Sword: Heart of Iron

Chapter 113 February 2th

After dealing with Hata Shunroku's military report, Iwata Takahiko handed over another telegram from the 13th Division.

[Our unit has discovered the enemy's main force five kilometers south of the Beifei River. Request support! ]

Ushijima Sadao snorted coldly, his words full of contempt: "Doesn't he have a brigade? Can't he solve such a problem?"

"He is such a coward! The 13th Division is a waste in his hands! It is a waste of resources!"

Iwata Takahiko lowered his head and remained silent.

The two division commanders didn't like each other. As a chief of staff, he was half a level lower in status, so it was better for him not to get involved.

"General, would you like to send troops to provide support?"

Ushijima Sadao was so angry that his mustache was shaking. He raised his leg and kicked the wheel fiercely: "Idiot!"

"Xuzhou City is less than 80 kilometers away from us. The Chinese army in front has been defeated and there is no obstruction!"

"We will launch a forced march and attack Xuzhou as early as tomorrow night!"

"We can't give the enemy any time to call back for reinforcements!"

"Call back, our headquarters has no reinforcements at the moment, execute the original battle plan!"

Without waiting for Iwata Takahiko to say anything, Ushijima Sadao got on the sidecar and waved forward: "Keep going!"

"Hai!"

The driver stepped on the accelerator and the motorcycle struggled to move forward in the mud. The infantry behind him had a hard time walking, and the soft mud was so soft that it could cover their ankles when they stepped on it.

But even so, the Japanese infantry did not dare to complain at all.

The gendarmerie rode on horses and kept urging people on both sides of the road.

"Start moving!"

"Don't dawdle!"

2 month 7 day.

dawn.

After a day and night of forced march, the battle group had traveled more than 40 kilometers and completely left the battle zone between the two armies.

A place that even Japanese reconnaissance planes are reluctant to come to.

It was just dawn, Wang Feng folded his arms across his chest, staring straight at the battle map on the wall.

The battle situation is not going well.

The Japanese high-ranking officers in the rear had given the 31th Division some kind of drug that made them pursue the 59th Army relentlessly even after the st Army had exposed its main force.

In another two hours, we will reach the south bank of the Xihe River.

If this continues, the encirclement will be pushed into a trap by the Japanese before it is even completed.

"Where is the 51st Army marching to?"

Zhao Fangyuan held the baton and pointed on the map: "A telegram came last night, the 51st Army marched to the Liuji Town area."

Wang Feng frowned and thought about a countermeasure in his mind.

In any case, the defensive fortifications had not been built yet, and the 18th Division had to be blocked on the south bank of the Xihe River.

If we let the Japanese cross the river easily, it would be difficult to carry out the bombing later.

"Send a telegram to Yu Xuezhong, and have his main force attack the flank of the 18th Division. Make sure to slow down its advance!"

Zhao Fangyuan took out a notebook from his military uniform pocket and wrote it down quickly.

Wang Feng's heart was tense to the extreme, his mind was working rapidly, thinking about how to deal with the situation.

"What is the distribution of the Japanese army's firepower?"

"Where are the main heavy artillery and air support?"

Zhao Fangyuan put down his notebook. He was already familiar with the situation everywhere, so he answered quickly without thinking: "According to the information, the large-caliber artillery of the Japanese army is mainly concentrated inside the 18th Division."

"But judging from the current situation, the 18th Division's infantry is moving too fast and is likely to have lost touch with the artillery and logistics units."

Wang Feng frowned, thinking it was not that simple: "Where are the tanks?"

"It's not difficult to reach this speed using a tank to tow the artillery!"

Because of the lack of effective river dredging, north of the Huaihe River, there are real muddy, flooded areas, at the confluence of several rivers, and in the middle forces.

At present, the 18th Division has not really touched the so-called "trap".

Zhao Fangyuan shook his head: "The scouts we sent out have explored the path of the main force of the Japanese army and found no obvious track marks at the scene."

There were too many troops and the battlefield was too large, and the width of the movement range of each unit once reached 60 kilometers.

The visual radius of the three-dimensional combat map is only thirty kilometers, which cannot fully explore battlefield intelligence.

Therefore, at the very beginning, when leaving the Shangyao position, he ordered Sergei to lead the scouts, break away from the marching team, and disperse to various places to detect military intelligence.

Now the first wave of intelligence has been transmitted back to the command post.

Upon hearing this news, Wang Feng frowned and said, "No?"

Zhao Fangyuan nodded.

Wang Feng's heart skipped a beat.

The Japanese tank troops, as a high-speed mobile force, did not mix among the vanguard infantry.

Up to now, he could clearly guess the general psychology of the Japanese commander.

Just looking at the marching speed of the 18th Division, one would definitely think that the Japanese army had fallen into a trap and was convinced of the illusion of "defeated troops" deliberately created by Zhang Zizhong.

But combined with the marching trajectory of the entire force.

This is not the conclusion reached.

The Japanese army did not rush in all at once, but instead kept a backup plan.

If it were an ordinary commander of the National Army, he might be deceived by the illusion before him.

After delaying the 18th Division, they immediately closed the encirclement and surrounded the main force of the Japanese army.

But little did they know that there were still a large number of artillery and tank troops outside the encirclement.

The quality of the Japanese army's logistics troops is not weak. If necessary, they can be immediately converted into infantry, charge into the front line, and cooperate with the Japanese army in the encirclement.

In the end, it is not certain who will surround whom.

Wang Feng frowned and pondered for a while, then walked to the map and said, "Notify Sergei to expand the search area. Give him a day and a half to find the Japanese tank troops' movement!"

"No mistakes!"

Zhao Fangyuan lowered his head and quickly wrote it down in his notebook.

Wang Feng continued, "Send a telegram to Liu Shiyi. At all costs, even if it means a fight to the death, we must give the Japanese 13th Division a head-on blow!"

"Attract as much of the 18th Division's forces as possible!"

Zhao Fangyuan: "Understood!"

"Sir, what should our troops do?"

Wang Feng thought for a moment and said, "Stay where you are and wait for the right opportunity!"

His subordinates hid during the day and moved at night, marching at full speed. The three-dimensional combat map in his mind now fully played the role of radar. He commanded two corps along the way and avoided detection by Japanese aerial reconnaissance aircraft as much as possible.

In addition, he specifically instructed Zhang Zizhong to add the number of the North China Battle Group when the 59th Army discarded its equipment and flags and disguised itself as a defeated army.

Together they created the illusion of a rout.

In this way, they disappeared from the eyes of the Japanese army without anyone noticing.

The reason why it is called a surprise attack is that it can suddenly attack the enemy when they least expect it and hit the vital point!

Wohe River.

31st Army.

Liu Shiyi and the 138th Division arrived here hastily.

The 135th Division, as the vanguard, arrived last night and began to build defensive fortifications.

The commander of the 135th Division, Su Zuxin, trotted over and saluted: "Sir, all the ammunition has been distributed!"

Looking at his favorite general, Liu Shiyi nodded: "Go and assist the 138th Division to build an effective defense force as soon as possible!"

The 31st Army has a very strong financial foundation.

There is no need to say much about the combat effectiveness of the Gui army.

Before the war, Guangxi had only 14 standing military regiments, two of which were used as ordnance workers and tin miners. However, when Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, and Huang Shaohong ruled Guangxi, they established a mature military service system.

After one year of training, the recruits are discharged and return home.

Before the "July 7 Incident", Guangxi had four batches of soldiers who had undergone military training and were discharged from the army in the countryside.

Cadres at all levels are also fully staffed.

Once the mobilization order was issued, people enthusiastically signed up to join the army.

It took less than a month to expand the original fourteen regiments into four armies.

There are not many heavy weapons, but light machine guns and rifles are all fully equipped, all of which are independently produced or purchased from Europe.

They also wore the same Czech-style helmets.

The quality of the soldiers is also different from that of other local armies. After these veterans re-enlist, they are retrained very quickly.

Can quickly condense into combat effectiveness.

Apart from anything else, the difference can be seen just from the organization.

Other armies in the Fifth War Zone, including the 51st Army and the 59th Army, all have two-division systems.

Only the 31st Army has three main divisions under its command.

Su Zuxin nodded, turned around and ran to the back of the position.

The 138th Division had just arrived at the position and had not yet fully settled in.

Liu Shiyi stayed alone in the command post. It had rained last night, and a faint earthy smell penetrated his nostrils.

The Chief of Staff is still south of the Wohe River, cooperating with the 131st Division to block the th Division.

Buy favorable time for the defense of the north shore.

The signalman came running over: "Sir, urgent telegram!"

Liu Shiyi took it and looked it up and down.

[This is a telegram to the 31st Army. The front-line headquarters has ordered the rapid mobilization of the main force to give the th Division a head-on blow, destroy its manpower, and effectively cooperate with friendly forces in battlefield operations! ]

Liu Shiyi understood and after a brief thought, he said, "Call back. I have learned about the relevant contents."

"Also, telegraph the 131st Division to cross the Wo River and join the main force within four hours!"

"Telegram to the 138th Division, hold the flank position!"

The signalman quickly made a mental note: "Yes!"

Outside the command post.

The sudden heavy rain last night made it extremely difficult to repair the fortifications.

Because it is located between two rivers, surface water cannot seep down at all, and rainwater accumulates on the surface and mixes with the soil.

The harder you try to build it, the more you feel like you're trying to smooth things over.

Bang!

Liu Shiyi walked out of the command post, his military boots stepping into the mud puddle, stood with his hands behind his back, and looked around the position.

An engineer, covered in mud, ran over, stood at attention and saluted, saying, "Sir, it rained so hard yesterday that we can't repair the fortifications!"

Liu Shiyi nodded, feeling troubled. He could see clearly what was happening in the position.

Not to mention building a new defensive position, even the one that was repaired last night has lost its foundation after being hit by such heavy rain.

The foxholes were filled with rainwater, making it impossible for people to lie down in them.

The soldiers were anxious and took off their helmets, trying to pour out the water in the pit.

But because it is close to the river, the underground water content is too high, and it has just rained heavily.

No matter how much is poured out, it will seep out in a short time.

In the end, it was all in vain and I was exhausted and sweating. There will be a fierce battle soon, and it is not wise to over-consume energy now.

The bottom of the trench was not much better, with heavy silt accumulation. If you stepped on it, you would lose your balance.

The soldiers carrying ammunition boxes on their shoulders did not dare to run fast at all. If they were not careful, they would fall heavily to the ground.

Different from permanent and semi-permanent fortifications.

The temporary fortifications were not as reliable and solid as imagined.

Liu Shiyi thought for a moment and said, "Stop building the position and call the signalman for me!"

Engineer: “Yes!”

Soon, the signalman hurried over.

As soon as they entered the command post and hadn't even gained a firm foothold, Liu Shiyi spoke out, "Telegraph the entire army to quickly disengage from their original defensive positions. Small units will move forward 500 meters and ambush in the reeds. The rest of the main force will retreat two kilometers."

"But don't destroy the fortifications and lay mines along the way."

"Special order to the 138th Division to continue moving one kilometer to the left side of the position!"

"The military situation is urgent, no delay!"

Liu Shiyi was bent over the desk, his eyes never leaving the battle map.

On the way here, he had already taken a rough look at the terrain along the way.

Along the river bank, reeds more than one meter tall grow in patches, often stretching for miles.

Although it is winter now and the grass and trees are not lush, they can still serve as a shield and provide shelter.

His idea is also very simple.

Since the fortifications cannot be built, just don't build them.

The two sides fought in the mud, and neither side could gain an advantage.

He had already noticed that the 13th Division was short of manpower.

To put it nicely, it is a division.

To put it bluntly, there is not even a fully-staffed brigade.

Since the front-line headquarters has issued clear orders, we must kill as many Japanese troops as possible.

Then positional warfare and trench warfare are not the best options.

After careful consideration, he decided to repeat the old trick, adopting the classic empty city plan as in the Mingguang Battle.

The Japanese troops were attracted to the original defensive fortifications, and then our own troops, a total of three divisions, attacked from all directions and encircled and annihilated them.

The defensive fortifications filled with water and silt not only failed to provide effective cover for the Japanese army, but were also likely to affect the army's combat effectiveness.

After the order is issued.

The engineer quickly dropped the shovel in his hand, the soldier shook off his helmet, put it back on his head, picked up his rifle and moved quickly with the troops.

Three hours later.

The 131st Division crossed the Wo River.

The Chief of Staff reported back to the command post according to the instructions.

But the current command post looks very simple.

The engineers used local materials to build a shack on a small hill, overlooking the entire battlefield.

inside the house.

Liu Shiyi was extremely busy. The fighting style of this small-scale encirclement and annihilation battle was completely different from trench warfare and positional defense warfare.

It is a great test of the coordination among the various combat units.

The chief of staff stepped forward and saluted: "Report, the 131st Division has all crossed the river!"

Liu Shiyi looked up and saw that his chief of staff had returned. He was overjoyed and quickly told him his own battle plan.

"."

After listening to this, the chief of staff was a little confused: "Will the Japanese army take the bait? The 13th Division's combat style is extremely conservative. Once they smell danger, they are likely to stagnate."

Liu Shiyi shook his head: "The troops ambushed in front of the position pretended to be defeated after a brief exchange of fire and turned back. The Japanese troops behind them will definitely follow."

"Our position is very deep. I have given orders to bury all the mines in the rear. The Japanese vanguard will not find anything unusual when they come in."

"Only when you get deeper and deeper will the mines explode!"

(End of this chapter)