At the headquarters of the 1st Corps of the Eighth Route Army in Nanjing, Xiao Ke's servants rushed back from the reorganized puppet army station. Walking into the headquarters, I found Su Yu and Luo Ronghuan smiling, "When I entered the city, I found that the troops were concentrating on the wharf, are you going to cross the river and go north?" Shook asked excitedly. Political Commissar Luo Ronghuan said: "The headquarters adopted our suggestion, and the 2nd Corps temporarily stayed on the front line in Hangzhou and maintained strong military pressure on the Japanese army in Songhu. Our corps left two divisions, including the two puppet army divisions that were reorganized, to serve as the first-line defense of Nanjing. ”

"Great, I'll lead the 11th Army to cross the river and go north immediately," Xiao Ke hurriedly raised his leg and left. "Brother Xiao, you're too impatient, don't be impatient!" Su Yu continued: "The headquarters called to inform that according to the new situation, the Eighth Route Army units belonging to the Jizhong Base Area and the Shandong Base Area will be reorganized and formed into two independent columns, and the headquarters has decided to transfer you to serve as the commander of the Shandong Independent Column. Su Yu finished and handed the telegram to Xiao Ke.

"The two brothers, there is indeed some surprise. My mood is mixed right now, and I can't bear to leave you. The decision made by the headquarters is correct, and it is time for our base areas behind enemy lines to play a role. "Brother Xiao, there is a way that there is no banquet in the world that will not be dispersed. Since we met in the Jiujiang base area, we have not been separated for more than ten years, and we are reluctant to let you go! Political Commissar Luo Ronghuan said emotionally. As the counteroffensive progresses, the battle will get bigger and bigger, and perhaps one day the commissar and I will be separated according to the needs of the situation. ”

"Report, the special operations team sent by the headquarters has arrived!" An operational staff officer reports. Su Yu nodded to show that he understood: "Brother Xiao, for your safety, the headquarters sent a special operations detachment to escort you to the Shandong base area, you go and prepare and follow the troops across the river!" A few days later, Su Yu and Luo Ronghuan saw off Xiao Ke at the dock. There are endless words between comrades-in-arms, but the silent farewell shows the depth of friendship.

"We'll see you in Shandong!" "Have a nice trip!" After a warm hug from each other, Schock and his accompanying special operations team soldiers boarded a steam freighter. In June, the Yangtze River has entered a period of abundant water, and the vast water surface is very spectacular. All kinds of boats shuttled back and forth on the river, carrying soldiers and military supplies. Before the army moved, grain and grass went first, and all kinds of military supplies had to be hoarded on the north bank of the river first.

Xiao Ke's boat docked at Jiangbei Wharf, and the mood of the two began to recover. "The rolling Yangtze River is passing away, and the waves are sweeping away the eternal romantic characters. In the face of today's spectacular scene, the past refuses to look back! Political Commissar Luo Ronghuan sighed. Yes! Maybe one day your and my names will go down in history and become historical figures, which is exciting to think about. "Report, Zhao Liang called, the vanguard of the 12th Army was blocked by a Japanese brigade in Hanshan!"

Su Yu took the telegram and looked at it and said, "Okamura Ninji is indeed cunning, he must have thought that we would cross the river and go north." "It seems that the Japanese army in Wuhan has also retreated, it seems that Lao Jiang's mind is on grabbing territory, if Wei Lihuang's corps takes Xiangpan as soon as possible, the Japanese army in Wuhan will become a turtle in the urn." "There is no problem with General Wei Lihuang, the key is Lao Jiang's problem. His mind speaks for itself. The appearance of Japanese troops in Hanshan indicates that the Japanese army in Wuhan has begun a large-scale retreat. ”

"Order Zhao Liang not to let this Japanese army run away and capture Hefei as soon as possible!" The two of them came to the headquarters as they spoke. "Report a call from the headquarters, confirming that the Japanese army has withdrawn from Wuhan on a large scale! The headquarters telegraphed to our department to quickly occupy Hefei and Chuzhou, and then wave troops eastward to seize Yangzhou to prevent the Japanese army from escaping by sea from Lianyungang. Su Yu said: "The intention of the headquarters is to force the Japanese army to the Beijing-Tianjin area, occupy the entire territory of Jiangsu, and threaten the Songhu area in the north, so as to achieve the goal of surrendering the army without a fight." ”

"It seems that we are also going to cross the river, I didn't expect the situation to develop so quickly. However, Okamura Ninji is indeed old-fashioned, and he should give up unequivocally. The delay in the withdrawal of the Japanese army from Wuhan did win at least half a year for the Japanese army to build a solid defensive line in the northeast. "Political Commissar Luo Ronghuan analyzed." Okamura Ninji also has no way, Japan's population is full of 7 million troops, excluding non-combatants, his combat force can have 5 million is the limit, maybe I count too much. ”

"The Japanese army has captured such a vast area, and it is natural that the strength of the army is overstretched. The Pacific Theater almost emptied the main forces of the Kwantung Army in the northeast, and Okamura had no choice. If we had a fleet, Okamura would have retreated to the northeast long ago. At present, the total strength of our Eighth Route Army has reached 1.5 million, and the total strength of the Central Army has reached 3 million. Okamura is not a fool, he can only shrink his forces step by step, and finally fight a decisive battle in the northeast. ”

"In fact, Okamura's strategic layout is very clever, using maritime superiority to occupy the coastal zone, which can be attacked, retreated, and defended." "The headquarters did not let us continue to advance northward, just to prevent the Japanese army from carrying out the tactics of blocking and dragging us down. The decision of the headquarters is right. "I don't expect the Japanese army to effectively block Hanshan more than tomorrow morning. To be honest, the Japanese army used this tactic, and we really had no way to deal with it. Sending a small number of interspersed troops will not work at all, and it will not be possible to do it if there are too many of them. ”

"Yes, the logistical supply of the movement of the large corps cannot be guaranteed, this is our weakness, Okamura Ninji took advantage of our weakness, so he retreated with ease, this move resolved our strategic intentions, and the plan to destroy a large number of Japanese living forces fell through." Just as Su Yu judged, the Japanese army in Hanshan sniped for a day and a night and retreated. Japanese engineering units planted mines on the roads, which slowed down the attack of the pursuing troops.

The Japanese headquarters in Shanghai, because Su Yu's main corps crossed the river to the north and failed to attempt a decisive battle with the main force of the Eighth Route Army in the Songhu area, Okamura Ningji prepared to set off and relocate the headquarters to Tianjin. As the core of command in the Chinese theater, he should sit in the northeast. However, in order to boost morale and confuse the opponent, Okamura Ninji kept the command center on the front line. Before leaving, Okamura Ningji appointed Kagawa as the commander of the defense of the Songhu area, and since the beginning of the counterattack operation in Chinese mainland, Okamura racked his brains, strategized, and commanded well, which effectively delayed the speed of the enemy's attack, won valuable time, and avoided the battle damage of the Japanese army, for which he was highly praised by the Japanese base camp.

Before leaving for Tianjin, he was ordered by Hideki Tojo to return to China, because the Japanese emperor wanted to summon him to learn more about the situation in Chinese mainland. Pudong military airport, Okamura Ninji is ready to get on the plane. Before boarding the plane, he said to Kagawa: "At present, the main force of the 10th Army in Wuhan is retreating to Xuzhou, and the Su Yu troops of the Eighth Route Army are not continuing to wave their troops to the north but to the east, which is somewhat unexpected by me. The commander of the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army is very smart, so we have to be extra careful. ”

"Please rest assured, I will remember your request." Kagawa bowed his head. "The Eighth Route Army has deployed heavy troops on the Taiqin defense line, and it will attack at any time, so you have to be extra careful. The strategic location of Songhu cannot be lost, and the defense system of the East China Sea is an important part here. I judged that the Eighth Route Army would not launch an attack on Songhu in a short period of time. At the moment, our strongest opponent is the Eighth Route Army, and the Central Army is busy grabbing territory, which is a boon for us. ”

Okamura Ningji continued: "After I leave, you will send Wang Jingwei to the northeast, this person is still of use value to us, and we must let him continue to play a role." Okamura boarded the plane in anticipation of the generals, and since the Shanghai airport had been paralyzed by frequent air raids, Okamura had no choice but to use the Pudong airport to embark on the journey. The transport aircraft, escorted by several Zero fighters, flew non-stop to the Korean Peninsula and then flew to the mainland via the Korean Peninsula.

In late July, Su Yu and Luo Ronghuan led the Corps Headquarters to Yangzhou. On the day of arriving in Yangzhou, he received a report from the headquarters that the Northwest Group Army of the Eighth Route Army, after a month and a half of continuous offensive operations, continued to conquer the outer defense line of Taiyuan. The commander of the Japanese defense in Shanxi, Ban Heng Zhengshiro, was forced to abandon Taiyuan and began a large-scale withdrawal from Shanxi, and the first phase of the Eighth Route Army's counteroffensive was successfully closed.

The eastward march went very smoothly, and the day after arriving in Yangzhou, Su Yu and Luo Ronghuan were in a particularly happy mood and strolled through the streets.

Looking at the depressed market, Su Yu said with a depressed expression: "I heard that Yangzhou is very prosperous, and it is distressing to be dilapidated like this under the rule of the Japanese for a few years!" "I believe that Yangzhou will soon return to its former prosperity, and although it will survive the disaster, the scenery will still be charming." "Brother Luo, you have a soft spot for history and humanities, why don't you comment on Yangzhou?" "I was also influenced by Chief of General Staff Ouyang, and I became interested in human geography, since Brother Su has Yaxing, I will show off."

Luo Ronghuan thought for a while and continued: "In ancient times, Yangzhou was one of the nine states, known as Guangling, Jiangdu, Weiyang, etc. The history of Yangzhou is about 2,400 years, after two thousand years of evolution of different dynasties, Yangzhou is crowned with the reputation of 'Huaizuo Famous Capital, Zhuxi Best Place', and later generations are also called Moon City. The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal passes through Yangzhou and is crowned as the first city of the Grand Canal. Yangzhou people are outstanding, the cultural atmosphere is strong, and the famous Yangzhou Eight Strange ??????。 ”

"Haha, Brother Luo's comments are wonderful, let's find a restaurant to celebrate!" Su Yu shouted loudly. "Report! The vanguard of the 15th Army occupies Lianyungang! "A sidecar pulled up in front of me, and a combat staff officer reported it." Brother Su, it seems that we can't stay in Yangzhou for a few days, and we should celebrate! "I guess the headquarters won't let us go north for the time being?" "I also guessed that by capturing one place and consolidating another, we would create the conditions for continuing the march."

"Brother Luo, to restore the local economy, you should be busy again!" "Who made me the political commissar, my life is bitter!" , the two teased, walked to the door of a restaurant and paused.