"After five steep and three slopes, you will see the gold and silver nest at the mouth of the river; Shihua Street, Baokang County, and Hekou have passed the Jinluan Hall (). If there are two rooms here, I won't go abroad! ”

This folk proverb is about Laohekou, an important town in northwest Hubei Province.

Laohekou is located on the east bank of the upper reaches of the Han River and belongs to Gwanghwa County, which has a long history.

In history, Xiao He, the prime minister of the Han Dynasty and Deng Yu, the general of Liu Xiu, the martial emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, were in Guanghua County. In the Ming Dynasty, the humorous masters, couplet Taidou, and the scholar Xie Jin once and the courtesan Yuhuan'er of Wangjianglou overlooked Wudang on the Wangjiang Tower at the mouth of the old river.

Because it is located at the edge of the Han River, eroded by floods, Guanghua County has been relocated several times, and it was relocated to the mouth of the old road of the Han River during the Qianlong period of Kangxi, and it was named the old estuary in the third year of Yongzheng. Because of the advantages of the Han River boat, and is located in the Sichuan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Henan four provinces of the traffic artery, to the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, the old estuary has become a densely populated, five miscellaneous places, department stores intersection, merchants converge, fireworks of thousands of rich areas, is the most important commercial port town in the northwest of Hubei Province, has the name of small Hankou.

"Seventy-two streets, eighty-three alleys, twenty-two wharves, more than thirty money houses, and eighteen guild halls."

The old estuary before the war, with convenient transportation. There are 3 highways for land transportation: Meng (Lou) - Lao (Hekou), Fan (Cheng) - Lao, Lao - Bai (River), Nantong Xiangfan and Garden; Xitong Junyun directly reaches Baihe County, Shaanxi Province; The northeast is connected to Henan Provincial Highway by Menglou. The waterway undertakes 80 percent of the freight transportation in the old estuary, and there are 22 wharves and thousands of cargo ships on the Han River, carrying cotton, grain, cattle, sheep, pigs, and mountain freight to Hankou, and from Hankou foreign goods, kerosene, cloth and satin, salt, western medicine, and other commodities. Laohekou faintly has the image of the three major cities in Hubei together with Hankou and Shashi.

In the small city with a population of more than 100,000 people, there are 10 public and private banks, including "Central Bank", "China Bank", "China Farmers Bank", "Hubei Provincial Bank", "Zhongnan Bank", "Henan Provincial Agricultural and Industrial Bank", "Guanghua County Bank", "Dazhong Bank", "Overseas Chinese Industrial Bank", and "Taiyu Bank", 14 or 5 silver buildings engaged in gold, silver, and jewelry, more than 10 large cotton stores, more than 20 large grain stores, 47 Beijing-Guangzhou grocery stores, and 84 silk and cloth stores. There are more than 100 hardware and electrical products, 45 tobacco hotels, more than 50 mountain goods and oil stores, more than 50 Chinese and Western pharmacies, and petroleum industry, salt industry, southern goods sauce garden industry, pig, cattle and sheep industry. Only the pig, cattle and mutton industry sells about 7,500 slaughtered pigs, 4,500 cattle and more than 9,000 sheep annually.

Thousands of boats and thousands of merchants, the old estuary that can't be filled, and the big man who can't die.!

Black shop door panels, pink walls and tiles, front shop and back house, Hui style attic. The horse's head wall with the sharp eaves is slightly warped, the square Taiping Pool, the middle beam wears the fang, the Zhulan walkway, the surrounding is the wing room, the upper side is the courtyard of the building, the doors and windows are on the brocade pattern, and the phoenix and the dragon are both picked.

If there were no damn Japanese devils and no damn war of aggression, Laohekou, which occupies all the geographical advantages, is likely to really develop into a big commercial city in Hubei.

The headquarters of the commander of the Fifth Theater, the training class for senior cadres of the Fifth Theater, the cadre training regiment of the Fifth theater, the Eighth Branch, and the Laohekou Airport, at this time, Laohekou became the center of the Anti-Japanese War in the Central Plains.

The headquarters of the commander of the Fifth Theater is located in a very ordinary old-style courtyard house at the northern end of Hujiaying in the suburbs of Laohekou, surrounded by vegetable fields planted by Hujiaying villagers, and there is only a ridge-like path leading to the main road outside.

Above the gate of the headquarters hangs a plaque in the handwritten handwriting of General Li Zongren, commander of the Fifth Theater, "The Wind Comes South", and the gate is full of sentry posts.

Entering the courtyard, the gravel is paved with green pine and bamboo. In the buildings of one well and three courtyards, the front yard and the middle courtyard are typical brick and wood structure northern houses, and the back yard is a brick and wood structure imitation European style building. A circle of grass houses was built around the courtyard house, which served as a confidential room, a secretary's room, a duty room and a waiter's room.

At this time, in addition to Commander Li Zongren, Chief of Staff Xu Zuyi, and Deputy Chief of Staff Wang Hongshao, the Fifth Theater Command had a large number of talented people, including Lieutenant General Zhang Shouling, a full-time senior staff officer of the Commander's Office, Huang Jianping, Lin Cixi, Qiao Shanglun, Wen Qiaosheng, Li Zongqing, etc., senior staff officers of Major Generals: Mo Jingxiu, Wang Runmin, Wen Tingxiu, and Liang Shousheng.

The headquarters has five rooms and eight offices.

The persons in charge of the fifth room are Zhou Tianyou, the secretary general of the secretary's office, and Huang Xuecun, the confidential secretary of the major general; Lieutenant Colonel Wei Zhiming, Staff Officer of the Attendant Office, Shi Ying, Adviser of the Adviser Office, Li Yang, Director of the Major General of the Confidential Office (and Chief of the Electricity Section), and Tan Yaodong, Chief of the Colonel Section; Major General Feng Shu, Director of the Investigation Office, Colonel Shan Minggao, Secretary of the Colonel, Colonel Huang Baochong, Chief of the First Section, Colonel Xie Rufan, Chief of the Second Section, and Colonel Pang Yusheng, Chief of the Third Section.

The persons in charge of the eight divisions are Major General Wu Zhongzhi, Chief of the General Staff Office, Major General Li Kezhuang, Chief of the First Section, Major General Guo Kezhuang, Chief of the Second Section, Colonels Liang Jiaju, Guo Yinguang, and Huo Guannan, Chief of the Third Section, and Colonel Wu Jixin, Chief of the Fourth Section; Director of the Traffic Division: Major General Liang Shousheng, Colonel Li Xinwu, Chief of the First Section, and Colonel Wang Zun, Chief of the Second Section; Major General Nong Zhizheng, Director of the Adjutant Division, Colonel Lin Shaozong, Deputy Director, Colonel Yao Ming, Chief of the First Section, Colonel Sun Mufeng, Chief of the Second Section, and Colonel Pan Linxin, Chief of the Third Section; He Furong, Director of the Quartermaster Division, Liang Kejian, Deputy Director, Colonel Guan Zhongfang, Chief of the First Section, and Colonel Dang Yun, Chief of the Second Section; Director of the Military Affairs Division: Major General Liang Jiaqi, Deputy Director Zang Hanguang, Chief of the First Section Liu Tingbi, Chief of the Second Section Zhou Zhongxuan; Xiang Qi, director of the Health Department, consists of a bookkeeping office, a military medical department, a medical department, an inspection department, and an infirmary; Major General Tang Xing, Director of the Military Judge Advocate General's Division, consists of the Secretarial Section, the Examination Section, the Military Law Section, the Personnel Section, and the Adjutant Section; The Ordnance Department consists of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Sections, the Adjutant Section, a warehouse, and a manufacturing plant.

He Yizhi, leader of the first group (Shanghai group) of the disbury group directly under the Governor's Department, Wang Jun, leader of the second group (Anlu group), and Ling Shixiang, leader of the third group (Xinyang group).

In addition, the Fifth Theater Military Station Command Department, the Theater Political Department, the Optics Valley Garrison Command, the Communications Headquarters, the Senior Combat Personnel Training Class, the Fifth Theater Cadre Training Corps, the Material Resources Committee, the Grain Purchasing Committee, the Economic Committee, the Frontline Publishing House, the Formation Daily Newspaper, the Special Service Regiment, the Sixth Column of the Special Army, the Radio Brigade, the Communications Company, the Automobile Brigade, and the Military Discipline Inspection Corps were stationed in the Laohekou area with the headquarters.

Due to the interruption of communication and communication, the Fifth Theater Commander's Department, the 11th Group Army, and the 84th Army did not know about the loss of the main force of the 173rd Division and the martyrdom of Zhong Yi for the time being.

Li Zongren received information that the Japanese army was about to launch the Battle of Zaoyi from He Yi, an intelligence officer in the Fifth Theater and a senior interpreter of the Japanese army, and reported to the Central Military Commission accordingly and formulated a preemptive combat plan.

The current battlefield situation is that on May 7, the 3rd Division occupied the Tang River, the 13th Division advanced north to Wangji, and the 16th Division entered Suiyangdian, forming an encirclement of Zaoyang. On May 8, the Japanese army successfully occupied Zaoyang, declaring that the purpose of the battle on the left (east) bank of the Han River had been accomplished.

As a matter of fact, all units in the Fifth Theater had already jumped out of the cracks of the Japanese army before the Japanese army encircled Zaoyang, and except for the 173rd Division, which suffered heavy casualties, all other units had already completed the strategic transfer. The main forces of the 23rd division were all surrounded by the Japanese army. The Japanese army only occupied Zaoyang, and did not realize the strategic attempt to destroy the main force of the 11th Army in the Fifth Theater at all, but fell into the encirclement of the Fifth Theater.

The ticking of the radio transceiver echoed softly in the courtyard of the Fifth Theater Command.

Li Zongren, dressed in the uniform of a general of the Republic of China, Chief of Staff Xu Zuyi, Deputy Chief of Staff Wang Hongshao, and several senior staff officers all gathered in front of the enemy's situation map and quietly looked at it.

At this time, Li Zongren's prestige was soaring, and the victory in the Battle of Taierzhuang, the victory in the Battle of Suizao and the excellent performance of the troops of the Fifth Theater in the Battle of Wuhan made Li Zongren seem to have become the most brilliant commander-level figure in the first sequence, a famous anti-Japanese general, and no longer a local warlord who seized Guangxi. Moreover, Li Zongren is broad-minded and insists on selecting and appointing people in the five theaters, and Li Zongren can treat them equally whether they are the old troops of the Gui family, the Central Army, and other local factions. Meritorious rewards, guilty punishments.

Liu Qun, the former lieutenant general engineer commander and leader of the fortress group in the Fifth War Zone, has followed Li Zongren for many years and is an old friend. During the battle of Xuzhou, the fortifications were built, and the Military Commission allocated a large amount of money for the project, but Liu Qun actually absconded with the money during the war. After the end of the Xuzhou War, Li Zongren went to Chongqing and passed through Yichang. Liu Qun, who was hiding in Yichang, thought that Xuzhou had been lost, and Commander Li probably had forgotten about his absconding with the money. Even if I haven't forgotten that in the war years, I have followed him for many years, and I think that Commander Li will no longer be embarrassed by himself. Liu Qun went to see Li Zongren and wanted to invite Li Zongren to dinner, with the purpose of returning to the Fifth War Zone. As a result, Li Zongren immediately ordered the guards to arrest Liu Qun, send him to Xiangfan for detention and immediate execution ().

Such a commander, the officers and soldiers can't accept it if they want to!

After graduating from the third phase of the artillery department of the Baoding Military Academy, Xu Zuyi, chief of staff of the Fifth Theater of Operations, went to study in Japan, attended the army noncommissioned officer school and the army university in Japan, and had a very good understanding of the Japanese army's combat tactics.

Xu Zuyi examined the situation map of the enemy for a long time, and then said to Li Zongren: "Duke De, the time is ripe. After the Japanese army occupies Zaoyang, it will soon return to its original defensive position, and it is time to close the net! ”

At this time, from the Chongqing Supreme Command to the senior staff members in the Fifth Theater Headquarters, no one realized that the Japanese army had two goals in this battle, one was to capture and eliminate the main forces of the Fifth Theater on both sides of the Han River, and the other was to capture Yichang. Of course, the Japanese army did not have clear regulations on whether to hold Yichang after capturing Yichang at this time. Because this time was no longer the period of the Battle of Wuhan, the Japanese army was limited by huge military expenditures and limited troops, and had no intention of expanding the occupied area, but only wanted to find and destroy the main force of the squadron, force Chiang Kai-shek to surrender, and end the war of aggression against China as soon as possible.

Xu Zuyi's words were supported by Deputy Chief of Staff Wang Hongshao and several senior staff members!

At this time, Li Zongren became more and more calm, sat on the chair, and thought carefully.

The current situation is that after the 3rd Division of the Japanese right flank captured Zaoyang from the north of Zaoyang, to the east of Xiangyang, as long as the Japanese army retreated, our army could counterattack and carry out a counter-encirclement of the entire Japanese army participating in the Zaoyi Battle, first of all, a counter-encirclement of the 3rd Division. As long as the 3rd Division is defeated, the next battle will be easy to fight, and it will only be a matter of time before the Japanese army is destroyed.

Moreover, the 31st Group Army, the elite of our army, was waiting in Nanyang, and could quickly go south to participate in the battle and gather and annihilate the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army.

Now, Li Zongren, who once created brilliant achievements such as the Battle of Taierzhuang and the Battle of Suizao, is bent on creating miracles again and is ready to kill the Japanese army.

Li Zongren pondered for a long time, then raised his head and said to Xu Zuyi: "Chief of Staff, report to the Military Commission and Chairman Jiang that the Japanese army has captured Zaoyang today, and it is judged that it will soon withdraw to its original defensive position (). The Fifth Theater was determined to take advantage of the enemy's retreat to encircle on all sides, first concentrate the main force to encircle and annihilate the Japanese Third Division, and then take advantage of the victory to pursue and concentrate and annihilate the Japanese 13th and 16th Divisions. ”

The Jianghan Plain has a good climate and is rainy.

As soon as Li Zongren finished speaking, it began to rain lightly in the sky.

Wang Hongshao, deputy chief of staff, laughed: "Duke De, God really helps our army." When it rains, the gravel pavement of Xianghua Road will be muddy, and the Japanese vehicles will not be able to move. You can't escape if you want to! This time, the little devil is dead! ”

After receiving the telegram from the Fifth Theater, the Military Committee judged that the Japanese army would inevitably retreat to its original position, and that the only main way to retreat was the Xianghua Road, which could not be moved by vehicles after the rain, so it prepared to order all units in the Fifth Theater to take advantage of the unfavorable situation of the Japanese army, the lack of supplies, and the difficulty of retreating, to capture and annihilate it near the battlefield with all its might, and then pursue it on the line of Yingcheng and Huayuan.

Chiang Kai-shek is going to swallow the Japanese army of 100,000 in one bite!

Our army was determined to counterattack, but the Japanese made a mistake at this time.

Although the main force of the Fifth Theater was not eliminated, after 8 days of fighting, the Japanese army successfully captured Zaoyang and once again demonstrated their combat effectiveness.

The commander of the 11th Army, Kazuichiro Sonobe, had no intention of attacking northward, and at eight o'clock in the evening, he issued an order for all units on the front line to reverse and return to their original positions after arriving at the Tang-Baihe line, and prepare for the encirclement of the west bank of the Han River.

Only three hours later, at 11 p.m., the Chongqing Military Commission issued a general attack order to the Fifth Theater.

Suddenly, the units of the Fifth Theater that had been withdrawn without a trace began to move. Six divisions of Tang Enbo's 31st Group Army rapidly moved south in the Nanyang area, six divisions of the 30th Army and the 75th Army were in the west, five divisions of the 33rd Group Army were in the south, and five divisions of the 45th Army and the 94th Army were chasing the Japanese army in the southeast.

The real Battle of Zaoyi began!。