In the temporary headquarters of the 20th Army Corps, Commander Tang Enbo was listening to the report of Chief of Staff Wan Jianfan.

"Our regiment and the Japanese army have been fighting fiercely for several days, and now it has become a stalemate, the enemy's 63rd Wing is in the area of Zaozhuang, Yixian County, and our 85th Army is fighting, and there is another part, the 10th Wing is advancing to the area of Taierzhuang."

Tang Enbo was silent for a while, in fact, he already had an idea in his heart, the idea of counterattacking, he wanted to use the main force of his army to fight the Japanese.

"Order, the 52nd Army contracted, attacked Yixian, and the 85th Army counterattacked Zaozhuang. The defense of the 52nd Army in the canal area was handed over to the 110th Division of the 13th Army, and Bao Gang, the commander of the 13th Army, commanded the 13th Army Cavalry Regiment and the 2nd Division Cavalry Regiment to guard the Linyi direction. ”

Wan Jianfan said: "A rash counterattack is a bit abrupt."

"Until now, we have been pressed and beaten, and if we don't beat him twice, the Japanese still think that I am a soft egg."

"Commander, what about that Taierzhuang, the Japanese army has the momentum to attack there, but this legion has no troops."

Tang Enbo smiled: "Let Sun Lianzhong's troops go, now his 31st Division is not under the command of this legion, let it guard Taierzhuang, it can be regarded as taking care of them." Inform them to station in Taierzhuang, and when the main force of the army counterattacks, let them send a brigade to make a feint near Yixian."

The first large-scale counterattack of the 20th Army Corps was finalized in this way, and now the 20th Army Corps does not have to worry about the Linyi direction on the side for the time being, Zhang Zizhong and Pang Bingxun are still on top. Therefore, Tang Enbo can draw out the main force for a counterattack, which was indeed a bit miserable by the Japanese army before, and this counterattack must teach the Japanese army a lesson. Towneen planned to personally follow the Eighty-fifth Army into action.

In the past few days, the troops have been recuperated, not only Zhang Wei and them, but also the Chinese and Japanese armies have not had large-scale exchanges of fire in the past two days, but have been constantly dispatching troops, which is the silence before the war, and it seems to have foreshadowed the tortuous fate of this counteroffensive in advance.

Zhang Wei and the independent company have been very comfortable these days, and the new recruits who have been replenished have a rare full meal, and their tactical level has improved step by step under the leadership of several platoon commanders and veterans, and has basically reached the qualified level. With the issuance of the order to attack, Zhang Wei's good days have come to an end.

The camp was busy again, carrying ammunition, assigning the marching order and the designated location, Zhang Wei and they were not so troublesome, and the independent company still followed Chen Chunyi's 23rd Regiment to move forward. The first shot of this counteroffensive was fired by the 31st Division of the non-Central Army.

According to Tang Enbo's order, the 91st Brigade of the 31st Division of the Northwest Army System was stationed in Taierzhuang, and the 93rd Brigade was going to attack Yixian, and the officers and men of the 93rd Brigade carried broadswords and a pair of equipment, and marched rapidly in the direction of Yixian, and the equipment in their hands was not bad, and the troops under the 2nd Group Army of the Northwest Army System had adjustment divisions, that is, the so-called German armament divisions, plus the family background of the Northwest Army for many years, so the weapons in their hands were not bad, and the Zhongzheng guns and Czech-style, and even German-made steel helmets were equipped.

On the 23rd, the search party of the 93rd Brigade was moving forward, some of the soldiers were holding rifles, some were still equipped with the old knife team, large knife shell guns and grenades, and their feet were wearing straw sandals.

At this time. After the second brigade of the 63rd Wing of the Japanese army was replenished and strengthened, it was also ordered to attack, but the direction of this attack was exactly the opposite of the 93rd Brigade, and the target was Taierzhuang, and as a result, the Japanese army of the 63rd Wing and the search team of the 93rd Brigade collided together.

The two sides fought for a while, the 93 Brigade relied on the village to resist, the bullets fired by both sides cut a large piece of grass in the field, and in the end, the officers and soldiers of the 93 Brigade still failed to stop the Japanese army, after all, it was the strength of a brigade, the 93 Brigade failed to get rid of the Japanese army when retreating, and the Japanese army followed the 93 rate but captured Beiluo on the periphery of Taierzhuang, and the 93 Brigade could only retreat to Taierzhuang.

In this way, the failure of the first offensive on the first day cast a shadow over this counteroffensive.

Zhang Wei and the others spent their last night in the Qingshan Mountains, and on the second day, that is, on the 24th, taking advantage of the rising sun, they kept setting off, and they still walked with the regiment headquarters.

Bad things are a basket, yesterday there was a heavy rainstorm, the mountain road is more difficult to walk, everywhere is muddy, Zhang Wei pulled up the trouser legs, put the shoes on his shoulders, and walked hard, the regimental headquarters behind is more troublesome, the mules and horses are stuck in the mud, there must be a class of people to push this beast, in order to pull the horse out.

"Company commander, why are we so unlucky, we haven't encountered this yet, I'm tired to death first." He Kun complained. Zhang Wei glanced at this kid, this thing has always been like this, the fact that he must bear it, he has to complain a few words, as if these dogskin things can be changed after complaining.

There were shouts and howls of cattle everywhere, and this battle was really not easy to fight.

Indeed, according to this marching speed, the 85th Army simply could not arrive at the place of preparation for the attack on time, one wrong step, one wrong step, the attack was originally coordinated air support, the third battalion of the Nationalist Air Force sent out to support, bombing the Japanese army, but due to heavy rain, the two armies did not arrive on time at all, and the bombing and infantry attack were disjointed, and it lost its meaning.

Tang Enbo was shocked by these sudden changes and unexpected circumstances, and he personally commanded the 85th Army, and together with the army commander Wang Zhonglian, he commanded the assembly and preparation of the 89th and 4th Divisions, and at the same time kept an eye on the 52nd Army. Zhang Wei walked in the mountain road for most of the day, their feet were soaked, and finally walked out of the muddy Qingshan Mountain, and the artillery battalion of the division finally brought out this heavy firepower.

On the afternoon of the 24th, a dirty army arrived at the front line of Yungu Mountain, that is, near Zaozhuang, which was the unit of the 85th Army, Zhang Wei was also among them, and the 20th Army, another army of the 52nd Army, also rushed to the front line of Qingshan in the morning, and both armies rushed to the prepared sortie site, waiting for the order to attack and the news of the corps headquarters.

Arrived at the place, the troops of the 20 Corps stopped, why? Or rest the word, just ready to attack was poured by the heavy rain to the cold, and trekked dozens of miles in the mountain road, the physical exertion is very large, if there is a little sickness, this team is finished, although Tang Enbo is eager to fight, but forced by the actual situation, he still let the troops rest for half a day, and then make plans after nightfall.

Zhang Wei sat on the ground, in front of a pile of fire, except for some necessary sentries, the soldiers all put their guns up, sat on the ground and took off their clothes and shoes to bake the fire, obviously, this does not meet the requirements of air defense in wartime, but the heavy rain has just ended, the sky is still cloudy and cloudy, and the Japanese planes will not rush to attack, so that the troops stop and roast the fire.

Zhang Wei just received news from Chen Chunyi just now, the purpose of the 4th Division is to counterattack Zaozhuang, and the soldiers are to rest quickly, but also to relieve fatigue, dry their clothes, go to get rid of moisture, and prepare for the early participation in the battle.