Section 251 The Devil's Goal

After the Battle of Western Hubei Province, Wang Yaowu has been staying around Changde, and the troops stationed in the Taoyuan area are the 74th Army and the 100th Army, and the current commander of the 100th Army is Shi Zhongcheng, which belongs to the command of Wang Yaowu. In other words, Wang Yaowu, deputy commander-in-chief of the 29th Group Army, now commands two troops, the 74th Army and the 100th Army, forming a powerful "Wang Yaowu Corps".

Today's Wang Yaowu Corps is no longer under the command of the Ninth Theater, but is again under the direct jurisdiction of the Military Commission, but nominally it is still temporarily under the supervision and training of the Sixth Theater.

Taoyuan here, in the early stage, has always been the place where the 100th Army was stationed, although the 74th Army was not stationed, but Wang Yaowu's headquarters still moved over, so that the command of the troops around Changde can be more convenient.

As everyone entered the headquarters, the stone looked at the room full of stars, and couldn't help but sigh, if it is really in the city with little money, the commander in the headquarters is small, and he is a major general, if it is not for the special care of the military seat, I am afraid that he will not be able to enter! The two armies, plus the deputy commanders, chiefs of staff, infantry commanders and division commanders, how many people will they have?

There was already a thin, middle-aged officer who greeted him, his skin was very fair, in stark contrast to the "black-faced generals", setting off a rare elegant atmosphere, this person was Shi Zhongcheng, the commander of the 100th Army, who single-handedly brought out the 57th Division, a fierce general of the iron-blooded army. As soon as he saw everyone coming in, he saluted Wang Yaowu first, and his eyes immediately fell on the stone.

I saw him smile and say: "I haven't seen you for a few years, but the head of the little stone group has gained some weight." ”

The stone hurriedly saluted and said, "Thank you for your concern." ”

Shi Zhongcheng said with a smile: "Although I was transferred out of the 74th Army, I have not heard the news of the repeated exploits of the commander of the small stone, and Jianshi has also mentioned in front of me many times that you have rescued the 57th Division several times. ”

Wang Yaowu couldn't help but smile when he heard this: "Then wait for this battle to be over!" This time, I came to do the east, and called the officers above the regimental level of the two troops, after so many years of fighting, it is not easy to have such a situation today, I would like to take this opportunity, I want to thank all my colleagues, thank the officers at all levels, not for you who sacrificed their lives to resist the war, determined to resist Japan, I am afraid that I will be a slave to the country sooner rather than later. ”

Shi Zhongcheng smiled when he heard this: "Since Brother Zuomin has opened his mouth, then I will wait on an empty stomach." ”

Everyone laughed for a while, and then came to a huge sand table as they spoke. Seeing this, the stone couldn't help but be surprised, this sand table is really too big, and it is piled up with sand and soil to form various terrains, and there are all kinds of markings in it, and the mountains and rivers are amazingly detailed because of everything.

At this time, there are a group of staff officers next to the sand table are busy, constantly putting some small flags and small markers on the sand table, their every move is extremely careful, every time they put down something, they have to check the documents in their hands several times, extremely worried about what deviations and omissions. They were so serious that so many officers came over that they didn't even have the time to look at them.

On the side of the sand table, there is also a huge map, and there are also two staff officers busy next to the map, constantly outlining long lines with pens and marking symbols one by one.

Seeing such a situation, Shi couldn't help but be envious, before the battle, he could do such a detailed work, and the battle would be twice the result with half the effort. Working on a sand table like this is a great help to control the whole situation. It's a pity that their independent regiment can't get this thing out, and they don't have so many staff officers to deal with this matter, even if they barely get the sand table up, the effect is limited.

Just when Shi was thinking about these things, Wang Yaowu had already pointed to the sand table and said: "At noon, we have received a telegram from Commander Sun of the theater of operations, and we have judged that the main direction of the Japanese army's attack this time is Changde. Therefore, the top priority is to arrange a good defense line around Changde. Changde and Changsha live on both sides of Dongting Lake, which is the two gateways to northern Hunan Province, in addition, Changde is still the eastern gateway of Sichuan and Guizhou, Changde is not lost, and the Japanese army wants to move westward, which is equivalent to the throat being stuck by us. Another point is that the gains and losses of Changde are related to the morale of the whole army. The situation of the Japanese army in recent years, you must also know, has been on the verge of collapse, if Changde is lost, the devil occupies the great granary of Dongting Lake, one or the other, may have an impact on the entire war situation. ”

Shi Zhongcheng on the side added at this time: "A few days ago, Shangfeng had been speculating about the operational intentions of the devil's attack, and it had not been clear before, for fear that the devil was going westward. But at noon, the front-line troops killed a Japanese lieutenant, from the documents he carried, learned that the purpose of the Japanese army in this battle was Changde, the devil wanted to annihilate the troops of our army's sixth theater here in Changde, after taking Changde, to the east can be flanked Changsha, to the west can threaten the capital, it can be said that it is more than one stone. However, the devils want to destroy us, and we want to annihilate the devils even more. ”

"To tell the truth, with the powerful firepower and air power of the devils, it is very difficult for us to counterattack and take the place occupied by the devils, and in that case, it is very difficult for us to win without more than five times the number of troops. However, if the devils take the initiative to attack our defensive positions, it will be different, with our positions and the troops fighting in a familiar geographical environment, we can eliminate a large number of the devils' living forces and achieve the goal of weakening the devils' strength. Shi Zhongcheng couldn't help chuckling as he spoke: "The devil is no longer the devil he was at the beginning, and we are not the troops when we first joined the battlefield, as long as the tactics are opposed, as long as the soldiers dare to fight with the devil, this battle will definitely not be lost." ”

"Brother Chen, you can explain to you the current situation and the arrangements of various departments, if nothing else, we will soon go north, only by thoroughly understanding the situation here, there will be no problems on the battlefield, and no matter what the circumstances, we can know how to fight this battle!" After Shi Zhongcheng finished speaking, Wang Yaowu couldn't help but say to Chen Yu on the side.

Chen Yu nodded, then took a long stick handed by the adjutant, pointed to the sand table and said slowly: "In the early stage, because I judged the purpose and direction of the devil's attack, the army's defense line was mainly based on the Yangtze River. However, the last battle of western Hubei between Shishou and Huarong north of Dongting Lake has not been recovered, and it has become the bridgehead of the Japanese army west of the Yangtze River, and it is also the place where our army needs to focus on guarding against this time. In this area, according to the numbers determined by the two days of operations, it can be roughly determined that the main forces of the Japanese army are the 116th Division, the 68th Division, the 40th Division, and the 17th Independent Mixed Brigade, and this section is the defense area of our 29th Group Army. ”

"In front of the 98th Division, the outpost of the 10th Army to the north, the enemy forces that have been identified as part of the 3rd, 13th, and 39th Divisions and the 68th Division, and the strength of the enemy forces in front of them is about five or six divisions, which may reach more than 100,000 people." After Chen Yu finished speaking, he looked at everyone, although the situation of these officers was grim, but his expression was quite calm, which made him nod with satisfaction, and continued: "A few days ago, because I didn't figure out the dynamics of the devil, the Jiang Defense Army has not moved, resulting in the defenders of the forward position being very passive, and now that the main attack direction of the devil has been judged, the Jiang Defense Army will naturally go south, and the troops stationed on the front line of Yuanshui will also go north in time." In this way, the Yangtze River is naturally the first line of defense, and after that, the second line of defense can be established along the line of Yanxian, Shimen, and Cili, and Changde is the third line of defense, and it is also the last line of defense north of Yuanshui. On the contrary, if Changde is kept, the devil's strategic purpose will not be achieved. ”

Seeing that the chief of staff had finished speaking, Wang Yaowu added: "In May, the 57th Division was ordered to garrison Changde to build defensive fortifications, and now half a year has passed, and the garrison work in Changde has been completed. In view of the fact that the fortifications were built by them themselves, and they had stayed in Changde for so long, they knew the situation here very well, so the important task of garrisoning Changde was assumed by the 57th Division, and the other departments immediately seized the time to rest before the order from above was issued. In particular, the independent regiment has just come after a long journey, and its physical exertion is huge, so hurry up and seize the time to rest, we may go north at any time, and there will be no time to rest at that time. ”

"Yes," the stone saluted, and shouted in response.

Then the military discussion ended, and before the order was given, they only had a general idea of the situation. At this time, the mission did not come down, and there was no need for them to discuss the next battle plan, so things were much less than usual. Wang Yaowu then pulled the stone and said a few words of concern, that is, he asked him to go back to rest quickly.

Out of the headquarters, Shi saw Zhang Lingfu waiting for him outside, and when he saw that familiar face, Shi couldn't help but feel warm, but Zhang Lingfu had already greeted him with a smile and said, "Brother Shi, you have really gained a lot of weight." ”

Shi smiled disapprerovingly: "Brother Zhang, after more than a year, why are you so young?" ”

Zhang Lingfu couldn't help laughing and said, "You kid, is this praising me or hurting me?" I'm twenty-two in my forties, no matter how young I am, how young can I be, but you've been fighting for six or seven years, and now you're only in your twenties, and when you reach my age, you'll be at least at the level of the military seat? ”

Shi smiled, "Then I have to live until that time." ”

Zhang Lingfu said: "You can't live? All the people in the world are dead, I'm afraid your kid won't die, others don't know, I still don't know your kid's ability on the battlefield? ”