The final result of Kitashirakawa's discussion with Taro Aso was that they would only monitor the enemy forces in Fengyang County and would not send troops to encircle and suppress them.
Because Kitashirakawa felt that it would be very dangerous to divide the troops at this time. What's more, he had already received news from the 40th Regiment that their ambush failed and Dragon Boat Festival was already heading to Bengbu.
Therefore, it was a very stupid thing for him to send troops to Fengyang County at this time, not to mention that the previous plan did not go out of the city to attack the enemy's reinforcements. The purpose of sending a reconnaissance team was just to confirm whether the enemy had reinforcements, where they were, how many there were, and when they would arrive in Bengbu.
Therefore, although Kitashirakawa and Aso Taro received the news that the Northeast Army arrived in Fengyang County, they still stood still.
But at the same time, Dragon Boat Festival had arrived in Fengyang County and joined Wang Tongbu.
Dragon Boat Festival was very fast. When he picked up Japanese weapons and equipment, he was still more than 30 kilometers away from Fengyang County. But it only took him ninety minutes to arrive with his people.
After meeting Wang Tong, Wang Tong shook hands with Duanwu cordially. The nearly 40-year-old Northeastern man was so excited that he didn't know what to say for a while.
Duanwu understands, because many fans have this expression when they see him.
"Old Wang, you take half of the weapons and equipment on the car, and the two cannons are also given to you. I have to give the remaining half to the Sichuan Army."
The equipment will be distributed directly during the Dragon Boat Festival, because time waits for no one. It was necessary to fight the Japanese as early as possible, and he already knew about the 40th Regiment and did not pursue them.
In that direction, it should be the defense area of the 113th Division. The little devil must have gone there to cause damage.
So Duanwu promptly reported the situation to Commander Yu of the 51st Army, and got in touch with Zhou Weiguo and others.
Zhou Weiguo said that the ambush of the Japanese was quite successful, and one of the Japanese brigade was almost wiped out. But the little devils were also prepared. When a large group was eliminated, they quickly built a defense line nearby.
In other words, the Japanese troops in that brigade were like abandoned sons. The Japanese watched them being wiped out, but used them to build defenses.
The two sides fought fiercely all afternoon and stopped fighting late in the evening.
Zhou Weiguo said: "Should we make a sneak attack at night? The Japs must have been very tired after chasing for more than 80 kilometers and fighting fiercely for nearly six hours." It's the perfect time for a surprise attack.
But Duanwu said: No need, one of the little Japanese troops, about two brigades, went to the 113 defense area. It was supposed to be the intention to open a gap from there and lead the 26th Brigade into the rear of the 51st Army to complete the encirclement.
And if my guess is correct, the Japs should separate the 31st Army from the 51st Army, and use another Japanese army to hold back the 31st Army.
So tonight you don't need to make a surprise attack but to ambush, deploy some of your troops, and bite the little devil hard.
Don't eat too much at one time. If we eat too much, we will encounter a crazy counterattack by the enemy. Even if the enemy will suffer heavy casualties, we will still suffer a lot of casualties.
In addition, you can ask a section of the Northeastern Army to immediately send the captured artillery of the 26th Brigade to Xuzhou, and have Li Zhongren transfer it to Han Fuju of the Third Army, so that he can block the Japanese army in North China in Jinan, so that Commander Li can have time to attack Zaozhuang. , organize a big battle in Taierzhuang area.
This battle is very important to us. If the northern front can last longer, we will have a lot to do on the southern front.
Zhou Weiguo replied: Got it. Then the two ended their communication via text messages.
So at this time, not only the Japanese army was on the move, but the Dragon Boat Festival Independent Regiment, Zhou Weiguo's 522nd Regiment, Qiu Ming's Hutoushan Independent Regiment, including part of the Northeast Army, were all on the move.
The Northeastern Army and part of the Independent Regiment, including Qiu Ming's Independent Regiment, continued to have a stalemate with part of the Japanese 26th Brigade. Zhou Weiguo, with the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Independent Regiment, and all of his 522nd Regiment, quietly They detoured in the direction of Bengbu and launched the next ambush battle against the Japanese army.
Of course, this may be a long waiting process. Because the 113th Division of the 51st Army had received information about the Dragon Boat Festival and knew that a Japanese regiment was heading towards their defense area.
The 113th Division will not sit still and wait for death, but will at least organize troops to consolidate defenses.
Therefore, it may not be easy for the Japanese 40th Regiment to open this gap in a short period of time.
But the battlefield is changing rapidly, and Dragon Boat Festival will not wait for all parties to fight according to their own plans. The first thing he had to do was to create the illusion that our army was eager to retake Bengbu and let the little devils fight according to his plan.
In this process, all the intentions of the Japanese will be exposed.
In other words, at this time, Dragon Boat Festival could not yet see through how the Japanese planned it.
He went to Lai'an County to seize the Japs' artillery. This was a secret operation. Even if the Japs knew about it, it would only happen later.
He expected that the Japanese 26th Brigade would pursue him, so he set up an ambush about 70 kilometers away from Mingguang, preparing to directly cripple the Japanese 26th Brigade.
But unexpectedly, the Japanese intelligence agency was very tenacious. After suffering heavy losses many times, it actually got news of the departure of the Bengbu Dragon Boat Festival Department and the Zhou Weiguo Department. And with this, they penetrated through the gap between the defense areas of the 51st Army and the 31st Army and took Bengbu directly.
At that time, Duanwu thought that the little devil's move was stupid. Without the cooperation of a large force, even if a lone army occupied Bengbu, it would be meaningless.
But after a while, Duanwu realized that his idea might be a mistake. The Japanese were not that stupid. They inserted themselves into the rear of the 51st Army and waited to be surrounded and annihilated in Bengbu City? This is impossible even if you think about it.
Therefore, Duanwu concluded that the Japanese must have come prepared this time, and the entire Huainan campaign had already begun.
So Duanwu immediately conveyed his guess to Commander Yu of the 51st Army and Li Zhongren of the Fifth War Zone.
Li Zhongren didn't even believe that the little Japanese came over without any warning.
But Duanwu believed that the little devil might have started preparing a long time ago. For example, only two regiments of the Tenth Division appeared, so where were the other Japanese? Was it because he was not transferred from the northern line, or has he been hiding near Sanjia Town? (The original 10th Division fought with the Japanese Second Army on the northern front)
When Duan Wu decided to come to An County, he had thought that there would be too many variables in Sanjia Town, so he went to Lai'an County.
But now it seems that Dragon Boat Festival’s idea is correct. Because if he had chosen Sanjia Town at that time, he would most likely have collided with Kitashirakawa. And by then, it might not be that easy for Duanwu to escape.
Therefore, at this time, Duanwu had not clearly seen the real intentions of the little Japs, so he could not blindly make a judgment and deploy a large number of troops to fight the infiltrated Japs.
Of course, Duanwu had already guessed who the commander of the Japanese army that had infiltrated Bengbu was. Because judging from Ma Ping'an's information, who else could be there besides the Prince of Beibai? .....
