On 3 May, Li Guotao led some personnel of the headquarters to Chengde with the vanguard of the newly formed First Division.After resting in Chengde for the night, Li Guotao went north with his troops the next day and came to Longhua County, where the headquarters of the Seventh Column was temporarily placed.That night, Li Guotao, Li Changsheng, Ma Zhenguo and other three people, with a small number of guards, came to the vicinity of Tangsanying Town in the north of Longhua County to reconnoiter the enemy's situation.In the previous months, the Japanese army had launched several attacks, and although they occupied the paddock, they were stubbornly resisted by the Eighth Route Army in the northern area of Longhua, and they were never able to advance half a step.The two sides fought dozens of battles in the vicinity of Tang Sanying, and both sides won and lost, but the battle line has been maintained in the vicinity of Tang Sanying.At this time, Commander Song of the Rehe Military Region led his 80,000 troops to be stationed in the area north of Chengde to Longhua County, and Commander Song learned that Li Guotao was going to the front line to reconnoiter the enemy's situation, so he very enthusiastically took the initiative to ask to be a guide, and came to the front line with Li Guotao and others.Accompanied by Commander Song, Li Guotao and others climbed a hill, Li Guotao held a telescope, glanced in the direction of the Japanese position opposite, and asked casually: "Old Song, what is the number of the Japanese army on the opposite side and how many troops are there?"
”Commander Song hurriedly explained: "Since the Japanese attack on Rehe was repulsed by our army again last month, the strength of the Japanese army on the opposite side has been reduced, and only the 23rd Division of the Kwantung Army is currently stationed near the paddock.The commander of the division is Lieutenant General Inoue Masayoshi, and it has three infantry wings of the 64th, 71st, and 72nd, as well as a field artillery wing and a cavalry wing, among which there is a chariot brigade, and its strength has been strengthened due to direct contact with our army, and according to the information currently available to our army, the total strength of the Japanese army is about 20,000 or more, but not more than 25,000. ”Li Guotao smiled and nodded and said: "The 23rd Division, if I remember correctly, when the Battle of Nomenkan was the beginning, it was this 23rd Division that provoked it, but the little devil was beaten all over the ground by the Russians, and the 23rd Division suffered heavy losses, and was even almost wiped out, but I didn't expect this unit to be transferred to Rehe." ”Commander Song explained with a smile: "In order to attack Rehe, the Kwantung Army has changed several divisions and launched several attacks, but they were all repelled by our army, and now it is the turn of the 23rd Division, and now that your seventh column is back, I think this 23rd Division will not have to go." ”Li Guotao said with a smile: "Even if they want to leave this time, we still don't want to do the first battle of our seventh column out of the pass, let's take this 23rd Division, right, in addition to this 23rd Division, are there other main forces of the Japanese army nearby" "Of course, it is not so easy to stay this 23rd Division, there is currently the 8th Division of the Japanese Army stationed in Chifeng, this division is a standing division of the Japanese army, and its combat effectiveness is much stronger than that of this 23rd Division, and Chifeng is not far from the paddock, As soon as our troops began to lay siege to the 23rd Division, the 8th Division would inevitably come to their aid. ”Commander Song hurriedly explained."
Eighth Division" Li Guotao's eyes flashed with a cold light, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but show a smile, and said with a serious face: "That's right, clean up together with this Eighth Division." ”Commander Song couldn't help but open his mouth wide in surprise, and said with some surprise: "Lao Li, your appetite is getting bigger and bigger, and you want to eat the two integrated divisions of the little devil all of a sudden, and one of them is a standing division." ”Li Guotao smiled and said: "Don't forget that the purpose of our seventh column this time is to march into the northeast, if we don't take out these two roadblocks, how can we march into the northeast."
Isn't it just the standing division of the little devils, we don't pack up one or two, plus this eighth division, it's not much at all. ”"Listening to your tone, I want to clean up the 17 standing divisions of the little devils in turn," Commander Song said with a smile."
As long as the little devils dare to send all their standing divisions to us, I don't mind cleaning them up and helping the little devils change their blood."
Li Guotao said indifferently."
Haha, it seems that the little devil still has to thank you, but jokes are jokes, it is not so easy to destroy the two divisions of the Japanese army in one fell swoop.What's more, if it is just these two divisions, I believe that with the current strength of your seventh column, there should be no problem.But as soon as the battle starts, the nearby Japanese troops will definitely flock to it, and the scale of the battle will definitely be further expanded, so this battle is still not very easy to fight," Commander Song said with a frown and a little worry.Li Guotao stretched out his hand and patted Commander Song's shoulder and said, "It's true that there is some trouble, but we have to fight this battle, and we must win it."
The little devil has reinforcements, don't we also have the support of your Commander Song, old Song, don't you still have an army of 80,000 in your hands, with your assistance, can't you still be worried about this little devil" Commander Song smiled and nodded and said: "That's also true, not only us, in the area east of Chengde, we also have nearly 100,000 troops, once the battle starts, they will definitely launch an attack to contain the little devils in the area near Lingyuan, so that they can also support us from the side." ”"Well, then we'll be more sure."
Li Guotao smiled and nodded and said, "But to conduct such a large-scale battle, we still have to study it carefully." ”Commander Song nodded and said, "Then when are you going to do it?"
"The sooner the better." ”Li Guotao said with a serious face: "Because our seventh column of more than 100,000 troops suddenly returned to Rehe, such a big movement, it is impossible for the little devils not to get any news, and they will definitely see through our army's intention to march into the northeast, and they will inevitably actively deploy troops to prevent our army from entering the northeast."
So we can't give the little devils too much time to react, and we must launch an attack as soon as possible and knock on the door to the northeast. ”Commander Song nodded and said, "As early as a few days ago, we received an order from the headquarters, ordering all our troops in Rehe to actively prepare for war and be ready to assist you in attacking the northeast at any time, and now we are fully prepared and ready to enter the battle at any time." ”"That's great."
Li Guotao nodded with satisfaction and said: "Since this is the case, then we are tentatively scheduled to launch a full-scale attack on May 8, but we still need to carefully study the specific combat plan." ”"No problem."
Commander Song smiled and nodded.aa2705221: