Thick black clouds overturned the entire battlefield. In the trenches filled with the smell of death, the dust-covered National Revolutionary Army soldiers silently wiped their bayonets, arranged their bullet bags, and made final preparations before the attack.
In a low and dark house behind the position, the lanterns hanging on the wall swayed and trembled with the occasional cannon fire in the distance. Under the weak light, there were dusty but resolute faces.
General Xue Yue's East Henan Corps has issued operational orders to encircle and annihilate the Japanese 14th Division. The 301st Regiment has also received new operational orders, which is to cooperate with friendly forces and attack Inner Huangcheng at all costs to complete the annihilation of the Japanese army.
task.
The brothers of the 74th Army have been training all winter, and it has been a week since they arrived at the battlefield from Hubei. During this short period of time, most of them were fighting in the trenches with the Japanese army, and no large-scale battles occurred. This made
They couldn't get enough of it.
But now they are going to act together with the entire East Henan Corps to annihilate the elite Japanese 14th Division who are rushing forward arrogantly. This is a large-scale operation of unprecedented scale, and all the brothers are extremely excited.
The commander of the regiment, Zhang Handuo, had a straight uniform and shiny riding boots. His voice was sonorous and powerful, conveying the combat orders from the military headquarters. All the officers at the platoon level and above who gathered at the temporary regiment headquarters had their blood boiling in their bones as the orders were read out.
stand up.
"Did you hear the order clearly?" Regiment leader Zhang Handuo closed the folder, glanced sharply at the officers in the room, and asked loudly.
"At any cost! Advance into Neihuang with all your strength!"
The officers in the room answered neatly, their voices confident and loud, making the low-rise houses rustle with dust.
The brothers have been waiting for this day for too long. In the past, they were retreating and losing cities to the Japanese. They fought countless defeats, but now they are taking the initiative to attack and annihilate the Japanese divisions.
group.
"Brothers! The Sichuan Army's troops stained Teng County with blood. They are bloody and not afraid of death! Chief Li's troops were able to annihilate more than 10,000 Japs in Taierzhuang. They showed the prestige of our Chinese soldiers! Our Central Army is not a coward either! We must do it this time
We must go all out to annihilate the Tufeiyuan Division! Increase the power of our army and boost our morale!"
The words of the regiment leader Zhang Handuo were so resounding that all the officers were excited. Although the troops commanded by General Li Zongren won a great victory in Taierzhuang and eliminated more than 10,000 Japanese, they were not completely wiped out in the end, which was a pity.
Watching the friendly troops fighting lively, the Central Army is known as the elite, but it has been knocking on the outside. This time, it is also eager to fight a big battle to encircle and annihilate the Japanese divisions, to win a victory that shocks the whole country, and makes the friendly brothers also
Look, let the people across the country see that the Central Army is not just a showpiece but a mainstay on the anti-Japanese battlefield!
"Okay, disband and launch the attack in half an hour!"
Seeing the high morale of the officers, the regiment leader Zhang Handuo didn't say much. He waved his hand and announced the disbandment.
The officers filed out and soon went straight to their respective companies and disappeared into the darkness. Yang Ling also said goodbye to the regiment leader Zhang Handuo and went straight to his third battalion, while the regiment headquarters and the second battalion moved together.
This battle is very different from the past. Now the Japanese 14th Division occupies the Longhai Line and is attacking the area west of Xuzhou. Yang Ling's mission is to advance in the direction of the Japanese attack. This is an extremely risky battle.
A big confrontation, unlike the previous defense.
On the one hand, there is the elite 14th Division of the Japanese Army, and on the other hand, there is the East Henan Corps, which has gathered countless elite troops of the Central Army. This is a head-on confrontation between strong and strong, a face-to-face fight, who is stronger and who is weaker?
You will know in one battle.
The battlefield was still deathly silent, and the scorched earth battlefield illuminated by occasional rising flares was pale. Yang Ling walked along the trench, crossing the trenches filled with brothers, patting the brothers' shoulders along the way, silently encouraging them.
Yang Ling quickly arrived at the forward position, where he could see that the Japanese army had set up barbed wire fences and deep trenches on the opposite position, and their three battalions would attack from here.
This was an unreserved offensive operation. The entire regiment participated in the attack, and even the cooking soldiers and clerks were organized into each combat company.
In addition to the 301st Regiment, all units of the 74th Army have also arrived at the designated attack position. They will cooperate with General Song Xilian's troops to launch an attack from the southern front.
Elite attack troops are assigned in all other directions, such as Gui Yongqing's troops, Li Hanhun's troops, etc., all of which are elites armed to the teeth, and the fat and round 14th Division has become a turtle in the urn.
You will be struck by thunder.
The waiting was excruciating. Time passed by minute by second. Yang Ling had not been so excited for a long time. He checked his guns and bullets again and again. He raised his watch and used the flares sent by the Japanese army to see that the hour hand was already pointing.
It's nine o'clock.
"Everyone is ready!" Yang Ling's steady voice sounded in the trench, and there was a faint sound in the trench, and everyone loaded their guns.
"call out--"
A red signal flare rose into the sky, followed closely by the booming sound.
A burst of white light suddenly flashed across the horizon, and countless crackling sounds came from overhead. The overwhelming shells dragged a long line of fire toward the Japanese positions.
Two full hours of artillery preparations were enough to blow up the Japanese position in front of them to pieces. In fact, it was true. The entire army's artillery fire was concentrated, and even the reinforced concrete fortifications could not withstand it.
Groups of exploding flames lit up from the Japanese army's position, and soon the entire Japanese army's position turned into a sea of fire, and the entire night sky was illuminated red.
In the flames of the explosion, the rotten wood, mutilated limbs, helmets, and sandbags on the Japanese position were all lifted into the sky by the fierce air waves, and the Japanese position fell into a fiery hell.
The densely packed brothers lying in the trenches looked at the miserable situation of the Japanese positions without any pity or sympathy. They wished they could blow up all these little devils.
The hot airwaves from the explosion swept over, and the entire buffer zone was filled with gunpowder smoke and mud. The smoke was billowing, and the brothers' vision was gradually obscured, but they could still see the flash of the explosion in the thick smoke.
The artillery fire was extending into the depth of the Japanese position. Amidst the deafening sound of artillery fire, officers roared at the top of their lungs from the trenches: "Attack! Attack!"
The order to attack resounded across the battlefield in the darkness, and the crowds in the dark trenches surged, as if the trenches had come to life. The densely packed brothers climbed out of the trenches and rushed toward the Japanese positions that were engulfed in flames.