"What, how many troops are there?" Li Zongren was shocked when he heard this, and asked immediately.

"Its strength is not less than one division." The communications staff officer replied with a bowed head.

"A division?" Li Zongren's face became extremely solemn when he heard this, although Li Zongren had deployed an infantry division in Haizhou, it was obviously unrealistic to use a miscellaneous division against a division of the Yue Army, and the Yue Army also had the fire support of the Navy and Air Force.

"Duke De, hurry up and let Li Pinxian rush to Haizhou, it's too late!" Bai Chongxi also stepped forward with a heavy face.

Li Zongren just wanted to give an order, but suddenly, there was a rush of footsteps outside the war room, everyone looked up, only to see a communication soldier running in with a hurried look, and before he could stand up and salute, he reported loudly: "Commander, Chief Sun Lianzhong is in a hurry, the devil used poison gas bombs, and used tanks and planes as a cover to carry out a surprise attack on the frontline troops of our army, and the 60th Army of the Yunnan Army from the commander Lu Han to the bottom were all killed and martyred!" The units of the Second Army were forced to retreat, and Linyi had already been lost! "What?" Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, Xu Zuyi and others changed drastically, and Li Zongren's face was even more pale and said indifferently: "It's over, Xuzhou is in danger, the general trend has gone, the general trend has gone!" ”

Bai Chongxi was stunned for a long time before he said with a bitter face: "Duke De, the defeat of Xuzhou is decided, hurry up and order all troops to break through and retreat, any further delay will only add meaningless sacrifices." ”

"If Xuzhou is lost, the Central Plains will be shaken, and the whole of East China will no longer be owned by the party-state! This matter still needs to be cautious! Xu Zuyi hurriedly persuaded.

"Brother Xu, now that we have lost, Haizhou is in danger again, we are unable to continue to make up for this critical situation, if we don't retreat as soon as possible, I'm afraid the entire Fifth War Zone will be eaten by the army!" Bai Chongxi explained.

"Okay, give an order to Sun Lianzhong, Tang Enbo and the troops directly under him, and order them to hold out until tonight, and immediately after nightfall tonight, they will take turns to cover and retreat, and break through to Henan and Anhui!" Li Zongren pondered for a while and waved his hand.

"Duke De, now that the situation in Xuzhou is so erosive, we should inform Qiao Anbang in advance, so that he and his Tiger Ben Army can make some preparations as soon as possible." Bai Chongxi sighed and said.

"Hmmm! In addition, Liu Ruming's 65th Army was ordered to hold the rear of the Xuzhou Palace and cover the retreat of all troops! Li Zongren nodded and ordered.

"Okay, let's get ready." Bai Chongxi and Xu Zuyi waved their hands to several adjutants and staff officers.

"Yes!" Several adjutant staff officers stepped forward one after another, and immediately turned around and left one after another.

"Duke De, let's retreat early, stay in the green mountains and don't be afraid of no firewood." After sending away a few adjutants, Bai Chongxi turned to Li Zongren and said.

Li Zongren nodded silently, and then said thoughtfully: "Jiansheng, before you and I retreat, let's first report the situation to Chairman Jiang in Wuhan." ”

"Hey, yes, it's time to tell Chairman Jiang that the matter has come to this." Bai Chongxi immediately stepped forward and said, "I'll do this myself." ”

"Hmm." Li Zongren waved his hand, turned his head to look at the giant combat map hanging on the wall, and said awe-inspiringly: "Go!" ”

……………………………………………………

On the highway from Xiangcheng to Xuzhou, Qiao Anbang led the guard regiment and armored brigade to the north along the road.

Suddenly, the wireless walkie-talkie of Qiao Anbang's car came out with the voice of Wang Gensheng, the head of the guard regiment: "Military seat, urgent military situation, I just received an urgent telegram from Xuzhou from the Fifth War Zone transferred from the military camp. “

"Oh? What happened to Xuzhou? Qiao Anbang's heart sank and asked in a cold voice.

"The East Road Army captured Linyi, the Eastern Front Defense Force of the Fifth Theater suffered heavy losses, and was no longer able to fight, and there was a road to the army from the sea and land around Haizhou, threatening the rear of Xuzhou, Xuzhou was attacked on the back of the enemy, the Fifth War Zone Commander's Department decided to immediately abandon Xuzhou, retreat to Henan, Anhui, Suzhou and other places, and hereby inform me that the Tiger Ben Army should prepare early!" Wang Gensheng replied quickly on the walkie-talkie.

"What? Failed this campaign? Rao was a little mentally prepared, but Qiao Anbang couldn't help but be taken aback,

"Throne, throne, what are we going to do? Do you want to move on? Wang Gensheng's anxious inquiry came from the walkie-talkie again.

"Order the troops, pause the advance, and be stationed here!" Qiao Anbang pondered for a moment and said, the loss of Xuzhou is inevitable, so he must incorporate all the [***] troops that have been defeated from Xuzhou, otherwise, what will Qiao Anbang do to resist the two-sided attack of the Yue army?

And at this time, it was time for Pang Bingxun and Zhang Zizhong to officially join the Tiger Army, and only by taking the [***] troops withdrawn from Xuzhou for their own use, the Tiger Ben Army would have the strength to resist the north-south attack of the two major fronts of the Yue Army, and finally repel them.

"Yes!" Wang Gensheng replied violently, and immediately turned off the radio.

……………………………………………………

Wuhan, the leader of the line.

Chairman Jiang was reviewing the documents in the study, when a rush of footsteps suddenly sounded from outside the study, and when he reached the door, he was followed by a knock on the door and Wang Shihe's report: "Commission, Xuzhou emergency call." ”

"Oh? Shihe, come in and say. Chairman Jiang put down the document in his hand and looked up.

Wang Shihe hurriedly pushed the door in, strode up to Chairman Jiang, stood up and saluted: "Commission, the Fifth War Zone is in an emergency, Linyi is lost, the army is attacking Haizhou from the sea, Xuzhou is suffering from the enemy, and the Fifth War Zone has decided to abandon Xuzhou and retreat."

"Huh?" Chairman Jiang changed color when he heard this, he didn't need to look at the map to remember the geographical location of Haizhou and Linyi, how important these two places are to Xuzhou, he naturally knows it, especially Haizhou, if Haizhou is lost, the army can directly come to the city of Xuzhou, and there will be no need to fight the Xuzhou Campaign at that time.

Chairman Jiang suddenly got up, walked to the window and frowned and pondered for a long time before turning to Wang Shihe, who was standing aside, and said, "Shihe! "Humble duty!" Wang Shihe hurriedly stepped forward and responded,

"Immediately send a telegram to the Fifth War Zone, tell Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi, let them be sure to block the Yue army in eastern Henan, and never let the Yue army attack the Central Plains! In addition, the troops in the Xuzhou battlefield must not withdraw into the defense area of the Tiger Ben Army. Chairman Jiang commanded awe-inspiringly.

"Yes!" Although Wang Shihe couldn't figure out the intention of Chairman Jiang's move, he still hurriedly bowed his head in response, and then turned around and left quickly.

(To be continued)