The news of the encounter between the main force of the 14th Division and the [***] team in the town of Bonihe had been reported by radio to the division headquarters in Changchun just before the battle began.

The commander of the 14th Division, Shunroku Hatata, was shocked when he learned the news, and hurriedly ordered the 14th Division to withdraw while fighting, and at the same time sent a telegram to Yu Zhishan and other puppet troops in the south, asking them to immediately go north to support.

However, Yu Zhishan and other puppet troops were hundreds of miles away from the 14th Division at that time, and they had already learned that Jilin had been captured by Zhang Xinghan, so they chose to treat the rescue of the 14th Division negatively.

In just a few hours, more than 10,000 main forces of the 14th Division were wiped out, and several wing commanders and a major general's brigade commander were all killed.

After receiving this news, Shunroku Hata almost went berserk, pulled out his command knife and slashed around the conference room like crazy.

"Your Excellency General, the scout reports that the Chinese army in Bonihe Town is currently advancing at full speed towards Changchun, and it seems that it intends to attack Changchun!" While Shunroku Hata was venting, the chief of staff, Noda Bugu, walked in with a solemn face.

The command knife raised by Shunroku Hata stopped in the air, turned his head and said, "The people of China want to attack Changchun?" ”

Noda Bugu nodded and said: "Zhang Xing Handi, great cunning, now that the main force of our division has been annihilated, his purpose is very clear, that is, to attack Changchun while he is weak!" ”

"Baga Yalu, I want to fight him to the death!" Hata Junroku thought of Zhang Xinghan's big loss in Shenyang, and he was immediately furious.

"Your Excellency General, don't be impulsive, our main force has been annihilated now, and we are powerless to resist the attack of Zhang Xinghan's troops, so let's hurry up and ask Commander Muto Nobuyoshi for help." Noda Bugu hurriedly persuaded.

Shunroku Hata was silent for a while, and finally put away his general's sword and said, "Send a telegram to the Kwantung Army Headquarters immediately and request emergency support!" ”

…………………… Dalian Lushun, headquarters of the Kwantung Army.

Toranosuke Hashimoto hurriedly walked into the headquarters with a telegram in his hand, and said to Muto Nobuyoshi, who was already waiting, anxiously: "Your Excellency General, Jilin has been lost, the main force of the reinforcements of the 14th Division has been annihilated, Zhang Xinghan's headquarters is currently marching towards Changchun, the situation is extremely critical, and the commander of the 14th Division, General Shunroku Hatata, has requested urgent reinforcements. ”

Muto Nobuyoshi's face suddenly became gloomy, the main force of the 14th Division was annihilated, and the 10th Division was going to confront another Northeast New Army in Siping, where are the reinforcements now?

As for the tens of thousands of puppet troops, they may be able to help in a smooth battle, or they may be able to hold out for some time according to the strong fortifications, but they should go to the aid of Changchun and meet the heavily armed Zhang Xinghan army.

Muto Nobuyoshi didn't dare to think about it at all, especially when Jilin had been captured and Pu Yi might also become a prisoner of Zhang Xinghan.

"Hashimoto-kun, what do you think we should do next?" Muto Nobuyoshi couldn't think of any good way for a while, so he asked.

Hashimoto Toranosuke frowned and groaned, and said with a solemn face: "Your Excellency, please forgive me for being blunt, now our Kwantung Army does not have an advantage over Zhang Xinghan's new army in some parts of the three northeastern provinces, because our forces are too widely dispersed, and the firepower, armored forces and air force are at a disadvantage.

Under such circumstances, Zhang Xinghan's troops could concentrate their forces and form an absolute advantage over the imperial army on a certain local battlefield.

If this continues, our Kwantung Army will fall into a state of no return, and the consequences will be unimaginable. ”

Muto Nobuyoshi fell into a deep silence when he heard this, and only after a long time did he speak: "Then what do you think we should do?" ”

"Immediately abandon Jilin, Changchun, Siping, and concentrate our forces mainly in Shenyang, Xinmin region, only in this way can we secure the entire South Manchurian region!" Toranosuke Hashimoto boldly suggested.

"Abandon the North Manchurian region? The base camp will not agree. Muto Nobuyoshi shook his head and said.

"General, the situation has taken a sharp turn for the worse at the moment, and we must make a decision as soon as possible, we must not delay any longer, save our troops and concentrate on Shenyang, and wait for reinforcements from the base camp, I think that as long as we explain the situation in the northeast to Tokyo, they will not blame us." Toranosuke Hashimoto anxiously persuaded.

Weighing the pros and cons, Muto Nobuyoshi finally nodded with difficulty.

…………………… Changchun, the headquarters of the 14th Division, the entire headquarters was extremely busy, and officers and staff officers at all levels kept going back and forth from the communications room and the combat conference room.

Report the latest information one by one to the division commander Shunroku Hatata.

When Shunroku Hata was discussing a possible response plan with Chief of Staff Noda Bugu, a communications soldier walked in, saluted the two of them and hurriedly said, "Report to Your Excellency, Your Excellency, the Kwantung Army Headquarters has called." ”

"Read!" Shunroku Hata immediately beckoned.

"Commander Muto ordered, in view of the rapid deterioration of the situation in the North Manchurian region, in order to preserve the vitality of the imperial army, I hereby order your troops to immediately abandon Changchun, and the 10th Division will take over your troops to evacuate to Shenyang, temporarily abandon North Manchuria, and concentrate forces to ensure South Manchuria! Nobuyoshi Muto. The communications soldier quickly opened the message and read.

Shunroku Hata and Bugu Noda looked at each other when they heard this, and asked, "Is this true?" ”

"Your Excellency General Hui, it is absolutely true that this telegram was personally signed by Commander Muto." The signal soldier bowed his head in confirmation.

"Yagaya Road......" Shunroku Hata kicked over a chair next to him with a somewhat unwilling kick.

Noda Bugu hurriedly persuaded: "Your Excellency General, Commander Muto is helpless to give this order, but now the imperial army is unable to hold Changchun in the North Manchurian region." ”

"Order the troops, immediately prepare to retreat!" Shunroku Hata finally commanded helplessly.

………………………… The town of Bonihe was only a hundred miles away from Changchun, and Zhang Xinghan's armored brigade took less than three hours to cross the road to the eastern suburbs of Changchun.

However, at this time, the remnants of the 14th Division of the Yue Army in Changchun City had abandoned Changchun and retreated along the railway to Gongzhuling and the Siping defense line.

After figuring out the situation, Zhang Xinghan stationed a regiment to receive Changchun, and led his armored brigade and two main regiments to quickly pursue south along the railway.

At the same time, he sent a telegram ordering Wang Yicai to lead the 3rd Mobu Division to immediately attack Siping to prevent him from escaping south, and sent a telegram to Jiang Baili, ordering him to lead his troops to continue to attack Xinmin, contain the Yue army in the Shenyang area, and prevent it from having the opportunity to go north to meet the Yue army fleeing south in the North Manchurian area.

"Your Excellency, Division Commander, the Chinese Army has captured Changchun and is coming south to pursue us." On the road south of Gongzhuling, Shunroku Hata and Noda Bugu were evacuating to Siping in a hurry by train, and a signal soldier walked into the carriage where they were and reported.

"Bagaya Road, order the rearguard troops, blow up the Dongliao River Railway Bridge to stop the pursuit of the Chinese army!" Shunroku Hata made a quick decision.

"General......" Noda Bugu wanted to persuade him, but after thinking about it, he still dispelled this idea, if the Dongliao River Railway Bridge is not blown up, the armored troops of the [***] squadron may pursue it at any time, but once the railway bridge is blown up, then the South Manchurian Railway will be paralyzed.

Soon, Shunroku Hatata's order was conveyed.

The rearguard troops of the Yue army immediately blew up the railway bridge over the East Liao River, and when the north of the bridge was blown up, Zhang Xinghan led the armored brigade to arrive.

"Commander, what shall we do?" Looking at the broken bridge over the Dongliao River, Li Zhenyuan, commander of the armored brigade, jumped down from a No. 4 tank and came to Zhang Xinghan's side.

"There's no way, if you detour, you need to go from along the Dongliao River to Shuangliao County, and then from Shuangliao County to Siping, this back and forth distance is more than four or five hundred miles, even if we are fast, it will take more than ten hours, such a long time, I have already withdrawn to Shenyang along the railway line." Zhang Xinghan said with some frustration.

"Then let's just let the imp go?" Li Zhenyuan was a little unwilling.

"Let's put the little devil for the time being, but there is an enemy that we need to clean up right now." Zhang Xinghan said thoughtfully: "Send electricity to Wang Yicai and ask him to stop attacking." ”

Li Zhenyuan nodded, thought for a while, and suddenly said, "The commander refers to those puppet troops who originally planned to support Jilin, right?" ”

"Yes, it's them, these puppet armies have swelled to tens of thousands of people with the help of devils, and if we take the essence from their dross, we can get at least 20,000 to 30,000 suitable soldiers, or even more." Zhang Xinghan said.

"In addition, we will recruit a group of new soldiers in Changchun and other places, and our troops will be expanded to 100,000 people." Li Zhenyuan said with a little excitement.

"Yes, the most important thing is that these puppet troops are slightly stronger than the recruits who have just enlisted, and with a little integration and training, they can be pulled into the battlefield to fight, and they will be closed for a whole month, and after the East Liaohe Railway Bridge is repaired, we will be able to attack the South Manchurian region and recapture Shenyang."

"Inform the First Division of Mobu to immediately turn around and march eastward, and advance towards Yitong and Shuangyang!" Zhang Xinghan immediately ordered.

…………………………………… Shuangyang County, the puppet Manchurian [***] joint command.

Ji Xing, Yu Zhishan, Zhang Jinghui and others are gathering together to discuss a way out......

"Ladies and gentlemen, Jilin has been lost, Pu Yi is nowhere to be found, Changchun has also been captured by Zhang Xinghan's Tongliao army, and I have fled south, what should we do next, let's talk about our views." Yu Zhishan looked at the crowd.

"Now Jilin is empty, I suggest we go back to Jilin, Jilin is surrounded by mountains on all sides, bad water on three sides, easy to defend and difficult to attack, we have nearly 60,000 people, as long as we work together, we will be able to defend Jilin." Jixing Road.

Of course, Yu Zhishan didn't want to go back to Jilin, because Jilin was too close to Changchun, and he might be attacked by Zhang Xinghan at any time, compared to him, he wanted to go back to the area of Daoshan City in the east of his old nest.

However, he didn't want to go back alone, he wanted to bring all the 60,000 puppet troops over, so that he could rely on his lair to establish a reading power.

But this must be agreed by both Jixing and Zhang Jinghui, so he said to Zhang Jinghui, the brother of Zhang Zuolin, the former veteran of the Northeast Army: "Zhang Lao, what do you think? ”

(To be continued)