readx; After the main force of the 14th Division led by Tu Feiyuan broke through the defense line between Lanfeng and Qixian of the Zhong[***] team on May 22, it immediately organized several "fast troops" to attack separately, bypassing Luowang Station with one part and blowing up the Longhai Railway near Xinglongji, so as to prevent the eastward reinforcement of the Zhong[***] team on the Kaifeng side; With one part to capture Baizhai and Duliangzhai in the northeast of Xinglongji, and then to capture Chenliukou on the south bank of the Yellow River, in order to open up the transportation line to the north bank of Guantai, and get ammunition supplies, its main force plans to attack Luowangzhai first, and then occupy Sanyi Village and Quxingji. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoThese three large villages are close to the Yellow River, and it is easy to get the support of the troops and materials of the Hebei army.

The so-called "fast troops" of the army are small units composed mainly of tanks and cavalry, ranging from a few hundred to more than 1,000 people. These troops took advantage of the open and flat terrain of the eastern Henan Plain and the characteristics of mechanized troops that were easy to exert their might to carry out lightning attacks on the strongholds of the [***] team, and when they succeeded, they increased the infantry to consolidate their positions, and if the attack failed, they fled in a blink of an eye, and often when the two armies were fighting each other, they suddenly appeared on the flank of the [***] team and carried out surprise attacks, so that their flanks were threatened. In addition, it also distracts the attention of the [***] team, creating the illusion that there are enemies everywhere.

The whereabouts of the rapid troops of the Yue Army were erratic and they attacked in all directions, making the [***] team unable to defend themselves and taking advantage of a lot in the Eastern Henan Campaign. Cheng Qian once specifically mentioned the danger and defense methods of the rapid troops of the Yue Army in "Lessons Learned from the Operations in Luxi and Eastern Henan in the Second Theater", which will be recorded later.

Chiang Kai-shek, after an angry and busy week in Zhengzhou, had two days to relax. After May 19, the war between Lanfeng and Guide went smoothly, and it can be said that good news was frequent. During this period, Chiang Kai-shek attended a banquet set up by the chief's headquarters in a relaxed and happy mood and received a condolence group and journalists. He began to become very confident that although Xuzhou was no longer defended, eastern Henan could become a battlefield for annihilating the elite troops of the Yue army.

However, such a good time is too short after all. Three days later, Chiang Kai-shek's good mood was completely ruined by the lightning attack of the Tufeiyuan Division.

When the news of the enemy's traces near Xinglongji and the bombing of the railway came, he was able to maintain his calm and calm command style for a while. However, the report that the main force of Tufeiyuan broke through the Lan-Qi defense line and launched an attack on the defenders north of the railway made it impossible for him to take it any longer. After he called and scolded Gui Yongqing, he ordered Wang Shihe to find Cheng Qian.

Cheng Qian was also deeply surprised when he received the report that the main force of Tufeiyuan had fled to the west of Lanfeng, and was busy calling the troops east of Kaifeng to make arrangements against the enemy. Hearing that Wang Shihe said that the chairman of the committee asked him to go quickly, he hurriedly hung up the phone and hurried to the basement. He understood that Chiang Kai-shek had asked him to go for the enemy's westward flight.

Cheng Qian walked into the basement, Chiang Kai-shek gave up his seat, and ordered Wang Shihe to make tea, and then, he said straight to the point: "Mr. Songyun, you may already know the situation, I invite you here now to ask you, what troops have been assembled east of Kaifeng, and what is the deployment situation. Chiang Kai-shek was five years older than him, and Cheng Qian, who had followed Sun Yat-sen's revolution in his early years, had always been quite respectful, as can be seen from his title.

Chiang Kai-shek's names for his subordinates were differentiated according to the closeness of the relationship. For example, for Chen Cheng, Xue Yue, Zhang Zhizhong, Lin Wei and others, they are called directly, such as Cixiu, Boling, Wenbai, Weiwen; For He Yingqin, Li Zongren, Zhang Qun, Shang Zhen and others, add the word "brother" after the word, such as Brother Jingzhi, Brother Delin, Brother Yue Jun, Brother Qiyu; For Li Jishen, Cheng Qian and others, the word "Mr" is added after the word, such as Mr. Ren Chao and Mr. Song Yun; For Bai Chongxi, Liu Fei and others, they do not call their words or names, but call their titles, such as Deputy Chief Bai and Vice Chief Liu; The only exception was Kong Xiangxi, who called him "Brother Yong", while Kong Xiangxi called Chiang Kai-shek "Brother Jie".

Of course, in some public places, he always refers to the titles of his subordinates.

After receiving the report that the Tufeiyuan Division was fleeing westward, Cheng Qianqian had already thought about the changes in the situation of the war and preliminarily drafted a plan, so when Chiang Kai-shek inquired, he answered fluently. He got up and walked to the map, and as he gestured, he said:

"The troops gathered near Kaifeng can form a solid barrier to keep the enemy out to the east of Kaifeng. So far, the first army of Hu Shoushan's corps and the 36th division of Gui led Zhen's army have arrived east of Kaifeng, and in the north, there are the 39th Army of Liu Heding and the 14th Reading Brigade of the Shang Qiyu Group Army, defending the line on the south bank of the Yellow River, with a total strength several times that of the enemy, and the north and south lines of Kaifeng can be safeguarded.

"As for the plan to destroy the enemy in the next step, according to the foolish opinion below, Hu Shoushan's First Army and Liu Heding's 39th Army can be the Western Route Army, and the 36th Division will be assigned to Hu Shoushan's command, and the cavalry brigade will be assigned to Liu Heding's command. In addition, the Li, Song, Yu, and Gui armies west of Lanfeng, as well as the 106th Division and the 35th Division, were ordered to move the main force westward as the Eastern Route Army. The eastern and western route armies encircled the enemy, and then broke through the enemy's entrenched strongholds. At that time, the villages and fields between Lanfeng and Kaifeng were the burial places of the Tufeiyuan Division. "Mr. Songyun's plan is very good, but once the enemy of Xuzhou and Huaibei invades the west, I am afraid that there will be no strong troops east of Lanfeng to block it." Chiang Kai-shek said.

"Guide has the strength of my four divisions, which can block the enemy in front of Xuzhou; To the north, there were two divisions of Sun Tongxuan's Third Army; In Huaibei, there was Tang Enbo's Army and Liu Ruming's 68th Army. Even if the enemy can break through the line between the north and south of our guide, we can still quickly move the Li, Song, Yu, and Gui armies near Lanfeng and move south to Suixian, Qixian, and Taikang to block the enemy's westward advance. ”

"Okay, you can give orders according to the above plan." Chiang Kai-shek sent Cheng Qian to the door of the bedroom, and instructed: "Tell the generals of all departments to fight hard and be sure to make a quick decision, so as not to make a flanking attack on our army by coordinating with the enemy from the east and west." ”

After Cheng absconded away, Chiang Kai-shek's heart was much more steady. He washed his face with cold water, then collapsed on the rattan recliner and closed his eyes for a while. He hoped that the Battle of Lanfeng could end as soon as possible, and although the basement was safe, Cheng Qian also tried to arrange his life as comfortable as possible. But compared to the villas in Wuhan, the conditions are much worse. Besides, he hadn't been with his wife for a long time.

However, the leader is a leader after all, and his attachment to a comfortable life is just a thought, and after a while, his thoughts turned to the battlefield in eastern Henan. Cheng Qian's plan to encircle and annihilate Tufeiyuan was feasible, but his estimation of the entire anti-Japanese war situation was too optimistic. Now, he must eliminate the Tufeiyuan Division as soon as possible and end the war in eastern Henan to avoid the trouble in his heart. Otherwise, once the Xu and Huai armies advance westward, and our army has another general like Gui Yongqing, the situation will be unbearable, and he must "drive the expedition in person" and go to Kaifeng to command the battle, and he will watch his army annihilate the Tufeiyuan Division with his own eyes! Thinking of this, he ordered Wang Shihe to find Yan Xunfu again. He was to call the chief of staff in charge of preparing him for his departure.

As soon as Yan Xunfu entered the door, Chiang Kai-shek stood up and said: "Chief of Staff Yan, I am quite worried about the war in eastern Henan, I want to go to Kaifeng to command the battle, you go and prepare for me." ”

Yan Xunfu was secretly surprised, could the chairman of the committee be suspicious of the command ability of the chief department? Besides, Kaifeng is not far from the front line, in case there are three longs and two shorts in the commission, and it will be difficult for Chief Cheng and him to get out of it. So he said: "Chairman, the troops transferred from Shaanxi and Wuhan have just arrived in Kaifeng and have not yet arrived at the designated place, and Commander-in-Chief Hu is still on the way. The chairman of the committee went to Kaifeng at this time, and I am afraid that there will be many inconveniences. He wanted to say, "The enemy is only a few dozen kilometers away from Kaifeng, and it is quite unsafe for the chairman to go there at this moment." But he was afraid that this would hurt the self-esteem of the Supreme Commander.

"I've made up my mind, go tell Chief Cheng." Chiang Kai-shek said.

Yan Xunfu saw that Chiang Kai-shek was resolute, so he went to the governor's department to find Cheng Qian. When he told Cheng Qian of Chiang Kai-shek's intentions, Cheng Qian smiled and said: "Ha, Tu Feiyuan, this clown, you don't need to deal with it personally, I will go to Kaifeng with you." ”

"Then, should we let the chairman stay in Zhengzhou alone?"

"Brother Xunfu, you don't have to worry about this, whether the chairman stays in Zhengzhou or returns to Wuhan, he will cut it. You go and tell the chairman what I mean. I'm here to get ready for the launch. ”

Yan Xunfu then went to the basement and reported Cheng Qian's plan to Chiang Kai-shek.

Chiang Kai-shek thought about it for a while and said: "That's fine, you guys hurry up and prepare, I will stay in Zhengzhou for a few more days, and when the battle is sure of a decisive victory, I will go back to Wuhan." ”

As he spoke, he picked up the phone on the table:

"Will you give me the Fifth War Zone Deling? I'm Jiang Zhongzheng, yes, the fierce battle in Zhengzhou is raging, yes, bring me the high-flying 26th Division. Transport, yes, mobilize all the cars that can be mobilized to transfer me to transfer Gao Fei over! ”

After 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, Cheng Qian and Yan Xunfu led some of the staff and guards of the prefect's department to take several large and small cars and drove along the Kaizheng Highway towards Kaifeng.

Cheng Qian arrived in Kaifeng and had a comprehensive understanding of the activities of the army, so he ordered Liu Heding of the 39th Army and the 14th Cavalry Brigade to attack the enemy north of the railway with the 78th Division of Hu Zongnan's Army; ordered Zhu Huaibing's troops and guerrillas in Hebei to attack Guantai to prevent the enemy from crossing the river; The 1st Division of Hu Zongnan's Army and the 36th Division of Gui Yongqing's Army were ordered to move eastward along the areas on both sides of the railway to sweep away the enemy in front of them. And got in touch with Xue Yue, and ordered him to lead the main forces of Li, Song, Yu, Gui and other armies to advance to the line of Lanfeng and Yang Qiji, and flank the enemy army between Lanfeng and Kaifeng.

However, the main force of the Tufeiyuan Division took advantage of the fact that the main force of the Xue Yue Corps had not moved westward, and attacked separately, Lianke Shuzhai, and by the 24th, had occupied Luowang Station, Luowangzhai, Quxingji, Sanyi Village and nearby areas, and defeated the resistance of the Shangzhen River Defense Army, and controlled Chenliukou and Lanfengkou on the south bank of the Yellow River. The Toyoshima detachment won in chaos and took advantage of the gap to occupy Lanfeng City.

A series of news of the loss of the village came from the front, which made Chiang Kai-shek feel bad and anxious. The news of Lan Feng's fall was like a bomb dropped next to him, which surprised him and cast a shadow on the prospect of battle.

Chiang Kai-shek became extremely busy again. Although Cheng Qian was in the west and Xue Yue in the east, commanding the two armies to fight, he still had to make frequent phone calls and telegrams to all armies, divisions, and even brigades and regiments on the front line, and give instructions and send orders.

When the battles of the various armies participating in the Battle of Lanfeng were reported in detail, the phrases "Sent by Chairman Chiang", "Sent by Chairman Jiang", "Telephone Decree by Commission", "Telegram Order" and "Instructions by Commission" appeared frequently. And many of the time records are in the early hours of the morning or late at night. As for Cheng Qian and Xue Yue's orders and instructions, there are few. This shows how busy Chiang Kai-shek was during the Battle of Lanfeng in Zhengzhou.

Chiang Kai-shek felt that the situation was urgent and could not be delayed, and on May 25, he issued instructions to all the armies on the front:

The armies of Hu, Li, Yu, Gui, and Song should follow the tasks indicated by Commander-in-Chief Xue and carry out a general attack on the whole front at 6:30 p.m. on the 28th of this month, and annihilate the enemy in the areas of Lanfeng, Sanyizhai, Lanfengkou, Chenliukou, Quxingji, and Luowangzhai at dawn on the 26th. If anyone cowers and fails to attack, he will be severely punished according to the law. If the most meritorious deeds are built in the battle or the most captured by the enemy, a special award shall be given. I hope that the department will obey and not disobey.

As for whether the armies on the front line could annihilate the Tufeiyuan Division within more than 10 hours, Chiang Kai-shek naturally knew what to expect. However, he felt that the failure to give instructions in this way was not enough to emphasize the urgency of the military situation.

In fact, Chiang Kai-shek's instructions were redundant, and Cheng Qian had already made contact with Xue Yue before this, made a plan to encircle and annihilate Tufeiyuan, and issued an attack mission to all armies. The battle of siege and siege began on the whole line in the early morning of the 25th.

Luowangzhai, located on the north side of Longhai Road, is one of several large villages between Lanfeng and Kaifeng. To the south of it, there is Luowang Station, which is like a horn with the village. The army occupies this place, the east can echo the enemy on the Lanfeng side, the west can spy on the ancient capital Kaifeng, and can cut off the Longhai Road and block the supply line of the [***] team in the east of Lanfeng. If the squadron wants to ensure the smooth flow of railway transportation, sweep away the enemy along the railway, and unite the eastern and western armies, it must recapture Luowangzhai and Luowang Station from the enemy.

Xue Yue assigned the task of recovering this stronghold to Li Hansoul's 64th Army, and ordered the 58th Division of Yu Jishi's Army and the 78th Division of Hu Zongnan's Army to coordinate to attack the enemy in the area.

The terrain on the east, south and north sides of the station is open, and there is a dry riverbed on the west side, and there are several small forests around the station that can be used as a hideout.

At this time, Gao Fei's 26th Division also arrived at the battlefield and was temporarily under the command of Li Hansoul.

After Li Hanhun and Gao Fei, the commander of the 26th Division, observed the terrain near Luowang Station in the evening of the 24th, they gave each unit the task of attacking:

The 1st Regiment of the 26th Division attacked the station from the east, the 1st Regiment of the 58th Division attacked the station from the west, and the 1st Regiment of the 78th Division was located north of the station, alerting the enemy on the Luowangzhai side, and all the attacking troops were under the command of Gao Fei.

28 At dawn, the sky was overcast, the stars and the moon were gone, and the four fields were as black as ink. A green flare suddenly pierced the night sky, and the attacking troops, who had quietly entered the station, immediately launched a charge, and the gunfire suddenly rang out, shattering the silence before dawn.

After the army occupied the station, they did not dare to loosen up the slightest, and in a short period of time, they had already dug gun holes in the walls of the station box office and other buildings, and piled sandbags into fortifications around the station and on the platform, so as to prepare for holding on. Trains that stopped at the station due to traffic disruptions became their bastions of activity.

As soon as the attack of the squadron began, the army fired flares, and some of the soldiers fired at the squadron in the houses and fortifications, while others quickly climbed to the roofs and trees, condescendingly, and fired at the squadron with light and heavy machine guns.

In the miserable white light of the flares, the officers and men of the 151st Regiment of the 26th Division fell like wheat, and the troops lay on the open ground about 200 meters from the station, unable to move forward. The regiment commander, Ma Debi, immediately ordered to organize light and heavy firepower and shoot at the roof of the station and the trees. The machine guns of the Yue army were dumb for a moment, and the soldiers who were shot fell from the trees, and the corpses of the enemy rolled down from the house. The attacking troops jumped up from the ground and pounced on the station, but the guns of the sandbag fortifications and the station houses suddenly lit up with the tongues of fire of the machine guns, and the bullets like flying locusts formed a wall of death, blocking the Chinese soldiers from a distance of 100 meters.

The attack of the 334th Regiment of the 58th Division in the west was also blocked by the fire of the Yue Army, and it retreated to Hanoi, where it launched a confrontation with the Station Army with the help of the river embankment.

As the sky grew brighter, the Luowang station emerged from the tidal receding night, and the small station behind the barbed wire, sandbag fortifications, and the sun flag on top of the box office was like a hideous beast crouching on the railway, making the surrounding atmosphere seem a little terrifying.

Seeing that the attacking troops could not advance, Goofy ordered the 151st Regiment to flank from the south with one battalion, and the main force to attack from the north side of the railway to the station. However, when the troops advanced strongly, a locomotive rumbled out of the station with only a few carriages, from which the troops fired machine guns into the north and south of the railway. The officers and men of the 928th Regiment, which rushed to the vicinity of the railway, were attacked by a surprise attack, and many of them were shot, so they had to retreat in a hurry to the south and north.

Subsequently, the army used the train as an active fortress to move back and forth and launch a counteroffensive, and it was more difficult for the [***] squadron to advance.

The two armies confronted each other until noon, when suddenly gunfire rang out in the north of the station, and the enemy entrenched in Luowangzhai gathered more than 1,000 infantry, cavalry, and artillery to reinforce the station. The 1st Regiment of the 78th Division north of the station suffered most of the casualties under the continuous artillery bombardment of the Japanese army and the rampage of tanks, and the position was finally broken through, and the 926th Regiment was in danger of being surrounded by the enemy. Goofy hurriedly ordered a regiment to reinforce the troops near the station.

Seeing that reinforcements had arrived, the station said that the army opened the way by train and counterattacked the 151st Regiment.

The two battalions of Chinese officers and men on both sides of the railway were attacked by enemy reinforcements from Luowangzhai on the one hand, and machine-gun fire from the army on the train on the other. Soldiers fell in pieces under the sound of enemy machine guns!

(To be continued)