Chapter 337 Encirclement and Help

There is no doubt that the small-scale Suqian Campaign has become a turning point for the battle between the two armies of Feng and Anhui in northern Jiangsu. Since the Feng army conquered Suqian, the Anhui army in Xuzhou has been in great danger, a danger of being surrounded and annihilated by the Feng army.

In order to avoid the encirclement and annihilation of his main force, especially the Fourth Division, Duan Qirui decisively made the decision to give up Xuzhou or even possibly the whole northern Jiangsu in the future, after which he withdrew his troops from Xuzhou.

I have to say that this time Duan Qirui fully reflects the quality of a hero of the times. What he can rely on day by day is not luck, but on his strength far beyond ordinary people, and can take the initiative to give up Xuzhou and even the whole Subei. This kind of thing can't be done by ordinary people.

After all, in the current war between the two armies in northern Jiangsu, although the Anhui army has always been in a passive state and suffered continuous defeats on the eastern front, in the main direction, that is, in the direction of Xuzhou, the Anhui army has actually resisted the frontal attack of the main force of the Feng army.

In the direction of Xuzhou, Fengjun has invested in the 1st Division, 3rd Division, 9th Division, two independent heavy artillery battalions and several independent heavy mortar battalions, and has received sufficient logistical support. There are countless shells fired every day, whether in terms of force, weapons and equipment, or logistics supply. In fact, they all have a considerable advantage.

However, despite this, the Feng army still failed to conquer the Xuzhou defense line composed of the 4th Division of the Central Army of the Anhui Army and the 1st and 2nd Division of the Liangjiang Army.

In the case of the battle between the two sides in the Xuzhou Campaign, Duan Qirui made a decision to withdraw his troops on his own initiative, which was not what ordinary people could make.

Its decisiveness reminded Meng Enyuan of Wang Zhanyuan in the Battle of Bazhou. At the beginning, Wang Zhanyuan also fled quickly after seeing that he could not be defeated, so that the Feng army failed to stay the 7th Division when he fought hard in Bazhou for many times.

Now, Meng Enyuan is unwilling to let the Battle of Bazhou repeat, so he did not hesitate to order the 10th Division to step westward and ask it to conquer Suining within two days.

This made the 10th Division, which had just conquered Suqian, have not had time to rest for two days, but once again hurried to continue west into Suining!

"A clear order has been issued from the former enemy headquarters. They asked us to conquer Suining within two days!" Ren Cungao said, "Now Suining is the remnants of the 5th Division and the 2nd Mixed Brigade of the enemy. Although the number is still more than 10,000, it is not a concern. If we want to conquer Suining, the difficulties we face are not them, but the reinforcements of the Anhui Army, a brigade of the Second Division of the Liangjiang Army!"

"According to the report of the first mixed brigade of the friendly army, there is a main force in the south of Xuzhou that is rapidly moving south, and our cavalry has also successfully found the enemy army. We are sure that it is a unit of the second division of the Liangjiang Army, with a size of 4,000 people, but it is not known exactly whether it is the third brigade or the fourth brigade of the two rivers. However, in addition to infantry, the department also has the support of at least one artillery battalion, which is a mixed brigade combat force!"

The army under the contemporary Beiyang system, whether it is the Feng army or the Anhui army, or simply the troops of the Southern Federation, their official establishment is the establishment of the old Beiyang troops, usually the system of one division, two brigades and four regiments. When fighting, this kind of troops are usually based on the infantry brigade as the tactical unit, by giving the infantry brigade. It is equipped with artillery battalions and other auxiliary forces to form a brigade-level battle group.

The same is true of the Feng army. Although the detailed organization of the Feng army is different from other warlord forces, with mortars and light machine guns, the overall system still continues the old Beiyang era, which can be seen from the combat operations of the 3rd and 10th divisions. The 5th and 6th brigades of the 3rd Division were fought separately. The 10th Division attacked Haizhou, Muyang and the subsequent Suqian in the battle in northern Jiangsu, and the 19th and 20th brigades to which they belonged were also separately to carry out tasks.

In short, the most basic tactical unit of the Feng army is not an infantry regiment or infantry battalion, but a strengthened infantry brigade, and an infantry division is already a strategic unit.

This situation is also the main reason for the domineering of various mixed brigades in contemporary warlord forces, because a mixed brigade is enough to perform tactical tasks in one direction.

The Feng army is like this, and the Anhui army is even more so!

It is not surprising that the troops sent to reinforce Suining this time are a mixed brigade, because it can't be less. Duan Qirui can't draw out so many troops. A mixed brigade is the best choice.

Ren Cung-gao continued: "This time, the headquarters gave us too much time. We don't have time to linger in Suining, so this time our combat goal is not Suining!"

Understanding Ren Cunggao's words, Zhou Fulin, the commander of the 20th Brigade, said doubtfully, "Don't you want to fight Suining?"

Ren Cung said, "Yes, although the command gave us the order to take Suining, why did they take down Suining? It is to stop the southern escape of the Anhui army. And if we want to take Suining directly, if the enemy's brigade comes up, although we can also take Suining at that time, the time it will definitely not take two days!"

"So this time, the focus of our battle should not be on how to conquer Suining, but on this support army!"

After Ren Cungao said, Wu Peifu, who was beside him, also said, "What does the teacher mean is that we should gather around to help?"

Unexpectedly, Ren Cunggao said, "You're only halfway right. Are we going to help? But we don't have any extra troops to encircle!"

Zhou Fulin wondered again, "It's just that if we don't maintain pressure in the direction of Suining, what if they attack our army in the north and south?"

Ren Cung said, "Do you think the defenders in Suining dare to take the initiative to come out and play in the field with us?"

When Ren Cunggao said this, Zhou Fulin also nodded slightly. Indeed, the fifth division and the second mixed brigade of the Liangjiang Army have been defeated by themselves. This morale has fallen so much that it can't fall any more. It is already good that Duan Qirui's army can re-defense without continuing to escape in Suining. Maybe he will take the initiative to come out to play a field battle with Fengjun.

Although the Anhui army can barely resist the attack of the Feng army in the defensive battle, if you leave the fortifications and play a field battle, the previous battle in Taoyuan County has proved everything. The Anhui army, especially the other Liangjiang army except Duan Qirui's fourth division, has really average field ability. They want It is to leave the city and those fortifications to play a field battle with the Feng army. It is estimated that the generals of the Feng army can wake up with a smile in their dreams.

"So just leave a battalion in the direction of Suining to monitor and guard against them. The others will go north with me, and we will eat their south reinforcements. I'd like to see how Suining's Anhui army will defend without the reinforcements?"

Ren Cung-gao made such a decision. In addition to considering the limited strength of the enemy's forces in the direction of Suining, he also did not want to be too scattered. His 10th Division is now relatively scattered. There is a battalion on the side of Qingjiangpu, and a battalion left in Taoyuan County, and he also left one on the side of Suqian. Camp.

In this way, he lost a sufficient number of regiments and three battalions, so in the subsequent westward battle, he really didn't want to continue to divide his troops, otherwise he might be defeated by the enemy one by one.

He must always keep the main force of the 10th Division from dispersing, so that he can maintain his greatest strength in the face of the enemy in the face of Suining or the enemy who is reinforced and loved in Xuzhou.

After Ren Cunggao made a decision, the main force of the 10th Division did not pass through Suining, but went around from the north. The frightened Anhui army in the direction of Suining found that after waiting for more than a day, they still did not find that the opposite Feng army had attacked him, which made many people who were ready to escape as soon as the battle broke out. The soldiers of the Anhui army are very confused. Can the Feng army fight Suining or not?

However, more Wan army officers in the direction of Suining thought about another question, that is, the 10th Division of the Feng army did not come to Suining, so where did they go?

A few flexible officers vaguely guessed something, and then looked involuntarily to the northwest, where the reinforcements came.

While the enemy in the direction of Suining was puzzled and worried, near Wanglan Town, 30 kilometers northwest of Suining, the Fourth Brigade of the Second Division of the Liangjiang Army suffered the biggest danger since it became an army.

Since receiving the order to quickly reinforce Suining yesterday morning, the army has advanced nearly 40 kilometers after 24 hours.

This kind of marching speed is extremely rare for a foot infantry. After arriving at Wang Lanzhen at noon, they let the soldiers bury their meals and rest for an hour, and then hurried in the direction of Suining County again.

However, not long after they left the town, they met the enemy outside the town!

It was an inconvenant low hill, but it was also a hill, so after waiting for the vanguard cavalry of the Fourth Brigade to get on the hill in person, they found that there was a large army marching behind it, and the marched in the direction of the northwest. The blue-gray military uniform on his body fully surfaced him. Our identity: Feng Jun!

The two armies met unexpectedly in Wang Lanzhen. Even Ren Cunggao, who was moving northwest, did not expect that the enemy he had been looking for was only a few kilometers away.

So, naturally, the two armies collided. Soon, explosions and gunfire sounded frequently outside Wanglan Town, making the people in the town tremble one by one. Some hid at home, while others dragged their families to run out of the town, but they didn't know the whole northern Jiangsu now. Even most of China has become a war zone. Where can they escape?

A encounter broke out between the 10th Division of the Feng Army and the 4th Brigade of the 2nd Division of the Anhui Army, but the battle came and went quickly. Only five hours later, the 39th Regiment, the main 20th Brigade of the 10th Division, broke through from the left wing. The defense line of the 4th Brigade of the 2nd Division of the Liangjiang Army, followed by Ren Cungao decisively invested in the 37th Regiment of the 19th Brigade as a reserve. The 4th Brigade, which was already at a disadvantage, soon collapsed on a large scale.

The sun has not completely set, and Ren Cungao's long boots have set foot on the loess street of Wanglan Town. As for the fourth brigade of the two rivers, it has completely become history.