Chapter 528 Contact

If Tang Enbo of the Eighth Army Corps could use these two hours to adjust the strategic deployment and press the main forces to the Xinxiang defense line, the Japanese army's southward march would stop at Xinxiang, at least, it would be able to block the Japanese army for a few days, so as to win time for Tang Qiuli, the commander-in-chief of the theater, and win time to reinforce the Henan battlefield.

However, no, since the sudden start of the Henan battlefield, Tang Qiuli has never contacted Tang Enbo, the commander of the Eighth Army, the specific battle situation in Henan is unknown, and the information sent back by the intelligence stations in various places is all about the outcome of the battle, one by one bad news came, Hebi was lost again, he pinned his last hope on Xinxiang, if the Xinxiang defense line could block the Japanese army for three to five days, he could transfer the Sulu garrison corps in Xuzhou Zhang Zizhong (the original 29th Army reorganization) to aid Zhengzhou.

However, this Tang Enbo has not been contacted, where is he commanding the troops, what are the specific deployments, and what is the defense of Xinxiang? Tang Qiuli didn't know at all, so he had no choice but to order Yu Deshui, the director of the intelligence department, to order the person in charge of the Xinxiang intelligence station to directly get in touch with the supreme commander of the Central Army in charge of Xinxiang's defense in the capacity of the liaison officer of the theater command center, and immediately open a radio station to communicate with the theater headquarters.

He had a hunch that the Japanese army that had defeated or completely annihilated the four Central Army divisions in two cities in a row was in full morale and was attacking like a rainbow, leaving him not much time, and he was very puzzled by the question why the Japanese army in North China had such combat effectiveness and attack power, and within a few hours, with more than 90,000 troops, he had defeated more than 50,000 people of the Central Army of four divisions one after another, and he, like Cao Guangtu in Xinxiang, did not know the real reason for the loss of Anyang and Hebi.

The person in charge of the Xinxiang Intelligence Station of the Intelligence Department of the Independent Division, through the stormy and stormy Xinxiang streets, a disaster-stricken atmosphere, can be seen everywhere the flow of people fleeing the city, Anyang and Hebi were lost, and more than 50,000 Central Army troops were wiped out.

Fortunately, he was the first to find the Cao Guangtu Department of the 130th Division, in the remaining place in Xinxiang City, but the division commander Cao Guangtu was not there, and the officer who stayed behind did not dare to slack off when he heard that it was the liaison officer of Tang Qiuli, the commander-in-chief of the theater, and immediately sent him to the forward command post of the 130th Division.

The matter was urgent, and the person in charge of the Xinxiang Intelligence Station had already opened a radio station that he carried with him, and sent the news of the contact with Cao Guangtu, the commander of the 130th Division, back to the division as quickly as possible. Cao Guangtu replied truthfully: "Commander-in-Chief Xun Jian, the department has been paying attention to the battle in Anyang and Hebi, so far, I have not seen a single soldier who has been defeated from the two places, the specific situation is unknown, and the department also feels that this matter is very strange?" ”

Tang Qiuli, who received the telegram, was stunned, the Japanese army with more than 90,000 people, within a few hours, ate more than 50,000 people of the Central Army, this thing is a bit strange, incredible, he didn't have time to think more, and sent a second telegram: "Commander Cao, where is the current command position of Commander Tang?" How can I get in touch? ”

After reading the telegram, Cao Guangtu smiled bitterly, and then called back: "Commander-in-Chief Xun Jian, since the sudden outbreak of the war in Anyang, in addition to receiving the order of the corps commander to strictly order the headquarters to defend Xinxiang, he has now lost contact with the corps headquarters, and the situation of the corps commander Tang is unknown. "This time it was Tang Qiuli's turn to be stunned, how could it be, the subordinate troops were still on the front line, but the whereabouts of the top command organ of the Central Army in Henan were unknown, it was unbelievable, damn, what the hell was Tang Enbo doing?

Without waiting for him to send another telegram, Cao Guangtu's telegram came first, "Commander-in-Chief Xun Jian, the Japanese army has arrived at the forward position of our 130th Division, and the post department will command the battle, and the specific situation will be reported later, please rest assured that all the more than 12,000 officers and men of our 130th Division will work together with the 61st Division and the 67th Division of friendly and neighboring troops to defend the Xinxiang defense line. ”

Tang Qiuli breathed a sigh of relief, Xinxiang has three divisions of the Eighth Army Corps to defend, and it is not a problem to support it for three to five days, especially this division commander Cao Guangtu, from the telegrams, he felt a kind of iron-blooded meaning of a real soldier, Xinxiang has this person, but he can be safed for the time being, he immediately ordered Zhang Zizhong's troops deployed in Xuzhou, Jiangsu, to march west in the starry night and rush to Zhengzhou for reinforcements.

He immediately returned a telegram: "Division Commander Cao, please cherish yourself, the Japanese army is fierce, its own safety is really important, the command headquarters should not be too close to the forward position, the Xinxiang defense line depends on you, and there is another thing to remind, with my experience in fighting with the Japanese army for many years, the Japanese army mostly uses ferocious artillery bombardment as a means before the attack, which is intended to consume our vital strength, and then use a large number of infantry to do uninterrupted ferocious assaults, your troops should rely on favorable fortifications to hold on, the disparity between the enemy and our forces is huge, and you should not rashly launch a counter-assault." ”

"But you can use the dark night as a cover to organize a small group of troops to carry out sneak attacks and harassment, with the intention of exhausting the Japanese army, the specific tactics, please decide by Division Commander Cao, please convey my opinion to the other two division commanders to know, I urgently mobilize reinforcements, and gallop to the direction of Zhengzhou in the starry night, in addition, does Commander Tang have any news, can there be follow-up reinforcements to arrive?" The reason why Tang Qiuli sent this telegram after him was because he was afraid that Cao Guangtu would not understand the details of the Japanese army, and that he would suffer the loss of the Japanese artillery, and everyone would be exhausted, so what would he do to defend his position?

Whether it was Tang Qiuli in the Taihang Mountains or Cao Guangtu in Xinxiang, they did not expect that the left and right flank troops of the 130th Division, the 61st Division and the 67th Division, received the same order as the 49th Division and Wang Guangpu of the Hebi Defense Line.

Tang Qiuli still has a troop in his hand, that is, the Su Jingfeng Department of the Yellow River Henan Defense Line Garrison Corps deployed on the front line of Kaifeng, more than 29,000 people, is the troops he used to block the Japanese army's eastward advance into Shandong, he did not dare to move, once the Japanese army broke through Zhengzhou, the west, east, and south directions are all possible targets, in addition, he also has deep worries, with less than 30,000 people, to meet the Japanese army of more than 90,000 people, the difference in strength is too great, Su Jingfeng's troops rushed up, and the fierce and auspicious are less.

At about 10 o'clock in the morning of 13 December, Cao Guangtu, who was in the forward command headquarters, had clearly seen that the Japanese troops were swarming all over the mountains, and he immediately ordered his troops to enter combat preparations, and the first wave of the Japanese attack wave slammed into the forward position of the 130th Division.

The 130th Division, located in the middle of the Xinxiang defensive line, directly withstood the fierce attack of the Japanese army, and the silent land of the Central Plains, which lasted for a long time, the 130th Division, which had been prepared, dealt a head-on blow to the Japanese army, like a fierce wave hitting the rocks standing, and flesh and blood flew sideways.

The Japanese army retreated like a tide, leaving the corpses of Japanese soldiers on the forward position, as well as more than a dozen Japanese tanks emitting black smoke, the Katayama Brigade, which had always been the vanguard of the Japanese army attacking Henan, with 28 tanks as the main assault force, with the first attack launched by two wings, was simply repelled by the 130th Division.

However, just resisting the first attack of the Japanese army, the 130th Division suffered more than 800 casualties, and at the cost of this, killed more than 2,000 Japanese soldiers, plus 17 tanks, the 130th Division as the king of the fist head of the Eighth Army showed its demeanor, Cao Guangtu's troops, one more mountain artillery battalion, and the casualties of the Japanese army were mostly caused by this mountain artillery battalion.

Looking at the retreating Japanese army, Cao Guangtu breathed a sigh of relief, the Japanese soldiers who rushed up all over the mountains just now, saw that his scalp was numb, and he was able to withstand the fierce attack of the Japanese army, to be honest, his heart was also up and down, especially the Japanese army was still equipped with a large number of tanks, and now, he had the bottom in his heart, as long as he persisted, the commander-in-chief would definitely have a way to solve this Japanese army.

Cao Guangtu has always admired Tang Qiuli, the supreme military commander of the war zone who has been friends for a long time, but has never met him, and Cao Guangtu, who is in Xinxiang, pays attention to every battle, and looks like he has been in every battle with his many years of experience, and he is amazed, and he is glad that the Northern War Zone has such a wise commander.

Especially today, the commander-in-chief and he personally exchanged messages, he picked up the last telegram he received, and there was a feeling of being known, which was also his greatest psychological comfort, as for his direct boss Legion Commander Tang Enbo, Cao Guangtu despised his personality and talent from the bottom of his heart, and he didn't know why, the follow-up troops did not come up, it is estimated that the corps commander is turning in circles in the command headquarters?

There are more than 100,000 troops in his hands, and he doesn't know how to arrange it, but this is a scandal within the Eighth Army Corps, Cao Guangtu, who attaches great importance to collective honor, sighed long, and did not plan to report this matter to the commander-in-chief Tang Qiuli.

Sure enough, as the commander-in-chief said, after the Japanese army retreated, it covered the forward position of the 130th Division with ferocious artillery fire, and the soldiers of the Central Army, who had been prepared for a long time, hid in the anti-artillery holes.

The artillery fire was extended, and the Japanese army began to launch a new round of attack, but it did not gnaw at the position of the 130th Division, and after leaving a piece of corpse, it retreated, this time, after a long time, there was no new attack, Cao Guangtu was wondering, from the left and right flanks of the 130th Division, there was a fierce sound of gunfire almost at the same time.

(To be continued)