Before I knew it, the morning came, and suddenly the door of the division headquarters was pushed open from the outside, and a cold wind poured in, and Du Pingzhang, the chief of the confidential section, hurriedly walked into the room: "Division, the latest news from Wu Xingcheng"

Taking the telegram and glancing at it, Wu Ming frowned, then read it carefully, pondered for a while, and put his eyes on the map in front of him, a huge sense of powerlessness suddenly came to his heart, and sighed: "Okamura Ningji is really vicious."

Han Tiecheng, who handed over the training to the deputy regiment commander Mo Mingqi, who came to the division headquarters early in the morning to inquire about the news, said with a big grin: "Master, you don't have to worry...... You think, when we were still a division, we all annihilated a division of the Japanese army. No matter how powerful Okamura Ninji is, he still has one head and two hands, and it is said that he is still old and dizzy, and the glasses are so thick that they can be used as magnifying glasses, and we have gathered two divisions of troops, as long as he advances lightly, he will not be able to come back. ”

Wu Ming was a little dissatisfied when he saw Han Tiecheng so unpopular: "Okamura Ningji is our main opponent, what kind of person is he, you don't know what kind of person he is?" Propaganda is to boost the morale of the people, but as a soldier, the lion fights the rabbit also needs all his strength, not to mention that this person also has the mind of a fox and the insidiousness of a poisonous snake, we must pay attention to it, and we must not slack off a little. ”

The generals and colonels in the command headquarters nodded when they heard this, but Han Tiecheng grinned and smiled without skin and face.

Zhang Ying, who read the message, was startled, looked at the map and said worriedly: "Division, the third division is in trouble for the time being."

Seeing that Zhang Ying also said this, Luo Yuming, who was figuring out the battle situation in front of the sand table, asked anxiously: "What's wrong?" What's going on in Wu Xing? ”

Wu Ming sighed quietly, saw that all the people around him were looking at him curiously, and waved his hand: "Section Chief Zhang, you can explain the message to everyone against the map."

"Yes"

Zhang Ying took the baton from the staff officer, pointed to the Xisai Mountain to the west of Wuxingcheng, and said to everyone: "The latest news, the Japanese army dispatched paratroopers to seize the Xisai Mountain to the west of Wuxingcheng, blocking the water and land passages to the west. ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Ying's baton moved towards Luxia and pointed to Daochang Mountain at the northern foot of Tianmu Mountain: "The Japanese army crossed Dongtiao River from Shicun and Hongshan Village north of Huangmei Mountain, and marched to the area of Luxia Hucheng Town. In terms of time, the Japanese army has reached the outskirts of the town of Xiahu"

After hearing this, the whole school was stunned.

After a while, Luo Yuming inhaled sharply and said in disbelief: "No wonder Shizuo has repeatedly asked us to embankment Okamura Ningji, this old guy is amazing."

Luo Yuming has come to his senses, but the others are still ignorant. Wu Ming beckoned and ordered, "Come on, come on, Lao Luo, you tell everyone about it."

For the opportunity to cultivate the ability of his subordinates to take charge of themselves, Wu Ming never let go.

Luo Yuming strode to the map, took the baton handed by Zhang Ying, pointed to the map and explained the current situation to everyone: "Everyone, please see, in the southwest of Wuxing City, is the branch of Tianmu Mountain. From the south of Daochang Mountain, all the way to Moyu Mountain, the mountains are ten thousand ravines, which is very conducive to hiding the troops, but the headquarters of the Right Wing Army will definitely not agree to go south, because the Central Military Committee issued a heavy army to gather the heavy troops retreated from Songhu to block the Japanese army on the front line of Guangde and Si'an, and the retreat to the south is obviously contrary to the decision of the central government, and it is not in line with the overall interests of the present.

"Guangde, Si'an live in the border of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, from here to the west out of Wuhu, Dangtu, can cut off the Yangtze River channel, from the back bread to Nanjing; At present, the 23rd Group Army of the Sichuan Army has moved in place, the 144th Division is advancing from Si'an to Changxing, the 145th Division is guarding Guangde, the 147th Division and the 148th Division are guarding Si'an, and the 13th and 14th Independent Brigades are deployed around Guangde, which means that as long as they retreat to Si'an, the headquarters of the Right Wing Army will be basically safe."

"But how to retreat is very particular...... It is not bad to go west or north, but the problem is that the Xisai Mountain west of Wuxing has been occupied by the Japanese paratrooper troops, and once it cannot be attacked, with the arrival of the Japanese pursuers, it will inevitably end up with the annihilation of the whole army, so it can only go north. ”

"To the north of Wuxing City are Longwang Mountain and Benshan Mountain, these two small hills with low altitude are guarded by two regiments sent by the 21st Group Army. Previously, Deputy Division Commander Long called and said that according to the plan, the right wing army will defend the city to the death, relying on the city defense of Wuxing to deal with the Japanese army, and it can be delayed for a day, if it is unfavorable, the third division and most of the right wing army will pass through Xitiaoxi in the north of Huzhou City, retreat along the road to Changxing, and then retreat to Si'an. ”

"Therefore, Xitiaoxi has actually become an important passage for the right wing army to achieve a safe retreat, and there is currently a highway bridge there, which is guarded by the Gui army who guarded the front line of Longwang Mountain in the north of Wuxing City......"

Han Tiecheng felt a little uncomfortable, and asked urgently, "Is this bridge still in our hands?" ”

Zhang Ying replied on his behalf: "It can only be said that there is no news of the loss of the bridge yet...... However, judging from the Japanese army's seizure of Xisai Mountain, I estimate that it is already very dangerous, and Deputy Division Commander Long is a little light on the enemy, as soon as they withdraw to Wuxing, they should control the highway bridge and the important places on both sides in their own hands, and station troops on the front line of Longwang Mountain, otherwise the situation will not be so passive. ”

Zhang Ying's words are very easy to understand, the Japanese army has air and sea supremacy, with the destruction of Wuxingcheng, the Japanese gunboats can go straight to Dongtiaoxi through the waterway at any time, bombarding the highway bridge, no more, the Japanese aircraft can blow up the bridge at any time, the Chinese army can only look at the river and sigh.

Of course, in order to speed up the Japanese army's march to Nanjing, the best choice was not to blow up the bridge, but to send troops to land on the west bank of Taihu Lake, seize Benshan Mountain and Longwang Mountain, and block the bridge, so that the passage of the Chinese army to the north would be cut off. Judging from all aspects, it is very likely that the Japanese army will make this move.

Under the circumstance that the overall situation in the west and north has been decided, the Japanese army will be able to seize the town of Xiahu in the southern part of Dojo Mountain, which can play the role of closing the gate of the encirclement.

Xiahu Town is usually inconspicuous, but if the road to the west and north of Wuxing is blocked, and the Japanese gunboats cruise to the Xitiao Creek to prevent the national army from crossing the river together with the Japanese army on Longwang Mountain, then the best choice for the right wing army is to go south to Dojo Mountain, so that Xiahu Town, which is located in the southeast of Dojo Mountain, is very important.

If the Japanese army occupies Xiahu Town, it can block the road for the Nationalist army to flee south, and Wuxing will become a Jedi for the right-wing army, including the Temporary Third Division.

The school was silent, and the situation was much worse than imagined. Han Tiecheng exhaled a heavy breath and said, "We should immediately warn Deputy Division Commander Long."

"It's late"

Wu Ming shook his head: "Since the discovery of the Japanese army's movements, it is estimated that the line between Benshan Mountain and Longwang Mountain in the north has been lost, and it is too late to remind you at this time." ”

As if to confirm Wu Ming's judgment, a communications staff officer strode into the command headquarters, and handed the telegram to Wu Ming after saluting.

Wu Ming shook his head after reading it: "As expected, about a wing of the Japanese army drove directly into the inland river in Huanzhuyang yesterday evening, landed on the line from Wangjiaqiao to Yujiaba, and successfully attacked Benshan and Longwang Mountain, the two regiments of the defenders collapsed as soon as they engaged, and the Japanese army occupied two crucial commanding heights without much effort, and the three-hole reinforced concrete version of the beam bridge built on Xitiaoxi in the 18th year of the Republic of China has been occupied by the Japanese army, and the passage for the main force of the right wing army to go north has been closed. ”

Seeing the mixed expressions of admiration and horror on everyone's faces, Wu Ming shook his head with a wry smile: "Okamura Ningji is a China expert, his hand is taken from the Battle of Changping during the Warring States Period of our country, and the generation of war god Bai Qi used several rivers and two mountains to encircle and annihilate the 450,000 Zhao army with 500,000 Qin troops in one fell swoop. Now Okamura Ninji also wants to do this. ”

The situation of the national army on the front line of Wuxing was extremely dangerous, and the generals and colonels were miserable, and they lowered their heads one by one and were silent

Zhang Ying glanced at Wu Ming and suggested: "Division, it is better to ask General Zhou Zhirou to send the air force to help one or two, so that the Japanese fighters will not be too presumptuous."

Wu Ming sighed and said: "Now that the national army on the northern front is retreating, the Central Air Force needs to send fighters to cover the descendants of the Central Army, where can they take care of us?"

Wu Ming had no choice but to send the results of the analysis to Long Shaogang, pointing out the great significance of Xiahu Town to the entire Wuxing front-line national army - whether the right-wing army can successfully break out of the encirclement depends on whether Xiahu Town can hold on.

Xiahucheng is located in the southern suburbs of Wuxing more than 10 kilometers of Dongtiaoxi, for the Warring States period Chu Chunzhong Jun Huang Xie fiefdom, Chu Kao Lie Gong fifteen years Huang Xie placed Hucheng County here, has a history of more than 2,000 years from now, later after several desertions, there is a huge town in the south of its old site, still named after Xiahucheng.

The northwest and north of the town are foothills, the west can lead to the Jinji Mountain and the Xiamu Valley, the southeast is adjacent to the Dongtiao River, the back of the mountain and the water, the geographical position is very superior, once the Japanese army occupies here, it can block the Dojo Mountain and the valley fortification in the west of the west, and the passage of the national army to the south will be closed.

Smoke of gunfire swirled over the town of Xiahu, and many houses in the south were destroyed by Japanese artillery fire.

Four or five bombers whizzed over the low altitude, dropped their bombs, circled in the air a few times, and then flew towards the eastern sky. Chen Yanhua stared viciously at the fighters that were gradually moving away, crawled out of the bunker with a disgraced face, and shouted loudly to the officers and soldiers under his command: "Come out of the fuck, the little devil is about to come up, ready to support the front-line position at any time."

With the help of artillery fire and aircraft, the vanguard of the Japanese army attacked four times in a row, and the extremely high tactical quality, strong individual quality, and ferocious firepower of the Japanese army grass-roots officers inflicted tremendous casualties on Chen Yanhua's regiment, and the positions on the outskirts of Xiahucheng were in shambles, and many officers and men fell in the trenches in all directions, and the blood stained the positions red

Seeing that the smoke of gunpowder shrouded in the front-line position had not dissipated for a long time, Chen Yanhua was relieved, and was about to take people to the front line to take a look, when Zhou Cheng, a staff officer of the regiment, suddenly grabbed him and said anxiously: "Tuanza, the Japanese artillery fire is too fierce, we are resisting outside the town, and the casualties of the troops are too great."

"But we can't take a step back"

Chen Yanhua gritted his teeth and said. He had an extremely keen sense of smell on the battlefield, and since the reconnaissance troops discovered that the Japanese army had crossed the river south of Xiahu Town, they immediately shrank the troops deployed along Dongtiao River into the town and concentrated all their efforts to deal with this sudden appearance of a fierce enemy. Chen Yanhua knew very well that since the Japanese army had the idea of taking down the town, it would prove that the situation in other directions was not good, and whether it was for the sake of the new second division or the entire right-wing army, he could not lose the town.

Zhou Cheng suggested: "Tuanza, if this is not the case, if we introduce the enemy into the town, we will form a dog-tooth situation with the enemy, so that the Japanese artillery fire and aircraft will not be able to exert their strength."

Staff Officer Zhou meant to engage in street fighting, but the problem was that Xiahu Town was not so much a town as a larger village, with a radius of less than two square kilometers, all of which were low-rise bungalows, occasionally with one or two two-story buildings, and a lot of room for maneuver. If the Japanese advance steadily, this kind of street fighting can easily be broken by the Japanese army.

"The battalion holding the main position in front suffered nearly half of the casualties, and this is because our battalion is all reinforced battalions

Staff Officer Zhou said with a bitter face: "Tuanzao, our defensive positions have been built too hastily, most of the trenches have not built anti-artillery holes, if we are still defending against the Japanese army outside the town where there is no danger to defend, our troops will not be able to resist the Japanese attack even if they are exhausted."

Chen Yanhua groaned, a trace of gloom flashed in his eyes, and then he became firm, and said to Staff Officer Zhou: "Okay, notify the companies of the first battalion to retreat into Xiahu City, and order the sappers to plant more mines on the streets, the little devils don't let us have a good time, we will send them back to heaven."

Before the Japanese offensive was launched, the officers and men on the forward and deep positions seized the time to lay mines, and then took cover alternately and retreated towards the town.

When the swarming devil soldiers entered the position, they had just raised their arms and shouted to celebrate the victory, when a violent explosion sounded one after another, blowing up the Japanese soldiers gathered inside and outside the trenches.