The public is not Jiang Fangzhen disagreed, and the ministry Runxian hurriedly indicated Guchang: "Brother Baili, in my opinion, the current infantry assault tactics of Commander Wu are snail tactics, the advance speed is too slow, and it is not conducive to the total annihilation of the Japanese army. ”

Jiang Fangzhen shook his head and said: "In the end, you still don't understand Commander Wu's intentions, now the eastern front and the western front are fighting at the same time, the more at this time, the more you have to calm down, now is a critical time for the entire battle situation, if you are not careful, you will lose all the games, your far-reaching and roundabout tactics are indeed very bold, but they are also very risky, the western front is not better than the eastern front, there are more mountains and hills here, and the terrain is more complicated, plus the South Manchurian railway, the Japanese army has more tactical choices, and far-reaching and detour tactics are not impossible, But wait for the time."

"And when is the time for the armored forces to flank them?" Gao Runjiao asked.

"It depends on the development of the war. The meaning of the General Staff Headquarters was very clear: The purpose of this battle was to strive for the maximum annihilation of the Japanese army units on the Liaodong Peninsula, so that the Japanese would break their courage and let the Japanese see clearly the strength of their opponents. Jiang Fangzhen said.

"Why don't you take Gai Ping today?"

Bu Runxian is a little strange, Jiang Fangzhen's meaning he understands, in the final analysis, the Battle of Gaiping is still serving the Eastern Front Campaign, when to take Gaiping, this is not up to Wu Luzhen, this has to be decided by the center.

"It depends on what's going on on the Eastern Front. At present, the reinforcements of the Japanese army have carried out a landing operation under the cover of the combined fleet and have occupied the port of Dagushan, but according to the reconnaissance of the air force in the morning, the Japanese landing force has not planned to stay away from the coast and go deep inland, and if they do not leave the coast, our attacking troops will have to be exposed to the artillery fire of the Japanese combined fleet.

Jiang Fangzhen analyzed the battlefield situation, saw that Gao Runxie did not react, and knew that the other party was still obsessed with the far-reaching and roundabout tactics of the armored forces, so he stood up, patted Gao Runxian on the shoulder, and was about to say a few words of comfort, when the field telephone in the headquarters suddenly rang, and a staff officer hurriedly answered the phone.

"Chief of Staff Jiang, Commander Wu is looking for you." The staff officer placed the microphone on the table.

Jiang Fangzhen answered the phone, and it was Wu Luzhen's voice on the other end of the phone.

"Brother Baili, you will come back soon, the General Staff has just changed the battle plan, and I would like to ask you to give it to the Staff Officer.

Changing the battle plan was not a trivial matter, Jiang Fangzhen did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly walked out of the command post, and the department wanted to go with him. In the end, he could only rush back to the former enemy headquarters with Bei Runjiao.

When he arrived at the former enemy headquarters, Jiang Fangzhen quickly figured out the new deployment of the General Staff.

According to this new arrangement of the General Staff, the Western Route Column must immediately achieve a breakthrough in the direction of Gaiping, seize Gaiping in one fell swoop, and control this strategic point on the South Manchurian Railway. Then march south along the South Manchurian Railway, and the troops will be directed in the direction of Lushun and Dalian.

At first glance, this operational plan was in conflict with the previous plan to lure the enemy into depth, but after careful consideration, Jiang Fangzhen realized that this new operational plan did not change the entire strategic attempt, but only made adjustments in specific tactical arrangements, and this adjustment was determined in accordance with the situation on the Eastern Front.

In the current Eastern Front battlefield, because the Japanese army reinforcements have already carried out landing operations and occupied Dagushan Port, they have replaced the Gaiping direction and become the key direction that the center pays the most attention to in the entire Liaodong strategy, and every move of the Japanese army directly affects the judgment and decision-making of the center.

At present, the Japanese troops in the direction of Dagushan are still unable to shrink and rely on the coast to arrange their positions, and if the Chinese army rashly attacks, it is very likely to be killed or injured by the fire of the Japanese Combined Fleet.

Under this strategic judgment, it is necessary to end the battle of Gaiping as soon as possible, and once Gaiping is taken, the Western Front of the Chinese Army must make a posture of going all out to the south to Lushun and Dalian to fight, forcing the Japanese commander to react to this, either to transfer the Japanese reinforcements from Dagushan to the south to Lushun to assist in the defense, or simply transfer the Japanese troops to the inland area to threaten the flank of the Chinese Western Front attacking force and force the Chinese army to postpone the date of the attack on Lushun. To buy time for the follow-up force landing operation of the Japanese Army reinforcements.

Regardless of the response of the Japanese commanders, Gaipin had to overcome it as soon as possible, so the General Staff, after consulting the Army Staff, decided to change the battle plan.

The General Staff Headquarters only gave a direction, and the specific operational arrangements were still drawn up by the front-line commanders, and Jiang Fangzhen was Wu Luzhen's think tank, and his suggestions would have a direct impact on the entire operational plan.

"I think that under the current situation, it is necessary to use armored forces to carry out a breakthrough in depth, concentrate armored forces to tear a crack in the Japanese defense line, and then continue to advance to the rear of the Japanese defense line, destroy the Japanese command center, and disrupt the deployment of the Japanese army.

Jiang Fangzhen took out his opinion, Wu Luzhen looked at Gao Runxian, who was sitting at the end of the conference table, with an expressionless face, and waited for Jiang Fangzhen to finish speaking, Wu

"Gao Runxian, you are the commander of the armored forces, tell me, if the task of breaking through the Japanese defense line is entrusted to you, how will you arrange your tactics?"

Seeing Wu Luzhen pointing at him, Gao Runjiao Lixuan stood up, walked to the military map, picked up the whip, pointed to the map and introduced his tactical arrangements

"Gaiping, with its back to the West River, is easy to attack and difficult to defend, and it is easy to occupy Gaiping, but if you want to completely annihilate the Gaiping Japanese army, you must jump over the West River, go deep into the rear of Gaiping, and cut off the retreat of the Japanese army. At present, the Japanese defense line is lined up in the north of Gaiping, extending from the coastal area west of Gaiping to the hilly area to the east, and the west is the lower reaches of the West River, the river is wide and the river is very deep, which is not conducive to the assault of the armored forces, although the east side is hilly, the terrain is undulating, and it is also unfavorable for the assault of the armored forces, but there is the upper reaches of the West River, the river is narrow, and the river is not as deep as the downstream, whether it is wading or building bridges, it is relatively easy, so my opinion is that a breakthrough is achieved from the Japanese position in the east, and then quickly cross the West RiverWith the tank regiment as the forerunner, supplemented by five to six infantry regiments, as well as armored car battalions and armored car battalions, supplemented by a small number of cavalry units and stunned troops, after crossing the West River, they quickly outflanked the southwest direction and cut off the retreat of the Japanese army. ”

The ministry was right, but Wu Luzhen did not immediately express her position, but asked a few questions.

"If the armored forces achieve a breakthrough, where will you lead your troops to rush?"

"Here, the dustpan village. According to the air force reconnaissance, the dustpan village is where the logistics warehouse of the Japanese army in Gaiping is located, and the occupation of the dustpan village will cut off the supply of arms to the Japanese army on the front line, and it will cause a direct blow to the military spirit of the Japanese army in Gaiping, and the dustpan is not far from Xiongyue City in the south, if the march is smooth, our department can further seize Xiongyue City, control the important bridges of the South Manchurian Railway, and ensure the smooth southward advance of the troops. This tactic is the most appropriate

Bu Yunxian pointed at a point on the map with his whip to further refine his attack plan.

"However, if you choose to bypass from the upper reaches of the West River, the terrain there is mainly hilly, which is not conducive to the rapid assault of armored troops, as long as the Japanese army is deployed in a dangerous place with a small number of troops, your armored assault force will inevitably be blocked by the Japanese army, but it is not conducive to a frontal breakthrough."

A staff officer reminded a few words, but the ministry obviously had a countermeasure to this.

"When our armored troops are outflanked, our infantry units must also attack the main frontal positions of the Japanese army at the same time, attract the attention of the Japanese army, and reduce the resistance on the way of our armored troops

Speaking of this, Gao Run knocked down the whip, then stood upright, and said with his head held high: "The department is willing to make a military order, if it is unable to achieve a flank breakthrough and annihilate the Japanese army, he is willing to be punished by military law."

Wu Luzhen smiled faintly and said, "Military order? Our We're not interested in that. Gao Runzhen, you rush back to the army now and wait for the order. ”

After a prison exercise, he understood that Wu Luzhen had been a little shaken. looked at Jiang Fangzhen again, and saw that he made a look, so he hurriedly saluted and retreated.

Leaving the former enemy headquarters, Gao Runjiao hurriedly rushed to the armored brigade headquarters, and when he returned to the brigade headquarters, he summoned his staff officers and made some adjustments to the battle plan that had already been formulated, and all that remained was to wait for Wu Luzhen to return his tanks and armored vehicles.

At half past two o'clock in the afternoon, the first tank returned to the independent armored brigade with bullet marks, and then, more tanks and armored vehicles were transferred back to the rear from the front line by Wu Luzhen.

In order to ensure the smooth assault of the armored troops, Wu Luzhen not only sent a large number of engineering units to follow the armored forces to attack, but also strengthened the infantry strength of the armored brigades, and the entire two infantry brigades will follow the armored forces to carry out flank breakthroughs, and these troops are mixed with the armored brigades to form a "flank column." Jiang Fangzhen served as the commander of the troops, and Gao Runjiao served as the deputy commander.

Gao Runjiao was very happy to be able to cooperate with Jiang Fangzhen, in his opinion, Jiang Fangzhen has a peaceful personality, not like Wu Luzhen, who is "rigid and slow for his own use."

But Gao Runxian was wrong, Jiang Fangzhen usually looked easy-going, that was because he was not a front-line commander, and now, as the commander of the flank column, it was impossible for him to be led by others, and he had his own views on tactical arrangements.

The Ministry of Runjiao suggested that Jiang Fangzhen attack immediately, but Jiang Fangzhen did not accept this suggestion, he waited patiently, which made Gao Runjiao anxious, only to find that Jiang Fangzhen was not so "obedient" at some times.

It wasn't until six o'clock in the afternoon that Jiang Fangzhen gave the order to attack.

"Tank regiment, sortie!"

Before closing the hatch, he deliberately turned his head to look in the direction of Gaiping City, where the main position of the enemy and us was located, and now, there was a lot of artillery fire, and the infantry attack had begun.