Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 232 Yue Qianli's Southern Front Operation Plan
Feiying Ridge, core position
The densely packed Japanese troops flooded over the Second Battalion's position, which was now empty. Mu Tiezhu led the remaining 300-odd people of the Second Battalion to retreat to the main position.

The Second Battalion held out against the 65th Regiment for half a day at the cost of more than half their casualties. In order to reduce casualties, Battalion Commander Li Jie ordered them to withdraw to the main position, where they would fight a decisive battle with the Japanese.

The 65th Regiment did not get any better, having suffered thousands of casualties. Now they were in great danger, and the only way to survive was to capture Feiying Ridge, so the Japanese started to go crazy and invested all their forces;
When they passed the mountainside, rows of artillery shells came from the top of the mountain. The six 6mm mountain cannons and 75 12mm mortars of the first battalion of the third detachment fired fiercely at the Japanese, blowing them to the ground.

At the same time, more than a dozen Maxim heavy machine guns, hundreds of "Da Pan Ji" and Czech light machine guns rained bullets on the Japanese. From the mountainside to the foot of the mountain, they were all within the range of firepower, and the Japanese were mowed down in large groups;
The performance of the Dapanji was excellent, with small recoil, high accuracy and strong firepower. The effective range of 800 meters blocked the official road at the foot of the mountain. The Japanese soldiers who rushed up were shot down one after another. In a short while, the mountains were filled with the shit-yellow corpses of the Japanese soldiers.

"Kill the chicken and give it to me!"

"Itaya!"

"Warriors, the time has come to serve the Emperor!"

The Japanese seemed to have sensed the end of the world and started their final frenzy, rushing towards the position of the 1st Battalion of the rd Detachment like a swarm of demons.

Li Jie commanded the entire battalion to fight calmly and used powerful firepower to keep the Japanese below the mountainside, giving them no chance for close combat. This would greatly reduce the casualties of the defenders and eliminate the Japanese with firepower.

At the 65th Regiment Headquarters, Ryokaku Gyōsaku's hands were shaking as he held the telescope. He had not expected the Soviet-armed troops' firepower to be so fierce. Their Bushido was nothing in the face of the impenetrable machine gun firepower.
Just when he was at a loss as to what to do, a loud military bugle call sounded behind him. Liangjiao Yezuo's face changed immediately. What was supposed to come finally came!
Liangjiao Yezuo knew that he had no chance, so he ordered all the troops on Feiying Ridge to be withdrawn, huddled together, and prepared to meet the siege of the Chinese.

An hour later, thousands of elite Chinese troops came from multiple directions and surrounded them on a small hill on the flank of Feiying Ridge, which was also the location of the 65th Regiment Headquarters;

Seeing that the situation was not right, Colonel Ryokaku Yosaku immediately withdrew his troops into a circular fortification centered on the regiment headquarters, preparing to fight to the last and hold out until reinforcements arrived.

At the guerrilla column headquarters, Wang Jianfei, who had already surrounded the 65th Regiment, came to report:
"Old Yue, the vicious tiger of the 65th Regiment has been locked in a cage. The remaining 2 enemies have been surrounded by me on Hill No. 2. Do we need to close the net?"

Yue Qianli waved his hand and said:

"Don't worry, a trapped beast will still fight. Since it's a vicious tiger, let's lock it up and turn it into a hungry tiger!
Besides, how can we share the 65th Regiment with our brothers?
This time we are going to use the 65th Regiment as bait, forcing the Japanese to fight in our way and on the terrain we choose, and continue to bleed the main force of the Japanese.

Encircle and attack the reinforcements, try to annihilate part of them, and thoroughly injure the 13th Division!"

After listening to this, Wang Jianfei grinned and said:
“Boss, I knew you wouldn’t be satisfied with just eating up the 65th Regiment;
Wuhu City has no strategic location to defend. Rather than setting up defenses everywhere and then having no defenses anywhere, it is better to surround part of it and force the Japs to rescue. This way, we can lead the Japs by the nose and fight them. "

The two brothers have been getting along with each other for several years at West Point and have already formed a tacit understanding. Wang Jianfei naturally knew Yue Qianli's strategic intentions, which was why he came to ask for instructions, so as not to ruin someone's good deeds.

Yue Qianli did not want to hide it from him, and said directly to the map: "Look, Lao Si, if the Japs want to launch a battle on the southern front, Wuhu is a very critical point;
Although they could cross the river from other places and attack northern Anhui, as long as we were in Wuhu, their retreat would be at risk of being cut off by us at any time.

So they had to occupy Wuhu first. You can think of the Battle of Wuhu as a peripheral battle of the southern front.

Choosing to fight the Japanese in Wuhu, we can attack or defend, whether going north, south or west, it is a way to survive.

If we can win, we fight. If we can’t win, we retreat. We have enough strategic space to maneuver. It is no exaggeration to say that we are invincible in the battle in Wuhu.”

Wang Jianfei suddenly realized:
"I understand. The longer we hold out in Wuhu, the more time it will take for the Japanese to achieve their north-south strategy, and the more time we will have to prepare for Xuzhou.
Now that we have surrounded the 65th Regiment, we will force the main force of the 13th Division to reinforce. We can then send out a part of our guerrilla column to block the Japanese while the main force waits for an opportunity to attack them one by one and defeat them one by one!"

Yue Qianli slapped the map and said excitedly:
"That's right! There are only a thousand people left in the 65th Regiment. Just leave two battalions of the 1st Detachment and the st Battalion of the rd Detachment to surround them.
The main force secretly evacuated the battlefield using the strategy of increasing the number of stoves and reducing the number of soldiers, making the Japanese mistakenly believe that the main force was still besieging the 65th Regiment, thus luring the main force of the 13th Division to rescue.

You will lead the two battalions of the Third Brigade and the three battalions of the Supplementary Brigade to wait for the opportunity to annihilate part of the enemy. It would be best if you could destroy the enemy's divisional headquarters!"

王剑飞听的热血沸腾，现在二支队（缺1营）在中路阻击13师团主力、二支队1营2千人在右翼阻击104联队；

一支队1营2千人在左翼阻击58联队、留下一支队两个营（2营、3营）、三支队1营等佯装主力围攻65联队残部，围而不歼；
He can attack freely with the main forces of the 1rd detachment and all the more than 13 elite troops of the supplementary detachment. To capture the thief, one must first capture the leader, so they will attack the main force of the th Division!

It's so exciting to fight with Boss Yue. Wang Jianfei excitedly took the order and left, while Yue Qianli continued to stare at the map and think about things. Now he has an independent detachment and the column's direct troops in his hands, so he has enough chips and is very calm.

In the middle, the second detachment blocked the position, and the air was filled with smoke.

The Japanese were really anxious. Just after a dozen planes dropped their bombs and left, thousands of Japanese, led by a dozen tanks, launched a fierce attack on the 1st Battalion's position.

Inside the 13th Division Field Command, the division commander, Lieutenant General Ogisu Rikuhei, looked stern, while Chief of Staff Ishikawa Takuma cautiously accompanied him. The matter of the 65th Regiment put both of them in a bad mood.
Before this, a regiment of the Japanese devils could basically move around at will, not to mention the division commander, provided they did not encounter Yue Qianli's troops.

Since the beginning of the war, several regiments under Yue Qianli's command have been defeated. Ogisu Rikuei knows of no less than three. The 3th Regiment of the th Division even had its flag seized. Now it is still a three-unit system, and has become a third-rate division.
Thinking of this, Ogisu Rippei began to break out in a cold sweat. Now the 65th Regiment was besieged by tens of thousands of China's elite soldiers, and it could become another th Regiment at any time!
"Ishikawa-kun, we must intensify our offensive!

Telegraph Colonel Liangjiao, tell him to hold on no matter what, and hold on for another day - half a day!
Reinforcements will surely arrive!
Send electricity to the 58th and 104th Regiments, and tell them to break through the Chinese resistance at all costs. It is time for the Empire to test them..."

(End of this chapter)