"Is there any other way besides this?" Okamura Ninji asked rhetorically.

"That's all there is to it. Our armored units and infantry wings bypassed the chicken coop mountain, artillery and all baggage, trying by all means to follow up subsequently. ”

"Okay, let's do it!" Okamura Ninji said helplessly.

The 33rd Division's Gansu Shigetaro led an army of nearly one division, and attacked hard for a day, but did not capture Jilong Mountain, and finally there was no way, it really couldn't afford to delay time, so it could only leave a large number of baggage and artillery, and only the infantry wing and armored troops bypassed Jilong Mountain, and continued to advance along the line of Changshou and Chiayi, towards Sanyinqiao and Pingjiang.

Whether the baggage troops and artillery can keep up with the advancing troops depends on their luck.

On Jilong Mountain, Han Xing, Pan Xiaoan, Yin Zhaoli, and Zhang Xiaosan urgently studied the enemy situation. Han Xing said to them: "The 33rd Division is no longer playing with us, this Gansu Jutaro is too spineless, he ran away, it is too boring." What are we going to do? ”

Pan Xiaoan said: "They don't play with us anymore, but we play with them." Let's chase! Never let them run. ”

Yin Zhaoli and Zhang Xiaosan also said: "Yes, we must not let them run away, chase them!" ”

Han Xing nodded and said, "That's right, I'm going to chase them." We are not afraid of the infantry of the 33rd Division, and there are many units of the national army to deal with him, that is, they also have an armored wing, and we have to find a way to deal with him. Director Pan, hurry up and send a telegram to the headquarters of the Southern Expeditionary Army, asking our heavy artillery regiment and armored battalion to quickly go to the front line of Changshou and Chiayi to prepare to intercept their armored brigade. ”

"Yes!" Pan Xiaoan immediately called the telegraph operator to send a telegram, telling Hou Dashan's heavy artillery regiment and the armored battalion to quickly assemble in Changshou and Chiayi counties to prepare to intercept the Japanese armored wing.

Led part of the 33rd Division's troops, Shigetaro Kanji bypassed Mt. Chicken and continued south along the valley of Mt. Makufu. Although the map shows a road for cars, the reality is quite different.

In fact, there are many places where the original shape of the road has not been left at all, and some places have even been turned into paddy fields. Although there are still many mountainous areas, the flat areas are mostly paddy fields and wetlands, and when it rains, the rain floods and the roads become muddy ponds.

It was very difficult for the infantry to march, and the cars were not passable at all, even the tanks, which were covered in mud and filth, and could hardly pass.

The soldiers were already very tired walking in the mud. Moreover, the officers and men who are getting closer to the front line of the Miluo River will be poorer the supply of food. In particular, there was no supply at all for the non-staple food, and it would be nice for the soldiers to have rice balls.

In fact, from the very beginning of the operation there was no supply plan. Perhaps the Japanese army's supply depended entirely on the local requisition of supplies, but the results of the requisition were often zero. The common people have long since run out, and it is difficult to hide everything they can eat.

The fatigue of the long march and the intense daily fighting caused the physical fitness of the officers and men to be greatly reduced, the number of sick people was constantly increasing, and the morale of the officers and men began to decline.

To make matters worse, the 33rd Division had less and less food and ammunition supplies. The transport vehicles of the baggage troops could not keep up at all, and they could only rely on manpower and horses to carry the baggage, and the volume of transportation was drastically reduced. Moreover, due to the constant attacks on the logistics and transportation lines by small groups of troops of the national army, the follow-up transportation was almost interrupted.

How many heavy troops could be supplied to follow the vanguard march? According to the estimation of Ganji Shigetaro, the supply of food and ammunition to the front-line troops can only last for half a month, that is, 15 days.

The 79th Army and the 20th Army caught up again, constantly harassing the 33rd Division. Not to mention the Southern Expeditionary Army, maybe at any time, the bullets from the assault rifles hit the ranks of the imperial army, which is really a day of surprise and suffering.

However, the 33rd Division, under the leadership of Shigetaro Gansu, overcame all kinds of difficulties and reached the Xianzhong and Chiayi areas. They were only one step away from the 13th Division.

At this time, part of the Southern Expeditionary Army led by Han Xing had already joined up with the large force of the Southern Expeditionary Army, and they were ordered to arrive in the area of Sanlang Bridge, and the main force of the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army was already quite close.

The terrain of this section is quite gentle, which is just suitable for the operation of large corps.

The emergency military meeting of the Southern Expeditionary Army was held in an ordinary house on Sanlang Bridge.

Liu Zhiyuan, chief of staff and head of the regiment directly under the regiment, Hou Dashan, commander of the heavy artillery regiment, Wang Dawu, deputy commander of the regiment, You Qianqian, commander of the tank battalion, Yin Zhaoli, commander of the special operations battalion, Zhang Xiaosan, commander of the guard company, Fan Shuyu, captain of the health team, and some relevant personnel of the headquarters and staff department all arrived one after another.

The meeting was chaired by Liu Zhiyuan, who said: "Commander Han led the special operations battalion and guard company to the enemy's rear to fight a movement war for several days, and it can be described as an outstanding achievement. First, they fought an ambush at Taolin Temple and inflicted heavy losses on a large group of Japanese troops. Second, at the Huangshajie Station, disguised himself attacked the Huangshajie Station, an important transportation hub of the Japanese army, and smashed the enemy's railway transportation line to a mess, and arrested several Japanese technicians.

Third, the 33rd Division was forced to abandon its baggage and some heavy artillery by marching through the Makufu Mountains and reaching the Jilong Mountain, which seriously prevented the advance of the 33rd Division. How to fight next, just listen to Commander Han's arrangement! Everyone is welcome! ”

In the small venue, there was warm applause.

These commanders, not only look at what you say as a leader, but most importantly, look at the combat effect of your command, you can lead the team to win the battle, you are the god in everyone's hearts. Since following Han Xing on the expedition, he has been truly invincible and invincible, and of course Han Xing's prestige has been firmly established. Everyone applauded and welcomed the operation, which was also an affirmation of Han Xing's command of the operation.

Han Xing waved his hand to everyone, and everyone stopped talking, all of them listened to Han Xing. Han Xing said: "The 106th Division and the 101st Division on our right flank, needless to say, are under siege from all sides and are taking care of themselves. The 3rd Division on our left flank, with whom we had already fought before, was holding back in Dongting Cave and the Xiangjiang River, suffering from layers of blockage by the national army, and there would be no improvement for a while.

In the middle of the main attack of the Japanese army, the 6th Division and the 13th Division, the line of the Miluo River, which was being stopped by the Nationalist army, could not move. As for the current 33rd Division, which had just come out of the Makufu Mountains, its baggage had been lost, its artillery had fallen behind, and the infantry and armored troops were exhausted. At the moment, we also have an opportunity. Let's see, how about we concentrate our efforts and defeat the main force of the 33rd Division?"

As soon as everyone heard that there was going to be a big battle and that they were going to fight the 33rd Division, they were all very happy and excited, and they all said: "Okay, okay, finally waiting for the opportunity." "Hit hard, beat this 33rd Division hard." "Little devil, it's finally time for us to do it."

Han Xing said again: "To fight this 33rd Division, the important thing for us is to defeat his armored corps wing. As long as his armored wing is defeated, as for his infantry, it will be up to the main force of the national army to pick them up. This Japanese army has already lost artillery, and if it loses its armored corps again, it will be a grasshopper after autumn - there will be no more days to jump. ”

After listening to Han Xing's words, everyone shouted happily: "Okay, good." "Commander Han will command!" "Let them also taste the power of our Southern Expeditionary Army!"

Han Xing said to everyone: "We will build an artillery position in the area of Sanlang Bridge and wait for the 33rd Division. The main task of the regiment directly under Chief of Staff Liu is to help build artillery positions and protect our artillery. Yin Zhaoli's special operations battalion is on standby at any time as a mobile force. The main character of the combat vehicle wing against the enemy is the tank battalion that swims forward, ready to strike with me. The task of Zhang Xiaosan's guard company is to stay with the headquarters and protect our headquarters. Is there anything you still don't understand? ”

As soon as everyone heard that the combat missions of their troops were very clear, they nodded their heads in obedience and shouted in unison: "I understand." ”

Seeing that everyone had no opinions, Han Xing immediately announced: "If there are no opinions, the meeting will be dismissed immediately and preparations for battle will be hurried." ”

So everyone returned to their troops one after another and immediately acted according to Han Xing's orders.

Pingjiang County is a small basin, more than ten kilometers from northwest to southeast, and seven or eight kilometers from southwest to northeast.

How big is this entrance, that is, it is 2 kilometers wide, and it is surrounded by mountains on both sides. Han Xing asked Liu Zhiyuan to send a company on each side of the high mountain to occupy the mountain, that is, to occupy the commanding heights overlooking the Sanlang Bridge.

Han Xing asked the regiment directly under him to dig a series of anti-tank ditches here, each ditch is two meters deep and three meters wide, and the Japanese tanks want to come in, of course, between the anti-tank ditches, there are also horse roads for swimming in and out of the tank battalion.

Behind the Sanlang Bridge is Hou Dashan's artillery position, and the artillery is waiting for the arrival of the 33rd Division.

As soon as the Southern Expeditionary Army dug an anti-tank ditch, Han Xing saw that the armored wing and infantry of the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army were killing them violently.

At this time, Jutaro was full of confidence, and finally got under the Makufu Mountain, and finally moved to a relatively flat area. In this way, our armored wing will be able to exert its strength, but it is a pity that two artillery wings did not come, and it would be better if the artillery wing could pull over.

He pinned all his hopes on the armored wing, believing that no Chinese army could stop the attack of the armored wing.

In charge of commanding the armored wing was Takeichiro Osa.

Takeichiro Osaku exhaled softly, finally dodging those damn mountains, and finally the armored wing had a chance to show his face.

The armored wing commanded by Takeichiro Osaku was also carefully equipped by the Japanese staff department.

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