After just a few short exchanges, the teacher surnamed Hu already knew that Tang Dao was indeed a young man. How could such a smart person not know that such a core defense zone would not be allowed by the 11th Division and the 18th Division?
In fact, this has nothing to do with fighting for military exploits, but rather, in the past three months since they were stationed in Shipai and since the defense zone was determined, the two main divisions have put a lot of effort into building fortifications.
Not only trenches and bullet-proof holes were dug in the mountains, but also air-raid shelters, bomb storage warehouses and water storage points were dug. These extremely labor-consuming fortifications can save lives at critical moments. Who would give up the fruits of their labor so easily?
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The Fourth Line Regiment volunteered to be stationed in such a main defense area. The troops evacuated from wherever they were did not just withdraw to the second line, but also had to go to another line of defense.
The Japanese army was trying its best to fight for the stone plaque this time. Together with the two divisions that were coming from Hunan Province, the entire western Hubei force reached an astonishing 170,000 troops, which was comparable to a medium-sized battle.
Moreover, the Japanese navy in Jiangxia has also begun to gather warships, including gunboats, light destroyers and transport ships. This means that in this Battle of Shipai, the Japanese army intends to surround them on all sides. Even if the mountains here are not conducive to mechanized marching, they must conquer them in one fell swoop.
Shipai.
Shipai is currently surrounded by enemies on all sides!
This place is like a mill. Every troop and soldier still here will become the raw material in this big mill, whether they are Chinese or Japanese.
From a purely military perspective, you will die faster if you leave. If you want to survive, you must continue to strengthen the fortifications.
If things go wrong, there must be monsters. Tang Dao did it knowing that he couldn't do anything, which means that his target was not in these two places from the beginning.
"This war zone requires our troops to obey your command, Commander Hu. Then our troops will advance and retreat together with all the officers and soldiers of the 11th Division. The brothers of the 11th Division have been operating the fortress frontal defense position for several months. Our troops cannot occupy the dove's nest.
The 5,000 officers and soldiers of the regiment are willing to protect the left wing of the outer position and defend the enemy from the direction of Changyang for the brothers of the 11th Division." Tang Dao pointed directly to several highlands about 10 kilometers away from the Shipai Fortress.
Teacher surnamed Hu, who had been squinting his eyes slightly so that no one could guess the changes in his heart, opened his eyes slightly. Obviously, Tang Dao's choice once again surprised him.
It is already obvious that the Japanese army is encircling Shipai. At this time, the Japanese army has occupied Gong'an and Songzi. The Japanese army with a strength of more than 10,000 poses a huge threat to the rear flank of Shipai. To the southwest of Yiling, the Japanese army is approaching Yuyang Pass.
, was about to cross the Qingjiang River; plus the two Japanese divisions that were about to arrive, the number of Japanese troops outside the Shipai Fortress was at least 70,000.
The biggest threat seems to come from the Japanese army from the front, but in fact, according to analysis, the forces invested by the Japanese army on Shipai's left and right wings are even stronger than those of the enemy attacking from the front.
It's okay for Tang Dao to choose the left defense line. The high ground he just pointed out is the core position of the left defense line. It is located between the peripheral defense line and the core defense position of Shipai Fortress. It is an extremely important connection point. If this area is occupied
If the Japanese army conquers it, the entire defense system of the 11th Division may even be at risk of collapse.
For this reason, in the defense plan of the 18th Army, a main force regiment will be placed here. Although the Si Xing Regiment is a special regiment, the area Tang Dao just pointed to is not just this one, and it even has to take the initiative to fight against Changyang.
Enemies are coming from this direction.
Can the Four Elements Group alone be qualified for such an important task?
"Sir Hu, if I told you before that Tang Dao was not sure of success in the Battle of Shipai but Cheng Ren was indeed determined, then Tang Dao's commitment to our regiment's defensive position was that the Japanese wanted to step over us.
The prerequisite for the regiment's position is to step over the corpse of Tang Dao." Faced with the twinkling light and doubts in this man's eyes, Tang Dao held his head high and made a promise.
The area selected by Tang Dao is actually composed of three main highlands and countless small highlands. The three main highlands are Niuchangpo and Zhujiaping, which are the outermost ones. The area slightly further inward was cited by the commander surnamed Hu as the most important battlefield on the left wing.
The highland is called Sifang Bay.
In the past, these three highlands were garrisoned by three infantry regiments of the 11th Division, and fierce battles broke out with the Japanese troops here.
Based on the current total strength of the 11th Division, two brigades and six regiments, it shows that the division commander surnamed Hu has an extremely accurate judgment on the distribution of Japanese troops. The right wing is completely handed over to the 18th Division, and the left wing is defended by his own three infantry regiments. The frontal core defense area
Three infantry regiments were also released, and thus won the victory in the battle to defend Shipai.
But this also shows his distrust of another infantry division of the 18th Army, temporarily organized as the 34th Division, and would rather allocate precious troops to guard the flanks of the central position than hand them over to friendly forces.
This distrust also led to a negative consequence. Although the victory was finally achieved, it was extremely thrilling. If Yokoyama persisted for another day or even half a day, history might be rewritten.
Because, in the last two days of the Shipai battlefield, the 11th Division no longer had any reserves.
If the Japanese could see the day's battle report of the 11th Division, they would be upset.
For example, the Sifangwan position on the left wing, which was most valued by the teacher surnamed Hu, was the fierce fighting that day.
Due to the steep terrain of the Shipai line, the Japanese heavy artillery was almost impossible to carry. They could only attack with 75mm mountain guns and 70mm infantry guns, and their firepower was significantly reduced.
Seeing that the artillery firepower could not support it, the Japanese army asked the air force for support, so the Japanese army, navy and air force were mobilized. Every day, dozens of planes circled the Shipai line for a long time, dropping bombs and strafing.
After the Japanese artillery fire, the position of the 32nd Regiment of the 11th Division was beyond recognition. The bunkers were flattened, the barbed wire fences were blown away, and even many trenches were blown down to only half a meter.
Since part of the position was bombed, several platoons of Chinese troops could only rely on the natural trees on the position as cover.
Unexpectedly, after the Japanese army found out, they carried out intensive shelling and aircraft bombing on these small holly forests. In less than half an hour, all the standing trees were blown down. Naturally, all the officers and soldiers in these platoons were killed and wounded, and the remaining
But they still persisted in not retreating, using the blown down trees as cover to fight to the death.
The officers and soldiers of the 32nd Regiment of the 11th Division resisted to the death, but suffered heavy casualties. In some positions, almost no one could fight. At one point, the squad leader replaced the platoon leader, and the platoon leader replaced the company commander in command.
Seeing the strength of the Japanese army, the commander of the 32nd Regiment urgently requested support from the division commander surnamed Hu.
At this time, the division commander surnamed Hu had used up all the reserve troops, and there was only one guard squad left with no officers.
All officers have been sent to the front line to fight or supervise operations!
Finally, a deputy regiment commander who was injured and returned to the field hospital for treatment was found in the division headquarters field hospital, and he led the security squad to support Sifang Bay.
If the deputy commander had not led the guard squad to encounter 400 broken troops of the temporary 34th Division on the way to the battlefield, and had given the order to lead these 400 broken troops into the battlefield, I am afraid that not to mention defending Sifang Bay, more than a dozen people would have been able to defend the Sifang Bay.
He entered the battlefield and disappeared without even a splash.
The division commander surnamed Hu only has a few adjutants, secretaries and staff, not even a combat soldier left.
So when the commander surnamed Chen called to inquire about the situation of the war, the proud commander surnamed Hu said the famous saying, "Although success is uncertain, Chengren is determined!" It was also because the war was over.
At that time, he no longer had the confidence to hold his position.
Many so-called military scientists like to use results to deduce the process, thinking that those famous generals have everything in mind before the war, which only means that they have not experienced war.
How can there be so many natural strategies on the battlefield that are destined to win before the battle begins? Enough courage and tenacity plus a little bit of luck may be the reality.
But this time, with the new force of the Four Elements Regiment, the situation will be different from before.
The central main position has three more infantry regiments in reserve, which is enough to give the Japanese army a good drink!
This is Tang Dao's judgment after comparing the previous battlefield and the existing defense zone sand table.
But obviously, the teacher surnamed Hu is by no means a person who easily trusts others. When he heard Tang Dao's generous promise, he still pursed his lips, frowned, looked down at the sand table, and did not answer immediately.
"Our regiment has 12 mountain guns and several 82-meter mortars. If it is not necessary, our regiment will not request artillery support from the headquarters." Tang Dao could only add one more fire.
This speaks directly to the heart of Mr. Hu.
Although the 18th Army is the direct descendant of the civil engineering tycoon, Commander Chen, and belongs to the first batch of adjustment divisions. Its equipment is good in the entire theater and even the entire Chinese army, but in fact, each of the 11th Division and the 18th Division only has
A directly affiliated artillery battalion has 12 75mm mountain guns, 24 20mm machine guns and 24 Type 82 mortars belonging to the regiment's firepower.
It looks like the firepower is okay, but it depends on who you are competing with. Compared to the Sichuan Army, the Qian Army, and the Northwest Army, which are miscellaneous armies from remote areas, they are certainly awesome. But if they are in the same division as the Japanese Army, they have heavy firepower.
Compared to that, it's far worse.
The combined heavy firepower of the three divisions under the 18th Army is not comparable to that of a Japanese Class A division, let alone a special division like the First Division that is reinforced by 105 howitzers and 150 heavy artillery.
How to provide artillery support to the peripheral flank positions is really the most troublesome thing for the division commander surnamed Hu.
If the Fourth Line Regiment carries its own mountain artillery, it means that it can safely and boldly use all 12 mountain artillery pieces of the division's artillery battalion to distribute heavy firepower in the central position.
"Is this true?" The proud teacher surnamed Hu actually asked this sentence, which shows how much impact Tang Dao had on him by shouldering the burden of firepower distribution.
"Seriously, our artillery position should be located about three or four kilometers between the central position and our regiment's position. If the main position needs it, our regiment's artillery battalion can also provide fire support for the central main position!" Tang Dao promised with a smile.
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"Okay! No wonder the 1st Division of the Battle of Zishan collapsed in front of your four-line regiment defense line! Hey, many people say that the most important thing in the Battle of Zishan was the good timing of the attack of the 80th Group Army, and the strength of the troops.
It is beyond everyone's strength, but I have said on many occasions that without your Four Elements Regiment to defend Zishan's frontal defense, no matter how good the perimeter is, it will be useless.
Then the safety of the left wing of our 11th Division must be entirely entrusted to Commander Tang and the brothers of the Four Elements Regiment."
The commander surnamed Hu is also a straightforward person, not for anything else, just for these 12 mountain cannons, and the Four Lines Regiment has this qualification.
Of course, when someone had to carry the sedan chair, Tang Dao did not hesitate to use his trump card of 12 mountain cannons and was even willing to provide fire support for the central main position. Naturally, he was not stingy in praising the Four Lines Group.
As for whether he really said these words on various occasions, whoever compares this to the truth is really thinking that his head is broken.
Therefore, it was decided that the Si Xing Regiment's defense area would be assigned to the Si Xing Regiment to defend the three positions of Niuchangpo, Zhujiaping and Sifangwan. Originally, in order to reduce the burden on the Si Xing Regiment, the enemy commander surnamed Hu from the direction of Changyang wanted to hand it over to the Si Xing Regiment.
The 34th Division temporarily sent a regiment to take charge, but Tang Dao strongly demanded to take responsibility.
Considering that the mountains there are steeper than those around Shipai, it would be reasonable for the Sixing Regiment to send an infantry battalion, and the division commander surnamed Hu agreed.
The reason why Tang Dao insists on guarding this important mountain road is naturally because the seemingly simple defense in this time and space was ultimately ruined due to the negligence of the defenders.
A Japanese infantry regiment of more than 2,000 infantrymen actually passed through that seemingly dangerous place, bypassing Zhujiaping with the help of the terrain and reaching Sifang Bay. This caused an infantry regiment to have a defensive position in distress.
Tang Dao already knew this, so how could he allow this loophole to continue to exist? Especially when his Four Lines Regiment was stationed at the Sifang Bay position, he would not put the safety of the entire army in the hands of others.
After receiving military orders and defense zone maps from the division commander named Hu, Tang Dao immediately returned to the dock, where there was a large amount of supplies and personnel waiting for his deployment.
The teacher surnamed Hu was much more polite this time. He personally delivered Tang Dao to the door together with the major general brigade commander, and watched Tang Dao and the guard squad disappear into the darkness with a dull look in his eyes.
"Master, are you still a little worried about the Four Troops guarding our left wing? But according to my brief observation of their military appearance and discipline, they are definitely a powerful force that is not weaker than ours." The major general brigade commander saw his commander's eyes were deep and said,
I couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.
"On the contrary, if the Four Lines Regiment defends our left wing, our left wing position will be worry-free! I can't give an answer to how strong the Four Lines Regiment's combat effectiveness is, but their Commander Tang is extremely powerful." Hu
The teacher surnamed shook his head slightly.
"That" the major general brigade commander was obviously a little puzzled.
"Tang Dao is truly one of the most powerful young people I have seen in recent years." The teacher surnamed Hu suddenly said his evaluation of Tang Dao.
The major general and brigade commander was stunned. One word was "best" and the other was not "one". This evaluation was simply ridiculously high. At least in the few years he had known this person, he had never heard him say such an evaluation to anyone.
"Shaoqing, do you know? From the moment he came in, I tried to take control with the help of my military position and command, but he very cleverly defused my strength bit by bit and even eliminated it invisible. Even in the end, it was him.
took the initiative.
But that's not the most powerful thing. The most amazing thing is that he didn't make me feel disgusted at all." Teacher surnamed Hu said calmly.
The major general and brigade commander took a deep breath.
He is a commander who belongs to the young group, but he is very clear about it. However, he is still in his early thirties, and many of his peers are still qualifying at the battalion level, but this one has risen through the ranks to become a main division commander, both in combat and in officialdom.
The wisdom must be top-notch.
But such a person would actually be led by a young man in his mid-twenties during a conversation. What's even more frightening is that if he hadn't said it himself, he, the bystander, wouldn't have noticed it yet.
"In fact, the moment you brought Tang Dao into the war room of our division headquarters, I had already decided to hand over the three positions on the left wing to him and the Four Lines Regiment." The division commander surnamed Hu continued.
"Doesn't that mean that Tang Dao is still following your ideas? In the end, he took the initiative to go to the left wing." The Major General Brigadier breathed a sigh of relief.
This means that no matter how powerful a young man is, he still falls under the influence of the equally outstanding lieutenant general in front of him?
The teacher surnamed Hu did not talk about this topic again this time, but there was expectation in his eyes: "They say that the battlefield is like a chess game. It is difficult for me to admire a master. I am really looking forward to him taking advantage of this defeat."
How to defeat his opponent on the battlefield with 70% chance."
The brigade commander's face was filled with bitterness, but his eyes were full of fighting spirit. Before the battle began, the always arrogant lieutenant general and division commander believed that the probability of losing this battle was nearly 70%, which showed that the situation of this battle was dangerous.
However, as the five main forces of the Central Army, no matter how ferocious the Japanese are, they have to see the truth under the gunpoint. Even if they are defeated, with all the strength of his army, they will have to bite off a piece of flesh from the Japanese.
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Seeing the fighting spirit in his subordinates' eyes, the teacher surnamed Hu showed relief in his eyes, but sighed slightly in his heart.
His subordinates are more than brave, but they lack in strategy.
For example, every time he continued to talk about the topic, although Tang Dao took the initiative to choose the left wing, it was not that Tang Dao had his way, but that Tang Dao had clearly seen his thoughts and took the initiative.
He prides himself on having a profound city, and few people can get a glimpse of his inner thoughts from his words and deeds, but today in front of Tang Dao, it seems that the door is open for them to read, which is simply incredible.
It's like there is a thousand-year-old demon living in Tang Dao's body.
Of course, this proud general didn't know that Tang Dao might not have a thousand-year-old demon living in his body, but he would have the experience of the next hundred years. To a certain extent, Tang Dao might know him better than himself.
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The reason why Tang Dao does this is of course not to show off how capable he is.
Rather, he wanted to gain autonomy on the left-wing battlefield. The moment Commander Hu personally sent him out, Tang Dao knew that he had acquiesced.
