To organize this campaign, more than 30,000 people were needed to encircle and annihilate the 6th Brigade alone, and it would also take a lot of troops to encircle and send reinforcements to block the Japanese reinforcements, plus the troops in various areas of Luliang, the total number of troops finally put into battle would probably not be less than 50,000.

Putting so many troops into the battle, this is no longer a small battle, this is another big battle in the Shanxi battlefield.

If this major battle is won, it is true that a large number of enemies can be annihilated, and a large area of the country can be saved, but if the command is wrong and lost, the result is clear to everyone, that is, a national sinner, who will be nailed to the pillar of historical shame in the future and spurned by future generations.

Seeing that the generals were hesitating, Li Hong raised his voice a few points, and said calmly: "Commanders, I can lead the army with a writ, if this battle cannot relieve the siege of Luliang and other places, and the enemy is not more than 10,000, I, Li Hong, am willing to drink bullets and apologize to the soldiers and civilians of Shanxi!" ”

He said this very calmly, he would definitely not casually say anything, annihilating 10,000 devils, Li Hong is conservative estimates, maybe the battle is over, the devil's casualties are far more than these people.

However, then again, after all, Li Hong is not in a high position, and he is soft-spoken, and the final decision-making power of whether to organize this battle depends on the generals present.

"Sooner or later, we will have to fight a big battle with the Japanese army, and since the battle is unavoidable, it is better to fight late than early. Commander Li's battle plan, I Chen Tingxiao thinks it is completely feasible, the fighter plane is in front of us, we have to play a game with the Japanese army! ”

Chen Tingxiao supports Li Hong, not because he is his future son-in-law. Chen Tingxiao proceeded from the overall view of the battlefield and made up his mind to fight after careful consideration and analysis of the military situation.

Chen Tingxiao is now the chief of the general staff of the theater, and it can be said that he has said it in one word, that is, the military order is like a mountain.

Wei Boru has always acted decisively and is good at corps operations, and in terms of commanding major battles, he has more military command ability than the commander-in-chief of the theater, Chief Yan, and is a well-known excellent commander and general.

In the past, Wei Boru would agree to the battle plan and strategy proposed by Chen Tingxiao.

Wei Boru looked at Xiao Yuehua, the director of the war room, and asked, "Yuehua, you are the director of the war room, what is your opinion?" ”

Xiao Yuehua shook his head and chuckled: "Chief Wei, I have no objection to the words of Chief Chen and Commander Li, from the perspective of the overall strategic situation, since you want to fight, let go of your hands to fight a big battle, and effectively annihilate the living forces of the Japanese army!" ”

Wei Boru, Chen Tingxiao, Xiao Yuehua, the three of them are the decisive decision-making generals in the battle plan of the Great Campaign.

With their support, the combat plan proposed by Li Hong can basically be regarded as a clapper.

The rest of the generals also had no objections or refutations, and all of them agreed.

With the support and consent of these high-ranking generals, Wei Boru immediately notified the other generals and convened an important military meeting.

The military meeting lasted more than four hours from morning to afternoon.

The main purpose of this meeting was to discuss troop movements and to study the operational arrangements of the 6th Brigade to encircle and annihilate the devils.

In order to win this battle, Wei Boru mobilized 3 infantry brigades, 1 artillery brigade, and 13 combat regiments, with a total of more than 35,000 troops.

As soon as the meeting ended, Li Hong rushed back to the security group as soon as possible.

As soon as he returned to the regiment headquarters, he had no time to be idle.

Li Hong and the military commanders of the security regiment held a meeting at the headquarters to reinforce Lu Liang.

In the end, Li Hong decided to lead a battalion, a cavalry battalion, a fourth battalion, a fifth battalion, and a heavy artillery company, and the total number of all combat units was 3,500 people.

Li Hong did not dispatch the whole regiment to fight, because the defense area where the security regiment was stationed was equally important, and half of the troops had to be left to defend it.

Don't underestimate these thousands of combat troops, the security regiment is well-equipped, the soldiers have high combat quality, there are mechanized troops on the ground, and there are aircraft fire support and cover in the air.

The combat units and baggage units of the security regiment are preparing for the start, and the logistics units are busy distributing ammunition and military supplies.

At 7 o'clock in the evening, it was dark.

More than 100 military trucks, more than 30 motorcycles, and more than 20 combat vehicles drove out of the security regiment's station.

The cavalry battalion ran to the front of the line as a reconnaissance unit, followed by the 4th mechanized battalion as the vanguard, and the rest of the troops followed by car.

In order to increase the marching speed of the combat units of the security regiment, Li Hong mobilized the vehicles of the whole regiment.

All the soldiers were on military cards, and the troops were very mobile, and they marched towards Lüliang at the fastest speed.

Starting from the station of the security regiment, it is about 280 kilometers away from Lvliang.

The troops of the security regiment chose to march by road, because it was night, and the road conditions were not very good, and the marching speed was about 25 kilometers per hour, and it would take about 10 hours to reach Luliang.

At the same time that the security regiment rushed to Luliang, the 4 brigades and 13 regiments responsible for encircling and annihilating all the troops set off from the garrison and rushed to Linfen to assemble at night to start the encirclement of the 6th Brigade of the Devils.

……

The next morning, at 4:35 a.m.

After nearly 10 hours of night marching, the vanguard of the security regiment rushed to the Luliang area ahead of schedule before it was dark.

The convoy stopped on the side of the road, and the soldiers rested in place, waiting for the troops behind to follow.

There is only one abandoned village nearby, which is basically uninhabited and very secluded.

Li Hong sat on the Tiger Tank, holding an instant noodle box in his hand, eating instant noodles "in a hurry".

Suddenly, the sound of horses' hooves came from the road ahead.

Ma Shangfeng rode a tall horse, he took a few scouts, brandished a horsewhip, and quickly rushed towards Li Hong's side.

"Appeal !!"

Ma Shangfeng grabbed the reins and jumped off the horse with agility.

"Report to the regimental seat, the cavalry scouts found the little devil's baggage and logistics troops three kilometers ahead!"

Li Hong immediately threw away the instant noodle box in his hand, stood up and asked, "Which army is the little devil?" ”

Ma Shangfeng replied: "Report to the commander, it's the 21st Brigade of the Japanese Army!" ”

"Oh, it's the 21st Brigade?"

Hearing that it was the 21st Brigade of the Devil, Li Hong seemed a little excited.

As we all know, this devil 21 brigade is the elite of the elite, and it is also a mechanized ace unit under the old devil of Itagaki.

The 21st Brigade is under the jurisdiction of the 21st Wing and the 43rd Wing, equipped with field artillery units and an independent logistics brigade, with more than 8,000 people in the brigade.

"The 21st Brigade happened to be bumped into by Lao Tzu, and today it is unlucky!" Li Hong turned around and shouted to the herald: "Herald, tell the herald, all departments are ready, do little devils!" ”

Ma Shangfeng knew the power of the 21st Brigade, and he reminded: "Tuanzao, this 21st Brigade is an ace brigade, known as the elite of the devil's elite, do we have to wait for the troops behind?" ”

(End of chapter)