In the middle of 1938, the 5th and 10th divisions of the Japanese army pursued all the way to the periphery of Taierzhuang along the retreat route of the security regiment.

A few days later, the Japanese 4th Division assembled in the Taierzhuang area to assist the 5th and 10th Divisions in the attack, and formed an encirclement of the surrounding areas of Taierzhuang.

The time was pushed to the end of the year, and the Japanese army assembled the 5th Division and the main elite troops of the 10th Division, and took Taierzhuang, Zaozhuang, Shandong Province as the combat center, and launched a peripheral battle with the national army troops in Taierzhuang.

This time, in the Battle of Taierzhuang, the Japanese army invested 3 divisions (the 4th Division fought passively, and the enemy's actual combat troops were only more than 50,000 people. ）

The combat units of the National Army in the 5th Theater include the 2nd Army and the 20th Army Corps, with a total strength of nearly 300,000 troops.

From March 23rd to 24th, the Japanese army engaged the national army alert troops in the Kangzhuang and Nigou areas on the north side of Taierzhuang, and the vanguard of the Japanese army began to attack Taierzhuang with the cooperation of aircraft, artillery and tanks!

The Battle of Taierzhuang officially kicked off......

Although the fighting on the front line in Taierzhuang has been in full swing in the past few days, Li Hong's security regiment has not received the combat mission to go to the front line.

The security regiment had just been reorganized, and Li Hong took advantage of the opportunity of the troops' rest and recuperation to step up training.

The officers and men of the security regiment are vigorous and their morale is high, and all departments have issued letters of invitation to fight, and they are full of energy to go to the front line to do little devils.

Li Hong knew that the officers and men were eager to fight, but he did not agree to the officers and men's request for war, and Li Hong strictly ordered the officers and men to continue their preparation and training on the grounds that they had not received a combat order.

If Li Hong insists on joining the war, the war zone may agree to the security regiment to participate in the war.

Li Hong naturally had his own considerations for not letting the security regiment go to the front line at this time, because the tacit understanding between the officers and men of the newly formed unit was not enough, and the tactical level of the soldiers was not up to standard.

Another point is that Li Hong deliberately let the officers and men sit on the cold bench, so that all the officers and men could hold back a fighting spirit and desire to fight in their hearts.

When the time is ripe and the security regiment is thrown into battle again, their long-accumulated fighting spirit will erupt into infinite combat effectiveness.

In addition to his daily inspection of the troops, Li Hong also participated in many operational meetings of the headquarters as a special adviser to the theater.

……

Xuzhou City, 5th Theater Command.

Early in the morning, Li Hong rushed to the headquarters for a meeting.

"Advisor Li, please!"

Adjutant Chen Dinghan, in accordance with Li Zongyao's order, specially arranged a forward position for Li Hong.

A high-level military meeting was held in the conference room of the headquarters, and the huge conference room was basically filled with senior officers at the rank of lieutenant general and above.

Li Hong, with the rank of colonel, sat in the conference room, looking a little out of place, of course, the officers present knew Li Hong's ability, and did not feel anything wrong.

Soon, Li Zongyao arrived at the headquarters with his secretary and several accompanying officers.

When Li Hong and the other officers saw Li Zongyao coming, they stood up one by one.

"Commander Lee!!"

"Sit, sit, all of you!"

After Li Zongyao took everyone's seats, he immediately asked the adjutant behind him to read out the report on the battle situation on the front line.

Chen Dinghan picked up the intelligence materials and reported loudly: "Yesterday, the vanguard of the 10th Division of the Japanese Army received reinforcements and launched the third onslaught on Taierzhuang City, and the Japanese army successively dispatched dozens of combat vehicles and dozens of aircraft......

"The Japanese invaders concentrated their forces and firepower, re-destroyed Taierzhuang, broke through the north city gate, my 183rd regiment, 187th regiment officers rose up to counterattack and the Japanese army repeatedly tug-of-war, the position was lost and regained, at present, two-thirds of the position in Zhuangnai fell into the hands of the enemy, but, the defenders of Zhuangnai did not retreat to the death, held their positions to the death, and vowed to fight with the Japanese invaders to the end......"

After listening to the battle report on the front, soon, the officers in the conference room began to talk about it.

Li Hong sat quietly at the conference table, glancing at the officers talking around him, while his brain was thinking.

The report on the battle situation on the front line just now is very clear, the battle of Taierzhuang has just begun, and two-thirds of the position in Taierzhuang has been lost.

Li Hong didn't expect the devil to attack so quickly, according to the devil's attack speed, the Taierzhuang battlefield was very critical.

Bai Wenqing and Li Zongyao glanced at each other tacitly, and then, Bai Wenqing cleared his throat and asked all the officers and generals.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Japanese army has assembled three divisions in the outlying areas of Taierzhuang, and the vanguard of the 10th division of the Japanese army has launched several strong attacks on the defenders in our village, and the situation in Taierzhuang must be very clear to you, so you can talk about your own strategies and opinions against the enemy."

After a while, a lieutenant general took the lead in standing up and said: "Fellow commanders, Taierzhuang is the important place of my Xuzhou gateway, once Taierzhuang falls into the hands of the Japanese invaders, our army will become extremely passive, and may even affect the battle of Taierzhuang, I suggest that the main force be sent to the Taierzhuang area to recapture the lost main position!" ”

Then, a general sitting opposite Li Hong stood up and said: "Everyone, the Japanese army's main attack on Taierzhuang has only one wing, and the Japanese 4th Osaka Division outside Zhuang has been fighting passively, so there is no need to worry at all, we can immediately reinforce the defenders of Taierzhuang, encircle and annihilate the land in Zhuang, and completely recapture Taierzhuang......"

After listening to the two generals, Li Zongyao and Bai Wenqing nodded slightly.

The rest of the officers and generals did not have any objections, and expressed their tacit approval of reinforcements and recapture the Zhuang position in Taierzhuang.

Li Hong also agreed with the immediate reinforcement of the Taierzhuang defenders, but there was one thing he didn't agree with, that is, the Japanese 4th Division should never be underestimated, on the contrary, it was the 4th Division that posed the greatest threat.

Li Hong is now a consultant, with the right to take the initiative to speak, and has a certain right to speak and be convinced.

Since he had a different operational viewpoint, Li Hong naturally had to put it forward in time.

Just when everyone had no objections, Li Hong suddenly stood up.

"Commanders, Taierzhuang is the main position of this battle, we should indeed reinforce the defenders to recapture the position, but the 4th Division of the Japanese Army outside Taierzhuangzhuang, we must be vigilant, we must not let the 4th Division have a chance, otherwise, the blow they inflicted on us is absolutely unbearable, please consider carefully......"

Li Hong proposed to use heavy troops to guard against the 4th Division, and in order to increase the convincing power of his words, he also listed some of the previous achievements of the 4th Division.

Li Hong knew the combat history of the 4th Division, which was a unit that was despised and misunderstood.

The real combat effectiveness of the 4th Division is comparable to that of the German army, otherwise, the US army would not have been defeated by such an incompetent division.

In addition, the 10th Army, the German unit of the national army, known as the Taishan Army, was not inferior in combat effectiveness to the first-class divisions of the Japanese army, but as a result, it was still defeated in the hands of this "waste" division.

(End of chapter)