Chapter 543: Battle of Xuzhou (1)

Zhang Zizhong's worries are not unreasonable, Shangqiu is flat, there is almost no danger to defend, and the Sulu garrison corps, which was adapted from the 29th Army, is not only inferior to the main forces of the independent division in terms of combat quality and firepower equipment, but also slightly inferior to Su Jingfeng's troops.

This is still the level that Tang Qiuli has reached after ordering Zhang Quan to replenish it several times, the troops have been fighting, and Tang Qiuli has not spared time to change this situation, so he is full of worry about the Sulu garrison corps blocking the Japanese army in Shangqiu for two days, Su Jingfeng's death, so that Tang Qiuli does not want to suffer any blows, and being outnumbered has always been the way he tries to avoid fighting.

However, in his hands, there were no other troops to undertake this task, and Li Zongren's troops could not be fully in place until the afternoon of 19 December, and before that, he could only use Zhang Zizhong's troops to block Shangqiu and buy enough time for Li Zongren to calmly deploy.

Tang Qiuli thought about it for a long time, but decided to send a telegram to Zhang Zizhong, it was this telegram that made Zhang Zizhong's heart vaguely unhappy, in the telegram, Tang Qiuli told Zhang Zizhong that if the Japanese offensive was fierce and the casualties of the troops were too large, the Sulu garrison corps could evacuate Shangqiu after dark on December 19, and the remaining blocking tasks would be handed over to the five brigades of the deputy division commander Tang Qiuli to complete.

In addition, Tang Qiuli also specially reminded Zhang Zizhong to learn the lessons of Kaifeng and prevent a small group of Japanese troops from infiltrating the rear of the defense line and causing casualties to the command organs.

Zhang Zizhong then understood why in recent days, Su Jingfeng, who had been in contact with him, suddenly cut off the news, from the report, he also clearly grasped the battle situation, Su Jingfeng's troops have withdrawn from Kaifeng, which means that no later than the morning of the 19th, the forward troops of the Japanese army will arrive at the periphery of Shangqiu.

He is also a hot-blooded soldier, Zhang Zizhong saw the worry from the telegram of the division commander, although it was a good intention, but there was also an element of care, which made him feel very comfortable, that unit could be willing to let the supreme commander take care of it, he was determined to fight this battle well, and proved with actual results that although the 29th Army did not have as many cannons as other troops, there was no shortage of hot-blooded men, and the big knife in his hand would make the little devil frightened.

He knew what his decision meant, perhaps, the old 29th Army would fight all out in this battle, Kaifeng is an example, the casualties of the Yellow River Henan Garrison Corps reached one-half, and the 29th Army would not be lower than this ratio, and it was also a positional blocking battle, which was conducive to giving full play to the firepower advantage of the Japanese army.

Therefore, he personally looked at all the terrain of Shangqiu, and according to the experience of the Kaifeng blocking battle, he also adopted the outer layer of blockade, after killing and wounding the Japanese army, shrinking the troops, and carrying out street battles in the urban area, all the tactics that should be done have been done, Zhang Zizhong did not have much easier, what made him feel at ease was that the five brigades led by the deputy division commander Tang Qiusheng, with more than 70,000 troops, had formed the third line of defense behind him, Xiao County in Anhui.

On the morning of 19 December, in the wilderness west of Shangqiu, smoke and dust were billowing and the sound of motors was roaring, and the vanguard of the Japanese army appeared in Zhang Zizhong's telescope.

However, for the sake of insurance, he ordered the artillery unit to march in a fighting posture to ensure that it could be put into battle at any time, and ordered Yamazaki to change the way of advancing in several ways, and adopt the method of advancing in two directions and pulling the distance between the large chariots.

The artillery marches in a fighting posture, and it is impossible to get the shell into the chamber and push the cannon away, right? Looking through the marching regulations of the armies of various countries, there was no such whimsical order, there was really no way, he had to compromise and order a part of the light artillery, close behind the tanks, to provide artillery support at any time, as for the heavy artillery towed by eight mules and horses, it could only be said at the end of the marching sequence, when the battle began.

Zhang Zizhong's troops did not have the capital of Su Jingfeng's troops, he had three artillery regiments, but they were all light artillery, and there was a heavy artillery that overturned the tank, and there was no one, but Zhang Zizhong had his own way of fighting, and he ordered the troops to dig a large number of anti-tank trenches in front of the first defensive position.

The top is camouflaged with wood, and it is impossible to see that there is a deadly trap below, and in the trench, explosives are planted, as long as the little devil's tank is planted headlong, and these iron turtles are kept to let them fly into the sky, at least it can delay the tank's maneuver and breakthrough ability.

Yamazaki commanded the tanks and advanced in two ways, this time, he was much more careful, ordered the leading tanks, advanced a certain distance, and stopped, and fired artillery and machine gun strafing, carried out fire reconnaissance, stopped and stopped, and gradually approached the periphery of Shangqiu, Yamazaki breathed a sigh of relief, this time he was not attacked by the intensive artillery fire of the Chinese army.

didn't wait for the joy enough, the dozens of tanks in front of them, suddenly their butts turned to the sky, planted into a deep ditch, Yamazaki flickered in his heart, secretly screaming that it was not good, the Chinese army dug an anti-tank trench, and then rushed forward, that is, sent to the door to wait for the beating, he hurriedly ordered the tank wing, immediately retreated, as for the tanks in the trench, he could only ask for more blessings, and he couldn't help.

Yamazaki's words were fulfilled, a series of loud noises, groups of gunpowder smoke rose into the air, and the Japanese tanks planted in the trenches were blown up in flames, black smoke rose straight up, and the Japanese tank soldiers jumped out of the iron coffins with fire all over their bodies, scrambling to flee for their lives, but they could not avoid the light and heavy machine gun fire in the forward position, typing and the flames all over their bodies, and they fell one after another.

There were unlucky Japanese tanks, which happened to plunge headlong into the explosives, and were immediately hit by a huge explosive force, and they came to the bottom of the sky, as for the Japanese tank crews inside, they had to consider themselves unlucky, and immediately, the ammunition in the tank was detonated by the high temperature, and the ammunition that was detonated was torn apart by the Japanese tank, and the tracks that were blown up and the barrels that were bent were blown up, and they flew all over the ground.

Finally, Yamazaki was more careful, so that he did not lose more tanks, if he still followed the way of multi-way advancement, Zhang Zizhong's hand could reimburse more than half of the Japanese tanks, and the Japanese artillery that followed behind immediately built a position, and then, the shells flew whistling towards the first blocking position of the Sulu garrison.

The battle started like this, and Ryosuke Isoya, who heard the battle report in front of him, groaned and covered his head, almost fainting in pain, and here he is, that Zhina devil, on the road to Xuzhou, how many troops are still waiting for him, if Shangqiu fights for another three days, how many days Xuzhou fights is still unknown, Tang Qiuli will mobilize troops to surround him, and his first army will be very dangerous

It's also strange that the dispatch army headquarters reported that Tang Qiuli's troops were fighting against the imperial army on various battlefields, and there was no longer the main force of an independent division in Henan, but what was he facing in front of him, so many troops from him formed a multi-line blocking defense line?

Isoya Ryosuke didn't understand, but he understood one thing, Shangqiu still had to fight like Kaifeng, the Japanese army paused, and began to organize an attack, the old way, first fierce shelling, this time Isoya Ryosuke was ruthless, he must be in the open area outside Shangqiu, eliminate most of the strength of the Chinese army on the opposite side, he didn't want to fight anymore, let him think about the sweaty street battle in Kaifeng City.

Zhang Zizhong had already prepared, and the Japanese army's offensive routines were also well understood, after killing dozens of Japanese tanks, he immediately ordered the troops to withdraw from the first line of defense, even so, following the artillery behind the Japanese tank wing, the rapid response still brought some casualties to the troops.

After the Japanese artillery fire was extended, the troops quickly returned to their positions, just in time to meet the first wave of attacks, and immediately, the periphery of Shangqiu was full of fireworks, and the sound of guns shook the sky, and Isoya Ryosuke listened to the fierce gunfire from the front line, and knew the news of the setback of the Yamazaki Chariot Wing, and immediately knew that this time, he had encountered a difficult opponent again.

At about five o'clock in the afternoon, Zhang Zizhong ordered the troops to abandon the first line of positions, which had been unrecognizable, and transferred to the second line of defense to fight.

According to Zhang Zizhong's plan, the outer fortifications of Shangqiu should at least block the Japanese army until tomorrow morning, and his troops are about 10,000 more than the Yellow River Henan garrison corps, so he made a plan for a large-depth defense system, and has the capital to build four outer defense lines.

The biggest advantage of this style of play is that it can avoid sticking to a position as much as possible, being killed and wounded by the superior artillery fire of the Japanese army, and fighting until dark, the second line of defense is still in the hands of the Sulu garrison corps, looking at the land of the Central Plains that is gradually covered by night, Ryosuke Isoya sighed and ordered the troops to stop the attack and consolidate the existing position.

The plan to enter Shangqiu before dark fell through, and from the familiar style of play, Isoya Ryosuke saw the shadow of Kaifeng's independent division troops blocking his own army, the same fighting soldiers, the same effective fighting style, but he also found that the firepower of this army was not as good as the independent division troops in Kaifeng, at least there was no artillery.

When Ryosuke Isoya commanded the troops and stormed the defense line of Shangqiu Zhang Zizhong, he didn't know that the shadow he sent to be a suspicious soldier recruited the cavalry wing and fell into a catastrophe.

The 2nd Brigade of the Tong Batu Cavalry, which roared out of the Taihang Mountains, arrived at the designated position before the Japanese cavalry reached Gongyi with a swift movement, and then set up an ambush circle in the Mengjin area west of Gongyi, waiting for Ying Zuo to come and send him to death.

After all the troops were ready, he immediately telegraphed to the division that the Second Cavalry Brigade had completed its combat deployment, and that the division commander Tang Qiuli's reply was only ten words: "Completely annihilate and make sure that one person escapes the net." Tong Batu's eyelids jumped when he saw it, and the division commander's reply was full of ruthlessness.

With a cavalry brigade to deal with a cavalry wing of the Japanese army plus an infantry brigade, take the way of sudden attack, if you can't win, it is better to cut your neck with a saber, the key is not to let a Japanese soldier run, this is a difficult thing, the Japanese army's big ocean horse, the speed is faster than their own war horse, Tong Batu used his brain, how to complete the order of the division commander?

(To be continued)