It was early in the morning, the cold wind was cold, and the Huaihe Pingwei ferry.

After nearly a day and a night of rapid marching, the three main infantry divisions of the rescue [***] finally arrived at the Pingyu Ferry, and began to cross the river to the south without stopping under the response of the second battalion of the guard regiment.

The pontoon bridge was ready-made, and the operation of crossing the river went very smoothly, and it took less than two hours for more than 30,000 troops to pass through the Huai River with all the men and cars, and arrived at the area of Tianma Peak and Fengyang Gorge.

It's normal to think about it, the pontoon bridge is like flat ground, and the soldiers of all divisions and regiments can pass directly by car, and if it weren't for the unfamiliarity with the situation at the Pingwei ferry port for the first time, the speed would have been faster.

After crossing the Huai River, each division entered the first-line positions of Tianma Peak and Fengyang Gorge to rest. Qiao Anbang, who had not slept all night, immediately summoned the military commanders of each division to issue combat missions.

Fengyang Gorge Rescue [***] Headquarters, the not very wide headquarters is crowded at the moment, and it seems a little crowded.

In addition to the commanders of the three divisions, Li Yifeng, Li Jupeng, and Cao Er, Zhang Xudong, commander of the armored brigade, and Wang Gensheng, commander of the guard regiment, attended the meeting.

Since the headquarters was relatively simple and there were not enough stools, everyone gathered around a table made of ammunition boxes, on which was covered with a combat map.

Qiao Anbang stood in the first place as usual, first glanced at the people present, and then pointed to the map and said, "Everyone, please see, this is Fengyang County." ”

Everyone's eyes followed what Qiao Anbang was looking for, and they all turned their eyes to Qiao Anbang, waiting for his next step.

Qiao Anbang paused, pointed to Fengyang County on the map and said: "Now the enemy we face is the 13th Division of the Army, all of which are shrinking in and around Fengyang County, but after the battle of Tianma Peak and Fengyang Gorge, we annihilated half of the division, so now the 13th Division of Fengyang County is only half of the division's strength. ”

"What does the general seat mean to attack Fengyang? Eat the 13th Division? Li Yifeng, the commander of the first division, asked thoughtfully.

"It's not an attack, it's an encirclement." Qiao Anbang said, and said in a changed tone: "Although the 13th Division only has half of the division's strength left, there are still the 9th Division and the 114th Division of the Yue Army stationed in the areas of Shou County and Dingyuan County around Fengyang, with a total strength of more than 50,000 people. "This is the battle plan made by Qiao Anbang overnight, as long as the 13th Division can be eaten, then the southern front of Xuzhou will be safe, and he can even send troops north to participate in the Battle of Taierzhuang, as much as possible to help Li Zongren expand the results of the battle.

After speaking, Qiao Anbang raised his head and glanced around at everyone, and then asked in a cold voice: "In order to ensure the formation of an overwhelming absolute military superiority over Fengyang, I can only divide three regiments to send reinforcements at most, which of you dares to take on this arduous and glorious task?" ”

Li Yifeng, Li Jupeng, Cao Er and others looked at each other, their expressions were very solemn, they all knew that the success of this battle of Fengyang lies in the peripheral blockade, so this blockade battle will definitely be extremely arduous, the blocking troops have to rely on the strength of one or two regiments to resist the entire field division of the army, and the Huainan area is full of horses and rivers, there is no danger to defend at all, so there is no geographical advantage, the only thing that can be relied on is that the soldiers fought bloodily.

After pondering for a moment, Cao Er, the commander of the Second Division, spoke: "General Seat, the task of sending reinforcements this time will be handed over to our Second Division." ”

Qiao Anbang was slightly stunned when he heard this, in his heart he originally planned to hand over this blocking task to Li Yifeng's first division, after all, the first division is the old foundation of the Tiger Brigade, and its combat effectiveness is slightly stronger than that of the second and third divisions, and one of the three infantry regiments of the second division was left to garrison the pheasant and the base area, and now the second division only has two infantry regiments.

It must be known that the difficulty of this blocking task is much higher than the battle of besieging Fengyang, once the devil reinforcements cannot be stopped, then it is very likely that the rescue [***] will fall into the anti-encirclement of the army, and then the army will be attacked inside and outside, even if Qiao Anbang has the power to go to the sky, he will not be able to return to the sky.

Subconsciously said: "Cao Er, you have thought about it, this blocking battle is very important, and if there is a slight mistake, it may be a catastrophe for us to save [***]." ”

"Back to the main seat, I have thought about it." Cao Er usually doesn't talk much, so he replied even more seriously.

Facing Cao Er's firm gaze, Qiao Anbang nodded and said: "But I can only equip you with one more regiment, in addition to the two regiments of your second division, I will transfer a main regiment from other divisions to you, but the armored brigade will participate in the battle of attacking Fengyang, at least in the early stage, it will not be able to assist you in the battle." ”

"Thank you, please rest assured, the Second Division guarantees to complete the task, the people are in the position, as long as there is still one person in our Second Division, we will never let a devil pass!" Cao Er said decisively and resolutely.

"Okay, that's what Lao Tzu wants, as long as you can block the devil's reinforcements, I will give credit to all the officers and soldiers of your second division in this battle of Fengyang!" Qiao Anbang was very pleased and said, "Thank you, Mr. Zuo!" Cao Er said happily.

Qiao Anbang threw the pencil in his hand casually, looked up at everyone, and said coldly: "Li Yifeng." ”

"Humble duty!" Li Yifeng stepped forward and answered loudly.

"A regiment from your division will be temporarily under the unified command of the second division, remember that it is a regiment, and it is not allowed to be discounted!" Qiao Anbang said with a grim expression.

"Yes! Humble duty understands! Li Yifeng replied loudly.

"Hmm." Qiao Anbang nodded, and then said: "Cao Er, you lead the second division to rush to the area of Xiquan Town and Erpu Town in two ways, build fortifications on the spot, and prepare to block the reinforcements of the Yue army. ”

"Yes!" Cao Er stepped forward to promise.

Qiao Anbang turned his head to Li Yifeng and the others: "Li Yifeng, Li Jupeng, the two of you will lead the officers and soldiers of your headquarters to immediately move around Fengyang County, block all the retreat routes of the army in Fengyang County, and prepare to besiege!"

Another point is that in order to avoid the whereabouts being exposed, all the trucks of each regiment were left behind, and all the officers and men marched at night on small roads, and they must arrive at the designated position before dawn. ”

"Yes!" Li Yifeng, Cao Er, and Li Jupeng stepped forward at the same time.

"Alright, let's carry out the order!" Qiao Anbang waved his hand and said solemnly.

The three of them saluted in unison, and then turned around and strode away.

After seeing the three of them leave, Qiao Anbang just wanted to turn around, and Zhang Xudong, the commander of the armored brigade standing on the side, opened his mouth and asked: "General seat, when will our armored brigade move?" ”

"You guys have a good rest, and after dawn, after all the regiments have arrived at the predetermined position, they are assisting the 1st and 2nd Divisions in attacking!" Joan Bang replied.

"Yes!" Zhang Xudong saluted and then turned to leave.

In the dark of night, the headquarters of the 13th Division of the Chinese Army in Fengyang City was brightly lit, and the commander of the division, Lieutenant General Hou Zhoubing, and the chief of staff, Yusaburo Ta, and several staff adjutants were still discussing the next counterattack plan around the map.

At this time, they were still ignorant of the news of saving tens of thousands of troops to cross the Huai River, so they were still planning to wait for the completion of the reconstruction of the 26th Brigade to attack Fengyang Gorge and Tianma Peak again to avenge their revenge.

Chief of Staff Yusaburo Tin pointed to the map and said: "According to the information brought back by the 58th Wing, the total strength of the Shina people should be three infantry regiments, more than 3,000 people, in addition to a large armored force. (During the Anti-Japanese Period, a regiment usually had more than 1,000 people, which was about the same as an infantry brigade of the Yue Army.) "If it weren't for this armored unit, the 116th Wing and the 58th Wing would never have been defeated so badly. The state soldier gritted his teeth and said with hatred.

"The division commander is right, if the people of China do not have this armored force, we can attack them now, recapture the positions of Tianma Peak and Fengyang Gorge, and annihilate them all on the south bank of the Huai River." Yusaburo nodded in agreement.

"Tian Yongjun, it seems that we must come up with a way to deal with the armored combat vehicle troops of the Chinese people as soon as possible, otherwise even if we wait until the 26th Brigade is rebuilt, I am afraid it will be difficult to win." The state soldier frowned.

"General, in my humble opinion, there are only two ways to deal with the armored fighting vehicles of the Chinese people, the first is to rely on the imperial army aviation units for bombing, and the second is to equip them with sufficient anti-tank guns and artillery. There is no other way. Yusaburo thought for a moment.

"The poor mobility of the tank unit in China, coupled with the cunning of its commanders, makes it difficult for the aviation to hit with one blow." The state soldier sighed and said: "It seems that we can only apply to the front army headquarters to equip our department with more anti-tank artillery, and in addition, immediately concentrate all the anti-tank guns and 20-mm anti-tank guns in the whole division to facilitate the use of armored combat vehicles of the Chinese people." ”

"Well, I understand!" Yuzaburo nodded in response.

"In addition, Tian Yongjun, immediately send a telegram to the front army headquarters to request Commander Yanagawa to send aviation troops to reconnoiter the positions of the China Army on the north bank of the Huai River and the south bank after dawn, and it is best to find the hiding place of the China armored troops and destroy them!" Won the state military road.

"Hay!" Yuzaburo nodded again, and then turned to leave with his saber in his hand.

The two infantry regiments of the Fengyang Gorge and the First Division of the Rescue [***] Division, as well as the units directly under the division headquarters, descended the mountain one after another and made a detour to the northeast of Fengyang County.

At the same time, the three main regiments of the Third Division and the troops directly under the division headquarters also set out from the area of Tianma Peak and moved towards the southwest of Fengyang County.

An invisible web of death is quietly hanging down over the heads of the state soldiers and his 13th Division, this time if the 13th Division is successfully annihilated, then it can create a miracle again, the first time since the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression to eliminate the division and regimental formation of the army, but also to smash the strategic attempt of the Central China Army to go north and join the North China Army and connect the northern and southern battlefields.

(To be continued)