Chapter 362

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

At the foot of the northern slope of the Dabie Mountains, headquarters of the 200th Division.

Division Commander Du Yuming held up his binoculars, observing the movements at the mountain pass in the distance.

At the foot of the mountain were the blocking positions he had carefully arranged, with artillery and machine gun firepower points deployed on the positions.

The division's T26 light tanks were dispersed among several key support points to serve as a mobile counterattack force.

The Japanese forces had set up alert positions closer to the foot of the Dabie Mountains to prevent Du Yuming from charging behind the mountains to launch a raid.

Du Yuming had been locked in a stalemate with the Japanese at the foot of the Dabie Mountains for a long time; although the battle for Huangchuan City behind him was fierce and poison gas raged in the mountains before him, he was merely executing orders to monitor Tōgū Toshihiko's 16th Division and 108th Division.

Today's Japanese forces were vastly different.

Huangchuan was about to fall, and the Dabie Mountains could not be broken through for a long time; Tōgū Toshihiko grew hesitant and decided to retreat along the original route, withdrawing from the Dabie Mountains.

But on the road of retreat stood Du Yuming's 200th Division blocking the way!

"Report to the Division Commander! The forward reconnaissance force reports!" A communications staff officer hurried into Du Yuming's headquarters.

"We received a notice from the 18th Army: Tōgū Toshihiko's troops are withdrawing from the Dabie Mountains and surging toward our defensive line!"

Du Yuming put down his binoculars, his expression grave.

Tōgū Toshihiko's two divisions were right in the mountains; whether he intended to return to reinforce Huangchuan or break out with all his might, Du Yuming could not easily let them pass.

"According to my deduction, this Prince Tōgū Toshihiko sees the situation is unfavorable and wants to take advantage of the fierce battle still raging at Huangchuan and Lu Commander's main force being tied up to break through our defensive line and escape back to Hefei!"

Du Yuming's 200th Division could barely be called a "mechanized" division.

Equipped with over fifty T-26 tanks and some automobiles, but its total strength was just over ten thousand.

Meanwhile, Tōgū Toshihiko's two divisions had a full strength of over fifty thousand; even after being struck by Huang Wei in the Dabie Mountains, their strength was still several times that of Du Yuming's 200th Division!

"The enemy is strong and we are weak—that is obvious. But Tōgū Toshihiko is a Japanese prince; if his Second Army slips back to Hefei right under our noses, it will be hard to catch him later!"

"Order the entire division to immediately enter combat status!"

"All troops enter the preset blocking positions and block with all their might! Delay the Japanese breakout speed!"

"Send a telegram to Lu Commander immediately! Ask him to dispatch reinforcements quickly!"

"Yes!"

Under Huangchuan City, the Frontline Commander-in-Chief's headquarters.

Inside the headquarters, telephone rings, the ticking of telegrams, and the reports of staff officers intertwined.

On the huge sand table, the small flags of both sides were interlocked like dog teeth, representing hundreds of thousands of troops fighting in a melee on this battlefield at the northern foot of the Dabie Mountains.

Lv Muzhi stood before the sand table, handling two battlefronts simultaneously.

One was Qiu Qingquan and others' attack on Huangchuan City; the other was the blocking operation targeting the 116th and 18th Divisions' reinforcements at Gushi County.

Qiu Qingquan put down the telephone and said: "Lu Commander! Latest news: my troops have broken into the city center of Huangchuan and are mopping up the remaining enemies."

A staff officer also stood up to report: "I received a call from Division Commander Wang Minzhang of the Youth Third Army! East of Gushi, the Japanese 18th Division launched another fierce attack, committing tank units; the frontline positions are under immense pressure, requesting air support!"

Lv Muzhi's eyes remained fixed on the sand table as he said: "Approved! The Youth Third Army must hold the positions! I will divert a 105mm Howitzer Battalion from the artillery fire of the Huangchuan assault forces to reinforce them; not a single enemy is allowed to come through!"

"Yes!"

Just then, another telegram arrived: "Lu Commander! An emergency request for aid from Division Commander Du Yuming of the 200th Division!"

Lv Muzhi took the telegram and quickly scanned it.

"Good! Tōgū Toshihiko can finally sit still no longer!"

Qiu Qingquan's face also showed an excited expression: "This prince sees that Huangchuan cannot be held and his rear will be cut off, so he wants to run! He absolutely cannot be allowed to escape!"

Lv Muzhi looked at Qiu Qingquan and said: "The situation inside Huangchuan City is now decided; now the main target must be placed on that prince of Tōgū Toshihiko;

You take note; I will make the following adjustments and deployments."

Qiu Qingquan immediately took out paper and pen himself, waiting for Lv Muzhi to speak.

"Use Du Yuming's 200th Division to block Tōgū Toshihiko's 16th and 108th Divisions' flight; the Reserve Force Song Xilian's 71st Army will immediately head south to support Du Yuming; Qiu Qingquan will gather all armored units and coordinate with a Youth Division to head south and reinforce Du's forces, encircling and annihilating Tōgū Toshihiko's two divisions;

Hu Gongnan's two armies and a Youth Division will continue to encircle and annihilate the Imperial Guard Division and the Fifth Division inside Huangchuan City.

The Youth Third Army will continue to block the Japanese 18th and 116th Divisions at Gushi County, preventing them from entering the battlefield, creating an opportunity for our army to annihilate the enemies in Huangchuan and the Dabie Mountains!"

At the northern foot of the Dabie Mountains, headquarters of Du Yuming's 200th Division.

The gunfire and cannon fire outside had become increasingly dense and increasingly close.

The Japanese probing attacks had turned into a full-scale fierce assault; Tōgū Toshihiko could no longer wait to break out of the cage and escape this battlefield.

The positions of the 200th Division were under immense pressure.

"Division Commander! The Japanese attack is very fierce! A gap has been broken through in the position of the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Regiment on the left wing; the Battalion Commander led men in a counterattack and just plugged it!"

"Division Commander! The Anti-tank Gun Company reports: two Japanese Type 95 light tanks destroyed!"

"Division Commander! The division's Tank Battalion requests to sortie for a counter-charge!"

Du Yuming calmly handled battle reports from all sides, continuously issuing orders.

He knew well that they were at a disadvantage in manpower, but held the advantage in firepower.

"Order the artillery to concentrate firepower and bombard the positions where the Japanese are emerging from the mountains, disrupting their attack rhythm!"

"Tell the Tank Battalion to pull out a company of tanks to serve as fixed firepower points and strengthen the frontline firepower!"

At this moment, a communications soldier ran in holding several sheets of telegram paper: "Division Commander! The Huangchuan Commander-in-Chief has replied! Lu Commander has issued an order!"

Du Yuming immediately took the telegram.

One of the telegram sheets was a formal order, requiring Du Yuming to rely on fortifications, stubbornly block, at any cost, to hold Tōgū Toshihiko's forces at the northern foot of the Dabie Mountains, with no fixed time limit, until reinforcements arrive.

Another copy was a letter from Lv Muzhi; the signalman whispered, "Division Commander, this is Commander Lu's private telegram for you."

Du Yuming was slightly stunned and took the telegram.

"... Guangting my brother, the Japanese Prince Higashikuni's Second Army is the backbone of Central China; if we can annihilate them entirely at the foot of the Dabie Mountains and defend Wuhan, the merit would be greatest!"

"Only wait until this battle succeeds; the 200th Division shall be a model for the whole army, should be expanded into an army, and brother can also be promoted to army commander!"

"Hope brother strives, drags the enemy, and our great army arrives soon!"

As a Whampoa Class 1 graduate, Du Yuming's path of promotion compared to the First Echelon indeed was not the fastest.

Lv Muzhi need not be mentioned; his contemporaries Hu Gongnan and Song Xilian were already corps commanders and army commanders.

After Du Yuming had experienced campaigns such as Songhu and Lanfeng, although relying on meritorious service he held the rare domestically "mechanized" 200th Division, but ultimately he was still a division commander.

On this battlefield, old classmates at a glance all held higher positions than himself; he was from the class of '04 and served as a division commander.

Song Xilian was from the class of '07, yet held two divisions as an army commander.

Huang Wei was the same age as him and was already the army commander of the 18th Army, a core of the Civil Engineering Clique!

All were post-00s generation; why should he fall behind others!

Now that Commander Lu had promised, how could he bear to fall behind?!

"Reply immediately: Commander Lu's letter moved brother Guangting deeply; if reinforcements arrive in less than a day, the 200th Division will not withdraw for a day; we must definitely take down Old Thief Higashikuni!"