Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Chief of Staff Xu was a little slow to react. Zhang Wenwu's operational thinking was really jumping. He hadn't even introduced the things on the ground yet, but he was already thinking about the things in the sky. So he smiled and asked, "Brigade Commander Zhang, please explain your request in detail. If it is reasonable, the theater will definitely cooperate with you to achieve this goal."

Zhang Wenwu also sorted out his thoughts, and then began to introduce: "Commanders, there should be about 800 Japanese troops outside the city. This group of Japanese troops has built a circular fortification outside the city, and the Japanese army is still constantly building and reinforcing this circular position. At present, there are only about 2,600 officers and soldiers who can participate in the attack. During the day today, four Japanese planes came to support the defense of the Japanese army outside the city. This caused the Japanese artillery captured by our army to stop firing and hide. The Japanese planes were very sensitive to our subsequent The attack will be very disadvantageous. If the officers and soldiers rush into the Japanese fortifications without artillery support, there will be a lot of casualties, and it is not certain that they can successfully capture the Japanese circular position. Therefore, I want the theater to find out where the Japanese front-line airport is, and then send nearby troops to destroy the Japanese airport. As long as the Japanese planes on the Japanese airport are destroyed, not only can our troops play the advantage of artillery in the attack, but even the defense of the 20th Corps will become easier due to the reduction of Japanese aircraft air raids. "

Chief of Staff Xu nodded. He thought Zhang Wenwu's first step plan was good, but he immediately said, "The planes at the Japanese airport have been destroyed, so we can dispatch planes from other places. I estimate that we only have one to two days. You must completely take down the Japanese positions outside the city within one or two days. How do you plan to fight?"

Seeing that Chief of Staff Xu agreed to his plan to destroy the Japanese airport, Zhang Wenwu was also happy to continue to introduce: "If the Japanese airport is destroyed by us, as Chief of Staff Xu said, we will have one to two days to launch an attack. Our plan is to concentrate all the captured Japanese artillery to carry out frontal fire coverage and uninterrupted harassment. The Japanese army's circular fortifications are well built, but it has a fatal weakness, that is, the area of ​​the position is too small, which is also caused by the insufficient number of Japanese troops. Such a concentrated position layout is just right for Our troops will make use of the advantage of artillery. After the artillery inflicts heavy casualties on the Japanese, our officers and soldiers will launch feint attacks from all sides, constantly harassing the Japanese and making them exhausted. The death squad will use the northern position of the Japanese as a breakthrough point, use the night time to sneak to the front of the Japanese position, and take advantage of the exhaustion of the Japanese after being harassed by us for a whole day, and try to rush into the trenches at once. The troops behind will follow the breakthrough opened by the death squad and attack the Japanese. As long as we can enter the Japanese trenches, it will be a relatively simple matter to eliminate this group of Japanese troops. "

After hearing Zhang Wenwu's introduction, Chief of Staff Xu also evaluated the combat plan in his mind. He felt that judging from the current actual situation, Zhang Wenwu's plan was still feasible. It seemed that he had to hurry back to Xuzhou to discuss the attack on the Japanese airport with Commander Li. As for finding the Japanese airport, that was relatively simple.

Chief of Staff Xu stayed in the operations hall for less than an hour before he ordered the military police company that followed him to escort the more than 102 Japanese soldiers captured by the nd Division back to Xuzhou City by car. This would be good material for propaganda in the war zone. At Commander Li's press conference tomorrow, these Japanese prisoners of war would be very good evidence of the Chinese army's victory.

Zhang Wenwu also asked Li Houcai to take Commander Xu Canmo's train to Xuzhou City. He asked Li Houcai to find Cao Huaguo and inform Cao Huaguo to send the people he had recruited in the past two days over tomorrow night.

He estimated that it would take about a day for the war zone to find and destroy the Japanese front-line airport. During this period of time, he needed to replenish his troops so that when he attacked the Japanese circular army position later, his troops would be able to complete the task of destroying the Japanese army as quickly as possible.

In the office of Commander Li in the theater headquarters, Commander Li and Chief of Staff Xu were lying on the map studying the battle plan proposed by Zhang Wenwu.

"Yan Mou, Zhang Wenwu's idea is good. The Japanese army is now using all its combat forces to rescue the Japanese army in Taierzhuang. The garrison forces in other places must be insufficient. Hasn't the intelligence department found the location of the Japanese front-line airport yet?" Commander Li asked Chief of Staff Xu while looking at the map.

Chief of Staff Xu also smiled. As soon as he came back, he had asked the intelligence department to investigate the location of the Japanese frontline airport. Only twenty minutes had passed so far. How could he get the news so quickly? However, he still had to comfort Commander Li's anxious mood, so he said: "Commander Li, I have notified the intelligence department. It is not difficult to find the location of the Japanese frontline airport. I believe the intelligence department will be able to get back to you soon."

"We have to be anxious. If we destroy the Japanese airport one minute earlier, the 102nd Division can launch an attack on the Japanese one minute earlier, and the th Corps will suffer fewer casualties. Now it's nine o'clock in the evening. If the intelligence department can give us the news before ten o'clock, we may be able to let the troops near the Japanese army launch a surprise attack overnight. In that way, we can save a lot of time. We are now racing against time with the Japanese. Every minute and every second on the battlefield can determine who will win in the end. We must win this battle. There is no other way." Commander Li said sternly to Chief of Staff Xu.

Chief of Staff Xu also nodded. He understood very well how much pressure Commander Li was under. Indeed, they had to win this battle. At that moment, he was in Commander Li's office calling the head of the war zone intelligence room, asking him to quickly find out the location of the Japanese airport on the front line.

Thirty minutes later, the director of the theater intelligence office walked quickly into Commander Li's office, sweating profusely. Seeing Commander Li and Chief of Staff Xu in the office, he stood at attention and reported: "Commander Li, Chief of Staff Xu, the location of the Japanese front-line airport has been found out, it is in Dawenkou."

When Commander Li heard that the Japanese airport was at Dawenkou, he quickly looked for it on the map. He pointed at the location of Dawenkou and asked Chief of Staff Xu, "Yanmou, the Japanese built a frontline airport at Dawenkou. Great, that's arrogant enough. We must destroy it."

Chief of Staff Xu also nodded and said, "The Japanese army is really rampant. They built an airport so close to the front line. Now our closest unit to Dawenkou is the 81st Division of the th Army. They are carrying out harassment operations behind enemy lines. They are only to kilometers away from Dawenkou Airport. I think it is appropriate to send them there."

Commander Li nodded in agreement, and then ordered: "Send a telegram to the 81st Division, and tell them to attack the Japanese airport in Dawenkou before 81 a.m. tomorrow. The main purpose of the operation is to destroy the airport equipment and aircraft. Leave after the attack, and do not get too entangled with the Japanese army. Tell the st Division that they must complete this mission, otherwise they will be subject to military law."

The 81st Division belonged to the 12th Army, which was part of the Third Army. After Han Paopao was shot, the Third Army was reduced to three armies, a total of five divisions and one brigade. The Third Army was previously sent by the war zone to contain the Japanese troops in the Jining direction and carry out harassment operations on the Japanese flanks and rear. This was mainly because most of the officers and soldiers of the group were natives of Shandong Province and were very familiar with the local environment and terrain. Now, unexpectedly, they could be used to attack the Japanese front-line airport. It can be said that everything was just right.

After receiving the combat order directly from the war zone, the 81st Division quickly gathered the troops that were destroying the Japanese army's railways, and sent a considerable number of reconnaissance officers and soldiers to conduct reconnaissance at the Japanese front-line airport in Dawenkou in advance. At the same time, while the troops were advancing, the chief officer of the 81st Division selected and organized a -man death squad, preparing to wait for the reconnaissance personnel to return, and then use a night attack to destroy the Japanese front-line airport.

At three o'clock in the morning, various units of the 81st Division had arrived at the designated attack positions. Following the order from their superiors, the suicide squad of the 81st Division took the lead in launching a charge. The Japanese garrison troops did not expect that so many Chinese troops would suddenly appear near them. Due to insufficient preparation, they were immediately breached by the offensive forces of the 81st Division.

After the officers and soldiers of the 81st Division rushed into the airport, they threw the cluster grenades and explosive packs they had prepared in advance into the Japanese planes parked at the airport. Suddenly, the entire airport was filled with explosions and flames shooting into the sky.

At 81:81 in the morning, after completing the destruction of the Japanese front-line airport, the st Division quickly evacuated the airport and broke off contact with the Japanese army. During this battle, the officers and soldiers of the st Division successfully blew up Japanese aircraft of various types parked at the airport, a fuel depot and more than a dozen Japanese trucks. At the same time, the officers and soldiers also used explosives to blow several large holes on the runway, and killed and wounded more than Japanese soldiers, including pilots.

Commander Li, who had not slept all night in the office, had been waiting for news from the 81st Division, while Chief of Staff Xu had also been waiting in the telecommunications room, personally guarding the radio station.

"Commander Li, the Japanese airport was destroyed by the 81st Division." Chief of Staff Xu walked quickly into Commander Li's office with the telegram he had just translated and said excitedly.

When Commander Li heard that the 81st Division had successfully destroyed the Japanese front-line airport, he let out a long sigh and looked relieved. Now, even if the Japanese army redeployed planes, it would take some time. Moreover, since the airport in Dawenkou was not repaired, the Japanese planes could only fly to the battlefield from farther away to provide support, which would reduce the threat to the front-line troops.

Commander Li smiled and ordered Chief of Staff Xu: "Well done, the 81st Division did a great job. Yan Mou, tell the 102nd Division about this and have them launch an attack as soon as possible. We don't have much time."