Section 96 Preparing to go south

The news of the 74th Army Independent Regiment, the 74th Army Military Department, the 70th Army, the 72nd Army, and the 78th Army spread to the headquarters of the 19th Group Army like a tide, and when Luo Zhuoying received the news, the command of the entire Group Army resounded with deafening cheers and roars.

Luo Zhuoying also let out a long breath after the big joy, and the whole person almost collapsed on the chair as if relieved. As the front-line commander of the entire Ninth War Zone, Luo Zhuoying has commanded a lot of hard and bloody battles, as early as the Battle of Songhu, he was the commander of the 18th Army, and then every time there is a big battle, their troops will participate, step by step by virtue of their military exploits to the current position. However, he was still under great pressure in this Shanggao battle, because this battle was fought in accordance with his ideas and suggestions from the very beginning, and Xue Yue, the commander of the theater of operations, was worried that the Japanese army would attack the east and west, just like the battle in the 28th year of the Republic of China, Jiangbei was only holding back the battlefield, and he focused his energy on the front line of northern Hunan, and the battle in northern Jiangxi was completely fought by their 19th Group Army. Although the scale of this battle is much smaller than the previous battles, but Shanggao is too important, Shanggao loses it, Changsha loses the east gate, under the attack from both sides, Changsha can never hold it, and the pressure on him can be imagined.

However, under such circumstances, he still formulated the operational policy of first breaking one wing and then encircling and annihilating the main force of the Japanese army, and his extraordinary command ability was vividly displayed. Now, a series of good news from various departments of the Left Wing Army has come, and he has finally put his mind at ease. Fortunately, his plan succeeded, fortunately, the 74th Army withstood the onslaught of the enemy, and with the strength of only one army, the enemy army was blocked on the periphery of Shanggao, which won enough time for the adjustment of the entire group army, and this battle finally waited for the harvest.

After taking a few deep breaths to calm down, Luo Zhuoying also took off the glasses on the bridge of his nose and rubbed his eyes vigorously, he hadn't rested for a few days and nights, and his eyes were bloodshot. After taking off his glasses, he looked around again, all kinds of cheers resounded in his ears, and the officers in the command headquarters hugged each other excitedly, using all their strength to vent their emotions.

These are a group of loyal and patriotic soldiers who have devoted their whole lives to the restoration of the country in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and have selflessly contributed their youth and lives. It is precisely because of their existence that they will fight beautiful battles in this extremely difficult situation, and they can continue to block the progress of the devils and maintain the current situation. It even dragged the Japanese army into the current quagmire of war, and gradually tilted the balance of victory and defeat in the war.

The staff officers on the side watched the commander gradually calm down, and also began to report the situation, reading the military information reported by various departments one by one.

Luo Zhuoying leaned back in the chair calmly, and did not wear glasses. He closed his eyes, as if he was asleep, quietly listening to the staff officer's report. The previous battles, he had already learned from previous reports, including the 70th Army's Li Jue's luring of the enemy to the west, and the concentration of the forces of the three armies to encircle and annihilate the Japanese army's right army, all of which he personally agreed. However, the battle of Shangfu was not as smooth as originally thought, after the Japanese army broke out of the encirclement, he once thought that this battle had lost the hope of encircling and annihilating the Japanese army, and he even thought about whether to immediately transfer the 72nd Army to the south to assist the 74th Army in defending Shanggao.

This situation did not change until the independent regiment of the 74th Army was ordered to rush to the front line of Wuqiao to garrison. The inconspicuous independent regiment actually succeeded in blocking the Japanese army to the west of Wuqiao, which made their battle plan that they originally thought had failed to reappear hope in vain. So far, not only has the main force of the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army withdrawn to Fengxin, but the Japanese army's right-wing army has also suffered heavy losses after a series of battles, losing two or three thousand men before and after, and one wing commander has been killed, which is really a surprise.

The battle reports that followed were basically reported by the independent regiment, and a series of wonderful operations not only made the staff officers of the report frown, but also made Luo Zhuoying feel emotional. After listening to the report, he straightened up, put on his glasses, stared at the staff officer and asked, "What is the origin of this independent regiment?" ”

"Junzuo, the predecessor of this independent regiment was the 302nd Regiment of the 51st Division, during the Battle of Songhu in the 26th year of the Republic of China, the regiment commander was Cheng Zhi, and later sacrificed his life for the country during the Battle of Nanjing. Ji Hongru, the successor commander of the regiment, died during the Battle of Lanfeng. In the 27th year of the Republic of China, Shi, the commander of the first battalion of the original 302 Regiment, took over the post of regiment commander, and repeatedly made military exploits, such as the Battle of De'an, the victory of Wanjialing, the Gao'an Resistance Battle, and the Nanchang Counteroffensive Battle. After the Nanchang counteroffensive, the 74th Army was ordered to reorganize, and Wang Yaowu deliberately transferred the 302nd Regiment to be reorganized into an independent regiment, and the Military Commission commended it with the code name 'Tiger Ben'. The staff officer replied in detail on the side.

Luo Zhuoying couldn't help but sigh lightly, and after a deep groan, he couldn't help but say: "I heard that there is a person in the 74th Army who has been killed from a small soldier to the position of regiment commander by virtue of his military exploits, and he has never won or lost since he participated in the war, and his reputation in the 74th Army is even louder than Zhang Lingfu, who led the 'Wanjialing Victory', I don't know if this person?" ”

The staff officer responded with a smile: "Junzuo, it should be this person, Wang Shizuo's account is really a fierce general, a small regiment commander has such a ability, only one regiment can block the attack of a division of devils, no wonder in the periphery of Shanggao, only one unit of the 74th Army can block the two main attack troops of the devils." It is really a blessing for the country and the people to have such a strong army! ”

Luo Zhuoying also smiled rarely: "The first merit of this battle should be recorded on the head of the 74th Army, not only this independent regiment, but also the 57th Division that blocked a division of the devil with only one division on the front line of Guanqiao and Sixi. After this battle, I will personally invite merit for them, and I must make a detailed record of the meritorious soldiers, so that I can reward them for meritorious deeds after the war. Looking at the staff officer beside him and immediately replied "yes", Luo Zhuoying also nodded and said: "Immediately convene an emergency military meeting, after waiting for so long, it's time to close the net." ”

On the afternoon of the 23rd, the independent regiment, which had just withdrawn to Wuqiao and rested for two or three hours, received an urgent order from the military headquarters, and the army commander Wang Yaowu urgently transferred them south to reinforce the Shanggao line. Shi Shi, who received the order, did not dare to hesitate at all, and immediately summoned all the officers to discuss the next marching arrangements, and the battle on the left flank battlefield was nothing more than the preparation and warm-up of the battle in the early stage for the entire battle situation. Although the enemy army faced this time was also a division, it was still a little different in importance compared to the 34th Division in the middle, and the battle at Shanggao was the real decisive battle.

"Tuanza, will the order from the military seat be too urgent? Since we arrived at Wuqiao, we have been fighting, for two or three days in a row, the brothers did not even have time to close their eyes, especially the brothers of the cavalry battalion, fought two raids in a row, and the battle last night was in the territory of the devils, and the mental pressure was quite great, if we hurried to Shanggao to participate in the battle, I am afraid that not only the combat effect will be average, but the losses of the brothers will be very large. Wu Zihuai said first.

The tall sledgehammer on the side also said: "What the chief of staff said is right, our regiment is now fighting continuously and is exhausted, and joining the Shanggao battlefield in this state can really play a limited role." It is best to rest here for half a day and wait until the next morning before setting out, so that the brethren will be able to recover their energy and be more effective when they arrive at the battlefield. ”

Liu Wenfeng also nodded, obviously agreeing with their opinions, the troops have been fighting continuously, and now they have to march for a long time, and after arriving at the battlefield, they will face a stronger force than the previous enemy, what kind of performance can they show at that time? Will the brothers be as powerful as they were before? That's exactly what they feared.

Lin Xiufeng, attached to the regiment, shook his head and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, the military seat is in an emergency, and we rushed to reinforcements, obviously it was also a last resort. According to the information we received, only one unit of our 74th Army was resisting the Japanese attack during this period of time. In addition to the 34th Division of the Japanese Army in the center, there are also four brigades of the enemy's independent mixed 20 brigades on the south bank of the Jinjiang River. Another point is the issue of timing. If we set out now, it will be at night to arrive at the battlefield. At that time, the situation in total darkness will be very conducive to our army to launch an attack, and if it arrives tomorrow afternoon, I am afraid that before we arrive at the battlefield, the devils will have detected the news, and when the time comes, it will be a bloody battle with the devils. On the contrary, this situation is not conducive to our army's operations, and in particular, it is even more uneconomical to go against the orders of the military headquarters. ”

"Lin Tuanfu, there is a distance of more than 100 miles from here to Yuntou Mountain, and this is calculated based on the nearest distance. If the Japanese army has deployed troops to garrison at the critical points on the flank, we will need to detour to the Huaqiao line and then go south through Tangpu, which is a longer distance. In this case, it is too difficult to rush in the dark, not to mention whether it will take the wrong road, it will be very inconvenient for the march, and this problem also needs to be considered. Previously, we rushed from Huaqiao to Wuqiao in the dark, because the distance was short and the road was familiar, but this time it was such a long distance, and the distance was not familiar, I am afraid it would be difficult. Wu Zihuai continued to groan and said, obviously hesitant about this order.

Before Lin Xiufeng could speak, the stone on the side had already waved his hand and said: "The military seat is not Li Tianxia, since he ordered us to rush to reinforcements immediately, there is obviously his reason and reason." No matter how difficult we are, we are only sleepy and lacking in people, but the friendly troops on the front line are in danger of their lives, and everyone should know in their hearts who is light and who is heavy. At any time, we should not have the idea of preserving strength, the independent regiment is an independent regiment of the 74th Army, if the 74th Army is lost, I am afraid that our army will lose the meaning of existence. We should think about this point. Okay, now let's go back and get ready, and in half an hour, we'll set off. Company Commander Zhang, you send a few brothers back to Yifeng, and ask Liu Taiping to bring out the supplementary battalion to act with the large army, there will be no fighting on the left flank battlefield, and there is no need to stay in Yifeng anymore. ”