Section 43

Stone talked with Ji Hongru at the regiment headquarters for a long time, for the understanding of the battlefield and the judgment of the situation, Ji Hongru is obviously much higher than the stone, that hazy feeling every time after hearing his simple explanation, you can suddenly realize, which makes the stone benefit a lot, there is a feeling of sudden enlightenment, and after understanding the situation in front of him, although the stone is also a little less optimistic like Ji Hongru, but it is much better than the previous situation of being at a loss.

Subsequently, the stone who settled down also went to the third battalion to visit the third battalion commander Qu Yuben, who was injured in the previous battle, and to his surprise, Hu Liqun also happened to be there, which naturally made the third battalion headquarters lively.

The three of them each fought a tough battle with their respective troops, and the results were not bad, which naturally made them feel good, as if they had found a common language, and they talked happily, and even Qu Yuben forced the two to have breakfast together, and then let them leave the defense area of the third battalion.

However, no one thought that after they captured Maogu Village for more than two hours, the 302nd regiment, which had not yet been rested, received an order to continue the attack, which made them all depressed, and even some grumpy people began to scold their mothers, counting from the time they rushed to this place from Dangshan, until now they have not had a good rest, since the attack on Neihuangcheng has not slept for two days, this kind of continuous combat situation really makes them extremely tired, this is fighting, countless charges, Their physical strength has long been exhausted, who still has the strength to kill devils!

But an order is an order after all, a military order is like a mountain, even if it is a mountain of swords and a sea of fire, you have to jump that and that!

In the face of the order issued by the brigade commander Zhou Zhidao, the 302nd Regiment had no choice, and even under the command of the regiment commander, it continued to attack westward all the way, and went straight to Yanglou, Helou and other villages that were still occupied by the Japanese army.

I don't know if it's because the defense of the village is far less than that of the county town, or because the attacks in the past few days have also made the Japanese army feel unbearable, in the case of advancing hand in hand with the 301st Regiment, the resistance of the Japanese army did not hinder their progress at all, but in just half an hour, they have broken through the Japanese defense line, all the way forward for nearly ten miles, the battle process was so smooth, so that the 302nd Regiment everyone was surprised.

The fierce attack of the 51st Division, until the Zhang's village did not stop, this is a village built on the hillside, remote Longhai Road, not on the main road of traffic, but it is not too far from the Longhai Railway, it is really a bit laborious to fight it, with today's tired division to attack upward, its effect is really limited, do not fight it, the back road is always threatened, always make people feel uneasy.

In this case, not to mention the 302nd Regiment, even the command of the 51st Division is also divided into two opinions, one is headed by the opinion of Li Tianxia, the commander of the 153rd Brigade and attached to the division, he believes that this enemy army can no longer play much role, and can directly ignore their existence and go straight to Lanfeng to get in touch with the defenders. But the commander of the 151st Brigade, Zhou Zhidao, and the chief of staff, Liu Zengyao, both felt that this was a bit inappropriate, first, Shangfeng's order was to let them defeat the Japanese army's right column instead of assisting the friendly troops of the 106th Division and the 88th Division to defend Lanfeng, and they had already seen the strength of the Japanese army, not to mention the Japanese army in the brigade, that is, the squadron had extremely strong combat capabilities, and if the devils here were not solved, I am afraid that they would be restless behind them, and the losses would be heavy at that time, I am afraid it is unimaginable.

In the face of such a situation, the division commander Wang Yaowu was also a little undecided, what both sides said made sense, and each had their own opinions, which made it a little difficult for him to choose, he naturally knew the importance of Lan Feng, but this is not their army nearby, if they do not obey the order to act, if something goes wrong at that time, the consequences will be serious.

At this moment, the 14th Division, which has been supported by the north bank of the Yellow River, will naturally not be willing to be silent, and after getting supplies, they will re-advance to the Lanfeng line, their speed is not fast, using their strong firepower advantage, inch by inch encroaching on the defense line of the national army, where the Japanese army passes, inch by inch scorched earth, step by step artillery shells, the thick smell of sulfur burnt, almost suffocating.

After ordering a brigade of the 88th Division commanded by Long Muhan to defend Lanfeng, Gui Yongqing led his troops to retreat to Kaifeng Qixian without receiving any retreat order, giving way to the front of the Japanese attack.

The 88th Division and the 74th Army and other units were attacking the right column of the Japanese army, and now it was only one of the brigades in Lanfeng, and after days of fighting, they were also exhausted, and in the face of the fierce Japanese army, they could not resist at all, so they could only retreat in the city and not come out, hoping that other friendly troops would come to help.

But what made Long Muhan desperate was that after holding out for an afternoon, there were still no friendly troops around Lanfeng, and the Japanese army at this time was only about ten miles away from them.

The 74th Army received an order to continue the offensive in the afternoon, when the 24th Army was still resisting the Japanese attack northeast of Lanfeng, and the commander of the corps in Kaifeng also issued an order to clear the enemy forces along the way without a direct attack on Lanfeng.

After coordinating with friendly forces, several divisions concentrated all the artillery and launched a fierce attack on Zhang's village, the entire mountain peak where Zhang's village is located was covered by artillery fire for a while, the Japanese army was also heavily wounded, it was difficult to hold on, the right column successively fought with the national army in Neihuang, Mawangzhai, Maogu Village, Dongxigangtou and other places, facing the army that was not afraid of death, the consumption was far greater than usual, and now it was helpless to defend Zhang's village, but it was not expected that the army would chase after it, And at this time, there was such ferocious firepower, which made the commander of the Japanese right column, Toshima, have to retreat again.

However, this Japanese army does have courage and wisdom that are difficult for ordinary people to reach, in such a situation, he actually did not retreat to the south of Lanfeng to join the friendly army, but took the remnants straight to Lanfeng, and Lanfeng, who had already been empty, naturally let them take it in one fell swoop, but they could use the national defense fortifications built by the national army to deal with the pursuers behind them.

The commanders of the armies who rushed to the periphery of Lanfeng were also dumbfounded when they saw that the Japanese army had entered Lanfeng City without any resistance, and they couldn't believe that such a dramatic change had taken place when this battle was about to end.

Seeing this situation, the already exhausted officers and men suddenly plummeted their morale and collapsed one by one, not to mention the soldiers, even the officers at all levels lost the confidence to continue the attack, and again and again let the enemy escape when the entire encirclement was about to be completed.

In the current state to attack Lanfeng, which has a complete fortification, the ministers do not dare to take this risk, they are the people who directly lead the troops, and they naturally know the thoughts of the soldiers, especially the state of physical and mental exhaustion is too bad, so after reporting the situation to the headquarters, the various departments are assembled and rested on the periphery of Lanfeng. ，

The Chinese high command was greatly shocked by the loss of Lanfeng, after the fall of Lanfeng, the Japanese army not only had a stronghold that could be held, but also Chen Liukou could get the support of the north bank, in fact, there was already a jump point for the attack, so that Kaifeng and other places would face the threat from the other side, and even in Xinglongji, which was 40 miles away from Fengfeng, the previous scouts of the Japanese army had been discovered, which made the commander's headquarters of the Eastern Henan Corps, which commanded the entire battle situation in Kaifeng, also very nervous.

Chiang Kai-shek, who was in Zhengzhou, came to the front line in person, intending to compare the glory of Taierzhuang's victory with the exploits of encircling and annihilating a Japanese division, but he did not expect that in just a few days, the situation had reached such a point, which also made him thunderous and scolded, and personally ordered Xue Yue, commander-in-chief of the 19th Group Army of the First Theater, to command Yu Jishi's 74th Army, Li Hansoul's 64th Army, Song Xilian's 71st Army, and Gui Yongqing's 27th Army from east to west, and ordered Hu Zongnan, commander of the 17th Army, to surround Lanfeng, Luowangzhai, and Sanyiji from west to eastThe 14th Division of the Japanese Army in the Quxingji area began to attack on the 25th.

At the same time, he also warned the generals of all armies: "The battle of Lanfeng is related to the entire anti-Japanese war situation, and the armies of Hu, Li, Yu, Gui, and Song should follow the tasks indicated by Commander-in-Chief Xue, and must carry out a general attack on the whole line at 6:30 p.m. on the 25th of this month, and must annihilate the enemy in the areas of Lanfeng, Sanyizhai, Lanfengkou, Chenliukou, Quxingji, and Luowangzhai before dawn on the 26th of tomorrow." If there is any cowering and ineffective attack, it will be severely punished according to the law; If the most meritorious deeds are built in the battle or the most captured by the enemy, a special award shall be given. I hope that the department will obey and not disobey. ”

However, after dawn, unfavorable news came from the eastern front, according to the 102nd Division of the 8th Army guarding Dangshan under the onslaught of the Japanese army, the division commander Bai Huizhang also ordered to abandon the position and flee westward, and the Japanese 16th Division occupied Dangshan on the 24th.

When the news came, the headquarters at all levels were in chaos, especially the 71st Army, the 74th Army and the 64th Army east of Lanfeng, and other units were extremely anxious, Dangshan was lost, Shangqiu would face the threat of the Japanese army, if there was any further mistake, their troops of 60,000 or 70,000 people would be surrounded by the Japanese army, and with their combat capabilities, they could not hope to be able to fight their way out of the encirclement like the right column of the 14th Division of the Japanese Army.

At this time, the command sent a notice that Long Muhan, the commander of the 88th Division, had fled without a fight, warning and warning all units to obey orders.