Zhu Tian: Beginning to Cross the Changjin Lake

Yang Jihe said helplessly: "I knew it. With your stubborn temper, it's useless to persuade you."

"Then you decide. Although you are bold, you are not reckless. You will not do anything you are not sure of."

"I'm waiting for news from you."

Li Guotao smiled and said, "Thank you for your trust, Captain. I will definitely not let you down."

"It's just that we can't be sure yet whether the Japanese have really stopped attacking, and how long they will stop attacking. These are all unknowns."

"We are just making some preparations in advance. It is better to be prepared!"

"If the enemy suddenly launches another crazy attack, we may not have this chance."

“Be prepared!”

Yang Jihe nodded and said, "Well said, let's do as you say!"

After hanging up the phone, Li Guotao came outside and observed the 221 Heights and 227.7 Heights opposite.

The Japanese on the opposite side still didn't make any moves, they were just building some fortifications.

Now the Japanese troops on these two heights are not too many, but there are Japanese troops not far behind. Once the battle breaks out, these Japanese troops behind will support the frontline positions at the first time. In this way, it will become very difficult to recapture these two heights.

It makes sense. The Japanese paid such a huge price and finally occupied these two heights. How could they give up so easily?

However, relatively speaking, Li Guotao and his men's counterattack was much easier than the Japanese attack.

First of all, Li Guotao was on the mountain. Although Hill 227.7 and Hill 221 were relatively high, it was much easier to attack these two hills from the north mountain.

Moreover, Li Guotao and his men occupied the main peak of Zhangjiashan, which was much higher than the two small hills and was only 150 meters apart. The machine guns and mortars on the main peak could completely shoot down at the Japanese on the two hills, forming suppressive firepower to cover the attacking forces' assault on the two hills.

Therefore, compared with the Japanese attack on these two heights from the south, Li Guotao and his men's counterattack was much easier.

However, the Japanese knew this very well, so they were worried that the defenders would take the opportunity to counterattack. Therefore, they rushed to build defensive positions on the mountain to prevent the defenders' counterattack and keep the two forward positions.

At this moment, Li Guotao had already roughly figured out the Japanese troop deployment situation and had a rough battle plan in mind.

Li Guotao did not want to launch a direct attack because he would inevitably lose a lot of troops under the stubborn resistance of the Japanese. Moreover, if he failed to take the two hills in a short period of time, when the subsequent Japanese reinforcements arrived, he would have to pay a heavier price to take the two hills.

However, the 10th Army's artillery strength was limited and there were not enough shells, making it difficult to effectively form a blockade fire to stop the enemy's reinforcements. At least a long-term blockade was completely impossible.

So the key lies in speed. We must cut the Gordian knot and quickly capture these two high grounds.

The defensive fortifications urgently built by the Japanese became a big trouble.

Under normal circumstances, the Japanese could use these fortifications to hold out for a while longer, at least until the subsequent reinforcements arrived.

In any case, it is indeed difficult to capture these two heights.

But Li Guotao is not an ordinary person after all. Just because others can't do it doesn't mean that he, Li Guotao, can't do it.

"Song Weiguo!"

"To!"

Song Weiguo hurried over.

"Is something wrong?"

Li Guotao said: "I need to go down now, I'll leave the front line to you."

"If the enemy launches an attack, be sure to notify me as quickly as possible."

"If there is no large-scale attack, you just need to monitor the movements of the devils."

"But we still have to pay attention to protecting the safety of our two bunkers and prevent sneak attacks from the Japanese, especially at night. We must be careful and cautious."

"Do not worry!"

Song Weiguo vowed: "I promise to complete the task."

"very good!"

Li Guotao was also very confident in Song Weiguo. After giving him a few more instructions, he left the front line, went down Zhangjiashan and returned to the regiment headquarters.

Song Weiguo did not ask Li Guotao what he was going to do. He knew that Li Guotao must have something very important to tell him. If it was necessary for him to know, Li Guotao would tell him even if he didn't ask.

However, Li Guotao's departure still made Song Weiguo a little worried.

With Li Guotao around before, he didn't have to worry too much, and even if he encountered danger, Li Guotao was able to handle it every time.

Now, all the burdens fall on Song Weiguo. He also knows the importance of defending Zhangjiashan and is afraid of any accidents, so he can't help but feel a little worried.

But in the next two or three days, the Japanese did not launch a large-scale attack, and basically did not take any action.

This gradually put Song Weiguo's heart at ease, but Song Weiguo still did not dare to take it lightly.

Moreover, during this period, Li Guotao would return to the Zhangjiashan position when he had time. According to Li Guotao, he was preparing to launch a counterattack on Hill 227.7 and Hill 221.

The superiors have approved this operation, so now Song Weiguo and the soldiers on the battlefield are full of expectations.

……

Although the Japanese did not launch an attack during the past few days and have been resting, they have not been idle.

Resources from the rear were continuously shipped to the Hengyang front line. Not only various supplies, but also reinforcements arrived at the front line one after another.

Under the command of Isamu Yokoyama, half of the artillery regiment from the 13th Division and the 65th Infantry Regiment have arrived in the area near Hengyang.

The 13th Division can be considered an elite division of the Japanese, but it is not a standing division.

The most elite troops of the Japanese were their standing divisions, of which there were 17 in total.

The Japanese Army originally had 21 divisions, including the Guards Division and the 1st to 20th Divisions, a total of 21 divisions.

But in 1925, the Japanese carried out a disarmament plan, and the 13th, 15th, 17th and 18th divisions were disbanded, leaving only 17 divisions, and these 17 divisions were regular divisions.

After the full-scale war of resistance broke out in 1937, in order to cope with the war, the Japanese began to expand their forces on a large scale. The 13th Division, the 15th Division, the 17th Division and the 18th Division were all rebuilt. Although they were rebuilt, these four divisions were no longer regular divisions. Although their troops were equipped according to the type A divisions, in terms of combat effectiveness, they were still not as good as the 17 regular divisions.

In the Battle of Hengyang, the 13th Division was mainly used as a force to block enemy reinforcements, and was not used as a siege force.

Since the 9th War Zone was not very active in providing reinforcements, Yokoyama Isamu dispatched the 65th Regiment and other units to rush to Hengyang and participate in the siege.

In addition to the 65th Regiment, Yokoyama Isamu also sent the 218th Regiment as the army reserve to Hengyang urgently. At this moment, this regiment had also arrived at the Hengyang front.

Suddenly, they received reinforcements from two infantry regiments and half an artillery regiment, which greatly increased the strength of the Japanese troops attacking the city.

Not only that, in view of the heavy losses of the 68th Division and the 116th Division on the front line, Yokoyama Isamu was also constantly dispatching additional troops to support the Hengyang front and replenish these two divisions in order to ensure the combat effectiveness of these two divisions.

In short, in order to capture Hengyang this time, Yokoyama Isamu transferred all the troops he could mobilize to Hengyang, preparing to take over the city of Hengyang with all his strength.

As the commander of the 116th Division, Yan Yongwang is still the highest commander on the front line. The tens of thousands of Japanese devils on the Hengyang front are now all under his unified command.

So after receiving so much support, Yan Yongwang’s strength increased greatly and his confidence gradually recovered.

In the headquarters, Yan Yong Wang said confidently: "Now Hengyang has concentrated almost two and a half divisions of troops. Moreover, after nearly twenty days of fighting, although the locust army failed to attack Hengyang, the Hengyang defenders suffered heavy losses and have been almost exhausted."

"Hengyang today is like a house that has been in disrepair for a long time and will collapse if pushed."

"So as long as we concentrate all our efforts and attack Hengyang City fiercely this time, we will surely be able to capture Hengyang in one fell swoop and avenge our previous defeat."

At this time, Colonel Jiro Takano, the commander of the 65th Regiment who had just arrived at the front line, said: "Lieutenant General, when are you going to launch a new round of attack?"

Iwanaga Wang smiled and said, "Takano-kun and Hariya-kun's troops have just arrived. They should at least take a break and get familiar with the situation in Hengyang first."

Jiro Takano glanced at Colonel Itsurō Hariya, commander of the 218th Regiment next to him.

Itsuki Hariya then said, "We only need one day at most to launch the attack."

Takano Jiro nodded and said, "One day is enough."

Yan Yongwang nodded in satisfaction and said with a smile: "That's great. This way, we can launch a new round of offensive the day after tomorrow."

"As long as we can successfully break through their outer defenses this time, it will be easy to capture Hengyang City."

"Because according to accurate intelligence, the enemy has less than 20,000 troops in Hengyang City."

"And now, after a long period of attrition, their military strength will be even smaller, and what remains are just a group of defeated soldiers."

Jiro Takano scoffed at this and thought to himself, you make it sound so easy, why haven't I seen you take Hengyang before?

However, I could only think about this in my mind and I dared not say it out loud.

Takano Jiro pondered for a moment, then said with a smile: "I believe that under the wise leadership of the General, we will surely achieve a brilliant victory, and taking Hengyang will be a piece of cake."

"I wonder what specific tasks you have assigned to us, General?"

In order to get a good task, Jiro Kono could only praise Wang Iwanaga against his will.

In fact, Jiro Takano really looked down on Iwanaga Wang, not for any other reason, but because in the Battle of Hengyang, the two divisions were unable to take over a small city, and suffered such heavy losses, which was simply unbelievable.

In Jiro Kono's opinion, such a disastrous defeat was entirely caused by the commander's incompetence. That is why he actually looked down on Iwanaga Wang in his heart.

Yilang Yishi also smiled and said: "Takano-kun is right. The locust army now has an absolute advantage. With the general in command, they will definitely win."

"Our two regiments are new here, but we don't want to just sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labor. We would like to ask General to assign us some important combat missions."

Yan Yongwang smiled and said, "You are too polite. Don't worry, I have already made arrangements in advance."

"Koya-kun, Hariya-kun please follow me."

As Iwanaga Wang said this, he came to the front of the sand table, and Takano Jiro and Hariya Itshiro also stood up and followed him.

Wang Yanyong pointed to the sand table and said, "I plan to deploy Kono-kun's 65th Regiment in the Wuguiling area and launch an attack on Hengyang from this direction."

"Hinaya-kun's 218th Regiment is deployed on the Xiaojiashan front and launches an attack on Xiaojiashan."

"Our 116th Division will concentrate its forces and launch a fierce attack on the Zhangjiashan line."

"These three directions are our main attack directions this time. Whoever breaks through the enemy's defense line first will be the first to capture Hengyang."

"The locust troops from other places will serve as auxiliary attacks."

"This way we will surely be able to capture Hengyang City in one fell swoop."

When Jiro Takano heard this, he couldn't help but frowned slightly. In fact, they all understood the situation on the front line, and now after looking at the sand table, they could also see the current situation.

Zhangjiashan is the key to conquering Hengyang, but Yan Yongwang always kept such an important position for himself, obviously not wanting others to share his credit.

Jiro Takano and Itsuki Hariya looked at each other, and neither of them knew what to say. After all, it was Wang Iwanaga who was in charge of the overall command, and they could only obey his orders.

Besides, they only have the strength of two regiments. Even if they have fresh troops, they cannot defeat the two divisions on the front line. So even if they are dissatisfied in their hearts, they can't say it out loud.

Takano Jiro said, "General, has the battle plan been decided?"

Yan Yongwang said: "Yes, it has been decided."

Takano Jiro smiled and said, "I believe that under the wise leadership of the General, we will definitely be able to capture Hengyang."

"Excuse me, sir, when are we going to take over the defense?"

Yan Yongwang smiled and said, "You will take over the defense tomorrow. Get ready. I will also send people to help you understand the situation. We will launch a general offensive the day after tomorrow morning. Is that ok?"

"If you feel it's too hasty, we can delay the general attack for two days."

Jiro Kono thought: If we delay for two days, and the attack fails, I'm afraid all the blame will be put on us.

Itsuki Hariya was no fool, and he understood the deep meaning of it. He smiled and said, "Since the general has already made a plan, let's execute it according to his orders. We can go into battle at any time."

Takano Jiro nodded and said, "What Hariya-kun said is absolutely right. We will launch the attack on time according to the order of the general."

Iwanaga Wang said excitedly: "That's great. Kono-kun and Hariya-kun are indeed the most loyal and brave warriors of His Majesty Tianhuang. With their help, it will be easy to capture Hengyang." (End of this chapter)