Chapter 406: Strong Troops and Sturdy Horses, Ample Confidence

Yu Hua scanned Tang Enbo with cold eyes, "Fine, I will listen to Chief of Staff Xu Zuyi."

"I won't bicker with you now; I can't be bothered to say more to you."

"You greenhorn!" Tang Enbo was furious; Yu Hua, this young man of only twenty-some years, was actually humiliating him like this now.

How could Tang Enbo not be furious? One must know that since he joined the military, he had fought in hundreds of battles, large and small, across the country.

Moreover, ever since this War of Resistance Against Japan began, Tang Enbo had been the first to request of Principal Chang Kaishen that he lead his troops into battle, fighting a bloody war at Nankou and winning a resounding reputation.

Regarding Tang Enbo as a general, in the early stages of the War of Resistance, Tang Huangchong was actually quite capable.

For example, at the time, Tang Enbo's petition to Chang Kaishen read as follows: "Any difficult battle that others dare not fight, leave it to me; any dangerous place that others dare not go, let me go."

Especially Tang Enbo's 20th Army Group; this was Li Delin's trump card. If the issues between the Sichuan Army and the Tang Legion were not handled well, Li Delin dared not imagine the upcoming operations!

"Sun Lianzhong!"

Nowadays, the smell of gunpowder between the Sichuan Army and the 20th Army Group was growing increasingly thick. The 22nd Group Army of the Sichuan Army and Tang Enbo's 20th Army Group were both important combat forces of the Fifth War Zone.

"Can the Sichuan Army manage to intercept the Japanese Army once they break through when the annihilation battle begins?"

"The geographical location of Taierzhuang is very suitable for an ambush; the terrain here is easy to defend and hard to attack, with many surrounding mountains, and it is also possible to conceal troops."

Compared to generals like Fang Xianjue, Li Yutang, Wang Yaowu, Liao Yaoxiang, and Du Yuming, Tang Enbo was truly rotten to the core, and Yu Hua had no fondness for him at all.

At a time when the situation in the Pingjin Region was festering, this battle result from Tang Huangchong made Chang Kaishen praise Tang Enbo even more highly. Therefore, Tang Enbo was also promoted in rank by Chang Kaishen.

Hearing this, Li Delin cast his gaze toward Sun Lianzhong. Li Delin had long had ideas regarding the troops defending Taierzhuang.

"If they cannot be intercepted, this will be very disadvantageous for our subsequent operations, and furthermore, it will easily lead to the defenders of Taierzhuang being annihilated by the Japanese Army, thereby allowing them to take Xuzhou."

Sun Zhen also stood up at this moment, "Commander Li, please set your mind at ease! I, Sun Zhen, give you my word here: if my Sichuan Army's flanking maneuver fails to intercept the little devils when the time comes..."

This made Yu Hua have even less fondness for Tang Enbo. If it were not for the fact that only Tang Huangchong's 20th Army Group was currently in the Fifth War Zone, Yu Hua would truly not want to have the Sichuan Army cooperate with Tang Huangchong's troops.

After the bickering between Tang Enbo and Yu Hua ended, he spoke up: "Gentlemen!"

Hearing this, Sun Lianzhong responded loudly: "Please rest assured, Commander Li, my unit will definitely hold the position and create favorable conditions for our army."

The Northwest Army was adept at defensive operations, especially in the construction of field works, which was almost peerless among many local armies.

Li Delin felt a bit helpless inside now; Zhang Zizhong and Pang Bingxun, this pair of mortal enemies, had now resolved their conflicts.

Immediately, after pondering for a moment, Li Delin looked at Sun Zhen, "Fine, since you say so, Old Sun, then I won't be coy either; we will do as you say."

Regarding Yu Hua's proposal—to move to the Japanese flank after a frontal blocking action—Li Delin feared that a large number of Japanese troops would move south, putting great pressure on Taierzhuang.

"Hata Shunroku of the Central China Area Army, as the newly appointed Commander, is eager to achieve merit."

"The front door of the Jinpu Line is wide open. Whether it is Hata Shunroku or Terauchi Hisaichi, they all want to be the first to take Xuzhou, just like Yanagawa Heisuke's 10th Army and the Shanghai Expeditionary Army during the Battle of Songhu, who both wanted to be the first to take Jinling."

"We will use Xuzhou to set an ambush and annihilate the Japanese troops who are underestimating the enemy and advancing rashly; the ambush site will be chosen at Taierzhuang."

Especially in the Teng County Campaign, Tang Enbo's 20th Army Group sacrificed the Sichuan Army to achieve his own ends.

As for the main force for this movement warfare, that would be Tang Enbo's 20th Army Group; Li Delin would use this army to annihilate the Japanese.

For this reason, this petition from Tang Huangchong immediately made Chang Kaishen favor him, and on top of that, Tang Huangchong had fought quite well at Nankou.

Xu Zuyi pacified Tang Enbo, telling him to listen to Yu Hua finish his analysis first. Tang Enbo glared viciously at Yu Hua, then gritted his teeth.

Although Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Army had now been dismantled by Chang Kaishen and fully centralized, the Northwest Army, despite wearing khaki uniforms, still considered themselves the Northwest Army in their hearts.

Yu Hua really did not want the Sichuan Army to have contact with Tang Enbo's troops. Yu Hua quite wanted the Sichuan Army to have in-depth exchanges with generals like Fang Xianjue and Wang Yaowu.

Because Tang Huangchong used Principal Chang's favor to act arrogantly toward local armies, the 20th Army Group often bullied local armies by relying on the fact that their Army Corps Commander was Tang Huangchong.

Yu Hua stood at attention and stated: "Please rest assured, Commander, my Sichuan Army will definitely be able to strike the Japanese troops who break into the defensive zone."

He asked Yu Hua: "Adjutant Yu, if I agree to your plan, having the Sichuan Army block the Japanese troops on the front line before moving to the flank..."

"I, Sun Zhen, am willing to accept punishment and will have no further words. I will definitely create an opportunity for you to annihilate the Japanese Army."

"Present!" Seeing Commander Li call his name, Sun Lianzhong stood out.

Especially in the late stages of the War of Resistance, after Tang Huangchong took charge of Henan Province, the mountains were high and the emperor was far away; he wreaked havoc on the common people of Henan, making the people miserable and extorting a vast amount of wealth.

After Tang Enbo became a favorite of Chang Kaishen, he became increasingly arrogant, which made Yu Hua very displeased with Old Tang's character.

"Commander Li!" Yu Hua looked at Li Delin, "For the troops at Taierzhuang, please choose carefully; you must find an army that is good at defense."

Taierzhuang was an important defensive line for Xuzhou, concentrating all the forces Li Delin could mobilize. If the Japanese Army took Taierzhuang, then Xuzhou would have no defenses to rely on.

Tang Huangchong graduated from the 38th class of the Japanese Army Academy; he was not a Whampoa student of Chang Kaishen.

"Compared to the former Commander of the Central China Area Army, Matsui Iwane, the Central China Area Army took our country's capital, Jinling, as well as the number one metropolis, Huhai City; the Pingjin Area Army has no outstanding battle achievements."

"Likewise, the Pingjin Area Army Commander, Terauchi Hisaichi, the army he commands has currently only taken Jinyang."

Seeing the two sides arguing fiercely, Bai Zhuge and Li Delin hurriedly stepped out to smooth things over, asking both sides to set aside their prejudices and face the enemy together.

Upon hearing this, Bai Zhuge's eyes lit up; he almost understood Yu Hua's idea.

If it weren't for the fact that the troops under generals like Fang Xianjue, Liao Yaoxiang, Du Yuming, and Wang Yaowu had not yet become an Iron Army and had not entered Principal Chang's eyes.

Li Delin established his command post in Xuzhou and had published in the newspapers that he was waiting for the Japanese Army here.

"For the Taierzhuang defensive operation, how about your Second Group Army serving as the main force to defend Taierzhuang?!"

The Second Group Army was a genuine Northwest Army. During the Jin Province Niangziguan Campaign, they had cooperated with the Sichuan Army several times and did not suffer heavy losses at Niangziguan like in the original timeline.

Li Delin nodded. He had personally surveyed the small village of Taierzhuang, and his idea was also to fight a major battle here, adopting a method combining positional warfare and movement warfare to lure the enemy to reinforce, achieve victory through surprise, annihilate a portion of them, and defeat them one by one.

Yu Hua looked at Bai Zhuge and nodded, "Chief of Staff Bai is correct."

On the contrary, with Yu Hua's intervention, Sun Lianzhong's Second Group Army had captured quite a bit of weaponry during the Niangziguan Campaign.

Now the Second Group Army could be said to have strong soldiers and sturdy horses, and Sun Lianzhong had plenty of confidence.

(End of this chapter)