spy cloud

Time passed in such busyness, and in the blink of an eye, another half a month had passed.

The more than 140 artillery pieces brought by the Subei Army were all distributed, and each division now had an artillery battalion, all of which were 90mm field guns. These were the best artillery Zhang Tianhao could get now.

It’s not that they don’t want to get it, but the other side simply doesn’t have any other artillery.

Basically, every division is equipped with an artillery battalion. Although there are only ten artillery pieces, this is already quite powerful firepower.

After all, every division has some other artillery, more or less. Although it is not very good, it is enough.

In addition, important divisions on the front line were equipped with two anti-aircraft guns, but these were all used for air defense. When they really faced an attack from the Japanese army, they could be used to shoot down planes for fun.

In addition, all kinds of equipment were also used. After all, at this point, they had to be extra careful.

The entire army is fully equipped, so naturally the training must keep up. After half a month of high-intensity training and with sufficient food, these soldiers do not feel any discomfort.

Zuo Mingming accompanied the commanders of several divisions to visit their training and then came back. After all, he didn't need to worry too much, as the people under him should have been well prepared and trained seriously.

"Report!"

Zhang Tianhao was just about to go home when he saw an orderly running towards him with a document in his hand. He walked up to Zhang Tianhao.

"Special Commissioner, Chongqing just called and the Third and Fifth War Zones sent a telegram, wanting to cooperate with us in northern Jiangsu. What do you think?"

"Oh, they want to seize the opportunity to give the Japanese a blow. Apparently, the Japanese troops in these two war zones have been mobilized, and they are targeting us. Haha!"

"We can cooperate. Just ask them for a batch of bullets and tell them that our frontline is consuming a lot of bullets, especially bullets. Ask them to support us. Our Subei Army will do our best!"

Zhang Tianhao could almost guess the other party's purpose, so he naturally would not indulge them. It could even be said that he didn't care at all about what they did this time. If it weren't for the purpose of fighting the Japanese together, he didn't want to cooperate at all.

After all, they want to attract the Japanese firepower here and give these two war zones a chance to attack.

"Call them back and tell them that I agree to cooperate and will give them 500,000 rounds of ammunition."

"Yes!"

The orderly immediately turned around and ran back, while Zhang Tianhao sat down at the table, slowly poured himself a glass of water, and prepared to slowly think about this battle in northern Jiangsu.

……

Inside the headquarters, Chief of Staff Zhao looked at Zuo Mingming in front of him, as well as a dozen division commanders and several army commanders who were looking at the map.

"Everyone, we can tell that the Japanese troops transferred to the front line this time are from the third and fifth war zones. If we want to win in one fell swoop, we don't have a good way to wipe out this batch of Japanese troops in one go. Therefore, the front line consists of six divisions from the 13th and 14th armies to hold back the Japanese troops attacking from these two directions."

"Commander, how long do we have to delay so we can formulate a battle plan?"

"One month. In addition, I may have to advance my efforts, so within one month at most, I want to encircle the Kwantung Army. This is our real enemy. We must concentrate our superior forces to defeat the Kwantung Army heading south."

"Why not take out both of these frontline divisions in one fell swoop?"

"Yeah, wouldn't it be easier to defeat the two Japanese divisions on the front line?"

"No, you are wrong. Once we move these two divisions and expose our combat purpose, the Japanese troops on the front line will retreat and we will be surrounded by more than 200,000 Japanese troops. It will be difficult for us to escape. Although these two Japanese Kwantung Army divisions have only about 60,000 people, their combat effectiveness is not comparable to those Japanese troops on the front line."

"They are the real elite. If the Kwantung Army is the elite, then the two divisions on the front line can only be considered first-rate troops, and the Japanese troops transferred from the mainland are second-rate troops, so they are not on the same level at all."

"The most important thing is that we have to set up a trap to swallow up the entire Kwantung Army in one go."

Chief of Staff Zhao looked at the map and said seriously, "Look at the map. If we guess correctly, one route is from Xuzhou, and the other route is likely to go south from Lianyungang. This is their fastest route, and they have the support of the Japanese troops in North China and Central China. Therefore, they don't have to worry about being attacked from both sides."

"And we will take advantage of this opportunity to catch them off guard!"

Chief of Staff Zhao pointed to several places and said seriously: "Here, here, and here are the battle sites I plan to set up for them. There are mountains here, which is quite advantageous for us."

"Although these mountains are not very good, they are still advantages. With the advantages of the terrain and our people, I believe we can definitely defeat these two Kwantung Army divisions."

"Everyone, do you have any other ideas?" "No!"

"Okay, I order the First and Second Divisions to gather at these two locations within ten days. They must march in secret and not reveal their combat intentions. They must hide during the day and move at night. Is there any problem?"

"Yes!"

"I command..."

As he issued orders one after another, the entire headquarters started to operate at high speed, and even everyone slowly disappeared from everyone's sight the next day.

This time, Su Bei is going to fight a blitzkrieg. The Japanese army has tanks and armored vehicles, so I will use them as well, and add a large number of soldiers to follow, to see if the Japanese army has any way to counter them.

If it weren’t for the five tanks and four armored vehicles, Zhang Tianhao really wouldn’t dare to play like this.

Six anti-aircraft guns were directly dispatched. Zhang Tianhao did not feel any reluctance about this. He just followed the arrangements and prepared for a decisive battle with the Japanese army.

Just like that, on November 11, the six divisions of the 26th and 13th Armies in Anhui officially engaged in a battle with the Japanese troops retreating from the front line.

Perhaps because their numbers were similar, the 13th and 14th Armies fought hard but were still able to hold on.

In addition, in order to prevent accidents, northern Jiangsu had to transfer a brigade from Yangzhou again.

At the same time, according to the latest intelligence from Peking, Tianjin, and Xinjing, two Kwantung Army divisions have already moved south, but they have been marching in secret, and have not yet discovered the other side's marching route.

Zhang Tianhao was also full of questions about this. After all, he didn't know the Japanese army's marching route, and even the intelligence personnel along the way didn't know the Japanese army's route.

You know, people all over the country are watching how the battle in northern Jiangsu is fought.

Even Old Li in Yan'an had to contribute most of his intelligence capabilities to support the war here.

But there is still a lot of information from all sides.

Zhang Tianhao sat at home, looking at the entire map, and the expression on his face changed slightly. After all, he had to keep calm.

Zuo Mingming and Chief of Staff Zhao were also sitting aside, looking at the map with Zhang Tianhao, frowning from time to time.

How could two such large Kwantung Army divisions disappear out of thin air?

Suddenly, he looked at the map, and a serious look flashed in his eyes.

The Japanese Kwantung Army was quite conceited and had their own pride. So they had two destinations for landing. One was Lianyungang Port and the second was Shanghai. But with the pride of the Kwantung Army, how could they possibly go to Shanghai?

As for the third route, it is the one that passes through North China.

"Someone, notify the pilots and have them fly along the coast to see if there are any traces of the Japanese Kwantung Army."

"Yes!"

As the order was issued, an airplane from Lianyungang took off directly under his command and headed northward for reconnaissance along the sea.

"Master, do you think the Kwantung Army might land in Lianyungang?"

"Well, if they really land there, then we have miscalculated. If they really come from the sea, they will suffer a great loss. Now there are only a few warships to escort us. We have more than a hundred planes, including more than 20 bombers and more than 30 small submarines. You know the result."

Zhang Tianhao smiled and looked at the map.

He is not very clear about the marching routes of all parties now.

But he also understood that the Japanese army had already begun the attack and the two divisions from the mainland should be arriving soon. What was to follow would be a fierce battle.

Whether they can defeat the Japanese army is the key to whether their Subei Army can gain a formal foothold. Both he and his subordinates must seize this opportunity. (End of this chapter)