It is not only the Japanese who are making slow progress, but also those from the Dameishan Military Division.
In order to ensure the smooth retreat of the main force of the division, Naosaburo Okabe retained Iwasaki Minao's 47th Regiment. The Iwasaki Brigade relied on the solid fortifications of Daping Town to tenaciously withstand the two main groups of the Dameishan Army Division. After many rounds of attacks, it was not until noon the next day that the regiment finally occupied the outer positions of Daping Town.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, the Japanese were compressed into a narrow area of less than a hundred meters in radius.
Seeing the lively fight between the two main regiments in Daping Town, and the guard battalion being sent to Badou Town to block the attack, the guard regiment commander Gao Chu and the cavalry battalion commander Tiegang became a little anxious.
Gao Chu and Tiegang teamed up to find Xu Rui.
"Captain, you are too partial to one." Gao Chu shouted first, "In any case, our security regiment is also the main force of the military division, but now the first and second regiments have been fighting against the Japs in Daping Town for a long time. But our security regiment still refuses to let us in. How can this be done? The battalion and company commanders under my command are already in trouble."
This is the biggest difference between the Kuomintang officers and the Kuomintang officers.
Because of the official ecology of the Kuomintang officers, only with guns can they gain status and have a strong waist, so each one of them often only wants to preserve their strength, so if they can't go to the battlefield, they try not to go to the battlefield, because going to the battlefield means that they will Consuming the troops in their hands will weaken their power and status.
Therefore, in the Kuomintang army, there are almost no officers who take the initiative to fight!
But the officers of the Kuomintang are different. The officialdom of the Kuomintang is much better and more energetic than that of the Kuomintang. Therefore, the thoughts of the Kuomintang commanders must be reversed. They are not afraid of fighting at all, but are afraid of not fighting! Because fighting often means more military exploits and often means promotion.
**The commander is not afraid that his troops will be consumed
I’m really not afraid, because all the troops of the Kuomintang belong to the party, not to the individual commanders. This is the most essential difference between the Kuomintang and the Kuomintang. There are many factions within the Kuomintang army, and there are actually factions within the Kuomintang army. But this faction has nothing to do with military power.
Therefore, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Republic faced danger several times, but the troops were never in chaos.
With the **'s lofty status in the People's Liberation Army system, they could not even take away even a single regiment before defecting. If it were the Kuomintang army, with the **'s status, just one word would probably gather all the old troops from the four fields. Jing Cong, but this is simply impossible to happen in **.
Closer to home, the good political ecology within the ** party and the military determines that the commanders of the ** troops are all keen on fighting, so Gao Chu and Tiegang saw the First and Second Regiments fighting the Japanese in Daping Town. It was so lively, and they were about to capture Daping Town, so the two of them couldn't calm down.
Gao Chu shouted: "Captain, it's our group's turn, right?"
Tiegang said: "Lao Gao, what are you calling for? Since the beginning of this counter-mopping campaign, your security regiment has been doing well and has fought several tough battles. Our cavalry battalion is in the worst situation. We haven't even had a decent battle." When it was my turn, last time in Guan County, Iida detachment chased and annihilated the Japs, but the intensity was really not enough."
After finishing speaking, Tiegang said to Xu Rui: "Commander, should we go up to the cavalry camp? The first and second regiments are too tired. They have been fighting for a long time without capturing Daping Town. Let's go up to our cavalry camp instead." I’ll get it for you in one go!”
Gao Chu immediately counterattacked and said: "Old Tie, don't make trouble. You cavalry only fight in the field. Positional warfare is not your thing. This final general attack mission must and can only be done by our guard regiment!"
"It must and can only be from your security regiment?" Xu Rui said with a half-smile, "Okay, I have no problem with that, as long as you can convince Lao He to give up the final offensive mission to your security regiment."
"Gah?" When Gao Chu heard this, his face immediately fell.
Gao Chu could steal anyone's food, but he didn't dare to steal He Guangming's food, not only because He Guangming had a bad temper, but also because He Guangming was his old commander.
Tiegang added: "Commander, you can't always leave our cavalry battalion alone, can you?"
"Ignore you?" Xu Rui said in amusement, "Old Tie, you are overthinking. Your cavalry battalion is the sharpest knife in our Dameishan Military Division. How can we leave your cavalry battalion idle in such a big war? "
Tiegang's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard this, and he said excitedly: "Captain, so you have a mission?"
"Of course." Xu Rui nodded heavily and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, the main force of the Kumamoto Division should have been blocked by the guard camp near Badou Town by now. The next step will be the annihilation battle against the Kumamoto Division. But in the end, The Kumamoto Division will definitely seek to break out to the west, and at that time, it will be the time for your cavalry battalion to show its talents."
"Understood!" Tiegang said excitedly, "Commander, don't worry, none of the little devils can escape!"
Xu Rui hummed lightly and then said: "But now, let's capture Daping Town first. Only by capturing Daping Town and wiping out all the Japs entrenched in the town can we pursue forward without any distractions. Otherwise, keep it." With such a group of Japs behind us, we might cause some trouble, and when the time comes and the Japs steal our retreat, it will be a lot of fun."
As soon as Xu Rui finished speaking, there was another violent explosion outside the headquarters. Xu Rui quickly walked out of the headquarters with Tiegang and Gao Chu, then raised his telescope and looked in the direction of Daping Town, and saw the direction of Daping Town. There were already clouds of smoke and dust rising up. It was Niu Dazhuang's artillery battalion, which was using unscrupulous cannons to carry out cluster bombardment.
"Lao Niu's artillery battalion has started." Gao Chu said, "It looks like the regiment is about to start a general attack."
Tiegang said with some worry: "Is the artillery position okay? Don't let the Japanese aviation bomb it?"
Since the beginning of the counter-mopping up, the Japanese reconnaissance planes, fighter jets and bombers over the Damei Mountain area have not stopped. Almost every hour or two, a Japanese plane will come over, or drop a few aerial bombs, or do a few dive and strafing attacks. The threat to infantry is actually not great, but the threat to artillery is great.
"It can't be blown up." Xu Rui said, "Didn't you see that big smoke over there? It was all lit by the artillery battalion. When the Japanese bombers looked down from the sky, they could only see large expanses of smoke. Apart from the smoke, there was nothing at all. I can’t see anything, let alone find the artillery battalion’s emplacement, so it’s okay.”
Creating smoke is the cheapest and most effective defense measure against aerial bombardment. What's more advantageous is that it is the mid-winter season, and the land in central Anhui is filled with harvested wheat straw. Wheat straw will be the source of smog that people hate in later generations. But in this war era, it is the most effective and cheapest air defense material.
Almost at the same time, the main force of the Kumamoto Division also arrived near Badou Town.
The main force of the division cannot march as fast as the forward troops because it has to carry a large number of trucks, carriages, and field howitzers. The transportation of these weapons requires roads, and the roads have already been dug up in a mess by the militia team led by Wang Husheng. , so we can only wait for engineers to re-level the road before we can pass smoothly.
Because of this, the main march of the division takes longer than the pure infantry.
The main force of the Kumamoto Division set off yesterday evening and has only arrived at Badou Town after walking for a full twenty hours.
The journey from Daping Town to Shanxian County, and then from Shanxian County to Badou Town was very smooth. Several of his team captains and Chief of Staff Shigetori Shigetori were happy, but Naosaburo Okabe was heartbroken. While sinking a little, he never thought this was a normal situation, because according to battlefield logic, the later the enemy's counterattack comes, the more powerful it is!
Badou Town is already at the midpoint between the Japanese-occupied area and the enemy war zone, which is equivalent to a boundary. This means that if the Dameishan Independent Regiment really has any powerful back-up, it will definitely choose to take action in Badou Town, because in the past After entering Badou Town, they entered the territory controlled by the Japanese army, and the Dameishan Independent Regiment lost the advantage of home field.
Of course, there is another possibility, that is, the Dameishan Independent Regiment does not intend to retaliate against their Kumamoto Division.
However, Naosaburo Okabe believes that this possibility is unlikely. With Xu Rui's character, he will definitely retaliate. Even if he cannot keep their entire Kumamoto division, he will at least bite off a large piece of meat from them! Therefore, Badou Town is likely to become a life and death test for the Kumamoto Division.
Because of worry, Naosaburo Okabe sent multiple telegrams to the Sano unit responsible for opening the road, asking where they were. How far is it from Badou Town? As a result, the Sano Regiment replied every time that they were on the way and were hindered by the mine array of the Dameishan Independent Regiment and were conducting mine clearance operations.
Let me ask again, did the Sano United Team encounter the main force of the Dameishan Independent Regiment? The Sano United team all replied, no.
The Sano Regiment actually encountered an obstruction, but it was just a small force. Sano Torata didn't take it seriously, and Okabe Naosaburo didn't care much either. What this old devil cared about was the main force of the Dameishan Independent Regiment, which was the main force of the Dameishan Independent Regiment. Tens of thousands of troops confronting their Kumamoto division near Daping Town!
As time passed, and as Badou Town got closer and closer, the uneasiness in Naosaburo Okabe's heart became stronger and stronger.
What's the saying? The more you are afraid of something, the more likely it will come!
What Naosaburo Okabe was most worried about was that he would encounter a stubborn resistance from the Dameishan Independent Regiment near Badou Town. As a result, when the main force of the division was still more than ten miles away from Badou Town, a signal corps hurried over and reported: "Division Commander , just received a report from the 23rd Infantry Regiment that they were blocked by the Dameishan Independent Regiment in Badou Town."
Naosaburo Okabe felt his heart tremble and asked urgently: "How many people are there?"
The signal corpsman immediately reported: "There is at least one battalion of troops!"