The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 87 Military Meeting 2
Suddenly, the atmosphere in the conference room suddenly became warm, or it could be said to be noisy. Several division chiefs of staff also expressed their opinions on the current situation. The No. 14 Army is now facing a very special situation. The Japanese army is mainly attacking the West. One of the two field infantry regiments in the mountainous area was inexplicably transferred to the plain area, and the attack was directed at Yanzhuang, a village with only one dissatisfied infantry battalion for defense. It was strange, everything was too strange.

In response to this strange phenomenon, how will the No. 14 Army fight next?Attack or defend?In fact, this is a matter of public opinion being justified and mother-in-law saying mother-in-law is justified. Both sides have their own reasons and reasons, and they all sound reasonable and feasible.

The officers present at the meeting proposed defense. Their point of view was that every inch of territory must be fought for and no inch of territory could be lost. Therefore, no matter what, troops and weapons should be concentrated to defend Yanzhuang.

Those who proposed the attack believed that the size of Yanzhuang's position and the strength of the defenders were unable to resist the attack of a Japanese regiment. Instead of holding on and possibly being wiped out in the end, it was better to withdraw the troops guarding Yanzhuang. Save more effective forces and hold on to the main defense line for more time, but the highland defense line west of Xinkou must take advantage of the empty Japanese troops to launch an attack and recapture all the lost hilltop positions and highlands.

The views of both sides cannot be wrong. The root of everything lies in the strange and bizarre tactical maneuvers of the Japanese army, which ultimately led to the mutual dispute in this high-level headquarters meeting.

At first, it was just a few division commanders and chiefs of staff arguing with each other. Then the chiefs of staff of several divisions also joined the war of words. Later, the officers in charge of various departments and agencies of the military headquarters also participated. For a while, you The quarrels and verbal exchanges were no less intense than the fighting on the battlefield.

Of course, among the officers attending the meeting, there were also Gujing Wubo, who seemed to be irrelevant bystanders, including Colonel Shi Hongxi, commander of the 27th Artillery Regiment, Colonel Zhang Yingqi, commander of the 23th Artillery Regiment, Major Zhao Jisan, commander of the Mountain Artillery Battalion of the Second Division, and Colonel Zhao Jisan, commander of the [-]rd Artillery Regiment. Major Zhao Yinfeng, commander of the second battalion, all three of them had expressionless faces. They quietly looked at the quarreling infantry officers at the end of the conference table.

The Fifth Artillery Regiment is an independent artillery force of the Central Army. It is equipped with the latest Bofors 75mm mountain cannon. The commander of the regiment is Colonel Shi Hongxi, who graduated from the third phase of Huangpu Military Academy. After the outbreak of the all-out Anti-Japanese War, he was ordered to go to the north and assigned to the first theater of operations. As a result, the artillery units were used dispersedly by battalions and companies and assigned to various infantry units. A good artillery regiment was never used intensively and was dismantled in pieces. When Shi Hongxi was ordered to rush to Xinkou this time, Shi Hongxi led The only troops left were the headquarters of the fifth regiment and an artillery battalion.

Zhao Jisan's mountain artillery battalion was originally the divisional artillery battalion of the 52nd Division of the [-]nd Army. Shortly before the Battle of Xinkou, the Second Army withdrew from Baoding. In order to enhance the artillery firepower of the Xinkou garrison, the Second Division was ordered to The mountain artillery battalion broke away from the organization and drove eight Japanese-made Taisho [-]-type mountain artillery to Xinkou.

Zhang Yingqi, the commander of the 27th Artillery Regiment, was the most indifferent one. He was originally from the Shanxi-Sui Army. The entire regiment was fully equipped with 36 Jin-made Type 75 [-]mm mountain cannons. They were all disciples of Chairman Yan. All officers and soldiers of the regiment They are all natives of Shanxi.

Now assigned to the No. 14 Army to fight, he is completely obeying the orders from above and cooperating with friendly forces. A group of Central Army cadres were arguing, and he didn't have the right to interrupt, so he seemed very calm.

Beside him, with the same mentality was Major Zhao Yinfeng, commander of the 23nd Battalion of the 88rd Artillery Regiment. He was also an artilleryman in the Shanxi-Sui Army system, but unlike the others, his artillery battalion was equipped with The twelve Jin-made [-]-type [-]mm field guns produced by Taiyuan Arsenal can be said to be the best among all!
These people all have a common identity - artillery officers. In the national army, infantry has always been given priority. In front of the big brother of the infantry, the artillery has only the role of cooperating in combat and does not have much right to participate in decision-making. Moreover, the national army has always given priority to the infantry. The army's low level of use of artillery also greatly restricted the artillery officers' own talents and artillery power. These artillery officers were too lazy to participate in the quarrels between the advanced army officers and only waited for the battle orders to be issued from above. This was completely No matter how much you argue, I will remain unmoved.

Naturally, this quarrel cannot continue. The only one who can stop all this is Army Commander Li Mo'an. Now is the time to make the final decision and set the tone for this combat plan. With Li Mo'an's shout, the entire meeting The room instantly returned to silence.

Li Mo'an glanced at the officers and said slowly: "My colleagues, arguing cannot solve the problem. The current situation is not limited to attack and defense. The two are not in conflict. The front of Xinkou is currently tight, and our department must take some measures to respond. I have made up my mind to fight head-on. The Yanzhuang position must be defended and defended to the end. Our army's principle now is not to give up an inch of territory and must fight for every inch of it. If we voluntarily give up a position just because it is difficult to defend, then we might as well retreat directly to Taiyuan. Go ahead and save yourself the trouble.”

"We should not attack rashly. After this deployment of enemy troops, the pressure on the plain area guarded by the 80th Division suddenly increased. However, the strength of the Japanese troops in the mountains on the western front was greatly reduced. I ordered that in Yanzhuang, we should defend and fight in the plain area. At the same time, the No. 80 Third Division and the No. [-] Fifth Division located in the mountains on the western front must launch a counterattack, take advantage of the empty strength of the Japanese army to drive them down the mountains on the western front of Xinkou, and restore to the pre-war situation."

"According to this combat plan, the distribution of our army's forces can be roughly divided into two parts. The first part is the 80th Division guarding Yanzhuang and the Dabaishui plain area, and the other part is the No. 85 Third Division responsible for counterattack in the mountains. With the 23th Division, the artillery assigned to our army must also be allocated to two operations according to the characteristics of the artillery. The Bofors Mountain Cannon of the 88th Artillery Regiment and the 20mm field gun equipped by the 80rd Artillery Regiment’s field artillery battalion are heavier, and their operation and disassembly It is more difficult. Together with the mountain artillery battalion of the 80nd Division, it is assigned to the [-]th Division for combat. The Artillery No. [-] and Seventh Regiment are equipped with Jin-made [-]th Mountain Artillery. It is relatively lightweight and easy to disassemble, making it more convenient to fight in mountainous areas. This regiment is all equipped with Let No. [-] Third Division fight against No. [-] Fifth Division."

"I will apply to Commander Yan for baggage and ammunition supplies, and plan to apply for an infantry division as a reserve. Each division must complete all combat preparations no later than eight o'clock tomorrow morning!"

(End of this chapter)