The two divisions are the 13th Division and the 16th Division, both of which are first-class divisions. They were responsible for a frontal breakthrough and repulsion of the defensive positions of Zhang Zizhong's corps.

The 14th Cavalry Brigade, specially equipped by Okamura Ninji, was the main force of the assault, and they needed to advance along the Xianghua Road, 1 to 2 days before the infantry troops.

With its absolute superiority in mobility, the Japanese cavalry completely defeated the existing defense system of the Nationalist army and occupied the important fulcrum of the outer encirclement before the arrival of reinforcements from the Nationalist army, and even before the first-line troops of the Nationalist army retreated to the second-line position.

Okamura Ninji's use of the cavalry brigade as the main assault force was also a clever move, or a bold tactic.

Just as concentrating more than 100 tanks in Nanchang to form a tank assault group, this is also a new tactic of Okamura Ninji, and he believes that this will definitely catch Li Zongren off guard.

Okamura knew that Li Zongren was a famous general and a very powerful professional soldier, and Li Zongren would definitely sabotage the highway to prevent a large number of Japanese tanks from attacking.

Although the Japanese tanks were all light tanks, they were also unable to cross these complex terrains and destroyed roads.

Therefore, at this time, it is unrealistic to use tank clusters like Nanchang (in the Battle of Nanchang, the national army did not have time to destroy the road). Moreover, compared with the terrain in the north of Jiangxi, which has a lot of flat land, the complex mountain rivers in the north and west of Hubei are not suitable for large-scale use of tanks.

At this time, Okamura Ninji believed that if he fought with infantry alone, it would be difficult to win. As long as Li Zongren judged his intentions, he would definitely organize troops to break through the encirclement and reinforce the rear troops, and the First War Zone, which was close at hand to the Fifth War Zone, had several hundred thousand troops.

Once the reinforcements of the troops in the first theater came, the Japanese army would be defeated in the battle of Suizao.

Because the mobility of the Japanese infantry division and the Nationalist infantry division was actually about the same, it was impossible for the Japanese infantry to complete the encirclement before the Nationalist infantry broke through or returned to the defense.

However, Okamura Ninji believed that Li Zongren could not have imagined that he would use a large number of cavalry to fight.

Any defense plan drawn up by Li Zongren must have been based on the advancing speed of the Japanese infantry.

If Li Zongren estimated the speed of the infantry's advance, then Okamura Ninji was a cut higher. Because the cavalry marched at about twice the speed of the infantry, in this way, Li Zongren's reinforcements may not arrive yet, and the battle will be over.

Moreover, according to the current calculation of only 50,000 people in Zhang Zizhong's corps, it is simply impossible to block more than 70,000 people in 2 divisions and 1 brigade of the Japanese army, so there will be no problem in the Japanese army's attack, and it will be a sure victory.

In fact, what Okamura Ninji expected was almost as good as reality, and he almost realized his plan.

What Okamura Ninji never expected was that a small tank battalion of Han Xing caused major interference and damage to the Japanese cavalry advance.

The whole battle situation is quite interesting, the Japanese 14th Cavalry Brigade is to avoid the main force of the Chinese army, quickly to the north, along the Zaoyang, Tang River, Nanyang line, and the tank battalion swimming forward, just tightly wrapped around the back of the 14th Cavalry Brigade, like a sticky cake that cannot be lost, tightly stuck to the back, constantly killing and wounding the Japanese army, consuming the Japanese army, and exhausting the Japanese army.

But when he arrived in Zaoyang, Han Xing ordered not to chase and go to Tang Enbo's 31st Group Army.

That is, on May 1, at the same time as the Japanese left flank launched a time attack, the Japanese right flank also launched an attack.

The right flank of the Japanese army, that is, the left flank of Li Zongren, was mainly deployed as the 3rd Division of the Japanese army. They were divided into two routes, one was a frontal breakthrough force, and the main force attacked from the front on all fronts, luring the main force of the national army to gather in the area of Suixian. The national army on this line has the Gui Army and the 31st Group Army of the Central Army, that is, the main force of Tang Enbo, which is needless to say, it is difficult to fight.

The other way is to outflank the right flank, they set out from Xinyang in the east, kill the important town of Tongbai in the north of the national army, and then occupy Miyang and Tanghe, and complete the encirclement of the north road.

The Japanese army outflanked on the right flank also had to advance 100 kilometers, but fortunately, the strength of the national army on this line was very weak, and it was the junction of the two theaters of operations, which was a weak link in defense.

Li Zongren had a rather strange place in arranging his troops.

Chiang Kai-shek had clearly ordered that the 31st Army could be the general reserve of the 5th Theater in Xiangxiang and Hualu, and that it should not be used too early.

However, Li Zongren still put the Tang Enbo Group Army on the front line, that is, the Suixian front, which was less than 20 kilometers away from the departure point of the Japanese 3rd Division, which was obviously an anomaly.

Han Xing deduced that Li Zongren obviously had an idea, the combat effectiveness of the 31st Group Army was much stronger than that of the Sichuan Army, and if the Sichuan Army was allowed to confront the 3rd Division head-on, it might not be able to stop it, resulting in a frontal problem, and the Suizao area might not be able to hold it.

As long as the 31st Group Army held on to the front for a while, and waited until Sun Lianzhong's Group Army moved south to this line, it could effectively block the advance of the Japanese army, then the 31st Group Army would not need to retreat.

Even if Sun Lianzhong can't arrive in time, when the mountains and rivers are exhausted, it is feasible to let Tang Enbo retreat, or transfer to the complex Tongbai Mountains.

Still, it's extremely dangerous.

Because the target of the Japanese army's main attack was the 31st Army, it would definitely do whatever it took to destroy it. If the 31st Group Army did not retreat in time, or if Sun Lianzhong's Group Army could not move south in time, even if the 31st Group Army could retreat to the Tongbai Mountains, under the heavy encirclement and suppression of the Japanese army, I am afraid that there would be more than one luck.

Moreover, most importantly, Li Zongren obviously did not tell Tang Enbo in advance about the strategic purpose of the Japanese army's encirclement and annihilation of the 31st Group Army.

Today is May 6, which means that Townebo's army group has been holding out in this area for five days.

Han Xing can't talk about saving the 31st Group Army, but at least he is worried about the 31st Group Army in his heart, and he doesn't want this stubborn and well-equipped 31st Group Army to be destroyed in the Suizao Campaign.

Han Xing immediately rushed to the Gaocheng front line north of Suixian, and informed Yin Zhaoli and Zhang Xiaosan's troops to rush here as well. Here, the 31st Army was engaged in a fierce battle with the 3rd Brigade of the 5th Division of the Japanese Army.

In the fierce battle between the two armies, Han Xing did not have the opportunity to meet Tang Enbo, so he could only wait for the opportunity.

While waiting for the opportunity, Han Xing's tank battalion rushed to resupply. If you want to say that the supply far away from the rear, the logistics side has already made the next plan, that is, to use Xu Da's air force to airdrop the fuel, ammunition and other military supplies needed by the tank battalion. You have to read your own scriptures, and no one can count on them.

On the way to Gaocheng, Han Xing's mind first went through Tang Enbo's 31st Group Army.

The 31st Group Army was the best equipped, most adequate, and most experienced Central Army at that time.

The 31st Group Army was ordered to be formed on June 8, 1938, under the jurisdiction of Zhang Zhen's 13th Army, Zhang Gang's 98th Army, Guan Linzheng's 52nd Army, and Li Xianzhou's 92nd Army.

It can be seen that none of these four armies is a weak brigade.

Of course, the backbone of the 31st Army was the 13th Army. Needless to say, the 13th Army was also the unit with the most brilliant results in the Anti-Japanese War, and it was also the unit that Tang Enbo started.

At the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, the 13th Army inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese army at Nankou with an absolute disadvantage, annihilating 5,000 and 6,000 Japanese troops, and holding on for more than 20 days, resulting in the bankruptcy of the Japanese army's plan for a quick victory in North China.

In the fierce battle of Nankou, the 13th Army took advantage of the mountainous terrain to defend its position, and paid a huge price for it, almost all of the 529th Regiment of Luo Fang of the 89th Division were martyred, and Zhang Benyu, deputy commander of the 12th Brigade of the 4th Division, was also martyred in the battle. The casualties were so great, but not a single soldier retreated.

Due to the outstanding performance of the 13th Army, it was expanded into the 20th Army Corps on January 18, 1938, under the jurisdiction of the 13th, 98th and 85th Armies.

Among the other two armies, the 52nd Army and their commander Guan Linzheng are also well-known powerhouses. As early as 1933, during the Battle of the Great Wall, they fought a bloody battle with the Japanese army for several months, and they personally went to the front line to command, but they were seriously wounded and became fierce Zhang Fei by their colleagues.

The 98th Army was slightly worse, he was formed in 1933 by the merger of the Hubei Garrison Brigade and the 3rd Army Corps of He Chengjun of the Central Army in Hubei. Army Commander Zhang Gang graduated from the sixth phase of Baoding Military Academy, fought under Sun Yat-sen for 20 years, and was also a fierce general.

The 20 Corps then rushed to Shandong and took part in the famous Battle of Taierzhuang. It is generally believed that Tang Enbo's 20th Army Corps was the decisive force for the victory in the Battle of Taierzhuang, and it was he who outflanked and attacked from the front, causing the collapse of the Japanese 5th and 10th Divisions on the entire front.

After the end of the Battle of Taierzhuang, the Japanese army called Tang Enbo's corps through actual combat experience: the elite Chinese nuclear corps!

After the end of this battle, the 20th Army was again expanded into the 31st Army and participated in the Battle of Wuhan.

The main thing is to increase Li Xianzhou's 92nd Army!

Li Xianzhou, a general, also has a legendary experience, he personally went to the front line to command during the Battle of Taiyuan, and was shot through the lungs by a sniper's Type 38 rifle bullet, and passed out on the spot.

Later, the doctor who rescued him said that the bullet flew out along the edge of his heart, and Li Xianzhou was exhaling at that time, so the heart and lungs contracted, and the bullet passed through. If Li Xianzhou had inhaled at that time, his heart would have been shot, and he would have died.

The doctor said that Li Xianzhou's life was between breaths.

Due to its strong combat effectiveness and excellent equipment, the 31st Group Army became the firefighting team of the Battle of Wuhan, and between reinforcements and the Fifth and Ninth Theaters, many enemies were destroyed.

In order to launch the April offensive, after the 31st Army entered the Fifth Theater, the relatively strong units of the Japanese army learned of the arrival of the elite corps of the Central Army and retreated one after another, retreating on all fronts.

The 31st Group Army, which entered the Fifth Theater, was temporarily reduced in strength, leaving only two corps under its jurisdiction, the 13th Army and the 85th Army.

However, the 13th Army had 3 divisions and 2 independent brigades, and the 85th Army had 3 divisions and 2 guerrilla units. The total strength of the army consisted of 6 divisions, 2 brigades and 2 guerrilla units, with a strength of 670,000 soldiers.

The 31 st Group Army was also relatively well equipped, with a certain number of light and heavy machine guns, mortars, 37-mm anti-tank guns, and 20-mm small-caliber artillery such as Surothong, and a small number of mountain artillery and field artillery at the division level.

In particular, most of the officers and soldiers of the 31st Group Army are basically experienced in a hundred battles, have considerable combat experience, and can also fight tough battles, which is very difficult to deal with.