On the evening of July 2, Wanglang Mountain, five kilometers away from Baoding, was the first line of defense of the Southwest Army to block the surprise attack of the Yue Army.

"Battalion commander, here, the devil is here!"

Bo Shaoming, the commander of the third company, ran to the battalion commander Han Li with a telescope and motioned him to look.

Han Li picked up the binoculars, and saw that about a kilometer away, there had been a lot of trucks, and the trucks were full of people, and they could vaguely distinguish that it was a yellow-green military uniform, of course, the most conspicuous thing was the plaster flag of the devil, which could be seen clearly from afar.

"Report the enemy situation to the regimental headquarters, and the second and third companies are ready to fight!!"

With a fierce swing of his fist, Han ordered the troops of the two companies to prepare for battle.

Originally, the mobility of the Yue army was not strong, and it was only in order to seize important places that the vanguard troops were sent to rush forward at full speed in trucks, preparing to hit the defenders outside Baoding City by surprise, and the devils of a squadron.

At about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the 1st Regiment of the 4th Division of the Garrison Division received a telegram from the Beiping Military Headquarters that the Yue Army was about to launch a surprise attack on Baoding, and that the vanguard was about to arrive in Baoding.

Wang Jun, commander of the First Regiment, immediately ordered a reconnaissance detachment to be dispatched to the direction of the information provided by the military headquarters to reconnoiter the possible position of the Yue army, and finally found traces of the Yue army's scouts 10 kilometers away from Baoding, and then found that the vanguard of the Yue army had about one squadron. After weighing, Wang Jun chose the area of Wanglang Mountain, which is more than five kilometers away from the city, and sent two companies led by a battalion commander to block the vanguard of the Yue army on this road that the Yue army must pass.

This blocking location is also very elegant, easy to defend and difficult to attack, far away from the city to the surprise of the Yue army, even if the Yue army with the help of the mountains and the blocking troops to shoot, it will only delay their own speed. Although the terrain here was not conducive to the deployment of the main force, and it was impossible for the Southwest Army, which had only one regiment, to use this as the final defensive position, it could leave enough time for the main force of the first regiment to deploy outside Baoding.

With a relatively favorable defensive terrain and two companies of troops relying on favorable terrain, Han Li was still very confident in blocking the attack of about a squadron of the Yue Army.

Wang Jun, the commander of the first garrison regiment of the ninth phase of the infantry command section of the Huaxia Military Academy, was one period later than Dai Anlan in the eighth phase, and his performance in the school was remarkable, but in the final graduation assessment, because of his relatively conservative combat style and lack of offensive awareness, he was rated good by the military academy, and he lost the opportunity of the main force by mistake, came to the garrison division, and became the regiment commander step by step. It was precisely because this person had a hand in defense that Chen Jun transferred his regiment to Baoding.

"Boom!" In the violent explosion, the truck was overturned to the ground, and the metal jet generated by the explosion of the high-power mine not only destroyed the truck, but also shot the army on the car into a hornet's nest.

"Hit!!"

From the first shot, the suddenly attacked army quickly hid in obstacles or low-lying places, and also took advantage of the terrain to cover up and hastily respond to the battle.

"Bang...... Bang...... Bang......"

"Da Da Da ......"

"Whew...... Boom ......"

Although both sides responded in a hurry, the whole battle was still very fierce, and gunshots rang out everywhere. Although the 1st Regiment of the Garrison Division had urgently reequipped with Chinese-style semi-automatic rifles when it went north, the combat effectiveness of the Yue Army was also very strong, and the shooting accuracy was very high, and it seemed that it had encountered the elite troops of the Yue Army.

"Folks, the devils are coming soon, they are outnumbered, and our troops are insufficient, so we can only rely on everyone's strength, dig trenches, and defend Baoding, so that we can wait for reinforcements."

Outside Baoding, Wang Jun, the commander of the 1st Garrison Regiment, was mobilizing on the construction site, and because the time was too short, he had to ask the soldiers to mobilize the people and help dig the position. However, to his surprise, there were relatively few people in the city, and more farmers came from the countryside on the outskirts of the city with hoes.

As soon as they heard that the Southwest Army was going to fight devils outside Baoding City and needed someone to help dig trenches, the people spontaneously rushed to help with hoes and wheelbarrows.

"Commander Wang, don't worry, although we old mud legs can't shoot guns, we are familiar with digging soil and ditches."

"Yes, it doesn't matter if we sweat a little, you can kill a few more devils, and it will be a great achievement to be able to save the people of Baoding."

"Everyone, work harder, don't shout, listen to the soldiers, we will dig how they say."

…… Wang Jun's eyes couldn't help but turn red, what a lovely common people, some of them had white hair and beards, and they were carrying hoes to support the troops in digging fortifications, while waving the shovel in their hands, they couldn't help but wipe their astringent eyes off their shoulders, but they were stained with sweat in their eyes, and the whole person was already soaked with sweat.

"The regiment commander, the two companies led by the commander of the second battalion Han, have already exchanged fire with the vanguard of the army."

The signal corps came from a distance and reported the information on the front line to Wang Jun as soon as possible.

"Brothers, fellow villagers, our blocking forces have already exchanged fire with the devils in front, and it is they who have bought us more time. Everyone worked hard, and when the battle was over, Lao Tzu Wang Jun took out a year's military salary and got drunk with everyone. ”

After Wang Jun finished roaring, he grabbed the sapper shovel next to him, and took the lead in digging it up even harder, and others followed suit, no one wanted to be ravaged by devils like Tianjin and Northeast China. Perhaps these ordinary peasants, who have been honest all their lives, do not know a single big character, and have never left Baoding with their feet are the most ordinary people, but they are more knowledgeable in major matters than some people who think they are smart.

In this way, from noon to the end of the day, there were more and more people in the defensive positions outside the city of Taiyuan, and the peasants from ten miles and eight townships, some driving ox carts, some trotting with hoes, all ran to help build the fortifications.

The big field of the Baoding Military Academy was also a busy scene.

"Move faster, faster, come to two classes of students, and move all these stones."

There are also a lot of people on the field, most of them are some students, these students from Baoding Middle School, under the leadership of the principal and teachers, spontaneously rushed to the field to help. After all, facing the urban area in the direction of the army's attack, the people must be evacuated, and even if the army did not carry large-caliber artillery and a few shots of mountain artillery or infantry artillery fell into it, it would cause many casualties.

Although these students and teachers did not know what the Southwest Army was doing to clean up here, let alone that it would be used as a temporary airport, they knew that at this time, as long as it was a place where the army needed it, everyone should help.

In this way, under the leadership of a platoon, many people, including students, were helping to clean up the big dump urgently, trying to provide a safer place for the transport plane that would land in the evening.

After learning about the situation in all aspects, Wang Jun rarely stopped what he was doing, walked to the side, lit a cigarette, the battle was coming, as the regiment commander, he needed a clearest mind.

"Commander, dozens of students from Baoding Middle School have come to ask if you can give them some guns."

Wang Baoshan, the commander of the second battalion, ran over to ask Wang Jun for instructions, and from a distance, he could see a group of students wearing similar tunics (a new student uniform designed in the southwest) helping to push the cart in the distance, looking over here, as if waiting for the result.

"Guns?" Wang Jun groaned slightly, thought about it, walked over quickly, and shouted to the group of students, "Do you want guns?" Can anyone tell me what you are doing with your guns, and can you kill him? If there is no reason, you, as students, should stay away from here, wait for the war to end, continue your studies, and leave a useful body. ”

"Sir, although we have no military training, we also have the determination to kill the enemy, we tried it with shotguns before we came, and we will shoot at people." A young man with the head of a student took the lead and said, "Sir, the survival of the nation is the responsibility of the husband, if we see the loss of the land today, but we run away with our heads in our hands, it will make us unable to raise our heads for the rest of our lives." ”

"War, it's enough to have us."

"No, war requires the whole nation to work together, and if the commanders can kill the enemy, so can we. It's better to die a vigorous death than to steal a life, sir, promise us! ”

"Sir, the students in Shenyang can take up arms and fight, and so can we."

"yes!"

…… After a long time, Wang Jun nodded and said to the logistics officer beside him, "Send them the Hanyang Manufacture that was collected from the arsenal and let them help carry the arms." ”

"Commander, this ......"

"Carrying out the order, there are already too many cowards in this nation, and we should no longer break their heart to serve the country. Let them experience the cruelty of the battlefield, and they can't help the wind and rain, how can they grow into towering trees in the future. Let them take care of the rear and take care of their safety. Wang Jun waved his hand to carry out the order, in his opinion, these enthusiastic students, may be a little immature, but they have respectable ambitions, if they are properly guided, they will be iron-clad patriotic young people in the future.

"Report!"

"Read!"

In Beiping, the 19th Route Army and the 18th Route Army were about to hold a joint military meeting, and the communications staff officers brought the latest battlefield intelligence. "Report to the army commander, it has now been ascertained that the Yue army that raided Baoding is the elite fifth division of the Yue army, and in the evening, after the blocking troops of the first garrison regiment have completed their combat mission, they have retreated to the defense line on the outskirts of the city, and the Yue army has camped overnight, but has only carried out some disturbing attacks. In addition, a company of Dai Anlan's regiment had landed safely at the temporary airfield of the Baoding Military Academy in the evening. ”

Chen Jun nodded, at present, the battle plan of the Yue army has not changed, and they still insist on taking 'Baoding, which is only defended by one Chinese regiment', they still underestimate the determination of the Chinese [***] team to defend Baoding, and even, what is even more unexpected is that a big net is already opening up to them.

"Stand up!"

At 8 o'clock in the evening, the joint operational meeting of the two armies was officially convened, with Chen Cheng, Chen Jun, and Jiang Baili as the top military leaders, and officers at and above the division level of the two armies attending.

"Sit down. Now, let us invite Lieutenant General Jiang Baili, Chief of the General Staff of the Southwest People's Army and Chief of the General Staff of the 19th Route Army, to explain the battle situation. Chen Cheng did not overstep his bounds, but gave Jiang Baili the opportunity to speak.

Looking at the southwest and Kuomintang generals sitting below, Jiang Baili smiled slightly, yes, many of them are his students, but some are students in Baoding, and some have listened to him teach at the Huaxia Military Academy.

"The situation is like this, the Fifth Division of the Chinese Army is plotting to raid Baoding and cut off the supply routes of our two armies, in view of this, we ......"

Just tonight, the battle plan for a joint operation of the two armies began to be laid out, but the Fifth Division did not get the slightest rumor, and still prepared to launch a surprise attack overnight and take Baoding in accordance with the previous battle plan.

Tianjin, said the Tianjin Dispatch Army Command "Report!" ”

"How's the operation of the 5th Division?"

Shirakawa Yoshinori was wearing a single coat, and took advantage of the gap in the cool to eagerly ask the young staff officer who came over.

"Your Excellency Commander, the vanguard of the Fifth Division exchanged fire with the [***] squadron in the vicinity of Wanglang Mountain. Our operation has been discovered by the [***] team. Staff Officer Shao Zuo reported truthfully.

"It's going to be discovered." Shirakawa Yoshinori leaned back on a recliner, picked up a cup of tea with a blank expression, took a sip, and in the morning, the task force off the coast of Tianjin informed him that in addition to the large-scale bombing mission, the battle to seize air supremacy on the battlefield would be further reduced.

This means that Chinese planes will increasingly become the masters of the skies over Tianjin.

Regarding the Chinese, especially the advanced fighters in southwest China, Shirakawa Yoshinori, the commander of the army, is confident that he knows much more clearly than the military officials in China. Because, at noon, several fortifications outside Tianjin were bombed by the Chinese, and the headquarters hiding in residential areas in the city were not necessarily very safe.

"Order all divisions to launch a diversionary attack at dawn as planned, and the originally scheduled 43 reinforced infantry wing will be ready to block the support of the Chinese second division to Baoding at any time, but they are only 80 kilometers, which is already the closest unit."

"Yes!"

Shirakawa Yoshinori motioned for Shaozo to stand down and stay quietly by himself, thinking about the battle. Initiating this battle to cut off the lifeline is the best and fastest battle plan that he, as a commander, can think of to change the current stalemate. Although the transfer of one division will inevitably increase the pressure on the other four divisions on the battlefield, it will undoubtedly give the Chinese a fierce blow.

A Chinese regiment in Baoding, the second-class division near Zhengding, which is almost equivalent to a fictitious one, and the second-class division in the direction of Beiping, about 80 kilometers away from Baoding, are already all the squadrons that may join the Baoding battlefield. As a veteran division, the Fifth Division will win a sure victory even if it is against these three [***] teams at the same time, even in the most unfavorable situation of the war.

The most important thing is that, according to the intelligence of spies and Han Jian, Baoding is not Beiping, there is not a single military airfield here.

Moreover, in addition to various assumptions, Shirakawa Yoshion prefers another one, that is, this division took Baoding before the [***] team had time to support Baoding, which would be great news for the empire.

"The turning point on the battlefield is tomorrow."

Shirakawa Yoshinoshi said to himself lightly, maybe only the victory on the battlefield of Baoding could allow him to avoid a full-scale positional offensive and defensive battle with the [***] team. He is not Nogi Noshinori, and until the last moment, he will not watch the elite of the empire line up to die.

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(To be continued)