In the north of Yingkou City, the tank regiment commanded by Li Zhenyuan was storming the Japanese army's field defense positions.

Hundreds of tank guns still had an absolute advantage in artillery fire and were bombarding the Japanese defense positions.

The Japanese were unable to raise their heads due to the fierce artillery fire and were completely suppressed in their position.

Next to an armored vehicle, Li Zhenyuan was holding a telescope and calmly watching the performance of his own tank gunners.

With the experience of the last attack on Liaoyang, Li Zhenyuan seemed particularly calm this time. He gathered the armored vehicles and did not participate in the shelling and fire suppression.

All anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns were prepared for air defense, waiting for the arrival of Japanese aviation units.

It can be said that you are well prepared.

In order to save artillery shells, the bombardment only lasted less than half an hour. Then a motorized infantry battalion, which had been waiting for a long time, launched an attack on the Japanese army under the guidance of dozens of tanks.

The number of Japanese troops in Yingkou is slightly larger than that in Liaoyang, with more than 5,000 troops, which is close to two full field regiments.

However, the more than a thousand Japanese troops deployed outside the city lacked anti-tank weapons and were undoubtedly easily repelled by the Northeast New Army's infantry and tank coordination.

After losing hundreds of soldiers, they hurriedly withdrew into the city and defended it. This was the best and only way the Japanese army could think of to deal with tanks and armored vehicles.

Just after seizing the Japanese field defense positions, the Japanese aviation troops arrived as scheduled. However, this time, the Japanese fighter jets and bombers failed to show off their majesty like last time.

Dozens of 88-mm anti-aircraft guns and nearly a hundred anti-aircraft machine guns, which had been waiting for them for a long time, opened fire one after another.

The intensive anti-aircraft firepower immediately caught the Japanese pilots off guard. One of the Japanese aircraft was hit by continuous bullets on the spot and exploded directly into the air, turning into a ball of brilliant fire.

……………………Shenyang, Beidaying battlefield.

The frontal exchange of fire between the Northeastern New Army and the Japanese Army is still continuing. In order to completely defeat the Japanese Army, seize the Japanese Army's defensive position outside the North Gate of Shenyang, and truly complete the three-sided encirclement of the Japanese Army in Shenyang.

The 2nd, 4th, and 10th divisions, under the same command of Zhang Xinghan, and under the full cover of Air Force fighter planes, took turns to launch a fierce attack on the Japanese positions south of Beidaying.

In order to secure the last defensive position in the north of the city, the Japanese army also invested a large number of troops in repeated battles with the Northeastern New Army.

The battle between the two sides entered a fierce tug-of-war from the beginning. Although the Japanese army suffered heavy casualties, it had an absolute strength advantage.

Therefore, the two sides fought fiercely from the morning to the afternoon, and the battle line was still barely maintained.

Tieling City, Northeast New Army Headquarters.

Jiang Baili put down the phone and said: "Commander, Commander Zhao called. An attack organized by the 10th Division failed again."

Zhang Xinghan lit a cigarette disapprovingly and said: "It's nothing. We still have time. This Shenyang battle can train our troops, baptize the new recruits in the army, and add rich combat experience to them. This is very important."

Precious.”

"Yeah." Jiang Baili nodded with deep understanding, "Not only are we training in actual combat, but Japan is also doing the same. In fact, there are not many soldiers with real combat experience in their so-called 17 permanent divisions.

.

After all, more than 20 years have passed since the Japanese-Russian War. Most of the active-duty officers and soldiers of the Japanese Army are composed of trained recruits. Those veterans from that year have either retired or have been promoted to officers.

This is probably one of the reasons why the Japanese army's combat effectiveness is stronger than ours. Not only do their recruits undergo formal training, but most importantly, most of their mid-level and junior officers are veterans with actual combat experience. Most of these recruits are Japanese Army non-commissioned officers. The school is the backbone of the Japanese army’s active forces.”

"Therefore, we must try our best to annihilate the Shenyang Japanese army in this battle, otherwise we will let the tiger return to the mountains and leave a group of veterans with combat experience for the Japanese, who may have one more powerful opponent in the future." Zhang Xinghan continued. road.

"The commander is right, but the Japs are currently deploying two divisions in the Sujiatun area. Although Li Zhenyuan led the armored troops deep into the enemy's rear and attacked everywhere, the Japs in the direction of Sujiatun and Lighthouse showed no signs of mobilization. What should we do?" Jiang Baili asked worriedly.

"Chief of Staff, please don't be anxious. The time has not come yet. When the time comes, I will have a way to cut off the Japanese army's retreat." Zhang Xinghan said confidently: "The strategic purpose of transferring Li Zhenyuan to lead his troops south is not all to mobilize the Japanese troops in the Sujiatun area. The army returns to support.”

As soon as Zhang Xinghan finished speaking, Li Guocai walked over with his head held high and saluted: "Commander, Chief of Staff, Li Zhenyuan called. They have surrounded Yingkou City and defeated the incoming Japanese Air Force Headquarters."

"Very good, call back to Li Zhenyuan. Don't be reluctant to fight. We must pay close attention to the movement of Japanese reinforcements. Try our best to avoid being entangled by the enemy before they arrive. We must take advantage of our maneuverability." Zhang Xinghan attacked the festival. He praised and ordered.

"Yes!" Li Guocai stood up and responded, then turned around and took the order.

"Your Excellency General, Yingkou City has fallen into a tight siege by the Chinese Army. The aviation fleet has also been ambushed by the enemy's anti-aircraft fire. Several fighter planes have been lost and have now returned." Inside the Dalian aircraft headquarters, the bridge Hontoranosuke reports to Muto Shingihui.

"Where has the 1st Division reached?" Muto Nobuyoshi asked urgently.

"Dalian is more than two hundred kilometers away from Yingkou. The 1st Division will not be able to arrive for a while. It is still in the Pulandian area." Hashimoto Toranosuke replied.

"Bagaya Road, order the 1st Division to speed up the march and reach the camp entrance within five hours!" Muto Xinyi was furious after hearing this. Almost three or four hours had passed since the emergency at the camp entrance.

The 1st Division arrived at Pulandian just now? Such a marching speed was simply too slow. You must know that they did not walk on foot, but took a train.

"Hai." Hashimoto Toranosuke suddenly lowered his head and responded.

The order was quickly conveyed to the 1st Division, but the 1st Division, which had suffered heavy losses from the Northeastern New Army, especially the armored units under Zhang Xinghan, was already frightened.

After the current division commander Sen Lian received the order, he did not urge his subordinates to speed up the march. Instead, he deliberately delayed the advance to Yingkou on the grounds that the train needed to add coal and water.

Therefore, let alone five hours, until the early hours of the night, nearly seven or eight hours passed, and the reinforcements from the 1st Division failed to reach Yingkou County.

Li Zhenyuan easily led his troops to evacuate at night, and was ordered to march westward toward Panjin and Jinzhou.

When the 1st Division arrived at Yingkou belatedly after dawn, the Northeast New Army positions outside the city were already empty.

The current commander of the 1st Division, Senlian, was thankful and quickly reported this information to the Dalian headquarters.

In the headquarters, after listening to the report relayed by Hashimoto Toranosuke, Muto Nobuyoshi was shocked and slapped the table and said: "What? The Chinese Army has withdrawn again? What on earth are they doing?"

Hashimoto Toranosuke shook his head slightly, expressing his ignorance: "I really can't guess what this China army wants."

"The telegram ordered the 1st Division to figure out the whereabouts of this China Army as soon as possible and at the same time dispatch aviation reconnaissance aircraft to coordinate reconnaissance." Muto Nobuyoshi made a decision immediately.

……………………………… The middle section from Yingkou to Panjin, on the west bank of Daliao River.

Li Zhenyuan's tank unit has been parked on the west bank, and airdrop guidance signs have been set up in the wide open space.

Not long after, a deafening roar came from the sky.

"Commander, they are coming." An adjutant put down his binoculars and turned to report to Li Zhenyuan, who was smoking.

Upon hearing this, Li Zhenyuan jumped out of the armored vehicle, raised his telescope and looked, and saw a group of aircraft suddenly emerging from the clouds in the distance.

As the distance approached, Li Zhenyuan clearly saw that the leaders were several Zero fighter jets.

Li Zhenyuan spit out the cigarette butt in his mouth and ordered the adjutant next to him: "Notify brothers, be prepared, the transport plane is coming."

"Yes!" The adjutant agreed loudly and immediately took the order and left.

About ten minutes later, about a dozen C-47 military transport aircraft, escorted by five Zero fighter jets, began to circle and airdrop.

Barrels of gasoline and diesel and boxes of artillery shells were airdropped.

The whole process lasted for nearly half an hour, and more than ten C-47 transport aircraft airdropped all the ammunition and fuel they carried.

Due to sufficient preparation, most of the airdrops accurately fell within the range of the airdrop point. The occasional deviation was not too far, and the armored soldiers quickly found it.

After receiving supplies of fuel and ammunition, Li Zhenyuan immediately led his troops towards Dawa County, the eastern barrier of Panjin.

Dawa County is located between the Daliao River and the Liao River. It is an affiliated county of Panjin and an important barrier to the east of Panjin.

The whereabouts of Li Zhenyuan, who led his troops across the Daliao River and marched westward, were quickly discovered by Japanese army scouts and immediately reported to the Kwantung Army headquarters.

Muto Nobuyoshi, Hashimoto Toranosuke and others were shocked when they heard the news, and quickly ordered Panjin and the Japanese army in Okubo County to be on guard to prevent a surprise attack by the Northeastern New Army.

Two hours later, Li Zhenyuan led his troops to the gate of Dawa County and saw that the Japanese army had already prepared to seal the city behind closed doors.

Li Zhenyuan was not polite to the Japanese. He used more than 300 75mm tank guns to form a powerful artillery group and began to pour high-explosive bombs and incendiary bombs into Dawa County.

The entire Dawa County was turned into a sea of ​​fire and ruins. After the bombardment, Li Zhenyuan immediately personally commanded the troops to launch a charge attack on Dawa County.

Due to time constraints, the Japanese army deployed few troops in Dawa County. In less than half an hour of fighting, more than half of the Japs in Dawa County were lost, and the rest were forced to withdraw from the city and flee westward.

However, they were soon chased and annihilated by a tank regiment led by Li Zhenyuan on the east bank of the Liao River.

After taking Dawa County, Li Zhenyuan immediately made an attack on Panjin to attract Japanese troops from other places to come for reinforcements.

Muto Nobuyoshi was afraid that Panjin would be lost, so he hurriedly telegraphed the 1st Division and other units in Yingkou, as well as the Japanese army in Jinzhou to relieve Panjin.

News of the frequent mobilizations of the Japanese army could not be concealed from the eyes and ears of Zhang Xinghan's air force reconnaissance planes and Shen Xingye's hidden agents who had been deployed to infiltrate various cities in southern Manchuria in the past six months.

The news quickly reached Zhang Xinghan.

Tieling City, Northeast New Army Headquarters.

As soon as Zhang Xinghan finished listening to Shen Xingye's secret report, Chief of Staff Jiang Baili came in excitedly with a telegram in his hand, saluted Zhang Xinghan and reported: "Commander, Li Zhenyuan called. He has led his troops to capture Dawa County and wiped out a thousand enemies. Yu entered and was preparing to continue marching westward to attack Panjin and even Jinzhou."

"Well, Li Zhenyuan is very good." Zhang Xinghan nodded and said happily: "Chief of Staff, now the time is ripe for a general attack on Shenyang. I have decided to launch a general attack on Shenyang immediately."

"Launch a general attack now? Commander, is it too hasty?" Jiang Baili was a little surprised and said: "Now Sujiatun is still under the control of the Japanese. Even if we take Shenyang City at all costs, the Japanese army will not If we can evacuate from Sujiatun, our strategic goal of encircling and annihilating the Japanese army and Shenyang will not be achieved."

Zhang Xinghan smiled mysteriously and said: "Chief of Staff, as for cutting off the Japanese army's escape route to the south, it is not necessary to capture Sujiatun. We only need to destroy the mixed railway bridge and quickly advance to the banks of the Liaohe and Hun rivers with our capable troops. It can cut off the Shenyang Japanese army's escape route south."

"I'm not satisfied with you saying that the ultimate purpose of sending Li Zhenyuan to lead a mobile force south was not to attract the Japanese troops in Sujiatun and Dingtao to reinforce other areas, so as to mobilize them and facilitate our army's plan to seize the opportunity to capture Sujiatun. "Zhang Xinghan said.

Jiang Baili was a little confused and said: "Then what are the commander's intentions and arrangements? Please make it clear."

"I asked Li Zhenyuan to attack Liaoyang first to confuse the Japanese army and to test the reaction of the Japanese army. Of course, it would be better to mobilize the Japanese army in Sujiatun and Lighthouse.

Facts have proved that the top brass of the Japanese army were not confused. Liaoyang and Anshan were in emergency successively, but they did not call the Japanese troops in Beacon and Sujiatun nearby.

The next step is the key point. After winning a small victory in Anshan, I telegraphed Li Zhenyuan and led his troops to continue southward and attack Yingkou. Yingkou is the barrier of the Liaodong Peninsula. It is impossible for the little Japanese to just sit idly by.

Sure enough, Muto Nobuyoshi, an old man, mobilized a division of troops from Dalian to reinforce Yingkou.

Immediately, I ordered Li Zhenyuan to lead his troops to withdraw from Yingkou, march westward and attack Dawa County, threatening Panjin.

Now Muto Nobuyoshi has mobilized reinforcements from places around Panjin, such as Jinzhou, Yingkou, Haicheng and other places, and is preparing to reinforce Panjin. At this point, my strategic purpose has been achieved."

After speaking, Zhang Xinghan smiled and asked: "Chief of Staff, do you understand now why I did this?"

Jiang Baili pondered for a long time, then raised his head and said uncertainly: "Is it possible that the commander's move is to attract and contain the Kwantung Army south of Shenyang?"

"By the way, you must know that before the war started, the total strength of the Kwantung Army had expanded to 300,000. Shunroku Hata invested about 200,000 in the Shenyang Battle. Based on this calculation, the Kwantung Army still has at least 100,000 troops left in southern Manchuria. Thousands of dollars.

What I'm worried about is that once Shenyang is in danger, if Muto Nobuyoshi sends these 100,000 Japanese troops northward for reinforcements at all costs, it will be difficult to achieve our operational goal of encircling and annihilating Hata Shunroku's troops in Shenyang.

That’s why I sent Li Zhenyuan to lead a lone army deep into the city, with the purpose of containing and mobilizing the 100,000 troops of the Kwantung Army in southern Manchuria so that they would have no time to go north, so that we could besiege Shenyang." Zhang Xinghan said.

Jiang Baili suddenly understood and praised repeatedly: "The commander is brilliant, this move is really beautiful."

"Then we can attack next, right?" Zhang Xinghan said with a smile.

Jiang Baili nodded repeatedly.

Zhang Xinghan stopped being polite and immediately ordered: "Order the 1st and 2nd Flying Regiments of the Pilot Division to immediately dispatch all fighters and dive bombers to target the Hunhe River Bridge in Sujiatun. At the same time, order the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Duli Pilot Regiments, Each division of the 9th and 10th divisions launched an attack on Shenyang at the same time an hour later.
Chapter completed!