Li Zongren was born in 1891 and is widely known for his life story. This year, Li Zongren is 47 years old, with a stocky character and a round pimple face, if outsiders don't know his identity, they often regard him as a big brother who can be reassured. Only the occasional glimmer of light in the corners of his eyes, capable words, and profound thinking reminded people that this is a long-standing strategist, a strategist who is not angry, and a famous general of the country.

At this time, the operational area of Li Zongren's Fifth Theater stretched from the south bank of the Yellow River in Jinan in the north, to the north bank of the Yangtze River in Pukou in the south, to the coastline of Wusongkou of the Yangtze River in the east and to the mouth of the Yellow River in the north. The area directly under the central government includes the whole province of Shandong and most of the provinces of Jiangsu and Anhui north of the Yangtze River. The troops under its jurisdiction are: Sun Lianzhong's Second Group Army, Han Fuqu's Third Group Army, Li Pinxian's 11th Group Army, Liao Lei's 21st Group Army, Sun Zhen's 22nd Group Army, Han Deqin's 24th Group Army, Xu Yuanquan's 26th Group Army, Pang Bingxun's Third Army, Feng Zhi'an's 19th Army, Tang Enbo's 20th Army, Yang Sen's 27th Army, Zhang Zizhong's 59th Army, etc., with a total of 27 infantry divisions and 3 infantry brigades, with a total number of about 200,000 to 300,000 people.

On the surface, there are quite a few troops in the Fifth Theater, but in fact, except for the 20th Army Corps of Tang Enbo, which belongs to the elite of the Central Army, the other units belong to the [***] miscellaneous troops. In addition, some miscellaneous army generals were worried that the central authorities would take the opportunity to cancel the establishment of the troops after they ran out, which seriously affected their combat effectiveness.

The so-called military leaders not only refer to being able to arrange troops and strategize, but also need to make overall plans and coordination, mobilize morale, and combat determination. Li Zongren is a well-deserved military master in China, and naturally he can see at a glance the shortcomings of the various units in the Fifth Theater. At the same time, it can also be seen that most of the soldiers and officers of these miscellaneous units are the remnants of a hundred battles, and their individual combat effectiveness is very strong. If you can fully supply and mobilize your active surname, you will still have a chance of winning when fighting the enemy.

Therefore, since taking office, Li Zongren has waved his long sleeves, actively coordinated the relations between all parties, promoted Zhang Zizhong to the post of commander of the 59 th Army, resolved the accumulated grievances between Zhang Zizhong and Pang Bingxun, and quickly mobilized the fighting spirit of the troops. In particular, after the chairman of the National Committee of the National People's Congress rectified Han Fuqu, he further mobilized the active surnames of various troops. In addition, the various units of the Eighth Route Army won successive battles and made great achievements, which made the blood of the soldiers boiling, eager to win the battle, and also captured the generals' knives and adjutant's knives to play.

The current situation is very different from the situation in history when Taierzhuang won the victory, the army was wiped out by Liu Yimin's instructor into a brigade regiment and a division regiment, and the myth of the invincibility of the army has long been shattered. Moreover, the first attack on Lunan after the army occupied Jinan, Liu Yimin's capture of Tianjin collapsed the offensive, and the second attack on Lunan was digested and invisible by Liu Yimin's beautiful blow of eliminating the 21st Division and reading power mixed into the fourth brigade. Like Nishio Shouzo, he felt that it was very likely that when the fierce battle in the southern section of Jinpu Road was in full swing, maybe Liu Yimin would insert another knife into the heart of the imperial army. Although it is difficult to predict the thoughts of other generals, they are estimated to be similar. The other is the Battle of Taierzhuang in history, although the Chinese [***] team responded to the battle in a hurry, and the army also attacked rashly, and the lone army went deep. At present, the troops of the Fifth Theater have long been adjusted in place and are ready for battle, and the first stage of the Huaihe Offensive and Defensive Battle and the Linyi Defense Battle have been fought well; The army was also well prepared, and the three sharp arrows shot by the three elite divisions flew straight towards Lunan. It can be said that both sides are much better prepared than they have historically been.

Li and Bai already knew the situation of friend and foe.

After sitting for a long time, Li Zongren finally spoke: "Jiansheng, think about it again and see if there is anything missing." ”

Bai Chongxi said: "Our army has been deployed in this battle, and there is nothing missing. The key is that the troops on the eastern and western fronts of the northern section must resolutely block the attack, hold back the enemy's hind legs, cause the enemy on the front of the Jinpu Road to advance alone, and lure the enemy to Taierzhuang, and the great success will be accomplished. ”

Li Zongren nodded, thought about it and said: "I thought about it, if you want to achieve great success in this battle, the key is to delay the follow-up reinforcements of the Yue Army. I don't know what our Guilin son-in-law is doing now, this little guy blackmailed us back then, kidnapped our beauty, and asked me to send his father-in-law and mother-in-law by plane, shouldn't he repay it at this time? ”

Saying this, Bai Chongxi laughed, couldn't help but take off his hat and comb the top of his head with his hands.

Seeing that Bai Chongxi didn't speak, Li Zongren said to himself again: "Chairman Jiang told me that he has already greeted Zhu De and Peng Dehuai, and if the battle situation is in crisis, no matter what, let that little guy take action, hit the snake and hit seven inches, and disrupt the devil's offensive rhythm in one fell swoop." I don't know if Zhu and Peng reported to [***]. ”

Bai Chongxi said at this time: "Delin, don't worry about this. Liu Yimin is a young talent, and he is the most excellent, strategic-visioned, and outstanding general in our country at present, and he will not let go of any opportunity to clean up himself. I don't want him to interfere this time, though. We have to use our own strength to fight a beautiful battle, so that the people of the country can see it, it is not only Liu Yimin and [***] who can fight, but also the top heroes and heroes! ”

This statement made Li Zongren laugh and feel proud. After laughing, he said: "Okay, lose that mother, meet the real chapter with the little devil, and see if my knife is fast or his little devil's knife is sharp!" ”

Bai Chongxi jumped up from the chair: "That's it!" As long as the devil dares to go alone, this Taierzhuang is their grave! ”

When Li and Bai were ambitiously preparing for the big battle, Mr. Zhu, who had moved to the Taiyue Mountains, sent a telegram to Yan Xishan and Wei Lihuang, informing them of the Eighth Route Army's engagement with the enemy in central Shanxi, northwest Shanxi, and Shanxi-Chaji, and once again pointed out: "This time, the army is fighting against Shanxi, with a huge number of troops and a larger plot. In the previous stage of the battle, the various units of the Eighth Route Army fought fiercely and achieved the goal of delaying the enemy's offensive with their own sacrifices. Judging from the current battle situation, the army will have a greater conspiracy, and the spearhead of the attack is likely to be directed at the west or south of Jin. It is advisable for our army in western and southern Jinxi to make preparations as early as possible to guard against a surprise attack by a heavy army group. ”

At the same time, Mr. Zhu sent a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek, pointing out: "This time, the army carried out heavy troops to clean up Shanxi and Jizhong at the same time, and although it suffered defeat, the most elite offensive field division of the army was not seriously damaged. At present, the North China Army is on the defensive in central Hebei and offensive in the southern section of the Shanxi and Jinpu lines, and its intentions are all expected by our army. The only variable is the enemy's 14th Division in northern Henan, whose movements are unknown, which has a destructive effect on our war situation. At the previous Luoyang military conference, the chairman of the National People's Congress had ordered the First Theater to actively attack the enemy and strictly prevent the enemy from sneaking up on our river defenses. I ask the chairman of the NPC National Committee to send another telegram to the First Theater of Operations to be vigilant, to block the enemy on the north bank of the Yellow River, and not to allow him to cross the river and advance southward, thus affecting the situation in Xuzhou. ”

After sending the telegram, Mr. Zhu said to Deputy Chief of Staff of Zuo Quan: "I always feel that Xiangyue Qingsi of the First Army of the Yue Army must have some bigger conspiracy. You see, first of all, several elite divisions and regiments marched in unison, forcing our army to withdraw from the base area. Then he returned to the division to attack Jinzhong, although the army did not achieve the goal of destroying our main force, after all, they seized our base area, compressed the living space of our army, and strategically occupied the initiative. This is nothing, the most powerful thing is that Xiangyue Qingsi calculated that he beat the Eighth Route Army Jin Sui Army to watch the fire from the other side, which shows that this guy is not only extremely vicious, but also very discerning. I'm worried that this guy will do another trick next. ”

Zuo Quan was drafting a telegram, but he didn't raise his head when he heard this, and replied directly: "Then it goes without saying that the next target of the Yue army's attack must be Yan Xishan's Jin Sui army." This old man slammed the door, and the army swept our base area on a large scale, and asked him to cooperate with the attack and harass and contain the army, but he did not do anything, and he just watched our base area fall. I want to quarrel with him directly! ”

When Mr. Zhu heard this, his brows furrowed, and he hurriedly asked: "Zuo Quan, how do you judge that the next target of the Yue Army's attack is the Jin Sui Army and not Wei Lihuang in Jinnan?" Attacking Jinnan can open up the lines of communication! Besides, the 20th Division and the 10th Division occupied Linfen with Itagaki Seishiro at that time, and they were very familiar with the terrain there. ”

When Zuo Quan heard the boss say this, he put down his pen, walked to the map and said to Mr. Zhu: "Mr., come and see, the army has now occupied the hinterland of Jinzhong and the vast area north of Taiyuan centered on Xinkou, and basically controls the hinterland of Shanxi. In the next step, the army will inevitably attack Yan Xishan's Jin Sui army, for three reasons: First, after the Jin Sui army went through the Battle of Xinkou and the Battle of Taiyuan, the main force suffered great losses and its combat effectiveness declined. The second is that the army can peek into the Yellow River defense after defeating the Jin Sui army, and even cross the Yellow River to attack our rear, which is much easier than breaking through the direction of Zhongtiao Mountain. The third is that the army implements the tactics of breaking through one by one, and when it hits us, it will never divide its troops to attack the Jin Sui army, and the Jin Sui army really did not take the initiative to cooperate with us in the battle. When the Yue army wants to come, when they fight the Jin Sui army, we will also stand by and watch. Besides, even if we want to support the Jin Sui army, we can't do it, and the main force of our army has been driven away from the battlefield in western Jin, and the whip is beyond the reach. With these three reasons, I judge that the Yue army will inevitably target the attack on the Jin Sui army. ”

Mr. Zhu pondered for a long time and ordered: "Send a telegram to Lao Mao, 100,000 urgently, order my river defense troops to be on high alert and be vigilant against changes in the battle situation." Send power to the 115th, 120th, and 129th divisions, and prepare to rush to the aid of the Jin Sui army. Once the army attacked western Jinxi with heavy troops, all units of our army took active action and made every effort to harass the enemy's lines of communication and force the enemy to return to help. In any case, the devil's plot must not be allowed to succeed. Zuo Quan, you immediately organize and formulate a new battle plan for our army, the focus is on how to rescue the Jin Sui army, and you can't let the devils completely defeat the Jin Sui army. ”

After Zuo Quan agreed, he was about to go to the staff office when he heard an explosion in the village. Just as Mr. Lazhu was about to go out, there was a shrill whistle in the yard. Zuo Quan didn't think about anything, he pounced on Mr. Zhu to the ground, and pounced on Mr. Zhu.

The air wave of the bomb explosion knocked down the civil structure house, and Mr. Zhu and Zuo Quan were buried in the tiles and mounds, and the guards and soldiers took a lot of effort to pull out the two people, but fortunately neither of them was injured, but they were all dusty.

After Mr. Zhu came out of the collapsed house, he hurriedly asked about the casualties. After hearing that the village was too small, there were not many people, and there were not many casualties, Mr. Zhu slapped the ashes on his body and spat out the dirt in his mouth. After spitting up, he said to Zuo Quan: "Liu Yimin said a long time ago that the army has a kind of machine that can determine the position according to the electromagnetic waves sent by the report and guide the aircraft to bomb. In the future, we should pay attention, send telegrams in a centralized manner, and transfer them after they are finished, so as not to be targeted by devil planes. ”

Zuo Quan said hatefully: "The little devil's planes are really fucking many, and another batch will come soon after the bombing, and it seems that the air team has to think of letting the aviation team sneak attack them." I see how many of their airports can withstand a sneak attack. ”

This statement reminded Mr. Zhu, and he immediately instructed Zuo Quan: "Immediately send a report to Feng Dafei and Chang Qiankun, asking them not to move in the near future and pay attention to concealment." In the middle of a big war, the army will definitely think of looking for our air fleet, and the airfield will be discovered sooner or later. They must pay attention to air defense. ”

When he received Mr. Zhu's telegram, Yan Xishan had already realized the danger and was busy dispatching troops to prepare to meet the army.

What Yan Xishan regrets most now is that he shouldn't have accepted Taiyuan in the first place, it was purely to die to save face. If he doesn't accept Taiyuan, he asks [***] to let Liu Yimin garrison Taiyuan, it is estimated that Xiao Yueben will not occupy Taiyuan and want Xinkou now, occupy Xinkou and want to Jinzhong, occupy Jinzhong and want to Jinxi, and with Liu Yimin's god of war guarding Taiyuan, the army may not be able to capture it.

Of course, this is what I thought when I was angry and anxious, and if Chief Yan could call for wind and rain in Shanxi for so long, it was definitely military, political, and economic. He naturally knew that if the army wanted to attack Taiyuan with heavy troops, Liu Yimin might not be able to defend it, and even if he could hold it, I am afraid that it would be an ending in which there was no one out of ten troops. Liu Yimin is afraid that this kind of battle will never be fought! Besides, [***] people's vision is very far, even if Liu Yimin guards Taiyuan, I am afraid that he will also run to fight Tianjin.

At the military meeting, however, Yan Xishan reported on the judgment that the army might attack the mountainous areas of western Shanxi with heavy troops, clearly divided the defensive areas of each army, and drew up a detailed battle plan. In the end, Yan Xishan said emotionally in his Wutai accent: "We are from Shanxi, and we just want to farm and do business honestly. However, I have taken a fancy to our Shanxi and kept bullying us, and my old man must not watch him take all of our Shanxi. In the past, I always thought that I was also a human being, and I might not know people's surnames, and I also thought that they would fight for a while and leave. That doesn't seem to be the case now. Our Jin Suijun eats the people of Shanxi, wears them, and uses them from the people of Shanxi. We are the children of the standard Shanxi people, and we have the responsibility to defend the land! Let's take a look at how the Eighth Route Army fought, especially the little teacher Liu Yimin, who was a great person. Xiao Yueben is like a dirt dog and a chicken in his hands, vulnerable! This attack on western Jin is an opportunity for our Jin Sui army to take revenge. All the troops must fight bravely to be the first and fight a desperate battle with the army. Whoever dares to abandon his position and flee without permission, my old man will enforce military law. ”

After the meeting ended, Wang Jingguo and others accompanied Yan Xishan to dinner. During the banquet, Yan Xishan saw that several people proposed to protect the old capital of the Jin Sui army, and said that he had to talk about strategy in fighting with him, and he still had to act according to the philosophy of Chief Yan.

Yan Xishan was silent until his stomach was a little uncomfortable, then he put down his chopsticks and said to these generals of his descendants: "The fight must be fought, is it possible that we will leave without letting go of a shot?" In that case, how else would I be? If you can't beat it, you can learn the guerrilla warfare of the Eighth Route Army, and just entangle the little devils to fight. The Eighth Route Army can win the battle, not necessarily my Jin Sui Army is a soft persimmon, let the army pinch it! However, the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, and commanding the enemy must understand the changes. When the situation is really critical, there will be orders for you. ”

A few generals stopped talking.

In the evening, Yan Xishan, who had eaten too much, had a bloated stomach, drank some medicine, lay on the bed and thought about his thoughts, and the fifth sister was beating his back on the side.

After beating for a while, Yan Xishan said: "Wu Xian'er, tell me what's going on, I am so fierce, when we fought the Xinkou battle, they were planes, tanks, and heavy artillery, and they hit the mountains of corpses and a sea of blood." You can meet the Eighth Route Army, and their set will not work. Not to mention anything else, just the fortified wall and clear field made by the Eighth Route Army make it impossible for the Yue army to eat when they go there, and they have to transport grain from the capital. Especially that little doll Liu Yimin, how can he know the accurate behavior of Yue Jun, every time he fights so well, he himself dies again and again. Isn't it strange to say! ”

Yan Huiqing squinted and smiled, and said, "How can I, a woman, know about your men's wars. However, in my opinion, there are many capable people in the Eighth Route Army, and I am afraid that they can be counted. Especially that Master Liu, I look at him as a romantic foreign student, who would have thought that he would be a hero, and killing himself is like drinking cold water. I see that when he was fighting, he was afraid that he was like a hunter in the country, and he always set a trap in advance, waiting for him to jump into it like those stupid boars. The eldest brother thought, the boar is so fierce, if people don't set traps, it is very dangerous. ”

When Yan Xishan said this, he became interested, and kept muttering the three words "trap" in his mouth, and after reading it, he felt that his abdominal distension was much lighter, and then he fell asleep peacefully.

(To be continued)