Section XXXVII

"Report to the division, the commander of the 302nd regiment, Ji Hongru, called, our army has successfully broken through the Japanese defense line, conquered the Weijia Garden in Neihuangcheng, Xinglong Buzhuang and other strongholds, and is besieging the remnants of the Japanese army who are stubbornly defending the northwest corner, according to the report of the regiment commander Ji, if the attack is smooth, it will be able to successfully take Neihuangcheng in half an hour." An officer who looked like a staff officer couldn't hide the joy in his heart, and reported in a loud voice with meaning on his face.

"What, you say it again?" Li Tianxia, deputy commander of the 51st Division, with a thick Songhu accent, immediately asked incredulously.

Li Tianxia's name is Yaozong, and he is now the deputy commander of the 51st Division, but because he is also the commander of the 153rd Brigade, he is on the front line of the battle most of the time, and he does not spend much time in the division headquarters, but this does not affect Li Tianxia's status in the 51st Division.

At this time, the situation is not too optimistic for them, they were ordered to storm the Yellow City, from the dawn of the attack to now has been about an hour or so, so far there is still no conclusive news, although the 302 regiment first into the city is naturally very happy to make them happy, but thinking that the defenders in the city have as many as a wing, they also dare not be careless, for this half an hour ago, Wang Yaowu also ordered the 151st Brigade Commander Zhou Zhidao to personally rush up with the 301st Regiment, The 305th and 306th regiments also launched a strong attack in the east and north, but perhaps because of the lack of artillery support, they made little gain there.

The worse news still comes from the periphery of Inner Huangcheng, the 87th Division attacking the first line of the Japanese army in Yifeng has not yet been attacked, the 88th Division attacking the first line of Mawangzhai has been blocked from advancing outside the wall, and the battle order given by the commander has not been completed until this time.

At this time, they suddenly received a telegram from the 302nd regiment to report their victory, how could they not be greatly excited, and even Li Tianxia, who had always been calm, couldn't help blurting out the previous words.

Naturally, the staff officer did not dare to slack off, and repeated the situation reported by Ji Hongru word for word.

After listening to this, Li Tianxia couldn't help waving his arm vigorously, and he said excitedly: "Brother Zuomin, taking Neihuang is equivalent to reopening the Longhai Railway, most of the purpose of this battle has been achieved, it is said that there are still 42 trains full of materials in the Shangqiu area that have not yet been evacuated, as long as the Japanese invaders from Neihuang to Lanfeng are cleaned up, the train will be able to return to Zhengzhou safely." ”

Liu Zengyao, the chief of staff on the side, suddenly smiled and said: "Xia Gong, we rushed hundreds of miles from Dangshan to here, not only to open up the Longhai Railway, since the 14th Division of the Japanese invaders rushed here, there is the Yellow River in the north, and Lanfeng Jiancheng in the west, and now we have conquered Neihuang again, with the strength of nearly 12 divisions of our Eastern Henan Corps, it is more than enough to eat this enemy." ”

"Haha, Lao Liu, that's what I said, but I can't eat hot buns in one bite, this meal, you have to eat it one bite at a time, the devil is not a soft persimmon that is easy to pinch." Li Tianxia was shocked and said with a good snort.

Division Commander Wang Yaowu's face was expressionless, he said in a deep voice as if he hadn't heard the exciting news before: "Send someone to inform Jingfang (Zhou Zhidao), at all costs to solve the enemy in Inner Huangcheng in the shortest possible time, Brother Yaozong, the 153rd Brigade still has to go to the side of you to go to the trip in person, if the war in the city has been decided, immediately reinforce the 88th Division of Mawangzhai, this is the horn of Inner Huang, fall into the hands of the enemy, our army will not have a peaceful day." ”

Li Tianxia immediately restrained her smile when she heard this, saluted and said: "Brother, rest assured, if Neihuang is lost, the enemy of Mawangzhai will definitely advance and retreat, and in the face of the siege of our army, it will definitely not be able to make any big waves. ”

Seeing this, Wang Yaowu shook his head and smiled: "Right now, there is a war, and the things in that cup can still be avoided." ”

Li Tianxia smiled again: "The battle has to be fought, the wine has to be drunk, and the woman has to sleep, this is called happiness, otherwise if you are killed by a shell before you have enjoyed life, wouldn't you regret it for a lifetime?" ”

For his crooked reasoning, Wang Yaowu also laughed at it, he was also a classmate of the third phase of Huangpu, and he knew a lot about Li Tianxia's temperament Wang Yaowu knew a lot, in addition to being quite witty in the war, prostitution and gambling were also a major feature of him, Wang Yaowu, who has always been extremely self-disciplined, is quite unaccustomed to it, but it is normal for people to have seven emotions and six desires, and they have lived and died together for so long, there is really no need to delve too deeply into this small flaw.

Laughing and putting these messy things behind, Wang Yaowu's whole mind was on the battle in front of him, he looked at the chief of staff who was standing with his hands in his hands, and after a deep sigh, he asked, "What is the movement of troops in other directions?" ”

Liu Zengyao was stunned when he heard this, even if he came to his senses, the news of everyone in the division would be reported to the division, how could he not know the movements of the friendly army, and some asked, obviously he also wanted to take this opportunity to sort out his thoughts, thinking of this, he said seriously: "Report to the division, since the main force of the 5th Theater of Operations has withdrawn from Xuzhou, the Japanese 2nd Army has occupied the Xuzhou line, and my 8th Army commander Huang Jie commands the 8th Army, the 187th Division and the 24th Division of the 94th Army and other friendly troops to hold Dangshan and Shangqiu, Stop the Japanese army advancing west from Xuzhou along the Longhai Road, and buy time for our Eastern Henan Corps to encircle and annihilate the 14th Division of the Japanese invaders. ”

Seeing Wang Yaowu nodding his head and thinking without saying a word, Liu Zengyao cheered up and said: "Our army and the 155th Division of the 64th Army and the 71st Army attacked from east to west, General Gui Yongqing, the commander of the 27th Army, led the 46th, 36th, 61st, 106th and 88th Divisions stationed in Lanfeng and the 200th Division Search Battalion to attack from Lanfeng to the east, and the 3rd Army and the 20th Army were the Northern Route Army, cutting off the Japanese army's retreat to the north bank of the Yellow River near Dingtao, Heze, Dongming, and Kaocheng (now Guyang, northeast of Lankao). If the battle goes well, the 14th Japanese Division will be surrounded by our army within a range of dozens of miles from Lanfeng, Shuangtaji, and Yifeng, and as long as the area around Shangqiu and Dangshan is controlled by our army, we will have enough time to eat this enemy. ”

Speaking of this, Liu Zengyao couldn't help but get excited, rubbed his hands and said: "Division, if this battle can eat the 14th Division of the Japanese Army, it will be the first time since the start of the war that our army has formed a regiment to annihilate the ranks of the Japanese Army, which will greatly boost the morale of the whole army and double the determination of the whole country to resist the war, and its outstanding military exploits will be destined to be recorded in history forever." ”

Wang Yaowu waved his hand to interrupt Liu Zengyao's words, and said with a cold face: "It's too early to talk about this matter now, now that Neihuangcheng has not been taken, the offensive of other friendly troops is also stagnant, and it is only imaginary to complete the encirclement of the Japanese army, and the troops withdrawn from Xuzhou are now scattered, and the hidden dangers in Shangqiu and Dangshan are really not small. ”

"What the division said is, in my opinion, the key to this battle is still in Lanfeng, only by holding Lanfeng, the intention of this battle can be realized, I heard that the 200th Division not only came to the search battalion but also a whole armored battalion this time, this 200th Division is the only mechanized unit of our army, equipped with T-26 tanks are much stronger than those thin skins of the little devils, there is such a force stationed in Lanfeng, the stability of its defense will be greatly increased." Liu Zengyao said with a happy face on the side, because of the good news from the 302nd regiment, the dark cloud hanging above their heads had disappeared.

Wang Yaowu also nodded slightly and said: "Taierzhuang is a great victory, the tank company of the 200th Division has already shown its strength, if this armored battalion can be used well, maybe it can play a miraculous effect on the battlefield, at least these tanks are enough to restrain the opponent's cavalry, and when fighting in the plains, it is enough to build an extremely strong defense line." ”

They didn't talk for a long time, and a staff officer came to report again in the distance: "Report to the division, good news came from the front line, the commander of the 302nd regiment has conquered Neihuangcheng and planted the battle flag on the wall north of Neihuangcheng, and the Japanese army has begun to flee to Maoguzhai, Guji, Shuangtaji and other places, Commander Ji asks for instructions, whether to continue the pursuit?" ”

"Take it down? So fast? Commander Ji is really good at attacking and defending, and the 302nd Regiment is the sharp edge of the whole division, and it is really unstoppable! Liu Zengyao was overjoyed when he heard this, and it was undoubtedly an exciting thing to take Neihuang City so quickly, you must know that Neihuang is related to the connection of the entire Longhai Railway, which is really a strategic place, although it has been learned that the war is going well, but the heart is still not steady, and now with the news coming, it really makes them breathe a sigh of relief.

Wang Yaowu was obviously quite satisfied with this, and said with a rare smile: "Yes, yes, the 302nd Regiment really lived up to expectations, I said before, this time I took Neihuangcheng and remembered the first merit of their 302nd Regiment, and went to tell Ji Hongru to chase Kou Mo Chase, first to hold Neihuang steadily, and then notify the 153rd Brigade to let Zhonglin's 305th Regiment go to Mawangzhai to reinforce the friendly 88th Division, and strive to clear the enemy in front of him as soon as possible." As for the reward, ask him what he wants, this brigade doesn't need to think about it for the time being, not long after he was promoted to the head of the regiment, climbing too much will make people jealous, even if other things are proposed, if they can be done, I will definitely not let him down. ”

Liu Zengyao, who was on the side, suddenly said with envy: "Tsk, Head Ji has really hit a big luck, it's been so long, it's the first time I've seen the master so generous, and the rewards are arbitrary, I really envy the dead." ”

Wang Yaowu also smiled: "Why, am I so stingy in your eyes?" I still say the same thing, meritorious service must be rewarded, and if there is a mistake, you will be punished, whether it is an officer or a soldier, as long as you can fight and serve the country, I will definitely not treat him badly, Yaozong is like this, Jingfang is like this, Zhonglin is the same with them. ”

After that, he also smiled again: "Let's go, let's have breakfast in the city early." ”