Night fell again. In the headquarters of the 1st Corps of the Ninth War Zone, General Xue Yue's eyes wandered back and forth on the wall. His expression was serious and his brows were furrowed.
He secretly mobilized more than 100,000 troops in an attempt to encircle and annihilate the Matsuura Division, which was advancing alone in the Wanjialing area.
However, after the battle, it was discovered that the strength of the Matsuura Division was much stronger than imagined. Both the equipment and the fighting will of the soldiers were very strong. After four days of fighting on the front line, they could only be surrounded. If they wanted to eliminate it, I am afraid it would still be difficult.
It takes some effort.
But in fact, there was not much time left to spare them. The commander of the 11th Army, Okamura Neiji, had already mobilized several elite divisions to get closer.
If the Matsuura Division cannot be eliminated in a short period of time, the troops in the Wanjialing area will be in danger of being encircled.
These troops who participated in the siege of the Songpu Division had been fighting fiercely with the Japanese on the Nanxun Line and Ruiwu Road for a whole summer without rest. They were all exhausted at this moment. The previous ammunition and supplies were almost consumed, and they no longer had the ability to continue fighting with the Japanese reinforcements.
Another massive battle.
The only way to break the current predicament is to attack the surrounded Matsuura Division. Only by annihilating the Matsuura Division can we completely eliminate the Japanese's hope of rescue, and then the situation will be greatly improved.
The Japanese who have lost a division will definitely not dare to rush into the army again, and they can also take the opportunity to withdraw the tired troops and let them rest and replenish ammunition and supplies to stabilize the defense line.
Just as General Xue Yue was looking at the battlefield intertwined with red and blue lines on the map and thinking, he heard the sound of footsteps behind him.
General Xue Yue turned around and saw the haggard-looking Chief of Staff General Wu Yizhi walking over with a telegram in hand.
"Sir Xue, the telegram from Commander Wu on the front line has arrived."
When he heard the battle report from the front line, General Xue Yue quickly took it and lowered his head to read it quickly.
"The Matsuura Division was making a crazy breakout today. The troops responsible for the encirclement suffered heavy losses. Just on the Zhanggu Mountain front line, the 306th Regiment of the 51st Division fought hand-to-hand with the Japanese nine times in one day..."
General Wu Yizhi, the chief of staff, had personally fought on the battlefield. He could imagine what it was like to fight the Japanese nine times a day in close combat. I am afraid that the battle situation had become unimaginably tragic.
General Xue Yue walked to the bench and sat down, placing the telegram on the Eight Immortals table, without any emotion on his face.
As a senior commander, General Xue Yue is called "Tiger Boy" by the outside world, which is a compliment to him.
He has indeed lived up to this reputation. In addition to commanding the troops to be as brave as a tiger on the battlefield, he also possesses the calmness and composure of a senior commander who can face the overwhelming pressure of Mount Tai without changing his expression.
"The crazier the Matsuura Division goes in order to break out, the more it means that they have reached the point where they have run out of gas and energy. This is just a desperate struggle of a trapped beast. As long as all the troops are on guard, their destruction this time is a sure thing.
."
Hearing that the Matsuura Division was so frantically launching an attack to break out of the encirclement, General Xue Yue relaxed.
It would be troublesome if the Matsuura Division were to wait for reinforcements and wait for their troops to attack. After all, in the mountainous terrain of Wanjialing, it is easy to defend but difficult to attack.
It cost a lot of casualties.
Once the casualties of the troops are too large, they will not be able to consolidate the defense line and defend other divisions under the Japanese 11th Army, but it will be self-defeating.
Although he understood the truth, the chief of staff, General Wu Yizhi, still looked worried.
"Sir Xue, the 74th Army on the Changling-Zhanggushan frontline, where the Japs broke through, suffered heavy casualties. I'm worried they won't be able to hold it."
If General Wu Yizhi said this before the war, General Xue Yue would definitely agree. After all, although the 74th Army has emerged in the previous series of battles, its actual combat effectiveness remains to be seen.
But now he is not worried at all. In the past two days, when the Japanese soldiers had enough food and supplies, the 58th Division was able to resist the Japanese for two days without letting the Japanese move forward.
Although the casualties were heavy, this fully demonstrated that the strength of the 74th Army was no less than that of the 4th and 66th Army and other Cantonese troops.
"The 58th Division was able to resist the Japanese for two days when they had plenty of food and supplies. Now that the Japanese are outnumbered, I think the 51st Division will be able to resist the Japanese's breakout." General Xue Yue said with confidence.
In fact, General Wu Yizhi also looked at the 74th Army with admiration. Since several German weapon divisions were exhausted four months before the war started, a large number of elite veterans were lost. The result was that the combat effectiveness of the Central Army units plummeted, and was even inferior to some
Provincial Army.
This is also the reason why they had little confidence in the combat effectiveness of the Central Army, the 74th Army, and specially transferred the Cantonese troops of the 66th Army from Lushan. They were afraid that Ou Zhen's 4th Army would besiege the Matsuura Division.
A single tree cannot support itself.
When the 66th Army was placed in Lushan, it was to prevent the southern front from being unable to defend the battlefield, and to release them to fight guerrillas in Lushan to contain the Japanese. General Xue Yue transferred them here without authorization, which made the Chairman a little dissatisfied.
Now the combat effectiveness of the 74th Army exceeded their expectations and was stronger and better at fighting than imagined. This made General Wu Yizhi overjoyed and deeply worried at the same time.
General Wu Yizhi also sat down on the bench, took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it for himself. He took a long drag, and then turned his eyes to General Xue Yue again.
"Chief Xue, there is something I don't know whether to say or not..."
General Wu Yizhi said while observing General Xue Yue's expression.
Seeing that General Wu Yizhi was so serious, General Xue Yue was also stunned, and then said with a smile: "You and I have known each other for a day or two. If there is anything I shouldn't say, just say it if you have any ideas."
General Wu Yizhi took another deep drag on his cigarette and said slowly this time: "The Chairman of the Generalissimo sent a telegram a few days ago, saying that the 74th Army suffered heavy losses in the battle at Minshan and was allowed to be transferred to the rear for repairs. You refused.
Already."
General Xue Yue nodded and said: "Although the 74th Army suffered heavy losses, the other units were also fighting continuously and tiredly. If they need to be replenished, they should be adjusted and replenished. How can I favor one over the other? As the commander of the corps, I should naturally treat all armies equally.
There’s nothing wrong with that.”
"That's true, but the 74th Army is the Chairman's pet peeve. Not allowing it to be adjusted and replenished has already ruined the Chairman's face. And now they are blocking the way for the Matsuura Division to break through. The 58th Division has already been exhausted.
If the 51st Division is wiped out again, it will be difficult to explain to the Chairman. After all, this is the only Central Army unit in our Wanjialing battlefield. If they are wiped out by then, our Guangdong Army troops will be intact.
Good business relationship..."
General Xue Yue frowned. It was not that he had never thought of General Wu Yizhi's thoughts, but there were only so many troops on the entire southern front.
It is necessary to ensure the strength of the siege division of Matsuura, but also to ensure sufficient strength to block the Japanese reinforcements. The strength of the troops is already stretched thin. Where can he mobilize troops to replace the 74th Army?
"I will personally explain this matter to the Chairman. If there are any problems at that time, I will be responsible for it. Now is the critical moment to encircle and annihilate the Matsuura Division. We must go all out. Not a single soldier can retreat. If
Once the 74th Army is mobilized, the entire encirclement will be shaken, and the gains outweigh the losses."
Although he was under great pressure, General Xue Yue was willing to go all out in order to destroy the Matsuura Division. Even if someone settled the score after the war, he would admit it.