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The picture pulls back to Gushi County.

After some discussion, Yang Chen decided to equip the three main battalions in a zigzag echelon and rely on Gushi County to resist the Japanese attack.

Among them, Liu Zheping's battalion was placed in the southeast of the city as the first line of defense against the devil's attack.

Xu Ming's 2nd Battalion and Li Da's 3rd Battalion were responsible for defending the north and south of the city, the baggage battalion and the special operations brigade were responsible for the west of the city, and the artillery battalion was deployed in the city to support the regiments.

Cavalry battalions, tank and chariot battalions, and special service battalions remained in the city as reserves.

After the deployment was completed, Li Da and Xu Ming respectively bid farewell to Yang Chen, the regimental seat, and each led his troops to station in the defense area that Yang Chen had demarcated for them.

The reason why Yang Chen chose to stick to it instead of retreating into the deep mountains of Dabie, and used the fighting method that the Tiger Ben Regiment was best at to fight with the little devil was actually forced to be helpless.

Because if these little devils can't find the main force of the Tiger Regiment, they will definitely go directly along the northern foot of Dabie Mountain, cross Dabie Mountain, attack Xinyang, and then follow the Pinghan Railway Line from north to south out of Wusheng Pass to attack Wuhan.

And definitely not to get entangled with the Tiger Ben group here.

Of course, Yang Chen was not so arrogant as to think that with the current strength of the Tiger Regiment, it would be able to resist the frontal attack of 100,000 Japanese troops.

He couldn't just push the Tiger Bun into such a desperate situation.

There is a more important reason for holding on, that is, General Bai Jiansheng has promised to send reinforcements.

As long as they can hold out in Gushi County for a few days, reinforcements will inevitably arrive!

……

From Shijiazhai to Gushi County, only more than 100 miles, the Japanese 6th Division, 3rd Division and 9th Division, at 5 o'clock in the afternoon of the next day, with nearly 100,000 troops to the city.

"Tuanza, the reconnaissance battalion reported that a large number of devils came from the north and south directions, and we seem to be surrounded!" Yao Zhiqing, Minister of Communications, hurriedly ran into the group seat and reported to Yang Chen.

"How many devils are there?" Yang Chen, who was leaning over the map to consider countermeasures, raised his head and asked with a grim look when he heard this.

"The reconnaissance battalion said it was estimated to be nearly 100,000 people!

Moreover, the two devils who took a detour were even larger than the devils approaching head-on! Yao Zhiqing replied with a somewhat heavy face.

"100,000 troops?" Although Yang Chen had already prepared in his heart, he was still slightly startled, thought for a moment, and immediately ordered: "Send a telegram to Bai Jianchang immediately, ask where the reinforcements are now, and tell him about our current situation."

Also remind him to be more vigilant about the security of our two wings! Otherwise, there is no need for Gushi County to hold on. ”

"Yes!"

Yao Zhiqing straightened up, suddenly agreed, and after saluting Yang Chen, the regimental seat, with a standard military salute, he turned to leave quickly.

…………

At that time, the headquarters of the Fifth Theater had already moved from Xuzhou to Tongbai Mountain.

Tongbai Mountain is located in the western section of the Henan Mountains, at the junction of Henan and Hubei provinces, and borders Dabie Mountain.

As mentioned earlier, because General Li Delin went to Wuhan to report on his work, General Bai Jiansheng is now acting as the commander of the Fifth Theater and temporarily commanding hundreds of thousands of troops in the Fifth Theater.

At present, the combat area of the Fifth Theater has been changed to western Anhui, northern Hubei, and southern Henan, mainly relying on the Dabie Mountains to continue fighting against the Japanese army.

The subordinate units are as follows

Commander-in-Chief of the Guerrilla Command of the Henan-Hubei-Anhui Border Region: Liao Lei

33rd Group Army: Zhang Xinchen

11th Army: Li Heling

22nd Army: Sun Decao

29th Group Army: Wang Zhiyi

There are 26 infantry divisions and 1 cavalry division.

The main responsibility of the Fifth Theater this time was to rely on the Dabie Mountain to assist the 9th Theater and other units to block the Japanese army's advance west of the Yangtze River and capture Wuhan.

When he received the telegram from the Tiger Regiment, General Bai Jiansheng was discussing strategic deployment with a group of senior staff officers under his command around the operational map.

After reading Yang Chen's telegram, General Bai Jiansheng frowned and asked, "Yang Chen is right, have the reinforcements of the 11th Group Army arrived in Mall and Gushi?" ”

An adjutant next to him said: "The 188th Division of Li Heling's headquarters has arrived in the mall half an hour ago and is rushing to repair the fortifications; The 189th Division and the departments directly under the Group Army are still on the way!

Liao Lei's 20th Group Army is also galloping and solidifying, and it is expected that it will all arrive in the next two days! ”

"So, as long as Yang Chen holds on to Gushi for one or two days, he can get reinforcements?" Bai Jiansheng looked happy and said.

"Yes, sir!"

However, as soon as the adjutant's words fell, a communications staff officer ran in from outside in a hurry.

"Sir, no! The mall is lost! ”

"What? How could the mall be lost? What's going on? Hasn't the 188th Division already arrived in the mall? ”

General Bai Jiansheng asked several questions in a row, and he and the high-ranking officials around him were all taken aback.

The communications staff officer bowed his head and said: "The 188th Division has just arrived in the mall less than an hour, and when it was rushing to repair the fortifications, the enemy 13th Division rushed over.

Under the cover of tanks, aircraft, and artillery, the enemy attacked the 188th Division, which was caught off guard and suffered heavy losses.

Forced to withdraw from the mall, the mall has become an enemy! ”

Bai Jiansheng was furious when he heard this: "The mall is the flank of Gushi, once it falls, Gushi will be left alone, and the tiger group is in danger!" ”

"Sir, why don't you order the Tiger Regiments to retreat!" Most of the senior staff officers around Bai Jiansheng are patriotic generals of the Gui family.

They all still admire Yang Chen's personality and heroic deeds.

Bai Jiansheng did not respond immediately, but asked the signal soldier: "Where is the 188th Division now?" What is the trend of the enemy of the mall? ”

The signal soldier replied: "The 188th Division is still retreating, and after the 13th Division captured the mall, it has not stopped advancing, and is still pursuing our 188th Division!" ”

Bai Jiansheng immediately turned around, looked at the map for a while, and frowned: "The goal of the Japanese army this time is very clear, it seems that they want to follow the 188th Division to attack Huangchuan!" ”

"If Huangchuan is captured by the Japanese army, then Gushi County will really be surrounded by the Japanese army, and the retreat will be cut off!" A staff officer said worriedly.

"However, if the Tiger Ben Regiment is allowed to give up Gushi now, the main force of nearly tens of thousands of Japanese troops who are attacking head-on will be able to drive straight into Huangchuan and go straight to Huangchuan, I am afraid we will not even have a chance to consolidate the defensive line!

At that time, even Xinyang will be in danger. Another senior staff officer said worriedly.

Bai Jiansheng was silent, his expression was unprecedentedly solemn, and now he was faced with two choices.

First, let the Tiger Ben Regiment withdraw from Gushi immediately before the little devils blocked their retreat.

However, such a consequence will lead to a long drive of the Japanese army, and Huangchuan and other places will also be broken through by the Japanese army because the defenders have not gained a stable foothold.

Once Huangchuan is lost, the Japanese army can cross the Dabie Mountain and attack Xinyang directly, and after taking Xinyang, it can cut off the Pinghan Railway, and then go out of Wusheng Pass and attack Wuhan.

The area around Huangchuan is the gateway to Xinyang, and once it is lost, the consequences are unimaginable.

Second, it is to let the Tiger Ben Regiment continue to hold on to Gushi, resist and contain the main force of the Japanese army, and assemble all units of the Fifth Theater to Huangchuan, build a second line of defense, and gain time.

So as to ensure that Xinyang is not lost, and ensure the safety of the northern flank of the Wuhan battle.

But the consequence of this is that the Tiger Ben Regiment will fall into the encirclement of 100,000 Japanese troops, cut off the way to retreat, and it is likely that the whole army will be annihilated.

How to choose, Bai Jiansheng was in a dilemma.

"For the sake of the overall situation, we must let Yang Chen's Tiger Ben Regiment hold on to Gushi for one or two days, and slow down the speed of the Japanese army's advance!" After General Bai Jiansheng pondered for a moment, he still decided to focus on the overall situation, although he was also very optimistic about Yang Chen and his Tiger Regiment.

However, in the face of national interests and personal feelings, he could only choose the former.

……