In addition to asking Qian Zhuangfei to contact the comrades in Tianjin, he ordered the southern Hebei troops to send cavalry reconnaissance units with radio stations to closely monitor the movements of the troops on the Pinghan Road, and ordered Liu Jianli to send reconnaissance troops deep into Dexian County to monitor the enemy's movements on the Jinpu Road. At the same time, his own analysis and judgment are reported to the headquarters and the chairman.

At this time, it was the time when Chiang Kai-shek held a military conference in Luoyang to deploy the operational plans for the first and second theaters.

This time Chiang Kai-shek came to Luoyang to hold a military conference, which was slightly different from history. Due to the capture of Tianjin by the instructor and the forced pullback of the enemy's main force, the pressure along the Yangtze River dropped sharply. [***] won valuable time to replenish training, and the offensive of the army was temporarily delayed. Therefore, when Chiang Kai-shek, who was in a good mood, drew up the list of personnel to participate in the Luoyang Military Conference, he deliberately asked the commanders of the 18th Group Army and the local units of the Shaanxi Anti-Japanese Special Zone to attend the meeting, and also specially asked Liu Yimin, the instructor and division commander, to attend the meeting with his wife Chen Yaoguang. According to a top-secret telegram sent by the staff officer of Chiang Kai-shek's chamberlain to Zhu De, commander of the 18th Group Army, the chairman of the committee missed his righteous daughter and hoped to stay in Luoyang.

Unexpectedly, after receiving the telegram, the 18th Group Army very tactfully reported to the chairman that after the instructor retreated from Tianjin, he had been surrounded and pursued by the army, and the troops had suffered heavy losses, and it was impossible for Division Commander Liu Yimin to leave the unit to attend the meeting. If the chairman of the committee really misses his righteous daughter, he can ask the instructor to send someone to escort Chen Yaoguang through the blockade line to Shanxi to Luoyang. However, the road is difficult, and it is difficult to guarantee that Chen Yaoguang can catch up with the time of the chairman in Luoyang. Of course, Chen Yaoguang can also be asked to rush to Shanxi and go back to Wuhan directly to meet the chairman and his wife to talk about family affection.

The instructor is the establishment of the local troops, and the national political axe is not responsible for military salaries and the supply of food and ammunition; in order not to excessively stimulate the national political axe during the initial reorganization, when reporting to Nanjing, it was only reported according to the establishment of the three brigades and nine regiments. Therefore, although Chiang Kai-shek knew that the strength of the former Red Seventh Army was strong, he did not know the real strength of the instructor now, because there must always be troops left behind in a place as large as Shaanxi, and Xi'an was the defense ground of the former Red Seventh Army, so it was impossible for Liu Yimin not to want his old nest. In addition, when the troops were reorganized, He Long's 120th Division was obviously weak, and it was impossible not to transfer troops from the Red Seventh Army to supplement the 120th Division. Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek believed that the number of troops on the front line would not exceed 30,000. In addition to the Battle of Taiyuan and the Battle of Tianjin, Liu Yimin repeatedly reported heavy casualties among the troops, and referring to the casualty ratio of the elite and the Yue army in battle, Chiang Kai-shek believes that the instructor is currently estimated to be more than 10,000 people, and at most not more than 20,000. If this is allowed to be pursued by the Yue army for a while, it will be difficult to say how many people will be left of this sect teacher. In this way, Chiang Kai-shek no longer worries about whether Liu Yimin can come to the military meeting.

The attendant office immediately telegraphed to the headquarters of the 18th Group Army that the war was urgent, and Division Commander Liu Yimin could not attend the Luoyang Conference. Please convey the greetings of the Chairman and Mrs. Jiang to Mr. Liu Yimin and Mrs. Chen Yaoguang. Mrs. Jiang prayed every day, praying that God would bless the hero's mentor to break through safely, and that Liu Yimin and his wife would be safe.

After the telegram from the attendant's room arrived at the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Peng Dehuai scolded at a glance: "It's just playing the piano indiscriminately, saying that the army is about to attack on a large scale, and that you are still in the mood to play this low-level trick of destroying other people's families and sowing discord, it is simply shameful!" What Mrs. Chen Yaoguang is just an entourage adjutant of Tang Xingying. If you want to meet and talk about family affection, just take people back and forget it, it's an eyesore to save it! ”

Of course, the headquarters still forwarded the telegram from the attendant's room to the instructor.

To tell the truth, Liu Yimin originally wanted to attend the Luoyang Conference very much, but unfortunately he broke out of Tianjin late and couldn't catch up. In addition, it is now the time when the construction of the base areas in southern Hebei and Luxi is in full swing, and it is indeed impossible to go. Seeing the telegram from the attendant's room, he was already angry in his heart, and Cai Zhong teased him again, saying that Chairman Jiang wanted to be his godfather-in-law, and he was about to go crazy, which made Liu Yimin roll his eyes in anger.

After being angry, Liu Yimin said hatefully: "Since Chiang Kai-shek is determined to make Chen Yaoguang my wife, I think that girl is really good, I will take her into the house tonight, and promise to let Chairman Chiang be my grandfather after ten months, and see who has lost the most!" ”

This statement made the mouths of the people in the room open and couldn't close.

In the end, Luo Ronghuan criticized Cai Zhong for not joking with the division commander in the future, if something really happens, I'm afraid that the division commander is not the only one who is unlucky to do the inspection, and no one can escape.

After the incident passed, Liu Yimin did not go to the Luoyang military conference, and was busy burying his head in the construction of the base area. It's just that Tang Xingying heard the wind, and saw that Chen Yaoguang's eyes were getting worse and worse, and she specially pulled out two soldiers from her guard squad to be Chen Yaoguang's guards, and the requirement was that in addition to eating, sleeping and going to the toilet, she should protect Chen Yaoguang's safety every step of the way, avoid accidents, and couldn't explain to Mrs. Jiang.

The Luoyang Military Conference was held as scheduled.

At the meeting, Chiang Kai-shek summed up the operational situation of the First and Second Theaters since the start of the war, and emphatically praised the fighting spirit of our army in fighting to the death against the enemy at the cost of the Battle of Xinkou, and praised the Eighth Route Army's flexible tactics and the bravery of its officers and men. The instructor has recovered Taiyuan and Tianjin, and played the prestige of the [***] team.

When Chiang Kai-shek was praising the instructor, a thought suddenly flashed in his mind, this instructor is so capable of fighting, but unfortunately it is not his own army. I don't know if Chen Yaoguang played a role, why didn't he see any punishment or alienation of Liu Yimin within [***]? This Ni Hua is coming back soon, so he will have to make good use of it when the time comes.

Of course, this thought was only a fleeting thought, and Chiang Kai-shek then criticized certain units in the First Theater of Operations, which collapsed at the sound of the alarm, and completely lacked the courage to fight against the enemy at the beginning of the war. At present, the main force of the army is concentrated around Tianjin, and the 1st Theater north of the Yellow River is no more than a mere 14th Division of Tohihara Kenji, and the hundreds of thousands of troops in the First Theater are afraid of the enemy like tigers, and do not dare to actively attack and destroy the enemy. This is in strong contrast with the spirit of our army fighting to the death in Shanxi and along the Yangtze River, and if we do not change our operational strategy, we will certainly be severely punished by military law.

When he said this, Chiang Kai-shek's tone suddenly became stern: "Han Fuqu, former deputy commander of the Fifth Theater and chairman of Shandong Province, disobeyed the military order and retreated without authorization, resulting in the fall of most of Shandong. He was arrested at the Kaifeng Operational Conference and tried by military court. You must learn a lesson, and don't follow in the footsteps of Han Xiangfang. ”

Cheng Qian, commander of the First Theater of Operations, immediately stood up and expressed his position, vigorously reorganized the troops, strictly defended the Yellow River, and actively launched an offensive against the 24th Corps of Feiyuanxian, the land of northern Henan.

Yan Xishan, commander of the Second Theater Theater, and Wei Lihuang, commander of the 14 th Group Army, also stood up and expressed their attitude, resolutely obeyed the orders of the Central Military Commission, concentrated their forces on holding the defense lines of Jinnan and Zhongtiao Mountain, organized troops to actively carry out offensive operations against the Yue army in Taiyuan, and strived to expel the Yue army from Shanxi as soon as possible.

Zhu De, commander-in-chief of the 18th Group Army, pointed out in his speech: "At present, although the main force of the Chinese army has returned to attack Tianjin, relieving the pressure on the battlefields of Central China, Shanxi, Jinpu and Pinghan, the strength of the heavy army group in North China is even greater, and according to reliable information, the total number of divisions and regiments in North China is as high as 15 divisions and three reading brigades. These 15 divisions and regiments are all four-unit divisions, each with 28,200 men at full strength, plus three reading brigades, and the total strength of the army in North China has reached 440,000. Although all divisions and regiments of the Chinese army suffered certain losses in the early stage of the operation, the main force of the Fifth Division was annihilated, and the 20th Division, the 109th Division, the 1st Division, and the Zhutun Army's Reading Brigade were all severely attacked by us. However, due to the perfect mobilization system and well-trained reserves, they can quickly make up for the war losses. According to intelligence, this time, in addition to the mixed brigade of the guards to join the Fifth Division and restore the combat effectiveness of the Fifth Division, the battle losses of all units were replenished. In addition to transporting several complete divisions and regiments, the troop carriers accompanying the combined fleet also sent reinforcements. At present, in addition to the 1st and 2nd Reading Mixed Brigades guarding Shandong, and the Zhutun Army Reading Brigade guarding Beiping, there are two divisions in Taiyuan, one division in northern Henan, and 12 divisions around Tianjin. Where these 12 divisions and regiments will go next and how to deal with the thunderous blow of these 12 divisions and regiments are the key issues that we should study at this meeting. I suggest that we carefully study our tactics and quickly formulate a countermeasure. Otherwise, once the army is launched, I am afraid that it will end up losing thousands of miles. ”

Mr. Zhu said this, and the atmosphere at the venue became more and more serious.

Chiang Kai-shek looked at Mr. Zhu and asked, "Brother Yujie, is the information reliable?" ”

Mr. Zhu glanced at Chiang Kai-shek, and felt that there was no joy or anger on that white face, so he said: "Report to the chairman, the information is absolutely reliable." When the army reoccupied Taiyuan, it transferred the 1st, 8th, and 25th divisions of the Kwantung Army to form the Kwantung Army's southward corps. One of the wings of the 8th Division was completely annihilated by our 115th Division at Yanmen Pass, and the cavalry wing was severely damaged by us. Later, after the instructors of our department captured Tianjin, they annihilated 7,000 troops stationed in Tianjin and Tanggu, mainly a wing of the former North China Zhutun Army's Reading Brigade Regiment, as well as a unit of the Tianjin Military Station and a brigade of the Marine Corps. Later, the instructor annihilated the cavalry wing of the 1st Division in Langfang, and severely damaged the 8th Brigade of the 10th Division in Cangxian. Now, the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd Divisions have been transported from the mainland, and the 24th Division has been newly formed in Harbin, and it has also rushed south to Tianjin. These four divisions and the 25th Division of the Kwantung Army's Southward Corps were all newly formed divisions and regiments, which joined the North China Front in the name of the Mongolian Xinjiang Dispatch Army. In addition, the Sixth Division, the Sixteenth Division, and the Guoqi Detachment were withdrawn from the Tenth Army in Central China, so that almost all of the elite divisions of the Yue Army were concentrated in North China, and the strength was unprecedentedly huge. ”

The more Chiang Kai-shek listened, the tighter his eyebrows tightened, and by the time Mr. Zhu finished his report, Chiang Kai-shek had already stood up and walked around the conference room, cursing Niang Xipi in his mouth.

Zhang Qun, secretary general of the Central Military Commission, and Bai Chongxi, deputy chief of the general staff, who were accompanying them, could not sit still, and stood up and rushed to the map of the First Theater Command. Their action caused Cheng Qian and Yan Xishan to also get up and look at the map.

Chiang Kai-shek hastily announced the adjournment of the meeting to discuss the war situation.

At dinner, Chiang Kai-shek and these generals ate at the headquarters.

It wasn't until 9 p.m. that the military meeting resumed.

After Chiang Kai-shek made a brief speech, Bai Chongxi made operational arrangements.

The southern line is under the commander-in-chief of Wei Lihuang, with Wei Lihuang's 14th Group Army, Yang Hucheng's 17th Route Army and the troops under the command of the 14th Group Army, to hold the Zhongtiao Mountain defense line to ensure that the southward pace of the Yue Army is blocked, and the Yellow River defense at the junction of Shanxi and Shanxi is guaranteed.

The northern front was led by the 115th and 120th Divisions of the 18th Group Army, with Fu Zuoyi's troops, taking advantage of the complex terrain in northern Shanxi to block and delay the enemy's offensive step by step, and it was best to force the army to divide its troops and annihilate it. The commander of the campaign was Peng Dehuai, deputy commander of the 18th Group Army.

The western front was defended by the main force of Yan Xishan's division in the west of Jin, with Yang Aiyuan as the commander-in-chief, and resolutely blocked the Yue army's attempt to attack the Yellow River to the west.

On the eastern front, Zhu De, commander-in-chief of the 18th Group Army, was the commander-in-chief, with the 129th Division and the Reading Division of the 18th Group Army guarding the southeast and central Jinjin.

All units of the 18th Group Army were tasked with cutting off the enemy's supply lines, and they should try their best to entangle the enemy, delay the enemy's attack, and gain time for the defense lines in southern and western Jin. The security division and garrison division left behind in Shaanxi should undertake the task of defending the river from Tongguan to Yulin to ensure that the army could not attack Shaanxi and then attack the rear. At the same time, the local troops in Shaanxi should make good preparations for crossing the river to reinforce the western and southern Jinxi operations.

Yan Xishan, commander of the First Theater Command, and Zhu De and Wei Lihuang, deputy commanders, must take full responsibility for the war in Shanxi, and those who do not obey orders and abandon their positions without permission must be disciplined on the battlefield, regardless of the level of general.

In the direction of the Pinghan Line, the main forces of the First Theater should assemble between Luoyang, Zhengzhou, and Kaifeng, strictly defend the river defense, and make preparations for reinforcing the Fifth Theater and the Second Theater. At present, all units in northern Henan should actively launch an offensive against the 14 th Division, forcing it to fight across the river, and attracting the heavy army group of the North China Army to come to its aid.

The commander of the 1st Theater of Operations was fully responsible for the operation on the Pinghan Line.

All units on the Jinpu Line were placed under the command of Li Zongren, commander of the Fifth Theater Command, and in accordance with the plan of the Central Military Commission, defensive operations were organized with Xuzhou as the core. The chairman of the committee will personally visit Xuzhou to guide the deployment.

After Bai Chongxi finished speaking, Chiang Kai-shek made another speech.

At this time, the enemy situation was severe, and Chiang Kai-shek didn't care about polite words, so he came up and said: "The strategic position on both sides of the Jinpu line is important, and Han Xiangfang dared to hook up with the Yue army, and secretly contacted the Yue side behind the back of the central government. It is said that the main force of the army has not yet arrived, and it will be crushed at the first touch of the enemy in Cangxian, and it will abandon Jinan privately, and even Tai'an, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack, does not want. What is the use of such a provincial chairman and such a general? If you are afraid of the army attacking, aren't you afraid that the national law and military law will be ruthless? Although the main direction of the army's main attack has not yet been implemented, we are all leading troops, and no matter how hidden the focus of the army's attack is, it will not be able to escape our attention. Shanxi is the roof of North China, the barrier of the Central Plains, and its strategic position is very important. The same is true for the river defense of northern Henan and the Yellow River, once the army breaks through the river defense, Niang Xipi, the Longhai railway will be cut off, the door of the hinterland of the Central Plains will be opened, and the army can quickly go south to attack Wuhan, and our anti-Japanese war situation will be dangerous. Xuzhou on the Jinpu line is even more important, and holding Xuzhou can divide the army into two battlefields in North China and Central China, and they cannot support each other well. With the loss of Xuzhou, the army could communicate between the north and the south, and greatly exploited its advantage of high mechanization to directly attack Wuhan in the west. None of these three can be a problem! We are revolutionary soldiers, and we have the responsibility to defend the land. To learn from Liu Yimin, don't learn from Han Xiangfang. Be a real hero, don't be a ghost who is afraid of death. Whoever dares to disobey the command will be dealt with by military law. ”

Speaking of this, Chiang Kai-shek raised his voice: "This time, General Liu Yimin led his troops to capture Tianjin, publicly announced the verdict on behalf of the national political axe, and shot a large number of Han and Annihilation spies such as Yin Rugeng and Kawashima Yoshiko, which greatly shocked those who did not want the country, the nation, and their ancestors, and greatly boosted the morale of the people. Chairman Lin Sen, the chairman of the National People's Political Axe, not only issued a commendation, but also took out money from his own private savings to reward the instructors. Newspapers around the country publicized the achievements of the instructors. This shows that as long as you sincerely resist the war, you can be rewarded by the leaders and loved by the people. Those who do not resist the generals, those who turn a deaf ear to military orders, must seriously think about how military law and state law will treat them in the future. Especially those who have illusions about the Yue Jun and secretly hook up with the Yue Jun, think clearly, even if I don't pursue you, the Military Commission will not pursue you, when you meet Liu Yimin, can he let you go? Comrades, I would like to warn you once again that Mr. Jiang Baili said that although the army is strong, as long as we persist in the War of Resistance against Japan, do not compromise, and do not surrender, China will not perish. There is hope for China! ”

These words were full of praise, criticism, encouragement, admonition, and threat, but the soldiers during the war years liked this set, and the result was that the generals in the audience applauded. Chiang Kai-shek himself was satisfied, shaking hands with each of the generals.

After the meeting ended, Chiang Kai-shek met with the generals of the Eighth Route Army in turn, talked about the friendship between teachers and students with [***] and Xu Xiangqian, and also made some hints at He Long and Liu Bocheng, but the results were very unsatisfactory. These people are stubborn and stubborn, and it is okay to persuade them to unite and resist from the order, as for the rest, as if they do not understand Chinese and cannot understand the meaning of the chairman. Peng Dehuai, in particular, asked for military salaries and weapons and ammunition when he came up, and nothing else was discussed, and what he said was very reasonable: Chairman Lin Sen has rewarded his instructors with private funds, shouldn't the national political axe give military salaries, clothing, weapons and ammunition to such a heroic army?

Chiang Kai-shek had no choice but to say that these issues would be studied after the battle was fought and the situation stabilized.

Finally, Chiang Kai-shek asked Mr. Zhu and Mr. Peng where Liu Yimin's instructors were now? Are the troop losses too large? And no combat capability?

Mr. Zhu replied that the instructor had just come out of eastern Hebei, and now he was fighting guerrilla warfare in the Pingjin area, and the casualties of the troops were not small, but because Liu Yimin's training was tight, the main force should still have the strength to fight again. However, now it is the heavy army group of the Japanese army that is pursuing and searching for them, there are planes in the sky, tanks on the ground, and warships in the sea, and the troops will be hit by the devils as soon as they show their heads. This is also falling into the trap of the army.

Chiang Kai-shek hummed a few times, and said in a slow voice in his unique Ningbo accent: "Brother Yujie, I carefully studied Liu Yimin's tactics and found that he was particularly good at long-distance attacks, and he hit the bone point that the army had to save. The strength of the Yue army this time is too huge, whether they attack Xuzhou or Jinnan or cross the river to attack the hinterland of the Central Plains, I am afraid that the strength of one theater alone will not be able to contain them. That is, they divided their troops and attacked in two or three ways, and you also know the situation during the battle of Xinkou, and I am worried that the main force of our army will be seriously damaged. The most worrying thing is that even if our army makes heavy sacrifices, I am afraid that it will not be able to stop the enemy's pace. From the perspective of the national war situation, we need time to complete the deployment of defending the Central Plains and Wuhan. ”

Peng Lao always had a straight surname, and when he couldn't see that he was talking crookedly, he said directly: "Chairman Jiang, please say what you mean, don't be so polite." ”

Only then did Chiang Kai-shek say: "If the army is not launched this time, it will be a thunderous blow." I would like to ask the two of you to give an order to the instructors, so that Liu Yimin and them can seize the opportunity of the emptiness in the enemy's rear after the army is launched, and fight a battle like the attack on Taiyuan and Tianjin, disrupt the enemy's deployment, and force him to return to the rescue. I also thought about it, now the army must strengthen the defense of Beiping and Tianjin, there may not be a chance. I discussed with Bai Jiansheng and Yue Jun, and I felt that Shijiazhuang and Jinan were both good, attacking Shijiazhuang, we could mobilize the Pinghan Line and Shanxi Army to come back, and attacking Jinan could force the advancing Army along the Jinpu Line to return to help. After the army is mobilized on all fronts, let the instructors fight and pull like this, and we can alleviate the crisis on our front line. I don't know what the two of you think. ”

Before the meeting, Chiang Kai-shek also felt that the instructor had been greatly weakened, and it didn't matter if Liu Yimin came to the meeting or not. As soon as the situation was severe, he immediately hoped that God would bless him, so that the instructor would suffer less losses, and then give Yue Kou a ruthless blow to alleviate the crisis of the war. Think about the time when the Central China Battlefield and the Shanxi Battlefield were in crisis, as soon as Liu Yimin attacked Tianjin, he disrupted the deployment of the Yue Army. If Liu Yimin can go and occupy Beiping when the army attacks this time, then the army will not be in a mess?

(To be continued)