With the sound of the whistle, the train carried Zhang Wei and Company Commander Xu, no, now the troops who should be called Xu Platoon Commander left the small county town, the stuffy tank car is really not easy to sit, in order to maintain ventilation, Zhang Wei ordered the side bar of each carriage to open an opening, which also means vigilance.

After replenishing supplies in the county seat, the soldiers were finally able to eat well, and Zhang Wei was now nibbling on white-flour steamed buns and bought dried meat with Qiu Qingquan, discussing the next plan.

"Counselor, our next stop is to go to Chuxian County to find the corps or go somewhere else." Zhang Wei asked tentatively, although Zhang Wei already had a rough idea in his heart.

"Go to Chuxian? Forget it, let's go to Xuzhou first, where the transportation is developed, and it is a military powerhouse, and then make the next step after arriving. ”

Zhang Wei understood what Qiu Qingquan meant: "Counselor, our brothers can bring that unit." ”

Everyone is a smart person, and there is no need to hide it at this time.

"Go to Chief Du's troops, armored troops, I talked to Chief Guangting before, this is inevitable, but now, I want to take you with me, Zhang Wei, you are indeed a piece of material, work hard, have a great future."

Zhang Wei breathed a sigh of relief, of course it is good to go to the 200th division, and he is a confidant. So he nodded to Qiu Qingquan and continued to deal with the steamed buns in his hand.

The train did not stop all the way, and drove to Xuzhou non-stop.

Xuzhou

Xuzhou has not yet experienced the war, and the whole city has maintained a quiet and peaceful living atmosphere, but the armed gendarmes running over from time to time on the streets and the progress of the war reported in the newspapers have added a touch of war atmosphere to the city, at least, the city is still very calm.

With the loss of Nanjing and other places, there was more and more talk about the war on the streets, and peddlers, pawns, literati, and scholars all wanted to come forward to discuss national affairs that they had never been exposed to.

"Nanjing is lost, I heard that a lot of people died."

"Yes, I've also heard that Nanjing has been lost, Taiyuan has also been lost, this Chairman Jiang and Shanxi's Committee Yan are both heroes, why are they like this."

"What should we do in Xuzhou, so many soldiers in Nanjing have collapsed."

"I heard that Li Zongren from Guangxi is going to come to our Xuzhou to guard it, and as a governor, the people of Guangxi are not weak, and when there was a rebellion a few years ago, didn't Chairman Jiang have a lot of trouble?"

"Well, what you said makes sense, we have to prepare early, after all, early preparation is not a loss"

In the Fifth War Zone Governor's Department, Li Zongren also had a headache, and when he came to the Fifth War Zone, he found out how bad it was, the troops in this war zone were mixed, most of them were miscellaneous armies, Yu Xuezhong's Northeast Army, Pang Bingxun's miscellaneous cards, Cao Fulin and Zhang Zizhong's Northwest Army, and Han Fuqu's old department, there were many factions and they could endure it, the most important thing was that there were still few people, and the elite of the Gui family they brought was not enough to see, and they were hungry and even wanted the Sichuan Army.

This errand is bitter.

It is almost February now, and his arrangement in the Xuzhou area has begun to show results, and the Japanese army is pressing forward step by step, and has already exchanged fire with the troops of the Fifth War Zone. Li Zongren's worries came from telegrams from the front.

At the end of January, the Japanese army and the Gui army fought each other, and Li Pinxian urgently ordered the 31st Army to give way to the front of the Jinpu Road and withdraw to the mountains on the west side of the railway to wait for an opportunity to attack; At the same time, with the reinforcement of Yu Xuezhong's 51st Army, it was transferred from Dangshan to the south of the Huai River to prevent the enemy from crossing the river to the north.

By the beginning of February, Dingyuan, Linhuaiguan, Bengbu and other places were lost one after another. On February 8, the Japanese army attacked the position of the 51st Army in Xiaobengbu and was annihilated by the Chinese defenders with more than 500 men. On February 9, the Japanese army forcibly crossed the Huai River. The Chinese defenders failed to prevent the enemy from crossing the river. China's 5th Theater urgently transferred the 59th Army of the 27th Army and the 7th Army of the 21st Army to reinforce it.

On February 10, the 114th Division of the 51st Army of the Chinese Army in Xuezhong engaged in a fierce battle with the Japanese army at the Wangzhuang position, and after several bloody battles, the position was lost, and the Chinese army suffered more than 2,000 casualties.

On February 13, Zhang Zizhong led the 59th Army to the Huaihe River valley and took over the battle of the 51st Army on the front line of Watuanji, Yaoji, Guzhen and Mengcheng. At the same time, Liao Lei led the 21st Army to the line of Hefei, Shucheng, Badouling, and Xiatangji. The Chinese army, with the 51st and 59th armies, resisted on the north bank of the Huai River; Wei Yunsong's 48th Army held the first line of Luqiao and Luohe; Liu Shiyi's 31st Army and Zhou Zuhuang's 7th Army attacked the Japanese flank.

On February 11, the 31st Army of the Gui Army besieged Shangyao, and the defenders rushed to the Weiren to fight hand-to-hand with the enemy, and more than 300 enemies fled to Kaocheng, and more than 100 Japanese troops were annihilated. On the surface, this battle has been fought back and forth, but in fact, Li Zongren knows in his heart that the troops have been retreating, and judging from the current situation of the Japanese army, taking Nanjing and Jiangsu, on the one hand, vainly trying to attack Wuhan, on the other hand, is staring at the Longhai Road, the idea of fighting Xuzhou, more and more Japanese troops are being transferred in this direction, and they must be prepared as soon as possible.

"Go ahead, find a way to contact the chairman of the committee, and see if you can transfer some central troops to help in the war." Li Zongren told the staff officers around him.

On February 6, 1938, Li Zongren ordered Sun Tongxuan's troops (formerly Han Fuyu's 3rd Army) to advance east of the canal and attack the Japanese strongholds in Jining and Wenshang to contain the enemy's main force; ordered Deng Xihou (later represented by Sun Zhen) to attack the Japanese army in the main force of the 22nd Army in Zou County, one part of which attacked the Japanese army between Qufu and Zou County, and the other part controlled between Lincheng and Hanzhuang; Ordered Pang Bingxun's Third Army Corps to seize Mengyin and Surabaya near Linyi with the cooperation of local troops, and then threaten the Japanese army between Tai'an, Dawenkou, Nanyi, and Qufu, and send a force to defend Rizhao, Juxian, and northern Yishui with marines.

Sun Tongxuan's 22nd Division crossed the canal from Dachanggou on the evening of February 12, 1938, and a small part climbed into Jining City on the evening of the 14th.

At the same time, the 81st Division of the 12th Army also took Wenshang directly, crossed the canal from Kaihe Town on the night of the 12th, and attacked Wenshang City from the northwest of the city, and engaged in fierce street battles with the Japanese army.

The war went on and on.

February 17, Xuzhou Railway Station.

A dilapidated train pulled up to the platform, and if it weren't for the open side doors of the carriage, no one would have thought it was a troop carrier. The whistle was buzzing, and the staff on the platform went up to lead, command, and stop, since the start of the war, there have been too many military trains from Xuzhou, and for the military trains, the people and staff have become commonplace.

"Get off the train, there's no place to go inside," shouted the people on the platform.

The train spits out thick smoke, and after stopping, the wheels and tracks squeaked and rubbed, and the four or five carriages began to slow down, and gradually stopped.

Xuzhou, arrived.