Chapter 141: Song Xilian Comes to the Front Front
The Japanese army reoccupied Fangma Bridge, the 2nd Army withdrew from Xiangda, and the situation in Longling took a sharp turn. Chiang Kai-shek was so annoyed that on June 17, he personally called Wei Lihuang, asking Commander Wei to "immediately find out who ordered the abandonment of Longling."
Wei Lihuang was also dissatisfied with the battle in Longling, and had more views on Song Xilian's crossing of the line to report, although he did not have any slight words in front of the old man, but he did not give Song a little defense, but immediately transferred Chiang Kai-shek's original words directly to Song Xilian in principle.
Song Xilian was anxious about the battle in Longling, and he felt a hundredfold pressure when he was questioned by the chairman. For the battle in Longling, the main problem was himself, who was too optimistic, which led to his troops being passive in the end. He had no choice but to adjust his plan, actively deploy, and prepare to fight again at an opportune time.
While Sakaguchi was focusing on the "Battle of Bengmiao" on the outskirts of Longling, General Song took it by surprise and threw a left hook.
On the night of June 24, the 2nd Army on the left flank of the 11th Army braved the torrential rain to successfully attack Xiangda and once again occupy the town in front of Mangshi. The Japanese troops on guard retreated in disarray, and the 27th Regiment of the 9th Division followed up and pursued, taking advantage of the situation to occupy the mountain behind the chestnut tree, completely cutting off the rear communication of the Japanese army.
When Sakaguchi, who was paying attention to the "Battle of Bengmiao", received an urgent report from Xiangda, he realized that his old man had already paid attention to the Battle of Longling, otherwise it would be impossible to counterattack so quickly. Sakaguchi, who had no choice but to slow down the offensive from the north.
On June 27, it was definitely a good day for Song Xilian, and the ammunition, grain and grass were finally delivered to the front line. After a short rest, Song Xilian decided to besiege Longling again and regain the lost territory. On the same day, the command post of the 11th Army was moved to the vicinity of Talang on the front line.
On June 28, the siege of Longling began again.
For the sake of shame, General Song personally came to the front line to command this time.
The command post was set up next to the artillery position, and it rained heavily, and the cloth tent that had been temporarily pulled up had been broken through by the rain, and the water droplets dripping from the infiltrating tarpaulin were knocking on the teacups, but the sound of the water had long been drowned out by the sound of the artillery, and looking around, the gray hill was emitting clouds of smoke in a few points of firelight.
At this time, the Yunnan-Burma Highway was still not opened. Heavy weapons could not be transported, so they could only use mountain artillery and mortars to cooperate with the infantry to fight, although they were not as powerful as the Matsuyama offensive artillery array, and they could only make do. Song Xilian ordered 3 mountain artillery companies, 36 mountain artillery, and mortars of divisions and regiments to fire at the same time, so that a certain amount of attack force could also be created.
The focus of the attack was on Changling Gang, Kongshupo, and Shengou positions.
In order to contain the Japanese army and reduce the pressure on the Japanese army on Longling, Song Xilian ordered the 9th Division to continue to move towards Mangshi, taking the opportunity to threaten the Japanese base camp and effectively drag down the Japanese troops in Mangshi.
The next day, the 27th Regiment of the 9th Division reinforced the 1st Battalion, and when they came to Qingshui Village, Changlinggang, the remaining brothers with more than a dozen brothers and the civil defense forces had already dug trenches and prepared for war in an all-round way.
The commander of the reinforced battalion, Battalion Commander Wang, immediately took the brothers into the trenches, replaced those civil defense brothers, and told them to squat in the trenches to press bullets for the veterans, which had been used in a battle for a while.
There was a dead silence at the front of the position, there was not the slightest sound, not even the chirping of insects and birds, and the air seemed to be condensed at this moment.
But Camp Commander Wang felt that the crisis and murderous aura had arrived, and it was very likely that the little devil was on the outskirts of Qingshui Village, otherwise it would be impossible not to hear even the slightest bird and insect chirp. He still didn't expect the little devil to move so fast, fortunately, he had already taken precautions, but it was very likely that the number of troops was not enough.
He couldn't care about it anymore, so he began to pull the bolt, the bullet caught fire, and waited to pull the trigger and fire at the up-and-coming little devil.
At this time, the deputy battalion commander temporarily set up an ambulance station in the warehouse near the back mountain in Qingshui Village, and prepared all the medical equipment and medicines that could be used.
Time passed in silence, and there was still no movement at the front of the position, which made the brethren at the front a little anxious to wait, but they all waited as patiently as they could.
The battalion commander was sure that there must be a battle on the side of Qingshui Village, but he didn't know where this battle would start from, and he didn't know when it would be fought, so he could only take the brothers and continue to wait.
But just as the battalion commander entered the door, the sound of a crooked machine gun suddenly sounded, and then the door was subjected to a burst of frantic strafing, and the bullets were fired at the warehouse in pieces.
The two brothers who were standing guard at the gate were beaten into a sieve by machine guns and fell in a pool of blood in front of the battalion commander.
"It's a sneak attack by a devil!" The veteran instinctively sensed that something was wrong here, they were attacked by the little devils, and the number of devils who came was not a few, so he quickly picked up the gun in his hand, dragged two sacks of linen as temporary cover, and lay behind to prepare for battle.
The first two battles between the Japanese army and Battalion Commander Wang were in frontal attacks, and the Japanese 3rd Wing was met with stubborn resistance from Battalion Commander Wang and their heavy losses.
Therefore, this time, the Japanese army bypassed the frontal battlefield and directly penetrated into the back mountain warehouse of Qingshui Village from the forest, attacking the back of the reinforced battalion.
In this way, the infirmary of the 27th Regiment of the 9th Division bore the brunt of the attack, and the devils, under the cover of machine-gun fire, quickly jumped out of the mountain and rushed directly to the temporary infirmary.
The veteran saw that the little devil had appeared at the door, and without the slightest hesitation, he fired at the enemy who came over, and killed the little devil directly with a single gunshot.
But after the little devil fell to the ground, the little devil behind him followed, and the density of the number of people was beyond their control, and the firepower of a veteran rifle alone could not be suppressed at all.
Fortunately, the 1st Regiment of the 1st Division of Honor was nearby, and after hearing the gunshots, they quickly drove the 3rd Battalion to Qingshui Village and quickly resolved the battle. Except for a few devils who escaped in the direction of Mangshi, most of the devils were solved on the spot.
On the Longling side, Song Xilian attacked Kongshupo with the 2nd and 3rd Honors of the 1st Division, and after occupying the high ground, he attacked the direction of Huitougou and Shengou in the north, and then used the 227th Regiment of the 76th Division to penetrate the Yunnan-Burma Highway from the left side to prevent the reinforcements of the Japanese army in the direction of Longling; With the 263rd Regiment of the 88th Division, the 262nd Regiment and the 264th Regiment of the New 28th Division, and the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 84th Regiment of the New 28th Division, they attacked the strongholds of Veteranka and Taipingzi near Laohubeng. At the same time, the 2nd and 3rd battalions of the 4th Regiment of the 1st Honor Division were in reserve, waiting for orders south of Mengmao Street.