Wang Lushui never imagined that the tanks, armored vehicles, anti-aircraft guns, automobiles, and rubber cars that had been captured with great difficulty and made the little devils scatter would become a burden to restrain the troops from crossing the river and advancing eastward at this time!

If it weren't for the instructions from the headquarters and Yan'an requesting that once the Japanese Fifth Division and the 16th Division pursued southward, the eastward advance detachment would cross the Yellow River to carry out the task of advancing eastward into the Yimeng Mountains. Vertex. Fastest updates

What can I do?

For a while, Wang Lushui was worried and restless, and his mind was full of how to get tanks, armored vehicles, and cars across the Yellow River!

Not only Wang Lushui fell into sorrow, but the leaders of the Eighth Route Army Headquarters and Yan'an Headquarters were also worried!

The 115th Division's eastward advance into Shandong, Jinglue Shandong, and the Xuhuai region was a grand strategy launched by the Eighth Route Army behind enemy lines, and a grand strategy based on the War of Resistance behind enemy lines and looking at the overall situation of the War of Resistance. Not only will the eastward advance detachment and the 685th Regiment move eastward, the 343 Brigade headquarters and five detachments led by Xiao Hua will move eastward, including the division headquarters and the 686th Regiment and the supplementary regiment that are still in western Shanxi, and the 344th Brigade now under the command of the headquarters will also move eastward!

The practice of the advance units of the 115th Division moving eastward behind enemy lines proved that the eastward advance was correct.

The eastward advance detachment was originally only a squad of wounded men, but later developed into an independent battalion. After being expanded into the previous brigade of the eastward march, it entered the Hebei and Shandong borders in the east, and the situation was opened up in a short period of time, and it also won successive battles, becoming a well-known main force in the Eighth Route Army with armored troops, artillery, and cavalry. At the same time, three separate regiments were reorganized and local armed forces were established.

The 685th Regiment, which advanced eastward to the Huxi region, has now also developed into a 7,000-strong Sulu-Yu detachment.

Including Xiao Hua's department, which had just arrived at the Jilu border, the headquarters had already ordered the expansion into an eastward column, and there were five detachments and old units such as the Jinpu detachment, the fourth regiment of the eastward advance detachment adapted from the 31st team left by Xiao Siming and Wang Lushui, the Wudi Independent Regiment, the Yanshan Independent Regiment and the local armed forces in various counties and districts, as well as the ammunition supply captured from Dezhou by the eastward advance detachment, it is conceivable that Xiao Hua's eastward column will soon expand and grow!

Coupled with the fact that the troops of the 129th Division developed rapidly after advancing into the South Hebei Plain, the leaders of the headquarters and Yan'an must have been enthusiastic and urged the units of the 115th Division to quickly advance eastward.

On the other hand, the 686 Regiment that remained in Jinxi, although the size of the troops was twice as large as before the North to resist the Japanese, was only 3,000 people, and the strength was much less than that of Xiao Siming and the 685th Regiment.

If it weren't for the fact that it was necessary to leave a main force to hold on to western Jinxi to prevent the Japanese army from crossing the river and attacking the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo border area, perhaps the Yan'an headquarters would have ordered the headquarters of the 115th Division to move eastward now.

Now a new situation has suddenly emerged, the tanks, armored vehicles, automobiles, rubber trucks, and artillery of the eastward advance detachment cannot cross the river, can the leaders not be worried?

The Yellow River is not a small river, and it is difficult to build a pontoon bridge, and it is even more difficult to build a pontoon bridge that can pass tanks and cars. At this stage, with the technical level and equipment of our army's engineers, that is something that should not be thought of!

It was only at this time that the chiefs of the headquarters and Yan'an remembered the telegram sent by Xiao Siming after the capture of the Luokou Bridge. At that time, the Luokou Yellow River Bridge was under the control of the eastward advance detachment, and the tanks and cars of the eastward advance detachment had already crossed the Yellow River. It is a pity that the headquarters and Yan'an considered that the Japanese army was about to kill heavily in the Dezhou and Jilu border areas, and Xiao Hua's department had just arrived, and the environment was unfamiliar, and it might suffer a big loss in the face of the heavy siege of the Japanese army, so they ordered Xiao Siming's department to suspend its eastward advance. I didn't expect this suspension to be nothing, but it led to the trouble of crossing the river without a bridge!

The headquarters of the Eighth Route Army and Yan'an could only send a telegram back to Wang Lushui, asking them to seriously investigate, think of more ways, and try to move eastward with heavy equipment as much as possible. If this is really not possible, they will divide the troops, and one part will go east to the Yimeng Mountains to create a base area, and the other part will stay in the North China Plain to fight guerrillas.

Xiao Siming was busy rushing to transport supplies, Wang Lushui and the heads of the headquarters thousands of miles away were worried about the fact that the eastward advance detachment could not cross the river with heavy equipment, and the headquarters of the first theater commander in Luoyang was also worried, but the problems were different.

The Botian Detachment of the 11th Army of the Japanese Central China Dispatch Army had captured Anqing, the capital of Anhui Province, on June 12, and the Sixth Division had captured Tongcheng on June 13, followed by the Japanese army capturing Qianjiang, and the prelude to the Battle of Wuhan had begun.

In the past few days, the 14th Division of the Japanese Army, which was confronting the troops of the First Theater in Zhongmu, was already very restless, and kept sending a small search team to carry out reconnaissance attacks on the defense line of the squadron. It seems that the Japanese army will soon launch an attack on Zhengzhou.

The 14th Division of the Japanese Army was bluffing. In fact, the 14th Division at this time had not yet completed its replenishment. Since Xiao Siming led his troops to attack Shijiazhuang, the commander of the First Army, Lieutenant General Mitsu Mijiro, had not yet had time to transfer the four infantry battalions of the First Army's supplementary team to the 14th Division. Moreover, just today, Lieutenant General Kenji Dohihara, commander of the 14th Division of the Japanese Army, was transferred to the General Staff Headquarters, and Lieutenant General Takamasa Sekii was transferred to the commander of the 14th Division. Whether it is Shouichi Terauchi or Mitsu Mijiro, he will definitely not order the 14th Division to launch an offensive operation against Zhengzhou at this time!

After the Battle of Lanfeng, due to Xiao Siming's capture of Dezhou, the North China Front had to transfer the Fifth Division, the Sixteenth Division, and the Independent Mixed Third Brigade to return to North China, and the pressure on the First Theater was suddenly reduced. The First Theater seized this opportunity to actively reorganize and replenish its troops and prepare for another battle.

However, because the Japanese army opened the prelude to the Battle of Wuhan, the Military Commission also made corresponding adjustments and arrangements, and the Xue Yue Yudong Corps, which was originally under the command of the First Theater, has been transferred to Nanxun Road for defense; Tang Enbo's 20th Army Corps and Hu Zongnan's 17th Army Corps were also transferred to Xinyang. Those who confronted the Japanese army on the Longhai Road were the troops within the establishment of the First Theater of Operations.

What Xiao Siming never imagined was that although the First Theater reorganized and replenished its troops and was always ready to counterattack the Japanese army and continue to attack Zhengzhou, from Chairman Chiang to Cheng Qian, commander of the First Theater, they still pinned their hopes on blocking the Japanese army's westward advance on opening the Yellow River embankment and diverting the Yellow River water to repel the enemy. They were not at all sure that they would stop the Japanese army from attacking the west through positional warfare!

The new Eighth Division, which was deployed in the Yellow River defense position in the Zhengzhou section, was in the Zhen Division, waiting for orders at any time, preparing to blow up the Yellow River embankment.

The difference is that because of this respite, the troops of the First Theater confronted the Japanese army in Zhongmu, and the First Theater had time to carefully survey the flood route after the Yellow River burst its embankment and notify the people downstream to evacuate in advance.

Fearing that the Japanese army would advance westward to attack the headquarters of the First Theater Commander in Zhengzhou, he received a call from the headquarters of the 18th Group Army, informing him that after the eastward advance detachment of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army attacked Shijiazhuang, it concealed its southward advance and captured Puyang County, and divided its troops to capture Chenqiao Town in Dengfeng County, annihilated the 15th Independent Infantry Brigade of the Fourth Brigade of the Japanese Army stationed in Chenqiao, and seized some supplies.

This was the honeymoon period of KMT-CCP cooperation in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, and the two parties gave up their past grievances and went to the national disaster together. In order to cooperate with the operation, exchange information. The headquarters of the Eighth Route Army immediately reported the victory to the First Theater, and the purpose was to let the headquarters of the commander of the First Theater know that Xiao Siming's troops had moved to the Puyang area and to the Yellow River in Fengqiu County, Xinxiang Prefecture, so that the First Theater could grasp the situation and coordinate operations.

After receiving the good news from the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, Cheng Qian, commander of the First Theater, Yan Xunfu, chief of staff, and Zhang Xuxing, deputy chief of staff, all stood in front of the map and stared at the map.

For a long time, for a long time, Cheng Qian sighed: "The Eighth Route Army is capable of many people, look at this battle, thousands of miles of attack, one blow is successful, I'm afraid the little devil never dreamed that the Eighth Route Army would suddenly appear under Puyang City and on the streets of Chenqiao!" Remarkable, truly remarkable! In the past, it was said that General Fei fell from the sky, but that's it! ”

Yan Xunfu received: "Chief Cheng, the problem is that Chenqiao is by the Yellow River, and it is very likely that it is also the munitions turnover storage point for the Japanese army to supply Kaifeng. With this blow, I am afraid that the Fifth Division and the Sixteenth Division, which had been transferred in Shijiazhuang, would be led to the Yellow River. In that case, it may be a blessing and a curse for our first war zone! ”

Cheng Qian must have thought of this section as well, nodded, and said, "Chenqiao is too close to Zhengzhou. If the Japanese Fifth Division and the Sixteenth Division rushed to the Yellow River, regardless of whether they could eliminate Xiao Siming's division of the Eighth Route Army, it was very likely that they would cross the river and join the Japanese army attacking Zhengzhou. In that case, the pressure on us is greater than ever! ”

Deputy Chief of Staff Zhang Xuxing immediately said: "No! It was necessary to send a report to the headquarters of the 18th Group Army, and Xiao Siming's troops could not be allowed to attract the 5th and 16th Divisions to the Yellow River. That would be a great strategic passivity! It is not just a question of whether the first theater of operations can hold Zhengzhou, but that Wuhan may be quickly occupied by the Japanese army moving south along the Pinghan Road after Zhengzhou is occupied! No one can afford this loss! ”

Looking at Zhang Xuxing's posture, it seems that Xiao Siming intends to lead the 5th and 16th divisions of the Japanese army to the Yellow River!

Yan Xunfu then said: "Chief Cheng, I have to report to the chairman of the committee and ask the Military Commission to give an order to the 18th Group Army that in order to cooperate with the defense of Wuhan, the Eighth Route Army must lead the 5th and 16th divisions of the Japanese army to North China, let the Japanese army go around in North China, and not let them join the battlefield of the Battle of Wuhan!" ”

Cheng Qian is relatively old and loyal, pondered for a while, and said: "Xiao Siming has their troubles! Two elite divisions of the Japanese army pursued them, intending to annihilate them in one fell swoop. They had to run faster and hide farther away, otherwise they would be caught up and eaten by the Japanese army! In my opinion, it is also the best policy and a good thing to let the Japanese army follow Xiao Siming's ass and be in a tired exercise. It's just that these two elite divisions of the Japanese army can't be allowed to stay by the Yellow River! In this way, Chief of Staff Yan immediately drafted a telegram in my name in the theater, and at the same time reported to Chairman Chiang, he sent a telegram to the two commanders of the 18th Group Army, Zhu and Peng, Chen Ming was very powerful, and implored the Eighth Route Army to support the First Theater to hold on to Zhengzhou, and order Xiao Siming's troops to continue to lead the Japanese army by the nose as soon as possible, and lead the little devils back to North China, so that they can go around in circles on the land of North China! ”

Yan Xunfu and Zhang Xuxing said almost in unison: "Commander Gao Jian! ”

The leaders of the headquarters and Yan'an were worried about how to let the eastward advance detachment cross the Yellow River and enter the Yimeng Mountain eastward, but the headquarters of the commander of the first theater thought of letting Xiao Siming continue to lead the Japanese army around North China. (To be continued.) )