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Chapter 1324 The Blade of the State

Nanjing, Military Council. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Chiang Kai-shek was so angry at the thick stack of telegrams that he accidentally fell to the ground and broke his beloved teacup, and the entire war room was silent.

Bai Chongxi, Chen Cheng and other generals have previously advocated taking the initiative to regain the armed zone of Hebei East Africa, and then threaten the northeast, so as to relieve the pressure on Songhu and the coastal areas, promote peace with war, and force the government to return to the negotiating table. However, in the face of the sudden crisis, they all realized that they had made the mistake of lightly attacking the enemy, and they were a little helpless for a while against the rapidly deteriorating war situation in North China.

At 9:45 a.m., the Japanese army sent countless fighters to bombard the troops of the Second Army in a long snake formation from Yutian to Jixian County, and the units of the Second Army suffered heavy losses.

The second telegram was still Liu Zhi's urgent telegram, and this telegram was half an hour later than the previous one, and this time it was to ask the Military Commission for help. At 10:15, in the three-way area south of Jixian County, Zeng Wanzhong's Third Army, which marched to Baodi County, was attacked by the superior forces of the Japanese army, and the Japanese army dispatched a large number of tanks, coupled with the cooperation of the heavenly fighters, Zeng Wanzhong's division collapsed at the touch of a button, and the deserters attacked the defense line of the second division of Zheng Dongguo in the rear flank of the Gongwei Group Army Headquarters. At the same time, the main force of the Japanese army was found in the direction of Zunhua in northeast Hebei Province, and it was actively moving southward, and it was expected that the troops would be under Jixian within a few hours.

At this point, the entire Second Army had been surrounded by the Japanese army from east, west, north and south. In the telegram, Liu Zhi said that Guan Lin had ordered the 52nd Army to return to attack Bangjun Town, and if the line of communication with the rear could not be opened as soon as possible, the Second Army would be in danger of being wiped out. At the same time, Liu Zhi asked the Military Commission to quickly mobilize reinforcements to attack Bangjun Town, echoing with the 52nd Army from east to west, and opening the way for the group army to withdraw westward in one fell swoop.

The third telegram came from Lieutenant General Zhou Zhirou of the Central Air Force Command. At 9:50 a.m., the Ninth Brigade of the Central Air Force stationed at Taiyuan Airport was suddenly attacked by the Air Force. The 25 A-25 and A-26 fighters purchased from the Syrian Aircraft Factory were indiscriminately bombed by more than 100 Japanese fighters before they could take off, and none of the fighters, bombers, and reconnaissance planes parked at the airfield were spared.

After receiving a distress telegram from the Ninth Brigade, the fighters of the Third Brigade, the Fourth Brigade, and the Fifth Brigade of the Air Force, which took off from Shijiazhuang, Baoding, and Kaifeng airports to help in the war, had a fierce air battle with the Japanese army's retreating fighter group, and achieved an excellent record of shooting down 45 Japanese planes and losing only 12 fighters themselves, but it was no avail. More than 40 bombers and more than 20 reconnaissance planes that stayed at the two airfields at the same time were burned.

As a result of these successive blows, the strength of the Central Air Force has been seriously weakened, and all the achievements made since the beginning of the war have been in vain.

At 10:30 a.m., after a quarter of an hour of heavy artillery bombardment, the Japanese army in Tianjin dispatched two divisions to launch a fierce attack on the Jinghai line south of Tianjin. If it weren't for the fact that the 37 battle anti-aircraft artillery that had just been added to the various departments played a huge role in destroying more than 20 tanks of the Japanese army in time, it is estimated that the defense line would have been lost at this time. Now that the Jinghai War is in a stalemate, and even the 53rd Army and the 40th Army, which have recently been replenished with new recruits, have begun to fight on the front line, Shang Zhen pleaded with reinforcements in time, otherwise once the Jinghai defense line is broken, the Jinpu Railway will be directly exposed to the iron hooves of the Japanese army.

The fifth telegram came from the headquarters of the 29th Group Army of Song Zheyuan in Beiping. At 11 o'clock in the morning, the Japanese troops in the direction of Gubeikou suddenly appeared on the north bank of the Chaobai River, and after more than ten minutes of shelling, under the cover of tanks, the Japanese troops crossed the Chaobai River, broke the defense of the 182nd and 183rd divisions of the 69th Army, and attacked Miyun County. Miyun is an important gateway to Pingjin, and if it falls, Huairou, Shunyi, and other areas will be directly under the attack of the Japanese army. At present, there are only more than 20,000 remnants of the 181st Division and the 182nd and 183rd Divisions adapted from the eastern Hebei security force in Miyun County, and their combat effectiveness is not strong.

The sixth telegram came from General Fu Zuoyi, commander of the Seventh Army of the Second Theater. At 11:15 a.m., the 7th Division and the 64th Wing of the 23rd Division under the jurisdiction of the Chahar Corps of the Kwantung Army suddenly broke the long-term stalemate on the front line of Chahar and quickly advanced to Chicheng County. Once Chicheng is lost, Yanqing, Huailai, and Zunhua will be under the threat of the Japanese army, and the situation in northern Hebei will take a sharp turn for the worse, and there will also be crises on the front line of Badaling, Juyongguan, and Nankou, which will threaten the entire war situation in North China.

The seventh telegram came from Liu Ruming, commander of the 68th Army of the 29th Group Army, and the 62nd Wing of the 1st Division and the 21st Division of the Kwantung Army's Chahar Corps, which launched a fierce attack on Zhangjiakou, and all the divisions and brigades of the 68th Army had been sent to the Great Wall Pass, and the battle was extremely fierce, and the army had killed more than 2,000 people in just a few hours, and was in urgent need of reinforcements.

The eighth telegram had just been received, and it was still an urgent telegram from General Fu Zuoyi, commander of the Seventh Group Army, that the Chahar Corps of the Kwantung Army had sent a unit to attack the southern trench under the cover of aircraft, tanks, and artillery, in an attempt to make a detour from the flanks and encircle Liu Ruming's 68th Army in the Zhangjiakou area. Fu Zuoyi made it clear that troops must be transferred from the First Theater, otherwise northern Hebei and Chahar will not be guaranteed. At the same time, the Central Military Commission should immediately clarify the powers and responsibilities of the theater, and the commander of the Second Theater, Commander Yan Xishan, must also earnestly shoulder the full responsibility for the War of Resistance and command the main force of the Jin Sui Army to move north to resist a possible larger-scale surprise attack by the Japanese army.

Looking at these eight shocking telegrams, Chiang Kai-shek was anxious, but he told him in his heart that he must remain calm at this time, otherwise he would lose the whole game if he was not careful.

Feng Yuxiang's expression was serious: "The devils in us have a poisonous plan!" The Japanese army launched a large-scale offensive on the front line of Chabei, northern Hebei, eastern Hebei, and Tianjin, which must have been premeditated, especially in such a short period of time, the Japanese army assembled so many fighters, which is really unexpected. Now that our Central Air Force has lost its most valuable air supremacy, and the only airfield for fighters to take off and land is Baoding Qingyuan Airport, its support for our ground forces is bound to be greatly reduced. The top priority at the moment is to immediately send personnel to repair the various airfields, and at the same time strengthen the monitoring of Japanese fighters to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. ”

General Yang Jie, the chief of education of the Army University, who temporarily replaced An Yi's staff officer, stood up: "At this time, it is not the time to pursue responsibility and self-examination, we should immediately come up with a substantive plan to solve the problem. Vice Chairman Feng's proposal is very good, and the Air Force's support for our ground forces is extremely important, but the maintenance of airfields and the strengthening of protection can be discussed later; at present, the war situation in North China is completely passive, and we must clearly define the rights and responsibilities of the first and second theaters, and fully mobilize the forces of the two theaters to tide over the current crisis. In addition, in light of the actual difficulties faced by various ministries, we should send reinforcements in a timely and targeted manner to avoid the collapse of the overall situation. ”

"Niang Xipi, I want to send reinforcements everywhere, and I won't play big changes, where can I find so many reinforcements at once?" Chiang Kai-shek said with some anger.

Yang Jie said: "At present, the Japanese army is launching a full-scale attack on us from all directions, and in terms of urgency, the pressure on the front line of the Great Wall in Chabei is indeed very heavy, and there is the second group army in eastern Hebei that is surrounded by the Japanese army, the Japanese army is menacing, if you do not send reinforcements in time, the consequences will be unimaginable." According to the principle of dispatching troops in the vicinity, the 14 th Group Army of General Wei Junru has now been divided into two parts, one of which is to be stationed in Tongxian County with the main force of the group army led by General Junru, and the other is led by General Tang Keqin and stationed in Yanqing County. According to the current situation, Tang Keqin's 13th Army should be transferred to General Fu Yisheng's Seventh Group Army, which will be under the unified command of General Fu in order to deal with the current war in northern Hebei and Chabei; at the same time, General Liu Ruming's 68th Army should also be assigned to the Seventh Group Army in accordance with the current reality, otherwise the two generals Tang Keqin and Liu Ruming will be handed over to the group army headquarters in military affairs, and then the group army headquarters will be submitted to the theater command, and then the two theaters will coordinate, which will be too delayed.

"As for Liu Jingfu's department, so far, we still don't know which divisions and regiments of the Japanese army they are facing, what the specific configuration of each division is, and their weapons and equipment, all of which are a mystery. Coupled with the superiority of the Japanese planes and artillery, it can be said that this rescue will kill you for nine lives, and you have to ask An Jiajun to come out to save the current crisis. The loss of more than 200,000 troops in eastern Hebei at once will deal an unimaginable blow to the morale of the troops, especially the loss of the vital force of the Second Group Army, and the situation in the Ping-Tianjin War will not be maintained, and none of us here can afford this responsibility.

"As for the crisis in Jinghai, it can be handed over to General Wei Junru to lead the main force of the 14th Group Army stationed in Tongxian County to rescue, and in the siege of Miyun, isn't the 29th Group Army still the 59th Army of General Zhang Zizhong not used? With General Wei Junru going south, the 59th Army can pull out its hand and go north to the front line of Huairou and Shunyi, echoing with the Miyun defenders. ”

Chiang Kai-shek nodded again and again when he heard this, Bai Chongxi and Chen Cheng also thought so, only He Yingqin added a sentence without yin or yang:

As long as the Japanese army can't bear it and takes the initiative to attack us, our army can deal with it calmly according to the deployment of the Japanese army, and use the permanent fortifications built by our army in advance to confront the Japanese army, take the opportunity to win a few more battles, and consume as much national strength as possible in North China.

"Now the progress of the battle situation confirms General An Yi's judgment, Hu Jialin is a veteran general in the army, and naturally understands the danger of eastern Hebei, in the current situation of General An Yi's plane crash, whether the Fifth Army maintains one heart with the central government and is ordered to go is still a mystery!"

Everyone was silent when they heard this, and even Feng Yuxiang, Chen Cheng, Yang Jie and others, who had always had great confidence in An Jiajun, did not dare to rashly guarantee it.

Chiang Kai-shek glanced at He Yingqin, then looked at the generals who bowed their heads and were silent, and thought for a while: "Respect, An Yi was found by General Cheng Guang's marine police unit on a small island in Weishan Lake more than two hours ago, but he is still in a coma and his condition is still unknown, so I didn't announce this news to everyone."

"However, no matter whether An Yi has an accident or not, I always believe that An Jiajun will definitely obey me and the call of the Military Committee, because their oath to build the army is the sharp blade of the country and the iron-blooded army. When I heard this solemn oath, An Yi was still only a small battalion commander, and An Jiajun was only an engineer battalion of the Second Division, although it had a resounding name at that time: Model Battalion! When the Northern Expedition failed to attack Nanchang, I witnessed the soldiers of the engineer battalion, including An Yi, taking the initiative to jump off the turbulent Ganjiang River and use their shoulders to support the bridge for the retreat of the troops. Respectfully, do you say that such an army, which has a distinct imprint of peace and ease, will take the initiative to retreat when the country and the nation need them? ”

He Yingqin didn't know how to answer, and his face turned red.

Bai Chongxi sighed faintly: "I feel this deeply, to be honest, if I say who Bai Jiansheng admires the most in the army, I will first say that it is Brother Kai-shek, followed by my brother Li Delin, and the third is An Yi." When the battle of Nanchang was a personal witness, An Yi was in a coma, I was amazed by the amazing combat power of the model battalion, and once asked Yin Jinan how to train a tiger and wolf division, and he answered me at that time 'the sharp blade of the country, the iron-blooded division'. Later, during the Northern Expedition, the An Jiajun fought bigger and bigger, and An Yiguan became higher and higher, but the An Jiajun always maintained this valuable quality, so I regarded the An Jiajun as a fierce enemy in my life, and deliberately set a trap when attacking Xuzhou to trap the An Jiajun in a desperate situation. Unexpectedly, An Yi insisted on taking his 'iron-blooded army' to open a bloody road from the hundreds of thousands of troops of the Zhilu Coalition Army and return to Nanjing, which shocked me at that time and was incomparable.

"Although I know that telling these painful past events will arouse Brother Kai-shek's resentment towards me, I have to mention that for the sake of An Jiajun's spirit that is enough to move heaven and earth, I have to say: An Yi, amazing! An Jiajun, amazing! Later, the Anjia Army played the spirit of our nation in the 128th Songhu War of Resistance and the Great Wall of Resistance, and after the Lugou Bridge Incident, it led the Pingjin War, and almost all the great victories we are familiar with were achieved by the Anjia Army.

"If we still have suspicion and suspicion of such a loyal army for the country, I don't know if we are still worthy of our conscience, our country and nation, and our ancestors and ancestors."

He Yingqin was so humiliated that he almost got up to leave, but he still held back, sat on the seat with his head down, and didn't say a word, but he knew all the ancestors of Bai Chongxi in his heart.

Chiang Kai-shek once again evoked his nostalgia for An Yi, his nose was sour, his eyes were red, he quickly stood up, waved his hand forward in a pretending to be dashing, and resolutely gave an order:

"Let's just decide, the departments are mobilized according to General Geng Guang's words, and the Fifth Army immediately attacks Bangjun, and the Second Army is flanked from the east and west, breaking the Japanese army's tightness in one fell swoop. At this moment of crisis, it is time for their 'sharp blade of the country' to come out of its sheath and show its might! ”