When Laiwu fell, the 49th Group Army led by Lan Yundong also rushed to Heze, and Xu Zuyi also rushed to Heze that night. \。 In order to unify the command of all departments, Zhuang Jihua specially sent him to serve as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy in Heze, and the First Army, the 78th Army, and the 49th Group Army on the Heze front line were all under his command.

As soon as Xu Zuyi got out of the car, he called Song Xilian and Hu Zongnan back from the front line, and held an operational meeting in Heze City that night to deploy the battle plan for encircling and destroying Honma Masaharu.

At this moment, Honma Masaharu's main force was concentrated in Zhencheng, Zhong Bin and Li Wen were surrounded on three sides, and the Japanese army attacked day and night, and the two of them had sent a telegram for help to Chiang Kai-shek, who strictly ordered to hold Zhencheng, and at the same time transferred Song Xilian to reinforce Zhencheng from the south. But Chiang Kai-shek's order was vetoed by Zhuang Jihua. Zhuang Jihua strictly ordered Zhong Bin and Li Wen to hold on to Zhencheng, and Hu Zongnan and Song Xilian were not allowed to transfer a single soldier to Zhencheng before the arrival of the 49th Group Army, and they must ensure that Heze was in hand at all times.

"When Zhencheng gains and loses, Heze's gains and losses are related to the overall situation; Heze is in hand, even if Zhencheng is lost, Honma will not dare to advance eastward, so ensure that Heze is the top priority, and I am the commander of the theater, responsible for controlling the entire battle situation, and revoking the order of the Seventy-Eight Monarchs to reinforce Zhencheng. ”

After receiving Zhuang Jihua's order, Song Xilian reluctantly terminated the operation to reinforce Zhencheng, returned to Heze, and joined forces with Hu Zongnan to the east, striving to attract Honma Masaharu from Zhencheng. Honma Masaharu used the 27th Division to block Song Xilian and Hu Zongnan, and the 17th Division and the 24th Division attacked Zhencheng with all their might, hoping to open a gap from here.

Zhong Bin and Li Wen struggled to support Zhencheng with the strength of one division and one brigade, and all the positions outside the city were lost, the whole army retreated to the city, and the Japanese army fought directly under the city.

Honma personally commanded the castle, and the Japanese army opened the way with heavy artillery and tanks, and bombarded the castle fiercely, and by the end of the afternoon, the northern city wall was almost completely blown down, and all the buildings in the castle were destroyed. The Japanese army swarmed into the city from the gap in the northern city, and Li Wen personally led the team to counterattack unsuccessfully, and was forced to retreat to the east of the city, still fighting to the death, and the situation had reached a critical point.

"According to the orders of the chairman of the committee and the commander-in-chief Bai, General Xue Yue is in charge of the north of the Yellow River, and we are in charge of the south of the Yellow River," the cannon outside Heze City kept all night, the flame of the oil lamp jumped uncertainly, and Xu Zuyi's expression was grim: "At present, the Japanese offensive on all fronts is fierce, the Japanese army on the eastern front breaks through Laiwu, our army retreats to Tai'an, and Tang Enbo gives up Juxian; The Japanese army on the southern front broke through the river, and now the eastern and southern fronts are actually covering for us and buying us time, and this battle must be won, and it must be won cleanly. ”

Hu Zong, Song Nan, Xilian, and Lan Yundong didn't answer, they just looked at Xu Zuyi silently. Xu Zuyi explained the situation faced by the war zone, the purpose of which was to tell the three Huangpu generals the importance of this battle.

"Our counterattack deployment is as follows: 1. The 102nd Army launched from the front line of Qishan Town west of Zhencheng, the left flank along Liu Shuanglou and Nanshulou north of the Qishan River, attacked to the west of Yanzhuang and Wuji, the northern flank reached the old city, and the right flank along the south bank of the Qianshan River, passing through Pengmiao, Haotang and Li Lou, directly attacked Zhencheng; The task of the 102nd Army was to outflank the Japanese army in Zhencheng and to defeat the Japanese army besieging Zhencheng".

2. The task of the 101st Army was to cut off the connection between the 27th Division and the 24th Division, with the left flank moving from capturing Fuchun and the right flank standing at Shiji, and the left flank occupying Fuchun and then rotating eastward to attack Dongkou; After occupying Shiji, the right flank rotated westward, captured Linpu, and surrounded the 27th Division with the Western Group commanded by General Hu Zongnan.

3. General Hu Zongnan was responsible for commanding the First Army and the 78th Army, and the First Army was responsible for clearing the Japanese troops in the area of Liukou and Licun, and attacked eastward along the south bank of the Yellow River after the mission was completed; The 78th Army attacked Xiaoliuzhuang and Dawangzhuang, and it was necessary to hold back the main force of the 27th Division.

Fourth, the First Division of the First Army was rebuilt, and Heze was defended by a team directly under the 49th Group Army.

5. The time for the operation to start is five o'clock in the dawn tomorrow.

In this battle, all departments have advanced and retreated, and those who retreat without authorization will be killed! ”

Accompanied by a vicious killing word, Xu Zuyi ended the combat deployment, Hu Zongnan and the three of them did not talk nonsense, agreed in unison, and then rushed out, Hu Zongnan immediately ordered Li Tiejun to lead his troops out of the city, and drove out of the city overnight, Lan Yundong rushed back to the troops by car, all of them did not mention Zhencheng, under such a large-scale attack, the siege of Zhencheng was incomprehensible.

Perhaps feeling that the 49th Group Army has arrived in Heze, Honma is a little anxious and a little excited, crossing the river for almost six days, but it has not been able to conquer Zhencheng or Dongming, to obtain a stable support point, the Hebei squadron launched a fierce attack, the 41st Division that reinforced it not only failed to impulse Xue Yue's flank, but was forced to retreat to guard the north of the river, a Chinese elite unit rushed to Puyang, fortunately, the commander of the 36th Division, Jing Guancheng, made a quick decision, and transferred the Shuichuan Wing and the Rongcang Cavalry Wing from the 61st Brigade to Puyang, but in the ** The team's offensive was fierce, and Shuichuan was in danger in Puyang.

The 37th Division reversed the direction of attack and crossed the Wei River from Qi County, but was blocked by the 146th Division urgently transferred by Pan Wenhua in Xinzhuang, and the two sides fought a series of bloody battles near Xinzhuang, and Xue Yue drew reinforcements from the 58th Division from the 74th Army, and the two sides formed a stalemate on the Xinzhuang line.

After Jing Guan Cheng transferred two wings from the ring defense line, the strength on the defense line became even thinner, the squadron in front of the ring defense line took the opportunity to strengthen the offensive, Xue Yue also came to the front line to supervise the battle, Yu Jishi and other three army commanders were delegated layer by layer, and the offensive was more violent.

Honma's headquarters was located in Dongkou, which was originally the headquarters of the 24th Division, and after Honma led his troops eastward, he set up his headquarters here, and the headquarters of the 24th Division was forced to move to Zhencheng City.

The 27th Division's crossing of the river has long been abandoned, and now the passage between the whole army and Hebei is Dongkou and the old city, and Dongkou is the largest of them.

The cold river wind whistled and hit his face, Honma stood on the river bank and looked at the dark opposite bank, he was very anxious, the three divisions that the North China Front decided to redeploy were now only the 37th Division on the front line, but the other two divisions were nowhere to be seen, and the 49th Group Army, the reinforcement of the squadron, was approaching. In this way, the most sinister battle since he joined the army is about to start, and this battle is not only related to the lives of tens of thousands of officers and soldiers in Henan, but also related to the success or failure of the entire Xuzhou battle plan, as well as his own life's reputation.

"I must not fail, the imperial army must not fail, and I must not return home with the charge of defeat and enter the Yasukuni Shrine with the charge of defeat." Thinking of this, Honma turned around suddenly, walked back to the headquarters quickly, and stepped into the headquarters, and all the officers in the headquarters stopped what they were doing and stood in front of him.

Honma quickly glanced at the subordinates in the room, he read the worry in their eyes, when he went south from North China, everyone was in high spirits, and they all thought it was an easy trip, but after crossing the Yellow River, they found that the combat effectiveness of the squadron far exceeded their estimates, and the persistence of Dongming and Zhen Cheng thwarted their attempts to move south quickly, and then Xue Yue launched ** in Hebei, and the follow-up troops could not cross the river. The battle situation has developed to the present, and they are faintly surrounded.

"Order the commander of the Black Rock Division to attack overnight, and be sure to take Zhencheng before dawn to win the support point for the division." Honma said to Chief of Staff Oda with a very stern expression.

Daejeon immediately agreed, grabbed the phone and gave an order to Heiyan, the commander of the 24th Division, and after putting down the phone, Datian said to Honma worriedly: "Your Excellency, do you suggest to General Sugiyama that you order the reinforcements to speed up, and the reconnaissance report shows that another ** unit has appeared in the area of Qishan Town, which is estimated to be the vanguard of the ** elite 49th Group Army." ”

"If they can arrive, they will already be there now," Honma paused for a moment and sighed: "Datian-kun, I estimate that we will hold on here for at least three days, so it is very important to take Zhencheng as a left flank support. ”

Datian pursed his lips tightly, feeling a little helpless in his heart, a first army and the seventy-eighth army forced them into difficulties, and now with the first elite, the prospects can be imagined. But the words of retreat could not be spoken, and as a general of the imperial army, he would rather die in battle than show the slightest cowardice.

The firelight reflected the rubble of Zhencheng red, hundreds of figures tossed and jumped in the rubble, the sound of bayonets striking was particularly crisp in the silent night, and the thick gasps were accompanied by screams from time to time, mixed with the foul smell of charred corpses to spread into the distance.

"Holy shit, little devil is crazy." Zhong Bin punched the broken wall, and since nightfall, the Japanese attack has become more frantic, divided into several ways to kill the east of the city, and now the whole city is fighting fiercely, the troops are retreating step by step, and the casualties are extremely heavy.

The reserves have long been exhausted, Zhong Bin has already sent his guards to the front, and now there are only two guards left by his side.

"Deputy Commander, ask Chief of Staff Xu for help. Let the reinforcements arrive as soon as possible. ”

Zhong Bin didn't answer, he just looked outside silently, and the telegram before the evening showed that the full ** was tonight, and the madness of the Japanese army was the last madness.

"** has been formulated, and sending reinforcements now will disrupt the entire ** deployment. Don't worry, Lao Tzu can still support it, the little devil thinks that this will be able to drive us out of Zhencheng is a dream! Zhong Bin turned around and said: "Order all departments to shrink to the east gate, and in addition, send Division Commander Li out of the city, if someone wants to ask, just say that it is my order." ”

After saying that, Zhong Bin wrote a warrant and handed it to a staff officer of the 78th Division, and Li Wen was wounded in three places in the counterattack and fell unconscious, and is now receiving treatment in the field hospital.

After finishing speaking, Zhong Bin said loudly: "Tell the brothers, five o'clock, hold on until five o'clock, and the reinforcements will arrive!" ”

The order was passed to the front line, ushered in a cheer, in Zhencheng, the squadron retreated one after another, and established a defensive front around the east gate, and the Japanese army then followed the pursuit and continued to attack the defense line, and tragic battles took place everywhere at the east gate.

The long night, Zhong Bin never felt that the night was so long, he touched the watch on his left wrist with his hand from time to time, although he couldn't touch the time, he could feel the passage of time.

At five o'clock, the banks of the Yellow River were still as dark as ink, the roar of heavy artillery sounded in the south and east at the same time, and the shells poured down on the Japanese positions like pouring heavy rain, and the three routes army launched an attack from three directions at the same time.

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