Chapter 257 Counterattack

On the evening of June 18, Zhao Dongyun led a large group of senior generals to arrive in Tangshan by a special train, accompanied by the 9th Infantry Division of the Second Army.

The next day, on June 19, the fifth mixed brigade also successfully arrived on the periphery of Tangshan.

On the 20th, the 10th Division and the 2nd Cavalry Brigade, the last main force of the Feng army, also arrived in Tangshan one after another.

After eight days of maneuvering, the Feng army finally maneuvered three infantry divisions, one into a mixed brigade, and two cavalry divisions from Shanhaiguan 150 kilometers away to Tangshan. If the previous time from each department to Shanhaiguan is included, in fact, this large-scale military mobilization continued from the departure of each department from its original station. It has been nearly a month.

The main force of the Feng army gathered in Tangshan. Naturally, the next Feng army strategy is not mainly based on defense, but undoubtedly chooses to launch an active attack.

According to the information of the Intelligence Section and the information obtained from the reconnaissance of the front-line troops, it has been confirmed that the first division of the direct army, the first mixed brigade, the first brigade of the 11th division and the first brigade of the Zhili provincial army have gathered on the front line outside Tangshan. In addition, there are three enemy units that have not yet been identified. At present, the Intelligence Section is investigating the detailed numbers of the above three parts, but according to the speculation of our combat department, it is very likely that they are the troops of the 11th and 12th Divisions, and the total strength of the above direct forces is about 40,000. Yang Deming explained the latest battle situation at the war meeting:

"The above direct forces are deployed in Yinfeng and Huanxizhuang respectively, especially along the Tangshan South Line, that is, along the Jingfeng Railway, while the rest of the lines are small. Investigation knows that the enemy did not deploy heavy troops in the northwest of Tangshan, but only deployed a regiment in the direction of Yutian. In the north, the first cavalry brigade of our army has had small-scale contact with the direct cavalry in the Xinglong area. At present, the direct army in Chengde is still fighting with my fourth mixed brigade.

At present, our army has gathered the 3rd Division, 9th Division, 10th Division, 5th Mixed Brigade, 7th Mixed Brigade, 2nd Cavalry Brigade, Independent Heavy Artillery Battalion and two independent mortar battalions on the front line of Tangshan. As far as strength and equipment are concerned, our army has a relatively large advantage, so many colleagues in the battle believe that it is time to launch a general attack on the front line of Tangshan!"

After Yang Deming, the director of the combat department, Meng Enyuan, sitting in the first left, said, "We have also started the counterattack a few days ago, but the direct army on the opposite side, especially the first division and the first mixed brigade, is still relatively strong, and has resisted the large-scale counterattack of our army twice in a row, and this In the two wars, we can also know that the frontal defense ability of the direct army is still quite difficult. If you want to launch a general attack, my suggestion is not to take a positive breakthrough, otherwise, even if you win, you will probably win!"

In the past eight days, the two armies have fought with each other many times. In the first two days, the direct forces were attacking, and then on the third, fourth and fifth days, they were calmly holding each other, mainly carrying out large-scale artillery battles. On the sixth and seventh days, after the Feng army gradually got more reinforcements, they began to taste I tried to counterattack, but the effect of the counterattack was very unsatisfactory.

Just arrived in Tangshan on the 19th and replaced the 19th Brigade of the 9th Division, which replaced the 7th Mixed Brigade, launched a large-scale attack on the enemy in the Yinfeng area with the support of three artillery battalions, that is, the first division under Lu Yongxiang. However, after a morning of the fierce battle, although the 19th Brigade successfully captured several positions. However, he suffered more than 500 casualties, resulting in a day's failure. At three o'clock in the afternoon, Zhao Dongyun personally ordered the 19th Brigade to stop the attack, because if the attack continues like this, the 19th Brigade will have to be disabled in two days!

Coupled with the small-scale counterattacks launched by the 3rd Division and the 7th Mixed Brigade two days ago, the facts have proved that their defense ability is good, but their direct army is not bad. At least dozens of machine guns on the front line are placed on the top, and the Feng army may be retrained. If you want to attack well, you have to pay a lot of casualties, and this kind of casualties are unbearable whether it is the direct army or the Feng army.

The direct army and the Feng army are both typical warlord troops, and their ability to withstand the casualty rate is relatively poor, and another very critical reason is that whether it is Wang Yingkai or Zhao Dongyun, it is not easy for them to train these tens of thousands of troops. It can be said that these troops are their efforts. He Their power is that hundreds of casual deaths and injuries are enough to make them heartbroken.

Otherwise, Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen, who fought in the south, would not have used the newly trained provincial army, not because of the good combat effectiveness of the provincial army, but because Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen used these provincial army as cannon fodder. Only at critical moments will they devote themselves to the main force, that is, the fourth and sixth division. These central army troops will not usually pull these main troops out to fight a war of attrition, otherwise hundreds of people will be killed or injured enough to make them feel extremely distressed.

In today's Tangshan ground, Zhao Dongyun pulled out the main force, because although he also has patrol forces similar to the provincial army, these patrol forces have to stay outside the customs to deploy defense and suppress the place, and if they get inside the customs, it will not be of much use, because these provincial forces and patrol police The nature of troops basically collapsed in the face of the Northern Elite. Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen can use the provincial army in the south, because the southern federal forces opposite are worse.

However, who is Wang Yingkai opposite? There are many old Beiyang troops under him, and the newly formed troops are also the main forces. As for those provincial troops with poor combat effectiveness, although Wang Yingkai also has several brigades, no one took them seriously.

In this direct war, cannon fodder such as the provincial army and the patrol police are useless. It is the main forces of both sides that can really determine the victory or defeat.

When the elite main force was invested, this tentative brigade-level offensive battle killed and injured more than 500 people, which was enough for Zhao Dongyun to personally order the 19th Brigade to stop the attack.

He didn't expect that more than half of the troops would be killed and injured before the capital division was defeated. If this were all the case, when he took Zhili, wouldn't there only be less than half of the remaining soldiers left? If it's really like this, why do you talk about sitting in the capital and controlling the center? You have to be photographed back outside the customs again.

"It is naturally not advisable to attack directly from the southern defense line of Tangshan, but it is not a good thing for us to rush from the northwest!" Lin Yongquan said, "Now that Lu Yongxiang clearly knows that his troops are far from waiting for us, why do he station troops on the periphery of Tangshan? Isn't it just to prevent us from continuing eastward?" If Lu Yongxiang is not defeated first, we will rashly deploy troops to attack in the northwest. If there are fewer troops, I'm afraid that Tangshan is also dangerous, and the supply line of the westward troops is also difficult to maintain, and there are many cavalry under Wang Yingkai!"

Although the Feng army has the largest cavalry force in the country, there are also many cavalry troops under the same direct army in the north. There are two full cavalry regiments alone, and it is worth noting that the direct army and other warlords in the country, including the Southern Federal Army The army is still organized by the old Beiyang, that is to say, one of their cavalry regiments has a full 1,000 people, not a 600-rider regiment in the Feng army.

Although the direct army does not have a cavalry brigade, it has two cavalry regiments and several cavalry battalions. This cavalry adds up to at least 3,000. Although the number is not as good as the nearly 10,000 cavalry of the Feng army and cannot launch a large-scale attack or defensive operations independently, it is still easy for these 3,000 cavalry to attack the supply line. How to secure the logistics line is a big problem to march from the northwest.

"In my opinion, I don't care about the rest. We have to destroy Lu Yongxiang's first division first, otherwise we won't want to leave Tangshan even one step!" Chen Guangyuan also opened his mouth.

However, Xu Bangjie also said, "It's natural to fight the first division, but how to fight? I'm afraid we can't take down this frontal attack without 3,000 or 5,000 casualties. If we launch a strong attack, we will have to abolish Lu Yongxiang's first division at least.

"Can we play Huanxizhuang? Although the first mixed brigade defending Huanxizhuang is an old army, as long as we concentrate our forces and launch an attack with an absolute advantage, there is hope to take this Huanxizhuang in a short time, and then turn south to cooperate with the southern front to flank the first division. If we can draw more troops and send another one to detour from the south of Tangshan. Now it can form a three-sided attack on the enemy on the front line of Yinfeng. Li Chun said.

"In this case, how to solve the problem of Tang Fang's direct army going to reinforce?" Fang Biyong said, "And if we attack Huanxizhuang, the 11th Division of the direct army in the north of Huanxizhuang is bound to sit idly by. If we go south to reinforce, won't our attacking troops fall into the situation of being attacked by both sides?"

After arguing for almost half an hour, Zhao Dongyun, who had not spoken at the top, coughed gently and immediately became quiet in the conference room.

The people present have been following Zhao Dongyun for a long time. They are very clear about Zhao Dongyun's meeting habits, especially in such military meetings, which are often the time for free discussion, while Zhao Dongyun at the top usually only listens without saying anything, or occasionally asks a few questions, but generally does not express his own opinions.

When everyone is almost arguing, Zhao Dongyun will speak in person, and this opening is often a decision.

"Now there is not much time left for us. Wang Zhanyuan's 7th Division has entered the territory of Zhili. If we wait a few more days, I'm afraid we will come to Tangshan, and Wu Shuai also sent me a telegram saying that they are under great pressure. Wang Ruxian has personally led the 8th Division north and is affectionate. According to the newspaper, one of Wang Shizhen's brigades is also ready to go north. Zhao Dongyun's speed of speech is not fast, but seems to be a little slow: "Wu Shuai's troops stationed on the front line of Shijiazhuang are only more than 10,000, and only more than 4,000 troops from the old Beiyang, and the rest are newly formed provincial troops. It is already difficult to intercept Wang Ruxian's division. If Wang Shizhen's brigade goes north again, I'm afraid that time will come. Hou Wushuai can't resist it!"

Zhao Dongyun continued, "Now we can't continue to wait. After preparing for so long, the mule is a horse. We have to pull it out to know!"