Chapter 232 4. Liu Bocheng wants to close the door and beat the dog

The Lao and Gu battles in the first phase of the campaign began on July 2. 6 Zong is the main force of Liu Deng's army, and the burden mainly falls on their shoulders.They set out from the Xinye area of ​​Henan Province and rushed to Laohekou quickly and covertly at a rapid marching speed.The soldiers braved the wind and rain, walked in the mud, marched 150 miles a day and night, and liberated Laohekou at 12 o'clock on the night of the 2nd; the 12th Brigade of Southern Shaanxi entered the east in Caodian, south of Jun County, and intercepted it at Laojun Mountain in the south of Gucheng City on the evening of the 3rd. Fleeing south, the enemy retreated and wiped out one battalion of the 488th Regiment and the 487th Regiment of the 163rd Brigade in one fell swoop.

Liu Bocheng was very happy when he heard the above news, and made another good move: Ordered all the ministries to move day and night at great speed to encircle the enemies of Xiangfan: the 28th Brigade of Tongbai encircled Fancheng; The enemy positions at Maoshan and Wenbifeng approached, and a part of them extended to the west bank of the Han River to build a position to prevent Xiangyang defenders from fleeing south by water; the 12th Brigade of Southern Shaanxi attacked the enemies at Jianshan, Fenghuangshan, and Hutoushan in the south of Xiangyang City; 6 The 17th Brigade is advancing towards Xiguan in Xiangyang, and the 16th Brigade is located in the Nizui area and is the reserve team for the battle.

Liu Bocheng's deployment of this campaign is undoubtedly to beat the dog behind closed doors.Kang Ze was extremely panicked, and repeatedly called Chiang Kai-shek and Bai Chongxi for help. However, it was not until July 10 that the enemy's Central China "Suppression General" sent the 172nd brigade stationed in Anlu and Mengyun to Yingcheng, and then went west to assist Xiangyang.Because our army moved quickly and caught the enemy by surprise, the enemy was caught off guard and difficult to deal with, buying time for the enemy to encircle and wipe out Xiangfan. In order to keep Xiangyang, Kang Ze really took a lot of painstaking efforts.Relying on the favorable terrain, he built a large number of watchtowers, bunkers, and traffic ditches at the commanding heights and hills of Yanghu Mountain, Hutou Mountain, and Cross Mountain in the south of the city. The solid defense system of mutual support, in vain attempt to defend against danger, and deal with me, in order to realize Chiang Kai-shek's command of "sticking to the mountain, exhausting its troops, buying time, and waiting for reinforcements".