After receiving the military order from the war zone, Xu Ming did not dare to slack off. In early March, Xu Ming's troops marched north via the Guangdong-Hanzhou Line, passing through Wuhan and Xinyang, and then transported by ship to Huainan. During this period, the signs of the Japanese offensive became more and more obvious.

Originally, the Japanese army planned to launch an offensive at the beginning of 1938, on the grounds that it would clear the enemy in Fengyang and Bengbu and ensure that the southern section of the Jinpu Line would not be harassed by the squadron. However, the plan was thwarted when it was reported to the base camp, and the Japanese upper echelons made it clear that they would not expand the occupied area in 1938 and would concentrate on sweeping away the guerrillas in the rear and stabilizing the occupied area.

The commander of the 13th Division, Ogizhou Libing, was unwilling, and his troops did not perform much in either the Battle of Songhu or the Battle of Nanjing, and he repeatedly asked to lead his troops north, so he was involved with the commander of the Central China Dispatch Army, General Yan Junliu.

Yan Junroku also did not approve of the radical behavior of the Ogishu soldiers, and he was relatively rational among the early commanders of the Japanese army. He was soberly aware that although the Japanese army had occupied many places, it had only occupied large cities, and that there were still numerous resistance forces active in most villages and mountainous areas, and that these resistance forces were still very weak and had no unified command. However, if it is not suppressed in the initial stage and is unified and organized by the Chinese side, it will be like a weed on the grassland, full of mountains and wilderness, and cannot be eradicated.

It was only three years later that the Japanese strata realized how predictable Yan Shunroku's opinion was, but the Ogishu soldiers of 1938 could not understand it. How can the extermination of a guerrilla army armed with a stick and a shotgun compare to the defeat of a regular army of the enemy? How can capturing a ravine with no name on the map compare to capturing a large city in China? After occupying the provincial capital of China, a lantern parade was held throughout Japan......

On the same day that Xu Ming arrived in Huainan, Yan Junliu finally agreed to the northward movement of the 13th Division under the condition of dividing the operational demarcation line, and transferred an unprecedentedly powerful subordinate force: armored troops, bridge-building materials, river-crossing materials, heavy howitzer troops, cannon units, anti-aircraft artillery units, flying troops, and railway troops......

At the same time that the vanguard of the Japanese army set out from Quanjiao, divided into two routes, and attacked Mingguang and Dingyuan, Xu Ming's troops also received an operational order from the Military Commission: "The 138th Division takes Dingyuan as a support point and deploys along the line of the Chihe River; The 107th Division assembled at Mingguang to block the enemy's northward advance, and retreated to the line of Fengyang and Bengbu as a last resort. ”

"Brother Zhihua, what's going on with the military order in the war zone? What is the last resort, and under what circumstances can be the last resort. Xu Ming had just arrived in Mingguang, and before he could check the terrain, he received such a telegram.

Zhang Shaofang knew what was going on, and said with a smile: "This is because the Military Commission is not optimistic about us, and it doesn't even have a word to ensure Mingguang, and it also gives us a last resort, which means that it is not a big problem for us to leave after a few shots." ”

"Lieping, look, when will we have to do it?" Xu Ming handed the telegram to Qin Lieping.

Qin Lieping raised his eyebrows, "We have no choice but to defeat the vanguard of the devil first, this is the first battle since the establishment of our army, we must make a name for ourselves!" ”

Xu Ming and his commanders at all levels knew that this battle was not easy to fight, but the troops had just been formed, and the first battle was too important.

Whether a unit can become a strong army has something to do with its tradition of victory. The 74th Army in history, known as China's strongest army, came from where it came from, that is, from Wanjialing and Shanggao victories again and again; On the other hand, the Japanese 106th Division, its location, officer composition, and equipment establishment are the same as those of the Japanese 6th Division, except that it is composed of retired soldiers. But the reason why this division was called "Japan's first weak division" by Okamura Ninji was that the Battle of Wuhan was completely defeated on the Nanxun Line.

The first battle must be fought well, and the tradition of victory begins with Mingguang! Xu Ming secretly made up his mind.

At that time, Mingguang was not a city, not even a county. In 1932, 32 Bao were divided from Xuyi, Lai'an, Dingyuan and Chuxian to form Jiashan County, and Mingguang was only a town under its jurisdiction.

However, Mingguang's position is very important, pinching the southern section of the Jinpu line, and if the Japanese army wants to open up the Jinpu line, they must first occupy Mingguang and Dingyuan.

In the middle of March 1938, there had just been a sleet fall, and the sky was still foggy, and Meiko Station was shrouded in it.

The weather was so cold that people shivered, and the officers and men of the 107th Division had not seen snow for many years. But they could not rest yet, and these days, under the supervision of officers of all ranks, they continued to build fortifications day and night.

Time is running out, the Japanese army doesn't know when it will come, and if the position is not repaired, don't be blown up by the devil's artillery in the future.

"I'm guilty! I'm a traitor! I'm guilty! I'm a traitor. There was a wail from the position.

When a soldier saw it, he put down his shovel and spat on the ground: "Traitors of dog days, we don't have coats to wear!" ”

The theater had just sent 2,000 overcoats to the 107th Division, but as soon as they arrived, they were bombed by Japanese planes. The three traitors were found by "Taibai" in a cave not far away, and they were operating a radio to inform the Japanese army of the location of the warehouse.

Chen Huizhi was furious, stripped the three traitors naked, tied them with iron chains, and let them wander around the country. One of the traitors staggered under his feet, and his shouting stopped slightly, and when the soldiers who were behind saw it, he immediately picked up the thorny rattan whip and whipped it fiercely.

"I'm guilty! I'm a traitor! I'm guilty! I am a traitor......", the shout gradually faded away.

Xu Ming has no pity for these traitors, pity them, who pities himself and his soldiers. He was shivering from the cold now, and his hands were rubbing together. The 1,000 overcoats rescued were given priority to the sick soldiers, and he himself wore only single clothes to inspect the construction of the fortifications.

Back at the division headquarters, the guards hurriedly sent a bowl of ginger soup, and Xu Ming drank it in a big gulp, feeling a little warmer in his heart.

"Inform the battalion commander and above officers to come to the division headquarters for a meeting at three o'clock in the afternoon." Xu Ming ordered.

In the conference room of the division headquarters temporarily set up, Chief of Staff Zhang Shaofang first gave a briefing on the enemy situation: "The news from Division Commander Mo (138th Division) that the Japanese army has about 2,000 people and more than 20 artillery pieces, marching towards the Chihe River; According to reliable information, the vanguard of the Japanese army, about 100 people, has set out from Quanjiao and searched and advanced in the direction of Sanjiepu. ”

Sanjie Town is located about 55 kilometers north of Myeongwang, which was the administrative area of Jiashan County, the county at that time, and it seems that the Japanese attack is imminent.

After Zhang Shaofang finished the report, Xu Ming continued: "If you have any opinions, you can say them directly. ”

As soon as the 107th Division was formed, Xu Ming wanted to form a tradition, that is, a pre-battle meeting, where everyone could speak freely, but once a resolution was formed, it must be implemented.

Although Xu Ming said this, an officer at the level of battalion commander would not say much.

Xie Jinyuan stood up and said: "Judging from the current situation, the Japanese may arrive within 2-3 days, and I propose to place the main force of the troops in Hengshan and Magang in the southwest of Mingguang; Guard the stone gate with one to ensure the way out; and to guard Sanhe with one section, and seek contact with the 138th Division on the left. ”

Xie Jinyuan's combat plan was a typical positional defensive battle, with Mingguang as the center, building defensive positions around it, and forming depth in key areas. The advantage of this method of warfare is that it will not collapse easily. Zhang Shaofang, chief of staff present at the meeting, and Yang Ruifu, deputy head of the 643 Regiment, agreed with this plan.

Not everyone supports it, Qin Lieping is against it, and he has different opinions.

"The devil is menacing, it is reported that there is heavy artillery, I do not agree with the opinions of Chief of Staff Zhang and Regiment Commander Xie, I advocate not using Mingguang as the base point, and fighting in a mobile form. With a part of the army deployed in the Sanbaling, Sanjieji and other places, to block the northward advance, the main force is located in the Jiashan Mountains, at any time to flank the enemy. ”

This kind of plan is a kind of mobile combat thinking, and Zhao Ren, Chen Huizhi, Peng Cong, and others from the Qiyang department insist on this opinion.

Everyone is a young officer, even the chief of staff Zhang Shaofang is only 33 years old, and there are arguments when there are differences of opinion.

Chen Huizhi said: "I don't agree with your plan, Captain Xie, can you keep the bright light in this way?" From Peking to Taiyuan, from Shanghai to Nanjing, we have never held our position! Besides, we have been here for too short a time, and I think we need to flank the enemy in the form of guerrilla warfare. ”

"Could it be that Regiment Commander Qin doesn't even have field fortifications like this, can he keep the bright light? At most, it can only delay the enemy. Xie Jinyuan retorted.

"Even if we can't hold it this way, our casualties won't be too big." Indeed, the casualties of both sides of the positional defense battle will probably not be small, Peng Cong is the first time to be the commander of the regiment, and he still very much hopes that his troops will not suffer too many casualties.

……

Xu Ming knew that this was not so much the difference between the two factions as the difference between the two combat ideas. Xie Jinyuan and Zhang Shaofang belonged to typical regular Whampoa officers, advocating very orthodox positional warfare; And Zhao Ren, Qin Lieping, and others served in the Red Army, and they were deeply influenced by the idea of guerrilla warfare.

It is difficult to distinguish right from wrong in this kind of argument, and sure enough, in the end, everyone looked at Xu Ming and waited for him to come up with the final idea.

If Xu Ming can only choose one of the two, Xu Ming supports Xie Jinyuan. It's not that guerrilla warfare is wrong, but that this place in Mingguang is really not suitable for conducting guerrilla warfare on a large scale.

From Chuxian to Mingguang, until Bengbu, it is a railway line, which does not have any mountains and rivers to obstruct, the Jiashan in Qin Lieping's mouth is just a group of hundreds of meters high mountains, the radius is only dozens of miles, not to mention that compared with the mountains and mountains of Shanxi, it is better than the Siming Mountain of Qiyang, it is also much inferior. It was not easy for tens of thousands of troops to guerrilla attacks in this place.

But whether Xie Jinyuan's large-scale positional offensive and defensive battle could withstand the superior artillery fire of the Japanese army, Xu Ming did not know in his heart.

Xu Ming fell into deep thought, one of his current decisions is likely to determine the fate of tens of thousands of people in the 107th Division. Whether it was brilliant or bleak, success or failure, Xu Ming felt a heavy pressure on his shoulders.

Xu Ming picked up a pen and wrote wildly in his notebook, and Zhao Ren, who was familiar with Xu Ming's characteristics, knew that Xu Ming was using his "brainstorming" method.

Zhang Shaofang, who was sitting next to him, was curious, stretched out his head, and vaguely saw a few words: "Offense, defense, mistakes, misdirection, Yamada Meiji, Xu Ming......"

Zhang Shaofang was puzzled, Xu Ming closed the notebook, and asked Qin Lieping: "Commander Qin, can your plan stop the Japanese army from going north?" ”

Qin Lieping replied: "Although we can't stop the enemy, if we block it for 5-7 days, there should be no problem, and the casualties of the troops will not be too large." ”

Xu Ming turned his head and asked Xie Jinyuan, "Head Xie, can your plan keep the bright light?" ”

Xie Jinyuan's reply was: "Although we can't keep the bright light, if we keep it well, it is possible to hold it for seven days, so that we can complete the task of the Military Commission very well." ”

Sure enough, Xu Ming smiled bitterly in his heart, although everyone said that this battle would be won and the Japanese army would be defeated, but in fact, they were not sure. Both options were based on holding positions for a few days, rather than defeating the Japanese army. Perhaps, in their opinion, holding the ground, is victory.

Xu Ming cleared his throat and said something, which caused an uproar among everyone present.

What exactly is it that caused such a stir?

ps: What Xu Ming said is that if you read books, you don't recommend it, at least you have to collect it!!