The cunning Dofeiyuan Division openly built plank roads and secretly visited Chencang, using a small number of troops to rely on strongholds to block the 74th Army and other troops. They secretly deployed the main force to attack Lanfeng City in the west, trying to tear a path through the iron barrel-like encirclement.
Breakout gap.
Yang Ling and his team's analysis reports were reported up one level at a time, and were finally placed on the desk of General Xue Yue, the commander of the East Henan Corps. General Xue Yue did not dare to be careless. On the one hand, he ordered all units to step up their attacks and pay close attention to the movements of the main Japanese army.
On the other hand, Gui Yongqing, the commander of the 27th Army of the Chinese Army in the direction of Lanfeng City, hurriedly reported the situation and asked him to be more vigilant to prevent the Japanese army from breaking out from the west.
"This little devil is crazy because he has nothing to lose. Instead of breaking out from the east, he went all the way to the west. Isn't it a joke?" Gui Yongqing did not pay attention to Commander Xue's reminder and ordered the troops to advance slowly according to the original plan.
The 27th Army is the foundation of the Teaching Corps. Although it suffered heavy losses in the battle at Purple Mountain in Nanjing, its strength cannot be underestimated. Moreover, they also have a large number of armored units, which is also the capital of Gui Yongqing's arrogance.
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Originally, according to the plan, Song Xilian's 71st Army was to defend the direction of Lanfeng City. However, in order to show the importance of encircling and annihilating the Tufeiyuan Division, the Chairman of the General Assembly specially transferred Gui Yongqing's "Yulin Army" to participate in the battle and replaced the 71st Army.
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Gui Yongqing and Qiu Qingquan are both disciples of the emperor, and they control the elite Central Army troops. Although they have high aspirations, Gui Yongqing's military command ability can only be considered mediocre compared to the talented Central Army, but he is senior.
, which can be regarded as suppressing those unruly officers.
When the 27th Army slowly continued to advance eastward, trying to encircle the Doijun Division together with friendly forces and encircle and annihilate it, all of the Japanese 27th Brigade and part of the 28th Brigade and in accordance with Doijun's orders
After gathering, they were rushing toward Lan Feng City with lightning speed.
An infantry battalion of the 27th Army's vanguard unit first exchanged fire with the Japanese army thirty miles east of Lanfeng City. The vanguard battalion did not realize that they were running into the main force of the Japanese army. Instead, they rushed forward to attack in an attempt to
Destroy the frontal enemy.
After all, a few days ago, Qiu Qingquan's 2nd Division Armored Force also ran into a group of hundreds of Japanese cavalry, wiping them out to boost their morale. This vanguard battalion did not want to lose the limelight and also wanted to fight a battle of annihilation.
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But as soon as the two sides exchanged fire, the fierce firepower of the Japanese army overwhelmed the brothers in the leading battalion. They lost most of their lives in less than half an hour of fierce fighting. The seriously injured battalion commander also realized that something was wrong and hurriedly ordered a retreat. However, the Japanese army
The outflanking troops had already surrounded them and it was too late to escape.
The leading troops suffered a devastating blow from the Japanese army. The main force of the Japanese army was rushing towards Lanfeng City. When the news came back to Lanfeng City, Gui Yongqing could no longer sit still. Although he was usually extremely arrogant and did not take the Japanese army seriously.
, but in the final analysis, I was still very afraid of the Japanese army. After all, the tragedy of Nanjing was still vivid in my mind.
"Where is Commander Qiu? Where is his armored unit? Let him quickly stop the Japanese army and buy time for our army to deploy defenses!" Gui Yongqing immediately thought of Qiu Qingquan. After all, in this plain area, only armored units can block it.
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"Master Qiu passed Lanfeng half an hour ago and withdrew towards the west."
The staff officer's answer shocked Gui Yongqing, and he shouted angrily: "Why didn't you stop him!?"
The staff officer was also aggrieved: "I thought it was your order, Chief Gui..."
Gui Yongqing waved his hands helplessly. It would be useless to talk more now. Solving the problem at hand is the top priority. His brows furrowed into the character "Sichuan". He looked at the map and asked: "How many people are coming from the Japanese army?"
"According to the reconnaissance report, there are at least four or five regiments, as well as armored vehicles and cavalry units..."
Hearing that the strength of the Japanese army was so large, his original intention of relying on Lanfeng City to resist suddenly disappeared. After pondering for a moment, he said: "It is extremely difficult for me to defend Lanfeng City with my own army."
ah."
The staff officer naturally heard the meaning of his words and said worriedly: "If we evacuate Lanfeng, it will be difficult to explain to Commander Xue and the commissioners."
Gui Yongqing naturally knew that the Chairman had high hopes for annihilating the Dofeiyuan Division in the Battle of Lanfeng. If he ran away like this and opened the gap, even if he were a disciple of the Emperor, he would probably not be able to escape the blame.
But if he insists on defending Lanfeng, facing so many elite Japanese troops, not to mention a mere 27th Army, I am afraid he will have to join in. So after thinking over and over again, he decided to save his life. If the credit is gone, he can earn it again, but life
If it's gone, then there's nothing.
"The order was sent to the 88th Division to defend Lanfeng, and our 27th Army immediately retreated to Kaifeng and Qixian to avoid the enemy's edge." Gui Yongqing did not dare to completely run away, but was prepared to leave one division to defend, no matter whether it was possible or not
Just keep it, he can explain it easily when the time comes.
Moreover, the 88th Division is affiliated to the 71st Army and was temporarily transferred to the command of their 27th Army. In this situation, he is reluctant to use his own troops and can only sacrifice the 88th Division, a friendly force that is not related to them.
Let them be cannon fodder.
The chief of staff knew what his commander meant. Although he felt unworthy of the 88th Division, he did not lose his own interests and did not say anything more. He quickly sent the order.
The troops of the 27th Army left Lanfeng and retreated in large strides under Gui Yongqing's order, but Long Muhan, commander of the 88th Division, who received the order to stand firm, was so angry that he cursed.
"Damn it, Gui Yongqing can't think of letting me fight this stubborn battle. He wants to live, but I don't want to die either!"
The 88th Division was originally an elite division of German weapons. It was the ace unit among the aces. However, after the tragic defeat in Shanghai and Nanjing, the 88th Division's elite units were all exhausted. The additional recruits caused the unit's combat effectiveness to continue to decline. Although it still retained the central
An elite brand, but its status is not as good as before.
Now Gui Yongqing asked their 88th Division to defend Lanfeng. Gui Yongqing would receive a reward for defending him. Without their 88th Division, nothing would happen. If they could not defend them, Han Mulong and the 88th Division would not be able to escape destruction. Their 88th Division became a typical cannon fodder.
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Thinking that the ace troops of German weapons that everyone admired at the time were now reduced to cannon fodder, the division commander Han Long Muhan couldn't help but scolded his mother, "It's really like a tree felling and a hozen being dispersed."
But now their 88th Division has been transferred to the command of the 27th Army. Faced with Gui Yongqing's order, he had to obey. He could only order the troops to march into Lanfeng City to build positions. If the situation went bad, he was not prepared to defend it. After all,
He is not a fool either.
The Japanese 27th Brigade attacked Lanfeng City aggressively, and the 88th Division's positions on the periphery were rushed to pieces. The troops of the two battalions did not last for half an hour before they were all martyred.
"Master's seat, Master's seat, brothers can't hold it anymore, the second and third battalions are all over!" A call came from outside the city, making the division commander Long Muhan unable to sit still any longer.
"Withdraw! Let's withdraw too. If Gui Yongqing is not used as cannon fodder, he will not be able to escape the blame for the unauthorized evacuation!" Seeing that the Japanese army was attacking fiercely and the troops could not stop it, he also gave the order to withdraw.
The 88th Division took advantage of the gap between the Japanese army and the encirclement, and abandoned Lanfeng City overnight and withdrew towards the north. It only took the Japanese army less than a day to break through Lanfeng and break the Chinese army's encirclement.
Even Doi Yuan, the division commander, felt a little incredible.
When the Japanese army captured Lanfeng City, it not only broke the encirclement of the Chinese army, but also threatened Kaifeng and Zhengzhou to the west. The situation on the Lanfeng battlefield took a turn for the worse overnight.