Chen Fei and He Wenjuan were eating when they came in crookedly and said: "Battalion commander, we can go to Xuzhou tomorrow, let's go to Pingpingshan Township, Dayang Township, Damiao Township, Zhuji Township, Yangzhuang Township to Tangzhang Town, the periphery of Xuzhou, do you think it's okay?" ”

"Oh, why are you so familiar with the road today?" Chen Fei said strangely. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

"There is a soldier in the vicinity of here, I asked him to lead the way, and he will be able to go to Xuzhou tomorrow night, what else do you have to order?" Old crooked.

"No, I'll leave tomorrow at dawn." Chen Fei said.

"Yes!" The old man turned around and left.

"Your subordinates are very obedient to you, it's not easy for you to lead this group of veterans at a young age!" He Wenjuan looked at Chen Feidao.

"They are all brothers who stir food in a pot, you really regard them as friends, of course they listen to you." Chen Fei said while eating.

"You are a rich kid, it is not easy to share the weal and sorrow with the soldiers, and it is not easy to charge into battle." He Wenjuan smiled.

"Hehe, I know a lot, okay! After eating later, you and Fang Min will take a rest. Chen Fei got up after eating and went to get a cigarette.

Chen Fei felt that as soon as the war started, his addiction to smoking became bigger and bigger.

At about 8 o'clock the next night, the troops arrived in Xuzhou.

"Sir He, come with me to the headquarters." Chen Fei said.

"I'm sorry for Mr. Chen." He Wenjuan looked at Chen Feidao.

The rat went through many inquiries before finding the headquarters.

Chen Fei rushed to the headquarters with Mouse, Niu Tian, He Wenjuan and others.

Chen Fei was received by a lieutenant colonel staff officer, who hurriedly came out to greet him when he heard that He Wenjuan was coming.

"Camp Commander Chen, thank you!" He Wenjuan said to Chen Fei.

"You're welcome, this is a task, and it is our responsibility to operate independently." Chen Fei said.

"Hope to see you again, take care!" He Wenjuan said.

"Camp Commander Chen, please come here, Chief Li wants to see you." Lieutenant Colonel Staff Officer.

"Okay!" Chen Fei said.

The lieutenant colonel accompanied Chen Fei all the way to the office of the commander of the Fifth Theater Command.

"Report!" Staff officer.

"Come in!" A deep voice said.

Chen Fei entered the office and met Chief Li Zongren.

Chief Li is not tall, but he is very energetic, especially with a pair of embarrassed eyes.

"Report, Commander Li, the independent battalion of the 88th Division was ordered to come and report." Chen Fei said loudly.

"Oh, the independent battalion of the Central Army is here, come and sit!" Chief Li said with a smile.

"Thank you, sir!"

"Camp Commander Chen just came out of Nanjing, and he has worked hard all the way, but there is a task to be handed over to you."

"Please, sir!"

"In order to open up the Tianjin-Pu Railway and the Longhai Line Railway, all divisions of the Japanese army began to carry out large-scale attacks along the railway area, and we are ready to fight a defensive battle." Chief Li said.

Chen Fei listened carefully.

Commander Li said again: "This time I will leave your independent battalion, I want you to hold the town of Liulipu, come!" You come here~~~" Chief Li called Chen Fei to come to the map.

"Look, it's right here, next to Fuyang behind Mengcheng." Chief Li said.

Chen Fei understood at a glance that at this point, if the troops retreated south of Xuzhou, the defense would play a big role

Chen Fei looked at Chief Li, very admired, looking at the battle situation so far.

"Guarantee the completion of the mission, and never evacuate without an order." Chen Fei said firmly.

"Okay, that's what I want." Chief Li patted Chen Fei on the shoulder.

Chen Fei stood up and saluted Chief Li.

"If you need anything, you can contact the command by radio." Chief Li also stood up.

"Yes!" Chen Fei turned around and left.

When Chen Fei returned to the camp, he ordered the troops to march to the town of Liuliupu.

Along the way, all the troops marched to the vicinity of the Tianjin-Pu Railway, and the armies of the Yunnan army, the Sichuan army, the Guangdong army, and the warlords of all walks of life were so united that they drove to the front line without hesitation, and their fighting spirit was high, and they regarded death as home.

After a day and a night of rapid marching, the independent battalion reached the town of Liuliupu.

"Let's get a feel for the situation in the town, we'll wait outside the town." Chen Fei said.

"Yes!" The old man turned around and left.

"Ding San also touched the surrounding situation." Chen Fei said again.

"Yes!"

At this time, Tang Bing walked in and said, "It's so dark, is it an advanced town?" ”

"Let's feel the situation first!" Silently.

Tang Bing handed over a cigarette, and the two smoked.

After a while, Ding San came over and said, "Battalion commander, this town is circular, there are no mountains and rivers around, and there is a canal passing through the town. ”

"Hmm!"

Ten minutes later, the old crooked man ran over with the mayor and five town staff.

"Battalion commander, this is the town mayor." The old crooked introduced.

"Oh!" Chen Fei looked at the mayor of the town, forty or fifty years old, burly, with a square face, like a martial artist.

"Hello sir, I'm the mayor of the town, and my surname is Wu, and my name is Wei." Wu Zhen said loudly, his voice very loud.

"Well, the troops are going to be stationed in the Sixty Shops for a while, is there a place to arrange it?" Chen Fei looked at Zhen Wu and said.

"Yes, sir, the town office is relatively large, and there is a squire's warehouse nearby that can also be stationed." Wu Zhen said.

"Good! We went into town. "Never.

The town is neat and clean, because the waterway and land can lead to Wuhan, this is a relatively rich and developed place in the Central Plains town.

The town hall is brightly lit.

"The troops will rest here first, and then arrange it tomorrow, and the Tang soldiers will send a guard post, both light and dark." Chen Fei said.

"Yes!"

"I'll sleep in the office tonight." Chen Fei said to Mayor Wu.

"Good, good~~~"

Mayor Wu turned around and took Chen Fei to his office.

At dawn, Chen Fei walked out of the office, washed his face with cold water, and suddenly sobered up a lot.

At this time, Tang Bing came over and said: "Battalion commander, after a while, I will disperse the four companies to garrison, and the guards, communications, and cooking will be arranged here." ”

"Okay, but this canal still has to be garrisoned, the heavy machine gun platoon called the Bison set up sentry posts at both ends, set up the heavy machine guns, and all the boats must be checked, and the third platoon of Ding must be stationed at the two ends of the road, and the past must also be checked, and each company digs war fortifications." Chen Fei thought for a while.

"Yes!" Tang Bing arranged to go.

Chen Fei came to the cooking class and saw that Lao Zhangtou was busy, so he said: "Lao Zhangtou, this town is relatively rich, buy more food or something, don't break off when the time comes." ”

"Look at the battalion commander you said, don't worry, we haven't fed our brothers when we haven't fed." Old Zhang Tou replied with a smile.

"Okay, then I'll take a look elsewhere." Chen Fei turned around and left.

Troops are still armed. The companies were marching towards the designated area, and Chen Fei took the rat and sat on the street tea shop drinking tea.

"Sir, is the Japanese dwarf coming?" The owner of the tea shop asked with a smile.

"Not yet, but it's coming soon, and you have to be ready." Chen Fei replied.

"Hey, these days, the war is in chaos, I don't know when it's a head!" The boss said.

Chen Fei lowered his head and took a sip of tea, but did not answer. I thought to myself that without a strong national defense, there would be no security at all.

Since Chen Fei was drinking tea, the other customers in the teahouse did not dare to speak loudly, so Chen Fei walked out of the teahouse and walked towards the Grand Canal checkpoint where the bison was.

When the bison saw Chen Fei coming, he immediately came out to greet him and said, "Battalion commander, the checkpoint has been set up, and the fortifications have not been dug yet." ”

"Well, how's the ship going?"

"It's all procurement ships from various villages, and there aren't many big ships that really go to Wuhan, so they've all been carefully inspected, no problem." Bison Road.

"Mainly check whether there is Japanese infiltration, weapons, medicines or something, all of them are temporarily detained without formal procedures, and I called Staff Officer Chen to help." Chen Fei said.

"Okay, got it. Battalion commander! "Bison Road.

Sixty shop town is the largest town nearby, there is a market every three or five days, it is very lively, the culture of the Central Plains region is very distinctive here, although the war is approaching, but it does not affect the market at all, all kinds of stalls are displayed along the town center all the way, the goods are dazzling, there is everything.

The independent battalions were all deployed on the periphery, and Chen Fei wanted not to disturb the people as much as possible, so he only hung the military flag of the iron-blooded independent battalion on the top floor of the town office.

Chen Fei knew that the defensive battle of the Jinpu Line would start soon, and the troops were still mainly training, although the troops were all veterans of the war, but the tacit understanding had to keep up, thanks to the Tang soldiers, otherwise Chen Fei would definitely be exhausted, and Chen Fei, who was injured, took advantage of the past few days to rest and recuperate.

At the end of December, the independent battalion was upgraded to the 88th Division Independent Regiment and Chen Fei served as the colonel commander. Chen Fei was very happy, and invited the commanders of each company to have a meal, and the level of each company and platoon also rose and became a battalion company.

The position of commander of the iron-blooded battalion was given to Zhao Liu, which made Zhao Liu majestic for a while.

The 88th Division and the Military Commission both sent guns and ammunition to the independent regiment, but only 500 soldiers came, which was far from satisfying.

The entire independent regiment is now in shape.

At the beginning of January, news of the massacre came from Nanjing, which filled the whole regiment with righteous indignation, and at the same time the Japanese army began to attack the Xuzhou area.

Due to the large number of independent regiments, all kinds of expenses have also come up, first of all, the problem of eating, Lao Zhangtou asked Chen Fei several times to ask for money, and Lao Mantou also wanted to buy a large number of winter cotton clothes, and all battalions reached out to ask for money, which made Chen Fei's eldest young master worry about money.

Chen Fei summoned the four battalion commanders, as well as Lao Mantou and Lao Zhangtou for a meeting.

"There's no money, what can you do?" Chen Fei sent a flue.

Everyone was silent for a while, and the staff officer Chen Bin said: "You can collect the toll for the goods on the canal!" ”

"No, this is not overturned, and the Military Commission will not withdraw our regiment at that time!" Chen Fei said.

"Let's ask the local gentry!" Zhao Liudao.

Chen Fei thought for a while and said: "No, the rich gentry can take it out by himself, go to the door and ask for it, that's not a robbery!" ”

Tong Daniu of the third camp said: "There is a restaurant in the west of the town, which should be a casino opened by a local gang, so let's go there to get some money?" ”

When Chen Fei heard it, it was a good way, and thought about it: "Chen Bin, give you two days to touch all the casinos and tobacco houses without business licenses in the town." ”

"Yes!" Chen Bin replied.

"Let's all go back! I'll give you money in the next few days, damn, it's not easy to be the head of this regiment. Chen Fei smiled.

At this time, Fang Min walked in and said, "Tuanza, the Military Commission has sent a chief of staff to our regiment. ”

"Oh, got it, when is it coming?"

"Three days later, from Wuhan." Fang Min said.

"Okay!" Chen Fei thought for a while.

Fang Min looked at Chen Fei, saluted him, and went back.

Two days later, according to Chen Bin's detailed investigation, at nine o'clock in the evening of the same day, Tang Bing and the guard company copied more than a dozen gambling stalls and tobacco houses in the town.

The guard company was composed of the Niu Tian guard platoon and the Ding San sharpshooter platoon, both of whom were wolf-like masters, who not only copied gambling cigarettes, but also detained a large number of personnel.

Chen Fei was very happy to see a large amount of money, and ordered Niu Tian to release people and use the money to ransom them.

For a while, the independent regiment had money, and the next day Chen Fei was about to divide the money to the battalions when the chief of staff arrived.

"Report! He Wenbing came to report. He Wenbing came to Chen Fei's office and said loudly.

"Oh, the Chief of Staff is here, see you." Chen Fei said to the battalion commanders.

Chief of Staff He is about thirty years old, upright and clean, and has a lot of temperament.

"Okay, we'll see you all, let's dismiss, I'll talk to the chief of staff." Chen Fei saw that the battalion commanders had greeted the chief of staff.

The crowd dispersed.

"Tuanza!" Chief of Staff He saluted Chen Fei.

"Chief of Staff He, don't be restrained, in the future, we will be brothers in life and death who work together." Chen Fei said.

"What school did you graduate from?" Chen Fei didn't seem to have seen him at the Central Military Academy.

"Oh, I'm a graduate of West Point." Chief of Staff He said.

"Ahh Those who return to China with samples are no wonder they are face-to-face. Chen Fei said.

"Commander, you should know my sister!" Chief of Staff He said.

"Your sister is He Wenjuan?" Chen Fei immediately reacted.

"My sister said that in the national army sequence, Commander Chen is a rare talent, and she recommended me to come to the independent regiment." Chief of Staff He said.

"Oh, that's the case, that's okay, you form a staff team as soon as possible, I only have one staff officer Chen Bin here, and we were also promoted from the battalion to the regiment just now, and many things still depend on your efforts." Chen Fei said.

"Yes, don't worry, commander." Chief of Staff He replied.

"Mouse, take the chief of staff to find the old steamed bun and ask him to find a good place to live for the chief of staff." Chen Fei said to the mouse.

"Yes!" The rat replied.

The rat is also very happy to be promoted to lieutenant adjutant these days.

Chief of Staff He followed the rat and walked out.

At the beginning of the Battle of Xuzhou, more than 80,000 Japanese troops crossed the river from Zhenjiang, Nanjing, and Wuhu to the north, and went straight to Bengbu along the Tianjin-Pu Railway.

After resisting the west bank of the Chi River one by one, the 31st Army of the 11th Group Army of the Nationalist Army retreated to the west of Fengyang in Dingyuan.

The 10th Division of the Japanese Army, which invaded North China, crossed the Yellow River from Qingcheng and Jiyang in Shandong to the south, occupied Jinan and advanced to Jining, Mengyin, and Qingdao.

The Japanese army wanted to advance from north to south, first to capture Xuzhou, a strategic point in East China, then to take Zhengzhou along the Longhai Railway (Lanzhou-Lianyungang) in the west, and then to capture Wuhan in the south along the Pinghan Railway (Beiping-Hankou).

Chen Fei paid close attention to the war, and Bengbu was only a day and a half away from Liulipu Town.

"Report!" The old steamed bun said, although the old steamed bun is a company commander, he still looks like he is better to die than to live.

"Something?" Chen Fei looked up at the old steamed bun and said.

"It's only a few days since the Spring Festival, isn't it a celebration or something?" Old steamed bun said.

Chen Fei thought for a while and said, "Forget it, the Chinese New Year's Eve, just eat better, now that the war is tight, maybe one day it will be pulled up." ”

"Okay, I see." The old steamed bun turned around and left.

The Spring Festival of '38 is approaching, but the war south of Xuzhou is becoming more and more intense.