jdhmnovel Chapter 679 Invitation to Cross the River
Chapter 679 Invitation to Cross the River
[Decision to order Li Yunlong, director of the Mengjin Camp, to lead the independent column to cross Huangzhi]
Zheng County fell and Luoyang was in danger.
After several days of fierce fighting, the Central Army had already dealt a heavy blow to the main force of the Japanese Army. However, due to the lack of supplies and the continuous reinforcements and excellent weapons of the enemy, the Central Army's offensive momentum was weakened.
To avoid the previous efforts going to waste and to ensure that the blood of the Central Army soldiers is not shed in vain.
Therefore, he ordered the independent column to cross the Yellow River to assist the central army in attacking Zheng County and maintaining peace in central Henan.
However, the troops crossing the river must not interfere with the enemy's administration or affect people's livelihood. Remember!
Li Yunlong and Wang Meng in the Pingshun Military Fortress Command were amused when they saw the telegram sent from Chongqing. They didn't expect that a mere telegram inviting people to cross the river would have so many twists and turns.
"Old Li, it seems that the Central Army wants to take the credit for the recovery of Zheng County? And they are talking about inflicting heavy damage on the main force of the Japanese army? Pah!"
"That's right. You also say it's because the Japanese reinforcements keep coming? I think it's the Central Army that's messing around, making the soldiers bleed in vain. But they can take advantage of you verbally if they want to. Old Li only looks at the tangible benefits. Only the benefits that fall into your hands are yours!"
"Okay, then I will issue an order. The Fourth Army will build multiple pontoon bridges with Mengjin. They must cross the river overnight before 10 o'clock tomorrow morning, take over Luoyang, and assemble in Yanshi, Dengfeng, and Yuzhou to put pressure on the line from Zhengzhou to Xuchang!
In addition, the Third Group launched attacks on Anyang, Xinxiang and Jiaozuo at the same time, blocking reinforcements coming south from the Pinghan Line and advancing towards the Yellow River Bridge.
Except for the necessary garrison troops, all the Weishanhu Independent Division will march towards Jining (Yanzhou) and must disrupt the enemy's rear! "
Wang Meng sent a telegram about the general operations directly to Dai Anlan of the Third Army, Li Jiayu of the Fourth Army, and Peng Liang of the Weishanhu Independent Division.
The specific combat details are formulated by each army group, and the independent column headquarters is only responsible for coordinating the resources above the Air Force and Army Group.
This is completely different from the "micro-control" of Guangzhou.
In less than ten minutes, Dai Anlan reported the battle plan that had been prepared long ago.
"The Sixth Army attacked Anyang, established defensive positions there, and then headed south to take Hebi.
The Seventh Army attacked Xinxiang from Huixian and approached the Yellow River Iron Bridge.
Chu Yunfei's mountain infantry division took advantage of the light infantry and suddenly attacked Bowang and Jiaozuo from the southern Taihang Mountains! "
Li Jiayu, who had been hungry and thirsty for a long time, followed closely behind.
"The Eighth Army took over Luoyang and established a defensive position with the Yanshi Division.
The Ninth Army entered Dengfeng and built defensive positions.
The Tenth Army entered Yuzhou and prepared to enter Xuchang."
Li Yunlong simply replied to Dai Anlan and Li Jiayu with two words: Agree!
He also ordered the various air divisions to carry out saturation bombing on Anyang, Xinxiang and Jiaozuo to strike at the enemy's effective forces and to cover the Fourth Army crossing the Mengjin River.
At this time, in the North China Front Army Headquarters in Peiping, Okamura Yasuji felt his scalp tingling when he saw the overwhelming petitions calling for the independent column to cross the Yellow River to fight in the south.
The reason why they dared to challenge the First War Zone with a force of over 100,000 was to eliminate the factor of the Independent Column. If the Independent Column participated in the Battle of Central Henan, I am afraid that these over 100,000 imperial army troops would not be enough for them.
After all, Okamura Yasuji's understanding of the independent column's combat effectiveness was much deeper than that of Nakaike Mitsuo of the Kwantung Army's 1st Division.
In all his combat reports, for the sake of the so-called "face" of the North China Front Army, Okamura Yasuji repeatedly exaggerated the advantages of the independent column's weapons and equipment, so as to make up for his tactical mistakes.
Therefore, Nakaike Sanfu naively believed that with the obstruction of the South Taihang Mountains, the armored forces of the independent column would find it difficult to overcome the natural barrier.
But he never expected that Wang Meng had asked the engineers to use explosives to open up several transportation lines!
Nakaike Sanfu suffered a great loss.
"Does Chongqing have any information? Will they invite the Independent Column to cross the river and fight?"
“Commander, according to my understanding of the Chongqing government, they value their own territory more and generally will not invite the independent column to cross the river to prevent their territory from being occupied.
However, in unusual circumstances, it’s hard to say!”
Ningji Okamura was stunned after hearing this. He never expected to hear such nonsense.
"Order the 1st Division, 110th Division, and rd Tank Division to launch an attack on Yanshi at noon tomorrow and head straight for Luoyang to cut off the independent column's passage across the river.
The 27th Division attacked Dengfeng and Ruzhou.
In addition, the 5th and 7th Independent Mixed Brigade from Kaifeng will stay in Zhengzhou, while the 32nd and 35th Divisions will attack Xuchang! "
This time, Ningji Okamura was determined to make the matter a fait accompli before the independent column got involved.
The Japanese immediately took action, and the entire central Henan Province became a mess with war raging everywhere.
At this time, although Jiang Dingwen of the First War Zone received an order to withdraw the defense troops of the Mengjin River, he did not know whether the independent column should cross the river.
Li Yunlong's goal was to catch the Japanese off guard.
At six o'clock that evening, Anyang, Xinxiang and Jiaozuo began to be intensively bombed by the bombers of the Independent Column, with the Japanese airport being the first to be hit.
An aviation division was more than enough to deal with a small Japanese pilot. In less than an hour, the Japanese air force in three places was basically paralyzed, and their outer positions were "cleaned up."
There was only one battalion of Japanese soldiers in Anyang County. For the Sixth Army, which had two armored divisions and one infantry brigade, it was like using an anti-aircraft gun to kill a mosquito, a waste of resources.
After an hour of fighting, it was quickly over. The Sixth Army captured Anyang with almost zero casualties, built defensive positions, and advanced southward.
Meanwhile, Chu Yunfei's mountain division in the southern Taihang Mountains was rapidly gathering through mountain roads and deploying outside Bowang.
According to the plan of Dai Anlan of the Third Army, the battle of Anyang would start first, followed by Bowang and Jiaozuo, and finally Xinxiang.
The reason for this arrangement was mainly because they were worried that the Japanese would transport troops through the Pinghan Line, so they first cut off the Pinghan Line and then closed the door to fight the enemy.
Chu Yunfei, wearing camouflage uniform, unfolded the map, looked at Bowang County, and smiled slightly.
"Bowang County only has one battalion of garrison troops and one regiment of puppet troops. The First Infantry Regiment is enough.
In addition, the Second Infantry Regiment, the Third Infantry Regiment and the Artillery Regiment will immediately encircle Jiaozuo! "
According to intelligence, the defenders of Jiaozuo consisted of about a regiment of Japanese devils and a regiment of puppet troops, totaling about 6,000 people.
Chu Yunfei handed Bowang over to the deputy division commander, and then went to Jiaozuo alone.
"The situation there is more complicated. After we start fighting, we can make our move in Bowang first. We must not alert the enemy!"
"Yes!"