked Zhao Shanhe not to withdraw the southwest position easily. The Second Division has transferred no less than two battalions to the southwest position one after another.
The strength of the entire southern position is now tight. If we choose to retreat like this, it would be better not to hold on early in the morning.
In desperation, Zhao Shanhe just tried his best to clarify his interests. Even if Tian Wenlie still refused in the end, Zhao Shanhe still put on a persistent attitude and simply turned against Tian Wenlie to discuss the matter. The two sides were in a bad mood.
However, Tian Wenlie really had no choice. If the enemy was not united internally, the battle would be impossible to fight, so it was no problem to dispatch troops to assist in the defense of Gaizhou City.
An hour later, the defense in Gaizhou City was not yet completely completed, but considering that it would take some time to disarm the southwest position, Zhao Shanhe sent three messengers to the front line according to the plan to issue orders, and also sent several telegrams one after another.
Go to the main position and ask the defenders at the main position to prepare for a defense change.
However, the messengers and telegrams had just been sent out, and soon news came from the southwest position that the position had been lost.
Several battalions stationed in the southwest position could not withstand the high-intensity attacks of the Japanese army in turns. They consumed a large amount of fresh force in hand-to-hand combat, and the trenches that were successively lost became the most concentrated place for both sides to kill. They had more skilled combat experience than the Japanese army.
, most Chinese soldiers can only fight with a certain death mentality.
In fact, starting from the afternoon, the advantages and disadvantages of the flank position have become more and more obvious. In addition, the sky is getting darker and darker. The Japanese army has an advantage and their morale is extremely fierce. On the contrary, the Chinese soldiers are becoming increasingly depressed.
.
As the news of the loss of the southwest position came, the wounded soldiers who were first withdrawn from the southwest also began to withdraw.
In charge of the rear were the skirmishers from the six battalions in front and behind who could continue to fight. Sun Lianzhong was responsible for organizing them to cover each other in a decreasing manner for the retreat. It could still play some role at this time, and it would not be as soon as they arrived.
If the position is lost, the army will be completely defeated. When the wounded soldiers can all be evacuated, it can be seen that the retreat was quite successful.
Zhao Shanhe hurriedly asked the artillery unit of the Second Division to provide fire suppression to the southwest position to curb the momentum of the Japanese army's surging attack.
The artillery regiment mobilized ten artillery pieces and turned to the southwest, aiming the ruler at the position of the previous position, and carried out a series of scattered fire strikes. The artillery firepower had some effect, and under the guidance of British and German foreign military advisers,
The artillery unit is also clearly aware of the golden bombing period after the position is lost.
By seven o'clock in the evening, it was almost completely dark.
The greatest pressure caused by the loss of the southwest position was that the main position needed to hastily divide its troops to fill the communication channels with the flanking positions. First, the troops were divided to rush to support the southwest position, and now they were facing a frontal attack by the Japanese army. On the main position,
The situation of the officers and soldiers cannot be said to be very difficult.
Zhao Shanhe and Tian Wenlie both knew that the key to proceeding according to the previously anticipated plan was whether the troops on the main position could survive today and tomorrow. So whether it was the First Brigade Headquarters or the Second Division Headquarters,
At this time, multiple messages were sent to the main position in succession, asking the defenders to grit their teeth and hold on no matter what.
Not only that, the Second Division also transferred some scattered troops from several positions with low pressure in the east to supplement the main position. Although the number of troops was not large, it was better than nothing.