Sword: Heart of Iron

Chapter 104: The Fifth War Zone's Reliance
A voice came from the microphone: "An urgent telegram came from Mingguang. On the night of January 27, 1, Wang Feng's troops, together with the 23st Army, took the initiative to attack and launch a roundabout assault. After a whole night of fighting, they wiped out nearly 31 enemies!"

"26th Brigade Commander Numata Tokushige committed suicide!"

When speaking, Xu Zuyi's voice trembled a little.

The annihilation of nearly 4,000 enemies was a great victory for the entire North China!

Li Zongren stood up suddenly, a look of joy on his face: "Are you serious?"

On the other end of the phone, Xu Zuyi nodded in confirmation: "Really!"

"Wang Feng and Liu Shiyi have both sent a message to the headquarters, saying that the Japanese are stepping up their troop mobilization in an attempt to forcefully break through the Bengbu-Huaihe defense line with heavy troops."

At this time, Li Zongren wished he could fly back to Xuzhou and command the battle personally.

It is the center of the entire war zone where two railway lines intersect, and even phone calls can be directly made to the front-line command post after being transferred.

This is where the battle is commanded.

The Fifth War Zone is small, but the pressure is great as it has to face three large armies at the same time.

The Isogai Division advancing rapidly on the Jinpu Line, the Sendai Division landing in Qingdao, and the 13th Division in Huainan.

There is no easy solution.

The reinforcements from Beijing and Shanghai had not arrived yet, and Li Zongren only had two hands. How could he deal with three large armies?

Currently, the Sendai Division is stationed in Qingdao and has not moved south in time.

This is good news.

The specific reasons are still unknown, but we have a rough idea.

Japan is not a monolithic country.

There must be a conflict with the navy.

As the saying goes, knowing yourself and your enemy will ensure victory in every battle. Li Zongren had a relatively good understanding of the Japanese military situation, and there was a dividing line within the navy and the army.

The north belongs to the army and the south to the navy.

Before this, Japanese warships were hanging around Qingdao, ready to land at any time.

But it was delayed by the Battle of Shanghai. The battle was started by the Navy and the Marines took the lead in capturing the Hongkou base.

But in the end, the army stole the limelight, and a grudge was left between the two sides.

The original plan was to mobilize the navy and the army together this time.

However, Yu Xuezhong's 51st Army was transferred to Huaibei, leaving Qingdao a deserted city.

At this time, the Sendai Division was still far away, and the navy felt that it could capture Qingdao on its own, so it took the lead in launching an attack.

At this time, many factories and railway lines in the country were damaged, but the navy had no time to repair them.

Constantly partying in the city.

When the Sendai Division arrived in Qingdao, they not only discovered that the Navy was monopolizing the market, but also that seals saying "Navy management" were posted everywhere.

No matter what, the army will not be allowed in.

According to reports from spies who stayed in Qingdao, the Sendai Division lived collectively on the streets.

It's January in the north! Even in a coastal city, the wind is howling and cold.
The navy was partying in the house, celebrating the rare victory, while the army was camping on the streets, freezing to death.

Okamura Neiji was immediately unhappy.

In terms of seniority, the Sendai Division was one of the six earliest garrisons established by the Japanese Empire.

Moreover, he was affiliated with the Kwantung Army, and was transferred here because the North China Front Army was short of manpower.

In the Kwantung Army, he was considered the elite among the elite and was highly praised wherever he went. However, as soon as he arrived in North China, he was living on the street.

Who can bear this?
Okamura Neiji was so angry that he couldn't sleep all night. In his eyes, Xuzhou would be taken sooner or later; it was only a matter of time.

We must compete with the navy in Qingdao.

Li Zongren had no idea how the situation would develop subsequently.

But according to reports from spies, the Sendai Division had been sleeping on the streets for several days.

The longer Okamura Neiji delays, the more advantageous the war situation will be.

The victory of Jinpu South Road came somewhat unexpectedly.

He plans to make a big move along the Bengbu-Huaihe River line.

If the 13th Division's route to the north could be completely blocked on the southern front, then the only one they would have to face would be the Isogai Division on the Tsukuba Line.

We don't seek to win, as long as we can hold off the enemy and wait for the arrival of subsequent reinforcements, there is still room for maneuver.

Li Zongren counted on his fingers and thought, he only had a few troops, and it was not easy to move any of them.

After a moment: "Move the 51st Army to Bengbu, and make sure to stop the Japanese troops advancing northward to the south bank of the Huaihai Lake!"

On the other end of the phone, Xu Zuyi answered loudly: "Yes!"

"Sir, will the Mingguang frontline supplies be fully distributed?"

Li Zongren: "Please tell the frontline troops that there are not many rifles and light machine guns in the war zone at the moment. As for bullets and grenades, they will be issued twice as much."

The Fifth War Zone’s firearms reserves are indeed running low.

When we took over the 22nd Sichuan Army Group a while ago, we gritted our teeth and managed to gather 500 new guns.

Xu Zuyi: “Understood!”

After hanging up the phone, Li Zongren was so excited that he could not sit still in his chair.

Four thousand enemies were annihilated on the Jinpu South Road, and a brigade commander committed suicide. It was undoubtedly a great victory.

It was a perfect start, which dampened the Japanese army's fighting spirit and provided a good start for the subsequent Battle of Xuzhou.

Li Zongren whispered: "Wang Feng. The North China Battle Group is the reliance of our Fifth War Zone!"

The evening of July 1.

Wang Feng, Zhao Fangyuan and others stepped onto the battlefield and went to the front line to inspect in person.

It was very quiet at night, and the only sound was the rustling of military boots stepping on the sand.

Zhao Fangyuan stood on a high place and used a telescope to observe the Japanese troops on the other side of the river: "Sir, the Japanese invaders are really fast. They have dug out a rough position within four hours of arriving at the east bank of Chihe River."

Wang Feng nodded on the side.

He could see the movements of the Japanese army clearly through the three-dimensional combat map, which was mainly to boost morale.

Zhao Fangyuan put down the binoculars. "According to the theater headquarters, the 51st Army boarded a train half an hour ago and rushed to Bengbu."

Wang Feng paced with his head down: "The Japanese invaders are eager to go north, and they may ignore Chihe and directly mobilize heavy troops to go north along the Jinpu Line."

The geographical value of Chihe is average and it is located on the west side of the Jinpu Line.

At present, Mingguang is still in the hands of the Japanese army, and they can use the city as a springboard to attack Bengbu directly.

Judging from the current intentions of the Japanese army, they do have this idea.

It is a good thing that the 51st Army rushed to Bengbu from Huaibei.

Last night's battle completely enraged the Japanese army.

The remnants of the 13th Division rushed north, and transferred hundreds of artillery pieces, more than 20 tanks, and a large number of aircraft from the Beijing-Shanghai direction.

Just looking at the scale, it is much stronger than the 26th Brigade.

In addition, Wang Feng discovered another army through the bird's-eye view.

——The 18th Division.

According to memory of war history, after the fall of Nanjing, this division performed local security tasks and was later completely wiped out in Southeast Asia.

As the situation in Jinpu was tense, this unit was transferred northward.

As a result, the Japanese troops in the southern section of the Jinpu Road changed from a division in history to a division plus a brigade.

Wang Feng frowned, and a feeling of powerlessness surged into his heart, making it difficult for him to breathe.

The overall situation is such that it is beyond human control.

Wang Feng felt a little confused.

The 26th Brigade was almost demobilized after annihilating enemies, and its brigade commander, a major general, committed suicide.

Is it too much force?
This result is naturally a great thing for the overall war of resistance.

However, it increased the pressure on the local resistance in the Fifth War Zone.

The importance of Jinpu and even Xuzhou is self-evident. If it is lost in a short period of time, the entire Chinese nation will be in danger!

The brilliant and dazzling record not only failed to save the collapsing empire, but may have even made things worse.

He doesn't know whether it is a blessing or a curse.
Wang Feng was thinking a lot and turned his head: "Fang Yuan, the Japanese army is increasing its troops on the southern line of Jinpu, what do you think?"

Zhao Fangyuan was surveying the position when he was suddenly asked. He was stunned for a moment and then said, "Sir, the Japanese are coming. How can we not kill them?"

"As for the more that come, the more we will kill!"

Wang Feng's expression was solemn.

As the saying goes, pulling one hair affects the whole body.

This is a whole new battle.

It was completely different from the battle I was familiar with in my memory.

There was suddenly an additional brigade of troops on the southern front.

If the Japanese attack could not be resisted in the end, all of Li Zongren's defensive deployments would be disrupted as they advanced from the north and south.

You may lose, but you may also achieve a greater victory.

Everything depends on man, not God!

With his mind made up, Wang Feng stretched his muscles and said, "Pass the order down, the entire army should be on alert tonight to prevent a surprise attack by the Japanese invaders."

Zhao Fangyuan responded, and then together with Sergei, Zhang Hu and others, they made specific arrangements for night defense.

Wang Feng tightened his fur-collared coat and walked back to the headquarters alone.

The position was close to the river, and the temperature was low at night, so a layer of fog filled the pitch-black night sky.

Wang Feng just felt a little cold, walked into the darkness alone, and shivered unconsciously.

1 month 25 day.

There was still some leftover food on the table. Wang Feng stood in front of the observation hole, apparently observing the battlefield with his naked eyes.

In fact, the consciousness has already floated to the bird's-eye view interface.

The battlefield was very strange. Compared with the battle with the 26th Brigade in the previous two days, both sides were blood-thirsty. When there was a lack of ferry boats, the Japanese soldiers were still eager to cross the river.

But now, it seems that the Japanese army is attacking and their willingness to cross the river is very low.

The sound of gunfire rang out sporadically on both sides of the Chi River, giving Wang Feng the feeling that he was just punching in at work and slacking off.

As expected, after the 13th and 18th Divisions joined forces, they split into two routes.

Defenses were deployed all the way along the east bank of the Chi River to prevent the garrison there from harassing the flank.

The other route was the elite main force, which drove directly to Mingguang and then turned to Bengbu.

It is the same as the battle situation at Niangzi Pass and Xinkou in the past.

If Bengbu fell, the Japanese army could cross the Huai River to the north and head straight to Xuzhou.

If they go south, they can launch a surprise attack on the flank of the Chihe defenders, and the entire riverside defense line will completely lose its value.

Wang Feng did not see any of the artillery, tanks, and airplanes mentioned in the intelligence along the banks of the Chi River.

I guess they all joined the team attacking Bengbu.

It depends on whether the 51st Army can win this decisive battle.

In the Fifth War Zone, there were a total of two troops from the Northeast Army.

One was Miao Chengliu’s 57th Army, which had decent equipment but was known to have weak combat effectiveness, something even he had heard of.

The second is Yu Xuezhen’s 51st Army, which has good combat effectiveness but is not a powerful force.

Wang Feng turned around and stared at the map on the table, which clearly depicted the terrain of the Jinpu South Line.

The reason why Li Zongren sent the 51st Army probably means he was really running out of soldiers.

The last trump card is Zhang Zizhong's troops, currently stationed in Linyi to guard against the Isotani Division.

Given the current situation, if there is any further change, the entire Fifth War Zone will fall apart.

Zhao Fangyuan walked over quickly: "Sir, there's an urgent telegram from the base!"

Wang Feng frowned and quickly took the telegram.

Glance up and down.

I breathed a sigh of relief, it turned out that the Type 24 rifle had gone into mass production.

The first batch of rifles, 500 in total, will be delivered to front-line troops in early February.

congratulations!

Wang Feng folded the telegram and said, "Reply to Song Wenjie and ask him to intensify the training of the troops. The main focus of the factory expansion should still be on the bullet factory."

After more than a month of training, the troop levels of the Second and Third Mountain Tactical Corps in the rear will soon be upgraded to [Well-trained].

It is almost February, and the Japanese army is expected to launch an attack on the Changzhi area soon.

In the two-front war, the consumption of ammunition is extremely high.
The current daily output of the bullet factory can barely reach 12,000 rounds.

It sounds like a lot, but it's actually not enough.

The garrison in Changzhi alone has more than 10,000 troops, and it is difficult for them to even achieve the most basic goal of one shot per person per day.

Zhao Fangyuan received the order and walked out quickly.

The situation on the front line is nothing interesting. Compared with the previous high-intensity combat, it is now simply a health-preserving situation.

The two armies confronted each other along the river. The Japanese army's attack direction was not here, so they just fired a few symbolic shots and completed their mission.

But even so, we still cannot transfer troops to Bengbu.

Although the Japanese army was not interested in fighting, they were still very diligent in collecting intelligence.

Overhead, a reconnaissance plane can be seen almost every hour.

This is a trick to deceive people!

Once the Japanese army discovered that there were troop movements on the west bank of the Chi River, they would immediately launch an attack and take advantage of the opportunity.

Two hours ago, the 31st Army tried to transfer a division of troops to Bengbu, but the Japanese army launched an attack as soon as the soldiers left their positions.

Liu Shiyi took great pains to repel the Japanese army.

For Wang Feng, this situation was not too bad.

The calm is only an appearance and will not last long. Regardless of whether the Japanese army loses or not in the Bengbu battlefield, as long as the fighting there reaches a white-hot stage, war will surely break out again along the Chihe River.

It would be better to take advantage of this time to accumulate strength and recover from the pain of the previous battle as soon as possible.

Bored, Wang Feng sat upright in the chair and immersed his consciousness in the system panel.

I suddenly remembered that after the last battle, there were still system rewards that I had not claimed.

Click on the [Medal System] that is gathering dust in the corner.

If you ask which function in the system panel is the least popular, Wang Feng must vote for this one.

So far, only one medal has been unlocked.

Now, there is a new medal on one wall.

【Breakthrough】

[Owner: The First 'Red Flag' Mountain Tactical Corps]

[The troops under your command performed exceptionally bravely in the breakthrough and infiltration operations. The grassroots officers have accumulated a lot of practical experience and passed it on to their subordinates.]

[Effect: The unit's marching speed +10%, breakthrough value +10]

Wang Feng raised his eyebrows.

"Collective medal?"

I have now received two medals in total, both of which are effective in the 1st "Red Flag" Mountain Tactical Corps.

Did Zhang Hu get all the good things?
Wang Feng couldn't help but hold his forehead.

In fact, the medal effectiveness bonus is not groundless, it is just a data reflection of the actual situation.

Zhang Hu's troops experienced the most major battles and accumulated a lot of practical experience, so it is understandable that they have strong combat capabilities.

But looking at this situation, the troops trained in the end, even with their equipment disadvantages, will still be more terrifying than the Gundam Division in terms of combat effectiveness.

(End of this chapter)