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Chapter 1236 sharpen the knife

After receiving Chiang Kai-shek's order to "stop advancing and defend in situ," the units of Hu Jialin's 17th Army, Wan Fulin's 53rd Army, and Pang Bingxun's 40th Army had no choice but to stop advancing. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The three armies did not remain idle because of this, and under the watchful eye of the Japanese invaders, they began to build one fortification after another along the line of the Yongding River, the Longhe River, and the Daqing River on the outskirts of Pingjin; while cutting off the Pingjin Railway in one fell swoop, they quietly planted explosives detonated by military radio detonators on the piers of various railway bridges and highway bridges, and urgently built deep and long defensive fortifications on every major transportation artery, and set up machine guns to stand ready for battle.

After more than 10 years of research and improvement, An Jiajun's theory of sappers has once again reached a new level.

The first fortification along the river is a large trench three meters wide and two meters deep, and the second trench is about five hundred meters away from the first one. Unable to rely on the trenches, they are shaped like frogs at the bottom of a well, and they can't shoot at all, but dodging guns is an excellent cover.

There were three such defensive lines, each of which was cleverly connected by irregular communication trenches and scattered foxholes, the second and third fortifications were set up with concealed and strong front-line command posts, and between the two fortifications, which were more than 400 meters apart, it was planned to lay a large number of mines to be able to strike at as many invading enemies as possible when the defensive line fell.

The construction of the third trench took countless efforts of the officers and men of the 17th Army, and this trench can be called the standard construction level of the Anjia military engineers, most of which adopt a serpentine structure, and there is an arc-shaped bend every five meters to avoid serious damage from shrapnel splashing when the enemy's heavy artillery attacks. At the same time, in view of the strong firepower of the 17th Army's equipment, individual bunkers were set up in the trenches, fan-shaped firing angles were created, and the reinforced concrete firing points that were built quickly with the best efforts echoed each other, forming a dense and stable crossfire. In addition, each fortification was built with a squad as the standard, because the anti-artillery holes were deep underground, unless bombarded by large-caliber naval guns, they were enough to withstand the blows of the conventional artillery of the Japanese army.

Hu Jialin, who had been promoted to commander of the Fifth Army Corps, rushed to the front line every day to inspect the positions, supervise the progress of the construction of trench fortifications in various units, talk heartily with the officers and men of various units, and tell the screaming brothers to calm down, but in his heart he was deeply worried that An Yi had not made up his mind to take the initiative to attack.

In contrast, the quality of the three trenches of the officers and men of the 40th Army and the 53rd Army of Wan Fulin, who were tasked with the right-wing combat mission, was lacking; almost every night Hu Jialin would meet and discuss with the generals of the two friendly armies, and he also inspected the construction of the trenches of the four divisions of the friendly army twice, and found that the difference between the friendly army and the headquarters was not in the tools and materials, but in the level and experience of construction, as well as the lack of the "model battalion spirit" that has become the norm in the Anjia Army.

This time, An Yi was not appointed as the commander of the North China Theater, which also surprised Pang Bingxun.

The veteran Pang Bingxun has a deep personal relationship with An Yi, and he greatly admires An Yi's command level, and regrets that An Yi stayed at the headquarters to serve as a strategic command. Wan Fulin took into account many factors, and also had a deep understanding of the intricate relationship between the various departments in North China, so he understood Chiang Kai-shek's distress very well.

As soon as these words came out, the generals of the three armies around them all suddenly realized, sighed but helpless, Hu Jialin immediately lowered his face and warned the brothers around him: "All the contents discussed here are strictly forbidden to be disseminated, and everything is mainly to boost morale and boost the morale of the army." ”

In a word, the generals of Pang Bingxun and Wan Fulin sighed, and the military discipline and unique education methods of the An Jiajun really made the armies unreachable.

However, everyone almost ignored An Yi's determination and courage, the reason why An Yi had no attachment to the position of commander of the First Theater and former commander-in-chief of the enemy was that he was confident that in addition to himself and Chiang Kai-shek being able to mobilize the Fifth Army, Hu Jialin would not accept any indiscriminate and irrational command, as long as the Fifth Army was effectively seized, the surrounding friendly forces in a subordinate position would naturally follow closely, not to mention whether the friendship over the years could stand the test, only with An Yi's current status and power, it could be mobilized, which was really not possible, An Yi also has a killer feature - there must be a brave man under the heavy reward! Take the money to smash!

In order to keep peace in North China and avoid the expansion of the war, Song Zheyuan, with the support of the think tank around him, very decisively ordered not to allow the Central Army to go north, and sent a sharp statement telegram to Chiang Kai-shek, the main content of which was: Once the Central Army continues to go north, the charge of instigating war will be borne by the Central Committee!

Song Zheyuan's statement won the approval of the majority of the main peace faction of the Nanjing government and the minority of the main peace faction within the Military Commission, and under the pressure of ***, Chiang Kai-shek had to make a decision to order the Fifth Army, the 53rd Army, and the 40th Army to stop advancing and defend in place. Secretly, Chiang Kai-shek was very aware of the tactics of the Japanese army, and after secret discussions with Bai Chongxi, An Yi, Chen Cheng and other generals, he decisively dispatched troops and ordered Liu Zhi in Henan to temporarily take charge of the command of the six divisions of the Central Army that was going north, and at the same time secretly ordered the Tang Enbo army on the front line of Jinsui to make all combat preparations, and secretly ordered Wei Lihuang's troops stationed in Shanxi to form a group army to reinforce the North China battlefield at any time. In addition, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Chen Cheng to revise the original plan and prepare to mobilize 80 divisions to the north, to put the main battlefield of the Sino-Japanese war in North China, and to maintain the hard-won stability and development in most parts of the country as much as possible.

In the face of such a situation, the An Jiajun had to stop launching a large-scale attack on the Japanese army, otherwise the huge crime of triggering a full-scale war between China and Japan would fall on the head of the Anjia army. If An Yi fought angrily and finally firmly blocked the Japanese army on the front line of Pingjin, it would be good to say, after all, An Jiajun can be called the mainstay, and no one is willing to risk the condemnation of the world to accuse An Yi and An Jiajun, but once the war is tight, it will eventually lead to the fall of North China, coupled with the erosion of the coastal war, then An Yi is very likely to be thrown out as a scapegoat. In this regard, An Yi and the brains behind him are very sober - *** is cruel and cannot tolerate the slightest mistake.

In addition, An Yi has privately obtained the support of Bai Chongxi and Chen Cheng, once a large-scale war breaks out, An Yi will rush to North China as a war supervisor, hide behind Cheng Qian, the chief of the general staff of the first theater, and bypass Liu Zhi to specifically command the combat operations of the Fifth Army and two friendly forces. Both Bai Chongxi and Chen Cheng solemnly promised that they would be responsible for persuading Chiang Kai-shek to give An Yi all the power to act cheaply.

In An Yi and Bai Chongxi's plan, the Japanese army has now felt the firm will of the Chinese people to resist the war, once the 17th Army enters Pingjin despite Song Zheyuan's advice, the Japanese army will temporarily avoid the front, fully retreat, and take the opportunity to provoke the 29th Army and the 17th Army to infighting in the name of peace negotiations, and reap the benefits of the fishermen. Therefore, instead of falling into passivity at that time, it is better to let the two divisions of the Japanese army be drawn into place, so that Song Zheyuan can feel the threat of the Japanese army at close range, and then launch a fierce attack, and strive to annihilate the Japanese troops of these two divisions on the Pingjin line, so that the Japanese army can feel the attitude of the squadron, understand the bottom line of the Chinese government, and promote peace by fighting.

Of course, if *** used this as an excuse to expand the scale of the war, the 17th Army and friendly forces could withdraw to the carefully constructed three fortifications, relying on rivers and fortifications to deal a heavy blow to the Japanese army. An Yi believed that the 17th Army, which had grown up in actual combat, would certainly drag the war in North China into a stalemate stage with the support of subsequent friendly forces, and turn the periphery of Pingjin into Verdun in the east and a meat grinder for the Japanese army.

An Yi and Bai Chongxi discussed for a long time, thinking that once a major war broke out, the Japanese army's air superiority in North China might appear, An Yi once again decided to transfer to North China the Fifth Air Defense Brigade, which had been formed at the end of last year and had just made a great display in the air-ground exercise at Qinzhou Port in Guangxi, to North China.

In An Yi's view, it is best to be able to stalemate with *** in North China, and the worst should be to drag the Japanese army in North China for three or five months, so as to gain enough time for the westward migration of the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. After the outbreak of the war, the target of relocation will not only be limited to machinery and equipment and production materials, but also other such as young and middle-aged people, women, children, grain, cloth, salt, school textbooks and experimental equipment, etc., should also be included in the scope of relocation, so that the enemy will not be left with anything to use, so that the enemy's dream of feeding the war with war will be completely shattered, and at the same time, the damage caused to the people when the war is ignited in East China.

After laying out North China, An Yi turned his attention to Pingjin and the 29th Army to capture the fighters.

At 2 o'clock in the morning of July 10, the Japanese army at Lugou Bridge resumed its attack and surrounded Wanping County. The Fengtai-Beiping track was demolished by the Japanese army. At 10 o'clock in the morning, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs submitted a written letter to the Japanese Embassy, accusing the Japanese side of violating the agreement, demanding that the military action be immediately stopped, that troops be withdrawn on the same day, and that illegal garrisons and exercises be effectively stopped.

On 11 July, the Japanese army continued to clash at Lugou Bridge, and there was contact at Loess Slope, and there was a dramatic battle at Babaoshan in the west of Beiping. The Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that the Japanese side is to blame for the Lugou Bridge incident, and that if Japan makes another mistake, the Far East will be in danger. The embassy in Japan again asked the Japanese side to stop the illegal treachery of the Japanese army in North China. On the same day, due to the serious illness of Tashiro Wanichiro, Lieutenant General Kazuki Kiyoji, the former commander of the Guards Division, rushed to Tianjin to take over the post of commander of the North China Garrison Army.

On 12 July, the 29th Army withdrew from Lugou Bridge to Changxindian and Hengmen, and then Song Zheyuan issued a statement, saying that peace is peace and hope that those responsible will give priority to the overall situation of East Asia. A spokesman for the Nanjing Foreign Ministry said that any solution to the Lugou Bridge incident that has not been approved by the central authorities will be null and void. In the afternoon of the same day, British Foreign Secretary Eden told Japanese Ambassador Shigeru Yoshida and Chinese Ambassador Guo Taiqi that they hoped that the incident in North China would not escalate.

From 13 to 18 July, the Japanese army at Dahongmen attacked Nanyuan and Yongdingmen, and continued to attack Wanping City, and the battle fell into a stalemate. At the same time, during this period of time, the Japanese army rushed to Tianjin as many as nearly 100 troop vehicles and hundreds of fighters, and Song Zheyuan still took a step by step retreat, giving up the Tianjin West Railway Station, allowing the Japanese army to occupy it, and Xiangyue Qingji also moved his North China garrison headquarters to Fengtai, continuing to show its aggressive offensive posture.

In the past week or so, the reconnaissance planes of the Chinese Air Force and the Chinese Air Force have frequently circled over North China and have misfired several times, but fortunately, there have been no casualties, and both sides have maintained a certain degree of restraint.