Age of Conquest Reborn

Chapter 521: The battle situation suddenly changed

Tang Qiuli was awakened by a rapid knock on the door. There was a faint dawn outside the window. When he opened the door, a cold air hit him. Several people walked in. When he saw that there were quite a few people coming, Chief of Staff Yu Guanghan

, Communications Director Chen Feng, Intelligence Director Yu Deshui, Investigation Director Shen Jun, and heads of several functional departments of the division are all here. What's the big deal? Several generals were alerted. Tang Qiuli looked at it in surprise.

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These people had nervous looks on their faces. Yu Guanghan said to him in a deep voice: "Commander, something happened on the central line." The central line mentioned here refers to the entire northern border of Henan, from Sanmenxia to Nanle, and stretches as long as

Tang Qiuli was stunned at the 100-kilometer long defense line. There were 230,000 troops of Tang Enbo's Eighth Army guarding the middle line. What big thing could happen?

Yu Deshui handed over a telegram, and Tang Qiuli opened it and saw, as if struck by lightning, that it read: "Henan Anyang No. 34 Intelligence Station reported urgently that at about three o'clock this morning, the Japanese army launched an attack on the Central Army's Anyang defense line.

A sudden attack took just over two hours to achieve a breakthrough.

The Central Army's defense line, the 130th Division and the 83rd Division of the Eighth Army defending Anyang, were completely defeated and almost destroyed. The Japanese forwards have passed through Anyang. The specific strength of the troops is unknown. Now, the whole city of Anyang is in chaos. I am standing still.

Go underground and report any new information at any time."

Tang Qiuli hurriedly came to the headquarters and jumped in front of the map. Anyang is the northern gateway to Henan. If Anyang is lost, the Japanese army can march straight into the hinterland of Henan. The next target must be to attack Zhengzhou. I hope Tang Enbo can deploy it properly and can defeat the Japanese army.

The attack is on the front line in Xinxiang.

He quickly ordered the radio station to call Tang Enbo of the Eighth Army Corps. He finally got through. The other party replied that Commander Tang Enbo was directing operations on the front line. Before he could ask the Army Commander Tang Enbo's specific location again, the radio station of the Eighth Army Corps was turned off.

It didn't make sense. Tang Qiuli instinctively felt that something was not good. If Tang Enbo really commanded the troops to block the Japanese army, he should maintain close radio contact with the various departments under his jurisdiction. There was no reason to suddenly shut down the phone.

He was at a loss. Since Tang Enbo took charge of guarding Henan, the reconnaissance troops of the ** Division rarely set foot in the Japanese-occupied area. After all, it was not a Japanese-occupied area. His own troops had a lot of activities, involving two systems, which caused unnecessary trouble.

It's good to maintain a single line of contact with Tang Enbo's regiment headquarters. As soon as the other party shuts down his phone, his eyesight goes dark and he doesn't know what's going on.

He didn't notice that Yu Deshui, the director of the intelligence department, hurried out and came back after a while. Seeing the anxious look of the division commander, he comforted him: "Commander, I have activated all the intelligence systems from Anyang to Luoyang.

Pay close attention to the battle situation, I believe there will be new information soon."

Tang Qiuli was surprised to see Yu Deshui, who was usually calm and taciturn, quietly building an intelligence network in Henan without any supervision or reminder. This was a rare talent.

With Yu Deshui's words, Tang Qiuli felt a little comforted. If Tang Enbo couldn't point it out, it would depend on his own intelligence system. However, he was not very worried about the war situation in Henan. The Japanese troops in North China were in Datong, Niangziguan, Wuhan

The four battlefields in Xiangzhou and Cangzhou were restrained respectively. The Japanese army that raided Henan would not have too many troops. With Tang Enbo's strength, it should not be a problem to block the Japanese army on the north bank of the Yellow River.

Furthermore, when the war started in North China, he specially reminded Tang Enbo to pay attention to preventing Japanese troops from raiding the Henan defense line, and asked him to make strict arrangements. He must deploy heavy troop groups in Anyang and other places at the junction of Hebei and Henan. He hoped that Tang Enbo had already made arrangements and would not be

Make the situation in Henan worse.

In Gu County, Shanxi Province, in the headquarters of the Army Division, more than thirty radio stations were shouting one after another. Tang Qiuli ordered the communications office to immediately contact troops from various places, including the Jin army, to ask the Japanese troops on the opposite side if they had taken any action.

I just hope that the Anyang War is an isolated incident and not an overall conspiracy by the Japanese North China Expeditionary Force Headquarters.

The Japanese army was pinned down in four battlefields, and the troops of the *** Division were not the same. If the battle situation in Henan was really critical, I would have no resources and the distance would be too long. I wouldn’t even have time for reinforcements. I could only watch the Japanese army poking at the Yellow River defense line that I had carefully laid out.

There was a big hole. He was anxious in his heart, but his face remained calm, and he was making various assumptions in his mind.

Near noon, the ** Division Intelligence Office and the Henan Xinxiang Intelligence Station sent the latest information, "Headquarters, urgent information, the Japanese army's offensive is fierce and overwhelming. After the fall of Anyang, in less than seven hours, the Japanese army broke through the Hebi and Xinxiang Central Army defense lines one after another.

, the five divisions of the Eighth Army's defense force were defeated one after another, and the Japanese forwards have arrived at the city on the north bank of the Yellow River in Zhengzhou. The situation in Zhengzhou is in crisis in the Zhandian area."

"It has been preliminarily identified that the Japanese troops attacking Henan are the 18th Division, 23rd Division, 7th Mixed Brigade, Yamazaki Tank Regiment, Shadow Cavalry Regiment and other units of the North China Expeditionary Army.

, the total strength is about 90,000 people, and there is another matter, defense

The Sixty-seventh Division and the Sixty-first Division of the Eighth Army of the Xinxiang Defense Line suddenly withdrew from their defensive positions for unknown reasons after the Japanese army began to attack, leaving only the 103rd Division fighting alone. When the intelligence was sent out, there were still no soldiers in the Xinxiang area.

There were sporadic fighting."

After reading the latest information, Tang Qiuli sat down on the kang. It was probably more than 200 kilometers from Anyang to Zhengzhou. It only took the Japanese army more than seven hours to break through three of the seven divisions of the Eighth Army.

The line of defense is directed towards Zhengzhou. Jane

It's flying at the same speed, seven central military divisions, that's an elite force of more than 80,000 people. Even if it doesn't work, it shouldn't be a problem for three to five days. Tang Enbo still has 150,000 troops, why not reinforce Xinxiang?

Line of defense?

What exactly happened here? What was Tang Enbo doing? Seven divisions of the Central Army were on the verge of collapse. What did the Eighth Army do? A series of questions swirled in Tang Qiuli's mind like a revolving lantern. However,

One thing is certain, the war situation in Henan is not optimistic.

Telegrams to various ** division troops and Yan Xishan's Jin army inquiring about the situation soon received responses. Zhao Chengshou from the Datong direction reported that the Japanese troops on the Datong front line did not launch a new offensive, but instead retreated to the Huai'an line, and

There is an intention to mobilize troops eastward towards Shijiazhuang.

Feng Jiwu from the direction of Niangziguan reported that the Japanese army, which had been dormant for many days, launched a large-scale attack on the Niangziguan defensive position at about 5 o'clock in the morning today. Fierce fighting broke out across the entire front. However, the Japanese army's offensive was not active. After a slight setback, they retreated.

Similar attacks were repeated many times. According to my judgment, the Japanese army seemed to have another intention. The attack on Niangziguan was intended to attract the attention of our army and draw the division commander's attention to this situation.

Liu Tiehan on the Cangzhou front line reported that at about 4 o'clock in the morning today, the Japanese army suddenly came out of Cangzhou and launched violent attacks on our positions in Fengjiakou, Damazhuang, Dongguan and other places from multiple routes, but they were all repulsed by our army.

Xu, the Japanese army launched another attack, and the offensive became more fierce. There was an attempt to open the passage south to Dezhou. Our army engaged in fierce fighting across the board, and the fighting situation was good.

This move by the Japanese army was extremely unusual. They had been in confrontation with our army for many days, but they had not made any move. No additional troops had been seen yet, but this unusual move seemed to be intended to achieve some strategic purpose. As of the time of sending the telegram, the battle was still fiercely going on.

, to draw the division commander's attention to the abnormal behavior of the Japanese army.

In addition, the Dezhou Campaign Command, based on the battle situation, with the current strength and firepower of our army, it is impossible for the Japanese army to advance a step forward. Therefore, our department plans to use part of its force, led by Chief of Staff Li Honggang, to advance through Tengzhuang in the east of Cangzhou

Tianjin, in order to disrupt the Japanese offensive plan. If it is appropriate, please ask the division commander for instructions.

Yan Xishan's telegram was the last to arrive. It started with a complaint, "Brother Qiu Li, the Japanese have gone crazy. From about 6 o'clock this morning, the Japanese army launched uninterrupted attacks on our Wuxiang defense line. Our frontline troops suffered casualties.

It's terrible. If we continue to fight like this, I will lose all my old strength. I beg you, brother Qiu Li, to attack immediately and stab the Japanese from behind, so as to reduce the pressure on the Wuxiang front line. Please."

In fact, although fighting took place across the entire front in Wuxiang, it was not as difficult as Yan Xishan said. After several days of fierce fighting and the supply channels being cut off by Liu Chun and Tong Batu's cavalry, the Japanese army had long lost their energy and became exhausted.

The offensive was not as fierce as the first three days, and they could only barely maintain the offensive.

On the other hand, the Jin army was well prepared, relying on complete fortifications, with Taiyuan as its back, easy supply, and more troops than the Japanese army. The reason why Yan Xishan exaggerated the war was because he had his own plan. Tang Qiuli still had more than 30,000 troops in his hands.

You can't let him idle with your military strength. It's better to help him than to fight with the Japanese. Besides, the Japanese came from your Taihang Mountains, so you can't just let him go and hide away.

Yan Xishan had his own calculations and deliberately exaggerated the intensity of the battle, which greatly interfered with Tang Qiuli's judgment of the Japanese army's true intentions, resulting in an extremely passive situation and undue heavy losses.

.

Combining all aspects of intelligence together, Tang Qiuli at least concluded that the Japanese army's raid on Anyang, Henan, and their arrival in Zhengzhou was by no means an isolated accidental act. The Japanese army's active actions in various battlefields were intended to contain and suppress our army on the opposite side.

, unable to divide troops to reinforce the Henan battlefield.

The key is how much preparation the Henan garrison Tang Enbo's Eighth Army made on the Zhengzhou Yellow River defense line after losing Anyang, Hebi, and Xinxiang. Can they stop the Japanese offensive momentum in the Zhengzhou area? What is hateful is that, and

Tang Enbo's contact has not yet been communicated. The radio operator at the division headquarters shouted hoarsely, but the other party has not turned on the phone.

On December 15th, the battle situation in Henan direction was unknown all day long. The Zhengzhou Intelligence Station of the Intelligence Department sent information that the fighting on the Zhengzhou Yellow River Defense Line was fierce. The city of Zhengzhou was in chaos, and residents fled in large numbers. There was an unexpected situation. The eighth team defending the Yellow River Defense Line

The legion's troops seemed to be very weak, and the specific situation was unknown. As of the time the intelligence was sent, the defensive positions on the south bank of the Yellow River had been breached in many places, and many troops were defeated in Zhengzhou City.

Inside the division headquarters, everything became quiet, with only the sound of ticking keys. In the silent atmosphere, it was particularly irritating and harsh.

(To be continued)