Just as the main force of the instructor advanced into Qilu in batches, the battle of Xuzhou had reached the middle stage and entered the stage of the Lunan campaign, and the fierceness of the battle was worse day by day. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Prior to the Battle of Lunan, the Japanese had attracted and pinned down a large number of Chinese troops through the Jin Province Offensive and the Northern Qilu Offensive. After the occupation of Nanjing, the 13th Division of the Central China Front, with the cooperation of the Japanese troops on the flank, quickly moved north along the southern line of the Jinpu Road, constantly breaking through the defense line of the Chinese defenders, and capturing Chuxian, Lai'an, Dingyuan, Mingguang, Huaiguan, Fengyang, Bengbu and other places.

In mid to early February 1938, the 114th Division of Yu Xuezhong's 51st Army, the 59th Army of Zhang Zizhong's Division, the 7th Army and the 31st Army of the 21st Group Army confronted the Japanese army across the Huai River in the southern section of the Jinpu Line.

Almost at the same time, because of the personal contradiction between Han Fuyu, chairman of Qilu and Chang Kaishen, and Chang Kaishen's transfer of the heavy artillery regiment from the Qilu front to his descendant Tang Enbo Corps at a critical juncture, in order to preserve his personal strength, the northern section of the Jinpu line was crushed for thousands of miles, and the Isogu Division, one of the most elite units of the Japanese army, easily broke through the northern and central mountains of Shandong and the Yellow River defense line and occupied Jinan.

Moreover, what is more serious is that the entire northern section of the Jinpu line south of Jinan, up to the area of Xuzhou, there is no Chinese army stationed to resist, if the Japanese army goes south along the railway, it can take Xuzhou lightly and repeat the strange incident of 128 cavalry Bai Xuanchengde.

At that time, the Chinese army was designated as the Fifth Theater in southern Lunan and northern Anhui centered on Xuzhou, and the commander of the theater was Li Zongren, the leader of the Gui faction.

He was very anxious about this dangerous situation, grabbed troops everywhere, and finally "caught" the 22nd Group Army of the Sichuan Army, a "rotten army" that Yan Laoxi, Cheng Qian, and other generals did not want to live or die.

On the way of the Sichuan army from Tongguan, Tai'an, a strategic place in the mountainous area of Luzhong, was lost, and the situation in Xuzhou was extremely critical. When the vanguard of the Sichuan army arrived at Xuzhou and Lincheng north of Xuzhou, Li Zongren had already ordered the railroad to be blown up in the north of the Jinpu line, and the Beishahe railway bridge north of Tengxian County had also been blown up, and several railway bridges between Tengxian and Lincheng were also planting explosives.

Almost at the same time, because Li Zongren regarded the Jiaodong Peninsula in Shandong as a strategic dead land, he transferred the main force, leaving only Shen Honglie, the commander of the Qingdao garrison, with 500 marines symbolically stationed. The 5th Division, the main force of the Japanese army (reorganized with the Kunisaki Detachment as the main backbone), easily landed from the sea on January 12.

Because Han Fuyu's rout and escape were too unexpected for the Japanese army, when the vanguard of the Sichuan army went north along the railway line to fill the defense, the Japanese army made a very serious strategic mistake.

They did not fully grasp the complete emptiness of the Jinpu line caused by Han Fuyu's non-resistance and the emptiness of the Weitai defense line caused by Shen Honglie's non-resistance, concentrated the superior forces in North China and quickly advanced south and west, and took Xuzhou in one go while the vanguard of the Sichuan army had not gained a stable foothold and the main force had not arrived.

Instead, they continued to pursue Han Fuyu's rout in the direction of Jining and seize the canal defense line. Then they stayed in the Jining area and assembled for nearly two months, waiting for the encirclement of Xuzhou by other parties to be in place.

As a result, the 22nd Group Army of the Sichuan Army, which was probably the most poorly equipped and had very limited resistance among the non-central descendant troops in China at that time, easily seized the area south of Zou County in the northern section of the Jinpu Line in front of the Japanese ace troops, and kept Xuzhou, a strategic point that was already bound to be lost.

After the Japanese army came to its senses, they believed that the opportunity for the 10th Division to quickly move south and take Xuzhou had been lost, so they accelerated the increase of troops from the direction of the Jiaodong Peninsula, while the 5th Division, another elite unit of the Japanese army, quickly landed in Qingdao and then advanced along the Weitai Highway in the direction of Taierzhuang in the northeast of Xuzhou.

As mentioned above, the Fifth Division was resisted by Pang Bingxun's corps in Linyi, about 150 kilometers northeast of Xuzhou, and under the rescue of General Zhang Zizhong, the Fifth Division suffered heavy losses and suffered its first Waterloo since the division was rebuilt.

After Zhang Zizhong's army was transferred to Linyi, the Japanese 10th Division immediately launched a fierce attack on the 22nd Army with the Seya Mixed Brigade. Due to the disparity in equipment, coupled with the passive reinforcement of Tang Enbo's corps, and the rapid transfer to the Yishan area in the northeast of Linxian County and the retreat to the canal defense line, the Sichuan army suffered heavy casualties.

However, the Japanese never expected that the Sichuan army, which was so poorly equipped, would not be able to attack for a long time. Especially in the small city of Tengxian, although the other side was a few guard companies of the 41st Army, which was seriously inferior in numbers and equipment, and a small part of the 122nd Division, plus a local security force of several hundred people, the Japanese army had been fighting since March 14 and still conquered it.

On March 16, after several days of traveling, Ding Wei led the Second Brigade to Surabaya, and he did not immediately mobilize the masses to form an anti-Japanese base area, but sent a large number of scouts to observe the fierce fighting in Teng County.

"Brigade commander, the battle in Tengxian County is between the Kuomintang army and the Japanese army, I think we should leave them alone, it is better for us to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, and take advantage of their fierce fighting to vigorously expand the territory and establish a solid base area." Chief of Staff Li Moran suggested.

"Now we, the Workers' and Peasants' Party, are calling on the people of the whole country to fight against Japan, and this requires us not to lose our morality. The 22nd Group Army of the Sichuan Army was fighting in Tengxian, their weapons and equipment were very rudimentary, but they fought very bravely, and we still had to save such a unit. As for the development of base areas, anyway, the Japanese army and the Kuomintang army still have to fight, and we do not lack this time. Taking advantage of Li Moran's question, Ding Wei took the opportunity to explain to everyone the reason why the Second Brigade wanted to save the Sichuan Army, so that the comrades could unify their opinions and strengthen their determination.

"The brigade commander's opinion is very correct, and before we separated from the main force of the division, the division commander also told us so. After our instructor enters Qilu, not only will he soon become a thorn in the side of the Japanese army, I am afraid that even the Kuomintang army will be hostile to us, take the opportunity to attack us, and cause great friction, but if we have such a unit as the Sichuan army adjacent, presumably the attention of the Japanese army will be attracted by the Sichuan army, and the Kuomintang army will also think that the Sichuan army is stationed here, and Lunan still belongs to their sphere of influence. Chen Zhongchun further explained.

"The political commissar is well replenished, compared with other Kuomintang troops, the Sichuan army is poorly armed and equipped, as long as we supplement them with some equipment captured from the Japanese army, it is easy to win them over, plus the Sichuan army is not like other Kuomintang troops, if they are stationed next to us, we don't need to be wary of them everywhere."

After Ding Wei and Chen Zhongchun's explanation, the Second Brigade quickly formed a unanimous opinion on going south to Teng County and rescuing the Sichuan army.