Under the patient persuasion and advice of Bai Chongxi, Zhang Zhizhong, and Chen Cheng, and under the influence of his instructor Taiyuan's victory, Chiang Kai-shek, who had already tasted the sweetness of adopting Liu Yimin's suggestion in the Battle of Songhu, finally made up his mind to rely on Nanjing to kill and injure a large number of the enemy's living forces, and then abandon Nanjing, place the main force on the flank of the attacking force of the Yue army, and threaten the Yue army at any time.

Chiang Kai-shek even thought about how he could elevate Liu Yimin's instructor to the rank of instructor and put him directly under the command of the central government for operations along the Yangtze River. Later, it was Song Meiling who reminded him, don't do those useless work, don't say that it is impossible to agree, Liu Yimin will not be willing, that is, they are all willing, according to the current density of the army bombing, when the instructor arrives in Nanjing, not only Nanjing has been lost, but the instructor has traveled a long distance to come, and it is a question whether the army can maintain the integrity of the organization. It is still important to do a good job of deployment.

The Military Commission immediately issued an order to retreat the defenders of the Wufu Line and the Xicheng Line, which were already in danger and could be broken through at any time. Zhang Zhizhong was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the defense of Nanjing, and about 100,000 troops were mobilized to establish a defensive line around Nanjing, and the main force was placed at various key points in the urban area, preparing to fight with the Yue army in street battles.

After Zhang Zhizhong was instructed, according to the tactical deduction conducted with Liu Yimin in Xi'an, he set up city fortifications to protect the retreat passage, and strictly ordered the evacuation of Nanjing citizens and personnel from embassies and consulates of various countries. In Zhang Zhizhong's words, it is necessary to turn Nanjing into a military fortress, and not a single civilian except for the soldiers will be left.

In accordance with Zhang Zhizhong's order, the troops that were responsible for the garrison of Nanjing's periphery strictly carried out the practice of clearing the wilderness, transferring the people, and burying materials and grain, with the slogan of not leaving a grain of rice for the army.

At this time, the news of Taiyuan's victory had already spread all over the world.

Newspapers in the United States and Britain reported one after another the news of the defeat of the Japanese army at Taiyuan and the disembowelment of Seishiro Itagaki for his crimes. A newspaper in the United States had a headline reading "The Imperial Army's Courage Itagaki Seishiro Died on the Loess Plateau," and more newspapers collected a large amount of information to report on the deeds of Liu Yimin, the instructor and division commander of the four elite brigades of the Chinese Army.

After the myth of the invincibility of the Syrian army was completely shattered, the attitude of the American political axe changed, and it began to pay attention to China and intensified its condemnation of the army.

Hachiro Arida, the newly appointed foreign minister of the Konoe cabinet, was dazed by the condemnations of the European and American countries, and he blamed the blame entirely on the military headquarters and the North China Front.

Emperor Hirohito was furious when he heard this, and strictly ordered the base camp to quickly replenish the combat losses of the Central China Front and the North China Front, and urged the Kwantung Army to send elite troops to fight in the pass, and be sure to eliminate the resistance forces blocking the advance of the Imperial Army.

Therefore, just when Zhang Zhizhong was racing against time to repair the fortifications and prepare for battle, on the morning of 7 December, six days later than in history, the base camp of the Yue Army finally issued an operational order to capture Nanjing, ordering General Matsui Ishone, commander of the Central China Front, to command the 3rd, 9th, and 16th Divisions of the Shanghai Dispatch Army, and the 6th, 18th, 114th, and Kunizaki Detachments of the 10th Army, which had completed supplementary training, to break through the [***] defensive line under the cover of aviation and surface ship formations. Kill Nanjing.

On the same morning, General Terauchi Toshiichi, commander of the North China Front, who had received reinforcements from the Air Corps and three divisions and a large number of additional troops, held an operational meeting in Beiping.

Shouichi Terauchi has been having nightmares lately, and in his dreams he always dreams of Lieutenant General Seishiro Itagaki with a knife stuck in his stomach.

The old devil Terauchi Shouichi was frightened by the nightmare, and he also made a ceremony to summon the soul of Lieutenant General Itagaki Seishiro, but unfortunately, the soul of Lieutenant General Itagaki Seishiro did not let him go, and he still patronized him on time every night, and met him in his dreams.

General Shouichi Terauchi was almost mad, and shouted to Lieutenant General Seishiro Itagaki in his sleep over and over again: "It wasn't me who killed you, it was the despicable Shina Liu Yimin." Itagaki Jun doesn't want to look for me, it's good to find Liu Yimin's big land! ”

Unfortunately, Lieutenant General Seishiro Itagaki, who is known as a master of China, did not seem to understand his half-Chinese and half-Chinese shouts, and still pestered him endlessly, making General Terauchi Shouyi mad, and in a daze, he strangled the 16-year-old stunning beauty of Kyoto to death.

Under the rage, General Terauchi Shouichi did not remember his despicable act of using Lieutenant General Itagaki Seishiro as a scapegoat, but poured his anger on Shanxi. In his opinion, the army was invincible everywhere, and only in Shanxi, under his command, did it lose tens of thousands of elites, which not only made him embarrassed and embarrassed in the military circles, but also made the ghost of Lieutenant General Itagaki Seishiro haunt him all the time, making him unable to sleep peacefully.

As a result, Terauchi Shouichi decided that while strengthening the offensive forces of the Jinpu Line and the Pinghan Line, he must recapture Taiyuan and avenge the death of the imperial warriors.

In the headquarters of the North China Front, senior generals of the army were sitting in danger.

Lieutenant General Kawagishi Bunzaburo secretly glanced at His Excellency the Commander, and found that Count Terauchi's image was very different from a month ago, with deep-set eyes and a dark and yellow complexion.

Kawagishi Bunzaburo was ashamed in his heart, knowing that it was because of the fiasco in Shanxi, which hit the high-spirited Earl Terauchi and became the current wild dog-like down-and-out appearance.

General Terauchi Shouichi waited for his red eyes, and after painfully summing up the reasons for the defeat in the Battle of Shanxi, he changed his words and boasted endlessly about the victory won by the Jinpu Line and the Pinghan Line, and then loudly announced his order to recapture Taiyuan, ordering the commander of the First Army, Lieutenant General Kazuki Kiyoshi, to command the strength of five divisions and regiments, and with the cooperation of the aviation regiment, to attack Shanxi by separate routes, and to recapture Taiyuan by the end of December and completely eliminate the main force of the Shanxi Army.

After giving the order, General Terauchi Toshiichi ordered the chief of staff, Lieutenant General Naosaburo Okabe, to announce the campaign plan.

Okabe Naosaburo is not as haggard as General Shouichi Terauchi, so he speaks in a more relaxed tone, facing the map, and clearly explains the battle plan and task assignment. Among them, the 20th Division and the 19th Division attacked the direction of Niangzi Pass, and the 1st and 8th Divisions transferred from the Kwantung Army and the newly formed 25th Division of the Kwantung Army followed the route of the original 5th Division and attacked Xinkou to Taiyuan. After the capture of Taiyuan, the three divisions of the Kwantung Army returned to the formation, and the headquarters of the First Army commanded the 20th Division and the 109th Division to garrison Shanxi.

The newly formed 3rd and 4th Mixed Brigades of Reading Power joined the operation on the Jinpu Line, quickly cleared the resistance forces around Jinan, and supported the 10th Division and the 10th and 8th Divisions at any time.

After Okabe Naosaburo finished talking about the operational deployment, Terauchi Shouichi said viciously to Kazuki Kiyoshi: "There is a Shaanxi Anti-Japanese Special Zone instructor in China, and the division commander is Liu Yimin, who is extremely vicious, causing the main force of the Fifth Division of the Imperial Army and the Chahar Corps to be shattered, so that Lieutenant General Itagaki Seishiro died of shame. Your Excellency must find him, destroy him, and sacrifice his head to the jade shattered Yamato warriors. ”

Lieutenant General Xiangyue Qingsi naturally knows about Liu Yimin, but the key is that he has no bottom about how to eliminate Liu Yimin. However, the order of His Excellency the Commander is still to be carried out, and he is busy standing up and saluting and saying Hai.

Seeing that Lieutenant General Kazuki Qingsi happily accepted the task, General Terauchi Shouichi was relieved and led his generals to enjoy the performance of Yiji while drinking tea.

Liu Yimin did not know the details of the bombing of Taiyuan by the Yue army and the fact that Yan Xishan rewarded the instructor with 500,000 yuan. However, Liu Yimin already knew about the situation of military planes reconnoitring and carrying out wanton bombing in the sky.

Because of the method of transporting troops at night, after getting off the train from Daixian, the troops began to rush to Fanzhi by different routes.

The troops were out day and night, and the enemy planes did not cause any real damage to the instructors. However, on the way back, enemy planes bombed slightly larger villages and towns.

Burning villages were everywhere, people were killed everywhere, and the retaliatory bombing by military planes for several days in a row caused countless tragic disasters in Shanxi.

Liu Yimin knew in his heart that the new aviation regiment of the Chinese army had arrived, and the airport had been maintained. I'm afraid that the reinforcements of Kou have also arrived, and the old devil Shouichi Terauchi will soon be brewing a new round of attack operations. I am afraid that Shanxi will become the focus of the attack of the Yue army again.

Thinking about it, because of his arrival, the army suffered such a big loss in Taiyuan, and he must have to take revenge. In addition, [***] in the Songhu battlefield performance is remarkable, is still between Nanjing and Shanghai and the confrontation with the Kou, although due to the continuous increase of troops in the Kou, [***] has shown a situation of inadequacy, retreat is a matter of time, but compared with history, the situation is greatly improved. Not only did the army fail to realize its three-month attempt to occupy China, but it suffered successive losses, and the war maniacs in the base camp were already furious and behaving in a panic.

According to the current development trend, the Yue army will soon launch an offensive against Nanjing, and the Yue army on the Jinpu line will also quickly move south to attack Xuzhou. The army on the Pinghan line will also intensify its attack on Henan, in an attempt to cross the Yellow River south to Wuhan. The strategic defensive phase of the Chinese people's war of resistance has just begun, and a series of brutal battles will follow. Only when the Battle of Wuhan is over, when the battle line of the Chinese army is lengthened and the forces are dispersed, can we enter the stage of strategic stalemate. The problem now is that it is necessary to speed up the attack on the Japanese army, consume its strength as much as possible, and promote the early arrival of the strategic stalemate stage.

Rushing thousands of miles to attack Tianjin, plundering the resources of the Yukou war, and then going south to occupy Shandong, forming a strong base behind enemy lines, developing production, and strengthening strength, this is indeed a wonderful move. The key lies in grasping the timing, which can only be implemented after the main force of the reinforcements leaves the Pingjin area and moves southward and westward.

Comparing the differences between Chiang Kai-shek and [***] in the anti-Japanese war policy, the strategic policy implemented by Chairman Chiang Kai-shek is to protract a war of attrition, exchange space for time, and accumulate small victories into big victories, with the aim of gradually depleting the army through a series of battles and waiting for international assistance. Because he never believed that the strength of the Chinese alone could defeat Yue himself. It should be said that Chiang Kai-shek's policy was also correct, but the losses caused were too great, and the loss of national strength was too great. Liu Yimin knew that under the comparison of national strength at that time, this was also a helpless move.

It is a protracted war that mobilizes the people behind enemy lines, establishes base areas, adopts guerrilla tactics, and consumes its war resources and strength in the struggle with the Yuekou, so as to strengthen the people's armed forces, and the foothold is to rely on the strength of the Chinese themselves to defeat the Yueben invaders.

Generally speaking, the policy of the two men is based on the national conditions of China and protracted warfare, but the difference is that the principle of [***] is based on relying on the strength of the people, and it is to nourish the war with war, to develop and grow stronger in the war, and to be more active, more correct, and more promising.

Liu Yimin knew when he thought about it that the results of the Kuomintang-Communist War during the Liberation War in history were doomed as early as the Anti-Japanese War. Because the leaders of the two sides have different guidelines for the war, they are judged by superiority. It is no wonder that some captured high-ranking Kuomintang generals in later generations once said that the three-year war of liberation would have ended in one year without the support of the United States for Chiang Kai-shek.

Thinking about it, it is fundamental to do the work in front of you and fight the battle in front of you. Therefore, as soon as they arrived in Fanzhi, Liu Yimin ordered Qian Zhuangfei and He Xinghua to set up a radio station and contact Luo Yan to inquire about the location of the reconnaissance battalion and changes in the enemy situation.

Luo Yan reported that the reconnaissance battalion had arrived in Yi County and had also made contact with the troops of the 115th Division, that the traffic from Fanzhi to Yi County was temporarily safe, and that the county seat of Yi County was still under the control of the army.

Liu Yimin ordered Luo Yan to follow the order and leave a reconnaissance squad in Yi County to lead the way for the special operations detachment.

After thinking about it, Liu Yimin still sent a telegram to the chairman and the headquarters that the troops had arrived in Fanzhi.

The call back from the headquarters arrived quickly, and the telegram jointly signed by Mr. Zhu and Mr. Peng was very short, only 12 words: "Deng Xin has received it, has reported to Xi'an, and boldly implemented it." ”

The chairman's telegram then arrived, probably out of secrecy, and the chairman's reply was also very short, with only two words: "Victory!" ”

Liu Yimin was overjoyed to receive the call, knowing that the chairman and the headquarters had agreed to his plan to attack Tianjin. The General Staff Office was immediately ordered to inform the brigade commanders to attend the operational meeting in Fanzhi County.

In the afternoon of that day, in a cave in a mountain village on the outskirts of Fanzhi City, the instructor held a meeting on the eastward march into Shandong.

After the recovery of Taiyuan, the brigade commanders met with the division commanders for the first time, and after the great victory, they met Luo Ronghuan, the political commissar, and gave birth to a son, so naturally everyone was smiling. Many people are still chasing Luo Ronghuan to ask for candy, and Luo Ronghuan's cheeks hurt with laughter.

Zeng Zhongsheng likes the tutor's most like the atmosphere of being one, close to family, unrestrained, and carefree, and under the infection of the joyful atmosphere of the comrades, he actually mustered up the courage to find Tang Xingying and ask her to help him introduce a partner.

Le Tang Xingying repeatedly asked the chief of staff if he had a favorite female comrade, but unexpectedly, this question actually made Zeng Zhongsheng's face turn cloudy, saying that he used to have a lover, but now he doesn't know his whereabouts, he must have been poisoned by the enemy. If you don't like a woman in the army, please don't bother with political commissar Xiao Tang.

Tang Xingying didn't ask any more, knowing that it must be a sad love story, so he persuaded the chief of staff to rest assured that he would definitely help him find a suitable lover.

Zeng Zhongsheng returned to the division headquarters with confidence.

After the people arrived, Cai Zhong announced the opening of the meeting, and first asked Zeng Zhongsheng, chief of staff, to read out the division's battle plan.

The action was about to take place, and the commanders of the brigades could no longer be kept secret, so Zeng Zhongsheng read out the battle plan drawn up in accordance with Liu Yimin's campaign concept, and explained the formation of the marching echelon and the order of command.

As soon as the commanders of the brigades heard that they were going to attack Tianjin and then march into Shandong, the meeting place immediately opened the pot and discussed it on the spot.

Hu Laohu, commander of the cavalry brigade, first raised objections, saying that his cavalry brigade should be allowed to act as the vanguard of the whole army along with the special operations brigade, give full play to the characteristics of the cavalry's strong mobility ability, and quickly open the way for the whole army.

Before he finished speaking, Lei Ming, the new commander of the Fourth Brigade, interrupted him and told him that he was already in the first echelon, so what else did he want? Could it be that the cavalry brigade still wants to challenge a regiment? After speaking, Lei Ming said to Liu Yimin again: "Report to the division commander, I have an opinion on you." ”

Liu Yimin especially liked the spirit of the army to be competitive and win the first place, so he smiled and nodded.

Lei Ming said angrily: "The division commander is prejudiced against the Fourth Brigade, and with the combat effectiveness of the Fourth Brigade, it should definitely be included in the first echelon to tackle key problems and seize the pass, but now it is better to become the fourth echelon." When the Fourth Brigade arrives in Tianjin, I am afraid that there will not even be a single screw in Tianjin. There was a strong demand to revise the formation of troops and include the 4th Brigade in the first echelon. ”

Even Zhao Shan, commander of the newly established Eighth Brigade, and Zhao Jie, political commissar, both proposed that although the Eighth Brigade is a new unit, the soldiers are all veterans, and after ideological transformation, the morale of the whole brigade is now high, and it is in urgent need of a baptism of a big war. I implore the division commander to hand over the most arduous task to the Eighth Brigade of Education, ensure that the task is completed, and never embarrass the division commander.

Seeing that the combat meeting may soon turn into a war meeting, Liu Yimin's dark eyes swept over the cadres, and the smile in his eyes became stronger and stronger. After silently calculating his own strength, excluding the supplementary regiments of each brigade to train recruits, the total strength is equivalent to [***] regular establishment of 3 armies, which can definitely be called a heavy army group, it depends on which devil is unlucky and collides first.

Seeing that Liu Yimin did not speak, and the cadres were still clamoring to be the vanguard troops, Luo Ronghuan coughed and began the pre-war mobilization: "Comrades, this time our army's eastward march into Shandong is a glorious task of great strategic significance entrusted to our instructor by the Central Committee and the General Headquarters, and it is a decision made by the division commander after careful study and judgment of the development of the war situation. By taking Tianjin, we can obtain a large amount of weapons, ammunition, and funds, and lay the foundation for our army to rapidly expand its troops in the future. Advancing eastward into Shandong can base ourselves on Shandong's abundant population and resources, establish a powerful anti-Japanese base area, and provide a broad strategic space for our army to move north and south and gallop vertically and horizontally. It is foreseeable that as long as these two tasks are completed, our instructor will become even stronger, and the army will cry wolf. ”

Luo Ronghuan spoke at a very long time, very patiently, and very meticulously, and even talked about taking care of the wounded and recruits during the march.

After Luo Ronghuan finished mobilizing, Liu Yimin only said four points: "First, the focus of this attack on Tianjin is to attack, and if you can, you will not shoot, and strive to disguise the Japanese army to enter Tianjin, and wipe out the Japanese army in the barracks and in bed." Second, the purpose is to evacuate Tianjin, not only to empty Tianjin's munitions and materials, but also to empty the banks and civilian industrial equipment, so that Tianjin's economy will collapse and the army will not only be unable to use Tianjin's resources, but will also have to carry a heavy burden. Third, the key lies in secrecy, and it is not allowed to convey operational intentions to the troops until they are outside Tianjin, and the operational plan is limited to cadres at and above the brigade level. Fourth, the supplementary regiments of various units should strengthen their cadres and put them on the spot training ground for long-distance marches, so that after they arrive in Tianjin, these recruits will become qualified soldiers in terms of will, work style, discipline, and physical fitness. ”

As for the matter of the various units asking to act as the first echelon, Liu Yimin said this: "This time we are going deep into the heart of the enemy, and if we don't know that the front is the Longtan Tiger's Den, the fourth echelon may become the first echelon at any time. Therefore, let's not fight. When we take Tianjin and the army begins to pursue us, it will be if the mule is drawn by a horse to come out for a walk. When the time comes, if a brigade cannot be pulled up and cannot fight well, there is nothing to say, so it will directly become a local guerrilla force and stay in the local area to fight guerrillas. ”

Seeing that the cadres were already flushed with excitement, Liu Yimin ordered the meeting to be dismissed, and all echelons hurriedly formed and deployed, waiting for the departure order.

After the cadres left, Liu Yimin found Qian Zhuangfei and asked if there was a telegram on the transfer of the army.

Qian Zhuangfei reported that the Kwantung Army had dispatched three elite divisions to the south, and had now reached the front line of Zhangjiakou. The 3rd and 4th Reading Force Mixed Brigades, which had been reinforced from China, had also arrived in Tianjin. As for the specific movements of these troops, there is no new information yet.

Liu Yimin sighed in his heart, the main force of the Kwantung Army has entered the customs? I hurriedly took the telegram and read it carefully, and sure enough, the 1st Division, the 8th Division, and the newly formed 25th Division of the Kwantung Army had joined the North China battlefield.

Historically, the Kwantung Army at this time had only seven divisions, and the large-scale expansion of the Kwantung Army was a matter after next year, and the 25th division that had just emerged was temporarily pieced together by the Kwantung Army, or was the original historical truth submerged, and the Kwantung Army had already begun to expand its army, but it was just hidden?

couldn't figure it out, so Liu Yimin simply didn't want to, and began to study and judge the intention of Shouichi in the temple. This old devil is dying, and he is still so capable of tossing, and he even said that he moved the base camp to transfer troops from the Kwantung Army, could it be that the army has already revised its major policy against the Soviet Union?

After careful investigation, I felt that it was impossible, the only possibility was that the fiasco in North China caused the anger of the base camp, and the three divisions of the Kwantung Army were afraid that they would be ordered to come to help in the battle, and then return to the Kwantung Army after the campaign goal was achieved.

In this way, Terauchi Shouichi's intentions are revealed! This old devil must want to reoccupy Taiyuan and save face. The main target of revenge is probably his own mentor.

It seems that the impact of this battle to recover Taiyuan is indeed great, and the base camp of the army has locked its eyes on itself. It's okay this way, you don't have to go to great lengths to find the devil yourself, the devil will automatically catch up.

(To be continued)