When He Zhengdao led the first division to Shangluo and was about to set foot in Henan. The defense lines of Lu'an and Huoshan, which were defended and blocked by the Fifth Theater, were officially broken. Hearing the news of the failure of the front-line blockade, Li Zongren was naturally angry.

It can be seen that most of the blocking troops that retreated to the rear have lost their generals. To say that they didn't fight with their hearts, such a thing will definitely not be said. In fact, in order to break through the defensive line of the Fifth Theater of Operations, the Japanese Second Army also paid a great price.

With the complete withdrawal of the Central Army from the Lu'an area, the second line of defense began to be established in the Xinyang area of Henan Province and the Macheng area of Hubei Province. Li Zongren also truly realized that the troops he could mobilize seemed to be a lot, but the actual combat effectiveness was not very strong.

In the first battle of Lu'an and Huoshan, Song Xilian's 71st Army lost nearly one division's strength, while the 42nd Army, which also participated in blocking Sun Lianzhong, suffered greater casualties than the 71st Army. When retreating, Sun Lianzhong was also in a very sad mood.

It's just that Sun Lianzhong knows very well that his 42nd Army has been fighting with the elite of the little devils. In the Battle of Xuzhou that ended earlier, they also fought bloody battles with the Japanese army in the Taierzhuang area, and most of the troops deployed now are new recruits.

With such a force to block the little devils, it is normal for such large casualties to occur. Li Zongren, who also knew this truth, faced Sun Lianzhong, who was also indignant, and he was also not good at saying anything.

After all, Sun Lianzhong's 42nd Army was indeed a hard-headed army on the battlefield of resistance against Japan. But the fact that the defeat is here, what can Li Zongren say? Who called the little devil difficult to deal with?

Seeing that after the Japanese army occupied Lu'an, it actually divided its troops into two routes and planned to attack Wuhan directly from the flank. Li Zongren also realized that the little devil wanted to decide the overall situation in a war. Through them, the channel for attacking Wuhan was directly opened.

Compared with the area defended by the Ninth Theater and the First Corps at the moment, the flanks of the Fifth Theater are indeed worrisome. Except for the last elite ace unit of Song Xilian's 71st Army, the other troops are not strong in combat.

Regarding this situation, Li Zongren also said with some anger: "Damn little devil, you really have to eat my fifth war zone." By the way, did you receive a telegram from the 67th Army? Where are their vanguard now? ”

'Report to Chief Lee, no telegram has been received from them today. However, the day before yesterday we received a telegram from them that they had arrived in Shangluo. I believe that at this time, it should have entered the territory of Henan, right? ’

'Arrived in Shangluo?' Bring the map! ’

No one would have imagined that the situation on the front line would become like this. Even Li Zongren felt that after the Lu'an Blockade Battle, the attacking Japanese army also needed a little time to rest. But this time will certainly not be too long.

With the tactics used by the Japanese army, they would definitely send some elite troops to launch a tentative attack before the main force. In this way, the main force that slowly follows the advance can also get a certain amount of rest and recuperation.

This meant that the Japanese army would not give Li Zongren too much time to set up defenses. But at present, the Nationalist Government's relocation of Wuhan is also in progress. Even many people don't want to move, thinking that the front-line troops should be able to hold on.

But as far as the current situation on the battlefield is concerned, even if a million troops were mobilized in the Battle of Wuhan. But to resist the attack of the Japanese army, unless the Central Army is really willing to fight with the elite, the final result is still unable to hold Wuhan.

Under such circumstances, in order to avoid a repeat of the tragedy of Nanjing, the Nationalist Government still felt that it was preparing for the worst. Some factories and important facilities in Wuhan have now begun to move to Chongqing and Sichuan at an accelerated pace.

If the troops at the front line cannot buy time for the transfer of the rear. Li Zongren also knows very well how much loss this will have to pay for the Nationalist Government. It is precisely because of this that Lao Chiang strictly ordered the front-line troops to defend to the death.

Even Lao Jiang made it clear in the telegram that whoever dares to act in violation of the order will be severely punished. This means that even the descendants of the Central Army, as long as the Japanese army attacks them, they must also defend them to the death.

Looking at the map, Li Zongren felt that the troops brought by He Zhengdao might bring about a turnaround in the current unfavorable situation. Even if they can't resist the Japanese attack in the end, I believe that they can buy time for the troops to block the attack.

Thinking of this, Li Zongren quickly said: "Send a telegram to Commander He of the 67th Army, informing him that the situation on the front line is worrying, and hoping that they can speed up and rush to the Xinyang area to stand by." The sooner you come, the better it will be for the battle.

At present, although we have a lot of troops at hand, most of these troops are units that have been reorganized after the previous war. I now hope that this commander of the He army lives up to his name, and if they don't stand up to it, this battle will be difficult to fight. ”

Listening to Li Zongren's exclamation, the telegraph operator who signed the telegram order soon went to send the telegram. And the staff officer who was staying at the headquarters at the moment said in a timely manner: "Sir, where are you going to place them?" ”

As a staff officer selected for Li Zongren, he is naturally also Li Zongren's confidant. At present, in addition to Xinyang, there is another place that also needs to be strictly guarded in the fifth war zone, that is, the Huanggang area where Macheng and Luotian are located.

Judging from the current situation, the direction of the Japanese army's main attack seems to be the Xinyang area. But even so, for the defense of Macheng and Luo Tian, Li Zongren also did not dare to relax in the slightest. After all, it is the gateway to Wuhan.

Faced with the staff officer's inquiry, Li Zongren thought for a while and said, "I know what you want to say, but judging from the current situation, I must arrange for them to participate in defensive operations in the Xinyang area. In that case, they still have time to take a break.

If they are sent to the Macheng area to organize defense, it may be too late in time. And our real main force at present is more in the Macheng area. But even so, there is no room for loss in Xinyang! ”

Then when they arrive in Xinyang, who will be in charge of the front-line operations? After all, the 71st Army, commanded by Commander Song, was the main force there. They went over, can they cooperate with the 71st Army? ’

As Li Zongren's close staff officer, he is naturally also a leader in the Gui army. As for the matter between the Central Army and the Eighth Route Army, the staff officers are naturally very clear. One mountain cannot tolerate two tigers, and this saying is also suitable for use on the battlefield.

If there is a need for troops to undertake the most arduous resistance battle at that time, will Li Zongren send the 71st Army or He Zhengdao's 67th Army? If you don't arrange it well, it's really easy to offend people!

The staff officer's slightly cautious suggestion really gave Li Zongren a little headache. But even so, he still insisted: "I believe that whether it is Song Xilian or He Zhengdao, they should know the truth that cooperation is beneficial to both sides, and division is harmful to both sides."

If in this case, they are not able to unite together to resist the enemy, then I can only say that they are not worthy of being generals. I still say the same thing, this battle does not distinguish between the Central Army and the Eighth Route Army, only the troops of the War of Resistance.

Whoever has the strongest fighting capacity will have to accept the most difficult task. Whoever can win the battle, I will give credit to whomever I can. Whoever dares to drop the chain, I will dare to remove him from his post. Even if they don't recognize me as the commander of the war zone, they are always Chinese soldiers, right?

Whether it is the chairman of the committee or the Yan'an one, I think they are still measured in the matter of protecting the family and defending the country. Even if there are differences of opinion in private, when it comes to the battlefield, we must be united. Otherwise, it will be all of us who will be hurt! ”

Just as Li Zongren was discussing this issue with the staff officer, the telegraph officer quickly walked in and said, "Sir, Commander He of the 67th Army called back!" They have already entered the boundary of Nanyang, and they are not far from Nanyang. ”

As soon as he heard this, Li Zongren quickly said, "Their marching speed is still quite fast!" Now it is not far from Nanyang, so it is expected that within five days, they should be able to reach the Xinyang area. In this case, it can also come in handy. ”

When Li Zongren sent a telegram to He Zhengdao again, hoping that they could arrive in Xinyang within five days. He Zhengdao, who received the telegram, looked at the telegram: "It seems that the situation on the front line is not very optimistic, and this Chief Li is a little anxious!" ”

Hearing this, Zhang Cheng also smiled and said, "Commander, we are still nearly two hundred kilometers away from Xinyang. At our current pace of marching, we can almost reach it in three days. ”

'Okay, then order the troops to speed up and strive to reach Xinyang within three days.' That way, we'll be able to get two days off. At the same time, a telegram was sent to the reconnaissance brigades, ordering them to send reconnaissance units and begin pre-war reconnaissance.

Tell Li Xiangdong that their reconnaissance mission this time will not only reconnoiter the Japanese army, but also the deployment of our friendly troops. In addition, the Saber Special Operations Team was telegraphed to begin infiltration missions behind enemy lines.

According to what is known so far, the commander who commanded the operation of the Japanese Second Army was a member of the imperial family of the Japanese army. Tell Zhu Fei that if he has the opportunity, he can carry out the beheading task according to the situation, including the commanders of those divisions of the Japanese army. ’

'Yes, Commander! ’

For these officers and soldiers under his command, they still like to call themselves 'commanders', and He Zhengdao can't say anything more. In fact, the officers and men of these independent columns like to call He Zhengdao 'commander', rather than the current general.

In their opinion, the 'commander' was the position given to He Zhengdao by the Eighth Route Army, and the 'army commander' was the position given to He Zhengdao by Lao Jiang. The former also sounds a little bigger than the position of 'army commander', so it is more comfortable and cordial to call it 'commander'.

As He Zhengdao's orders began to be issued, the second division that followed up and the third division, which also entered Henan, also soon received He Zhengdao's orders. For the second and third divisions, it was really difficult for them to rush to Xinyang within five days.

Fortunately, in the current situation, the time left for He Zhengdao is relatively sufficient. As long as the first division can rush to the Xinyang area in advance, I believe it can also play some role. Create more favorable operational conditions for the follow-up main forces to come.

And at this moment, the reconnaissance brigade and the saber special combat team that had arrived in the Dabie Mountain area were after receiving the order from He Zhengdao. Soon they dispersed into small forces and began to attack everywhere, preparing for the arrival of the main force! (To be continued.) )