readx; He Yingqin was carrying a black briefcase, and the urgent telegram he brought showed that a railway station east of Kaifeng had been attacked by the enemy, causing the Longhai Railway to be temporarily suspended. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 Chairman Info's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he saw that the small station on the map that had fallen to the enemy was like a bone spur, just stuck in the choke point in and out of Yudong. He asked He Yingqin: Have you found out the size of the enemy?

He A: There is no information for the time being, but it is estimated that the scale of this long-distance sneak attack will not be too large. I have ordered the First Theater to immediately retake the railway station and resume its operation within 24 hours.

Chiang Kai-shek was relieved, and he immediately instructed: Guards should be strengthened along the Longhai Railway to guard against another sneak attack by the enemy. At the same time, all the main forces were strictly ordered to arrive at the war zone as soon as possible and form a situation of encirclement of the enemy as soon as possible, so as to prevent the dogs of Tufeiyuan from jumping over the wall in a hurry.

The Chief of the General Staff obeyed the order and left.

When the preoccupied chairman reappeared in front of the foreign guests, the people stopped arguing and cast inquiring glances at the host. Chiang Kai-shek smiled and said to the guests:

"Distinguished gentlemen, I would like to tell you the good news that our army has surrounded the main force of the enemy on the northern battlefield and is in the process of annihilating it, and I would like to tell you that you are all air heroes that I and my people admire, and I believe that the difference you have just argued about is only the difference in the part of the enemy plane hit. Tonight, I would like to officially announce a decision, the Republic of China has decided to award all of you the Order of the Blue Sky and White Baoding in recognition of your outstanding contributions to China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression! ”

The next day, all newspapers throughout the country published in a conspicuous position the news that Chairman Chiang had awarded medals to the Soviet Volunteer Corps for Aiding China and the American pilots

The military train carrying the 26th Division, known as the "First Division of the Sichuan Army," stopped as soon as it left Kaifeng, and the news of the attack on the Luowangzhai Railway Station came from the front.

The division commander Gao Fei was suddenly very surprised by what happened, because only a few hours ago, the army train passed through Zhengzhou, and he also went with the army commander Song Xilian to visit the commander-in-chief of the first theater, Cheng Qian, and learned that the enemy army in the direction of Minquan had been repulsed, and the war was developing in the direction of our army. After a short period of thought, he sent a small force to the test, and after the exchange of fire, he heard that the enemy's fire was not very dense, and there was no heavy weapons to return fire, so it could be concluded that the enemy was only a small force of long-distance attack. He immediately asked the army commander for instructions by telephone, suggesting that while the enemy's foothold was not stable, he immediately launched an attack to recover the Luowangzhai railway station.

Goofy's proposal was approved.

Accompanying the division headquarters was the main force, the 76th Brigade, which had just been recuperated and replenished, with a new machine gun platoon per company, equipped with German light and heavy machine guns and mortars. The morale of the officers and men is high, and there is plenty of ammunition, not to mention that it is certainly more than enough to deal with a sneak attack force of the enemy with thousands of men and horses. At the sound of Gao Fei's order, the tidal wave of troops immediately got off the train and gathered, and advanced along the railway with murderous vigour, and soon surrounded the railway station.

At the beginning of the battle, there was a huge disparity between the enemy and us, and although the enemy fought desperately and was still trapped, it was difficult to resist the powerful attack of the "First Division of the Sichuan Army". Our troops quickly broke through the enemy's outlying positions, and the officers and men were about to rush into the station and annihilate the stubborn enemy.

That's when a phone call came to the command.

At this time, the gunfire on the battlefield was intense, and the voice of the other side came through a makeshift military telephone line, buzzing like mosquitoes. The other party said vaguely: "Gao Fei, don't fight, there is a situation on Lan Feng's side, you go over to reinforce immediately." ”

Gao Fei didn't understand for a while, he hurriedly argued: "The battle is expected to end in victory in another hour or two, how can you say that if you don't fight, you won't fight?" ”

The Zhejiang accent in the earphones immediately became sharp, and the other party said angrily: "You still don't listen to me, Gao Fei, you are my most trusted person, don't live up to my hopes." ”

Hang up the phone with a "click".

Goofy's back immediately oozed cold sweat. Only then did he realize that the other party turned out to be his leader, Chiang Kai-shek, the supreme commander of the army. Chiang Kai-shek would often make phone calls to the front line to direct the troops, and this was one example. Goofy felt so remorseful, why didn't he hear the principal's voice in the first place?

The only way to correct a mistake is to carry out the order.

The officers and men who were attacking suddenly heard the sound of an urgent retreat, and they stopped and looked at each other, unable to believe their ears. But the constant sound of the trumpet firmly conveyed to them the will of the superiors that could not be disobeyed. The military order was like a mountain, and the 76th Brigade had to give up the victory in hand, and then bypassed the Luowangzhai Railway Station and drove into Lanfeng County overnight.

Commander Saimoto, who had already ordered the flag to be burned, and all the "jade shatters" were loyal to the emperor, when suddenly he received a report that the [***] squadron was retreating. This sudden change made me puzzled, and I couldn't guess what tricks the other party was playing. But in any case, the Chinese took the initiative to retreat not bad news, resulting in an unexpected respite for the dying and struggling Yue himself.

The day after the withdrawal of the 26th Division, 100,000 troops from the Zhengzhou Theater were urgently dispatched to the front line, and at the same time arrived at the battlefield with the Thunder Special Forces temporarily separated from the 26th Division, whose task was to cooperate with the main force to recover the railway station that had been attacked by the enemy.

Lei Ting heard the officers and soldiers along the way speaking a southern dialect that was not easy to understand, and he guessed that this was a local army from the south and not the central army, and he couldn't help but be secretly worried. He was later approached by a commander with the rank of lieutenant general, who was seen questioning a local villager. The villager, an old cattle herder, had witnessed the fierce fighting at the train station and had been terrified by the earth-shattering artillery fire. The general's southern dialect was always swirling on his tongue, so he didn't ask for any information. Lei Ting hurriedly stood up and saluted and said, "Report to the commander, the special team of the 26th Division has been ordered to report for duty." ”

The chief frowned and complained, "Are the support troops sent to me by Chief Cheng just a few of you?" And what about field artillery? And where are the ammunition, the grain and the porters? ”

Thunder knew that the general had misunderstood, and hurriedly explained: "The task of the special task force is to destroy the enemy's headquarters, capture prisoners alive, and seize documents, because the commander's department urgently needs to find out the intelligence of this enemy. ”

Only then did the chief soften his face and communicate with each other at the moment. Lei Ting learned that the division commander's surname was Jiang, and the unit number was the First Regiment of the New Eighth Division in Guizhou, which was previously used for the defense of Kaifeng's periphery, and was not equipped with heavy weapons, and the division headquarters and the other two regiments were still stationed at Huayuankou on the outskirts of Zhengzhou. Division Commander Jiang sighed and said: "Fortunately, the enemy is only a small group of sneak attack troops, otherwise it is inevitable to suffer heavy losses if they are so hurriedly thrown into battle." ”

The special forces entered the forward position in the evening.

Experienced scouts crept up the railroad and put their ears to the cold steel rails to listen, and they heard a tidal noise from the direction of the railway station, accompanied by a clear metal knock, indicating that the enemy was rushing to repair the fortifications.

Since artillery sent from the theater of operations could not reach the front line until the second half of the night, the offensive was delayed until dawn. As our artillery roared, the ground shook, the air trembled, and the enemy's position was immediately illuminated by the light of the explosion of the shells, and the station houses were ablaze. After the shelling, hundreds of soldiers began to charge, all of them with cats on their waists, advancing quickly along the sides of the railway.

The enemy began to return fire, many metal projectiles dragged a sharp whistle over the field, and Thunder heard that the enemy's fire was not very fierce, it was only a dozen rifles and a few light machine guns firing, indicating that the enemy had suffered heavy losses and could be wiped out with just one blow.

The New Eighth Division successfully occupied the railway station wrench room, and Thunder saw that the enemy's position did not throw weapons and corpses, and even the traces of fierce resistance were not obvious, indicating that the enemy was likely to retreat on his own initiative. This anomaly immediately alerted him. The instinct of an old scout told him that the enemy, surrounded by groups, was unlikely to abandon his position, and that they should fight for every inch of land until the whole "jade was shattered", unless they had another conspiracy. What puzzled the Thunder was, what kind of conspiracy could the enemy play? Do you lure our army deeper? But isn't the enemy's appetite a little too big, you must know that we have a main regiment!

The enemy was silent, and the battlefield fell into a brief ominous silence.

Suddenly, a breeze blew a strange and erratic sound from the direction of the enemy line, fleeting across the chaotic battlefield, but it was still caught by the sensitive ears of the old scout's trained listeners. Thunder could hear the painful neighing of a wounded horse, and there was more than one, indicating that our artillery had probably hit the hiding place of the enemy's horse.

He was immediately greatly alerted.

According to military regulations, military horse corps were generally assigned only to infantry brigades to carry ammunition, food, and heavy weapons. Previous intelligence indicated that the enemy was only a small group of sneak attack troops, without military horses and heavy weapons, could it be that the enemy had been reinforced overnight and greatly strengthened his troops? If his judgment was correct, it is likely that this reinforcement with the cavalry would have powerful heavy machine guns, mortars, small steel cannons, and even flat-fire guns, because carrying these heavy weapons and ammunition is the task of the cavalry, which will set a terrible death trap for the attacking squadron. Thunder's face turned white, and he jumped up and gave a warning, trying to stop our officers and soldiers from rashly attacking.

But late.

The insidious enemy tore off its camouflage, and a web of light and heavy weapons mercilessly enveloped the attacker's ranks. Immediately after that, shells also fell from the sky, and the wall of death, which was made of several mortars, mountain artillery, field artillery, and flat-fire guns, collapsed in an instant, and the hideous smoke swept away the flesh and blood of the Chinese officers and soldiers like a black tide rising from the ground. When he launched a charge to counterattack, they were as numerous as locusts, which took the Chinese officers and soldiers by surprise. There is no doubt that the hand of time has quietly changed the balance of power on the battlefield, and when the intelligence of the [***] team is still stuck twenty-four hours ago, the cunning enemy has been reinforced overnight, turning this unsuspenseful battle of annihilation into a breakout battle.

The attack of the New Eighth Division failed, and the commander of the division Chiang was slightly wounded and withdrew from the railway station to wait for reinforcements. Thunder easily found a villager who had escaped from Luowangzhai, and the information he obtained confirmed that the number of enemies occupying the railway station and the village had increased to more than 1,000, as well as a number of horses and artillery.

The news of the failure of the counteroffensive caused a shock in the base camp, and Chiang Kai-shek flew to Zhengzhou overnight to supervise the battle.

When the angry chairman of the committee appeared at the Zhengzhou airport, Chief Cheng and his staff stood silent with serious expressions, but this time the chairman did not blame anyone, but only told them to immediately convene a joint combat meeting. In the underground war room, the generals of the First Theater who attended the meeting were surprised to see that not only He Yingqin, Bai Chongxi, Chen Cheng, Qian Dajun, Lin Wei, and other senior members of the Central Committee who had arrived with the chairman, but also a large group of famous Whampoa generals Liu Zhi, Xue Yue, Hu Zongnan, Tang Enbo, Yu Jishi, Li Hansoul, Guan Linzheng, Huang Jie, Gui Yongqing, Song Xilian, Zheng Dongguo, and so on.

People immediately felt the seriousness of the situation, and if it was only a small railway station, why did it need to gather so many generals of the Central Army, indicating that a strategic decisive battle was imminent.

At the beginning of the meeting, Chief He Yingqin pointed to the blue arrow on the map representing the enemy and explained:

"It has now been ascertained that the Tufeiyuan Division, which has penetrated deep into the rear of our army, has attacked in all directions from Kaocheng and Dongbatou in eastern Henan, and has fought with our army in many places, and the farthest enemy has actually attacked the railway station near Kaifeng, a strategic place of our country, causing the Longhai Railway to be interrupted and the situation in the Central Plains to change decisively. He said that his strategic ambition was to eat the 300,000 troops of my Xue Yue Corps, and then capture Zhengzhou in the Central Plains in one fell swoop, and then go south to Wuhan. General Chief He pointed out that since the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, our army's combat strength has been greatly enhanced, the enemy's troops have come from afar and the rear is empty, and the actual combat effectiveness has been greatly reduced. ”

As soon as President He's voice fell, a mighty general Huo Di stood up, his posture was straight, his expression was resolute, and he said in a sonorous voice: "I am willing to be a striker!" ”

Goofy!

A satisfied smile appeared on Chiang Kai's face. He gestured to Goofy, motioned for him to sit down, and began to speak.

The chairman's voice was calm and not high-pitched, but it sounded like thunder to the generals. He first praised Gao Fei, and now when the country is in danger, everyone must take the lead like Gao Fei, the big world and the small individual, and fight bravely to kill the enemy for the country's war of resistance. Rao Guohua and Wang Mingzhang of the Sichuan Army have already set an example for all theaters, and now there are senior division commanders who are not afraid of sacrifice and take the initiative to ask for battle, and are determined to regain lost territory, which shows that the 26th Division is a truly patriotic force and will certainly be able to make due contributions to the War of Resistance Against Japan.

The chairman of the committee changed his words and returned to the task of the battle in eastern Henan. He pointed out that the enemy chieftain had already made three fatal mistakes; First, the long-distance rush is deep and lonely, completely separated from the logistics supply base. Second, according to common sense, if an army cannot be replenished in time, it will only carry enough ammunition, food, and gasoline to sustain a week's worth of combat at most. If the battle is fierce, these supplies will be exhausted in advance, which means that if the Tufeiyuan Division is not rescued by the North China Dispatch Army, it will be difficult for him to hold out for more than a week. Third, the enemy's North China Dispatch Army, which is far away in the direction of Xuzhou, will inevitably encounter resolute resistance from our army. Our army has laid three solid defense lines on the eastern Henan front, and there are two major railway trunk lines in Longhai and Jinghan to support it, and it has continuously sent strategic reserves and food, weapons, ammunition, etc. to the front line. Can't our hundreds of thousands of troops eat this depleted enemy in a week?

The venue was silent and silent.

The chairman paused, his eyes looked around at the crowd, and his voice suddenly rose:

"Since the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Chinese [***] team has been defeated repeatedly, the land has been lost, and the people's grievances have boiled. Now that the chairman of the NPC Standing Committee has finally seen a rare turning point, this is a glimmer of light in the black sky of history, and he must firmly grasp the opportunity and never allow victory to slip out of his hands. ”

Immediately, Chiang Kai-shek warned the participating generals in a stern voice: "The base camp has made up its mind to completely destroy the invading Tufeiyuan Division!" All the troops participating in the battle must fight bravely, and anyone who flinchs and retreats without permission and loses his position will be severely punished on the spot! ”

Finally, Bai Chongxi, deputy chief of the General Staff, issued an operational order.

The base camp decided to form a powerful eastern Henan Corps, under the jurisdiction of about 150,000 troops of the 15 divisions of the Central Army, including the main forces known as the "two trump cards", that is, the 27th Army, which was reorganized from the Nanjing Central Teaching Corps, and the 71st Army, formerly known as the Nanjing Guard Division, officially launched the Eastern Henan Campaign with the purpose of opening up the Longhai Railway and encircling and annihilating the Tufeiyuan Division. Xue Yue was appointed commander-in-chief of the former enemy, and the headquarters of the former enemy was located in Kaifeng. The units of the First Theater were responsible for blocking the reinforcements of the enemy in the direction of Xuzhou and ensuring the smooth progress of the battle of the Eastern Henan Corps.

The base camp named the battle "Operation Taishan".

In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, the three towns of Wuhan under the clouds of war were not as dilapidated and lacking in materials as people imagined, but instead showed a kind of deformed prosperity that reflected back to the light. When the capital Nanjing and other major cities such as Yanjing, Tianjin, and Shanghai fell one after another, Wuhan, located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, became a refuge and a safe island for Chinese people to escape the war.

The temporary relocation of the Nationalist and foreign institutions in China to Wuhan, and the exiled army, composed of political organs, political organs, party groups, factories and schools, and a large number of war refugees from the occupied areas of Northeast, North China, and East China, also converged on Wuhan from all directions, thus creating an explosion trend of overcrowding in this originally not very crowded metropolis in central China.

Wealthy people with gold and silver treasures occupied the hotels and hotels in the city, and many of them still snapped up villas and bungalows in the concessions, still living a luxurious life of spending a lot of money and servants.

At that time, the bombing had not yet caused substantial damage to the city, and the South China coast had not yet fallen, and all kinds of Western goods smuggled from Hong Kong and Macao were flooded with the black market, so as long as you had money, you could buy any luxury, including special perfumes for the British royal family!

(To be continued)