Quartermasters can also fight the devils

As the Japanese 16th Division and the 31st Army Group exchanged fire, everyone in the Fifth War Zone Command became nervous. Everyone knew that the next step was the critical moment of this battle to lure the enemy and encircle and annihilate them.

Counterattack Xinye, and at the same time clear out the Japanese troops on the north side of the Xiangzao Highway, and establish a defense line on the Xiangzao Highway to prevent the advance of Japanese reinforcements.

The Second Army in Deng County and the New 22nd Army in Xiangyang simultaneously received orders from the theater headquarters: assemble in secret and wait for orders.

In order to keep the operation secret and prevent the Japanese spies from discovering the troop movements, the Chinese intelligence forces in Deng County and Xiangyang cooperated with the local garrison and started the Thunderous Anti-Espionage Operation as early as a month ago.

It is undeniable that many unjust, false and wrong cases occurred during this anti-traitor campaign, and many people were arrested and imprisoned because they were suspected of being Japanese traitors.

However, the effect of this anti-espionage operation was also very obvious. Until now, the Japanese army has not been able to obtain information about the newly transferred Second Army of the Fifth War Zone, as well as information about the direction of the new 22nd Army's transfer. This has caused serious deviations in the Japanese army's judgment of the war situation.

Upon learning that the Japanese attack force had already exchanged fire with his 31st Army's defensive forces in the north, Commander Tang ordered the defensive forces in the north to first give the Japanese attack force an effective block, and then abandon their positions and retreat to the second line of defense in the evening to draw the Japanese attack force forward.

This was also to increase the distance between the Japanese attacking forces and Xinye as much as possible. At the same time, the 31st Army would also launch a night attack on the attacking Japanese forces when the 2nd Army and the new 22nd Army attacked Xinye, so as to achieve the effect of restraining the Japanese attacking forces.

The 11th Army of the Chinese government in Sui County also faced a full-scale siege from the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army today. Facing the extremely powerful artillery attack of the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army, the 11th Army guarding Sui County had a very difficult fight. After tenaciously resisting the Japanese attack for a day, the 11th Army sent a telegram to the theater command requesting retreat.

"Commander Li, the 11th Army in Sui County sent a telegram saying that the Japanese Army's right wing 3rd Division launched attacks on the east, west and south of Sui County this morning. In addition, the Japanese Army's 3rd Division used poison gas bombs to attack our positions many times. The 11th Army suffered heavy casualties and requested to retreat to the north and prepare to defend with the 31st Army in Zaoyang as its back." Chief of Staff Xu also reported the 11th Army's request telegram to Commander Li.

Commander Li looked at the map, pondered for a while, then turned to Chief of Staff Xu and said, "Order the 11th Army to abandon Suixian and retreat northward according to the situation, establish a defensive position between Zaoyang and Suixian, and resolutely block the Japanese 3rd Division from continuing to move northward. Without orders, even if there is only one person left, you must hold the position for me."

Commander Li also knew that it was unrealistic to let the 11th Army defend Sui County, which was surrounded on three sides. Instead of being consumed by the Japanese army on three sides in Sui County, it would be better to retreat northward as soon as possible and rebuild defensive positions. In this way, they could concentrate their forces to defend against the northward attack of the Japanese 3rd Division.

As long as they can successfully eliminate the Japanese army's encirclement and attacking forces, the Japanese army in Sui County will not be able to gain a foothold. By then, Sui County can still be recovered by themselves, and the fall of Sui County will only be temporary.

At four o'clock in the afternoon of that day, the 11th Army took the initiative to abandon Sui County. After retreating northward, the entire army began to build a new defensive position between Zaoyang and Sui County.

The officers and soldiers of the 11th Army also received the order to hold on to their deaths issued by the war zone. They knew that this was the last position and there was no place for them to retreat. The defensive position under their feet might very well be their burial place.

After blocking the attack of the vanguard of the Japanese 16th Division, the 31st Army Group in Zaoyang began to retreat slowly, gradually attracting the troops of the Japanese 16th Division to an area far away from Xinye.

Throughout the afternoon, Commander Li was paying close attention to the changes in the battle situation on the front line. From the current situation, the Japanese troops on various fronts are acting according to his ideas. As long as they wait until dark, the operations on his side can officially begin.

When it was six o'clock in the evening, Commander Li looked at the gradually darkening sky outside the window, turned to Chief of Staff Xu and ordered: "Send a telegram to the Second Army and the New 22nd Army, and order all troops to start the action according to the plan on time at 8 o'clock in the evening. Order all troops to reach the attack position at 2 o'clock in the morning. We will try to recapture Xinye tonight."

After hearing the order, Chief of Staff Xu turned around and went to the communications room to issue a new command telegram to each unit. At this moment, Chief of Staff Xu was a little excited. After planning for so long, he finally waited for the moment of counterattack.

The Second Army and the New 22nd Army received the telegram about the start of the war in the war zone at the same time. Immediately, the Second Army, which had already assembled, rushed to Xinye from Dengxian, and the New 22nd Army, which rushed to Xinye from Xiangyang.

The troops of the new 100th Division also began to act after receiving the order. Based on the intelligence obtained from repeated reconnaissance, Zhang Wenwu and Ouyang Heng also formulated a very detailed offensive plan.

According to the results of the reconnaissance, the Japanese army had a total of two infantry battalions on the north side of the Xiang-Zao Highway, stationed two kilometers north of the Xiang-Zao Highway and in the field between the highway and Xinye respectively. The Japanese army built relatively complete defensive fortifications in both places.

The other gaps were patrolled and guarded by a Japanese cavalry regiment.

Based on the Japanese army's deployment, Zhang Wenwu divided the attack force of the new 100th Division into two parts. The first part was led by Ouyang Heng, who followed the main force of the new 100nd Army. When the main force attacked Xinye, Ouyang Heng led the troops of the new th Division to attack from Xinye to the south, and eliminated or defeated the Japanese battalion south of Xinye.

Zhang Wenwu led another part of the troops to lure the Japanese cavalry into the preset trap and destroy the Japanese cavalry.

After defeating the Japanese cavalry unit, Zhang Wenwu needed to lead his troops to capture the position of the Japanese battalion on the north side of the Xiangzao Highway as soon as possible, and establish a defense line there, waiting for Ouyang Heng to arrive with his troops to defend the position together.

It can be said that the new 100th Division had a very heavy task, so Commander Huang specially selected a regiment from the new 211th Division to reinforce Ouyang Heng's offensive force and help them occupy the Japanese position in the middle more quickly.