Lijiazhuang was a place given over by the Japanese army after they reduced their troops. After all, there was a cavalry battalion, which made them in danger of being cut off at any time.
Lijiazhuang is a good place, and it is also the only place that the Japanese army must pass through when advancing eastward.
But although the place is good, in the hands of the Japanese army today, it may not be considered a good place.
It can only be said to be tasteless, tasteless to eat, and a pity to throw away.
After much thought, the Japanese garrison commander Tanaka Yijun gave up on Lijiazhuang. For the Japanese army, it was easy to capture Lijiazhuang. They just had to wait for their large troops to come up.
However, if they hold on to it, they may lose another squad. It would be extremely unwise to lose a squad when their forces are stretched thin.
Since Lijiazhuang has not become a key point of contention between China and Japan, it seems that it has been miraculously preserved.
Zhang Tianhai came here and almost moved his former enemy headquarters over.
This time, Zhang Tianhai invested a total of two infantry battalions plus a cavalry battalion, a special agent company and a small artillery company. This lineup is almost equivalent to a regiment.
Already knowing that Xu Jiyuan and others were coming, Zhang Tianhai rode his horse and waited at the north side of the village.
This is an attitude, an attitude based on respect.
Seeing Xu Jiyuan and others approaching on horseback, Zhang Tianhai waved his right hand casually to the temple, which was regarded as a salute. He said: "Sir Xu, welcome to Lijiazhuang."
I saw Xu Jiyuan's face was full of calmness and elegance, and he casually returned the military salute and said: "You must be Zhang Tianhai, Commander Zhang, right? He is indeed a talented person at a young age, and he can lead the Zhiyi Regiment to fight so hard on the front line. Win more battles.”
"Brigadier Xu is overly praised. These are the victories that our brothers sacrificed their lives for. Yu Lin is unworthy of it." Zhang Tianhai replied very politely.
"Okay! Captain Zhang is really a hero from a young age. He has such self-cultivation at such a young age. He is indeed outstanding." Xu Jiyuan laughed and said very cheerfully.
"Let's do this! Let's talk about it later. The most important thing at the moment is to carry out Commander Zhang's order. Brigadier Xu, please move to the village headquarters!" Zhang Tianhai is not the kind of person who waits for words. , the pleasantries were almost finished, and we went straight to the topic.
After all, he was not very familiar with people like Xu Jiyuan.
As for why Zhang Tianhai did not treat him as a subordinate, the reason is simple: this is the "privilege" of the Central Army. These Cantonese troops are not as good as the Central Army, let alone graduates of Huangpu. .
Xu Jiyuan could see that Zhang Tianhai was in such a state, but he would not take the initiative to say it, let alone stupidly pay attention to stupid things like seniority——
Who is Zhang Tianhai? He was a dignified Huangpu graduate, a disciple of today's army, and looking at his troops, everyone was in high spirits, and they were in the state of strong soldiers and horses.
Besides, their police regiment has more than six thousand armored men, which is one thousand more than his brigade, not to mention their combat effectiveness.
It can be said that the 1st Police Regiment is already a de facto brigade-level unit, but it has not yet taken off the title of regiment. As long as the designation is changed, Commander Zhang is transformed into Brigadier Zhang.
Therefore, Xu Jiyuan would not be stupid enough to do such a thing.
"Please come in!" After dismounting, Zhang Tianhai greeted Xu Jiyuan and his party very enthusiastically, looking like he was the master here.
"To be honest, our unit has just been stationed here for less than three hours, so we are not too familiar with it. Brigadier Xu, please take a seat. Since we are here, let's introduce it first Let’s talk about the situation of our respective troops so that we can cooperate in the battle.” Zhang Tianhai greeted Xu Jiyuan and others and went straight to the topic.
Xu Jiyuan sat generously on the chair at the headquarters and said: "Captain Zhang, our brigade is a fully-staffed brigade with two regiments under its jurisdiction, with more than 5,000 soldiers. Now one of the regiments Just outside Lijiazhuang, another regiment is also heading towards Jiujiang County."
After hearing this, Zhang Tianhai nodded and said: "With the strong help from Brigadier Xu's troops, this Jiujiang battle will definitely be much smoother. Our troops are a reinforced regiment, including five full infantry battalions, plus one There is a full cavalry battalion and an artillery battalion, totaling seven combat battalions. If you include the troops directly under the regiment headquarters, the combat troops should be about eight battalions, and there is also a baggage battalion. The number of troops has reached 6,500. About a hundred people.”
With this kind of troop configuration, Xu Jiyuan couldn't help but be jealous for a while: This is the direct line of the Central Army... The troops are strong and the horses are strong, and the soldiers are sufficient. Although it is a reinforced regiment, it is much stronger than his brigade.
Not to mention anything else, just after this journey, Xu Jiyuan compared Zhang Tianhai's troops with his own troops. After all, civil servants were first and military commanders were second.
This is not because they don't know the goods, but because they are afraid of comparing goods. Looking at the weapons and equipment of the police regiment, it is obvious that they are much more sophisticated than other troops. The equipment rate of light weapons is much better than them.
Now that Xu Jiyuan was envious of Zhang Tianhai, he couldn't help but feel envious. It should be noted that an artillery battalion had to do so many things.
I saw Xu Jiyuan grinning and said: "Captain Zhang's troops are really strong. Our troops are only two complete infantry regiments. In addition, we are not very familiar with the surrounding situation. I am afraid that this battle will have to be carried out by Zhang." The regimental commander has become the overall commander."
"Isn't this appropriate? In terms of military rank, you are higher than me; in terms of military position, you are the brigade commander and I am the regiment commander." Zhang Tianhai shied away.
"There's nothing inappropriate about this. Our department will just obey your orders." Xu Jiyuan was also very cheerful. With Zhang Tianhai's strength, if he wanted to attack the county town, he could have done it by himself. Now that he is being dragged into it, he can't give him any face. Shameless...
"Okay! Thanks to Brigadier Xu for your trust, let me now introduce the situation in Jiujiang County and its surroundings!" Zhang Tianhai did not refuse this time. If he pushed further, it would not be the result he wanted.
"After two days of blockade and testing by the cavalry battalion of our regiment, we found that there are not many enemies in Jiujiang County. There will definitely not be more than one regiment. There are only two brigades. Even the two brigades are No, so we can still do something." Zhang Tianhai slowly analyzed it.
"Captain Zhang, I don't quite understand how you reasoned it out. Can you give me an explanation? I want to hear your opinion." It was not Xu Jiyuan who spoke, but Huang Qisan, the regiment leader who followed Xu Jiyuan.
In this regard, Zhang Tianhai also said very patiently: "I dare not say about other people. I can guess based on my experience of fighting so many battles with the Japs. The Japs' fighting style is very arrogant. As long as they have With the strength of one regiment, I am afraid that my cavalry battalion would have been destroyed long ago. Therefore, I bet that they will not exceed two brigades."
"What if it's not the case?" The bearded Huang Qisan seemed a little unwilling.
"Yes or no, let's just fight them and it's over!" Zhang Tianhai still had that confident smile on his face, which made people unconvincing.
Xu Jiyuan is also an old fox who has been in the world for many years. After hearing Zhang Tianhai's words, can't he still capture some key information? So, he took over the conversation and asked: "Captain Zhang, according to your wishes, how should we fight this battle?"
"Brigade Commander Xu, Commander Huang, please come with me and look at the map. I will explain the combat ideas to you two." Zhang Tianhai stood up.
…
PS: The second update is here!
Now that it’s Sunday, I can finally pay back some of what I owe.
