Chapter 147 Lu Ying, Again Lu Ying!

Chang Kai-shek, in Chongqing, saw the battle report sent back by the 59th Army: "Over 10,000 enemies from the 5th Brigade annihilated in Xingwan and Pinglu;

"Complete capture of forty-eight artillery pieces from the enemy artillery regiment, along with over a thousand machine guns and heavy machine guns, and over three hundred mortars, infantry guns, and grenade launchers.

"Approximately two thousand enemy remnants have entered our planned ambush point in Luying Town."

Chang Kai-shek read this telegram three times before setting it down, murmuring softly, "Luying, again Luying!"

At this time, Lin Fan had also gathered three regiments and was stationed in Pinglu Village, but the reconnaissance platoon had already been sent ahead to Xingwan.

Lin Fan was very satisfied with today's battle: once again, he had driven several thousand enemies into Luying Town.

The "encirclement and aid-fighting" tactic had not changed much from the initial situation.

However, the 59th Army had undergone a complete transformation. This time, encircling the enemies in Luying Town did not require the Special Operations Brigade to send people to help at all.

Not only did they not need help, but Zhang Zizhong had already indicated to Lin Fan that the 59th Army could even spare half of its forces to participate in the aid-fighting battle.

He had a basis for saying this: judging from the airdropped supplies, the enemy's 5th Brigade had reached the end of its rope.

They had no food and no heavy weapons. The combat effectiveness of this group of enemies was far inferior to that of the earlier Ishii Regiment and Tanaka Regiment.

When the 59th Army first arrived at Luying Town, the entire army marched rapidly overnight, and the soldiers were exhausted and sleepy.

Moreover, their weapons and equipment were far less powerful than they were now. It could be said that the days the 59th Army spent fighting in Luying Town were more pleasant than rest and recuperation.

With the decline of the enemy and the rise of our forces, one division could hold off the remnants in Luying Town.

The 59th Army had an exceptionally strong desire to fight, and Lin Fan had no reason to refuse them.

All the weapons captured these days were given to the 59th Army, while the Special Operations Brigade took on the tough battles.

Sending the easy battles to the 59th Army was precisely to give the 59th Army a boost.

Let them win consecutive victories, cultivate the morale of the soldiers and officers, and let them know that the enemies were not that strong.

Giving them weapons to enhance their combat effectiveness, and now the effect had come out?

A National Revolutionary Army team that actively asked to fight the enemies had been cultivated in a few days.

Su Ruifeng, the commander of the Eighth Regiment, initially had some objections to the brigade commander constantly giving equipment to Zhang Zizhong. Today, he saw the 59th Army soldiers fighting bravely, and the scene was no worse than the Special Operations Brigade.

In front of Lin Fan, he praised repeatedly, "Brigade commander! The brothers of the 59th Army are also excellent, and they even dare to snatch supplies from us."

Lin Fan said with a smile, "Arrogant soldiers and fierce generals, if they don't dare to fight for their own interests, how can they fight the enemy?"

Su Ruifeng said embarrassedly, "Brigade commander! I was short-sighted a few days ago. I thought they were useless, but I didn't expect them to be iron-blooded men.

"They are also not willing to lag behind in fighting the enemies!"

"Yes! They are no worse than us when charging. I just don't understand: why didn't they achieve any results before?" Cao Junde, the commander of the Seventh Regiment, also asked in confusion.

Lin Fan explained, "Their weapons and equipment were too poor compared to the enemies. In the past, the brothers of the 59th Army could only fight with courage and their lives.

"Under strong firepower, of course, they couldn't achieve much results.

"Now that they have so many heavy weapons, the enemies can't take any advantage.

"The remnants of the enemy's 5th Brigade are already trapped inside Luying Town, like livestock in a slaughterhouse. We can strike whenever we want.

"Now our main target is the enemy reinforcements coming from Tanghe, which is a fully staffed enemy division.

"They have never been defeated from Zaoyang to Nanyang during this time.

"The soldiers of this enemy division are at their peak, and their troops are sufficient. We must formulate a detailed plan.

"If we annihilate this enemy division, the battle here in Tanghe will be easier to fight."

After Lieutenant General Fujioka Eifuku, commander of the 16th Infantry Division of the Japanese Army, received the battle report forwarded by the 11th Army Headquarters, he immediately ordered the entire division to stop advancing.

Judging from the battle report reported by Brigadier General Katayama Riichiro, Lieutenant General Fujioka Eifuku saw a tragedy unfolding.

He felt that the current scene was exactly the same as the situation in which the Tanaka Hachiro Regiment of the 3rd Division was trapped in Luying Town a few days ago.

Again, thousands of enemies were trapped, and troops were sent to rescue them.

The last time the team went to rescue them, now they became the new trapped team, and the two regimental commanders Tanaka Hachiro and Ishii Kaho have been sent to Chongqing as prisoners.

Lieutenant General Fujioka Eifuku and Kawakita Taro, commander of the 19th Infantry Brigade under his command, both believed that the annihilation of the 5th Infantry Brigade was an inevitable tragedy.

In order to preserve its strength, the 16th Infantry Division should not continue to Luying Town to rescue the 5th Infantry Brigade.

Regardless of what Okamura Neiji thought, and regardless of the orders of the 11th Army, the 16th Infantry Division stopped at Xiezhuang first.

From receiving the order to now, they have advanced thirty-five li. If the 5th Brigade was still in Xingwan and had not moved.

There were still thirty li to go, and the two sides could meet.

However, it is difficult for the two sides to meet now!

"Yaga! Has the 16th Infantry Division become timid? They actually stopped in Xiezhuang and refused to move forward!" Commander Okamura Neiji was furious in the 11th Army Headquarters.

It was not that it was not clear about the combat plan this time, which was exactly the same as the last time to rescue the 34th Infantry Regiment and the 18th Infantry Regiment.

However, it firmly believed that this time, sending a full division, such a powerful force, would definitely be able to defeat all the forces of the Special Operations Brigade and the National Revolutionary Army deployed in the Luying Pinglu area.

There was absolutely no problem for a complete infantry division of the Empire to defeat hundreds of thousands of National Revolutionary Army troops in a frontal attack.

In this Battle of Suizao, if the four main forces participating in the battle had not already had the 4th Cavalry Brigade completely annihilated and the 3rd Infantry Division badly damaged.

Commander Okamura Neiji could have sent more teams to reinforce, but at this time, there were only two divisions of enemies around Suixian.

The 16th Infantry Division went to rescue, and the 13th Infantry Division had to defend along the Tanghe, Zaoyang, and Tongbai Mountain lines.

It was impossible to draw out more and stronger troops to rescue the 5th Infantry Brigade.

The entire situation of the Battle of Suizao has completely changed to this point, and the battle has reached the third stage.

The first stage was from May 1st to 11th. In ten days, the 3rd Infantry Division, the 13th Infantry Division, the 16th Infantry Division, and the 4th Cavalry Brigade divided into three routes and advanced rapidly all the way to Nanyang.

In this stage, Okamura Neiji called it the offensive stage.

Then it entered the second stage. Lin Fan's Special Operations Brigade fired the first shot in Xinye, and then surrounded the 34th Infantry Regiment in Luying.

All the attacking enemy teams began to retreat in an orderly manner. Okamura Neiji called this stage the stalemate stage.

The situation began to get out of control from this time, and the 11th Army's Battle of Suizao plan entered the third stage, and the entire combat plan revolved around Luying Town.

In this stage, Okamura Neiji called it the defensive stage.

Under this circumstance, Commander Okamura Neiji could not allow the 5th Infantry Brigade to be annihilated in Luying Town under any circumstances.

Neither the Battle of Wuhan that ended last year nor the Battle of Nanchang that ended a few days ago achieved strategic goals for Okamura Neiji.

Neither was it able to force Chang Kai-shek's government to surrender, nor did it achieve the goal of annihilating the main force of the National Revolutionary Army.

On the contrary, Okamura Neiji and the Japanese base camp also discovered that the troops of the National Revolutionary Army were increasing in number and becoming stronger in combat effectiveness.

This was completely incomprehensible to them: the Empire's warriors had been fighting continuously for two years, and the veterans were either dead or injured.

Not to mention that the newly recruited soldiers suffered heavy casualties on the battlefield, their combat effectiveness was also insufficient.

Okamura Neiji privately had to admit that the combat effectiveness of the Imperial Army was less than 50% of what it was at the beginning of the war.

On the other hand, the troops of the National Revolutionary Army, in theory, Chang Kai-shek's central army elites had long been wiped out, but his central army's current strength had expanded four or five times compared to two years ago.

The strength of the National Revolutionary Army's various war zones has been increasing, and their source of troops seems to be endless.

Up to now, Okamura Neiji no longer expects to be able to destroy China in three months, these illusory dreams of destroying China.

It just wants to reach an agreement with the National Government as soon as possible, and the two sides reach a consensus.

However, the National Government's attitude is unprecedentedly tough, requiring all enemies to withdraw from Chinese territory before starting negotiations.

This made it really difficult for the enemies to get off the tiger.

Under this situation, if he buried a brigade alive, it would not only affect the individual, but also affect the entire combat situation in central China!

Just as it said in the telegram it sent to Katayama Riichiro: When the transport planes are urgently replenished from the country to Wuhan, it will give priority to delivering supplies to the 5th Brigade.

Of course, delivering supplies is only to allow the 5th Brigade to survive for a few more days. To really solve the problem, the 16th Infantry Division needs to take the initiative.

It is necessary for the 16th Infantry Division to quickly go to Luying Town and bring the 5th Infantry Brigade back to Tanghe Town.

Okamura Neiji knew with his toes how difficult it would be for the 5th Infantry Brigade to get through these days.

Thinking of this, it finally stopped its incompetent rage.

Order: "The 16th Infantry Division, immediately attack and advance rapidly in the direction of Luying Town, and be sure to arrive at Luying Town within three days."

Upon receiving the order from the 11th Army, Lieutenant General Fujioka Eifuku turned green:

"They are forcibly dragging me into the mire!

"Okamura Neiji wants to lose troops and generals twice in a row in Luying Town!"