Shortly after Tiegang's cavalry battalion launched a surprise attack on the Japanese reinforcements in Banqiao Town, the 541st Regiment of the 18o Division also launched a forceful attack on Linhuaiguan.
The cavalry battalion was well-calculated and unprepared. In addition, Iron and Steel's battlefield selection was extremely tricky. It was not until the cavalry battalion's saber almost stabbed the little Japanese in the buttocks that the Japs finally discovered it. The result was one can imagine, so even if the Japs One brigade was still defeated and the Japanese were unable to organize effective resistance.
However, the 541st Regiment's attack on Linhuai Pass did not start smoothly.
Although the Japs stationed at Linhuaiguan had only half a brigade left at this time, and there was not enough ammunition, because the Japs had built complete fortifications in advance, all machine gun nests were reinforced with wood, and all kinds of side fire, light and dark Bunkers, communication trenches and even underground bunkers are all available.
This is also the characteristic of the little devil.
The Japs during World War II were like a group of tireless prairie dogs. They built fortifications wherever they hit them. As long as they stayed in one place for three days, they could build complete field fortifications. Once seven days passed, the materials would be replaced. If there is enough, it is possible to build a permanent fortification, and once three months have passed, it is very likely to build a fortress.
The U.S. military has suffered enough from the Japanese fortifications on the Pacific battlefield. Almost all islands such as Iwo Jima, Saipan, and Guadalcanal have been built into fortresses by the Japanese. Even though the U.S. military has absolutely superior firepower, it can only take a few lives. Filling in, pushing forward bit by bit at the cost of human lives. In the end, the top US military leaders couldn't stand it anymore, so they adopted a leap-frog tactic and decided not to compete with the Japanese for islands, but to skip over these islands and directly attack little Japan. of the main island.
The group of Japanese troops heading north in Central China had been fighting the Japanese on the battlefield of Huaihe River for more than a month. Therefore, the Japs at Linhuai Pass had built the fortifications at Linhuai Pass like iron barrels. However, the 541st Regiment lacked the heavy firepower to attack the enemy. There were not many ways to do it. Every time there was enemy fire interception, they could only send death squads to hold explosive packs and blow them up one by one.
This style of fighting was not only brutal, but also extremely inefficient. More than an hour later, the cavalry battalion had defeated the Japanese reinforcements in Banqiao Town, and they all began to pursue freely. However, the 541st Regiment was still not too big. Progress, even the first line of defense on the periphery has not been broken through.
After another half an hour, Xiang Tianhu arrived at Linhuaiguan.
Now that the 541st Regiment was pushing forward little by little, Xiang Tianhu was immediately annoyed. At that time, he dismissed the commander of the 541st Regiment from his post, and promoted the commander of the 1st Battalion to the commander of the new regiment. As soon as the regiment commander took office, he fully understood Xiang Tianhu's combat intentions and immediately led the 1st Battalion in a desperate charge.
Faced with the group charge of the 1st Battalion of the 541st Regiment at all costs, the disadvantage of the Linhuai defenders' lack of ammunition was immediately exposed. The Japanese built a lot of light and dark firepower, side firepower and even bunkers, but due to insufficient ammunition, these firepower points could only be used. It produced less than 10% of the power, so it was not enough to stop the group charge of the 1st Battalion of the 541st Regiment.
After more than 300 officers and soldiers were injured or killed, the 1st Battalion Commander finally broke into the Japanese headquarters with his last remaining 100 officers and soldiers, and personally killed the highest commander of the Linhuai Pass garrison, Colonel Utada alive!
At dawn, the 1st Battalion Commander lay on Utada's desk. With his remaining left hand, he crookedly wrote the words "Linhuai Pass has been captured" on a piece of paper, and then handed it to his orderly to submit to the sky. Tiger, after writing the note, the 1st Battalion Commander fainted on the spot due to excessive blood loss. In the hand-to-hand combat that just ended, although the 1st Battalion Commander hacked Colonel Utada alive, he also let Utada remove one of his arms, and it was his right arm. .
(Dividing line)
Zhang Zizhong stayed up all night, waiting for news from Division 18o.
But Xiang Tianhu seemed to be deliberately trying to make things difficult for Zhang Zizhong. No news came back for a long time. Zhang Zizhong would unconsciously raise his head every half an hour and glance at the wall clock hanging on the wall. Time was passing by little by little. , seeing that the hour hand had pointed to past four in the morning, and it was almost dawn, but there was still no news from the 18o Division.
Zhang Zizhong began to lose his composure. Could it be that the 18o Division's attack on Linhuaiguan was not going well
What worries Zhang Zizhong even more is that once the battle cannot be resolved before dawn, the situation will become more difficult when the Japanese aviation troops arrive.
Another half hour passed, and a hint of fish belly white appeared in the eastern sky.
The chief of staff, who had also stayed up all night, sighed and said with some regret: "It seems that our judgment was wrong. The northward group of Japanese troops in Central China did not fall into a dilemma of running out of ammunition and food. The 18o Division's attack only I'm afraid it will be very difficult to fix, and it will most likely affect the defense of the protruding part of the south bank. We have to make arrangements in advance... "
However, before the chief of staff finished speaking, a communications staff officer rushed out from the communications office, waving a telegram copy in his hand and shouted: "Military seat, staff seat, good news!"
Zhang Zizhong and the chief of staff stood up immediately.
The staff officer then stood up at attention and said loudly: "Military seat, staff seat, the 18th Division called urgently. They successfully recovered Banqiao Town and Linhuaiguan half an hour ago, killed more than 2,000 Japanese, and seized 1,770 firearms of all kinds." There are more than a hundred guns, more than ten cannons of various kinds, and more than ten trucks and three-wheeled motorcycles, and the rest of the materials are countless."
After the communications staff officer finished his report, there was a moment of silence in the war room.
A moment later, Zhang Zizhong and the chief of staff waved their fists at the same time.
"Well done!" Zhang Zizhong waved his big fist and said viciously, "Beautiful!"
The chief of staff also waved his fist twice and said with excitement: "It seems that our previous judgment is still correct. Even if the Japanese army in central China is not in a desperate situation of running out of ammunition and food, it is probably not far behind. Military Seat, as long as the commander-in-chief makes up his mind to carry out a full-scale counterattack, we have every chance to gather the 50,000 Japanese on the Huaihe battlefield and annihilate them!"
Zhang Zizhong hummed, and said with deep understanding: "Chief of Staff, immediately report the victory to the superior department, and state our judgment truthfully to the superior department."
"Yes!" The chief of staff stood upright, saluted, then turned around and walked excitedly into the communications office, dictating to the radio operator the victory telegram from the Fifth Theater Commander's Department.
The victory report of the 59th Army immediately shocked the headquarters of the Fifth Theater Command.
The 59th Army's return to Linhuai is of great significance, because this is not only the most successful counterattack launched by the Japanese on the Huaihe battlefield in the past month, but also because after the return of Linhuai Pass, the two groups supporting the Japanese army's northward cluster in Central China One of the lifelines, the Jinpu Railway has been cut off.
At this time, if Hu Zongnan's 17th Army boldly penetrates eastward from the northern foot of the Dabie Mountains to seize Changfeng Town, then another lifeline for the Japanese troops in Central China to move northward, the highway connecting Feicheng and Huainan, will also be cut off. In this way, the Huaihe battlefield will be cut off. The more than 50,000 Japanese troops will become an isolated and helpless army.
Thinking of the possibility of annihilating more than 50,000 Japanese troops on the Huaihe battlefield in one fell swoop, the commander-in-chief of the Fifth War Zone, Li Zongren, could no longer remain calm, because this was not only an opportunity for the Fifth War Zone, but also an opportunity for the entire country and the entire nation!
Imagine that if the 9th and 13th Divisions are really reunited and annihilated on the Huaihe battlefield, then the situation on the entire Xuzhou battlefield will immediately change. If the 9th and 13th Divisions are eliminated first, Li Zongren will be fully confident and then The main forces of the 5th and 10th Divisions heading south along the canal and the Ping-Han Line were also eliminated.
If the Japanese's southbound cluster and northbound cluster are eliminated together, it means that the Battle of Xuzhou will end with a complete victory of the Chinese Army. After losing the four most elite main divisions, Li Zongren has enough There are reasons to believe that for at least three years, Japan will no longer be able to organize a large-scale offensive.
It is even possible for the Chinese ** troops to take advantage of the situation and launch a full-scale counterattack to regain the vast lost territory in North and East China in one fell swoop.
By then, little Japan will most likely repeat the mistakes of the Shanghai War of 128 and request European and American powers to mediate. In the end, the Nationalist Government may still inevitably lose some interests, but at least it can preserve the basic integrity of its territory and prevent North China from being destroyed. , large areas of East China were split off.
If such a result really occurs, Li Zongren will be famous in Chinese history as a national hero!
Thinking of this, Li Zongren couldn't calm down at all, and immediately ordered the staff department to send an emergency call to the Wuhan camp.
After the Wuhan camp received the telegram from the Fifth War Zone, they were a little disbelieving at first, and then overjoyed. In the excitement of the Generalissimo, it is said that he scolded three Niang Xipi in a row, exaggerating that he was a loyal general. His exact words It goes like this: Zhang Zizhong, I know, I know, I experienced his power during the Central Plains War.
Everything that happened next was a matter of course. Faced with such a huge temptation, how could Chairman Chiang, who even dreamed of a hearty victory, be able to hold back? Chairman Chiang immediately ordered Hu Zongnan's 17th Army Corps to move eastward from the northern foot of the Dabie Mountains and seize Changfeng Town within three days.
Although the 17th Army Corps has not yet completed its training and its combat effectiveness has not been restored, Chairman Chiang does not care about this anymore.
Chairman Chiang looked at the map and thought that as long as Hu Zongnan's 17th Army captured Changfeng Town and cut off the road from Feicheng to Huainan, the Japanese 9th and 13th Divisions trapped on the Huaihe River battlefield would immediately become turtles in the urn. A few days ago, a large amount of supplies belonging to the Japanese army in Central China were inexplicably destroyed. The situation is really gratifying.
Chairman Chiang has even seen that victory is beckoning to him. After losing three consecutive conference battles and losing large areas of land in North and East China, will the Communist Party finally usher in a great victory? Is the Republic of China finally going to make a historic transition to a strategic counteroffensive? Niang Xipi, any protracted war is nothing but farts! (To be continued.)