Episode 22 Strategic Choices

Although it was very dark in the livestock shed, and it was impossible to see the Qing tanks directly, the nearby Ming army saw one of their tanks burning and the straw flying in front of the livestock shed opposite, and they understood.

The surrounding small arms were the first to boil, several woodpecker machine guns neighed, and bullets pierced through the earthen walls and into the barn from all sides. Then, loud anti-tank guns rang out one after another, and the earthen walls of the livestock sheds were cut out one after another, and in the blink of an eye, they became sieves.

If the Qing soldiers inside hadn't hid in the tank, how many people would have become meat sauce at this time.

Hundreds of Ming troops were holding all kinds of light weapons, and while firing, they slowly approached from all directions. Grenades were also thrown one after another, exploding on the left and right of the barn, inside and outside.

Several grenades exploded, the roof of the barn was gone, and two of the four earthen walls had almost collapsed, and the silhouette of a tall tank glowing with a metallic cold glow could be clearly seen inside.

It's Barutu.

Strings of machine-gun and anti-tank gun bullets swept across its armor, sparks splattering in all directions.

This is not a Ming soldier shooting indiscriminately out of nervousness. Now the tanks of the Qing army are no longer ordinary warheads, but specially equipped with 7.92mm anti-tank warheads. This warhead has a tungsten carbide core in the middle, which can be used for both rifles and machine guns, similar to the German "K bullet" during World War I. This kind of ammunition, which is luxurious and expensive for other countries, will be equipped with some in every machine gun group of the Ming army. Moreover, there will be a lot of units like armored divisions.

A large number of tungsten core bullets swept towards the Qing army's tanks like water, demonstrating the confidence of the world's largest tungsten producing country.

But it all seems to be in vain. Barutu's armor is really difficult to shake with such small-caliber armor-piercing shells.

Two Lightning-3 tanks, turning their tracks, approached from the side and two paths behind. Probably sensing the vibration of other tanks approaching, the Qing Balutu tank suddenly started up, suddenly got out of the livestock shed, and continued to rush forward, while the turret quickly turned back, trying to shoot at the Ming tank.

When Barutu suddenly came out, the entire barn collapsed completely, and a large cloud of dust enveloped the surroundings. The surrounding Ming troops shouted and coughed, and evacuated in all directions. In the smoke and dust, only the dull, slow-moving sound of the Maxim machine gun on the Barutu tank could be heard. The surrounding Ming soldiers hid behind the obstacles, listening to the whizzing bullets in their ears, all waiting for the expected cannon sound to appear.

As soon as the smoke and dust thinned, two tanks of the Ming army opened fire at the same time. Barutu was hit twice in the back and side at the same time, and flames burst into flames. The top cover of the turret was lifted, and as soon as the commander of the Qing army got out, he was beaten into a sieve by bullets from all sides and fell on the turret. But his body was forced out of it, and the Qing artillery commander crawled out with a roar, and his back was on fire, and he was beaten into a sieve before he could jump to the ground, and the pain ended immediately.

No one climbed out anymore, and suddenly Barutu let out a series of explosions, and the entire turret was lifted. The shells inside kept exploding, and the fireballs shot up one after another, like fireworks in a rotten can box.

……

On the afternoon of the 6th, the 16th Group Army, led by the 1st Armored Division of the People's Guard, pursued northwest along the railway line, passed through the hilly area, and appeared south of Mingguang County. However, the Ming army did not attack Mingguang immediately, but bypassed Mingguang from the south and advanced westward. On the afternoon of the 7th, it advanced another 50 kilometers and arrived southwest of Bengbu, where it joined forces with the 20th Army and the 22nd Army that had fought from Chaohu.

After two days of rapid advance on the 6th and 7th, the army group on the right flank left hundreds of thousands of Qing troops behind them with armored tracks and car wheels, and copied them in front of them, blocking their rear road. Now, the first strategic encirclement has been formed, and the Qing army east of Chaohu and Hefei has been pocketed.

The Qing army was bounded by Hongze Lake and Gaoyou Lake to the east, the Huai River to the north, the 20th and 22nd Group Armies of the Ming Army to the west, and the Yangtze River to the south. Of course, there was also a Jinpu railway running through the middle, and the 12th Army had already advanced along the Jinpu railway to the Huai River.

Jiangsu, east of Gaoyou Lake and Hehongze Lake, was already under the control of the Eighth Group Army. Now the Eighth Army has reached Sihong, that is, there are Ming troops even north of the Huai River.

In addition to rivers and lakes, the Ming army also used actual strength to encircle the Qing army on all sides and cut it in the middle of the belt.

The Qing troops that were included in the first strategic encirclement were:

The remnants of about 2 divisions of the original Chuzhou Qing Army, the remnants of about 3 divisions of the Qing Army in the original ** County, 1 division of the Qing Army in Tianchang County, 3 divisions of the Qing Army in Xuyi County, 3 divisions of the Qing Army in Mingguang County, 3 divisions of the original Quanjiao County, 2 divisions in Yuanhe County, 2 divisions in the former Hanshan County, 2 divisions in Dingyuan County, and 5 divisions in Fengyang and Bengbu.

The Qing army, which fell into the first strategic encirclement, scattered remnants, plus formed and relatively intact troops, totaled about 26 divisions and about 300,000-320,000 troops.

The news of the successful siege reached the headquarters, and the Purple Mountain Fortress was full of jubilation. The top management of Nanming was immersed in the great excitement brought by the victory for the past three days. Except for Xiang Xiaoqiang, no one expected in advance that he would achieve such a big victory in such a short period of time. It's a fantasy.

In the four days since the start of the war, there has been a burst of applause in the central command hall. Every once in a while, Miss Radio's announcement of a major victory would plunge the hall into a burst of jubilation. By the fourth day, everyone was now more accustomed to this kind of intermittent jubilation.

The announcement of the closure had just been read out on the radio. In front of an inconspicuous conference table, a circle of senior generals sat together, looking at the huge map on the wall, and listening to Xiaoqiang analyze the situation.

Amid the stormy applause and cheers of the entire hall, Xiang Xiaoqiang calmly, but had to raise his voice, said loudly:

“…… The current strategic situation is: the Qing army on the north side of the defense line in the eastern section of the Yangtze River, we have already eaten into our mouths. The main force of the 200,000 Qing army on the north side of the defense line at the middle end of the Yangtze River was basically still outside the encirclement. Intelligence came frequently, and Guangwu constantly ordered the 200,000 Qing troops north of the central defense line to attack our army from the flank. This part of the Qing army is indeed concentrating in the east and west directions, attempting to attack the flanks of our two army groups on the left and right. Obviously, neither the high-level Qing court nor these Qing army generals have yet to understand the seriousness of the situation, and they have not realized that the 200,000 Qing troops will also fall into a siege at any time.

"Now, we have two options. The first is to concentrate the superior armored and motorized corps, and first eat the 300,000 Qing troops in their mouths. The second option was for the armored division and the motorized infantry division to continue to advance, and one group crossed the Huai River to the north and advanced in the direction of Suqian, Suzhou, Haizhou, and Xuzhou. The other advanced to the northwest, bypassing the Dabie Mountains from the north, joining up with the left army group, pocketing the 200,000 Qing troops in the middle section, and striving to win the first round. In this case, the Qing army will no longer have a main force south of the Xuzhou-Luoyang line. The door of the entire North China Plain will be completely open to us.

"But then again, if you eat the 300,000 Qing troops in the encirclement first, you can create a solid bridgehead for our army's attack below. A series of military depots, logistical supply lines, airfields, and so on can be built, and we can also make use of this section of the Jinpu Railway that has been occupied to greatly enhance our transportation capacity.

"There are pros and cons to both options, and in order to maintain the lightning offensive of our army, whichever option we choose, we will have to make a decision tonight at the latest, so that we can continue the offensive in the early hours of tomorrow morning. I wonder what your lords think? ”

General Feng Lingcai, commander of the right army group, looked left and right, and first said:

"Although I am the commander of Army Group Right, I feel that we must consider the situation of Army Group Left. After all, the two army groups are not fighting in isolation, and they need strategic cooperation. At present, the battlefield of Army Group Left is already in Henan, and they are advancing in both east and north directions at the same time. One needs to go north to Luoyang and advance to Guanzhong, and the other needs to go south to Zhumadian and Xinyang, echoing our right road and encircling the Qing army in the middle section. – This is also in line with the strategic plan in advance.

"Now, in Army Group Left, the 4th Panzer Division, led by Lieutenant Colonel Rommel, is approaching Zhengzhou and is the farthest advance of all our armies. That is, at present, the farthest front of our army has been stretched to more than 300 kilometers. Even our Army Group on the right, the Eighth Army had bypassed Hongze Lake from the north and taken Sihong, and the front had been stretched to 250 kilometers. Ladies and gentlemen, our next issue will be supply lines. ”

A table of people listened to him until now, and they didn't understand which plan he was in favor of. When he said earlier that the two army groups must cooperate with each other, everyone thought that he was in favor of encircling the Qing army in the middle section first. But then he changed his mind and brought up the issue of supply lines. In this way, everyone thought that he advocated eating the 300,000 Qing troops in the eastern section first.

However, the current advance distance is about 300 kilometers at most, and there will be no problem of supply difficulties. But he was right, the "next step" would be the problem of supply lines. At the current pace of advancement, it won't be too long.

Feng Lingcai continued:

"Therefore, I think it is imperative to destroy the Qing army in the middle section north of the Dabie Mountains and to divide our two army groups in two. In this way, our two theaters of operations can be connected, and the Dabie Mountains will be completely ours, and we can establish a new supply line through the Dabie Mountains, taking into account both the eastern and western forces from the middle, and greatly reducing the distance between their respective supply lines. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang was a little surprised:

"Crossing the Dabie Mountains?"

"Yes, Lord Xiang," Feng Lingcai smiled at Xiang Xiaoqiang, "Look, in the middle of Dabie Mountain, there are many big cracks here. These are large valleys that run from north to south, and three of them are relatively flat. The mountain fortress in the middle of our Yangtze River defense line is on the Dabie Mountain, and we have also built a road to lead to the defense line. With these three roads, we carried supplies from the Wuhan Plain in the rear to the central section of the defensive line, and then dispersed the supplies through numerous small winding mountain roads into the fortifications on the various mountain peaks.

"Your Excellency, please see, the road distance from entering the mountains to our main fortification belt is about 40 kilometers. Of course, our highway was only built here, and beyond that was the area controlled by the Qing army. But from here to the plains to the north, the distance is much shorter, only 20 kilometers. Although there is no asphalt road in this 20-kilometer valley, there is a dirt road from Beiqing. Of course, the quality is not too good, but it is no problem to use it for car transportation. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang stared at the contour lines on the big map and the highway markings on them, and nodded slowly. He didn't have a deep study of the Yangtze River defense line, and he really didn't know that there was a highway running through the north and south on the mountain defense line. He originally wanted to ask, wouldn't this defense line become an ornament? But it immediately became clear that such stupid questions were not asked.

In an environment of treacherous mountains on both sides and heavy fortifications, what if you were given a road? Don't say that the Dabie Mountain defense line is the Fangcheng corridor, which is more than 20 kilometers wide in the middle, and there are only some sparse low hills on both sides, and it is not that the Ming army only wants to persuade to surrender and is unwilling to attack? This is called a husband and a husband, and ten thousand people are not open.

Of course, if, as he said, the 200,000 Qing troops on the north side of Dabie Mountain are cleaned up and the entire Dabie Mountain is held in his hands, these valleys can be changed from Ghost Gate Pass to Yangguan Road. As long as you pass through the Dabie Mountain, you will find the Henan Plain outside.

Xiang Xiaoqiang was also a little hesitant. He looked at Zhang Zhaoxian and Tang Yunsheng, wanting to see what they meant. But one of the two old handsomes lowered his head to drink tea, and the other leaned on the backrest and looked at him with half-squinted eyes, as if he wanted to watch him play.

Xiang Xiaoqiang turned to General Fang Dongcheng, commander of the left army group, and said with a smile:

"What does Lord Fang think?"

Fang Dongcheng was very simple:

"What Master Feng said is what I want to say. I am also in favor of encircling and destroying the Qing army in the middle as soon as possible. ”