As soon as Tang Yizong's words fell, the two squadron leaders behind Wang Weikuan exclaimed: "Captain, are these weapons for us?" Wang Weikuan took the list in Tang Yizong's hand, ignored the two squadron leaders behind him, and said politely to Tang Yizong: "Director Tang, it's really troublesome for you, I believe in Director Tang, no need to count, we just accept it." ”

Tang Yizong also smiled: "Thank you Captain Wang for your trust, but the procedures still have to be done." If Captain Wang counts it, it's no problem, just sign this settlement record, and I'll be able to enter the account. Wang Weikuan hurriedly took over the handover record, read it and signed his name. Tang Yizong saw that Wang Weikuan had signed it, and said to Wang Weikuan: "By the way, Captain Wang, there are a total of forty horses used to pull mountain cannons, all of which are tied to the backyard, you can send someone to bring them over, and more than a dozen carts are also in the backyard, the commander has explained, and these horses and carts are also handed over to you." ”

Wang Weikuan didn't know what to say, he sent troops to help Wang Haitao and them, but Wang Haitao gave a return far beyond his expectations, the last time he supported his weapons and ammunition in Hengyang, plus so many heavy weapons he supports now, these are all good things that are hard to buy, not to mention his own anti-Japanese brigade, even a regular division can't be equipped with it.

In Wang Weikuan's repeated thanks, Tang Yizong said goodbye and left, just after the big battle, he, the person in charge of logistics, has too many things to do, if it weren't for the commander to personally call and explain to himself, Tang Yizong can send a section chief to handle the handover, even if it is to give Wang Weikuan face, although these weapons are not small, but in Tang Yizong's eyes, they are nothing.

Wang Weikuan sent Tang Yizong away, and then turned back to find the two squadron leaders, but he couldn't see anyone, and after looking carefully, it turned out that the two had already run to the pile of weapons and couldn't put it down and stroked the mountain cannon. Wang Weikuan shook his head with a smile, ran to the gate of the courtyard in person, and called all his soldiers in. Originally, Wang Weikuan was still thinking about how to move these heavy weapons back, but he didn't expect Wang Haitao to prepare the horse and cart for himself.

Under the command of Wang Weikuan, these soldiers excitedly led the horses, set up the cart, and carried the weapons and ammunition on the ground onto the carriage. There were too many weapons and ammunition, and more than a dozen carts could not fit them, so these fighters simply carried the light machine guns and heavy machine guns with people, so that they brought all the weapons and ammunition with them at one time.

When Wang Weikuan and they returned to the station, the entire anti-Japanese brigade was in a sensation, these weapons were captured in the battle, not brand new, but there were also seven or eighty percent new, a few weapons still have scars, but the soldiers of the anti-Japanese brigade still can't put it down, and they are assigned to light and heavy machine gun troops, and the weapons are maintained and wiped as soon as possible.

Because there are so many large and small artillery, Wang Weikuan specially set up an artillery squadron, mortar and 92 infantry artillery soldiers although they can't hit accurately, but they can still use it, mountain artillery, this kind of regular artillery, the soldiers can't play, Wang Weikuan can only wait for Wang Haitao to send him instructors, and then let the soldiers learn to use them.

In the middle of the night, the reconnaissance regiment of the 211th Division left the city first, and Xu Qun sent 30 reconnaissance squads to search and advance along both sides of the highway towards Zhangshu County. The rest of the troops marched in line and marched along the road towards Zhangshu County. Xingan County is less than 100 kilometers away from Zhangshu County, and the highway is along the Ganjiang River all the way to the north. The terrain is relatively flat, and there is no place to set up an ambush.

As soon as dawn came, the 877th Regiment and the 1st Mixed Armored Battalion of the 462nd Brigade were the first to leave Xingan County, followed by the other two battalions, the divisional armored regiment, the 211th Division, and other units also leaving the city. Wang Haitao left the logistics office in Xingan County, and in order to prevent accidents, Wang Haitao asked the anti-Japanese brigade to stay in Xingan County temporarily, because the anti-Japanese brigade had just received so many light and heavy machine guns and large and small artillery, and the troops needed to be reorganized, and it would take time for the artillery squadron to learn to use artillery.

Wang Weikuan also found Wang Haitao for this reason, and wanted to fight with Wang Haitao's main force, but Wang Haitao said to Wang Weikuan: "Old Wang, Xingan County not only has all our supplies, but also hundreds of light and light soldiers in the field hospital. Seriously wounded and sick, there must not be any mistakes, now your subordinates need to ask for reorganization, otherwise it will be difficult to exert full combat effectiveness, so I hand over the safety of Xingan County to you, your responsibility is heavy, don't forget, although the 22nd Division of the Japanese Army was defeated, there are still thousands of remnants of the enemy missing, to prevent the Japanese army from sneaking up on the county, you can't be careless!"

Wang Weikuan knew that his responsibility was not small, so he said to Wang Haitao: "General Wang, you can rest assured to deal with the Japanese army outside Zhangshu City, Xingan County is handed over to me here, and I guarantee that Xingan County will be foolproof!" Wang Haitao relieved his heart, and after telling Wang Weikuan a few words, he led the troops to leave Xingan County. After Wang Weikuan sent Wang Haitao away, he immediately arranged troops to deploy defenses on the city wall, and at the same time sent scouts to reconnoiter the movements of the Japanese army outside the city.

Wang Haitao's troops did not go fast, and at four o'clock in the afternoon, Wang Haitao arrived at Yongtai Town, which is located 20 kilometers outside the city of Zhangshu County. There was originally a small group of Japanese troops stationed here, and the 877th Regiment captured the town without much effort, and only a dozen or so Japanese soldiers fled to the direction of Zhangshu. As soon as Wang Haitao arrived in Yongtai Town, Xu Qun's telegram was delivered.

Xu Qun's telegram reported that the Japanese army had surrounded Zhangshu County on three sides, and even on the Gan River in the northwest, Japanese motorboats were blocking the river. Ten kilometers to the north of Yongtai Town is the outer defense line of the Japanese army, and the number is that the 32nd Division of the Japanese Army is responsible for defending the south and east of Zhangshu County. After reading the telegram sent by Xu Qun, Wang Haitao decided to set up the headquarters in Yongtai Town, with the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 3rd Guard Regiment responsible for the defense of Yongtai Town, and the 130 Heavy Cannon Regiment setting up an artillery position on a high ground east of the town, and the 3rd Battalion of the 3rd Guard Regiment being responsible for the defense of the Heavy Cannon Regiment.

As soon as the headquarters settled down, Wang Haitao instructed his subordinates to immediately get in touch with Tang Hongming in the city, told him that the rescue force had arrived outside Zhangshu City, and asked Tang Hongming to report the situation of the troops immediately. Soon after the telegram was sent, he received a reply from Tang Hongming. In the telegram, Tang Hongming first reported in detail on the situation of the troops, and then pleaded guilty to Wang Haitao and asked Wang Haitao to punish him.

Wang Haitao didn't pay attention to Tang Hongming's plea, he paid attention to the current situation of the troops in Zhangshu City. Wang Haitao learned from the telegram that the casualties of the 210th Division and the 463rd Brigade were good, with more than 1,400 casualties in the 460th Brigade, more than 600 casualties in the 461st Brigade, and more than 400 casualties in the 463rd Brigade. However, during the battle, Su Ming, commander of the division's guard regiment, Cao Lingming, commander of the second battalion of the 872nd Regiment, and Tao Yuqiang, commander of the third battalion of the 873rd Regiment, were killed, and Zhang Sanli, commander of the 875th Regiment of the 461st Brigade, was seriously injured.

However, the logistics department suffered heavy losses, and the surviving personnel of the entire logistics department were only enough to form a baggage company, and Yu Dabao, the director in charge of the logistics department, also died, and the whole division is now seriously short of ammunition and logistics materials. In addition, the division's armored regiment suffered considerable losses, with four heavy tanks, six light tanks, nine heavy armored vehicles, seven light armored vehicles, and five armored trucks, and only enough fuel for all combat vehicles to travel 50 kilometers.

The heaviest casualties were the 152 heavy howitzer and artillery regiment, and only 16 intact howitzers and artillery pieces remained in the whole regiment, and there were two bases of ammunition left. The regiment commander Wei Zhiyuan died, three battalion commanders sacrificed two, and another was also seriously injured. Of the 3,400 men in the regiment, only 865 remained. The more Wang Haitao looked at the telegram, the more ugly his face became, and after reading it, he couldn't help but slap the telegram on the table with one palm.

Although Wang Haitao asked the artillery to blow up the artillery rather than let them fall into the hands of the enemy, if an artillery piece fell into the hands of the Japanese army intact, it would be a bad thing for the Japanese army to break down the technology and imitate similar artillery.

Besides, every gunner has been trained and cultivated in actual combat for a long time, and they are all precious, and the loss of more than 2,000 people at once this time really made Wang Haitao feel heartache. Wang Haitao walked back and forth in the room, trying to calm the anger in his heart. Tang Longzai picked up the telegram from the table, read it quickly at a glance, his face was also gloomy, and the air in the room seemed to be so closed that people couldn't breathe.

After a long time, Wang Haitao finally calmed himself down, called the signal corps, and called Tang Hongming back. In the telegram, Wang Haitao told Tang Hongming that tomorrow he would lead his troops to engage the Japanese army outside the city, ordered Tang Hongming to concentrate all the fuel for the tank vehicles, and sent the troops with combat effectiveness to organize the tank vehicles together, ready to attack at any time, all the artillery was aimed at the Japanese army in the south of the city, and received the order to bombard the Japanese army.

After the telegram was sent, Wang Haitao asked the signal corps to contact Jurong's independent brigade. Not long after, he received a reply from Huang Guizhong of the Independent Brigade, in which Huang Guizhong reported to Wang Haitao that all 12,000 men from the four regiments of the Independent Brigade had arrived at the outskirts of Zhangshu County and were now lurking in the mountains northeast of the county. In the telegram, Huang Guizhong also reported to Wang Haitao that the Independent Brigade had discovered a prisoner of war camp in Rongtang Town, 10 kilometers south of Fengcheng County, where several hundred comrades-in-arms were being held and guarded by a squadron of Japanese troops. In order not to expose the target, the independent brigade only monitored it and did not take action.

Wang Haitao was still very satisfied with Huang Guizhong's caution, and immediately asked his subordinates to send a telegram to Huang Guizhong, instructing him: 1. Tomorrow he could attack the prisoner of war camp and try to rescue all his comrades-in-arms inside; 2. Reconnoiter the situation of the Japanese troops in Fengcheng County and send troops to cut off the communication between the two cities from Zhangshu to Fengcheng according to the situation; 3. Carry out a feint attack on the east and north of Zhangshu City tomorrow to attract the Japanese troops in that direction and make it impossible for them to reinforce the Japanese troops in the south.

After receiving a reply from Huang Guizhong promising to complete the task, Wang Haitao summoned all the officers above the regiment level to the headquarters, and when he saw that everyone had arrived, Wang Haitao said: "The 210th Division has been besieged in Zhangshu City for more than ten days, and tomorrow we will fight to the death with the Japanese army outside Zhangshu City, and we must rescue the 210th Division." However, now we have only one 462nd Brigade as the main force, but the combat strength is only 15,000 people, while the Japanese army outside Zhangshu City has two divisions and a mixed brigade, about 50,000 people. The Japanese army is more than three times as large as ours, and if we want to win this battle, there is no way but to fight to the death. ”