The Japanese army was preparing to concentrate its forces and carefully plan a strategic encirclement in the Xuzhou area, while the Nationalist troops in the 5th Theater were also reformulating a larger battle plan.

The Supreme Military Council of the National Army decided through a meeting to order the 5th Theater to concentrate its forces near Xuzhou and prepare to gather and annihilate the main force of the Japanese army again.

The North China Command of the Japanese Army saw the strategic intentions of the Nationalist troops in the 5th Theater, and the Japanese army temporarily changed some strategic deployments.

The Japanese army adopted a division of troops combat strategy, with a part of the troops frontal to contain the Nationalist troops, and the main force of the Japanese army to the west, in an attempt to encircle Xuzhou from the flank and annihilate the main force of the 5th Theater.

In mid-April 1938, the 5th Division and the 10th Division of the Japanese Army made a comeback, advancing south from Yicheng, Shandong Province and the Yitang area northwest of Linyi, respectively, to carry out a diversion attack on the main force of the Nationalist defenders.

The resistance of the Nationalist troops was very tenacious, and the tug-of-war between the two sides lasted for more than ten days, and in the end, the two divisions of the Japanese army did not cross the defensive line to achieve their strategic intentions.

Today's Isogu and Itagaki divisions, after the defeat of Taierzhuang, the overall combat effectiveness of the divisions has long been much worse than before.

Although these two divisions have replenished their strength and reorganized the previous brigade numbers, the current Isoya and Itagaki divisions are not much stronger than the second-class troops in terms of combat missions and armament.

In order to expand the results of the battle as soon as possible, the Japanese army base camp mobilized troops everywhere and spent half a month assembling 10 divisions and regiments, nearly 200,000 people, and launched a large-scale encirclement of Xuzhou from many sides.

After more than half a month of confrontation between the enemy and us in the Xuzhou area, the time flickered and it was May.

……

Since the end of the Battle of Taierzhuang, the security regiment has not had a combat mission during this time, and Li Hong had no choice but to let the troops recuperate.

The security regiment has no combat mission, and Li Hong is not idle, he is a consultant in the theater, and in addition to handling the affairs of the security regiment, Li Hong often has to go to the headquarters for meetings.

Today's 5th War Zone is no longer what it used to be, and the great victory in Taierzhuang has made the 5th War Zone pay attention to the military and civilians across the country.

The 5th Theater of the National Army created a battlefield myth, and the commanders of the theater, Li Zongyao and Bai Wenqing, naturally became very famous, and they became excellent operational commanders.

In addition to Li Bai and the others, Li Hong also became famous, and the battle of Taierzhuang made Li Hong's reputation much higher in various war zones in China.

Now when it comes to Li Hong, there are too many titles to praise, and the military and civilians call him a fierce general, an undefeated god of war, the backbone of the country, and a national hero.

Even, some reporters jokingly called Li Hong a female male god in the Republic of China......

Recently, the Japanese army has gathered nearly 10 divisions and regiments of heavy troops and launched a great encirclement.

The battle at the front was tight, and Li Hong was invited to the headquarters for a meeting early in the morning.

Before Li Hong arrived at the headquarters, all the senior officers and generals of the 5th Theater had basically arrived, but the meeting had not yet begun.

Li Hong is now a pivotal figure in the war zone, and everyone is waiting for his arrival before this major military meeting can begin.

As soon as Li Hong arrived at the entrance of the headquarters, the adjutant who greeted him at the door shouted loudly.

"Advisor Li has arrived!"

The adjutant's voice was loud and loud, and it clearly reached the ears of everyone in the headquarters, and all the officers and generals looked sideways at Li Hong, who walked in.

Those who can receive such courtesy and notification in the theater are at least at the level of the commander of the group army.

It is absolutely unprecedented for Li Hong to receive such respect as an officer at the school level.

From this small detail, it is enough to show that the commander of the theater attaches great importance to Li Hong, and although his military rank is not high, his status has obviously risen to the same level as the commanders of other group armies.

"I'm sorry, sir, I'm a little late, forgive me."

Li Hong had made many reports on the deployment of the Japanese army last night, so he was late.

He apologized to the officers in command and sat down in his place.

The conference room of the headquarters remained silent, the expressions on the faces of the generals were unprecedentedly serious, the atmosphere in the conference room was very solemn, and the 5th War Zone seemed to have encountered some serious military situation.

Theater Commander Li Zongyao and Bai Wenqing exchanged glances, Bai Wenqing nodded knowingly, and took the lead in standing up and speaking.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Itagaki Division and the Isogu Division made a comeback, advancing south from Yicheng, Shandong and the Yitang area northwest of Linyi respectively, and the two divisions of the Japanese army carried out a diversionary attack on our army's 2nd Army, 3rd Army Corps and 20th Army Corps, and the 59th Army, and the officers and men of our army stubbornly resisted the Japanese invaders, and by the end of the month, the Japanese army was stopped on the front line of Hanzhuang, Pixian and Tancheng."

Bai Wenqing did not have superfluous polite nonsense, and objectively stated the current predicament of the 5th War Zone.

"The Japanese army suffered a big loss in Taierzhuang, the enemy desperately wants a victory to save face, this time the Japanese army is menacing, mobilizing the main force of nearly ten divisions, the enemy's intention is obvious, to carry out a large encirclement of our Xuzhou area, trying to eat hundreds of thousands of main forces in our 5th theater ......"

Bai Wenqing's words fell, and the conference room became even quieter, everyone held their breath, and the silent needles of the huge headquarters could be heard.

Then, as an adviser to the theater, Li Hong got up and walked under the map at the behest of Li Zongyao, the commander of the theater.

With a baton in his hand, he accurately pointed out the offensive lines of the various divisions and regiments of the Japanese army, and also explained the enemy's offensive intentions.

In order to besiege Xuzhou and realize the strategic plan of the Great Encirclement, the Japanese army quickly mobilized heavy troops from various regions in North China and Central China and assembled in the Xuzhou area.

The attacking devil troops included the 3rd Division, the 4th Division, the 5th Division, the 9th Division, the 10th Division, the 13th Division, the 14th Division, the 16th Division, and the 114th Division, with a total strength of about 200,000 Japanese troops.

Li Hong pointed out the offensive routes of each devil division and put down the baton in his hand.

He said with a serious face: "Commanders, from the analysis of the offensive routes of the various divisions and regiments of the Japanese army, the intentions of the Japanese army are already obvious, and they have gradually formed a trend of encircling the Xuzhou area on all sides. ”

"This time, the Japanese army raised heavy troops to besiege my Xuzhou, although the enemy has not yet launched the siege, but I suggest that all the defenders of my 5th theater should be transferred to Xuzhou as soon as possible!"

Li Hong's words were astonishing, and he directly proposed to withdraw the troops.

The officers and generals of the headquarters were solemn, and everyone exchanged views in low voices for a while, and no one objected to Li Hong's proposal.

The officers and generals in the command know that the 200,000 Japanese troops are elite, although the number of national troops in the 5th theater is more than that of the Japanese army, but it is the national army troops who really have to fight hard, and the devil troops must be defeated.

After listening to Li Hong's analysis and suggestions, Li Zongyao and Bai Wenqing glanced at each other and seemed to agree with Li Hong.

Li Bai and the others knew the strength of the Japanese army and the national army in the 5th theater, and if the national army really defended Xuzhou, it would definitely be defeated.

In order to preserve the main force of the 5th Theater of Operations, the two also had plans to withdraw their troops.

(End of chapter)