Except for Qian Jin, who was in charge of logistics and stayed in Xuchang, all the other people around Sun Yumin followed the large army, including the half-devil who had just returned from injury.

The little girl is very sensible these days, and she follows Sun Yumin every day, afraid that he will suddenly collapse, this can't happen, and the eyes of nearly 20,000 people in the 20th Division are staring at this pillar.

In fact, at the beginning, the little girl didn't think about this, but on the night of departure, Sun Yumin suddenly handed Chen Yun's phoenix-shaped jade pendant to her, and didn't say the reason, just a simple sentence: "You keep it first." ”

Since then, the little girl has become his shadow, and even slept on a bunk opposite him.

Perhaps the soldiers below knew the bloody battle they were facing, so the speed of the march was not very fast, the officers did not urge, the soldiers walked slowly, and the torrent of the 20th Division slowly flowed towards Shangqiu.

On May 21, 1938, the Chinese army launched an attack on the Japanese 14th Division from the east, west and north. On the same day, the 51st Division and the 58th Division captured Neihuang and Renji. The Japanese army retreated to Maoguzhai, Yangjiaji, and Shuangtaji; The 87th Division conquered Yifeng, and the Japanese army retreated to Yangjiao, Donggangtou, and Maoguzhai. On the same day, the Japanese army attacked Madaofu, Maji and Houyi Wang, and captured Maji.

On the 22nd, the main force of the Japanese army attacked Mengjiaoji, and took advantage of the situation to occupy Luowang Station, Luowangzhai and Quxingji in the west of Lanfeng. On the same day, the 51st, 87th, and 88th divisions of the Chinese army engaged in fierce battles with the Japanese army in the direction of Maogu Village, east of Lanfeng. By the 23rd, the Chinese army captured Ximaoguzhai, Yangzhuang, Lizhuang, and Helou. After the Japanese army retreated to Donggangtou, they broke through to Lanfeng that night. On the same day, the Japanese 14th Division concentrated its forces on attacking the Yangguji and Shuangtaji areas, and the 27th Army's position was broken through, Gui Yongqing actually led his troops to retreat to Kaifeng and Qixian, and ordered the 88th Division to take over the 106th Division to defend Lanfeng. After Gui Yongqing retreated, Long Muhan, the commander of the 88th Division, also abandoned the city and fled on the night of May 23, causing the Japanese army to occupy Lanfeng, a strategic point on the Longhai Road, without a fight on May 24. At this time, the 102nd Division of the 8th Army, which was guarding Dangshan, was under the onslaught of the Japanese army, and the division commander Bai Huizhang also ordered to abandon the position and flee west. The Japanese 16th Division occupied Dangshan on May 24.

At this point, the 14th Division of the Japanese Army retreated to the line of Lanfeng, Lanfengkou, and Chenliukou.

At this moment, Sun Yumin's 20th Division was converging in the torrent of the Third Army, and was arranging for defense in Dingtao between Heze and Lanfeng, and the strategic goal of the Nationalist Army to cut off the 14th Division had been achieved.

More than 100,000 people from the eight divisions of the North Route National Army (Sun Tongxuan's Third Army and Shang Zhen's Twentieth Army) have been inserted into the rear of the people like a wedge.

At the temporary combat meeting, Sun Yumin proposed to Sun Tongxuan to seize all the ferries on the Yellow River first, blow up all the bridges, send heavy troops to ensure the safety of Shangqiu, and give the eight national army divisions behind enemy lines a way to retreat deep in the north road. Unexpectedly, this kind proposal was ridiculed by Shang Zhen: "Senior Sun, did you make the dead fat of Tufeiyuan scared?" Don't say that our 100,000 people are just blocking his retreat, even if they eat them raw, it's no problem. Chairman of the Committee, Chief Cheng and Chief Xue They were too careful, it was not Shang who bragged, this time the 14th Division was difficult to fly. ”

Sun Tongxuan wished that someone would suppress Sun Yumin, and he also echoed: "Brother Sun, you are too unfounded, that old devil in Tufeiyuan is not so difficult to deal with, and even if he is allowed to occupy a few ferries, how much land can he transport, how many things can he transport across the river, and how many troops." You must know that if they dare to force their way across the river and retreat, it will save us trouble, and the river god will take them in. ”

"But if the 14th Division is allowed to jump out of the encirclement, the results of the nearly 400,000 national army troops on the Lanfeng battlefield will be the same as the national army troops on the Xuzhou battlefield." Sun Yumin was bent on changing the outcome of the Lanfeng battle, and he didn't care about the ridicule of others, and was still trying to persuade the two group army commanders with the rank of general.

"Enough, before the war starts, you will disturb the morale of the army, and you are still enthusiastic and don't care. But if he repeats it, he will be severely punished. Sun Tongxuan reprimanded mercilessly when he seized the opportunity, this room is full of the leaders of each division, he didn't give Sun Yumin half of face.

Sun Yumin's blood surged into his brain, and he wanted to stand up and confront this boss he hadn't met a few times on the spot, but he was kindly held down by the two people sitting on the left and right under the table and didn't let him get up.

As colleagues of the Twelfth Army, Zhanshutang and Gu Liangmin naturally would not sit idly by, and the two of them pressed Sun Yumin firmly on their seats.

Seeing that Sun Yumin's eyes almost erupted with fire, Sun Tongxuan was even more furious, and he secretly scolded the two subordinates who were not long-eyed in his heart: stupid donkey, let him be the first bird, stop him from doing anything.

A combat meeting broke up unhappily, Sun Yumin did not stay, and after saying goodbye to Zhanshutang and Gu Liangmin, he rushed to his division headquarters.

Before she could enter the door, the little girl ran over and whispered, "There is a person who came to you and said that it was your brother." ”

"Brother?" Sun Yumin walked into the temporarily requisitioned division headquarters with questions.

"Yumin." A voice that had not been heard for a long time sounded in Sun Yumin's ears. He had heard this voice on the train retreating from Shanghai, he had heard it on the battlefield in Nanjing, and he had heard it in the camp in Wuhan, and compared with Gui Yongqing, Sun Yumin recognized this voice and recognized this person: Zhou Zhenqiang.

"Vice President, why are you here?" Sun Yumin ran over and gave Zhou Zhenqiang, who was a noble person in his life, a hug.

"Yumin, I came this time, in fact, I was entrusted by the general seat." Zhou Zhenqiang was wearing a gray coat, a black top hat, and a pair of sunglasses on the bridge of his nose, obviously not wanting people to know about his arrival.

Seeing that Zhou Zhenqiang seemed to be in a hurry, Sun Yumin hurriedly pulled him to sit down, and asked the little girl to pour tea, and then asked, "Tell me, what are the instructions of the head seat?" ”

"Yumin, where is the instructions. The general seat asked me to tell you that according to the information he had received, someone wanted to use this battle to destroy him, and the situation was critical, and now the only ones who could be trusted were the 27th Army and your 20th Division, so the general seat asked me to tell you that I was ready to reinforce us at any time. Zhou Zhenqiang said the purpose of coming in one breath.

"During the war zone meeting, Shi Zuo and I mentioned mutual support, but there was no mention of anyone who wanted to rectify him." Sun Yumin said.

"I don't know the specific situation, and there doesn't seem to be direct evidence from the general seat, so all we can do now is to be prepared and wait and see what happens." As he spoke, Zhou Zhenqiang took out a booklet from his arms and said: "This is the code book bought at a high price by the division, except for the general seat, only the 88th division of Long Muhan and your 20th division have it, and the frequency is written in the book, and it must not be lost." ”

Sun Yumin took over the secret telegram that represented the lifeline, and said in his heart: Although the surname Gui treats me unkindly, I can't be unjust, Zhou Zhenqiang and Ma Weilong are still in the 27th Army and the 46th Division.

When the little girl's tea came, the mysterious person she was very curious about who claimed to be Sun Yumin's brother was nowhere to be seen, she angrily put the tray on the table and said: "I didn't even drink a sip of the tea I worked so hard to brew, and I left without seeing the people clearly." ”

…………

The loss of Lan Feng made Lao Jiang extremely angry. On May 25, 1938, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Song Xilian and Gui Yongqing by telephone to launch a general attack in the evening of the same day and restore Lan Feng before dawn on the 26th.

There were more than 1,000 Japanese troops in the first-line strongholds on the periphery of Lanfeng City, most of whom were cavalry except for artillery. Song Xilian's troops and Gui Yongqing's troops came under heavy artillery fire from the Japanese before they could attack the enemy stronghold.

As soon as Long Muhan led his troops to the vicinity of Dengzhai, he entered the siege battle. The 106th Division, located west of Lanfeng, sent a force to attack from the west, and the 138th Brigade of the 46th Division, under the leadership of the brigade commander Ma Weilong, also entered the siege battle.

In the afternoon, Song Xilian received a telegram from Xue Yue and ordered the 71st Army to be responsible for attacking Lanfeng. In the evening, Song Xilian led the commanders of various divisions and brigades to the southern suburbs of Lanfeng City to make careful arrangements for the siege. After looking at the terrain, Song Xilian issued a combat mission to his subordinates.

In the early morning of 25 May, Song Xilian came to the command post in Sunzhuang and received a report from Shen Fazao and Long Muhan that the two divisions had approached the enemy's position under the cover of night. At 5 o'clock, Song Xilian issued an order to attack Lan Feng City. The soldiers of the Shen and Long divisions charged the enemy stronghold in two directions.

The 88th Division rushed all the way, and the vanguard approached Xu Lou at about 9 o'clock. The Japanese army occupying Xulou used the broken walls as cover in the village to shoot at the attacking troops, and the other occupied the defense fortifications southeast of Xulou and resisted stubbornly.

The defense fortifications in the southeast of Xulou built machine guns and mortar bunkers, and outside the bunker group, trenches were dug. The Japanese fired mortar fire at the attacking troops of the 88th Division, and formed a crossfire network with the light and heavy weapons of the Japanese troops in the village, temporarily pressing the attacking troops in the open area south of Xulou.

Long Muhan ordered the artillery to concentrate their firepower and bombard the Japanese troops entrenched in the fortifications, and then fired at the enemy in the village. Under the cover of artillery fire, the attacking troops approached the enemy positions. After the artillery fire stopped, the attacking troops were about to charge, but the Japanese cavalry galloped from the city and coordinated the infantry to launch a counter-charge.

The attack was thwarted. Long Muhan pushed the second echelon to the front line, and ordered the mortars to advance forward and storm the enemy stronghold. By 12 o'clock, the 88th Division conquered Zhaozhuang and Yangzhuang. Song Xilian immediately ordered the division to stop the attack, hold the position, and wait for the 87th Division Shen Fazao's division to enter the vicinity of the city wall, and then cooperate to attack the city.

Due to the flat terrain in the southeast of Lanfeng, the Japanese army outside Lanfeng City relied on the railway embankment to hold on, and the progress of the 87th Division was quite difficult. The fierce battle lasted until noon, only approaching the vicinity of Xigangtou and Zhangzhai, and there were many casualties.

By 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the 87th Division's Shen Fazao Division broke through the first-line position of the Japanese railway, cleared the enemy east of Lanfeng, and the Japanese troops outside the city fled to Lanfeng. Shen Fazao's troops successively conquered Wangzhai and Zhang's village in the southeast of Lanfengcheng, and the right-wing troops also advanced to the line of Gaoshaoguan and Huiyao outside the city.

When Song Xilian was about to give the order for a general attack, the Japanese infantry and cavalry counterattacked, captured Xu Lou, and occupied the defense fortifications to resist stubbornly. Song Xilian saw that the two divisions suffered heavy casualties, so he ordered the two divisions to build fortifications on the spot by the attacking troops, hold the stronghold that had been conquered, and prepare to attack the city.

Faced with the predicament, Gui Yongqing hurriedly called Sun Yumin, who was less than 100 kilometers away, and asked him to come to help with an elite army.

In the afternoon, the sky was drizzling. Song Xilian was worried that the light rain would not stop for a long time and cause difficulties for the troops to attack the city, so he immediately convened a meeting of the commanders of the two divisions of Shen Fazao and Long Muhan and the commander of the artillery battalion, and issued an order to attack the city at night, requiring the attacking troops to capture Lanfeng at all costs.

The time of the general attack was set at 7 o'clock in the evening, and the night fell, and the sky was still bright, and the artillery of the Chinese army began to bombard the Japanese stronghold violently, and the fire reflected the red on the outskirts of Lanfeng. The 87th Division attacked from the southeast of the city under the cover of artillery fire. The 261st Brigade soon captured Liangzhuang, and then pressed towards Erlizhai and Tianzhuang, and the 518th Regiment had reached the vicinity of Xulou and fought fiercely with the Japanese.

The walls of Lan Feng are not far away. The 88th Division's advance was even more rapid, as the heavy artillery battalion concentrated its fire on the south gate and the southwest corner of the city wall, so that the enemy in the city was temporarily unable to reinforce the outlying strongholds. Lanfeng Station was conquered by the 88th Division in one fell swoop.

Long Mu Han saw that Lanfeng Station had been conquered, and immediately ordered the troops to prepare to climb the city with a ladder. Unexpectedly, the Japanese army organized a counteroffensive, and Lanfeng Station fell into the hands of the enemy again. Long Muhan was furious and ordered his troops to recapture the station at all costs. After fierce fighting until about 10 p.m., the dragon department finally occupied Lanfeng Station, and some officers and soldiers had rushed to the vicinity of the South Gate Garden. Long Muhan then ordered the pre-organized "climbing team" to divide into several batches and advance one by one, approaching the city of Lanfeng.

In this siege, the 88th Division invested more than 100 people, except for a few wounded soldiers who climbed back in the line of fire, the rest all died heroically. Seeing that the climbing of the city failed, Long Muhan urgently ordered the heavy artillery battalion to bombard the city again, and at the same time ordered the climbing team to be divided into several echelons, one after the other, and continued to attack the city. However, due to the stubborn resistance of the Japanese army, the three attacks launched by the besieging forces failed. The attacking force of the 87th Division was blocked by the dense fire of the Japanese army, and its progress was difficult, and by 3 o'clock the next day, it began to capture the Grange with heavy sacrifices, and after that it was difficult to approach the city walls. Seeing that the two divisions had been fighting fiercely for nearly a night and had suffered heavy casualties, Song Xilian ordered the whole army to rest and ensure that the occupied points had been captured, and continued the attack at 22 o'clock on the evening of the 26th.

On the night of the 26th, Song Xilian rearranged the siege troops and ordered the two divisions to increase the attack points when focusing on the east and south gates to disperse the enemy's firepower. At the same time, he ordered the mountain artillery battalion to move several cannons to the vicinity of the city walls and fire directly at the city walls. The heavy artillery battalion scattered into the city to deter the defenders on the city.

After the attack began, the troops of the two divisions quietly approached the outlying strongholds of the Japanese army and carried out a surprise attack. By midnight, the 87th Division captured Erlizhai, and artillery fired at the city walls. At this moment, the heavy artillery battalion also opened fire on the city, and the cannon fire in the city was full of fire. Before the Japanese army could react, the attacking troops of Shen Fazao and Long Muhan launched a charge. But before they rushed to the bottom of the city wall, several loud explosions came, and the city wall, which they had been unable to break through for three days, was suddenly blown out of several gaps, and in the city, it was clear that there were soldiers of the national army fighting with the Japanese army, and in the light of the fire, the red spike broadsword that was constantly flying was particularly dazzling. Seeing this scene, the besieging officers and soldiers were greatly encouraged, the 88th Division climbed two bombed city walls in the southwest, and the 87th Division climbed a bombed city wall in the east.

At about three o'clock in the morning, in the bloody road that Lai Wenli's 115th Regiment took the lead, the 87th Division's Shen Fazao Division first rushed into the city, and then the 88th Division's Long Muhan Division also followed into the city, and the Japanese 14th Division began to retreat north to Sanyi Village.

At this point, the city of Lanfeng, which fell into the hands of the enemy, was recovered by the national army after three days of bloody fighting.

After Sun Yumin hurriedly met with Gui Yongqing, he took the two regiments he led to rush to Dingtao. He didn't dare to make a statement, if he privately led his troops out to reinforce Gui Yongqing, Sun Tongxuan would definitely not let him go easily.

Just when the troops of the eight divisions of the Northern Route National Army were grinding their fists and preparing to make a big move, a situation unexpected to everyone suddenly occurred: on May 28, when Huang Jie's Eighth Army, a descendant of the old Chiang's Central Army, faced the attack of the Japanese 16th Division and the mixed 13th Brigade, he personally led the 40th and 24th Divisions to retreat to Liuhe and Kaifeng, leaving the 187th Division alone to defend Zhuji Station and Shangqiu. At dawn on May 29, Peng Linsheng, commander of the 187th Division, also led the division to retreat and gave Shangqiu to the Japanese army in vain. The loss of Shangqiu seriously threatened the flank of Xue Yue's army, which was attacking the 14th Division of the Japanese army, and also seriously affected the safety of the Zhulu National Army.