Bai Chongxi's reason is very simple, Liu Yimin's tutor only captured Lianyungang in order to smash the devil's siege of Shandong and mobilize the heavy army group to leave Shandong as soon as possible, not to capture Xuzhou. Now that the situation of the enemy and us in Xuzhou is very clear, it is impossible for Liu Yimin to rely on sneak attack tactics to make a trick, and he can only fight to the death if he wants to capture Xuzhou. The heavy army group can rely on rapid reinforcements by sea, and can also quickly increase troops to Xuzhou by air. Xuzhou is surrounded by the 114th Division stationed in Yanzhou, the 38th Division stationed in southwest Lu, the 27th Division and the 39th Division stationed in eastern Henan, Tai'an, Jinan's army can also rely on railways, highways to quickly go south to reinforce, this situation Liu Yimin can not be unclear, once he really storms Xuzhou, after breaking the city, it will inevitably fall into street fighting, when the time comes, once the defending army can not support, and the reinforcements are too late to reinforce, the little devil will definitely send a large number of planes to turn Xuzhou into a ruin. Therefore, if you want to engage in a new battle of Xuzhou, you will fall for the annihilation plan of the devil.

When Bai Chongxi said this, Chiang Kai-shek was silent. However, seeing that the elite heavy army group of the Yue army was transferred to Jiaodong, although the Yue army in Xuzhou was quite numerous, its combat effectiveness was incomparable with those permanent divisions, and if they were let go like this, it would be too cheap for these bandits. Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek did not say anything in his mouth, but in his heart, he could not be calm at all.

After wandering around the room for a long time, Chiang Kai-shek said again: "Liu Yimin once said that defending Wuhan does not necessarily require fighting Wuhan. Fighting in Shandong can defend Wuhan, and fighting in northern Jiangsu and central Jiangsu can also defend Wuhan. Since it is risky to storm Xuzhou, don't force it. However, if Liu Yimin does not return to Shandong to persist in the War of Resistance, the little devil will gain a foothold in Shandong, and he can free up troops for fighting in other directions. In case Liu Yimin really advances to the Soviet Union and Central China as he said, he will drag the heavy army group to the south, and if Liu Yimin can't support it and retreats westward, he will inevitably lead the devils to the west, and then the little devils will aim their attacks at Wuhan. In this way, isn't Liu Yimin causing trouble to move eastward? ”

When Chiang Kai-shek said this, several people were silent. After a long time, He Yingqin said: "It may be a bit inaccurate to say that the disaster is moving eastward, but Liu Yimin's purpose of eagerly getting rid of the heavy army group is clear. I think, is it okay to do this, didn't Liu Yimin claim to fight to the Yangtze River? We ordered him to recover the lost territory north of the Yangtze River in Jiangsu, and let the little devil follow his ass. With Liu Yimin's ability, I estimate that it is impossible for the little devil to eliminate him. Just let him drag the little devil around in circles like this, dragging it back and forth, dragging the little devil into a tired army, and naturally he can delay the pace of the little devil's attack on Wuhan. Anyway, I also watched it, as long as Liu Yimin's tutor is behind the devil's buttocks, the little devils will never dare to rashly attack Wuhan, they are afraid of being unlucky again. ”

When Chiang Kai-shek heard this, his eyes lit up, he glanced at He Yingqin, and said with a smile: "What Jingzhi said makes sense, as long as Liu Yimin can keep consuming devils, the situation of the little devils will not be good." In this way, respectfully, you personally went to send a telegram, asking Liu Yimin to carry forward the spirit of a revolutionary soldier, seize the opportunity of the empty strength of the Soviet-Chinese army, quickly recover the situation, attack the strongholds of the army along the Yangtze River, and drag the little devil back to the vicinity of Shanghai. Then they will fight on camera, strive to fight a few battles in Jiangsu, and defeat the arrogance of the army. Here in Wuhan, the progress of all work should be accelerated, and the little devil and Liu Yimin will do it to Wuhan if they are desperately finished. We must be sober about this. ”

What Chiang Kai-shek didn't expect was that without him sending a telegram to give an order, the instructor of the Eighth Route Army was ready to start marching into the Soviet Union.

After Liu Yimin finished arranging military affairs, he took advantage of his free time to rest for a while, and after waking up at noon, he discussed with Luo Ronghuan and sent telegrams to Zeng Zhongsheng, Hong Chaoyuan, Zhang Haitao, Fu Zhuting in Hebei and Shandong, Wang Bingsan in Luxi, and Wang Jian'an in Taixi, asking about the movements of the army.

According to the reconnaissance report, although the army is still taking an offensive posture against our army in Jiaodong, judging from the number of the troops, the 1st Division, the 2nd Division, and the 7th Division, which were actively attacking some time ago, have all disappeared. As of today, in addition to the 1st Brigade and the 7th Brigade, it seems that the troops of the 108th Division and the 33rd Division are moving towards Jiaodong, and the elite divisions of the Chinese army are changing their guards on a large scale.

Hong Chaoyuan and Zhang Haitao both reported that the army used the Jinpu Road to mobilize troops, and there were planes guarding the train.

Wang Bingsan reported that there were no obvious signs of movement in the Luxi army, but they had only intensified their efforts to sweep up and requisition grain, and that the puppet army had cooperated with the Latin arresters, forcing young and middle-aged people to join the puppet army and security regiments, and stepping up the formation of local maintenance committees.

Wang Jian'an reported that since the 38th Division of the Chinese Army was stationed in southwestern Shandong and the 15th Brigade of the Chinese Army was stationed in the Taixi area, our Taixi garrison brigade was in a state of concealed guerrilla, and the targets of the combat were all small units of the Chinese army's grain collection troops.

After reading the telegram, Liu Yimin felt that the information was not detailed enough, and what he needed to know most now was the accurate route of the main force of the army going south to reinforce Xuzhou, which troops were going south by boat, which troops were going south from southeast Lu, and which troops were going south by train after returning to Jinan. Only by understanding these circumstances can we decide on the route along which the main forces will withdraw to Shandong.

After finding Qian Zhuangfei and He Xinghua, Liu Yimin asked He Xinghua to closely monitor the communications of the military and try his best to decipher the communication code of the military radio station. If you want Qian Zhuangfei to contact the underground workers in Qingdao, you must find out which troops are going south by boat.

After Qian Zhuangfei and He Xinghua left, Luo Ronghuan said to Liu Yimin: "Division commander, we have to find a way to let the Yue army take the sea and railway as much as possible, and we can't let them go south from southeast and central Lu by road again, the base area has been destroyed beyond recognition by the Yue army, and if their army passes through there again, the loss will be even greater." ”

As soon as Liu Yimin heard this, he said: "If the army takes the sea route, their vanguard will be able to reach the sea of Lianyungang this evening, this speed is too fast, we must think of something to make them hesitate and delay for two days, otherwise, as soon as the army lands in Lianyungang, it will soon attack westward, and our deployment will be seen through by the little devils." ”

Luo Ronghuan was silent, thought for a while, and said: "Division commander, you lead the main force to stand by here, I will go to Lianyungang, give him an empty city plan, scare the little devil, and strive for two days." ”

Liu Yimin smiled immediately: "Political commissar, do you want to learn from what I did in Tianjin?" It works, but you can't. If you want to go, I have to go, and I have to think of some activities in Lianyungang and take some photos to scare the little devils. And it has to be done continuously, not only in Lianyungang, but also in the Soviet Union and Central China, and along the Yangtze River, and it must be done to make the little devils believe that Liu Yimin is in front of them. Otherwise, the little devil will not be fooled. ”

Luo Ronghuan knew that in Yue Jun's mind, Liu Yimin was much more famous than himself, and he also knew that he had to carry out serial deception against the little devil, otherwise it would be easy to wake up with the cunning of the little devil. In that case, even if the main force returns to Shandong, the little devil heavy army group will follow, and in the end it will not be able to effectively change the situation in Shandong. But it was too risky to let Liu Yimin lure the enemy with his body, and he didn't dare to make this determination.

In fact, this idea was already determined by Liu Yimin when he led the main force to the south. Originally, there was no need for this, with the strength of the instructor, it was completely possible to fight continuously and fight a few more battles. However, Liu Yimin could not do this, he had to find a stable base and start military production as soon as possible, otherwise once the shells ran out, his artillery brigade and artillery regiment would have to bury the artillery. Moreover, according to the current situation, the army has made it clear that it will first eliminate the instructor and then launch the battle of Wuhan, no matter how strong the instructor is, and then he can fight, can he defeat a country? It's still the same old saying, you must develop in concealment for a period of time, which must lead the little devil heavy army group to the distance and keep them away from Shandong. This task was originally given to Liu Jianjian to complete, but Liu Yimin knew that the target of the Yue Army was himself, and only when he really appeared in front of the Yue Army could the little devil be fooled.

Liu Yimin directly drafted a press release, saying that General Liu Yimin, the instructor and division commander of the Eighth Route Army, revealed in an interview with reporters on the Xuzhou front line that he would inspect Lianyungang in the near future. During the inspection, the terrain of Lianyungang will be inspected, the defense of the troops will be inspected, and the fishery resources of Lianyungang will be inspected and seafood will be tasted.

After writing it, he sent someone to Wang Pengju, head of the Propaganda Section of the Political Department, asking him to send it out immediately by telegram.

When Luo Ronghuan saw that Liu Yimin was going to put himself in danger, he immediately proposed that the matter must be reported to the central authorities for approval. Before the central authorities give a clear reply, Liu Yimin has no right to leave his command post.

Liu Yimin said with a smile that this time is different from Tianjin, he does not need to hold on to the Yangtze River, he only needs to rush to Lianyungang overnight, take a photo there tomorrow and leave, and then chase the Second Brigade to Yancheng and Huai'an, where he can show his face again, and then he can quietly return north and return to Shandong to join the main force, and the longest time is about ten days.

Luo Ronghuan still insisted on sending a telegram to the chairman, but this time the chairman readily agreed, because after the Tianjin breakout, he already had a deeper understanding of Liu Yimin's ability, knowing that if Liu Yimin led a small army to disguise the army to break through, there should be no problem, not to mention that there is also the Second Brigade of the Teaching Brigade, which is comparable in combat effectiveness to the First Teaching Brigade, is by Liu Yimin's side, and there should be no problem with safety. Besides, since the bombing of the Shaanxi military factory, weapons and ammunition cannot be produced for the time being, and Shandong's equipment cannot be transported back to Shaanxi, and the Eighth Route Army needs a stable environment to develop military production. The Heavy Army Group has been chasing the instructor, and nothing can be done!

After the chairman agreed, Liu Yimin immediately ordered Li Chengyi to inform Wang Dahu, Li Lingfeng, and Wang Tongsheng that the 1st Brigade and the 1st Battalion of the Jiao Brigade and the Special Operations Squadron and Sniper Squadron accompanying Li Lingfeng and Wang Tongsheng would form his guard unit, and they would all change into war horses, take on military uniforms, and rush to Lianyungang at night.

Luo Ronghuan knew that the reason why Liu Yimin used war horses instead of cars was to maintain a stronger mobile surname. This is the era of war, the road was already underdeveloped, and now it is even worse, once it is destroyed, the car cannot run. War horses are different, and they are very convenient.

Seeing that the guard unit used by Liu Yimin was the most elite unit of the instructor, Luo Ronghuan was finally relieved. He knew that the first battalion, plus the special operations squadron and the sniper squadron, was absolutely strong enough in combat, and everyone could speak the language, even if they encountered the devil and were seen through by the devil, this small unit would definitely be able to fight a bloody way out and cover Liu Yimin's safe breakthrough.

After the arrangements were made, Liu Yimin and Luo Ronghuan carefully studied the situation of the Yue army, combined with the report of the Qingdao underground party reported by Qian Zhuangfei, and preliminarily judged that the five divisions of the Duotianjun group of the Yue army might move south by sea, and with such a large force, it is very likely that it will take several times for the army to complete the transfer, and it is completely qualified to deceive the enemy in Lianyungang. At the same time, in view of the fear of the main force of the instructors, it was judged that several permanent divisions of the North China Front of the Yue Army should be transported to Jinan by car and carriage, and then by train from Jinan to Xuzhou. In this way, as long as the army lands in Lianyungang, the main force of the instructor can return to southeast Lu and wait by in concealment. The Second Brigade, the Luxi Garrison Brigade, and the Southwest Lu Garrison Brigade made a detour to northern Anhui and returned to southwest Lu from eastern Henan. It can even go behind enemy lines and persist in the struggle in Jiangsu. As for the cavalry brigade, Liu Yimin told Luo Ronghuan that once they realized the reunion with the four detachments of the New Fourth Army and completed the task of supplying the New Fourth Army, they could quickly retreat and hide in the area of Maling Ancient Road, preparing to receive him back to Shandong.

This time, Liu Yimin did not bring his wife and children, nor did he bring Zhao Xiaoman and Jingjing. First, because Tang Xingying is still in confinement, she can't run around too much, and it's safer to act with the main force. The second reason is that they are the leaders of their respective units and cannot be separated from the troops. In fact, Liu Yimin didn't want to get into trouble anymore, let alone a tragedy like Chen Yaoguang.

Before leaving, Liu Yimin called Zhao Shan, commander of the Eighth Brigade, and Zhao Jie, political commissar, and asked about the situation on the front line in Xuzhou today.

According to Zhao Shan's report, during the day today, our army only carried out reconnaissance on the periphery of Xuzhou and arranged for a small force to attack. On the part of the devils, it may be that they are afraid that our army will capture the airport, and the planes at Xuzhou Airport are highly vigilant, and there have always been military formations over the airport to take up the task of air combat duty.

Liu Yimin confessed to Zhao Shan, strictly implement the order of the political commissar, once ordered to retreat, must retreat at night, retreat in concealment, retreat resolutely, and quickly, so that the army can not figure out where our army is retreating.

After the sun set, Liu Yimin led the guard troops out of Pi County and galloped towards Lianyungang.

(To be continued)