At 6 o'clock in the morning, the weather was overcast. In the headquarters of the 104th Division of the Japanese Army, a Japanese communications officer ran in with a telegram in his hand and made an urgent report: "Report, Captain Lin Heng reports that he was intercepted by a large number of Eighth Route Army in the southeast direction of Zishan. Hearing this, Hamamoto Kizaburo was shocked, and hurriedly found the location in the southeast direction of Zishan and said: "The Eighth Route Army is very cunning, and orders Captain Lin Heng to break through the enemy's interception at any cost. "Your Excellency General, the attacking force is ready, whether to attack or not!"

The division commander Kizaburo Hamamoto waved his hand, and a new round of Japanese attacks began. The artillery fire was fierce, the warplanes roared in the sky, and the smoke of gunpowder covered the sky and the sun. The Japanese army threw all its air power into the land and river front, and a fierce battle was inevitable. The southern front was also on the offensive, fighting until noon, and the commander of the 106th Division, Junrokuro Matsuura, received a report from the 104th Division that he could not quickly break through the enemy's defense line because the outflanking troops on the northern front were intercepted, and asked him to increase his attack and break through the defense line as soon as possible.

At this time, Junrokuro Matsuura realized that something was wrong, and after dawn he received a report from Captain Ikeda that the enemy had begun to attack, and although the attack was slow, by noon, the outer defensive positions of Ikeda's team were gradually compressed. It is better to ask for others than for yourself, and Junrokuro Matsuura ordered the Engineer Wing to assist the Tsuda Wing in continuing the attack, and suddenly the battle on the southern front became fierce. On the right flank of the blocking position on the southern front, the Japanese artillery fire was sharp, but although the Japanese charge was huge, the attack was obviously not strong.

Deng Hua, commander of the 1st Brigade in the brigade command post, said: "The attacking troops invested by the Japanese army in this round of attacks seem to be different, and their attack formation is obviously inferior to the devils in the previous round. Immediately ask the division commander that I want to launch a counterattack and kill the devil with a horse pistol! Soon, the division commander Yang Dezhida called: "... Your mission is to hold your ground and not think about anything! Deng Hua was reprimanded and felt a little aggrieved.

In the headquarters of the First Division, Division Commander Yang Dezhi put down the phone and said to Political Commissar Huang Kecheng: "Mr. Lin laid such a big puzzle, the purpose was to eat the 106th Division, but he was so good that he wanted to fight back, and he didn't have any overall concept at all." Political Commissar Huang Kecheng said: "If it is easy to counterattack, we will immediately put in the reserve brigade, and Junrokuro Matsuura will immediately turn around and flee back to Shantou, and our attempt to gather and annihilate the 106th Division will be greatly reduced." However, I am a little worried that if the Japanese choose to flee in the southwest direction, we really have no choice! ”

"This is Mr. Lin's cleverness, you see that he put the special forces in Huining and did not move, just to prevent Junrokuro Matsuura from escaping in the southwest direction, and all the puzzles will be revealed tonight." "Yes, the slow attack on the Ikeda Wing is to give hope to the Japanese army!" "Now it seems that Mr. Lin let our two brigades continue to hide and not be exposed, which is to deceive the Japanese army. You should see Mr. Lin's intentions! "You mean that Mr. Lin's goal is here, wonderful! What a move! Political Commissar Huang Kecheng was overjoyed.

The headquarters of the Japanese army in Guangzhou, commander Ando Jili was anxious. Call from the base camp: Judging from the simultaneous offensive of the Eighth Route Army on the north and south lines, this must be a unified action of the Chinese army, and Ando Jiri was instructed to be careful. Aware of the danger, Ando ordered all Japanese troops stationed on the outskirts of Guangzhou to enter the first level of combat readiness and pay close attention to enemy movements. At this moment, he no longer had the intention of destroying the main force of the Eighth Route Army, and whether or not he could rescue the Ikeda United and get it out of danger became the core task.

"Your Excellency General, the division commander Kizaburo Hamamoto reported that the roundabout outflanking troops in the north was intercepted by the Eighth Route Army. It has now been confirmed that the Eighth Route Army that appeared in the north was a brigade, and the Eighth Route Army dispatched three brigades to intercept the 104th Division on the west side, with the aim of completely eating the Ikeda Wing. The commander of the division, Kizaburo Hamamoto, reported that after a day and a night of attacking the station, two brigades had already suffered casualties, and it was impossible to break through the enemy's position in the short term! ”

The chief of staff of the Japanese army continued: "The commander of the 106th Division, Junrokuro Matsuura, reported that the troops of the division were scattered, and there were only Kijima Wing, Tsuda Wing, Engineer Wing, and Artillery Wing on the south side. It has now been confirmed that the Eighth Route Army on the southern front was fighting for two brigades, and the Jieyang Watanabe Wing reported that the Eighth Route Army that captured Jieyang was also one brigade, and the Eighth Route Army of the Ponda Wing sent at least three brigades to surround it. To sum up, the total strength of the Eighth Route Army is at least 60,000, which is wrong with our original judgment! ”

The Japanese army has always fought with fewer strikes in the Chinese theater, and it stands to reason that 50,000 troops are against 60,000, and the Japanese army should not be worried at all. But the opponent is the troops of the Eighth Route Army, which is another matter. The Battle of Songhu and the Battle of Jiangxi have fully demonstrated the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army, especially the sophisticated weapons and equipment of the Eighth Route Army, whose strong combat effectiveness has made the Japanese army the most formidable opponent. Now this opponent is in battle, and he is murderous.

In the headquarters of the Yongding Corps, the focus of the generals was still on the land river blockade operation. It can be said that whether or not the land-river blockade operation can stop the 104th Division and move the whole body with one blow has a bearing on the success or failure of the overall situation. "Mr. Lin, the Japanese army threw all the fighters into the Lu River, and the Lu River fought very fiercely, and Li Tianyou was under a lot of pressure!" Chief of Staff Zhou Kun looked a little apprehensive. "Mr. Lin, do you want the 12th Brigade to attack from the north to reduce the pressure on the frontal defense of Luhe." Political Commissar Tan Zhenlin suggested. "The time is not ripe for the impact of the 12th Brigade, I am not worried that Li Tianyou will not be able to hold it now, I am worried that the Japanese army will continue to increase troops to Luhe!"

The question raised by Lin is the main point, which inevitably causes anxiety among everyone. If the Japanese army continues to increase troops in the Luhe direction without hesitation, the 12th Brigade can be used as a reserve, and it really cannot act rashly. "Report, the 16th Army called, in order to cooperate with our operations, the 75th Division of the Group Army occupied Heyuan!" An operational staff officer made an urgent report. "How can this be reasonable, the 16th Army is taking the opportunity to pick peaches!" Chief of Staff Zhou Kun said in an air. "The 16th Army should be questioned immediately, without our permission to send troops to Heyuan, it is obvious that it is taking advantage of the fire to rob." Political Commissar Tan Zhenlin was also unrelenting.

Lin's face changed and he stood up very excitedly, and everyone was a little confused. "Comrades, not only can we not blame the 16th Army, but we also have to thank them. Whatever their motives, they helped us invisibly. God help me, the 16th Army sent troops to Heyuan, and the Japanese command would think that the 16th Army was cooperating with us. If the Japanese army thought that the 16th Group was going to send troops in a big way, the Japanese army in Guangzhou would not dare to move. The Japanese army was unable to increase its troops on the land river, and my worst fears were solved. ”

"Mr. Lin analyzed the road, and we simply pretended not to know, neither asking nor accusing." Tan Zhenlin agreed. Lin continued: "The 75th Division suddenly entered the Chaohe River, and I estimate that the flank of the Japanese army that went north to outflank is threatened, and it will soon withdraw to the Luhe River. Sure enough, an hour later, Yang Yong, the commander of the 12th Brigade, telegraphed that the 170th Wing of the Japanese Army had retreated. Hearing this, everyone suddenly relaxed. "Order Yang Yong to send a regiment to support Lu He. The 3rd Artillery Division was ordered to enter the position at 8 p.m. to complete preparations for the attack on Ikeda's wing! ”

At around 3 p.m., Lin continued to issue operational orders: "Order Yang Dezhi's troops, namely the 3rd and 4th Brigades, to conceal and intersperse to the east, and the 3rd Brigade must reach Area 12 between Jieyang and Shantou at midnight and build a position on the spot to prevent the Watanabe Wing in the direction of Jieyang from escaping in the direction of Shantou." The 4th Brigade was ordered to make a detour and go straight to Shantou, and it must take Shantou by noon tomorrow. Ordered the special forces to go south from Huining after dark, and quickly take the county seat of Huilai to stand by. "A net of heaven and earth was spread, and the 106th Division invisibly became a turtle in an urn.

Everyone finally realized that at this time Shantou only had a light and heavy wing of the Japanese army, and the light and heavy wing had to support the main force of the Japanese army, so the Japanese army in Shantou was very empty. The fact that the 3rd and 4th Brigades of the 1st Division, which had been on covert and on standby, entered the battle meant that the suffocating battle situation had become clearer. A large-scale encirclement and annihilation operation was about to take place, and the Japanese army remained in the dark. It can be said that Lin's command art is vividly embodied, and when the fighter plane comes, he will never stick to the rules and never let it go.

At dusk, the artillery unit of the 3rd Division appeared near the headquarters of the 2nd Division, and the division commander Yang Chengwu said happily: "Comrades, our artillery has finally appeared. Mr. Lin said that only intensive artillery attacks can really show the effect of shaking the ground and shaking the mountains, and if you want to fight, you will turn the world upside down. "It's just shocking, using an artillery division to carry out a strike, once upon a time we had such a scenario." The chief of staff sighed. "Order all attacking troops to hurry up and prepare, there are still two hours left before the general attack."

Yang Chengwu continued: "Tell all departments that such a fierce support and artillery bombardment has provided us with conditions for implementing new tactics, and the beginning of the general offensive is an opportunity to embody the tactics of the three fierce ones. After half a year of drilling, whether we can achieve positive results depends on this hammer deal. If anyone drops the chain for me, don't say who I will ask me. "Everyone has been screaming for a long time, and dozens of letters of guarantee have been written from various ministries!" The commissar was confident. "Send a report to the headquarters, all the officers and men of the 2nd Division, promise to completely eat the Japanese Ikeda Wing before noon tomorrow!"

In the middle of summer, the sky is still bright at 7 p.m. There was still an hour left before the general assault on the Japanese Ikeda Wing, and at this time, the special forces at Huining City assembled at the south gate to prepare for action. It can be seen that everyone is very excited. Why did the troops go south? There is no need to guess that several commanders know that there is no doubt that the target of the special forces is the main force of the Japanese army. "Report to the commander, the troops have been assembled, please instruct!" Brigade Commander Xiao Hua saluted and reported. "Order the troops to go!" Mu Shixiong ordered.

Several horses were marching in the procession, and the sky was completely dark. Suddenly, there was a cannon sound in the distance, "You hear the sound of the cannon like thunder!" Chief of Staff Deng Guangming shouted. Everyone stopped and looked northeast, only to see half of the sky illuminated, like a bright flower particularly dazzling. "The general offensive has begun, order the troops to speed up!" The officers and men trotted all the way to the melody of the shelling. Faint lights appear and fade, heralding an exciting, terrifying night.