Bright Sword: Start with Ding Blast Bridge, Homemade Sweet Potato Cake

There was a powerful anti-Japanese force among the defenders of Anyang, and they participated in the Battle of Taierzhuang.

But they have chosen the wrong path and are stubborn, so there is no way to show them goodwill.

The artillery fire continued to bombard and flatten the fortifications.

Zhao Gang originally wanted to order his men to charge, but Zhang Dabiao insisted on launching a second round of attack.

If something can be solved with artillery shells, try not to let the soldiers get hurt. One of the biggest advantages of Ding Wei's column is its strong firepower and artillery.

The combat effectiveness of this group of puppet troops was surprisingly not low, comparable to some elite troops of the National Army.

One cannot help but be reminded of Ding Wei’s assessment.

The combat effectiveness of the puppet army has always been a mystery. Those who can fight dare to confront the elite head-on, while those who cannot fight will flee at the sound of artillery fire.

But there was an absolute gap between the two sides. The defenders had sufficient ammunition and wanted to use fortifications and city defense.

Zhang Dabiao used artillery to repeatedly rub against the group of people who put up the most stubborn resistance, making them dizzy.

Only then did he order his troops to attack with all their might, pressing in with automatic firepower.

Submachine guns, light and heavy machine guns opened fire, leaving bullet holes all over the ground.

No one expected that a small city would cause such a big war. The fighting lasted for three days. Among the more than 3 defenders, 1.4 were annihilated and the remaining 1.2 surrendered.

The attack and defense in Anyang were not smooth, but the attack in Xinxiang was unusually smooth.

After taking Anyang, the 8th Army in Xinxiang, which was surrounded by the 70th Column, declared an uprising. Without firing a single shot, all 1.7 troops surrendered.

It took several days to resolve these two northern thorns.

Commander Chen of the 4th Column was once again eager to attack, and went directly to Ding Wei's front-line command post.

The old brigade commander, whip in hand, knocked on the door.

"Let me see, where is your Commander Ding?"

"This is a bullshit fight. If he doesn't dare to command, let me do it."

"He delayed the fighter plane. I'll kill him."

He is still the old brigade commander, his temper is still the same as before and his voice is still loud.

Ding Wei came out from the side with a smile on his face, looked Commander Chen up and down, and asked in a friendly manner, "If you are tired of scolding, sit down and have a cup of tea."

"That's reasonable. I thought you were acting like a frontline commander."

He just laughed. How could he possibly put on airs in front of the old brigade commander?

"The preparations delayed some things. We just had two columns defeat the stubborn enemy, captured more than 3 people, and seized a large amount of military equipment and supplies. I, Ding Wei, don't like these things, so I plan to give them to the teacher and let him distribute them."

Commander Chen, who was about to drink water, immediately lit up his eyes when he heard this.

The two stubborn groups in northern Henan are the 40th Army in Anyang and the 70th Army in Xinxiang.

They had a clash of forces during the battle in northern Henan. These two ragtag armies were not easy to deal with. They had the foundation of the Northwest Army and were capable and daring enough to fight.

"already solved?"

"Yes, we have already conquered the city and captured the garrison. We need to spend more energy to reform and reorganize the prisoners."

Several columns of the Central Plains Army were not fully staffed. There were a total of 7 columns, with only over 20 troops, which was equivalent to only 2-3 divisions in one column.

Ding Wei was really generous, sending out 3 prisoners in one go.

Commander Chen happened to come here today, so he is the first to see the moon.

"In essence, you, Ding Wei, are also a commander who left our brigade. Now that you have become prosperous, you can't deny your roots. In my opinion, this batch of prisoners should be used to supplement the 4th Column first."

"There are only over 3 people, so don't bother the teacher and save him the trouble."

Is this really good?

It is better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early.

Commander Chen happily took away 3 soldiers and accelerated the reorganization of the troops on the eve of the attack. The 70th Army surrendered without firing a shot, so it was relatively simple to reorganize.

Decisively pressed into the 4th Column, split it up, and assigned it to each division commander.

The remaining 1.2 prisoners were handed over to the commander, who led the 2nd and 6th columns to engage in combat with Huang Wei's Corps. The pressure was quite high and the battle was quite difficult.

Weapons, equipment, ammunition and supplies were transported south by car.

Zhongye's four columns and Ding Wei's four columns pressed towards Zhengcheng in an orderly manner.

The arrival of Ding Wei's troops gave the Huaihai battlefield a shot in the arm. These four fully staffed and well-equipped troops can be used directly to clamp down on the Kuomintang's trump card.

Here we need to mention the deployment of the National Army after the Battle of East Henan and the Battle of Jinan.

Du Yiqi made a new troop deployment and decided to abandon Zhengcheng, Kaifeng and Shangqiu, and concentrate the troops on the Xuzhou-Bengbu line to prevent the Central Plains from encircling them.

After eliminating Wan Huaye's main force, it may not be impossible to reverse the situation.

Because the main force of Sun Yuanliang's army was withdrawn, Zhengcheng and Kaifeng were left with a lack of troops.

There were only two divisions of defenders in the city, totaling about 2 people. Moreover, they were a ragtag group of troops, not the direct line of the Central Army at all.

The troops that pressed into Zhengcheng included the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 9th columns of the Central Plains Field Army.

There are also Ding Wei's four columns: the 8th, 9th, 12th and the independent 6th.

With eight columns of troops, only two miscellaneous divisions were left to defend Zheng City?

While the troops were gathering, before the attack was launched, problems arose among the defenders.

They didn't want to defend the so-called city at all. Facing 8 columns, the disparity in troop strength was so huge that it was impossible to defend it.

Decisively abandon the city and flee.

It was too late to run away at this time, as the mobile troops had already penetrated and pressed towards Zhengcheng and Kaifeng areas.

They caught up with the defending troops in the wild and easily wiped them out.

They then pressed into the Kaifeng area, the capital city that had already been recaptured once.

After the troops were withdrawn, it became an empty city.

The two cities were captured almost without bloodshed. The forces of eight columns pressed forward to the front line in eastern Henan. After taking Shangqiu, they placed the front-line headquarters in Shangqiu.

Ding Wei's four columns were in the north of Shangqiu, and the four columns of the Central Plains Field Army were in the south of Shangqiu, forming a huge encirclement to support the combat area of ​​the Huaye Army.

Ding Wei actually caught up with the Small Huaihai Campaign.

Inside the front-line command center, all the column commanders gathered together, waiting for him, the front-line commander, to give orders.

Looking at the group of officers from his former mother's family, Ding Wei chuckled.

"It's still the millet rice in our Zhongye that sustains people. When I went to the Northeast and North China, I would eat two bowls less. Everyone here includes my former superiors and former colleagues."

"Before we jointly participated in the Huaihai Campaign, the headquarters gave us the task of blocking the enemy."

"I don't think blocking is a bad thing. On the contrary, I, Ding Wei, like blocking."

"But the situation has changed. After taking over the three cities of Zheng, Feng, and Shang, we now have eight columns of troops, and each commander has also received some additional troops."

"With more manpower and more firepower, we are able to participate in important battles."

The political commissar sitting next to him knocked on the table and reiterated the headquarters' requirements, which also established Ding Wei's prestige.

"Since we are going to participate in an important battle and join forces with the Huaye Column, we should talk openly about some things. I hope that the commanders of the columns will abandon their parochial thinking and consider the overall situation and the entire war."

"If anyone violates military discipline or disobeys orders, we will investigate and deal with them strictly."