In the entire model brigade and mercenary regiment, when it comes to command quality and the ability to grasp the rhythm of the battlefield, Meng Yuting can be ranked second but no one can be ranked first. Even Zhao Changshu and Chen Wanli are slightly inferior to him.
Meng Yuting's only weakness is that due to the size of the mercenary group, he lacks experience in commanding large-scale battles.
Now, it is an opportunity for Meng Yuting, an opportunity to improve his commanding ability, and an opportunity to make up for his shortcomings.
Soldiers who don't want to be marshals are not good soldiers, and Meng Yuting is no exception.
As an elite officer in the Northwest Army who was favored by the commander-in-chief, after experiencing the baptism of the battlefield, he studied in the top military academies abroad for several years.
The key is that even at the Frunze Military Academy, which is known as the "cradle of generals", Meng Yuting's various results belong to the top group of outstanding students, and he can be said to be talented.
However, due to the domestic political situation, he could only have the opportunity to display his talents in Zhou Wen's mercenary group. However, in his heart, he did not want to lead thousands of troops to fight against the enemy on the battlefield and use all his talents and abilities to serve. nation.
When he looked at the encouraging eyes of Zhao Changshu and Zhou Wen with his face flushed, a feeling that a scholar would die for his confidant emerged spontaneously.
Of course he knew that this was the best choice at the moment, and without being pretentious, he straightened his body and stood at attention and said: "Yu Ting is favored by Chief Zhao and the scholar. I dare not to die and do my best."
Zhao Changshu smiled and nodded, turned to the officers under his command, glanced around majestically, and said loudly: "From now until the end of the battle, there will be no disrespect, overt or covert disobedience to Commander-in-Chief Meng Yuting's orders. , all acts of making excuses will be punished in accordance with battlefield discipline. Zhang Cheng's Guard Battalion No. 1 Company serves as the inspection team, wears armbands, and is under the personal command of Meng Yuting. Anyone arrested by the inspection team is authorized. Do you understand? "
All the officers looked solemn and stood up to answer: "I understand."
…
The Great Wall defense line has a defense width of hundreds of kilometers, but not every distance requires heavy defense. There are many areas with steep mountains and rivers that are not suitable for the gathering and marching of large troops. Moreover, even after entering the customs, they are all in high mountains and dense forests with no accessible roads, making them unsuitable for the deployment of semi-mechanized forces of the Japanese army.
Therefore, the Chinese military's defense forces are mainly deployed at several important pass points.
The so-called pass actually refers to the main transportation arteries and strategic places connecting the interior and exterior of the customs, such as Gubeikou, Xifengkou, Lengkou, Yiyuankou, etc. The Peiping Branch of the Military Commission also attaches great importance to these passes and has dispatched the most elite troops in northern China to defend them.
The defensive deployment from west to east is that the 17th Army of the Central Army defends Gubeikou, the 29th Army of the Northwest Army defends Xifengkou, the 32nd Army of General Shang Zheng and the Jin Army Model Brigade defend Lengkou, and the section east of Lengkou to Yiyuankou It is defended by the 53rd Army and the 57th Army, which are still intact in the Northeast Army.
The five armies with a total of more than 100,000 troops are basically deployed on the front line of defense. There is a lack of strong mobile troops and reserves in the rear. This has resulted in the Chinese army being able to only defend passively without the means or strength to counterattack.
This kind of strategic deployment is not something Zhou Wen, a young colonel, can interfere with. In such a passive situation, he could only use the relatively strong combat effectiveness of the mercenary regiment and the imitation brigade to make some changes on his own territory, and take advantage of the large Japanese troops to find and grasp the needs before they reached the Great Wall defense line. That fleeting fighter plane—a fighter plane that could severely damage the Japanese army.
That night, on the Cherry Orchard Highlands east of Lengkou Pass, a team of thousands of people and hundreds of mules and horses loaded with supplies passed through Position 1 on the Cherry Orchard Highlands and headed into the darkness below the mountain. go.
The cherry orchard is located on a high ground in front of the Great Wall. It is named after the wild cherries that grow on the mountain. The high ground here and Baili Mountain, which is 2 kilometers away to the east, are both high ground with the same height as the Great Wall.
Cherry Orchard and Baili Mountain guard the Great Wall wall a few hundred meters behind, one on the left and the other on the right. They are at odds with each other. They are important areas that must be conquered first if the enemy wants to get close to the Great Wall.
The mountains to the north of these two highlands are relatively steep, more dangerous and more difficult to conquer than the main position of Fenghuang Mountain at Lenkou Pass.
However, in history, it was because these two highlands that were easy to defend and difficult to attack were successively captured by the Japanese army that led to the fall of Lengkou Pass.
The reason was not that the defenders were not brave enough, nor that the Japanese army was strong, but mainly because there were too few defensive troops.
At that time, General Shangzheng only deployed more than 5,000 troops from the 139th Division on the front line of Lengkou Pass. However, these more than 5,000 troops were to defend Lengkou from Baiyangyu in the west to Baili Mountain in the east, which was more than 20 kilometers long. The defense line and troops seemed to be stretched thin. Cherry Orchard and Baili Mountain were defended by only one battalion.
The Japanese army concentrated its forces and launched a series of all-out fierce attacks in all directions at Lengkou Pass. The Chinese defenders in Cherry Orchard and Baili Mountain fought tenaciously without any support, and no one retreated. Under the fierce Japanese artillery and continuous attacks for several days and nights, the defenders of the two battalions were basically lost, which led to the fall of the two highlands.
In fact, to put it bluntly, the Chinese defenders were actually exhausted by the continuous attacks of the Japanese army.
The main reason was that there were too few defensive troops, no reserves, and no solid fortifications to rely on. Most of the sacrificed officers and soldiers were killed by Japanese artillery.
But now it is different. With the Model Brigade responsible for the defense of Fenghuang Mountain and Baiyangyu at Lenkou Pass, more than 5,000 people of the 139th Division can focus on the defense of Cherry Orchard and Baili Mountain. Moreover, they have also received guidance from the Model Brigade Engineer Battalion. A large number of fortifications and troop hiding holes were built on the reverse slope of the mountain, which greatly reduced the lethality of Japanese artillery. At the same time, a regiment of reserve troops was deployed on the Great Wall to provide support at any time.
With these new deployments and measures, Zhou Wen is full of confidence in the right wing of the 139th Division guarding Lengkou Pass.
Not only Zhou Wen has confidence in the 139th Division, but Commander Huang of the 139th Division is also full of confidence. He is now standing on position 1 with a few guards, looking at the team meandering in the dark, and praising Zhou Wen beside him. Said: "Young people are to be feared. Young people are really to be feared. Huang really didn't expect that Changshu and you young people would actually plan such a big article."
If Zhou Wen and Zhao Changshu want to achieve the goal of annihilating the Japanese 14th Brigade, the 139th Division is also an indispensable help. Even if they do not need to participate in the critical battle, having more than 5,000 friendly troops helping to wave the flag and shouting at the last moment is not to be underestimated. The strength may be the last straw that breaks the camel's back for the Japanese army.
