"In my opinion, the Tiger Ben Army since the Republic of China 26 years into the army, repeatedly made miraculous feats, every time there is a war, it must be a vicious war, a hard battle, but all are less to win more, can be described as invincible, for the country, for the nation, has made great achievements, since the outbreak of the war of resistance, the Tiger Ben Army has annihilated the enemy the most, outstanding achievements, its commander Qiao Anbang's tactical command ability is even more perfect, the battle of Xuzhou, he has 50,000 elite soldiers under his command, as long as we cooperate a little, even if we can not completely annihilate the main force of the North China Army, it is enough to hit it hard!" Li Zongren is confident.

"Hmm." Xu Zuyi and Bai Chongxi nodded in agreement.

Immediately, Li Zongren waved his hand to Xu Zuyi and said: "Chief of Staff, immediately send a telegram to all subordinate armies and divisions in the name of the Theater Commander's Department, supervise all departments, make every effort to contain the army, and cooperate with the Huben army to besiege the army, so as to wait for the opportunity!" ”

"Yes!" Xu Zuyi immediately stepped forward to respond, and then immediately turned around and took the order.

………………………………………………………………

Eleven kilometers south of Tongshan County, Guanqiao Town.

The commander of the Fifth Division of the Army, Ban Heng Zhengshiro, had just led his troops back from the Xiangcheng front, and before he arrived in Tongshan County, he received the bad news that Xuzhou had been lost and the garrison troops had been wiped out.

In the south of Guanqiao Town, a large number of devils are wielding sapper shovels to build fortifications hurriedly, at this time it is a scorching heat, the weather is very hot, between heaven and earth, as if entering a boiler, in such weather the digging fortifications are naturally very hot, all the devils are sweating profusely, panting.

However, no one dared to be lazy, because the order to build fortifications on the spot was personally issued by the division commander Ita Heng Seisishiro.

In a house in the town, Seishiro Itatsune and Chief of Staff Sakurada Takeosa were urgently discussing the battle situation around the map and studying the next battle plan.

"General, Xuzhou is lost, our retreat was cut off by the people of China in one fell swoop, it is imperative that we concentrate our superior forces and attack Xuzhou with all our strength to open up our army's logistics supply line, otherwise, the longer the time, the more unfavorable it will be to our army." Takeshi Sakurada pointed to Xuzhou Road on the map.

Itachi Seishiro nodded undeniably and said, "Xuzhou must be recaptured, but before that, we must first block the pursuit of the Shina army from behind us." ”

"That's why the general ordered the troops to build fortifications on the spot in order to block the Zhina army pursuing from the direction of Xiangcheng?!" Takemichi Sakurada.

"Hmm." Itachi Seishiro pondered for a moment and said: "Sakurada-kun, immediately send a telegram to the 10th, 14th, and 109th Divisions, and after the 10th Division is broken, block the pursuing troops in the 5th Theater of the Shina Army, and the 14th Division will rush to Xuzhou to join the 109th Division, and attack Xuzhou with Zaozhuang, Linyi and other imperial reinforcements, recapture it, and open up the life channel of the main force of our North China Front." ”

"Hay!" Sakurada Takeshi bowed his head sharply in response, and then turned around and walked away quickly.

…………………………………………

Xuzhou outside the western suburbs of the railway station;

The 69th Infantry Wing, the main force of the 31st Brigade of the 109th Division, is launching an attack on the defense line of the 3rd Regiment of the 1st Division of the Huben Army, which has just been stationed at the railway station in the western suburbs.

In the temporary headquarters of the 69th Infantry Wing, not far from the railway station in the western suburbs, a communications lieutenant walked up to the back of Wing Commander Isamu Sasaki with a telegram in his hand, and suddenly stood up with his hands and feet and saluted: "Wing Commander, Brigade Commander is in a hurry. ”

"Huh?" Isamu Sasaki, who was holding a telescope to observe the battle, put down the telescope in his hand, turned around and waved his hand, "Read!" ”

"Hay." The communications lieutenant bowed his head suddenly, opened the telegram in his hand and read aloud: "The brigade commander is in a hurry, Xuzhou has been broken by the Chinese army, and the garrison troops have been completely annihilated, and the division commander orders our department to immediately stop the attack and wait for the arrival of the main force of the division before making a decision." ”

"What? Xuzhou has been broken by the Chinese army? Sasaki was shocked when he heard this, because the farewell message of the army in Xuzhou City was sent directly to the North China Front Headquarters, and after the North China Front Command learned about it, the 69th Infantry Wing of Sasaki Isamu had advanced to the periphery of Xuzhou, and in order to meet with the Xuzhou defenders as soon as possible to relieve the siege of Xuzhou, Sasaki immediately issued an order to the troops to attack.

So until now he didn't know that Xuzhou had been captured by the [***] team.

The Corresponding Lieutenant nodded silently and said, "Yes, Your Excellency Dazuo. ”

Sasaki Yong pondered for a while, and suddenly said in shock: "Baga, Xuzhou has been lost, and the Chinese army in the city occupies an absolute superiority in strength, which is by no means something that my 69th Infantry Wing can contend with. ”

"Hay!" The communications lieutenant hurriedly bowed his head in response, and just as he was about to turn around and leave, a devil Nakasa hurriedly ran in with a saber on his shoulder, and before he could salute, he reported to Sasaki Isa: "Your Excellency, Oh no, the scouts reported that we found a large group of armored clusters on both flanks attacking the headquarters of our wing. ”

"Bagaya Road." Sasaki Yong no longer hesitated, and immediately took the lead in striding towards the outside of the wing headquarters, and ordered angrily as he walked: "Retreat immediately, hurry up!" ”

………………………………………………

At the railway station in the western suburbs, in the position of the first division and the third regiment, thousands of soldiers of the Tiger Army jumped out of the trenches shouting offensive slogans and launched a counteroffensive against the Yue army, which had just begun to retreat.

At the same time, the soldiers of the first and third armored regiments of the armored brigade attacked the rear of the 69th Infantry Wing in two roundabouts, and in order to avoid the ironclad torrent of the Tiger Army, the commander of the 69th Infantry Wing issued the order to retreat, and then evacuated in a hurry under the escort of the guard squadron directly under the wing, and did not care about the subordinate infantry brigades at all.

"Brigade, a group of devils have escaped!" When Zhang Xudong led a part of the armored combat vehicles to the wing headquarters of the 69th Infantry Wing of the Devil, it was already empty, and a captain and company commander said to Zhang Xudong through the wireless walkie-talkie.

"Bring your people and chase me immediately, and the other battalions will immediately intercept the main force of the devils and cooperate with the infantry to annihilate them!" Zhang Xudong groaned slightly, picked up the walkie-talkie and commanded in a loud voice.

"Yes!" The captain's firm response came over the intercom.

Since several brigades of the 69th Wing had received orders to retreat from the headquarters of the Wing, when the Third Regiment began to pursue the whole line, the disciplined troops could only resist and retreat at the same time, but they soon found that their rear road was cut off by a large group of Chinese armored fighting vehicles.

Before the commanders of the devils came to their senses, Zhang Xudong gave orders to all battalions and companies to attack, and the huge No. 4 tanks and armored vehicles rumbled towards the devils, and hundreds of vehicle-mounted machine guns fired one after another, and hot tongues of fire erupted from the muzzles, roaring towards the devils' crowd like a hurricane.

The devil soldiers who were retreating in a hurry were suddenly cut and fell down one after another.

In the end, under the attack of the absolute superiority of the Tiger Army, the entire 69th Infantry Wing was wiped out except for a few people who escaped by chance, and the wing commander Sasaki Isamu was able to break through from the pursuit of the armored troops of the Tiger Army under the desperate protection of the Guards Squadron.

…………………………………………

Xuzhou City, the headquarters of the Tiger Army.

Qiao Anbang and Xie Jinyuan, Li Yifeng and others discussed many matters such as the deployment of the next Xuzhou defensive battle in the war room, and the attendant adjutant Liang Jiahan walked in quickly with a telegram in his hand.

Liang Jiahan walked up to Qiao Anbang under the gaze of everyone, and saluted with a straight salute: "The military seat, the third regiment and the armored brigade report that except for a few people who escaped by chance, most of the main forces of the enemy in front of the railway station in the western suburbs have been completely wiped out by our army, and the third regiment is currently cleaning up the battlefield. ”

"Hmm." Qiao Anbang nodded, and then said: "Tell the Third Regiment that the railway station is a transportation hub, and it is adjacent to the Grand Canal, which will definitely be the main direction of attack of the army, let them strengthen their defense, do not slack off, this battle is just a prelude, and the real battle is still to come." ”

"Yes!" Liang Jiahan stepped forward to answer, and immediately turned around and walked quickly to lead the order and leave.

After seeing Liang Jiahan leave, Li Yifeng, the commander of the first division, stepped forward and said: "Military seat, according to intelligence, the army in our encirclement now has the 5th, 10th, 14th, and 109th main divisions, about more than 100,000 people, of which the 5th division is pinned down by the pursuit troops of our 6th and 7th divisions, and it does not pose a threat to Xuzhou for the time being. In other words, the army can use the maximum number of troops to attack Xuzhou is two divisions. ”

"If it's just these two divisions, we can open up a posture and fight with them in a dignified manner, but according to the report of the scouts, in the two directions of Zaozhuang and Linyi, there are also a large number of devils, these devils turned out to be the reinforcements of the enemy of Xuzhou, and now we are away from our own is the enemy of Zaozhuang, the number is about four or five thousand people, the specific number should be one of the several mixed brigades under the jurisdiction of the North China Army, the enemy strength of Linyi is similar to that of Zaozhuang, but it has not yet arrived. These two armies seem to have few troops, but when it comes to the decisive moment of the battle, not to mention tens of thousands of troops, even the devils of a squadron may also be tilted in the scales of victory, so I think we have to guard against it. Xie Jinyuan, who was on the side, continued.

Everyone fell into silence, and looked at Qiao Anbang with their eyes brushed, at this time, everything that should be analyzed was analyzed, as for how to fight this battle, it was naturally up to their commander, Qiao Anbang, to decide.

(To be continued)