Yesterday was a busy day, and this morning it was done, and I came late, apologize. "Boss, is this Bengbu? Outside Bengbu City, Lu Qiang and the others looked at the word "Bengbu" on the city wall, although there are still two people who don't know the word, but it doesn't matter, there are still three people who know the word.

Now Bengbu has been fully under military control, because the Japanese 13th Division attacked north along the Jinpu Road from Chuxian, and the defenders retreated to the west bank of the Chihe River with movement defense, Guangming was about to fall, and it was already close to Bengbu.

As an otaku who loves military affairs, Lu Qiang has seen the Battle of Xuzhou, and his memory is: The Japanese army occupied Mingguang on the 18th. On January 26, the Japanese "Central China Front" ordered the 13th Division to "annihilate the enemy near Fengyang and Bengbu", and the 13th Division then deployed 3 routes to attack north; The commander of the 26th Brigade, Numata Tokushige, led 4 infantry brigades and 2 mountain artillery brigades to attack Bengbu along the Jinpu Road for the east road, crossing the Chi River from Mingguang and along the Jinpu Road; The commander of the 13th Division, Dizhou Libing, led the main force to the middle road, starting from Chuxian, crossing the Chihe River in Chihe Town, and attacking Bengbu from Zongpu and Fengyang; The 65th Wing Commander Liang Jiaoye led 3 infantry brigades and 1 mountain artillery brigade to the west road, starting from Quanjiao, crossing the Chi River near Daqiao Town, passing through Dingyuan, Xishilidian and Nianjiagang, and detouring to the Shangyao area at the northern end of Gaotang Lake, covering and preparing for the operation of the East Route Army and the Middle Route Army. After fierce fighting, the Japanese troops of the three routes successively broke through the Chihe defense line and advanced to the west bank. According to Li Zongren's order, the 31st Army of the defending army withdrew the main force west to the area of the West Huainan Railway in Bengbu, and stood by to flank the enemy advancing northward, and used a part of the army to resist one by one between the Huai River and the Chi River. The Japanese troops on the East Road crossed the Chihe River on the 28th, captured Linhuai Pass on February 1, and occupied Bengbu on the 2nd; The Japanese troops on the middle route crossed the Chihe River on the 29th and occupied Fengyang on the 2nd; The Japanese army on the west route crossed the Chihe River on the 28th and occupied Dingyuan on the 2nd.

When the Japanese army forcibly crossed the Chihe River, Li Zongren urgently transferred the 51st Army from Dangshan to the south for reinforcements in order to strengthen the defensive strength of the southern front. The 114th Division arrived first and immediately deployed defenses on the north bank of the Huai River between Bengbu and Wuhe, and rushed to repair the fortifications. The 26th Brigade of the Japanese Army captured Linhuai Pass on the 1st, and the next morning, while the main force attacked Bengbu, it sent a brigade to force the Huai River from the southward protrusion of the Huai River under the cover of aircraft and artillery fire. After 4 hours of fierce fighting, he was repulsed by the 340th Brigade of the defenders. The defenders of Bengbu retreated to the north bank of the Huai River on the 2nd and blew up the Huai River Bridge, but the hundreds of civilian ships originally anchored on the south bank did not have time to withdraw. On 3 February, the 26th Brigade of the Japanese Army, which had captured Bengbu, carried out a forced crossing east of Bengbu with about two brigades of troops by civilian boats. The 342nd Brigade, which defended this section, fought valiantly, but still had a Japanese army on the north bank. On the morning of 4 February, the 113th Division of the 51st Army arrived by car, coordinated with the 114th Division to counterattack, and repelled the enemy who had landed on the north bank. However, on that day, another unit of the Japanese 26th Brigade crossed the Huai River west of Bengbu, captured Huaiyuan, and reached the south bank of the Vortex River; The 65th Wing also advanced to Shangyao. The 51st Army adjusted its deployment: ordered the 113th Division and the 2nd Anhui Provincial Security Regiment to defend the riverbank positions from Xiaobengbu (in the north of Bengbu, a small town on the north bank of the Huai River) to Huaiyuan and the north bank of the Vortex River; The 114th Division was on its left flank, defending the position on the north bank of Linhuai Pass to the bank of the Ximen River. The military headquarters is located in Guzhen.

On 8 February, more than 20 Japanese planes bombed Xiaobengbu, and immediately prepared artillery fire to destroy all the fortifications on the riverbank. Under the cover of artillery fire, more than 1,000 Japanese troops took civilian boats and motorboats to carry out forced crossings. The defenders resisted stubbornly and twice repelled the Japanese troops who crossed the river. At 23 o'clock that night, the Japanese army carried out a night forced crossing, once landed on the north bank, and captured Xiaobengbu. Zhou Xianlie, commander of the 113th Division, ordered the 337th Brigade to counterattack, and the fierce battle lasted until 1 o'clock on the 9th, and the position was restored. At dawn on the 10th, the Japanese army launched another large-scale forcible attack, and captured Xiaobengbu around 10 o'clock. The 113th Division counterattacked with all its might. The two sides fought many times, and Xiaobengbu was finally occupied by the Japanese army.

On February 10, at the same time as the Japanese army that invaded and occupied Bengbu launched an attack, the Japanese army that invaded and occupied Linhuai Pass also launched a forced attack, first breaking through the coastal positions of Yangongmiao around 6 o'clock, and soon occupied Meiyuanzi, Qianbanzi, Xinzhuang and other places. Mu Zhongheng, commander of the 114th Division, ordered the 340th Brigade to organize a counterattack, and "bloody hand-to-hand combat" lasted all day to recapture some positions such as Xinzhuang and Meiyuanzi. However, on the 11th, the Japanese follow-up troops crossed the Huai River, and the 114th Division suffered more than 2,000 casualties. As a result of numerous breaches of coastal positions, many of the defending units lost command due to the death of officers. In order to concentrate forces and reorganize the troops, Yu Xuezhong, commander of the 51st Army, ordered the whole army to move to the line of Heji and Xinmaqiao near the Xianghe River on the night of the 11th.

On February 13, Li Zongren transferred Zhang Zizhong's 59th Army, which had just been transferred to the Fifth War Zone, to the vicinity of Guzhen and took over the defense of the 51st Army. The 51st Army withdrew to the area around Xisipo Station for rest. The 59th Army deployed the 38th Division (owed to the 81st Brigade) to defend the line from Watuanji to Yangdianzi west of Guzhen, and the 180th Division to defend the line from Yangdianzi to the southeast of Guzhen, with the army headquarters located at Renqiao. At this time, most of the main force of the Japanese 13th Division advanced to the north of the Huai River. Li Zongren ordered the 31st Army to carry out flank attacks from Hefei to Mingguang and Dingyuan from Hefei to Shangyao and Fengyang, and ordered the 7th Army of the 21st Group Army of the Xinli Fifth Theater to carry out flank attacks from Hefei to Mingguang and Dingyuan; At the same time, the air force was asked to support the bombardment of the enemy at Bengbu and Linhuai Pass, forcing the Japanese army to withdraw the main force that had crossed Huaibei to Huainan, so as to strengthen the defense of Bengbu and the Tianjin-Pudong railway. Zhang Zizhong took the opportunity to order the 180th Division and the 38th Division to form a reinforced regiment on the 15th to counterattack the enemy at Xiaobengbu. After fighting, Xiaobengbu was recaptured, and all the Japanese troops north of the Huai River withdrew to the south of the Huai River.

After 17 February, the situation in the northern section of the Jinpu Road became tighter, and the Japanese army began to attack the 3rd Army west of the canal from Jining. On the 20th, according to Chiang Kai-shek's instructions, Li Zongren ordered that "Zhang Zizhong should be transferred to Lincheng to stand by."

This is the Huai River Blocking Battle, here I will talk about the operational policy of the Xuzhou Battle Center:

The main reason is that the 21st Group Army of the Chinese army has been transferred from Jiangnan to the Hefei area and joined the battle sequence of the Fifth Theater. In accordance with the military commission's telegram order of 23 January to take a defensive position on the southern front, and in light of the specific situation that the 13th Division of the Japanese Army was attacking in the direction of Bengbu and the Huai River blocking battle had begun, a new operational order was issued on 3 February 1938. The main contents are:

1. The theater of operations will fight against the enemy in the southern section of Jinpu, refuse to stop in the area south of the Huai River, and attack it continuously from its flanks, gradually drive out and clear it, and at the same time consolidate the Lunan Mountains. Take a flank attack on the northern section of Jinpu and the eastern section of Longhai, contain the enemy's southward or westward movement, and defend Xuzhou. The battle territory with the first theater is the line of Yuncheng, Zhoujiakou, Luyi, Shangqiu, Chengwu, Yuncheng and Zhangqiuzhen, and the line belongs to the first theater.

2. The field army is divided and used as follows:

(1) The 11th Group Army is the 1st Field Corps, located between the west of Dingyuan and the south bank of the Huai River, threatening the enemy's flank and back to Linhuai and Bengbu in order to contain its crossing. The 21st Group Army was the 4th Field Corps, and after assembling in the vicinity of Hefei and Zhangqiao Town, it advanced to Hanshan and Quanjiao, flanking the enemy in the southern section of Jinpu. The 27th Group Army (6th Army Corps) and the 3rd and 4th Anhui Security Regiments, under the command of Commander Yang Sen, were the 3rd Field Corps, located east of Anqing, serving as the garrison of Anqing and its nearby rivers, and conducting guerrilla attacks in the areas of Anqing, Lujiang and Wuweijian. Commander-in-Chief Yu Xuezhong commanded the 51st Army and the 31st Army as the 2nd Field Corps, which deployed defenses on the north bank of the Huai River to prevent the enemy from attacking north. All the above units are under the command of Deputy Commander Li Pinxian.

(2) The 22nd Group Army was the 5th Field Corps, which went north from the vicinity of Teng County and recovered Zou County.

3. According to the situation in the theater, it is divided into four guerrilla zones, and the basic units to be equipped and their tasks are as follows:

(1) The 1st Guerrilla Zone, based on the 57th Army (owed to the 112th Division) and the 89th Army of the 24th Group Army, is located in Huaiyin and the areas south of it, and is engaged in guerrilla attacks against the enemy at Jinpu, Longhai, and Jiang'an (Yangtze River); In addition, the 112th Division was appointed as the garrison along the coast of the East China Sea.

(2) The 2nd Guerrilla Zone, with the command post headquarters of Pang Bingxun, commander of the 3rd Army Corps, and the Marine Corps as the backbone, was located in the mountainous area of Lunan and attacked the enemy in Jinpu, Jiaoji, Longhai and the southeast coast of Shandong.

(3) The Third Guerrilla Zone, under the command post of Commander-in-Chief Sun Tongxuan of the 3rd Group Army, the 12th Army and the 55th Army, located in the southwestern part of Shandong, attacked the enemy in the canal and Longhai, and reverted to Jinan as the basis for advancing northward.

(4) The Fourth Guerrilla Zone, with the security forces in northern Anhui and the guerrilla units in the area such as Song Shike, Sun Bowen, and Ji Guangen as the backbone, was under the command of Deputy Commander Li Pinxian to cut off the southern section of Jinpu in order to prevent the enemy's reinforcements.

4. The 59th Army was immediately transported to Suxian and assembled in the place to standby.

In order to contain the Japanese forces on the northern front and cooperate with the operations on the southern front, the Military Council issued a telegram order on February 4 to "take an offensive north of Jining." On 6 February, the Fifth Theater issued a supplementary order, the main contents of which were:

"(1) The 3rd Army attacked Jining with the main force, and attacked Wenshang in a roundabout way from the vicinity of Kaihe Town.

(2) The main force of the 22nd Group Army attacked Zou County, one part attacked between Qufu and Zou County, and the other was placed between Lincheng and Hanzhuang.

"(3) The 3rd Army Corps, near Linyi, cooperated with the local troops in this area, and after seizing Mengyin and Surabaya with one part each, threatened the enemy at Tai'an, Dawenkoujian, Nanyi, and Qufu. For the key points in the north of Rizhao, Juxian, and Yishui, a unit was sent to jointly defend it with the marines. ”

Bengbu, Lu Qiang took a lot of effort to get in, no way, the Japanese army has too many spies in China, and now Bengbu is strictly forbidden to enter and exit, Lu Qiang reported his name, took out the military ID card he picked up from Nanjing (their own eight generations were lost), said all the good things, and his mouth was worn out, and he was let in. However, as soon as they were put in, Lu Qiang and the others were called to the military headquarters of the 31st Army to answer.