Seeing that his artillery was busy placing heavy guns on their respective gun positions, Wang Haitao called Zhang Xiaojiang, the battalion commander in charge, over and told Zhang Xiaojiang about it, especially about camouflage air defense. Zhang Xiaojiang naturally didn't dare to ignore Wang Haitao's words, and agreed repeatedly. Wang Haitao saw that the arrangement on the position was almost over, so he took the guards down the mountain.

When passing by the mountainside position, Wang Haitao told Wei Hai, the commander of the 544th Regiment who was guarding the position, for a while, and asked Wei Hai to pay attention to vigilance and protect the heavy artillery position on the mountain. Seeing that Wei Hai also promised that he would be able to complete the task, Wang Haitao went down the mountain and returned to the station with confidence. At this time, it was already evening, and the two brigades of the 211th Division were all in position, and the morale of the officers and men was high, waiting for the start of tomorrow's offensive.

Wang Haitao inspected the heavy artillery positions and armored brigades again before returning to the temporary headquarters, and Tang Longzai and Su Zuxin were already waiting for Wang Haitao to return at the headquarters. It turned out that Tang Xiaoshan of the reconnaissance brigade sent a telegram in the afternoon, reporting to the headquarters that a large number of Japanese troops were moving south of Hengyang, and that the numbers of the Japanese troops that had been found out were the 3rd Division, the 39th Division, and the 68th Division, which were originally stationed in the Hengyang area.

After reading the telegram, Wang Haitao came to the map, and the staff officer had marked the movements of the Japanese army on the map, Wang Haitao looked at the map and asked Su Zuxin: "Old Su, what do you think the Japanese army is trying to do?" Su Zuxin pointed to a place in the southwest of the Hengyang area on the map and said: "Commander, look at this place. Wang Haitao looked at Su Zuxin's finger for a while, thoughtful.

This is an area of about more than 10 square kilometers of irregular rectangular place, the east is the curved Xiangjiang River, the northeast is more than 30 kilometers is Hengyang City, the north and west are hills composed of low hills, from Yongzhou to Hengyang the only main highway runs through this place. Militarily speaking, this is definitely a good place to set up pocket formations.

Su Zuxin saw that Wang Haitao was thoughtful, and then said: "Although Tang Xiaoshan's intelligence did not say the destination of the Japanese army's movement, in my opinion, the Japanese army will not let go of this place. I have carefully studied the map, this place is the best place for ambushes on the road from Yongzhou to Hengyang, and if I were the commander of the Japanese army, I would not let go of this opportunity. ”

Wang Haitao was secretly taken aback in his heart and asked, "Are you saying that the Japanese army has mobilized three divisions and is preparing to ambush us here?" Su Zuxin nodded solemnly and said, "Commander, it is very possible." The Japanese army dispatched three divisions at once, there were tens of thousands of people, and it should be the main force of the 11th Army Headquarters, this is a tough battle!"

Wang Haitao thought for a while and said: "Send a report to Tang Xiaoshan, and the reconnaissance brigade will make every effort to find out the destinations of several divisions and regiments of the Japanese army, focusing on reconnoitring this area. In addition, the strength of the Japanese army and the allocation of heavy weapons were ascertained. Little Japan is actually thinking about attacking me and ambushing me, but I want to see if the Eleventh Army, which wants to eat me, has a good pair of teeth!"

Su Zuxin reminded Wang Haitao to pay attention to the Japanese air power and the reinforcements of the 13th Army, and seeing that Wang Haitao had noticed these aspects, he turned the topic to tomorrow's attack. After all, I saw that the most important thing was to take Yongzhou City and eat this 13th Division in Yongzhou City. Speaking of tomorrow's attack, Wang Haitao asked about the preparations of Tang Longzai's 91st Army.

Tang Longzai was also prepared, and reported the preparations of his two divisions to Wang Haitao and I. The 460th Brigade of the 210th Division, its armored regiment, and its heavy artillery regiment had moved to Gaoxi Town, 15 kilometers north of Yongzhou City, and arranged defensive positions with Gaoxi Town as the center, cutting off the road from Yongzhou to Hengyang and the retreat of the 13th Division.

The 461st Brigade faced the Japanese army at the east gate of Yongzhou City, and the 461st Brigade had a 122-caliber heavy howitzer and artillery regiment and a mixed armored battalion sent by the division's heavy artillery brigade as fire support and cover for the attack, and also served as a secondary offensive task, so they were not too worried about Tang Longzai. In the face of the 463rd Brigade of the Japanese army at the east gate of Yongzhou City, in addition to the support of heavy artillery on Kuitou Ridge, there was also the support of the 152nd Heavy Howitzer and Artillery Regiment of the Heavy Artillery Brigade, and there was no problem in firepower.

It's just that in the face of the 462nd Brigade at the south gate, only 50 105-caliber self-propelled howitzers and shells of the division's heavy artillery regiment are used as support artillery fire, and Tang Longzai is worried that the support artillery fire is insufficient. When Tang Longzai asked Wang Haitao whether to use the 130 Heavy Cannon Regiment of the Heavy Artillery Brigade to provide fire support to the 462nd Brigade, Wang Haitao watched Tang Longzai fall silent.

Looking at the silent Wang Haitao, Tang Longzai gradually became nervous, speaking of which, Tang Longzai has become a dignified lieutenant general of the national army at the age of 20, and he is absolutely unique in the national army.

Wang Haitao looked at Tang Longzai, not because he was dissatisfied with him, but Wang Haitao thought that Tang Longzai was still a young boy a few years ago, and the war in the past few years had made him grow up quickly, and he felt some emotion in his heart. However, Wang Haitao still thinks that Longzi has been too smooth sailing in recent years, and he still lacks some setbacks and grinding, and he is still a little immature.

Su Zuxin saw that the atmosphere was a little depressed, and couldn't help coughing lightly twice, which made Wang Haitao come back to his senses. Wang Haitao said to Tang Longzai: "The shells of the 130 heavy cannon cannons can't be produced yet, and the inventory is not much, so it can't be easily used, and there are still tough battles to be fought in the future! By the way, how are your troops preparing for air defense?"

In addition to the antiaircraft artillery units of the heavy artillery brigade used to strengthen the air defense of the armored brigade, the rest of the troops Wang Haitao were all distributed, and there were antiaircraft artillery units deployed in the three directions of this attack, but the number of antiaircraft artillery units was still limited, and it was necessary to rely on the brigades to organize their own heavy machine guns for air defense. When Tang Longzai heard Wang Haitao's words, he thought for a moment and replied: "Each brigade has transferred 100 heavy machine guns, and installed anti-aircraft tripods to use as anti-aircraft machine guns. ”

Wang Haitao said: "Don't take it for granted and tell me that it shouldn't be a big problem, you have to go and inspect it yourself, so that you know in your heart, I don't want a large number of casualties under the bombing of Japanese planes." In case that happens, I can't spare you. Tang Longzai took a breath of cool air, and replied, "Yes, I'll go on patrol immediately." After saying that, he saluted, turned around and ran out. Looking at the back of Tang Longzai running out, Wang Haitao and Su Zuxin both smiled.

At dawn the next day, the officers and men of the three brigades all moved, and after Wang Haitao and Su Zuxin had breakfast, they also climbed a hill outside the south gate. An observation post had already been set up on the mountain, and Wang Haitao and his men took a radio station to observe the course of the battle, and the task of front-line command naturally fell on Tang Longzai, commander of the 91st Army.

At eight o'clock in the morning, with the order to start Tang Longzai's attack, 10,000 artillery guns were fired in unison at the three city gates, and all the artillery shells smashed the shells to the Japanese position, and for a time the gunpowder smoke and dust surrounded the three gates of Yongzhou City, and the Japanese army could not see anything else on the position outside the city except for the firelight that could pass through the smoke and dust.

The Japanese army was still prepared for the attack of the Chinese army, and the three brigades of the 91st Army were preparing for the attack, and the Japanese army was not idle, and all the Japanese troops were reinforcing the fortifications outside the city and rushing to repair more fortifications inside the city for two days. Lieutenant General Chilu Li could not figure out the direction of the main attack of the Chinese army, so he sent two infantry brigades outside the three city gates, and there was also an infantry brigade on the city wall where the three city gates were located.

While 10,000 artillery pieces were firing at the same time, the first round of attack units of the three brigades was ready to attack. At the east gate, two heavy tanks, four light tanks, and four heavy armored vehicles were lined up in front of the attack position, and behind the combat vehicles were the officers and men of the first battalion of the 874th Regiment. The battalion commander, He Renlong, was standing on the body of an armored car, holding a telescope while observing the Japanese positions opposite, while waiting for the order to attack.

In front of the attack position at the south gate, the 877th Regiment, as the first round of troops, was also ready to attack, and more than ten combat vehicles in front of the soldiers were also ready to go. There were also chariots and officers and men of the 880th Regiment at the west gate waiting for the order to attack after the fire extended. The Japanese dug anti-tank trenches in front of the positions, but the brigades still lined up their tanks.

Even if the combat vehicles could not drive the Japanese position, they could still cover the advance of the infantry on the road from the attack position to the anti-tank trench for several hundred meters, and when they arrived in front of the anti-tank trench, the vehicle-mounted artillery and vehicle-mounted heavy machine gun on the combat vehicle could still be used as a mobile fire point to provide fire support for the attacking infantry. Therefore, the three brigades, knowing that there were anti-tank trenches in front of the Japanese positions, still sent their tanks up.

After 20 minutes of shelling, the barbed wire fence in front of the Japanese position had been blown up in scattered pieces and had lost its usefulness, and the front of the position was even more densely riddled with bomb craters. The various fortifications in front of the position were almost destroyed, and the Japanese soldiers killed and scattered weapon parts could be seen everywhere. At this time, the artillery fire began to extend deep into the Japanese positions, and the order for the infantry to start attacking was also conveyed separately.

As the order was conveyed in place, the roar of the chariot engine sounded in front of the three attack positions, and the chariot gradually moved forward, and the attack on Yongzhou City officially began. The 462nd Brigade facing the Japanese position at the south gate was attacked by the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 877th Regiment, and the officers and men of the two battalions followed closely behind more than 10 battle vehicles and advanced to the Japanese position a few hundred meters away.

On the Japanese position, the commander of the first line of defense, a Shaozuo brigade leader, had just recovered a little from the dizziness of the bombing, when he heard the roar of the engine from everywhere, he saw that more than ten combat vehicles in the distance were covering a large number of infantry and were advancing towards the position, and the captain couldn't help shouting: "The Chinese army is attacking, enter the position quickly!"