Qianye Xunyi felt that what the chief of staff said made sense, and he said: "Yes, Xu Dalong's troops are going to attack Lingao City, why don't they send out their chariot troops? This is indeed a bit unreasonable. Do you think there is any conspiracy in this? ?"
The chief of staff said: "Xu Dalong is very cunning in fighting. I am very worried that he is adopting the tactic of siege and reinforcements. They first surrounded Lingao City and waited for the 82nd and 83rd Regiments to come for reinforcements. They would ambush on the way and ambush Our reinforcements. I guess their chariot troops are probably ambushing the reinforcements on their way to Lingao City."
Qian Ye They might get eaten on the way."
The chief of staff said: "In this case, it is best not to let them go for reinforcements."
Chiba Xunyi thought about it carefully again and said: "That's right. Send a telegram to the 82nd Regiment and the 83rd Regiment to ask them to stay in their barracks and strengthen their defenses. When we rush back, follow the 108th Regiment After the division's reinforcements gathered together, they went to rescue Lingao City to avoid being defeated by the enemy one by one.
Send a telegram to the defenders in Lingao City, asking them to hold on to Lingao City and wait for the arrival of reinforcements. "
The chief of staff said: "I think this is the safest way." After that, he ordered the car to stop.
The communications staff officer in charge of delivering orders was sitting on a motorcycle and was following Chiba Xunyi's car.
Seeing the car stop, he came to the car and asked: "Your Excellency, division commander, what are your orders?"
The chief of staff informed the communications staff officer of Chiba Xunyi's intentions and asked him to send telegrams to Lingao City and the 82nd and 83rd Wings respectively.
In fact, the judgment of Chiba Xunyi and the chief of staff was wrong. At this time, Chu Yunfei's 358th Brigade, the Independent Brigade and the chariot units of the Mawushan Guerrilla Force were still on the way. Xu Dalong and others took a great risk by surrounding Lingao City. If the Japanese army knew the true situation of the coalition forces, dispatched the 82nd Regiment and the 83rd Regiment to rescue Lingao City, and attacked the Japanese army from both sides in the city, relying only on the strength of the Mahushan guerrillas in Lingao City, the Independent Regiment and the New Second Regiment The troops really couldn't defeat so many Japanese troops.
The reason why Xu Dalong made such a deployment was to take advantage of the information asymmetry of the Japanese army. Chiba Xunyi and others were far away, so they could not understand the real situation on the battlefield. The Japanese army in the city was surrounded and could not obtain the coalition forces. The actual situation of the troops.
Chiba Xunyi and the Chief of Staff believed that since the anti-Japanese armed forces surrounded Lingao City, they must also be prepared to prepare for Japanese reinforcements. As a result, they made a wrong judgment and bought time for the follow-up coalition forces to arrive and encircle and annihilate the Japanese army.
In order to create a false impression on the enemy, Xu Dalong specially asked Sun Desheng to send two cavalry squadrons to appear in the field of vision of the Japanese 82nd Regiment and the 83rd Regiment respectively, and clearly told the Japanese army that the coalition forces had already prepared to attack the Japanese reinforcements. preparation.
The Japanese 82nd Regiment and the 83rd Regiment received a telegram from Chiba Xunyi and gave up the idea of going to reinforce Lingao City and strengthened their defenses to prevent the anti-Japanese armed forces from attacking them.
Taihang Mountain base area, brigade headquarters.
Xu Dalong, Li Yunlong, Chu Yunfei and others organized a coalition force, and tens of thousands of troops launched a campaign to attack the Japanese garrison 32nd Division. Although the brigade commander, chief of staff and others did not intervene, they were also paying close attention to the battle. Case.
The chief of staff observed the situation between the enemy and ourselves on the map, and said with some concern: "Brigadier Commander, the main force of the Japanese 32nd Division is in the Lingao City area, with a total strength of nearly 20,000 people. There are also troops from the 4th Division of Huang Xiejun in Lingao City. , there are also two regiments. With so many enemy troops, it will not be easy for Xu Dalong and the others to capture Lingao City.
The reinforcements that may come nearby include the 110th Division in Yangquan and the 108th Division in Yucheng. If they go to reinforce in large numbers, Xu Dalong and the others will not be able to fight this battle. "
The brigade commander nodded and said: "Xu Dalong's Mawushan guerrillas, Li Yunlong's independent regiment, and Kong Jie's new second regiment are all very powerful in combat. Together with the independent brigade and Chu Yunfei's 358th brigade, they can deal with the Japanese garrison of the 32nd Divisions shouldn't be a problem.
Whether or not this battle can be won depends on how to deal with the Japanese reinforcements. The 110th Division in Yangquan was far away from Lingao City and passed through the Mawushan guerrilla base on the way. Xu Dalong must have been prepared in advance to attack the Japanese troops coming from Yangquan. Our place is too far away from the Mawushan guerrilla base area, so we can't be of much help there.
The Japanese 108th Division poses the greatest threat to Xu Dalong and the others. We are relatively close to Yucheng. We can help Xu Dalong and Li Yunlong in containing the reinforcements of the Japanese 108th Division. Even if we cannot completely block the Japanese reinforcements, at least we can It can contain him partially and reduce the number of Japanese reinforcements sent to Lingao City for reinforcements. "
The chief of staff said: "The ones closest to Yucheng in our brigade are the 69th Regiment and the Second Supplementary Regiment. Should we send them to harass Yucheng?"
The brigade commander said: "Just send them there. Order the supplementary second regiment to accept the command of the 69th regiment. The troops will set off immediately to conduct harassment operations against the Japanese troops in the direction of Yucheng and contain the strength of the Japanese 108th Division."
The chief of staff asked: "Should we inform Xu Dalong and others of our deployment?"
The brigade commander shook his head and said: "Let's help secretly. Since Xu Dalong and the others have launched this offensive campaign, they must be prepared to guard against Japanese reinforcements. Don't disrupt their plans because of our help."
The chief of staff nodded and said: "You are still thoughtful, I will go and convey the order."
At noon that day, Chu Yunfei's 358th Brigade, Wang Limin's Independent Brigade and Cui Zhenyue's chariot troops arrived at Lingao City.
After lunch, the generals of the various armies that participated in the siege of Lingao City came to the arsenal to make combat arrangements for the attack on Lingao City.
Due to the capture of the Japanese arsenal in advance and the annihilation of the Japanese infantry brigades outside the city, the Independent Regiment and the New Second Regiment added a large amount of Japanese equipment.
According to Li Yunlong's words, if you have enough weapons and ammunition in your hands, your waist will be strong. They are now full of confidence and full of confidence in attacking Lingao City.
At the beginning of the meeting, Li Yunlong said: "There is nothing to study in attacking Lingao City. We have so many troops with a large number of tanks and artillery. It will not be a problem to attack the small Lingao City. I don't think there is any distinction between main attack and assist. Everyone Attack from all sides to see who can attack the city first."
Kong Jie had the same idea as Li Yunlong. He said: "I agree with Lao Li. The attack in the south of the city belongs to our new second regiment. We guarantee that we will attack the city within an hour."
Chu Yunfei and the Independent Brigade were not to be outdone. They promised to attack one city wall each and promised to enter the city within an hour.
Seeing the high morale of the generals, Xu Dalong said happily: "I believe in the combat effectiveness of each army. The battle to attack Lingao City adopts everyone's opinions. Each army attacks a city wall respectively. Which army will defeat it first? This time The first success of the siege battle.
Now I announce the specific deployment of this battle: Commander Chu's 358th Brigade will attack from the west of the city, Commander Li's independent regiment will be responsible for the south of the city, Commander Kong's New Second Regiment will be responsible for the east of the city, and Commander Wang's independent brigade will be responsible for the north of the city. .
The independent regiment has a chariot battalion. Cui Zhenyue's chariot brigade is divided into three, and they cooperate with the 358th Brigade, the New Second Regiment and the Independent Brigade respectively.
The guerrilla artillery force was divided into four to strengthen the firepower of the siege forces on all sides.
Sun Desheng led the main cavalry force to the direction of Yucheng to block the reinforcements of the 108th Division.
Are the tasks clear? "
Chu Yunfei, Kong Jie, Li Yunlong, Wang Limin, Sun Desheng, and Wang Chengzhu said together: "It's clear."
Xu Dalong raised his wrist, looked at his watch, and said: "Look at the watch now. It is 13:12. Based on my time, at 3 o'clock, all participating troops will start the siege on time."
Everyone said together: "Yes."
The meeting was over, and the generals returned to their troops, but Xu Dalong kept several leaders of the independent brigade.
The leaders of the independent brigade already knew that the northern city wall they were responsible for attacking was guarded by Huang Xiejun, and they felt a little slighted.
Wang Limin thought that Xu Dalong did not believe in the combat effectiveness of the independent brigade, and felt a little unhappy.
He said: "Captain, please don't worry. Don't say that we are the troops of the Huang Xie Army. Even if the Japanese are defending, our independent brigade can attack the city within an hour, and it will never hinder the attack on the city." of."
Gao Zhiyong and Huang Jingzhong also said that the independent brigade will definitely be able to complete the mission on time.
Xu Dalong said: "I believe in you, the combat effectiveness of the Independent Brigade, and that you can complete the task of attacking the city on time. However, I do not require you to attack the city in this battle. Not only that, seeing the Huang Xiejun in the city open When the city gate rushes towards you, you must clear a way for them and let them leave.”
After hearing this, Wang Limin and others were unwilling.
Gao Zhiyong said dissatisfied: "Captain, why is this? Can't we even defeat Huang Xiejun's troops?"
The secret exchanges between Xu Dalong and Huang Xiejun's Fourth Division cannot be known to many people.
He said: "As for the reason, I am not in a position to reveal it to you, but this is an order. Please follow my order."
Although several leaders of the independent brigade were reluctant, they still expressed their determination to carry out the order.
After receiving Xu Dalong's telegram, Yan Guiwu drove to the headquarters of the 32nd Division and asked to see the city's top commander and the deputy chief of staff of the 32nd Division.
He said: "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, the enemy has surrounded Lingao City from all sides and will launch an attack soon. You also know that the combat effectiveness of our Huang Xie Army is not as good as that of the Huang Army. The anti-Japanese elements outside the city also know this. There are It is very likely that they will focus their siege on my defense zone.
I am really worried that I cannot defend the city wall and will destroy the defense deployment of Your Excellency the Chief of Staff, so I request Your Excellency the Chief of Staff to send troops from the Yellow Army to assist my troops of the Fourth Division in the defense. "
The deputy chief of staff saw the dense enemy troops outside the city and felt that his troops were already stretched thin. Yan Guiwu made such a request, which made him very dissatisfied. He wanted to scold Yan Guiwu, but this was the time when he was employing people, so he swallowed the curse words as soon as they came to his lips.
The deputy chief of staff also knew that what Yan Guiwu said made sense. Huang Xiejun's combat effectiveness was much worse than that of the Japanese army. If the northern city wall was breached by the anti-Japanese armed forces first, the entire city defense would collapse.
After thinking about it, he decided to send an infantry brigade and part of the artillery to strengthen the city defense in the north.
At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, all coalition forces launched an attack on Lingao City at the same time.
The coalition forces already had a large number of artillery, and they had just captured the Japanese arsenal, so they had plenty of artillery shells. The fierce artillery fire not only suppressed the firepower of the Japanese defenders, but also blasted gaps in the city wall.
Li Yunlong was only thinking about taking the lead in this siege. When he saw a gap in the city wall, he raised his rifle and fired a shot into the sky. He shouted: "Blow the charge horn and attack." "
With the loud sound of the charge horn, the officers and soldiers of the independent regiment, under the cover of the chariot troops, rushed towards the city wall with shouts.
At the same time, Kong Jie's New Second Regiment and Chu Yunfei's 358th Brigade were not to be outdone and launched a fierce attack on the Japanese army.
Although the Japanese troops defending the city put up tenacious resistance, the artillery fire from the coalition forces was too fierce, and coupled with the cover of the tank troops, the Japanese troops could not withstand it at all.
In less than half an hour, the troops of the Independent Regiment, the New Second Regiment and the 358th Brigade had already entered the city and started a fierce street battle with the Japanese army.
The deputy chief of staff of the Japanese army was nervously paying attention to the fighting situation everywhere in the headquarters. Bad news kept coming. The city walls on the east, west, and south sides had been breached. The anti-Japanese armed forces had entered the city and were advancing towards the division headquarters.
Emergency calls were coming from all directions, and the deputy chief of staff was asked to send reinforcements to support. The deputy chief of staff only had two infantry squadrons in reserve, and he dispatched them all within a short time.
At this time, the captain of the 81st Regiment asked the deputy chief of staff to send troops for support.
The deputy chief of staff had no more troops to send, and he suddenly remembered the infantry brigade sent to the northern city wall to assist the defense of Huang Xiejun's fourth division. Now that the northern city wall has not been breached, he issued an order to urgently mobilize the infantry brigade to reinforce the Japanese troops in other directions.
The captain of the Japanese army cooperated with the Fourth Division of Huang Xiejun to hold on to the city wall. They saw the anti-Japanese armed forces launching an attack and launched a counterattack. As a result, they repelled the attack of the independent brigade.
After receiving the order from the deputy chief of staff, he told Yan Guiwu to continue to hold on to the city wall. He led his men and rushed to support the Japanese troops in other directions.
All this was planned by Xu Dalong.
