readx; Xuzhou was defeated, and Chiang Kai-shek's position in the party was in jeopardy. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

If the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression brought Chiang Kai-shek's prestige to its peak, then with the fall of the capital city of Nanjing and the successive defeats on the battlefield, the prestige of the chairman of the NPC Standing Committee has been damaged again and again and has fallen to the bottom. The opposition, headed by Wang Ching-wei, seized the opportunity to press forward step by step, clamoring for a review of the "major strategic mistakes" and "the serious consequences of the 10-month armed war of resistance," and so on, forcing Chiang Kai-shek to bear the heavy responsibility for the military defeat and having to verbally apply to the Central Political Council for punishment. The opposition gained the upper hand and had to move forward with the introduction of the "system of impeachment within the party." There is no doubt that this was a very sinister foreshadowing and a premeditated plan to seize power within the party. Fortunately, the pro-Chiang faction fought back, and the impeachment resolution was not resolved. Wang Jingwei wanted to use his own hand to achieve the goal of seizing power, it was really "Sima Zhao's heart, everyone knows it", Chiang Kai-shek sneered, he wanted to use a big military victory to fight back against himself, and at the same time consolidate his dominant position in the party.

Chiang Kai-shek, who had gone out to inspect the army, returned to the Donghu official residence in Wuchang in the middle of the night, but he was awakened shortly after falling asleep. Since the leader had suffered from a nervous breakdown for a long time, and was most irritable when his sleep was disturbed, no one usually dared to alarm the great man while he was resting. But this day was different, when he first began to be drowsy, a hand gently shook him to wake him up, and Chiang Kai-shek opened his eyes and saw that it was his wife Song Meiling.

Madame apologized and told him that there was a major enemy situation on the front line, and Deputy Chief He Changbai had been waiting at the official residence for a long time. For Chiang Kai-shek, it was a privilege to sleep or not, and who called him the chairman of the Standing Committee?

In the living room, Chief He, who was anxiously waiting, reported to him that after receiving an urgent telegram from the first war zone, an enemy of unknown origin appeared near Minquan County in eastern Henan, was approaching the Longhai Railway, and had fought with our army.

Civil rights is the rear of our army's front, and this sudden enemy situation is obviously a big surprise to Chiang Kai-shek, he glared and asked sharply: "Where did this enemy come from?" How many troops are there? What is the number? What are their intentions for fighting, have they figured it out? ”

Bai Chongxi hurriedly replied: "The First Theater has just received a report, and the 1st Division of the 88th Division has already exchanged fire with the enemy, and there are no more reports on the enemy situation for the time being. ”

Chiang Kai-shek frowned, as the commander of the army, he was of course very aware of the strategic significance of the Longhai Railway, once the railway was cut off, it would directly threaten the retreat of the 300,000 troops of Xue Yue's corps, and then threaten Kaifeng and Zhengzhou. What is puzzling is that at this time, the Battle of Xuzhou has just ended, is it possible for me to attack on a large scale? Is this a trick played by Shouichi Terauchi or a signal to attack the Central Plains? Strategically speaking, the enemy's reasons for immediately launching a new campaign are not sufficient, are they really going to fight a decisive battle with our army at all costs? And what is the explanation for Tokyo's order that "the Xuzhou front must not be crossed"?

All kinds of doubts rolled in his mind, making it difficult for Chiang Kai-shek to make a judgment for a while, and he only turned his gaze to his chief of staff with question marks. He Yingqin pointed to the operational map and explained: According to intelligence, there is no sign of a large-scale movement of the North China Dispatch Army in front of Xuzhou, and the main force of the enemy's Central China Dispatch Army, which has been reinforced, is also withdrawing to the area south of the Yangtze River one after another.

Bai Chongxi added: "Judging from the documents seized from the wrecked aircraft of the enemy, it is credible that Tokyo has set the deadline for a resumption of the offensive in the autumn or next year." First, the enemy's front was too long, North China was empty, and only one or two divisions and regiments in the area north of the Yellow River maintained their occupation, giving me considerable guerrilla space behind the enemy. Second, the enemy has just occupied the Xuzhou area, and it is said that it will take a period of time to consolidate the battle line, rest the troops, and replenish ammunition supplies. ”

Chiang Kai-shek did not speak, he was logically inclined to agree with the judgment of the General Staff. Objectively speaking, they do not yet have the conditions to continue the offensive, and there are a number of unfavorable strategic factors and difficulties behind their battle line, unless they deliberately turn a blind eye to this. As for the purpose of this unexplained enemy, whether it is only to interfere with or to try to cut off the retreat of our troops, it remains to be further ascertained from the front. Since the safety of the Longhai Railway was of great importance, Chiang Kai-shek instructed the Chief of the General Staff to say:

"Telegram to the First Theater of Operations to quickly ascertain the enemy's number and scale, especially to find out the enemy's purpose and mission, and at the same time mobilize troops to resolutely and completely annihilate him."

At this time, the Chinese base camp, including Chiang Kai-shek, did not realize that a vicious war conspiracy of his own was quietly approaching, and that Terauchi Shouichi and the more than 100,000 invading troops under his command would frantically challenge the will of the Chinese people to resist the war and the supreme interests of national survival. With the departure of the two chiefs, the Donghu Mansion returned to calm, and Chiang Kai-shek took a few sleeping pills and went back to bed to fight insomnia.

Gao Fei, commander of the 26th Division, received a telegram from Hankou and hurried from Hankou to Zhengzhou.

On the eve of the Battle of Xuzhou, the base camp divided the whole country into a number of theaters and commanded the operations in a unified manner, among which the position of the first theater in Zhengzhou was the most important, and the number of troops under its jurisdiction was also the largest. If there are many factions, it is inevitable that the relationship will be complicated, and it will be avoided to have intrigues with each other.

For example, the 26th Division, which came from Sichuan and played a great role on the battlefield of the Anti-Japanese War, nominally belonged to the 20th Group Army, but the division completely maintained its reading ability regardless of the troop structure and command, and did not listen to the tune, which is the result of the continuation of the local warlord system in the early Republic of China, and it is also Chinese characteristics.

Goofy saw through the conspiracy behind this order and the scheming fox face at a glance. As the saying goes, "relying on the mountains to eat the mountains, relying on the water to eat the water", of course, the army depends on the garrison to raise food, and the suburbs of Zhengzhou, the hometown of wealth, are naturally the rice granaries of the 26th Division. And the city of Kaocheng in eastern Henan is a barren land famous for yellow waterlogging and wind sand salinity, and if you change to garrison there, isn't it equivalent to drinking the northwest wind? The river defense army was originally stationed in the area of Zhongmu and Kaocheng, and the army commander Liu Heding had a close relationship with Commander-in-Chief Shang Zhen, and this old fox of the Anhui system had always coveted Jingshui Town, where the 26th Division was stationed, and he would definitely want to replace it.

There are unpredictable circumstances in the sky, and people have good and bad luck. Just as the 26th Division was preparing to evacuate Zhengzhou, a shocking news suddenly came from Kaocheng County in the eastern direction of Henan: the local garrison was attacked by an unknown number of Yue troops, and Kaocheng was declared to have fallen.

Due to the unknown situation of the enemy, the theater ordered the 26th Division to suspend the transfer and transfer of defenses and stay put, and Gao Fei, who had already started in advance, led the first regiment to build fortifications outside Kaifeng City and wait for orders.

The famous spy captain "Lei Jingang" was ordered to rush to the front line.

Lei King Kong is Thunder, the special service team is directly under the division headquarters, specializing in performing various special tasks, such as infiltrating behind enemy lines to capture prisoners, blasting, assassinating and sneaking attacks on enemy headquarters, etc., which is equivalent to today's special forces. The officers and men are all heroes in the army, and everyone is a sharpshooter who wears through the Yang at a hundred paces. Captain Thunder has experienced many miraculous feats in a hundred battles. In the bloody battle of Taierzhuang, he personally crushed the heads of the two soldiers like pinched eggs, and since then he has won the reputation of "Lei King Kong".

It was already evening when Thunder arrived at the headquarters, and a strong fighting atmosphere came to his face. He saw the war room brightly lit, the radio ticking out, and the staff officers running in and out with nervous expressions, indicating that an unusual military operation was taking place ahead. A bespectacled intelligence chief led him to a map and explained that yesterday the county town of Kaocheng, located on the south bank of the Yellow River, was suddenly attacked by an unknown number of enemies, who not only had tanks and armored vehicles open the way, but also had a number of artillery pieces attached.

Now the command urgently needs to figure out, where is this enemy coming from? How large? Which division does it belong to? What is the number? What are their intentions? What is the connection with the enemy of the sneak attack in the direction of civil rights? The Wuhan base camp was also extremely concerned about this enemy and demanded that the enemy's situation be ascertained as soon as possible at any cost. The Chief of Intelligence drew a circle with his finger over the city, and then ordered categorically, "Your mission is to take a prisoner back, and you must be an officer."

For the scouts during the Anti-Japanese War, going behind enemy lines to capture prisoners was tantamount to pulling teeth out of the tiger's mouth, not only because the enemy was very cunning and difficult to defend well, but also because he was often extremely stubborn, and would rather commit suicide than be a prisoner, so Lei Jingang felt that the task was difficult. He proposed to the command headquarters to find some enemy military uniforms to disguise as cover, but the command headquarters did not have ready-made military uniforms, and when he was anxious, a middle-aged senior officer opened the door curtain and walked in. The chief was wearing a white shirt and spoke a southern dialect, and the chief of intelligence hurriedly reported to him, and the chief thought about it and said: "I remember that the Ministry of Political Affairs and Industry also has some military uniforms, which were originally used by the troupe for acting, so let them send them quickly." ”

The captive team disguised as the Yue army successfully infiltrated the enemy position, and they were really lucky that day, and soon captured a captive with a beard on his face. Thunder was full of joy, and when he saw that the mission was completed, he was about to give the order to retreat, but the captives began to speak Chinese. It turned out that he was a Taiwanese military man who specialized in feeding war horses for himself, and he was the so-called "two devils".

According to the confessions of the captives, there were hundreds of horses in the army, and the grain and grass were piled up in the primary school, and they came from the north bank of the Yellow River and walked a long way. As for the number of troops, what numbers they have, what equipment they carry, and what their tasks are, the Taiwan military men all shook their heads and did not know, which made the scouts rejoice.

The sea in the dark night began to ebb, and seeing a faint hint of fish belly white in the eastern sky, Lei Jingang's breathing became heavy, and his heart became colder and colder. Because the scouts would be forced to retreat after dawn and the capture operation had to be suspended, you can imagine what a huge mental strain this defeat meant for the scouts.

Success on the battlefield sometimes depends on courage, sometimes it depends on luck. Just when Lei Jingang was already hopeless and was about to give the order to return, the scouts who were lying in ambush in front suddenly gave a signal, which was refreshing. Sure enough, a pair of snowy lights soon appeared on the road, and with the sound of the motor from far and near, it turned out to be a lost Yuben jeep sent to the door.

Overjoyed scouts rushed up and captured the car alive on the spot.

In addition to the driver, there was also a liaison officer in a yellow tweed uniform, and the briefcase carried by the officer contained the operational maps and documents urgently needed by the command.

The special team successfully completed the mission and was commended by the superiors.

It was ascertained that the enemy forces attacking Kaocheng County and the enemy troops who appeared on the ground in Minquan belonged to the same unit, and the combat instructions they received were very clear, that is, to penetrate directly into the Longhai Railway and resolutely cut off the retreat route of Xue Yue's corps. The enemy of this unit is not a brigade or wing, or even a brigade, but the 14th Division of Tufeiyuan, which has always been entrenched on the north bank of the Yellow River and is known as the "nemesis of China."

Chiang Kai-shek's warning in Zhengzhou said that Tufeiyuan not only crossed the river, but also pointed to the Longhai Railway, the lifeline of our army in the Central Plains.

A fat face with a sly gaze appeared in front of the chairman.

He was no stranger to this former Far Eastern spy chief, who graduated from the same army non-commissioned officer school, and met with Tu Feiyuan after Chiang Kai-shek went into the field in 1927 and learned the arrogance, insidiousness, and viciousness of this classmate. Because the Manchurian secret service led by Tu Feiyuan became more and more a big problem for the Kuomintang, Chiang Kai-shek secretly instructed Dai Li: "Strictly guard against this thief and wait for an opportunity to get rid of it." It was only because he said that he was strictly guarded and Dai Li did not have a chance to attack. What has always puzzled Chiang Kai-shek is why the emperor has appointed the head of the imperial secret service as the commander of the division, is this not equivalent to sending land personnel to command the destroyer? Chiang Kai-shek believed that no matter how arbitrary he was, he would not be foolish enough to send Dai Li to the front to command the war.

A group of high-ranking generals had already gathered in the war room, all of them with solemn faces and holding their breath, and it was obvious that they were deeply shocked and surprised by the intelligence of the enemy's long-distance sneak attack. Originally, the army had stopped advancing after occupying Xuzhou, and the front line presented a calm situation of confrontation between the two armies, but the recklessness of Tufeiyuan was like a stone hitting water, making the already clear situation confusing. Chiang Kai-shek slowly glanced at everyone and said: You all tell me, what does this action mean?

He Yingqin replied: The General Staff Headquarters believes that this shows that the North China Dispatch Army is unwilling to confront our army, and Terauchi Shouichi wants to desperately score a chess piece behind the Xue Yue Corps, forcibly cut off the Longhai Railway, and then force our army to fight a decisive battle in the Central Plains. Tu Feiyuan is this self-defeating chess piece.

Chen Cheng, minister of military affairs, said loudly: On the surface, the army occupies a vast area in North China, but its troops are very empty, and against this background, the Tufeiyuan Division has once again committed the taboo of a lone army going deep into the army, and he thinks that this is a rare fighter plane for our army, and he should concentrate his forces to gather and annihilate it.

Bai Chongxi, deputy commander of the General Headquarters, further pointed out that last year, our army's strategic policy of "blocking from the north and attacking from the south" has been effective, and it has avoided a decisive battle with the enemy in the North China battlefield. However, the 14th Division has not fought a decent hard battle since the landing in North China, and Tu Feiyuan is from an unprofessional military background, so it is difficult to make a correct judgment of our army's combat strength, so it is time for the enemy to double the price.

Chiang Kai-shek listened carefully to the generals' speeches.

The situation in the Central Plains Theater has changed abruptly, and it seems that the North China Dispatch Army does not intend to obey the order of the Tokyo base camp to "not expand the battlefield at all", and Terauchi Shouichi's war ambitions are like a wild horse that has escaped the reins, and he wants to act on his own and capture the Central Plains and even Wuhan alone. Chiang Kai-shek despised the enemy in his heart, but he did not show it on his face. The chairman of the committee asked Bai Chongxi in a calm tone: If a division in the Tufeiyuan District dares to venture alone and go deep into the hinterland of our Central Plains Theater, is he not afraid that he will be eaten by our army in one bite?

Bai Chongxi replied: "Since the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the enemy's combat pattern of divisions and regiments has been formed, and they arrogantly believe that our army will never be able to break or completely annihilate one of its divisions and regiments. Taking the 14th Division of Tufeiyuan as an example, the enemy drove thousands of kilometers into the provinces of North China without encountering large-scale battles or heavy losses. ”

Chiang Kai-shek bowed slightly, thoughtful. Among the provincial and local armies, the general he appreciated the most was Bai Chongxi, who was called "Little Zhuge in front of him".

Chiang Kai-shek then asked: "What if our army fails to eat the soil and fertile plains?" ”

Bai Chongxi thought for a moment and replied: "Then resolutely break it or drive it across the Yellow River to eliminate the Central Plains' henchmen." ”

Chiang Kai-shek left his seat with his hands behind his back, and he felt that something was being filled with something inside him, to be precise, by a winning ** and passion. If the chairman of the CPPCC National Committee urgently needed a victory on the battlefield of resistance against the Chinese Communist Party to "force peace by war" and stop his own offensive from being passive to taking the initiative, then he also urgently needed an inspiring and major victory in the intra-party political struggle to tide over the crisis of confidence, consolidate his dominant position, and deal a head-on blow to Wang Jingwei and all the opposition. Therefore, the great significance of this battle in the Central Plains is not only military, but also a political battle, which must not only be fought, but also won.

The chairman of the committee turned around and announced in a sharp voice: "The General Staff Headquarters will immediately formulate a plan for the operation in eastern Henan, and I ask you to mobilize elite soldiers and strong generals to resolutely annihilate this Tufeiyuan division sent to the door!" ”

For Wang Ching-wei, the leader of the pro-Japanese faction, the spring of 1938 was not destined to be easy, because the erratic weather and the turbulent situation had caused him physical and mental suffering.

Wet weather is the most likely to cause gunshot wounds, so Vice President Wang often relies on painkillers to keep working and fighting illness. The gunshot wound was a gift from a mysterious assassin, and Wang Jingwei, a revolutionary who was once famous for assassinating the regent of the Qing Dynasty, was unfortunately also stabbed by the assassin.

In 1935, on the eve of the Anti-Japanese War, the Kuomintang held a plenary session of the Central Committee, and a patriotic young man pretending to be a reporter suddenly shot several times, and Wang Jingwei splashed blood in the Central Auditorium on the spot. Although Wang Jingwei did not die after being rescued, many years later, it was this old gunshot wound that killed him. Although the mystery surrounding the Assassin's identity and motives and behind the scenes remains shrouded in mystery, Wang Jingwei knew in his heart that his pro-faction ideas and statements were the source of his death.

After the assassination, Wang Jingwei was somewhat restrained on the surface, but in fact, he stepped up the implementation of his pro-remarks. According to the post-war disclosure documents, at first Chiang Kai-shek secretly controlled the Sino-Chinese peace talks secretly held in Hong Kong, and the negotiators had to report to Chiang and Wang respectively, but it was only later that the situation changed, Chiang Kai-shek was exhausted to deal with the war, and the power in the party was sidelined, and the negotiation channels were gradually controlled by Wang Jingwei.

(To be continued)