"Judging from the current deployment of the direct army, if our army wants to make a breakthrough from the Yinfeng area, it is undoubtedly very difficult to face the solid position of the main force of the first division, even if it is to break through from the area of Huanxizhuang by more than 10 kilometers, it is also very difficult, and the front of the department is also the first mixed brigade of the main force of the direct army."

"Therefore, many colleagues in the current combat department believe that we should abandon the breakthrough operation from the south and west of Tangshan!" In Zhao Dongyun's temporary office, Yang Deming explained to Zhao Dongyun the latest combat plan formulated by the Operations Department. 、

"Based on the difficulty of breaking through the line from Huanxizhuang to Yinfeng, we believe that we should break through from the northwest direction, divide our troops to directly attack Yutian and Jixian, and quickly break through to Jingshi along the route we marched to Tongzhou last year."

Speaking of this, Zhao Dongyun asked: "How many enemy troops are on the front line of Yutian and Jixian?" Also How many enemy troops are there in the direction of Baodi? What if the enemy army reinforces from the north from the front line of Baodi and Huanxizhuang? ”

Yang Deming said: "The enemy army in the direction of Yutian and Jixian is only more than two regiments, and the one in the direction of Baodi should be in one brigade, if our army invests more than three brigades in this direction, it should be able to achieve a breakthrough in a short time, in order to contain the first mixed brigade in the direction of Huanxizhuang, the frontal western front should launch a diversion attack!" ”

"At the same time, the number of direct troops in the direction of Chengde is not large, and the Operations Department believes that the Fourth Mixed Brigade relying on General Cao Kun should be able to contain or even defeat the enemy forces in this direction, so the First Cavalry Brigade should be dispatched to stop going north, continue to advance westward from the direction of Zunhua, go straight to Jixian, and cooperate with the main force to conquer Jixian, as long as Jixian is conquered, then it will be equivalent to opening the east gate of the Beijing Division, and then we can go straight to Tongzhou, and the number of defenders in the Beijing Division is not large at present, if we move fast enough, Then it should be possible to launch a large-scale attack on the Kyoshi division before the enemy army returns! ”

"As long as the Beijing Division is taken, then it will be equivalent to cutting off the logistics supply and even retreat of the front-line troops of the direct army in Tangshan!"

"What if we can't take the Jingshi in a short time?" Zhao Dongyun continued to ask.

Yang Deming said: "If the enemy army has a large number of troops left in the Beijing Division, then we will adopt the second plan, the westward troops will give up attacking the Beijing Division, and go south directly from the first line of Jixian County, and continue to move south after capturing Baodi, Xianghe and other places, capture Langfang and even Ninghe and other places, and completely cut off the logistics supply line of Lu Yongxiang's department!" ”

Zhao Dongyun listened to Yang Deming's explanation, while looking at the large map on the wall, and after a while, he said: "It is irrational to cross more than 100 kilometers to go deep into the Beijing division alone, it is too risky, and the logistics cannot be guaranteed!" ”

From Tangshan to Jingshi, then it is more than 100 kilometers in a straight line, and this more than 100 kilometers is only relying on horse-drawn carriages, manpower and other means to transport supplies, there is no doubt that it is difficult to guarantee, especially considering that Jingshi is a large-scale city, if it is to be defeated, it is estimated that a lot of shells and bullets will be consumed, if Wang Yingkai deploys tens of thousands of people in Beijing at that time, it is strange that only the westward troops can be defeated.

"Our primary goal is not to conquer the Beijing Division, but to defeat Lu Yongxiang's First Division and the First Mixed Brigade first, and not to defeat the First Division and the First Mixed Brigade. Zhao Dongyun paused after speaking, and then said: "Change the battle plan, Chengde's side will slow down first, Cao Kun's ability is still there, give him a few more days to take Chengde." Jixian and Yutian are not in a hurry, the main force of the westward march should conquer the Fengdengwu line as soon as possible, and then immediately go south to the back of the Huanxizhuang direct army, so as to form a front and rear flanking momentum, if it is smooth, continue to go south, in order to encircle and annihilate the first division. ”

As soon as Yang Deming heard it, he knew that the goal of Zhao Dongyun's plan was quite obvious, that is, to try to carry out a large-scale roundabout outflanking, trying to encircle the entire main force of the direct army, if this operation was successful, then the first division and the first mixed brigade of the direct army would be completely encircled, and it was very likely that the 11th division and other troops would be severely damaged.

However, in this case, in fact, the risk is no less than a direct attack on the Beijing Division, even if the westward advance troops are a qiēshun lì, but if the 1st Mixed Brigade in Huanxi Zhuang and the enemy forces in the direction of Yutian, Jixian, and Baodi cooperate properly, it will not be the Feng army surrounding the direct army, but will become a lone Feng army to go deep and fall into the encirclement of the direct army.

"In that case, will the Second Cavalry Brigade also be arranged?" Yang Deming said.

This time, not only the Second Cavalry Brigade, the First Cavalry Brigade, but also the cavalry units belonging to several other divisions and brigades will also undertake the task of attacking westward and covering the supply lines of the westward troops."

Zhao Dongyun continued: "Without further ado, you can remember that the First Army was transferred to attack in the direction of Fengdengwu, and the Fifth Mixed Brigade was transferred to the First Army, the Second Cavalry Brigade was also transferred to the First Army, and the Seventh Mixed Brigade was transferred to the Second Army.

In addition, the 10th Division will begin to launch an attack on the direct army on the front line of Huanxizhuang tomorrow, and the momentum will be greater, and the 9th Division will also launch a diversionary attack on the enemy's 1st Division of Yinfeng. The 7th Mixed Brigade continues to recuperate and serve as a reserve for the whole army! ”

Zhao Dongyun did not hesitate for long, because Wang Zhanyuan's seventh division was already on the way north, and Wu Fengling was also under great pressure in Shijiazhuang, and then with Wang Shizhen's northward reinforcements, Wu Fengling was very likely to be unable to stop, he had to solve the Tangshan front as much as possible, and then wave the army to continue southward, as long as the first division and the first mixed brigade under Lu Yongxiang were destroyed, then the direct army could basically announce that the main force was lost, and it didn't matter whether the Beijing division was fought or not. At that time, the Feng army could even pass the Beijing division without entering, and go south directly from the Langfang area, and then leave a small part of the troops to slowly attack the Beijing division, and the main force went south to reinforce Wu Fengling and intercept Wang Zhanyuan's seventh division.

Zhao Dongyun took advantage of the superiority of troops and calmly mobilized troops to try to encircle Lu Yongxiang's first division and the first mixed brigade.

When the 10th Division of the 21st Feng Army launched a huge attack on the 1st Mixed Brigade on the first line of Huanxizhuang, Lu Yongxiang felt bad, but the 9th Division also launched a large-scale attack on the 1st Division that day.

On the same day, Wang Yingkai telegraphed the 11th Division to reinforce the first line of Huanxizhuang, except for the telegram ordering the 12th Division to continue to hold on to Yutian, and sent the 1st Brigade to the south for reinforcements.

So far, although Lu Yongxiang and Wang Yingkai of the direct army did not know that Zhao Dongyun planned to eat the first division and the first mixed brigade in one bite, they also made an extremely correct response, according to the transfer of the direct army, as long as the first mixed brigade held for two or three days, then they could get reinforcements from the 11th division, and at the same time, the first brigade of the 12th division could also strengthen the defense line when it went south.

But Wang Yingkai and Lu Yongxiang didn't expect that Zhao Dongyun's appetite was so big and his determination was so resolute.

On the 21st, Meng Enyuan led the Third Division, the Fifth Mixed Brigade, and the Second Cavalry Brigade of the First Army to raid the Fengdengwu line ten kilometers north of Huanxizhuang.

At dawn the next day, the 3rd Division and the 5th Mixed Brigade, the main force of the First Army, arrived to the north of the direct army in Huanxizhuang.

At this time, the 3rd Division, 10th Division, 5th Mixed Brigade, and 2nd Cavalry Brigade of the Feng Army had formed a situation of attacking Huanxizhuang on three sides.

When the officers of the 1st Mixed Brigade found themselves surrounded on three sides in the morning, they immediately called Lu Yongxiang and Wang Yingkai tightly.

"They can't retreat, now there are almost more than 30,000 people in the Feng army on the other side of Huanxizhuang, do you think Meng Enyuan on the other side will give us the time and opportunity to retreat? As soon as the 1st Mixed Brigade retreats, then it is easy to form a complete collapse! Lu Yongxiang frowned and said, "Where are the troops of the 11th Division and the 12th Division?" It's been more than a day, why hasn't it arrived yet? ”

"The 23rd Brigade of the 11th Division has already reached Lintingkou, and it is expected that it will take another day to reach the front line of Huanxizhuang, and the 24th Brigade of the 12th Division was harassed by enemy cavalry on the way south yesterday, and it is still in the Yangjiatao area!"

Lu Yongxiang said: "Call the president of Beijing Normal University again, saying that the survival of our department is imminent, and ask the 11th and 12th divisions to speed up reinforcements!" ”

After saying that, he glanced at the map again: "Now that the main forces of the Feng army are on the front line of Huanxizhuang, how many enemy troops are there on our side?" ”

"Opposite us is the ninth division of the Feng army!" Someone next to him immediately replied.

Lu Yongxiang thought carefully for a moment, then took a deep breath and said: "Order, the second brigade can go north to reinforce the first line of Huanxizhuang, and the first brigade will stay on the front line of Yinfeng!" ”

"He Zhao Dongyun wants to eat us in one bite, but I want to see if this Fengjun has such a good mouth!"

With Zhao Dongyun's order, three infantry divisions, two mixed brigades, and one cavalry brigade launched a large-scale attack on the first division and the first mixed brigade, and they were trying to surround them.

And in this war, the most critical place is in Huanxizhuang!

Huanxizhuang, like the previous Hanhezhuang, if there was no war, this place is estimated that no one would pay attention to it, but the outbreak of the war has made this an important strategic support point like the previous Hanhezhuang.

To be honest, the terrain of Huanxizhuang and even the entire Tangshan is not strategically important, in this typical North China Plain, the terrain is flat, and you can't find a highland that can be used as a strategic support point for dozens of kilometers, so you can only use a few undulating hillsides to build a defense line.

And the main bunker for the soldiers is not a hillside, but a trench!

In fact, the topographical characteristics of this Tangshan Battle are very similar to the Battle of Liaoyang in the Russo-Japanese War, with a vast plain and a few rivers, and then a trench that spreads for dozens of miles.

Huanxizhuang, a quiet small village, ushered in countless explosions, the original few villagers have already fled with their families, otherwise they will die sooner or later if they stay in the core combat zone of the two armies, and the simple houses left behind are naturally directly requisitioned by the direct army, with this small village as the core, the first mixed brigade of the direct army spent six or seven days from north to south, digging a full five kilometers of trenches, and building a large number of civil machine gun fortifications, anti-artillery fortifications, etc., constituting a preliminary civil fortification defense line.

And this line of defense did not disappoint the direct army, which had blocked the attacks of the Feng army many times before!

Today's offense, however, was different! In addition to attacking from the east, the Feng army also attacked from the north and even from the west side behind it.

On the north side, it's okay to say that the direct army has also dug a lot of trenches in this direction before, but it can be said that the back is completely exposed!

In addition, the general offensive of the Feng army came too quickly, and there was no time for the 1st Mixed Brigade to continue digging trench defenses!

Therefore, under the attack of the Feng army on three sides, almost as soon as the battle began, the 1st Mixed Brigade was already shaky!