After taking three cities in a row, Hu Biao was not in a hurry to launch an attack on the surrounding Japanese-occupied areas. It's not that the combat troops can't hold on, it's more to wait for reinforcements, and at the same time to see what the surrounding Japanese forces will do next.

Regarding Hu Biao's decision, Zhao Chengwu's troops and the Independent Regiment of the Eighth Route Army, which cooperated with the operation, and the guerrilla detachment that established a base in the north of the vortex did not say much. For them, the three counties they have recovered will also need time to digest.

Especially Zhao Chengwu, who took over the three county seats, although he was very happy to have such a record. But Zhao Chengwu, who was sitting in Vortex City, knew in his heart that whether the county seat he took over could be held was the thing he needed to worry about the most.

Fortunately, the war zone has already sent a division of troops to reinforce it, and with one more division, Zhao Chengwu will also feel more confident in holding the three county towns he has taken over. The worst, in the face of the little devil's counterattack, he can also fight the little devil.

On the other hand, Hu Biao, who had conquered Mengcheng, sent a large number of reconnaissance troops to the surrounding counties to carry out reconnaissance, and at the same time sent a report to the guerrilla detachment in Lu Province, asking them to dispatch elite troops into northern Anhui to stand by.

Lay down the three county towns occupied by the little devils, and the urine of the little devils will definitely not sit idly by. If possible, Hu Biao would find a way to first inflict heavy damage on the little devil's reinforcements, and then slowly eat away at the isolated defenders of the cities.

As Hu Biao's series of orders were conveyed, the military commanders and intelligence officers of the Eighth Route Army lurking in northern Anhui also paid close attention to the military movements of the surrounding Japanese forces. The intelligence group under Hu Biao also tried their best to find out the defensive deployment of the Japanese army in each city.

Looking at the telegrams collected by the reconnaissance troops one after another, Hu Biao soon found a place that was very suitable for an ambush. When Hu Biao received the confidential information from the military commander, he felt more and more that the place he had chosen was very good.

After thinking for a while, he said: "Send a report to Division Commander Zhao, and ask him to transfer the defense troops of Maozhou and Vortex City in the name of changing guards, and quickly rush to Mengcheng to stand by day and night." The task of defending the cities was entrusted to the new troops. ”

In order to avoid being detected by the Japanese army, the reinforcements sent by the Fifth Theater were also ordered to enter the northern Anhui region by night march. The intention of this is also very simple, that is, to hide the strength as much as possible, so that the Japanese army can not figure out the truth and the truth.

Adopting a rotation method and replacing Zhao Chengwu's troops with new troops, it seems that the number of troops has not decreased. In reality, Zhao Chengwu's troops were hidden in order to launch a surprise attack on the Japanese army at any time.

On the other hand, the independent regiment that cooperated with the capture of Mengcheng merged with the military backbone sent by Northwest Lu, and the combat effectiveness and cohesion of the troops were greatly improved. After some consideration, the Independent Regiment finally decided to set up its base in the territory of Mongolia.

As far as the Independent Regiment is concerned, they are undoubtedly the troops who are most looking forward to Hu Biao's continued attack on the Japanese defense area. The reason is very simple, only by pushing the offensive line farther away from the city of Mongolia, the independent regiment that has just arrived here will be able to gain more time for development.

After sending the telegram to Zhao Chengwu, Hu Biao continued to send telegrams to the Independent Regiment, asking them to transfer no less than two battalions of troops and wait for Hu Biao's notice at any time. And the guerrilla detachment sent a main battalion, still maintaining the strength of a regiment.

As for the task force, one battalion of troops will be transferred from the rescue team stationed in the Yellow Flood Area to cooperate with the detachment in carrying out follow-up combat missions. Together with the troops sent from Malingshan, the task force also has a strength of about one regiment.

In general, in order to complete the follow-up battle plan, Hu Biao also used a lot of hidden strength. Fortunately, from beginning to end, the Fifth Theater and the Eighth Route Army, which cooperated with the operation, did not know how many troops there were under Hu Biao's command.

The only thing that can be confirmed is that Hu Biao's troops are extremely well hidden and distributed in many places in enemy-occupied areas. As long as these troops do not show up, no one knows whether these troops are the troops that Hu Biao formed early in the morning and then hid in the enemy-occupied areas.

According to the information provided by the military commanders, in view of the recovery of the three counties in northern Anhui, the Japanese troops stationed in Anhui Province were extremely angry. The garrison of Anhui Province, with Xuzhou as its base camp, soon dispatched an elite infantry brigade and planned to take a train to enter Suzhou in batches.

After receiving the information sent by the military commander, Hu Biao soon knew that the Japanese army was bound to organize a large-scale encirclement and suppression operation. For Hu Biao, the best defense is to attack, even if there is an extra infantry brigade, in fact, there is no need to worry too much.

As far as the current situation is concerned, Hu Biao can mobilize no less combat troops than the surrounding Japanese troops. If they really want to fight, I believe that the Japanese army will not be able to bargain too much. can sit back and wait for the Japanese army to attack, which seems somewhat passive.

In order to mobilize the surrounding Japanese troops, Hu Biao first dispatched a combat unit headed by an independent regiment to make a detour back to Bengbu, and cooperate with the reconnaissance detachment that had already entered Bengbu to launch an attack on the Japanese troops in Bengbu at any time.

After receiving the telegram from Hu Biao, Sun Weimin personally rushed to the place where Hu Biao was, and said very puzzledly: "Mr. Hu, if we want to capture Bengbu with our independent regiment alone, I'm afraid it's impossible, right?" There are a lot of little devils in Bengbu! ”

Facing Sun Weimin's worries, Hu Biao said with a smile: "In fact, I didn't think about letting you capture Bengbu, but letting you mess up Bengbu first." Your task is simple, just keep the Japanese troops in the city on standby and wait for reinforcements.

After arriving in Bengbu, my reconnaissance team will cooperate with you to sabotage the railways and highways passing through Bengbu. You should know that this railway is also extremely important and important to the little devils.

After blowing up the railway and destroying the road, the surrounding little devils could not quickly reinforce Bengbu. As long as the little devils can't figure out our strategic intentions, the little devils in the cities around Bengbu don't dare to send reinforcements casually.

As for the Japanese troops stationed in Bengbu, in addition to the troops defending the city, they also stationed half a brigade of Japanese troops at the airport that had just been built. The total strength of the total strength is also more than a brigade of little devils, and this does not include the puppet army.

The reason why your independent regiment cooperates in the battle is more because you are good at fighting guerrillas. Once the Japanese learned of the sabotage of the railway, they were bound to send troops to investigate. And what you have to do is to surround and annihilate these little devils who have left the city.

Through continuous attacks and destruction, the little devils were forced to ask for help from Suzhou and even Xuzhou. Before reinforcements arrived, the Japanese army could only hold on to the city. For us and the Japanese army, in fact, Bengbu is just a bait! ”

The tactic of encircling the point to send reinforcements is undoubtedly familiar to the Eighth Route Army. Similar to the siege of Mengcheng, Hu Biao would definitely not let the independent regiment do it. Only the real and the false can make the little devil unable to figure out the actual situation.

After listening to Hu Biao's battle plan in detail, Sun Weimin finally breathed a sigh of relief and said: "If this is the case, then there is no problem. Please rest assured Mr. Hu, our independent regiment will guarantee to complete the task of luring the enemy and trapping the enemy! ”

"It is because I believe in you that I have entrusted this task to you. As a rule, the capture of this battle to lure the enemy will be left to you at your own disposal. And I know that the New Fourth Army has a main regiment that is preparing to rush in for reinforcements, right? ”

After consulting with the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army, which had learned that the Fifth Theater had sent an additional main division into northern Anhui and had already established its foothold in Anhui Province, also decided to send a regiment of troops to reinforce the independent regiment and the guerrilla detachment.

Entering northern Anhui in the name of the New Fourth Army will have a better impact than transferring the main force of the Eighth Route Army. Everyone knows that at present, many of the combat units of the New Fourth Army are operating in Anhui Province.

Earlier, these guerrilla units also cooperated with Hu Biao and the Nationalist combat units in the territory to fight against the Japanese army. Now the dispatch of a main force regiment to the north will also play a very positive role in the liaison and communication between the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army.

On the other hand, Sun Weimin, who heard this, also smiled and said: "It seems that Mr. Hu's news is still very well-informed!" ”

"That's normal! Don't forget, before coming to northern Anhui, I crippled a division of little devils in Lu'an! ”

As the elite of the Japanese army transferred a division from Suzhou Province to advance into Chucheng and Luzhou, the capital of Anhui Province, the Japanese army, which had been tossed and choked by Hu Biao earlier, was still around Lu'an, confronting and confronting the defending troops there.

Although Hu Biao's troops have basically withdrawn, Hu Biao is concerned about the situation over there. And a main force regiment drawn from the New Fourth Army, which had also dealt with Hu Biao earlier, was the newly expanded unit of the Fourth Detachment.

Speaking of which, this newly formed main force group was also expanded after cooperating with Hu Biao and gaining a lot of benefits. Now that we see the opportunity to open up the northbound passage and establish a closer communication channel, how can the New Fourth Army not attach importance to it.

Under the circumstance that it is inconvenient for the Eighth Route Army to send more troops to fight in the south, the New Fourth Army will send troops to support the operation, and I believe that the national army will be more at ease. In the final analysis, the New Fourth Army is still surrounded by the national army and the Japanese army.

Perhaps in order to avoid the leakage of news, even this main force group went north, and Hu Biao was not informed in advance. Judging from the direction in which these main forces were marching, Hu Biao believed that it would not be long before the main force of the New Fourth Army would be able to reach Bengbu.

At that time, the combat troops in Bengbu will have two main regiments. In terms of troops, it is already a lot more than the Japanese army stationed in Bengbu. Even if the surrounding Japanese troops are reinforced, Sun Weimin doesn't have to worry about not being able to send troops to block the attack.

After arranging the task for the independent regiment, Hu Biao quickly led Zhao Chengwu's troops, who had arrived secretly, and began to penetrate directly into Guzhen, which borders Suzhou and Bengbu. In Hu Biao's view, this place, which has a train stop, is the most suitable for ambushes.

Once the Japanese learned that Bengbu had been attacked, they would inevitably use trains to send reinforcements to Bengbu as soon as possible. And what Hu Biao wants to do is to use this stop to find a way to hit the little devil's reinforcements.

After eliminating the reinforcements sent by the little devils, he concentrated his superior forces and took Bengbu and the Japanese airfield in one fell swoop. If this battle plan succeeded, Hu Biao even dared to counterattack Suzhou and strive to recover Suzhou.

In that case, whether it is the Japanese army in Luzhou or the Japanese army stationed in Xuzhou, I believe that it will be greatly shaken. If the Japanese army doesn't want to lose Xuzhou, which it has finally occupied, it can't think of any other way than to continue to send troops to reinforce it!