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Chapter 1669 Central Plains Battle Situation

In the dead of night, a small conference room on the fifth floor of Jiangnan Hotel. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Shen Fengdao, An Yi's adjutant general and vice minister of national security, Zhao Rui, director of the Fourth Department of the Military Commission of the Nanjing National Government, who had not appeared in order to avoid suspicion, and Lu Yixuan and Qu Muchen, who had been ordered to rush to Nanjing from Jinnan to report on their work, sat at a round table with An Yi and exchanged softly.

"After the victory in the Battle of Shanxi, Yan Xishan hurriedly transferred our group army from northern Jin to southern Jin. Xinxiang in northern Henan is where the Japanese army river defense headquarters is located, along the north bank of the Yellow River and the line of Wangwushan deployed five divisions, Xinxiang Japanese army in response to the Datong Japanese army launched the offensive in northern Jinbei, along the north bank of the Yellow River, from Qinyang to invade Yuanqu (now Yuanqu ancient town).

"Yuanqu has an important geographical location, choking the Yellow River, westward can attack Zhongtiao Mountain, occupy Maojindu, Fenglingdu, cut off Shanxi and the south bank of the Yellow River, go south can directly cross the Yellow River, bypass the flank of the second theater, occupy the Longhai Railway, and go north to covet the Tongpu Railway and threaten Taiyuan.

"The 103rd and 107th Divisions of the Japanese Army are Category B divisions, and the 61st, 62nd, and 63rd Divisions are Category C divisions under the three-wing system. Last year, most of the divisions we encountered in China were Division A, which had two brigades and regiments, each with two infantry wings, and one company each of engineers, cavalry, artillery, and artillery, totaling more than 28,000 people.

"Category B divisions were formed at the end of last year, and due to the serious shortage of horses, the cavalry wings were reduced to brigades according to the standards of Division A, and some divisions and regiments did not even have cavalry, and there were two brigades under their jurisdiction, each brigade was still two infantry wings, one wing each of engineers, artillery, and guns, a total of seven wings, plus non-combatants from the division headquarters and the two brigade headquarters, totaling more than 24,000 people; The C division is a new division and regimental structure adopted this year, with three infantry wings, one engineer and one artillery wing, five general wings, and non-combatants at the division headquarters, totaling more than 15,000 people.

"It was the 103rd and 61st Divisions of the Japanese Army that attacked Quyuan, and the Sixth Group Army of Yan Xishan's troops guarding Yuanqu was under the jurisdiction of the 33rd, 34th, and 69th Armies, with eight divisions and six brigades, totaling 150,000 people, while the opponent was only more than 50,000 people, three times the enemy. What is surprising is that the Sixth Army retreated without a fight, retreated more than 50 kilometers in one go, pulled the troops to Zhongtiao Mountain, and handed over the walled curve to others.

"After our army went south, it did not directly recover Yuanqu, but went straight to Tianjing Pass, wanting to occupy Boai and Jiaozuo, close the door and fight dogs, and wipe out the two divisions of the Japanese army that invaded Yuanqu in the encirclement, the Japanese intelligence department was indeed good, and began to retreat when our army crossed the Taiyue Mountains, and when our troops went out of Taihang to occupy Boai County, the Japanese army in Yuanqu had retreated to Jiaozuo, and built fortifications on the front line of Jiaozuo and Wuzhi to confront our army, and at the same time the Japanese army in Xinxiang mobilized a division and three independent brigades to move west to Xiuwu County for backup.

"Mu Chen and I can't do anything, leaving two divisions to deter the enemy, the rest of the army marched westward, and occupied Qinyang, Wenxian, Mengzhou, Jiyuan, and Yuanqu counties, and waited for the Jin Sui army to react, we have recovered the counties west of southern Jinnan and Qinyang in northern Henan, at present, we are reorganizing the troops, in early April, the chairman gave us the number of five divisions in one breath, plus the previous six divisions, our group army has eleven divisions, from recruiting recruits to the allocation of officers at all levels, things are extremely cumbersome, and they have not been completely straightened out until now."

Lu Yixuan reported here, turned his head and asked Qu Muchen: "Old Qu, do you have anything to add?" ”

Qu Muchen said: "The basic situation is like this, but the numbers of those five divisions are not given in vain, the Military Commission has stuffed more than 300 generals and colonels into us in one go, of which more than 10 are officials of the intelligence departments of the military commanders and military police, and the Military Affairs Department has also sent more than 30 directors of political departments to try to weaken our control over the army. Fortunately, our original six divisions are not among the reorganization, otherwise it would have been a real life! ”

An Yi nodded: "It is said that this is He Yingqin's idea, the chairman of the committee is worried that I will transfer you to Central Asia to fight, so he tried every means to tie your hands and feet, and the chairman also clearly proposed to me that the 30th Group Army should be linked to our ongoing immigration, investment and other issues, and I must handle it in accordance with the requirements of the Military Commission." I thought that North China had to leave a decisive force to deter the Japanese army in any case, so I agreed to the chairman.

"These five divisions are both opportunities and challenges for us, and we have doubled our strength and greatly increased our voice in North China. Judging from the current situation, the Japanese troops were stationed in Siberia and the Far East, while the chairman of the National People's Congress remained in the area around Nanjing, obviously with no intention of recovering his homeland. With the German invasion of Poland, Japan had to wait and see the situation in Southeast Asia to see if there was a chance to stretch out its hand, and it was unlikely that a large-scale war would break out in North China in a short time.

"By the way, this time the chairman of the committee came to me, mainly to talk about the encirclement and suppression of the anti-Japanese base area created in the Ganqingning area, and he asked me to attack the hinterland from Central Asia, cooperate with the central army attacking in Xi'an, and flatten the Ganqingning base area in one fell swoop. Ziang (Lu Yixuan), Mu Chen, you are on the front line in North China, let's talk about the current development, why is the chairman so jealous of the Eighth Route Army? ”

Lu Yixuan's face changed, and he glanced at Qu Muchen, and Lu Yixuan asked cautiously, "Commander, how do you reply to the chairman?" ”

An Yi waved his hand: "I said before that I didn't participate in the civil war, and I shirked it in the name of betting!" ”

"Bet!?"

Lu Yixuan was slightly stunned, and Qu Muchen asked with interest: "What kind of gambling contract actually made the chairman give up his original idea?" ”

An Yi briefly introduced the situation, and Qu Muchen said in surprise: "The commander is so sure that Germany will win?" ”

An Yi waved his hand, smiled but did not answer, Lu Yixuan had already organized the language at this time, and explained in detail:

After the end of the Battle of Northern Shanxi in April, Yan Xishan was busy cleaning up his homeland, and the Eighth Route Army took advantage of the situation to expand violently in a fan-shaped manner to Shijiazhuang, Jizhong, Pingxi, and Chanan, the 129th Division went out of Shexian County and forced Handan, the 115th Division entered the periphery of Shijiazhuang and penetrated into the central Hebei region, and the 120th Division crossed the Hengshan Mountain, continuously crossed the Sanggan River, the Baihe River, and the Heihe River, and entered the eastern area of Rehe.

"After five months of hundreds of battles, the Eighth Route Army finally opened up more than 20 large and small strategic areas, including the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei border area, the northwestern Shanxi and central Hebei base areas, and the Pingxi, eastern Hebei, and Rehe guerrilla areas. Fearing the changes in the situation in the occupied areas, the Japanese army in North China mobilized two independent brigades to attack the base area in the northwest of Shanxi Province in late July, but was defeated by the 120th Division, annihilating more than 1,500 Japanese troops. In the first few days of last month, the 129th Division, in cooperation with the 115th Division, killed, wounded, and captured more than 1,300 Japanese soldiers, more than 6,000 mules and horses, and more than 800 long and short guns in the Shentouling area of the Handan Highway. At the end of last month, the Japanese army broke the nine-way siege of the Jizhong base area in one fell swoop, annihilating more than 5,000 Japanese troops with countless guns and ammunition.

"I think it is precisely because of a series of excellent performances of the Eighth Route Army that the chairman of the committee is worried, so other ideas will be born."

An Yi was silent for a while, and asked Zhao Rui: "Xiangyun (Zhao Ruizi), can you talk about the situation of the Central Plains round battle!" ”

Zhao Rui nodded and said, "From the end of last year to the present, the Japanese army in Shandong, under the command of Okamura Ningji, has frequently launched attacks on southern Lunan, northern Jiangsu and eastern Henan. By the end of February, the Japanese army in the south had advanced the battle line to Zou County in the Yimeng Mountain area, the Japanese army in the east occupied Zhucheng and Rizhao, and advanced to the canal in the west, and began to be strategically in a favorable position.

"In March, in response to the offensive of the Japanese army in Datong and forcing the First and Fifth Theaters to not divide their troops to aid central and northern Jin, Okamura Ninji sent the 102nd, 104th, and 108th Divisions of Category B, as well as two indigenous divisions composed of Malays, to the south from the Gaoxu Highway (Gaomi to Xuzhou), crossed Mount Tai, and suddenly entered Lu County.

"Garrisoned in Lu County was the 23rd Group Army of General Liu Xiang of the Fifth Theater. The group army was under the jurisdiction of the 21st, 23rd, and 56th armies, with a total of six divisions and three brigades, but General Guo Changming's 56th Army remained in eastern Sichuan and did not go to the Central Plains to participate in the war. During this period, General Pan Wenhua, who commanded the battle in place of General Liu Xiang, who was recuperating in Wuhan, asked the theater for reinforcements several times, and Sun Tongxuan's Third Group Army, which was stationed in Linyi, had four armies, a total of eight divisions and four brigades, and the short distance of more than 90 kilometers was more than 90 kilometers.

"The first Sichuan army to collapse was the 21st Army Tang Shi Zun, Tang Shi Zun this person nicknamed 'Tang Erwen', lack of military masculinity, and do not know anyone, Lu County fought to a critical moment, his cronies Liu Ruzhai did not listen to the command, unauthorized retreat, resulting in Lu County flank exposed to the Japanese artillery attack, Rao Guohua Division Commander complained to him about Liu Ruzhai's behavior, he instead asked Rao Guohua to take a battalion of troops to counterattack, as a result, Rao Guohua was besieged, forced to commit suicide, Liu Ruzhai and other villains were promoted to brigade commander instead.

With the defeat of the Tang-style Zunbu, the 23rd Army was unable to support itself and had to retreat to Yinan County. In order to relieve himself of responsibility, Tang Shizun framed Pan Wenhua for ineffective fighting, and Chairman Chiang was trying to divide the forces of the Sichuan Army, but when he heard the news, he was overjoyed and immediately removed Pan Wenhua from his post, and on the pretext that Liu Xiang was seriously ill, Tang Shizun was promoted to commander of the 23rd Group Army. General Liu Xiang, who was on a hospital bed in Wuhan at the time, learned from the newspaper that Tang Shizun had been promoted to commander, and was angry at his betrayal and vomited blood to death. The 23rd Army suffered heavy losses, and General Pan Wenhua withstood the punishment of dismissal and retention, so General Pan led the remnants to escort Liu Xiang's coffin back to Sichuan. ”

An Yi sighed and said: "It turns out that the battle of Luxian is so tortuous. I heard that after Liu Xiang's death, the chairman of the NPC National Committee could not wait to appoint Zhang Qun as chairman of Sichuan Province, but the Sichuan army rose up and opposed it. The most fierce opposition to Zhang Qun's main Sichuan is the Wude Advancement Association, the core organization of the Sichuan army, whose members are all composed of backbone officers above the battalion level, after Liu Xiang's death, there is no one to lead, the association convenes members, holds a general meeting, elects a successor president, and determines Liu Xiang's successor. General Pan Wenhua was in a depressed mood because he was punished by the chairman of the committee at the front, and he did not want the congress to unanimously elect him as the chairman, so he inherited Liu Xiang's throne. Seeing that the wood was already in the boat, the chairman of the committee had no choice but to give up his attempt to suppress him and appoint General Pan as the director of the Sichuan-Shaanxi-Hubei Border Appeasement. ”

Shen Fengdao shook his head again and again: "The chairman's move is really chilling, people are cold before they leave the tea, no wonder the front-line soldiers are not effective in combat, and whoever encounters this kind of thing will not be able to think about it!" ”

Zhao Rui smiled slightly bitterly, and said: "Sun Tongxuan didn't get a good catch, he took the troops slowly, and suddenly encountered the Japanese army in Liuguanzhuang, south of Lu County, and the 56th Army of Gu Liangmin, who was the head, collapsed, and the rout broke the defense line hastily constructed by Cao Fulin's 55th Army, and the 12th Army led by Sun Tongxuan was not spared, and was chased and killed by the Japanese all the way.

"In just two days, the Third Army lost one-third of its strength, and the routs were terrified and demoralized, and they did not want to recover their combat strength in a short time. In this case, General Yu Xuezhong organized the troops to resist in turn, sent the defeated troops to Linyi for reorganization, and asked the theater headquarters for help on the other. General Li Zongren urgently dispatched Li Pinxian's 11th Group Army stationed in Taierzhuang, rushed to the rescue, joined the retreating General Yu Xuezhong in Linyi, and set up a formation on the west bank of the Yi River to confront the Japanese army.

The chairman of the committee was worried that he would not be able to get the pain in his feet, so he immediately ordered the revocation of the number of the 56th Army, and the army commander Gu Liangmin must leave the military circles, otherwise military law will be involved. In order to completely divide the remnants of Han Fuyu, the Ministry of Military Affairs temporarily led the commander of the Third Army from Yu Xuezhong, who had made meritorious contributions in combat, the 55th Army was transferred to Xuzhou for reorganization, and the 12th Army was transferred to Mengyin to prevent the Japanese army from moving south from Xintai, and Yu Xuezhong was temporarily placed under the command of General Li Pinxian.

"Okamura Ningji is really good, seeing that Yishui is difficult to cross, he actually divided his troops to the south to occupy Tancheng, coercing the Longhai Railway, Gu Zhutong, the deputy commander of the theater stationed in Haizhou, had to send Wu Qiwei's Fourth Army, rushed to Xin'an in the starry night, blocking the road for the Japanese army to go south, who knew that at this time, the Japanese Navy shelled Dapu Port, and at the same time, the Japanese army stationed in Rizhao went south from Jiacang and Donganwei all the way south, and forced Haizhou by land, and the entire Fifth War Zone was in a storm.

In order to alleviate the pressure faced by the Fifth Theater, the Military Commission ordered that the Second Group Army of Sun Lianzhong and the 31st Group Army of Tang Enbo of the First Theater be transferred to the aid of the Longhai Railway. At this time, it was already late June, and it was the flood season of the Yellow River, and the Japanese navy sent a fleet mainly of small gunboats to enter the Yellow River from the Tiemen Pass at the mouth of the Daqing River, and shelled the south bank of the Yellow River to the west of the Grand Canal.

"Song Zheyuan's 29th Group Army, which guarded the Yellow River defense line, had four armies under its jurisdiction, a total of 11 divisions and four brigades, and it stands to reason that it was not a problem to block the enemy, but Song Zheyuan put up a confused formation, and put all four armies north of Heze, and Hu Zongnan's 17th Group Army, which was stationed in Yuncheng and held the defense line of the Grand Canal, across Lei Xiaze, as a result, the 65th Division of the Japanese Army was combined with two divisions, and attacked to the rear flank of Song Zheyuan's department, and then two brigades were used to block the rescue of Hu Zongnan, two divisions and two independent brigades launched an attack, and Song Zheyuan's department fell into a siege.

Cheng Qian, who was sitting in Kaifeng, was shocked, and hurriedly transferred Xue Yue and Guan Linzheng to help, but it was too late, the four armies of the 29th Group Army were basically disabled, and almost all the generals such as Song Zheyuan, Feng Zhi'an, and Pang Bingxun were wounded. Okamura Ningji saw that the goal of depleting the strength of the squadron was basically achieved, and with the response of its gunboats, the main force withdrew from Juancheng and crossed the Yellow River, and the entire battle ended in early August. Song Zheyuan was seriously wounded, and in addition to the heavy losses of the troops, his mood was stagnant, and his pre-existing liver disease suddenly worsened, and then he suffered from cerebral thrombosis and half of his body was paralyzed.

"From last year to the present, the first and fifth theaters have been fortified everywhere, controlled by others everywhere, and have been led by the nose by the Japanese army. It's no wonder that the chairman of the committee is obsessed with the fighters obtained behind enemy lines, in contrast, there is really no record of success in the frontal battlefield. ”

An Yi frowned and asked, "Didn't the Military Commission agree on a counteroffensive plan?" No matter which aspect we look at, our side has an overwhelming advantage, and if the chairman of the NPC is willing to throw the troops of the Central Theater into the Central Plains battlefield and expel the Japanese troops from Shandong, it should not be a problem, so why is it so passive? ”

"I heard that the two generals, Bai Chongxi and Yang Jie, both came up with more detailed battle plans, but they were rejected by the chairman because the time was not ripe. Judging from all indications, the chairman of the NPC National Committee deliberately used the Central Plains round war to consume the strength of the local army, and the encounters of Liu Xiang, Song Zheyuan, and Sun Tongxuan's troops are the best proof of this. Zhao Rui analyzed.

"I expected this!"

An Yi stood up, paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, and after a while returned to the round table, propped his hands on the table, and said bitterly: "This is also the fundamental reason why I am reluctant to intervene in the domestic war. You might as well think about it, there are more than 30 military factories under the jurisdiction of the Military Industry Administration, half of which have received technical support from us, and the Jiangnan Arsenal has been directly taken over from us, plus half of the weapons produced by the Xiangxi Arsenal have also been allocated to the Logistics Department of the Military Commission. Even if we fight for consumption, we are now enough to drive little Japan out of Shandong and North China!

"To put it bluntly, I don't want to take the blame for others, the brothers are working the front line, and someone is stabbing in the back, who the wants to do this kind of thankless work?"

Lu Yixuan asked puzzledly: "During the Battle of Songhu, the chairman of the committee pulled up all his descendants, which is also the most fundamental reason why the people of the whole country unanimously support the central government, why has it only been a year and there have been so big changes?" ”

"That's the time, the time!"

An Yi said angrily: "The purpose of the Japanese army landing from Songhu is to quickly capture Nanjing and force the Nationalist Government to surrender. If the chairman of the NPC National Committee does not show his family background and swears to resist to the death, how will the people of the whole country view him? What will the local generals think? After the victory of the Battle of Songhu, with the construction of the Jiangfang and Haiphong fortresses, the hope of the Japanese army landing in the south of the Yangtze River was basically disappointed, if they wanted to repeat the scene of the Yuan army's destruction of the Song Dynasty, there was your 30th Group Army in Shanxi, and Sichuan was the base of our Anjia Army, it was impossible to give them this opportunity. Therefore, judging from this point alone, as long as Japan does not be ruthless and mobilizes all its strength to fight, it is still certain that the Central Plains will be saved.

"Under these circumstances, the chairman's strategy will inevitably change, and without excessively provoking the Japanese, he will use the hands of the Japanese to eliminate dissidents, and when the threatening thorns have almost been eliminated and the international situation has changed in favor of the Nationalist Government, it will be the turn of the chairman's descendants' troops to be dispatched."

Zhao Rui nodded: "That's right, up to now, the Japanese army has been organized into ninety divisions, plus a large number of mixed brigades and independent brigades, as well as local garrisons, the number of land forces has approached four million." If such a large number of troops were to be thrown into the Chinese battlefield, the consequences would be unimaginable, so the chairman of the NPC National Committee could not refrain from fighting, nor could he let go of the fighting.

"The Japanese army tasted the sweetness from the capture of the Lanyin Islands, compared with China's long front, the transportation and supply of the Lanyin Islands are very convenient, especially the oil, rubber and other resources, as well as the abundant products that are ripened three times a year, which suddenly made its deflated pockets bulge, and they are not so enthusiastic about attacking China! However, North China is the barrier of Northeast China, and if Japan wants to ensure the security of Northeast China and Korea, it must ensure that North China is under control. ”

Lu Yixuan and Qu Muchen glanced at each other, and many of the problems that plagued their hearts were solved, and they had a clearer understanding of the current battle situation.

An Yi returned to his seat and carefully asked Lu Yixuan and Qu Muchen if they had any difficulties that could help them solve them.

Lu Yixuan hesitated for a moment, and said in a low voice: "At the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War last year, Yan Xishan entered the honeymoon period in cooperation with the first country, and proposed the establishment of the 'national revolutionary united front' in accordance with the slogan of the 'anti-Japanese national united front', and formulated the 'Ten Programs for the National Revolution in Shanxi' in imitation of the 'Ten Programs for Resisting Japan and Saving the Country'; Arrange for schools to recruit female students and train female cadres; Yan'an advocates diligence, thrift, simplicity, and hard work, Yan Xishan also requires a ban on smoking, gambling, and bullying, and the treatment of officers and soldiers and cadres and their clothing are also simpler than those of the Central Army; There was a united, tense, serious, and lively atmosphere in Yan'an, and Yan Xishan also made life in the area under his control tense, and in addition to working eight hours a day, the cadres of the organs had to attend the morning meeting at 6 o'clock in the morning, which he personally presided over.

In order to strengthen his strength, Yan Xishan cooperated with *** to establish the Sacrifice League, and a person named Bo Yibo participated in the leadership of the Sacrifice League at the invitation of Yan Xishan. During the Suicha Anti-Japanese War, the Jin Sui army was defeated and retreated under the attack of the Japanese army, and the losses were not small, at this time Bo Yibo proposed to Yan Xishan to form a new army in Shanxi, which was agreed by Yan Xishan. The new army, whose full name is the 'Shanxi Youth Anti-Enemy Death Squad,' was established in August last year with only one regiment, but by the summer of this year, the new army had rapidly grown to more than 50,000 men, with a total of 50 regiments, and the number of members of the New Army had grown to about 3 million.

"Last month, Yan Xishan saw that the power of *** was growing in Shanxi, posing a serious threat to his dominance, so he sent someone to secretly come to the door and asked to eradicate *** in Shanxi with us, but we refused. According to all kinds of signs, Yan Xishan will soon turn his face with **, what is our position, please ask the commander for instructions. ”

"No matter what, let's not fight a civil war!"

An Yi first expressed his attitude, and then said: "Yan Xishan deserves it, look at what he has done?" Give the army to others without hesitation, and let others carry out propaganda and agitation and form an army on their own territory, even we are afraid of *** propaganda, not to mention that Shanxi, which is lagging behind us in anything! It wasn't until today that he realized that something was wrong, and it was too late to remedy it! Unless he dares to risk the world's condemnation, he can only maintain the current situation!

"Ziang, Mu Chen, let's not get involved in party disputes, let alone try to unite one side to fight the other, even if the chairman personally gives an order, we can't follow it, if there is any problem, you can push it on me!" Your target is the Japanese, and they must be firmly rooted in Shanxi like nails, and any attempt by the Japanese army to invade the West will strangle him in the cradle, understand? ”

"Yes!"

Lu Yixuan and Qu Muchen nodded in unison, with a resolute expression.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

: This chapter is a two-in-one chapter!

It's been a long time since the Central Plains battle situation was scrutinized, so the update was late, please understand!

On Monday, keep asking for referral tickets, subscriptions, and ***!