You were tasked with guarding the Sihang Warehouse, and you ended up with a German-equipped division

Chapter 160 Tang Enbo's Scheme, Li Jianghe's Counter-Scheme

His ambitions remained great; he not only wanted to rescue the two besieged Japanese troops, but also to open up a new battlefield to support the Japanese fighting along the Taierzhuang line.

Inside the command post of Li Jianghe's Third Detachment, he was listening to Long Wenzhang's report.

"The 10th Division is assembling towards the Zaozhuang line. Our troops have attempted to harass them, but the effect has been minimal."

"They've completely abandoned the defense of Yixian?"

Li Jianghe asked.

"No, they left behind a Japanese infantry regiment, probably to use them to tie down our pursuing forces."

Long Wenzhang replied in this way.

Li Jianghe did not rashly launch an attack on the 10th Division in Yixian County. Instead, he directly ordered his armored force of nearly 8,000 men to advance south of Yixian County.

Of these 8,000-plus people, some were temporarily summoned, while others were veterans.

For Li Jianghe, these eight thousand men were enough to deter the 10th Division and force them to flee north.

In retrospect, this was the right thing to do. The 10th Division had been badly frightened and, after a brief rest and reorganization, moved directly toward the Zaozhuang area where the 20th Division was located.

"A regiment, they really don't take us seriously."

Li Jianghe said coldly, "Tonight we will launch an attack on Yixian, wipe out this Japanese infantry regiment, take Yixian, and shrink the 10th Division's living space."

In order to attack the Japanese garrison in Yixian, Li Jianghe summoned 10 more field artillery squads, bringing the total to 40 field artillery squads, in addition to the existing artillery, and also brought 5 captured Japanese heavy artillery pieces.

Those five heavy artillery pieces were left behind by the Japanese heavy artillery regiment. Originally, these Japanese artillerymen intended to destroy them before leaving, but they were a little slow in their actions, and by then, the troops from Baicheng Mountain had already rushed over.

The Japanese artillerymen fled in panic, and these five heavy cannons were among the few that were preserved intact.

The remaining mountain guns, field guns, howitzers, and so on were all destroyed before the Japanese army could break out.

Unfortunately, there were not enough shells for these five 150mm heavy howitzers. Only a little over 500 shells were found on the battlefield, which averages out to about 100 shells per howitzer.

However, as a powerful weapon for attacking fortified positions, the 150mm artillery is far more powerful and intimidating than the 75mm field guns that Li Jianghe can currently summon.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere in Tang Enbo's 20th Army Group headquarters was somewhat oppressive.

Tang Enbo smiled and looked at Yang Ruifu, Lin Yongzhi, and Wang Dayong opposite him, chuckling as he said:

"All three of you are great heroes. I have long heard of the reputation of your Third Detachment."

Yang Ruifu adjusted his glasses and said:

"Commander Tang, with a major battle imminent, what is the purpose of summoning us here?"

He didn't think Tang Enbo had called them over to flatter him; he was definitely up to no good.

After all, the 20th Army Group had struggled for a long time but failed to capture any of the key points. In the end, it was the three motorized infantry battalions of the Third Detachment that came and wiped out the Japanese in no time, capturing important strongholds such as Tengxian and the railway station.

In Yang Ruifu's view, Tang Enbo would definitely feel that they had stolen the credit from the 20th Army Group.

Chief of Staff Wan Jianfan said with a smile:

"Don't misunderstand, the reason we invited you here is because it's a good thing."

"The Japanese are currently amassing a large force in Tengxian. Our commander knows that the troops you three lead have already fought several fierce battles with the Japanese and must have suffered considerable losses. Therefore, the commander hopes that your troops can rest and reorganize in the rear, serving as a reserve force, to be deployed to the battlefield when the opportunity arises, delivering a decisive blow to the Japanese."

He spoke eloquently, but Yang Ruifu, Lin Yongzhi, and Wang Dayong were not fools; they naturally understood the underlying meaning.

To put it bluntly, their escape route is already blocked. Now the 20th Army Group wants to claim all the credit for blocking the enemy's breakout, while leaving the Third Detachment to sit on the sidelines.

Lin Yongzhi stepped forward and said calmly:

"I wonder if this is Commander Tang's intention, or the Fifth War Zone Command's intention?"

Tang Enbo cleared his throat and said:

"What does it matter whether it's my opinion or the opinion of the Fifth War Zone Command?"

Just as Lin Yongzhi was about to speak, Wang Dayong's Northeastern accent began to echo.

"What else can we do? We only obey the orders of the Fifth War Zone Command and our detachment commander Li Jianghe. No matter how high your rank is, Commander Tang, you can't command us."

Yang Ruifu patted Wang Dayong on the shoulder and said:

"Old Wang, how can you speak like that? This is your superior. You must speak with respect and courtesy. How can you be so rude?"

Tang Enbo's face was gloomy, but a smile still lingered at the corners of his mouth. He said with a chuckle:

"It's alright, it's alright. I'm a soldier, and I like people who speak their minds."

Having said that, he said to Yang Ruifu:

"I think you don't need to rush to reply. You can ask your team leader, Li Jianghe, for his opinion later."

"Alright, I'll reply and ask the squad leader for his opinion before giving a reply."

After saying this, Yang Ruifu turned around and left Tang Enbo's command post with Wang Dayong and Lin Yongzhi.

Inside Li Jianghe's command post, looking at the telegram sent by Yang Ruifu, he asked Long Wenzhang beside him:

What do you think?

Long Wenzhang said calmly:

"This Commander Tang is interesting. He was preserving his strength before, watching us local troops fight the Japanese to the death, suffering heavy casualties."

Now that the Japanese army is at its wits' end, he has sidelined our troops and taken on the task of annihilating the Japanese army all by himself.

"This Commander Tang got all the benefits, and now we're just working for him?"

As Long Wenzhang said this, he was also extremely displeased.

Li Jianghe wasn't too surprised by Tang Enbo's actions.

Bai Chengshan said in a loud voice:

"Commander, if you ask me, we can't tolerate these bad habits of the Central Army. Why should we do all the dirty and hard work? Why should all the credit go to them?"

He has the same personality as Wang Dayong; he's straightforward and speaks his mind.

Li Jianghe, however, had his own considerations.

Tang Enbo was quite confident, believing that the Japanese 20th and 10th Divisions had been severely weakened after being attacked by the 3rd Detachment's armored forces, and that his 20th Army Group could handle the situation.

Clearly, he didn't understand his place and thought he was the protagonist of this encirclement and annihilation operation.

In fact, without the third detachment, Li Jianghe seriously doubted that his 20th Army Group might not even have been able to control Tengxian County.

It would be better to let the 20th Army hold the line first and wear down the morale of the Japanese breakout forces.

Their own armored forces were deployed in the rear, while communication and reconnaissance teams were dispatched to keep abreast of the battlefield situation and prepare to reap the benefits.

If the Japanese army shows any signs of breaking through the 20th Army's defenses, our armored forces will then launch a proactive attack.

Although Li Jianghe did not want to steal credit or preserve his strength, he could use this opportunity to annoy this "King of Electricity" without delaying the encirclement and annihilation of the Japanese army. Why not?

Thinking of this, he said:

"Let Yang Ruifu and his men rest for now, while closely monitoring the battlefield situation and preparing to launch an attack at any time."

"what?"

Long Wenzhang and Bai Chengshan were both taken aback.

However, Long Wenzhang was quick-witted and soon guessed Li Jianghe's idea.