Zhu Tian: Beginning to Cross the Changjin Lake

Li Guotao hurried to the military headquarters. One of the guards had seen Li Guotao and hurriedly came up to him and asked, "Captain Li, why are you here?"

Li Guotao quickly said, "I have something to ask, I hope to see the commander."

The guard said, "Please wait a moment. I will go in and report."

After receiving the report, Commander Fang directly ordered: "Let him in."

Li Guotao entered the command center and met Commander Fang.

Commander Fang looked up at Li Guotao and said, "What are you doing here? You just rested for half a day, but you can't stay here anymore?"

Li Guotao smiled and said, "About the same."

"I just want to ask the commander, what is the specific mission of our first battalion?"

Commander Fang said, "Hasn't the order been issued? You will serve as the reserve force for the time being."

Li Guotao said helplessly: "I heard that the Japanese have launched a full-scale attack?"

Commander Fang nodded and said, "I guess so, but the situation is still stable at the moment. You just need to be ready for battle at any time. If there is any mission, I will notify you in advance."

Li Guotao said: "I want to go to the front line to take a look, scout the situation, and understand the terrain and enemy situation. Please approve it, commander."

Commander Fang said casually: "Okay, be careful when you get to the front line."

"Yes!"

Li Guotao responded, and then said, "Commander, can you please stop the air defense alarm outside?"

Commander Fang frowned slightly and asked, "When you came in from outside just now, didn't you see the plane in the sky?"

Li Guotao nodded and said, "That's our plane!"

"what?"

Commander Fang frowned slightly.

Li Guotao explained: "It's an American P40 fighter."

Commander Fang asked with a puzzled look on his face: "Are you sure?"

Li Guotao nodded and said, "Sure, I recognize this type of aircraft."

"And Song Weiguo from our battalion just said that this is indeed a P40 fighter."

"They were originally part of the airport garrison. They stayed at the airport every day, and you can tell by the sound."

Commander Fang suddenly realized, "It turned out to be one of our own planes. I was wondering why it was hovering outside, neither attacking nor leaving."

Li Guotao quickly reminded: "General, quickly send someone to lay the symbol board."

“Yes, yes, yes~!”

Commander Fang immediately came to his senses and quickly ordered a staff officer, "What are you still standing there for? Lay out the symbol board quickly."

"Yes!"

The military staff immediately organized people and laid out symbol boards on the open space outside.

But the plane still circled over Hengyang.

Li Guotao observed it for a while and reminded: "Commander, the symbol board is too small, the plane can't be seen at all."

"Pave it one meter wide and ten meters long so they can see it."

“And we can find a more conspicuous location in the city center to lay the symbol boards.”

At this time, the staff officer next to him muttered quietly: "But we laid the symbol boards according to the regulations of the drill manual."

Commander Fang immediately became furious and cursed, "Asshole, are you fighting or talking nonsense?"

"Immediately follow Li Guotao's instructions and install a signal board in the square in front of the bank. The bigger the better."

"Yes!"

Sure enough, after the signal board was laid this time, the plane in the sky saw it, circled over the bank twice, and then flew away.

Commander Fang said excitedly: "With the assistance of the Air Force, this will also reduce our pressure, and we will be more confident in defending Hengyang."

Li Guotao was also very happy at this moment, because with the assistance of the Flying Tigers, even if the Flying Tigers only sent fighter jets to participate in the battle, they could ensure air supremacy and prevent the Japanese from wantonly bombing the Hengyang defenders' positions, so that this battle would be easier to fight.

Li Guotao came to the military headquarters in person this time mainly to understand the current occupation.

Li Guotao stared at the huge sand table in the command center, looking at the situation of both the enemy and us on it, and tried hard to write down all the information.

Although Li Guotao can understand the situation of the entire battlefield through the system map, including the deployment of troops on both sides, there are still some situations that he cannot understand.

For example, Li Guotao can check how many troops are on a certain position through the system map, but he cannot judge the actual combat effectiveness of this unit, or even identify their type of troops. He can only see how many people are on this position.

For example, Li Guotao could only get a rough idea of ​​our army's deployment through the system map. The troops deployed in some places might be just logistics troops or even just civilian workers, which Li Guotao could not distinguish from the system map.

However, some information can be seen on the sand table of the command center, and the main deployment locations of each unit can be seen clearly.

Seeing that Li Guotao was absorbed in watching, Commander Fang asked casually, "What are you looking at?"

Li Guotao smiled and said, "I just want to take a look at the general situation in Hengyang and get to know it."

Commander Fang pointed to the sand table and said, "The main attack direction of the Japanese is the south and west of the city. Now they have launched attacks in the south and west."

"Especially in the south of the city, around Tingbing Mountain and Gaoling, the fighting was extremely fierce."

Li Guotao quickly found the two high grounds on the sand table and said with a smile: "These two high grounds are in good locations, they should be able to hold out for a while."

Commander Fang nodded and said, "The Japanese concentrated their forces to attack these two heights, but we repelled them all."

"Due to the prominent positions of these two high grounds, they were unable to bypass them and attack other positions. Once they bypassed them, they would inevitably be blocked by the firepower of these two high grounds and attacked from both sides."

"So now the Japanese will definitely focus all their efforts on attacking these two heights."

"And the Japanese in the west of the city also began to attack, and their troops gradually began to advance towards Hengyang City."

"From the initial situation, the Japanese are now testing and looking for a breakthrough."

Li Guotao smiled and said, "What else is there to say? Just beat them to death."

"Let the Japanese see how powerful we are, and they will behave themselves."

"If we can dispel their arrogance, the next battle will be easier to fight."

Commander Fang nodded slightly and said, "That does make some sense."

Li Guotao smiled and said, "Then I'll go to the south first."

Commander Fang sighed helplessly and said, "I asked you to be the reserve team, but you can't stay idle for a day."

Li Guotao smiled and said, "I'm just going to go over and take a look at the situation and understand the terrain. If they need our support, we can help them."

"I guess if the Japanese get enraged, they might launch a fierce attack overnight."

"It's cooler to fight at night."

"Commander, you are busy, I will leave first."

After Li Guotao finished speaking, he left the military headquarters and returned to his temporary residence. He then found the regiment commander Yang Jihe and the two discussed the current situation.

Li Guotao said to Yang Jihe: "The commander said that we should be the reserve force for the time being, so I guess there will be no important tasks for the time being." "I told the commander that we should take this opportunity to go to the front line and understand the situation."

Yang Jihe frowned and said, "You have already told the commander, what else do you have to tell me?"

Li Guotao chuckled and said, "Look at what you said. Am I not helping you to scout the situation?"

"I will take a platoon over to familiarize myself with the situation. You wait here for my good news. If the higher-ups have any tasks, please inform me in time."

Yang Jihe said helplessly: "Will we not be able to find you by then?"

Li Guotao smiled and said, "No, I'll be waiting for your call at any time."

Yang Jihe reminded him, "Be careful, kid. Don't just show off. Pay attention to safety. Saving your life is the most important thing. If you die, you will lose everything."

Li Guotao smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry, the devils who can kill me haven't been born yet."

Yang Jihe said with a smile: "You are becoming more and more arrogant."

Li Guotao just smiled, waved his hand and said, "Let's go!"

Li Guotao asked Chen Jianghe to select more than 30 good fighters and prepare to rush to the front line in the south of the city.

At this time, Song Weiguo came over and said to Li Guotao, "Captain, you are being partial. Why did you bring Chen Jianghe and the others with you this time?"

Li Guotao smiled and said, "Good steel should be used on the blade."

"And I was just about to inform you that you still have a mission."

"Task?"

Song Weiguo asked curiously, "What other tasks are there?"

Li Guotao explained: "Aren't you affiliated with the Air Force? You were also in the Flying Tigers before, so you are more familiar with this aspect."

"The commander asked you to help contact the Flying Tigers. I think this matter is more important, so don't worry about what's going on here for now."

"Go to the military headquarters immediately!"

Song Weiguo said somewhat displeasedly: "Ah~! Actually, I would rather go to the front line."

Li Guotao smiled and said, "It's all for the war of resistance. You can play a greater role here."

"Besides, you may not be here all the time, so let's leave it like this for now."

"All right!"

Song Weiguo nodded helplessly and said, "In that case, I will go to the military headquarters first."

Li Guotao saw Song Weiguo off with a smile.

It was already evening, and intensive gunfire and explosions were still being heard from the south of the city.

Chen Jianghe asked: "Captain, when do we set out?"

Li Guotao said: "Judging from the situation, the Japanese may launch an attack overnight. We have rested for a whole day, so we will be energetic at night. It is a good time to go and check the situation."

"Get ready and set off soon."

"it is good!"

Chen Jianghe agreed readily and went to prepare.

"Boom~! Boom~!"

At this time, a series of violent explosions were faintly heard.

Li Guotao looked up and found that the explosion came from the direction of the Xiangjiang Bridge in the distance.

Commander Fang had already ordered the bridge to be blown up in advance, but in order to facilitate future repairs and reduce losses, only a small section was blown up.

But today the Japanese sent out a large number of engineers to conduct field surveys and prepare to repair the Xiangjiang Bridge.

After Commander Fang learned the news, he had no choice but to order a second explosion on the Xiangjiang Bridge.

He also ordered the defenders on the west side of the bridge to use firepower to blockade the bridge and prevent the Japanese from repairing it.

The explosion just now was caused by the second bridge bombing.

As a result, it was impossible for the Japanese to cross the river and attack Hengyang from here, and they could only launch an attack from the south and west of the city with all their strength.

Li Guotao couldn't help but curse: "These damn little devils!"

……

At this moment, the battle in the south of the city is still going on.

Ota Sadamasa led his Japanese troops to launch several attacks, but all ended in disastrous defeat.

For these two small positions, the Japanese suffered hundreds of casualties.

A Japanese officer reminded: "General, it's already dark. Do the locusts want to continue the attack?"

"Of course!"

Ota Sadamasa shouted angrily: "We have fought for so long and suffered so many casualties in vain, but we can't even take these two small hills at the forefront."

"How can I explain this result to the division commander?"

"So no matter what, you must take these two hills for me."

"Hayi~!"

The Japanese officers present responded helplessly, and were too frightened to say anything more.

Everyone could see that Ota Sadamasa was very angry at the moment, and the division commander had already received news of this matter. He once again ordered the 58th Brigade to attack with all his strength.

So Ota Sadamasa had no choice but to launch an attack overnight in order to find a breakthrough as soon as possible.

Looking at the cliff that was cut into almost ninety degrees, Ota Sadamasa thought that perhaps attacking at night and climbing up secretly might be more effective than during the day.

Ota Sadamasa stared at the map and said, "These are just two small hills, and there aren't many defenders on them. Even if we have to consume them bit by bit, we have to use them up and take these two positions for me."

"Order the attacking troops to launch an attack tonight. No matter what, you must capture these two high grounds for me."

"Hayi~!"

The Japanese officers present responded in unison again.

Just as Ota Sadamasa said, how many troops can be contained on two inconspicuous hills?

The 10th Army indeed only deployed one company of troops there, with only about one platoon of troops on Gaoling and two platoons on the Tingbingshan position.

This company of defenders fought for most of the day, using favorable terrain and Fang Xianqie's trench to successfully kill hundreds of Japanese soldiers and prevent the enemy from advancing even a single step.

Although the defenders suffered casualties under the fierce attack of the Japanese, they were able to basically ensure the safety of their positions. It would not be so easy for the Japanese to attack.

The superiors had already issued an order to hold on to the death, and the brothers on the position were all extremely brave. They were determined to die and were ready to fight the Japanese to the death.

Taking advantage of the interval between battles, Zhang Deshan, the company commander guarding the position, ordered the communicator: "Go back and report immediately under the cover of night. Although we have suffered heavy casualties, we can hold the position, but we need support."

"The more weapons and ammunition, especially grenades, the better." (End of this chapter)