Start as a young leader, grow bigger and stronger, and create more glory

A series of orders were issued. Fortunately, the communicators were professionally trained and had good memory, otherwise it would be difficult to remember so many orders.

Until the communicator took the order and left, Xu Le felt very relieved looking at Wang Dafu's appearance.

The other person's character is calm and collected, and coupled with his sturdy body, he has the demeanor of a general when giving orders.

Before thoroughly understanding the movements of the Japanese, Wang Dafu did not rush for success. Instead, he based his troops on the mission of this operation and ordered them to defend Fenxi.

Just like the location of Pu County, to the east of Fenxi is the Tongpu Railway, which is an important transportation line running through the north and south of Shanxi Province, and it is also the only transportation line. No matter how much the Japanese retreat, they will never give up this road.

Otherwise, they would have to give up Zhaoxian, Hongdong, Linfen and other places south of Huoxian, and by then, the Japanese would lose all their geographical advantages south of Jinzhong.

Moreover, there are tens of thousands of Japanese invaders entrenched in the south of Huo County. If Wang Dafu rashly sends troops to advance towards Huo County, regardless of whether it is a military action or not, it will inevitably provoke a desperate counterattack from the Japanese invaders.

It’s not that Xu Le doesn’t dare to fight in such a battle!

It’s just that the troops are not yet ready for a head-on attack on the Tongpu Railway!

Xu Le looked at Jiang Feng, and Jiang Feng also looked over there. The two of them smiled knowingly, as if they had reached a consensus in their hearts!

In the entire 176th Division, there are only two people who have the authority to appoint soldiers to military positions!

Xu Le is naturally the first, and he has the greatest rights!

The second one is Jiang Feng. As the deputy chief of the General Staff, his actual identity has transcended the 176th Division and is above all departments related to the combat forces.

It is no exaggeration to say that he is second to none!

It’s just that Xu Le has more power and can appoint and dismiss everyone in the headquarters and the 176th Division!

Jiang Feng could transfer personnel at the General Staff Headquarters, but he could not reach the General Political Department and the General Logistics Department, and he could only appoint and dismiss officers at the regimental level and below.

It’s not that brigade commanders and chiefs of staff like Liu Quanhua and Wang Dafu cannot be appointed, but Xu Le is above them. If changes are really necessary, he will seek Xu Le’s opinion. Only after Xu Le nods in agreement will he execute it!

This is the hierarchy of the 176th Division now. Xu Le is above everyone else, and below him are the heads of the three major departments. Below them are the section chiefs and department heads, etc.!

.......

The order was quickly transmitted to the regiments on the front line via radio, and each regiment then conveyed the detailed battle deployment to each battalion, company and platoon through radio calls and walkie-talkies!

In Huicheng Town, 20 kilometers away from Fenxi County, three tanks were conducting their final patrol. The Japanese heavy firepower points here had been cleared out and the Japanese had almost all fled. After a final inspection, they would continue to move forward, providing a fast route for the subsequent infantry regiments.

"Platoon leader, the company commander has sent an order, ordering all tank platoons to abandon their patrol missions and advance at full speed towards Fenxi!"

The Type 59 tank has a crew of four people, including the commander, gunner, loader and driver. The gunner, who temporarily acted as a confidential officer, looked at the dazed platoon leader and shouted.

Ever since the war broke out, Zhu Zhaolan has been puzzled by one question. When he and Xu Le escaped back from Duizhu, Xu Le clearly blew up and threw away all three tanks in their platoon!

But on the second day after returning to the army, Xu Le sent three more tanks from their platoon!

How could he not recognize his own tanks, especially this one, numbered 079, meaning it was the 79th tank officially handed over to the armored regiment.

This number is unique, and even if the tank is destroyed in future battles, the replacement tank will be reorganized.

For example, if an armored regiment has 100 tanks, numbered from 1 to 100, then the number of the next tank is 101.

So Zhu Zhaolan wondered why the tank, which had obviously been destroyed, came back intact.

At first he thought Xu Le gave him the original number by opening a back door for the sake of their brotherhood!

But when he entered the tank and saw the marks he had carved with his own hands, he became confused again!

There are 23 horizontal bars in total, representing that the tank hit 23 enemy fortifications or firing points!

Although he did not see Xu Le blow up the tank with his own eyes, he did not believe that Xu Le was lying to him. At least the way back was not suitable for tanks to pass, and it was only possible to walk on foot. There were also many cliffs, which made climbing very dangerous.

Can't figure it out!

I really can’t figure it out!

Hearing the gunner's voice, Zhu Zhaolan came to his senses and was overjoyed: "Great, I can finally show my skills! Does our platoon have any specific tasks?"

"The mission of the 1st and 2nd tank battalions is to continue advancing eastwards, while our 3rd battalion will bypass Majiazhai. While clearing out the enemy, we also need to open a passage to ensure the smooth passage of subsequent mechanized vehicles!"

Zhu Zhaolan immediately picked up the microphone and shouted, "080, 081, mission completed, full speed ahead to Majiazhai!"

Afterwards, the three tanks turned around on the spot and moved towards Majiazhai at an off-road speed of 3 kilometers per hour.

The same thing happened to more than a dozen tanks in several surrounding locations, all converging in the same direction!

During the last battle, the armored regiment had already opened up a route outside Majiazhai, but the interior was still surrounded by jungle and trees!

However, in front of a 36-ton Type 59 tank, all it needs to do is drive forward at full speed, and a tree as thick as a calf will be broken in an instant!

This is another important role of the armored regiment in field battles. Its speed in opening up roads is countless times faster than that of engineers!

Although the infantry regiment is now fully transported by Unimog trucks with superior performance, the passability of wheeled vehicles in complex mountain terrain is still far from satisfactory, and the speed cannot be increased!

Moreover, the truck has no defense capability, and the infantry's movements on the truck are restricted, which is equivalent to becoming a sitting duck!

Therefore, the current 176th Division can only be regarded as a semi-mechanized unit, but it is definitely the top motorized unit!

.....

That afternoon, the general attack on Fenxi and Shuitou Town began!

But just as the artillery scouts had reported, most of the Japs had already withdrawn, with only a few left behind!

The fighters on both fronts took up their positions after encountering slight resistance.

This was the second time that the 664th Regiment attacked Fenxi City. However, after two consecutive battles, the civilians in the city suffered heavy losses. The 664th Regiment immediately occupied the puppet county government supported by the Japanese and mobilized troops to take over the security team and police station!

The 666th Regiment also entered the county town shortly afterwards and quickly set up three lines of defense in the east of the city. The 3st Artillery Regiment and the artillery battalion of the 1th Regiment respectively deployed artillery positions to confront the Japanese!

As expected, according to the latest report from the scouts, the Japanese had purchased fortifications in Shenfu Town, right between Fenxi and Huo County, with a total of two battalions of troops and several field artillery!

Moreover, Shenfu Town is the only road between Fenxi and Huo County. There is a small open area towards Fenxi, which is very conducive to defense!

Without the threat of heavy artillery, the attack on Shuitou Town was very smooth and it was taken without firing a single shot.

The 2nd Independent Regiment also successfully found the location of the Japanese heavy artillery position. All eight Meiji 8-type 45mm cannons were there, but they had all become scrap metal.

The gun weighs 23 tons and is very difficult to move.

The total weight of the 8 guns reached 180 tons, which was a huge amount of resources. It seemed that the Independent 2nd and 3rd Regiments were advancing too fast, so that the Japanese had no time to transport the wreckage away.

There was not a single Japanese corpse. They must have been taken away by the retreating Japanese soldiers!

In general, the Japanese defended around the secret experimental base in the Battle of Majiazhai. Although iron ore was also important, in the face of the powerful firepower and rapid advancement capabilities of the 176th Division, the Japanese made a wise choice and withdrew all the troops that could be withdrawn.

At dusk that day, the 666th Regiment completely occupied the iron mine, and the Armored Regiment successfully opened up a simple road from Majiazhai to Yanxian County and Fenxi, which at least ensured the smooth passage of trucks!

At this point, in the face of the absolute firepower of the 176th Division, the Second Battle of Majiazhai ended with a great victory for the 176th Division!