"What are you talking about? Heavy artillery? When did the opposite branch of the army have a heavy artillery group? Nakano Hidemitsu was very surprised and grabbed his subordinates' collars and shouted loudly.

"Hai, maybe, it may be that reinforcements from the Shina Army have arrived, right?!" The devil lieutenant nodded uncertainly.

"Reinforcements? In addition to Qiao's army in Huaibei, which has a large-scale heavy artillery group, could it be that Qiao Anbang's troops have arrived? Nakano Hidemitsu let go of his subordinates and said thoughtfully.

"Yes, it's quite possible." The devil lieutenant nodded again in agreement.

Nakano Hidemitsu pondered for a moment and said, "Immediately report this information to the division commander, and ask the division commander to decide!" "Nakano Hidemitsu has long heard of the fierce name of the Tiger Army, he is very arrogant and arrogant, he can attack with a wing like Li Pinxian's 11th Army, but he does not dare to fight Qiao Anbang's Tiger Army alone.

"Hay!" The devil lieutenant hurriedly bowed his head in response, and then turned to leave.

………………………… At the same time that Qiao Anbang led the Tiger Army to Dingyuan County, the main force of the Central China Army had already crossed the Yangtze River from Pukou and Hexian ferries, and after the army crossed the Yangtze River, the troops were immediately divided into two routes, one was the main force of the Sixth Division as the forward division, and the other was the Third Division as the main force of the forward division, passing through Chaohu and Hefei to Yingzhou, and the goal was the base of the Tiger Ben Army, and the strategic goal of the Central China Army was very clear, that is, to contain Qiao Anbang and Li Pinxian at the same time.

However, what the devil didn't expect was that Li Pinxian's 11th Group Army had been transferred to Xuzhou, and what they didn't expect was that at this moment, the Tiger Ben Army dared to divide its troops and take on the important task of blocking the Central China Army alone.

In addition to the third division, there are also the 9th, 18th, and 13th divisions, with a strength of no less than 150,000 people, which shows the importance that the army attaches to the tiger army, and as for the east road army along the Jinpu Road to the north, in addition to the main force of the sixth division, there is also a newly rebuilt 114th division, with a strength of more than 50,000 people. Take advantage of the situation along the Jinpu Railway to go north to Xuzhou.

These actions of the devils did not hide the reconnaissance of the Tiger Army Air Force, and the reconnaissance plane hurriedly reported this information to Qiao Anguo, who was sitting in Pheasant and Ji.

While informing Qiao Anbang of the information, Qiao Anguo mobilized the Second Division to assist in the defense of Yingzhou, and at the same time requisitioned the militia on a large scale in the base area, and the Fifth Division of the recruits was responsible for the defense of the first and third divisions.

………………………………………… On the north bank of the Huai River, the position of the 3rd Division.

Under the cover of the heavy artillery fire of the artillery regiment of the 3rd Division, a simple pontoon bridge was quickly completed, and as soon as Qiao Anbang wanted to order the troops to cross the river to counterattack, Yali ran all the way down the traffic trench panting.

As for the approach, Yali hurriedly reported to Qiao Anbang with a short breath: "Military seat, according to the information reconnoitred by the reconnaissance plane of our air force, the main force of the army has crossed the Yangtze River, and is currently heading north from Chaohu and Hefei to our Yingzhou base area. ”

"How many people are there in the main force of the army?" Jo Anbang asked, putting down the binoculars.

"No less than 150,000." Yali frowned slightly and replied in a solemn tone.

"One hundred and fifty thousand?" Qiao Anbang suddenly smiled dumbly when he heard this: "Xiao Yueben really looks up to our Tiger Ben Army, an army of 150,000!" ”

"Commander, are we going to change our battle plan too? It is obvious that the army on the south bank of the Huai River is just a partial division, and their main force is in Hefei. Li Jupeng, the commander of the third division on the side, suggested with a heavy face.

Reason told Qiao Anbang that Li Jupeng's suggestion was correct, and it was true that the current army on the south bank of the Huai River was only a partial division, even if they were the entire Sixth Division, it was only used by the army to deal with Li Pinxian's 11th Group Army.

If the Tiger Ben Army fails to hold Yingzhou, then the door of the entire base area will be opened, and Qiao Anbang's base area in northern Anhui, which has been painstakingly operated for more than a year, will be destroyed in one fell swoop.

If the base area is lost, the Tiger Army will become a lost dog. Therefore, even if he wanted to cross the river and clean up the Sixth Division on the opposite bank, he had to endure it.

Thinking of this, Qiao Anbang slowly turned his head, looked at the south bank with cold eyes, and shouted coldly: "Order the artillery, destroy the pontoon bridge, the third division will be stationed on the spot, without my order, you must not let a little devil cross the river!" ”

"Yes!" Li Jupeng suddenly stepped forward and responded.

"Let's go!" Qiao Anbang turned his head and left, and said loudly as he walked: "Immediately notify the first division, turn around immediately, and gallop to the aid of Yingzhou!" ”

"Yes!" Liang Jiahan, who was following behind Qiao Anbang, hurriedly responded.

"What about us, sir?" Li Zide, who was ready to lead the charge, hurriedly caught up with Qiao Anbang and asked eagerly.

Qiao Anbang stopped, turned to look at Li Zide and said: "Battalion Commander Li, if you are willing, then please stay and assist my third division to block the northward movement of the Yue army, if you are unwilling, you can lead your troops north to Xuzhou to find your main force." ”

"Please rest assured, sir, I understand my humble duties, and all the officers and soldiers of our department swear to live and die with your department and the position!" Li Zide said aloud with a generous statement at the moment.

Hearing this, Qiao Anbang stood up solemnly and saluted Li Zide with a standard military salute, then turned around and strode away without looking back.

…………………………………… Dingyuan County, the temporary headquarters of the Sixth Division of the Army.

The chief of staff of the Sixth Division, Shimono Kazuho, hurriedly walked into the division headquarters with a telegram in his hand, and reported to the division commander Gu Shoufu: "Your Excellency General, the 13th Wing is calling. ”

"Oh? What's the situation? Gu Shoufu raised his head and asked.

"The 13th Wing was attacked by heavy artillery of the North Bank China Army and suffered heavy losses! Nakano Osa suspected that the Shina Tiger Army had arrived for reinforcements. Shimono Kazuho quickly replied.

"Tiger Army?" Gu Shoufu said with a little surprise: "Shouldn't they be in their so-called base area?" ”

"This humble position is not clear, but in the northern Anhui region, except for Qiao Anbang's Tiger Army, there is no other [***] that can have a formed heavy artillery unit." Shimono Ichiho Road.

Gu Shoufu pondered for a moment, and immediately said: "If it is really the Tiger Army, then we have to be careful, first call back to the 13th Infantry Wing, tell them not to act rashly for the time being, and order the main force of the division to advance to Fengyang immediately!" ”

"Hay!" Shimono Yihuo suddenly bowed his head in response, and then turned around and strode away with his saber.

…………………… Ten kilometers southeast of Yingzhou, thirty miles to Pu Town, Chu Jingming, commander of the Fourth Division, personally led four battalions of troops to build the first line of defense of the Yingzhou defense line here. Thirty miles was a tactical point along the highway from Yingshang to Yingzhou, and the trenches of the officers and men of the Fourth Division cut off the entire highway, and thousands of Huben officers and men were in strict formation waiting for the arrival of the army.

In the forward trenches, Chu Jingming was leading people to inspect the position, and suddenly there was a commotion on the road ahead, Chu Jingming hurriedly raised his binoculars and lay on the bunker to look forward, only to see a large number of refugees on the highway coming along the road, roughly counting, the number of people is hundreds.

And there were already gunshots from time to time behind them, and it was obvious that there were devils chasing after them.

Chu Jingming immediately said to the first regiment commander Xie Shan (formerly the commander of the first battalion of the Yingzhou Security Regiment): "Xie Shan! Quickly bring someone to pick up the villagers to evacuate! ”

"Yes!" Xie Shan immediately stepped forward, waved his hand behind him and shouted, "Yilian, follow me!" ”

More than 100 soldiers immediately followed Xie Shan out of the trench and rushed towards the group of people, at this time, the gunfire of the army behind was getting closer and closer, and the anxious Xie Shan and the officers and soldiers did not find that there were dozens of cold eyes staring at them in the crowd of ordinary people.

"Folks, we are the Tiger Army, hurry, the devil is coming, everyone quickly retreat, and we will block the army!" Xie Shan shouted at the crowd of people.

The people retreated to the back under the cover of a company of officers and soldiers, and Xie Shan personally took a dozen soldiers behind the palace to cover the evacuation of the people.

Chu Jingming held the telescope and could already see the advance of the Yue army chasing in the distance, and immediately ordered the adjutant beside him: "Pass the order and prepare for battle!" He drew his matching gun.

"Yes!" The adjutant hurriedly answered, and immediately gave the order.

Soon, Xie Shan and a company of officers and soldiers escorted hundreds of people to retreat into the position, at this time, the artillery of the devils in front had begun to bombard, and the roaring cannon sound resounded throughout the thirty miles, Xie Shan ordered a company of soldiers to escort the group of people to retreat, and turned to Chu Jingming and said loudly: "Master, the devil is coming up, you go down first, here is under my command." ”

"Don't fucking nonsense......" Chu Jingming had just turned around and before he finished speaking, he saw a man behind Xie Shan who looked like a common man took out a pistol from his arms and aimed at Xie Shan.

Chu Jingming reacted immediately, and yelled at Xie Shan while shooting: "Be careful behind you, there are devils!" ”

Xie Shan turned around blankly when he heard this, only to hear the two crisp gunshots "bang" almost at the same time. Xie Shan and the plainclothes soldier not far behind him were shot and fell to the ground almost at the same time, the only difference was that Xie Shan was shot in the abdomen, while the devil was shot in the head in plainclothes.

"There are devils! It's the people who lie down! When Chu Jingming saw Xie Shan being shot and fell to the ground, he was immediately dumbfounded, raised his gun and fired at the sky again and again, and roared angrily.

In fact, when they heard the gunshots, most of the people were so frightened that they hurriedly lay down, but there were still nearly thirty or forty "people" in the crowd who drew their pistols or short knives and threw themselves at the officers and soldiers of the company next to them who were caught off guard.

(To be continued)