In the battle of Siyang, a battalion of the Independent Brigade of the New Fourth Army was almost disabled, and Siyang City was recovered, which was rare good news for the 18th Division and the Sixth War Zone.
Commander Gu of the Sixth Theater sent a telegram to Division Commander Qian, saying that the chairman had learned of the great victory of the 18 th Division, was very happy, and encouraged Division Commander Qian to make persistent efforts to take the opportunity to take the base areas of Huai'an and the New Fourth Army in Jiangbei together, and that the chairman was already preparing to expand the 18 th Division in Chongqing.
As soon as Lao Qian heard that his 18th Division was going to be expanded again, he thought that this opportunity to be promoted and make a fortune had come, he was now a full division, and if he expanded it again, what would be the expansion into an army, if we take Huai'an City this time and attack the base of the New Fourth Army in Jiangbei, the old man may be happy, maybe it is possible to expand our 18th Division into a corps, haha, how majestic is the commander of the Corps, I am the first one among our Huangpu classmates to become the commander of the Corps, and I will definitely go down in history.
Thinking of this infinitely bright prospect, Division Commander Qian immediately convened a meeting of his officers, at which he proposed to continue to attack Huai'an City, surround the anti-Japanese base areas of the Jiangbei New Fourth Army around the south bank of Hongze Lake, and solve the problem of arming the New Fourth Army before the Japanese were defeated and withdrew from China.
At the meeting, Division Commander Qian described to his officers the bright prospects after the victory of this battle, and said to them: "Colleagues, if our 18th Division can recover Huai'an City this time, and then take advantage of the situation to encircle the Jiangbei anti-Japanese base area, even if we can't wipe out all the armed forces of the Jiangbei New Fourth Army that are good at guerrilla warfare, our 18th Division can also be immediately upgraded and expanded, and the minimum scale of expansion is to become an army, so that you can be promoted one level on the spotAccording to intelligence, Zhou Wu of the Jiangbei New Fourth Army has sent all his independent brigades, so that we may meet their main forces under Huai'an City, isn't it that Zhou Wu is very good at fighting, this time I want to see how good he is Zhou Wu, and at the same time, by striking Zhou Wu's New Fourth Army Independent Brigade, it is also to give the old guy surnamed Zhang of the 79th Army a little color to see, so that he completely died of this heart, stop swaying from side to side, and look at the Communist Party, in this way, our 18th Division's attack on Huai'an City can be described as killing three birds with one stone, and the effect is good. ” Division Commander Qian described it like this, and most of the officers below agreed with it, but there were still a few clear-minded officers who felt that this matter was too optimistic, a little rushed, and a little wishful thinking, among which the chief of staff of the 18th Division was one of them, he hurriedly stood up and said to Lao Qian: "Division commander, I don't think the situation is so optimistic, the Jiangbei New Fourth Army has been operating in the area south of Hongze Lake for many years, and the Japanese devils have encircled and swept them many times, and each time they have returned in vain, which shows that those New Fourth Army armed forces still have some strength.
In addition, in addition to the Japanese, there are also Wang Jingwei's government's puppet army and bandits and other teams, and the team that can survive and develop in an environment surrounded by wolves must have two brushes, we must not underestimate those Jiangbei New Fourth Army, especially that Zhou Wu, he used to be the independent brigade of the 79th Army, and in the Nanjing battlefield in Shanghai, even the little devil team at that time was afraid of them. ” The chief of staff of the 18th Division was still relatively sober-minded, and he had a sober understanding of the situation of Zhou Wu and the Jiangbei New Fourth Army, and believed that it would not be good to be in a hurry, otherwise stealing chickens would not lead to rice.
But at this time, Lao Qian was in high spirits, and when he heard that someone poured cold water on him, he was not happy, his face immediately became gloomy, and he said to the chief of staff angrily: "Then in the high opinion of the staff, how can our 18th Division act now to be considered safe?"
Division Commander Qian's tone revealed dissatisfaction and resentment, the chief of staff is an old man, how can he not hear Lao Qian's tone, and thought in his heart: Why should I do this, since you insist on doing this, then I only need to fulfill the responsibility of the chief of staff, offending the top boss is something that a fool will do, if he gives you a pair of small shoes to wear in the future, it will be difficult for you. ” The chief of staff immediately said to Lao Qian: "Division commander, I just made a suggestion, since the division commander you have decided so, I think it's okay, if our 18th Division wins this battle, then we can't all be promoted to a higher level, I have a request, I hope the division commander can agree, and I support the division commander's decision to storm Huai'an and encircle the Jiangbei base area." ” Lao Qian is also an understanding person, although the war deployment is not very good, but after so many years in the mix, he has long been familiar with those intriguing struggles, as soon as he heard the tone of the chief of staff, he knew that he had softened, so he hurriedly smiled and said to him: "The chief of staff has a request, you can just say it." ” "Division commander, I think the geographical location of Siyang City is quite important, it is not enough to rely on one regiment alone, I am willing to stay and defend the city, and then transfer another regiment to guard Siyang, in case a large army attacks Huai'an City is unfavorable or encounters a situation, the 18th Division can also calmly withdraw from the canal west."
The chief of staff considered it more comprehensively, believing that he could not send all of them to Huai'an City in a desperate way, and that he had to leave some troops to hold on to Siyang and the canal crossing, so that there would be a way out.
Lao Qian nodded: "Chief of Staff, you have a point, okay, I will transfer two more regiments with you, a total of one brigade to defend Siyang City, this time you should be able to hold here."
Haha, Chief of Staff, you are waiting in Siyang City for the good news that we will win the battle and recover Huai'an City. ” Division Commander Qian's interest is very high, and the officers of the 18th Division are also elated, for so many years, they have never taken advantage of the friction with the New Fourth Army, and this time they finally got back a handful of fields under Siyang City, which can be regarded as having a bad breath, can you not be happy, can you not be optimistic, although the chief of staff and several of their officers reminded Zhou Wu that they must strictly guard against Zhou Wu's deliberate weakness, so as not to fall into the big trap of the New Fourth Army, but these officers of the 18th Division who were carried away by the temporary victory can not listen, as soon as the military meeting ends, Immediately, there was a brigade of infantry to pull out, towards the southeast of Hongze Lake, in their eyes, the Jiangbei New Fourth Army is actually like this, since even the canal has the natural danger of Siyang City can not be defended, then there is almost no barrier to use Huai'an City is even more at your fingertips, hurry up, recover Huai'an City, surround the Jiangbei New Fourth Army, our 18th Division can be expanded into a corps, everyone is promoted to a higher level in the flat, all happy As soon as the Kuomintang recalcitrant army in Siyang City was pulled out, Zhou Wu on this side of Tianchang Matan immediately received the news, he hurriedly pondered on the map, and found that these Kuomintang recalcitrant troops had been hooked, before, looking at those Kuomintang recalcitrant troops nesting in Siyang City, Zhou Wu was also worried that this group of recalcitrant troops had discovered their intentions, and did not dare to come in the direction of Huai'an City, and now as soon as he heard that there was already a brigade or so of recalcitrant troops out of Siyang City, the heart hanging in his throat was put in his stomach, and he immediately reported to Lao Chen in front:" The recalcitrant army has been dispatched, your first brigade will meet it, make contact with it, and lead the recalcitrant army in the direction of Huai'an City, and the rest of the army will immediately divide into two ways and advance towards Hongze Lake, to pretend to be some, it is better to lose something on the way, so that those recalcitrant troops will be more convinced that we are retreating and fleeing in defeat this time."
Lao Chen received Zhou Wu's telegram, and immediately took the brothers of the First Brigade and hurriedly rushed to the front to meet them, Ge Sanmin and Division Commander Huang's team was divided into two groups, one left and one right retreated in the direction of Huai'an City, in order to confuse those stubborn troops who caught up with him, they deliberately left a lot of useless things on the road, and it happened that these things on the road were seen by the scouts sent out by the 18th Division, and they immediately picked up these things and reported to Commander Qian, who had already set off to chase after Huai'an City: "Division, look, This is what the New Fourth Army threw on the road, lost all the way, the road was a mess, and they were all fleeing towards Huai'an City. ” Lao Qian looked at these broken guns, broken belts, lunch boxes and other things dropped by the New Fourth Army, laughed, and proudly said to the recalcitrant officers under him: "Look, these are finished, even these guns were thrown on the way, they didn't even let go of a nail before, what does this mean, hehe, they are really running for their lives, Zhou Wu, you wait, I must capture you alive, send you to the chairman of the Chongqing Committee, and let him, the principal, personally deal with you, a Huangpu student."
Lao Qian felt quite good about himself, threw away the things that the scout picked up, and ordered the brigades of the 18th Division to march in unison, attacking and advancing in the direction of Huai'an City at a rapid marching speed, for a while, 30,000 pairs of Kuomintang recalcitrant soldiers spread along the road towards Huai'an City like a swarm of locusts, and the front used his armored regiment to open the way, dozens of American-made tanks and armored vehicles rumbled over, and the infantry trucks behind followed closely, and soon advanced to the halfway road half away from Huai'an City, according to this speed, It will not take two days to recover Huai'an City and encircle the New Fourth Army in Jiangbei.
Just when Division Commander Qian was immersed in the joy of imminent victory, the armored regiment in front came to report: "Division, a group of New Fourth Army troops was found in front, with a lot of people, estimated to be three or four thousand people, and the road in front has been destroyed by them, and tanks and armored vehicles are impassable. ” When Division Commander Qian heard this, he finally came to the New Fourth Army's blocking team, isn't it just right to hit the muzzle, first destroy those New Fourth Army teams that took the initiative to hit the muzzle, so that Zhou Wu can know how powerful our 18th Division is full of American mechanics t1706231537: