The way you came is different from the way you go back.
When I came, I was in a hurry, but when I returned, I felt more calm.
The sky was still gray, with occasional snowflakes falling. Zhang Tianhai rode his horse leisurely back toward Lanling, with a battalion of officers and soldiers lined up behind him.
It was quite a leisurely journey along the way, and there was a sense of "stealing half a day's leisure" in it.
In the afternoon, Zhang Tianhai finally returned to Lanling City with the officers and soldiers of the first battalion.
After returning to Lanling, Zhang Tianhai immediately issued an order to the entire regiment: End the training of the entire regiment, and except for the cavalry battalion, other combat units will immediately enter wartime status!
As for the city defense troops, Zhang Tianhai asked them to continue training. After all, these troops were mainly composed of new recruits and had almost no combat effectiveness.
"Lao Zhang, what happened? Why did you issue a combat order as soon as you came back?" After receiving the order, Guo Qiliang immediately returned to the regiment headquarters to ask Zhang Tianhai. Everything was in a hurry.
Zhang Tianhai nodded and said with a serious face: "Now the dark Sakamoto brigade has divided its troops and headed towards Ju County. The weather will change in Ju County soon. We must be ready for battle! Let's go to Linyi now , I have reached an agreement with Pang Bingxun, the commander of the Third Army, to support each other during the war. If Fengyan comes together, our regiment will definitely go into battle immediately."
Guo Qiliang nodded and said, "I understand. The staff will immediately come up with a battle plan."
Zhang Tianhai shook his head and disagreed: "Don't worry, give the brothers a day off, and we will come up with a plan tomorrow afternoon, and wait until they have a good rest and adjust their condition. It will not be so comfortable after a war."
"Okay." Guo Qidian nodded.
…
On February 20, the third day after Zhang Tianhai returned from Linyi, the Japanese army captured Ju County and Rizhao.
Pang Bingxun was extremely anxious after receiving this news. The 229th Regiment had just been replenished. If only one regiment went up, it would undoubtedly deliver food to the Japanese army.
"Commander of the Corps, the situation of Shen Honglie's troops is unclear now, and the east of Liu Zhen is also in a bitter battle. Do you want to implement the emergency plan and let the 229th Regiment go north?" Wang Showu, the chief of staff of the Corps, asked.
Pang Bingxun gritted his teeth and said: "Call the 115th Brigade immediately and ask about the supply situation of the 230th Regiment!"
"Yes!" Wang Showu responded and immediately called the 115 brigade headquarters.
The call was answered personally by brigade commander Zhu Jialin. He told Wang Showu that the 115th Brigade headquarters had basically been replenished, including the 230th Regiment, but because some of them were untrained recruits, there would be some impact on combat effectiveness.
Wang Showu truthfully told the situation, and Pang Bingxun was caught in a dilemma: on the one hand, there were the friendly troops who had lost their lips and teeth; on the other hand, there were his own troops, and most of them were new recruits!
After a long time, Pang Bingxun sighed and said: "Forget it, gather the 115th Brigade immediately, equipped with two mountain cannons, and prepare to leave Juxian immediately! It will be led by Huang Shuxun, deputy commander of the 39th Division, and must fulfill its duty of rapid reinforcements. !”
"But, Army Commander, if you send a brigade over, there won't be enough troops to guard Linyi. Who knows when the Japanese troops in the Mengyin direction will increase their troops?" Wang Showu said worriedly.
"We can't control that much anymore. Soldiers are valuable and quick. At worst, I will ask the commander for reinforcements in the afternoon!" Pang Bingxun said decisively.
"Yes, sir! I will order the troops to carry out the order immediately!" Wang Showu stood at attention and saluted.
Just after Pang Bingxun's combat order was issued, a staff officer immediately ran in and reported: "Report to the commander of the army, the commander of the theater, Commander Li, has an urgent call!"
"Read it!" Pang Bingxun waved his hand and said.
The staff officer opened the translation of the telegram and read: "Commander Pang Bingxun of the Third Army of the Revolutionary Army of the National Army, today the invaders are advancing on Ju County. Ju County has already fallen into the enemy's hands. Shen Honglie's Marine Corps and Liu Zhendong's First Guerrilla Detachment are fighting with the enemy. Already at a disadvantage, the commander of the theater is now ordering your troops to immediately send reinforcements to support the troops in Ju County! The headquarters of the commander of the theater, urgent call at 11:36 on February 20, the twenty-seventh year of the Republic of China!"
After hearing this, Pang Bingxun's eyes flashed with joy, and then he said: "Immediately call back to the commander's department and tell him that our Third Army Corps has sent a brigade of reinforcements north to support Shen Honglie and Liu Zhendong's troops. However, after the reinforcements were dispatched, the Linyi area was empty of troops. , I’m afraid it’s not enough to withstand the enemy’s front from the direction of Mengyin, I hope the commander-in-chief can send troops to support the battle in Linyi area!”
"Yes, sir!" the staff officer responded, and then went out.
Soon, Wang Showu came back. After he entered the door, he asked: "Legion Commander, did you just ask the commander for reinforcements? This is not like your style."
Unexpectedly, Pang Bingxun said with a worried face: "Now our Fortieth Army, only these two main brigades have slightly stronger combat effectiveness. Li Zhenqing's supplementary regiment can be used as the main regiment, but in the end it is nothing more than It's just an ordinary regiment with only 2,000 people. Compared with the reinforced regiment of Zhang Tianhai of the Central Army stationed in Lanling, it's far behind."
Pang Bingxun is also an honest man, and he can correctly recognize his own shortcomings. Indeed, the artillery battalion of Zhang Tianhai's regiment has eight mountain artillery, but his third army has twice the artillery, and the configuration of light and heavy machine guns is also extremely high.
Wang Showu nodded and agreed: "Indeed, after the 115th Brigade has been transferred, the only ones we can rely on are the 116th Brigade and the military supplementary regiment. Although Zhang Liyuan's security regiment has a certain combat effectiveness, it is not strong. Zhang Tianhai is I’m not familiar with it, and I’m afraid the combat style is not something we can predict.”
"Although Zhang Tianhai's Zhiyi Regiment is strong, once they join the war, the Japanese army will most likely regard them as their number one enemy. If the Zhiyi Regiment is surrounded and annihilated by Japanese troops, Linyi will really be doomed." Pang Bingxun Sighed.
"Indeed, didn't that boy Zhang Yulin also say before he left that we should get reinforcements and then provide full support? This boy is quite naughty." Wang Showu said with a smile.
"This guy is really sensitive in this area. He told us in advance that reinforcements must be sent, otherwise our troops in Linyi will be destroyed." Pang Bingxun said with a wry smile. He didn't know whether he was happy or annoyed. A pitiful smile.
…
While Pang Bingxun was laughing, Li Zongren was not in a good mood. He was frowning in front of the map.
"Reinforcements, reinforcements, reinforcements are needed everywhere! But where do these reinforcements come from?!" Li Zongren cursed with some dissatisfaction.
Although Li Zongren can also understand the difficulty of Pang Bingxun stationed in Linyi, he really has no reinforcements. The first theater has already supported many troops, and the war on the southern front is in full swing. His company was originally going to The 11th Army Group and the 21st Army Group of the Guangxi Army, which were serving as reserves, were sent forward.
The three armies under the control of these two group armies are all soldiers brought by Li Zongren from Guangxi, but his hometown is poor.
At this moment, Xu Zuyi, the chief of staff of the theater, said: "How about moving Zhang Zizhong's 59th Army from the southern battlefield to Linyi. Zhang Zizhong has a cavalry brigade, which can move quickly. Besides, there is now a large army on the southern battlefield. Yunji, I’m sure there won’t be any problems.”
"However, Xin Chen (Zhang Zizhong's nickname) said that he was willing to fight in the fifth theater, but he was not willing to fight with Pang Bingxun. The reason was that during the Central Plains War, Pang Bingxun led his army to sneak attack Zhang Zizhong's troops, and there was a conflict between the two. Personal feud, I’m afraid it won’t be so easy to reconcile!”
I saw Xu Zuyi said with an embarrassed look on his face: "But we don't have any other troops now. Is it really possible that Zhang Tianhai's small reinforced regiment can withstand the Japanese army? This regiment is what Minister He has in mind. If the meat is lost like this, I’m afraid it will be difficult to explain to Minister He.”
Indeed, the theater commanders still knew which faction Zhang Tianhai's Zhiyi Regiment belonged to: Minister He could send his nephew to the Zhiyi Regiment to serve as a small political training department without being a pet peeve. long?
Therefore, Xu Zuyi's point is not completely unreasonable, and he has indeed talked and dealt with He Jiye.
Li Zongren shook his head and said: "Brother Yanmou is wrong. Since Zhang Tianhai's troops have arrived in our fifth theater, they must fight, but I will not deliberately let them fight any big battles, and I will send them If you are transferred to Lanling, you don’t have to support the battle in Linyi area."
"What do you mean, sir?" Xu Zuyi asked curiously.
"Lanling is a good place. It is close to Linyi and not very far from the Jinpu line. If the Japanese army wants to cross Teng County, its strategic target must be Taierzhuang, the outer barrier of Xuzhou, and Lanling is also located on the north side of Taierzhuang. , maybe there will be unexpected gains if you put them here." Li Zongren pointed at these places with his fingers as he spoke.
"Sir Li, are you really so confident in the first regiment directly under the Third War Zone? Are you not afraid that Zhang Tianhai will disobey the announcement?" Xu Zuyi had some doubts, although he had a very good impression of Zhang Tianhai. Okay, their performance in Kaifeng was indeed very good, but after all, they are all direct line troops of the Central Army, and they are also direct line members of the direct line, and they are a unit that Minister He is very optimistic about and built with his own hands.
On the other hand, most of the troops in the fifth war zone are composed of local motley crews, and in terms of the composition of the war zone commanders, it seems that except for Xu Zuyi, the chief of staff, few are from the factions of the Central Army, so Xu Zuyi's worries are not It's not unreasonable.
"I have come into contact with Zhang Tianhai. He is a very good young man, energetic and energetic. I believe he can go all out for the anti-Japanese cause." Li Zongren said with a smile, "By the way, Yan Brother Mou, what you just said is that it is not impossible to transfer Zhang Zizhong's 59th Army to Linyi. You should be fully responsible for this matter! The process is not important, what is important is the result! "
"Yes, sir!" Xu Zuyi responded with a wry smile. It was obviously caused by taking on a hard job.
…
PS: I had a day of rest yesterday and my mental state has improved. A three thousand word chapter is presented!
Thanks to Qidian book friend who loves reading and QQ reading friend Can Ye for giving me two monthly passes each!
Thanks to Qidian book friends Ming Yin Yang Hua Tianzun and Steve Karl, and QQ reading book friends Heart and Lonely Life. , one monthly ticket each for George!
