Chapter Seventy-Four: Taierzhuang's Great Victory

On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, the 103rd Division continued its training and study, and under the guidance of the two Soviet instructors, the officers of the teaching brigade were able to improve their combat qualities as commanders from the bottom to the top.

During the four-month study, the officer corps not only learned the basic knowledge of the infantry department, but also learned the knowledge of the engineering and artillery department.

This is Valery and Leonid's study plan for the officer corps of the 103rd Division, in response to the problem of China's lack of mechanized troops, Valery and Leonid tried their best to let the officers of the officer corps improve their combat effectiveness in battle.

In the past four months, Zhang Ziwen contacted Lu Qingman after the New Year, and the cigarette force was transported from Hong Kong to Duyun in early February via Guangxi, and three technicians who arrived in Duyun together were hired in Hong Kong, these three people were hired by Lu Qingman and Zhang Ziwen after communication, and they were responsible for the installation, repair and maintenance of the machine.

Shen Qiyu rushed to Huangping after the ninth day of the first lunar month, and bought the cigarette factory that had been abandoned for a long time and had not started for a long time with 1,000 oceans on the premise of sending 2,000 oceans to the Huangping County Office.

After the machine arrived in Huangping, the technician told Shen Qiyu that the construction specifications of the tobacco factory were very high and powerful enough, and if the raw materials were enough, two more cigarette machines could be added.

Zhang Ziwen told Shen Qiyu that the tobacco factory needed a lot of working capital, and that it would cost a lot of money to hire skilled workers, and that the purchase of tobacco leaves would also cost a lot of money.

Shen Qiyu was ordered by Wan Shijiong to be responsible for training the reserve and supplementary soldiers of the 103rd Division at the Guizhou Military Station after the next year, and Shen Qiyu had to train new recruits while solving the problem of the flue-cured tobacco factory.

Years later, Zhang Ziwen and Lu Qingman not only bought the machine, but also set up a management team of the cigarette factory, Zhang, Shen, and Lu each sent one person to be responsible for management, forming a three-person resolution system, and Zhang Qing, who was still developing special effect cigarettes, was responsible for supervision.

After discussing the issue of shares, Zhang Ziwen and Lu Qingman unanimously decided that each of the three families would account for 20 percent, Wang Yi would have 5 percent, and the remaining 35 percent would belong to the brothers of the original 613 regiment.

On the day of March 20, Guizhou Tenglong Tobacco Company was established in Huangping County, and the word Tenglong was set by Zhang Ziwen after thinking for a long time, representing his expectations for the country, hoping that China could repel the Japanese, rise with the posture of a dragon, and be proud of the great powers with a soaring attitude.

After the establishment of the company, Zhang Ziwen did not meddle in the field he was not good at, and only sent a letter to his father to let his father keep an eye on it.

Quiet and smooth time always passes slowly, while tense and fulfilling days pass quickly. On April 8, Zhang Ziwen sorted out his notes after dinner, and only then took his notebook to the classroom after being reminded by the loudspeaker.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this will be my last lesson for you."

Zhang Ziwen sat down, Valery's words made Zhang Ziwen a little surprised, Zhang Ziwen after four months of study and self-reflection is no longer the former Amon, at least he has learned to be calm.

"Can Colonel Valery tell us why you can't teach us anymore?"

Xia Ying, as a competitor with Zhang Ziwen in the officer corps, also received special attention from the two Soviet instructors, and Zhang Ziwen knew that Valery would definitely tell everyone the reason, so he didn't ask.

"Be quiet, the reason why I'm not teaching you anymore is because your reinforcements are about to arrive, and then the 103rd Division will be re-infused with blood. The most important point is that you have been studying for four months, and the examination has proved that more than 60 of you are already qualified officers. ”

There were a total of eighty-two people in the officer corps, and there were still eighteen people who failed to pass the three examinations, and among these eighteen people, Wang Yi and Wu Zijian were among them, these two people were simply wood, and they only knew how to rush forward, and Zhang Ziwen's detachment was dragged back again and again in the three examinations, and with the help of the staff officers of the three divisions, everyone else had already qualified, and the two woods were still wood.

"The last lesson I will give you today is also China's biggest victory since the beginning of the resistance to the Japanese army."

Zhang Ziwen had doubts in his heart, Valery had already talked about the Battle of Pingxingguan and the Battle of the Great Wall, and there was no victory on the remaining battlefields, unless there was a result in the battlefield of northern Anhui and southern Lunan, Zhang Ziwen waited anxiously for Valery to tell the victory of the battlefield in southern Lunan.

Valery looked at the officers who were communicating below, and found that Zhang Ziwen was looking at him, with an expectant expression, Valery felt very happy, and did not let himself down when he evaluated the students with excellent sense of smell on the battlefield.

"Zhang Ziwen, tell me about the victory I'm talking about."

Zhang Ziwen knew that Valery would be the first to express his opinion when Valery smiled at him, but he didn't expect to guess that it was the battlefield victory.

There was no major movement of the Japanese army in the Jiangnan area, only in the North China battlefield, most of the newspapers' movements were also about the news of the Xuzhou battlefield, Zhang Ziwen sorted out his thoughts and decided that it was the victory of the Xuzhou battlefield.

"Dear Colonel Valery, I think the victory you are talking about is the victory on the battlefield of Xuzhou."

Valery saw that he guessed correctly, and asked Zhang Ziwen to explain his reasons.

"At the beginning of this year, a large number of troops of our army were transferred to the Xuzhou area, the 13th Division of the Japanese Army went to the north, the 10th Division went south, and the 5th Division went straight to the middle section of the Beijing-Pudong Railway from the east. Our Fifth Theater Commander Li Zongren mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops to assemble in the Fifth Theater. If there is a victory, I think it must be a victory on the battlefield of Xuzhou. ”

Xia Ying also woke up after listening to Zhang Ziwen's simple analysis, Valery saw that Zhang Ziwen was sure of Xuzhou's victory without the news of the front-line battle report, Valery felt that his teaching in the 103rd Division Teaching Brigade had been effective, which was also an affirmation of his own teaching.

"Zhang Ziwen's analysis is right, but the decisive point of the battlefield lies in Taierzhuang.................."

Taierzhuang is located at the junction of Sulu, located in the south of Zaozhuang, located in the north bank of the Grand Canal, 30 kilometers northeast of Xuzhou, on the railway branch line from Lincheng to Zhaodun, connecting Jinpu Road in the north, connecting Longhai Line in the south, and adjacent to Nansi Lake in the west.

The world-famous Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal traverses the whole territory, it is the hub of north-south transportation since ancient times, the strategic location is very important, it is a battleground for soldiers in history, and it is the first place for the Japanese army to attack Xuzhou.

After the Japanese army occupied Teng County, they were extremely arrogant and did everything they could, and the Seya detachment went straight to Taierzhuang. The defenders of Taierzhuang were the 181st Regiment of the 31st Division of Sun Lianzhong of the 2nd Group Army, and fought fiercely with the Japanese army from March 23 to April 3 throughout the Battle of Lunan.

The Japanese bombarded the fortifications of Taierzhuang with heavy artillery fire, and then rushed into the city with tanks as the lead. Most of the houses in the Taierzhuang area are stone buildings, so each house is a fortress. The defenders are strongholders. Never retreat until death. The Japanese attacked for three days and nights, and there were fierce street battles with the defenders of the city.

The casualties of the 181st Regiment were as high as 7 out of 10, and two-thirds of the positions were occupied by the Japanese. The defenders of Taierzhuang are still guarding a corner of Nanguan and are desperate not to retreat. The Japanese army once again mobilized heavy artillery and tanks to bombard and charge, but the Chinese soldiers were more tenacious than the machines, and the Japanese repulsed the Japanese many times until the whole line counterattacked.

At this time, Li Zongren ordered to hold on, and on the other hand, he urgently ordered Tang Enbo's army to rush south to reinforce. At dawn on the 4th, the artillery roared north of Taierzhuang, and Tang Enbo's army appeared behind the Japanese army, and the Japanese army could not retreat and fell into a heavy siege. The defenders of Taierzhuang attacked on all fronts, and the sound of killing shook the sky.

After more than ten days of bloody fighting, the Japanese army had become a strong crossbow, and our army broke through and fled in embarrassment. Except for a part of the people who broke through to Yixian County to stand for help, the Japanese army was full of corpses, more than 30 tanks were destroyed during the battle, and all kinds of abandoned vehicles, ammunition, and horses were everywhere. The Battle of Taierzhuang, together with the battlefields in the north and south of Xuzhou, annihilated more than 20,000 Japanese troops.

"The military and civilians of your motherland have won the most important victory on a frontal battlefield since the war against Japan."

Valery gave due evaluation to this war, and in the course of the Battle of Lunan, the Chinese army suffered more than 50,000 casualties, and the ratio of combat casualties was 2.6 to 1, which was the smallest proportion of casualties since China's war against Japan.