Later, Song Zheyuan also wanted to order his subordinates to maintain their strength and not to fight with the Japanese army, but his subordinates were no longer willing to continue to retreat, and they almost mutinied in Henan. Song Zheyuan left the army in a hurry, was canceled by Lao Jiang, and finally died of depression in Sichuan.

A famous general who has been through a hundred battles finally ended up in this fate.

Zhang Zizhong secretly thought: Instead of dying like this, Chief Song might as well die in Lugou Bridge in 1937, so that he could still have a good reputation as an anti-Japanese hero. In fact, he only lived for more than 2 years!

Zhang Zizhong said to his subordinates: As long as it is a human being, it will die! More than 20 years early and more than 20 years late, there is not much difference! As soldiers, it is our glory and our only place to die on the battlefield.

Obviously, Zhang Zizhong made up his mind at that time that he would rather die on the battlefield than die in bed like Song Zheyuan.

As a result, on the 7th, Zhang Zizhong still led two regiments of the 74th Division and his special battalion across the Han River.

As soon as he crossed the Han River, Zhang Zizhong received information that the 38th Division had broken through the Japanese interception and was temporarily heading south to prepare to join his troops.

And several other divisions are still in fierce battles with the Japanese army, and the battle situation is very tragic!

After Zhang Zizhong led his troops across the river, he immediately rushed to the 38th Division to inspect and encourage the officers and men.

At present, the 38th Division is the most effective unit of the 33rd Group Army, and it is the only unit that can meet hard.

Zhang Zizhong came to the third battalion of the 114th Regiment to inspect carefully, and then asked his old acquaintance, Battalion Commander Luan Shengtang: "How many of you still have now?" ”

The battalion commander of Luan Shengtang reported: "There are still 695 people in the battalion! ”

Zhang Zizhong asked again: "How much ammunition do you carry in total?" ”

Battalion Commander Luan Shengtang replied: "Each infantry carries 200 rifle bullets, 4 grenades, and 2 gun grenades; light machine guns with 2,000 rounds of ammunition each; The heavy machine gun carried 4000 rounds of ammunition. Mortars carry 150 shells each!! ”

Zhang Zizhong was very satisfied when he heard this, and said approvingly: "You can bring so many bullets, you really use a lot of brains. This time, we will fight deep behind enemy lines, and it is not easy to replenish, and you have the foresight to bring more ammunition. Although you have a lot of ammunition with you, you don't know how long the battle will last, so you have to educate the soldiers to save ammunition. ”

Battalion Commander Luan Shengtang immediately replied: "Our squad leaders and platoon leaders are all veterans with rich experience, and they have already told the soldiers not to shoot blindly, not to shoot at long distances, and not to shoot if they can't aim accurately. ”

Zhang Zizhong patted him on the shoulder happily and said, "Luan Shengtang, you have a good lead with soldiers." Originally, I was going to send you to the Army University (Whampoa Military Academy) this year, but the front line was tight, and I really couldn't leave. Let's go back when we have a chance. ”

Luan Shengtang was only 35 years old at the time, and Zhang Zizhong was still a fellow villager in Linqing County, Shandong, and a student of the Army Cadre School of the Northwest Army, and the relationship between the two has always been good.

Zhang Zizhong turned around to leave, suddenly remembered something, and asked: "Do you have a letter from home that you want to bring back recently (Zhang Zizhong sometimes writes letters home)?" ”

Luan Shengtang replied: "No! ”

Luan Shengtang, who later served as the commander of the 38th Division, recalled: "I never thought that this conversation would be the last goodbye to him. ”

Zhang Zizhong led his troops to cross the Han River, and in addition to immediately cutting off the road communication from Zhongxiang to Jingshan, he more effectively integrated the various units of the 33rd Group Army in Hedong, which immediately posed a considerable threat to the Japanese army.

Due to the fact that the main force of the Japanese army was outflanked in the north, the Japanese army here was relatively weak, especially some logistics baggage troops and military stations had only a small number of troops to protect them.

After Zhang Zizhong led his troops to cross the river, he immediately adjusted his troops, and the five divisions of his department attacked from all sides, penetrating nearly 100 kilometers behind enemy lines.

The 9th Cavalry Division, which was weak in combat effectiveness, actually ambushed the Japanese army's baggage force of more than 2,000 people on the 12th, annihilating hundreds of them. The Japanese army had no garrison and was unable to counterattack, so they had to abandon their baggage and flee in a hurry, and the national army captured a large amount of supplies.

The 38th Division, with the 74th Division coordinating behind his flank, helped him stabilize his position, and the division immediately turned to continue the onslaught to the north. On the 13th and 14th, the 38th Division inflicted heavy losses on the rear part of the 13th Division, and after a hard battle, annihilated more than 1,500 Japanese troops in one fell swoop.

Battalion Commander Luan Shengtang recalled the battle of the 38th Division: We found a large Japanese army on the road. From the ranks of the enemy, there were a lot of men on horseback, a few radios, large luggage and baggage, a lot of non-combatants, and less than two-thirds of the total combat troops.

It was unanimously agreed that this was the command of the enemy army. The companies of our army that were ordered to attack were like arrows from the string, taking advantage of the terrain to rush towards the enemy at high speed. When it was time to approach the enemy, my light and heavy machine guns suddenly opened fire on the enemy, and the enemy was taken by surprise.

The snipers of the 112th Regiment knocked out more than a dozen enemy officers on horseback in a few minutes, and the regiment's machine guns killed and wounded more than 20 horses, and saw that the enemy's command system was disrupted.

At that time, the enemy's infantry went to cover their headquarters, and the infantry of our two regiments took the opportunity to split up and volley at the enemy, and fierce battles broke out everywhere on the battlefield...... Our army became more and more courageous, and the enemy army also fought back violently, and the battle was very fierce.

Because our army took the initiative to attack the enemy, our army was in an advantageous position as soon as the battle began, and because our soldiers were vigorous, Zhang Zizhong and Huang Weigang were all on the front line to command, and the battle went very smoothly. After four hours of fierce fighting, more than 1,500 enemies were killed and wounded, and more than 10 light and heavy machine guns were captured. Our 38th Division suffered more than 500 casualties!

And the 74th Division, which had just crossed the river, also intercepted hundreds of remnants of the 13th Division under the leadership of Zhang Zizhong! It was raining heavily, and the officers and men of the 74th Division fought hard in the rain.

At this time, Zhang Zizhong's severe dysentery recurred, and the symptoms were mainly diarrhea, and his body was very weak. But he still pretended that nothing happened, rushed to the front line in the rainstorm, and loudly encouraged the soldiers: "Brothers, the little devils are no good, everyone must stop them, and don't let any of them go." ”

Hearing Zhang Zizhong's personal encouragement, the soldiers' morale was greatly boosted, and they charged the enemy more courageously.

As a result, hundreds of remnants of the unit were almost wiped out by the 74th Division!

The other 33rd Division of the 77th Army and the 179th Division of the 59th Army were also ordered to attack behind enemy lines on all sides, and the fight was also very fierce!

The 179th Division of the 77th Army fought with the baggage troops of the 39th Division of the Japanese Army in Oujijia, annihilating many Japanese troops, and only captured more than 2,500 Japanese backpacks (when the Japanese army marched rapidly, some of the backpacks were left for the baggage troops to carry to reduce the weight of the infantry), more than 400 pens (pens were very valuable at that time), as well as steel helmets, pistols, clothing and other large materials.

The 39th Division suffered a loss, and immediately mobilized the main force to counterattack, and once surrounded the headquarters of the 179th Division and scattered the division headquarters.

Wu Zhensheng, deputy commander of the 179th Division, struggled to break through under the cover of the pistol platoon, and was unable to contact the troops for a while. Under the command of Chief of Staff Xu Tingrui, the regiments of the 179th Division fought hard and suffered many casualties. The three company commanders of one battalion were all martyred in one day!

The 180th Division intercepted the Japanese troops on the front line of Laohekou, and the battle was also extremely difficult. The 180th Division telegraphed to Zhang Zizhong to warn him urgently: The division headquarters was near Laohekou, and the regiments were blocked and besieged by the enemy near Huanglongyuan, and many positions were broken through by the enemy.

In general, the rear of the Japanese army was attacked everywhere, and as for the 11th Group Army, Ling Yunshang led a regiment with the cooperation of the Southern Expeditionary Army, and successively knocked out two Japanese military stations and one automobile transport unit, which was considered a small victory!

This series of attacks by the 33rd Group Army not only cut off the Japanese army's logistical supply lines, but also caused great chaos in the rear of the Japanese army.

These operations disrupted the deployment of the Japanese army.

This is also a copy of the Battle of Suizao, when Zhang Zizhong also made the Japanese army suffer a lot.

In view of this, the command of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army believed that no matter what the purpose was, it was necessary to first return to the division to defeat the 33rd Army and open up contact with the rear.

Otherwise, not to mention continuing the attack, I am afraid that it will be impossible to retreat smoothly, and it will repeat the tragedy at the end of the Suizao Battle, where thousands of casualties were killed and wounded under the national army's hard work, and the passive situation of fleeing in confusion will be repeated.

On the 7th, the Japanese army had completed the encirclement, but they had gained nothing, only two regiments of the 173rd Division of the Gui Army behind the palace.

Based on this situation, Kazuichiro Sonobe immediately ordered the 13th Division and the 39th Division, which had failed to encircle, to immediately turn back and storm the 33rd Army, and be sure to open the line of communication.

This deployment left the 3rd Division at the forefront alone, and as a result, it was surrounded by the national army and annihilated more than 4,000 people.

However, the Japanese army desperately attacked the rear, and now it was the turn of the 33rd Army to lose the troops in Hedong.

The 13th Division and the 39th Division, together with the subordinate troops, have a total strength of about 40,000 troops, while the five divisions of the 33rd Group Army in Hedong have a total strength of only more than 20,000 people, and the equipment is far apart, and the strength of the two sides is very different.

However, although the Japanese army was strong, it was very difficult to annihilate the five divisions of the 33rd Army. Because after all, this is the area controlled by the national army, the national army is very familiar with the terrain, and the people absolutely support the national army.

The Japanese army is like a bulky python, Zhang Zizhong's department is like a nimble tanuki, although the python is powerful, it is extremely difficult to catch the tanuki.

The Japanese army also knew this, and if they adopted a large-scale encirclement, it would be difficult to effectively annihilate the 33rd Army. First, the Japanese army is actually limited in strength, and the encirclement must be full of loopholes. Second, the terrain of the Suizao area is also relatively complex, and it is impossible to have a perfect encirclement.

The third national army has the support of the people, and it is a big deal to retreat in pieces. In the end, the Japanese army will definitely be empty of bamboo baskets, but they will let themselves be ambushed everywhere and lose their troops.

If a very small and tight encirclement is really formed, it will not be a problem for the Japanese army to concentrate its forces to annihilate 1 or 2 divisions. After all, the national army needs two armies to compete with one division of the Japanese army, and one division of the Japanese army has severely damaged the national army and one army, and it is not a big problem.

However, it is obviously not cost-effective to use two divisions of the Japanese army (equivalent to the strength of two main Chinese armies) to encircle and annihilate a division of 3,000 troops of the national army. In today's words, it belongs to killing chickens with knives and shells hitting mosquitoes, and I am afraid it will be rumored to be a laughing stock

This is where the Japanese army is in a dilemma.