The breakthrough of the Eastern Front was opened in a short period of time, and the first line of defense immediately collapsed, which was very unexpected by the Japanese army. However www.biquge.info the Japanese army in Huainan reacted quite quickly, immediately mobilizing the reserve of the second line in depth, concentrating two divisions and two independent mixed brigades and seventy percent of the artillery, and launching a full-line counterattack to the breakthrough.

In order to concentrate its forces, the Japanese army even transferred a division from the western front, where the war was stalemate, and threw it into the battlefield east of Hongze Lake. In order to re-plug the breakthrough that has been opened in the shortest possible time, it can be said that China's dispatch of troops has made a bloody investment, mobilizing all the vital forces that can be mobilized at hand.

In the face of the rapid counterattack of the Japanese army, Mr. Lin led the front commander to cross the river on April 22 and personally commanded the troops to fight fiercely with the Japanese army. And constantly increase the intensity of the attack, in order to seize the Baoying and Gaoyou lines in the shortest possible time, and cut off the connection between the Soviet-Chinese Japanese army and the Japanese army in eastern Anhui.

The battle lasted until April 25, and under the rapid impact of a large number of armored troops continuously invested by General Lin, the Japanese defense line east of Huaiyin completely collapsed. The counterattacking Japanese army could not withstand the repeated impact of the tank cluster, and retreated all the way to the front line of Yancheng and Baoying with heavy casualties, trying to build a second line of defense relying on the water network zone.

The counterattack was completely defeated, and a large number of troops were encircled on the Soviet-Chinese battlefield north of Yancheng. The retreating Japanese troops were completely disrupted under the pursuit of tanks on the ground and the continuous blows of aerial fire. The Japanese army, which tried to establish a second line of defense at Yancheng and Baoying, finally retreated all the way to the line of Xinghua, Dongtai, and Gaoyou, and only barely gained a foothold with the support of three divisions and regiments that were urgently reinforced by the dispatched army.

It was only on 27 April that when these Japanese troops retreated all the way to the front line of Xinghua, Dongtai, and Gaoyou, the number of troops participating in the battle was already three or four, and the wounded, baggage, and heavy weapons were lost all the way. When many troops even withdrew to the front line of Xinghua and Dongtai, they were already empty-handed.

Compared with the Eastern Front, which was mired in fierce fighting, the fighting on the Western Front seemed somewhat calm. Of course, the terrain of this line is far more complicated than that of the eastern front. It is not only close to the Yellow Flood Area, but most importantly, the river is vertical and horizontal, and the water network is dense. It is located between the mountains of eastern Anhui and Hongze Lake, and the room for maneuver is relatively narrow.

Although the Yellow River carries too much sediment, after several years of siltation, the Yellow River has now mainly flowed along the Yinghe River into the Huai, and the vortex river basin is no longer the main channel for the Yellow River to flow into the Huai. It turned out that the situation on the front line of Mengcheng and Huaiyuan in eastern Anhui was much better, but some areas were still seriously flooded.

The difficulty of the offensive in this direction far exceeded that of the Eastern Front. In addition to political factors, although the offensive on the Western Front and the Eastern Front were launched at the same time, both the number of troops invested and the intensity of the fighting were far inferior to those of the Eastern Front. Although on 22 April, a breakthrough was also opened in the direction of Shuanggou and Wuhe.

However, compared with the vigorous fighting on the Eastern Front, the follow-up attack on the Western Front progressed quite slowly, and it was never able to break through the defensive line built by the Japanese army along Hongze Lake, Huayuan Lake, and Nüshan Lake. The poor progress on the Western Front made the Japanese army, which was eager to re-plug the gap on the Eastern Front after the gap was opened on the Eastern Front, and even transferred the deep second-echelon reserves of the Western Front.

But on the day that the Eastern Front cluster captured Baoying, Chen Hanzhang, who had not shown up since he was transferred to Guannai. The second and third armored divisions of each division originally deployed on the Eastern Front were reinforced with an independent tank regiment, a tank brigade directly under the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, a tank regiment under the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region, and the second mechanized infantry division and four all-motorized infantry divisions.

With the cooperation of the two Zhouqiao regiments and the first engineer regiment directly under Jinchaji. In two days and nights, they forcibly maneuvered hundreds of kilometers, from Suqian on the eastern line to the Huaiyuan and Linhuaiguan lines on the western line. On April 25, taking advantage of the frontal Japanese forces in Huaiyuan, they were either transferred to the front line of Nüshan Lake for support, or were transferred to the eastern front for reinforcements, and the entire line from Huaiyuan to Linhuai Pass was empty. Under the strategy of the Western Front cluster river-crossing troops, they forcibly crossed the Huai River with Huaiyuan and Linhuai Pass.

After the completion of the forced crossing, the armored cluster concentrated its main forces and quickly interspersed southward along the Shuibang Railway and the Jinpu Railway. It successively broke through the three not tight defensive lines of the Japanese army on the western front, successively recovered Huaixian, Hefei, Dingyuan, and Jiashan, and interspersed at high speed through Quanjiao and Chuxian to Liuhe and Pukou.

Mr. Lin's voice is quite exciting, which can be described as a stroke of genius. Even Yang Zhen, the first person in the assault use of China's large-scale armored troops, thought that this battle was quite exciting. This battle is here, Yang Zhen thinks that as long as Mr. Lin does not make any big mistakes in the follow-up attack, this battle has basically been won.

With Mr. Lin's personality and ability, the probability of such a low-level mistake is almost minimal. Especially in the case of Mr. Lin's available troops, far more than his own situation back then. This battle has been fought to this extent, as long as a certain aspect does not interfere, it can be said that there is no suspense.

Despite the loss of an independent tank regiment a day in the attack on the Eastern Front for the armored forces, Yang Zhen was a little distressed. But he also knew that in that kind of water network area, when the engineering units were not necessarily able to keep up in time, such losses were almost inevitable.

Coupled with the large number of anti-tank guns deployed by the Japanese army, if you want to maintain a rapid assault speed, you must be mentally prepared to bear huge losses. Moreover, from Yang Zhen's point of view, as long as the Jianghuai area can encircle and annihilate the entire Chinese dispatch army, half of the Japanese heavy army group, this loss can still be bearable.

As for Mr. Lin's brilliant fight in the Jianghuai Campaign, what Chongqing thinks, Yang Zhen has no energy to care, and he doesn't want to care. The number of tanks that Mr. Lin invested on the Western Front, even if Chongqing wanted to intervene in the two theaters in western Anhui, I am afraid that he would not have the courage to do so. As for what actions are made in Jiangnan, then it is a good thing for this Jianghuai campaign.

In fact, Chongqing did not want to take advantage of this opportunity to regain lost territory to the east. However, Mr. Lin suddenly threw in a large number of armored troops on the Western Front, so that his tentacles stretched out to the eastern Anhui region quickly retracted. Chongqing is in the fifth war zone in the Dabie Mountains, and obviously doesn't want to touch this hard bone.

Especially in the case of the troops of the Fifth Theater, which are dominated by the Gui system. The little Zhuge who was afraid that his descendants would touch this kind of armored cluster and suffer too much losses, strictly ordered the Fifth War Zone not to send a single soldier to the battlefield in eastern Anhui. It was only ordered that the 33rd Group Army, the last remaining force of the Northwest Army, dispatch an army to recover Lu'an and Huoshan to cope with the errand.

The armored assault cluster commanded by Chen Hanzhang showed a deterrent effect, and it was not only the Japanese who were afraid. Chongqing retracted its tentacles in Jiangbei, but in Jiangnan it mobilized several newly formed all-American armies, which were specially used for counteroffensives, and launched an attack on the line from Nanchang to Jiujiang. At the same time, the Sixth and Ninth Theaters to which it belonged also made frequent movements in Hubei. The troops were directed at the periphery of Wuhan and along the Pinghan Railway in Hubei.

Since the Jianghuai Campaign began, to Chongqing's attack on the Zhejiang-Jiangxi line, the entire north and south of the river have been in chaos. The Chinese dispatch army, which has been cut off from the mainland, is in a state of panic at the moment. In particular, the war situation in Jiangbei has made the Chinese dispatch army even use the strength to eat milk, and it has been unable to plug the two huge gaps.

The Eastern Front was like a huge flesh-devouring machine, swallowing up the forces of the Chinese Dispatch Army into formation. And the tank cluster on the Western Front, like a sharp knife, was inserted into the rear of the Chinese dispatch army in the Jianghuai defense line. Liuhe and Pukou are places where Nanjing, the headquarters of the Chinese Dispatch Army, is only separated by the Yangtze River.

If Pukou is lost, the enemy's shells can hit the city directly. The Jianghuai war situation corroded so quickly that the Chinese army could only continue to draw troops from the south of the Yangtze River to fill it. However, in the case of fighting on two fronts, China's dispatched troops still feel that it is difficult to support.

The land, sea and air links with the mainland, which had been completely cut off at this time, could only pin their hopes on the troops of the Southern Army in Vietnam, in addition to constantly asking for help from the base camp. However, although the Southern Army had occupied the Sino-Vietnamese border in Guangxi, the connection between the Southern Army and the main force of the Dispatch Army had never been opened, and there was no other means of communication except by sea.

And for large-scale transportation by sea, neither the Southern Army nor the Chinese Dispatch Army could muster enough ships. Moreover, at this time, the coast of China, which was once like its own waters, has become extremely dangerous for the Japanese Navy and Army. American submarines, planes, and Chinese planes have basically turned this once calm sea area into a death zone.

The Allied offensive in the Dutch East Indies also made it difficult for the Southern Army to draw troops to reinforce the Chinese troops at this time. There are quite a few troops in the South Pacific, and the Eighth Front Army of the Southern Army on Rabaul Island alone has more than 100,000 troops distributed in the Solomon Islands.

But these Japanese troops who can only sit on the island, and even eat are self-reliant, where is there a way to reinforce the Chinese army? The former commander of the 17th Army, who was mentally ill, couldn't be sent back to his homeland to recuperate, and so many troops could be withdrawn at once? If these forces could have been withdrawn, the base camp would have withdrawn them long ago and deployed them in other directions.

Faced with the embarrassing situation of the China Dispatch Bureau, the helpless base camp was unable to provide any support at all, except for constant encouragement. Fortunately, after seven years of accumulation, coupled with the establishment of its own factories for production and manufacturing, the amount of ammunition sent by the entire Chinese army is quite sufficient, at least the ammunition for light weapons is barely enough.

But in the face of a two-front battle, although the number of troops seems to be quite large. But at present, the Chinese dispatch army, which has lost any contact with the mainland except radio, will be one less if it is defeated. Originally, according to the plan of the Chinese army, it was to concentrate forces to deal with the threat from the north. Abandonment of some areas of control on the Western Front in exchange for the non-offensive of the Chongqing side on the Western Front.

What is to China's surprise in sending troops is that under the strong pressure of public opinion, especially the pressure of the Americans, Chongqing has no idea what. In the end, an offensive was launched, although it was limited in scale, but it was specially sent to China to stab the waist and eyes. And dispatched several of the most elite U.S. armoured troops who were transferred back from Burma.

Once the Jiujiang River is lost, the Chinese troops along the Yangtze River will be cut in two. The loss of Wuhan means that China's troops will lose control of China's richest region, and the battle line will be completely reduced to the east, or even limited to the Yangtze River Delta. And this situation is something that China absolutely does not want to see.

At present, China's dispatch army is like a thief at both ends of the rat. That is, I am afraid that I will be killed, but I don't want to give up what I have already received. This has caused the entire Chinese battlefield to be in a state of imminent avalanche. And the same idea is not only the Chinese dispatch army, but also the Japanese army base camp.

Long before the campaign was launched, the Chinese Dispatch Army planned to transfer the units of the Japanese 23rd Army in the Liangguang region back to Central and East China, and abandon the control area in South China, which had now become like chicken ribs. However, the base camp resolutely disagreed, demanding that control over the Liangguang region must be guaranteed.