In early January of the 30th year of the Republic of China (1941), the two strategic front armies of North China and Central China mobilized six divisions, four mixed brigades, four group armies of the puppet North China Autonomous Army, and 16 divisions of the puppet Nanjing Provisional Political Axe Emperor Allied Army.

The 3rd Army in the Sulu border area resisted for only half a month, that is, the entire territory fell.

After receiving the assistance of the 39th Group Army, General Sun Lianzhong took advantage of the gap between the separate and combined attacks of the Yue Army, adopted various breaking tactics, and successively launched the Battle of Tai'an and the Battle of Laiwu, annihilating nearly 30,000 puppet troops and inflicting heavy losses on the 24th Division of the Yue Army.

In late February, the main force of the 2nd Army successfully jumped out of the periphery and approached Qingdao!

At this point, it is said that the first sweep of the Luzhong Mountains by the puppet coalition army has been de facto bankrupt.

Although Chairman Chiang had already given the order to die, and General Sun Lianzhong was also determined to defend the Luzhong Mountains, General Sun had a shot in his heart about how to defend it, and then divided his troops to refuse to defend and resist as before, obviously it would not work, and only by jumping out of the periphery like the Eighth Route Army and seeking and destroying the enemy in the movement was the royal way.

………… Shimen, the headquarters of the North China Front.

Okamura Ninji stood in front of the map without saying a word with his hands behind his back, his face pale.

Tanabe Moritake, Hirata Masatsu, and more than a dozen senior staff members of the headquarters also looked unkind, and on the map hanging on the north wall, a huge blue arrow pointed straight to Qingdao, a major coastal military town! However, the layered red ring line representing the battle line of the Japanese army is still hundreds of miles away in the Culai Mountain Mountains.

Sun Lianzhong created a realistic illusion through espionage reports and the Lushan People's Army, which caused the former enemy's general headquarters to miscalculate, believing that the main force of the 2nd Group Army was still in the Culai Mountain area, but in fact, the main force of the 2nd Group Army had already jumped out of the encirclement of the Yue Army.

On February 22, Huang Chensong's 27th Division recovered Gaomi.

On February 24, the 31st Division of Chifeng City recovered Jiaozhou.

On February 25, Zhang Huatang's 30th Division recovered Jimo.

On February 27, Wu Pengju's unit of the 44th Brigade of Reading Power appeared on the outskirts of Qingdao!

Qingdao, the earliest was the German concession, during the First World War, it was said that Germany was caught in the European war and had no time to look east, sent troops to occupy Qingdao, since then, Qingdao has become an overseas colony of Qingdao, after the outbreak of the war in China, Qingdao has become an important military port of the combined fleet of the Navy overseas.

Once Qingdao is lost, the loss will be more than just a military port!

Since it is an island country, it has always attached great importance to the navy and despised the army militarily, and the status of the army is far from being comparable to that of the navy, and if the North China Front does not succeed in sweeping up this time, but instead allows Sun Lianzhong's 2nd Group Army to occupy Qingdao and destroy the overseas base of the navy's combined fleet, Okamura Ninji can completely imagine how he will be ridiculed by the navy.

"Yagayalu." Okamura Ninji burst out from between his teeth and said in a sinister voice, "Order, the 26th Division will quickly reinforce Qingdao, and the reading force will be mixed into the 8th Brigade to stay behind the troops, and defend Qingdao at any cost, and telegraph to Heishiro Katamura that if Qingdao is lost, he will be ready to apologize for his seppuku in front of the portrait of the emperor!" ”

"Hello." Hirata Masaki bowed his head suddenly, and immediately walked away with his sword.

Okamura Ningji said to Tanabe Moribu again: "Tanabe-kun, you immediately fly to Jinan to replace Nishio Shouzo as the commander of the Second Army Corps and the commander-in-chief of the former enemy in Luzhong, and immediately adjust the deployment and organize the second sweep, this time, no matter what, Sun Lianzhong must not be allowed to run away, and his 2nd Army must be resolutely eliminated, do you understand?" ”

"Hello, I understand!" Tanabe Moritake bowed his head suddenly, and immediately took the order and left.

………… Yucheng, General Staff.

Chairman Chiang, escorted by Wang Shihe, hurriedly walked into the war room.

The [***] generals and senior staff members present stood up and saluted, Chairman Jiang waved his hand, signaled everyone to take a break, and then walked to the big map surrounded by General He, General Chen and others.

General Chen held the command pole in his hand and gave Chairman Chiang a general briefing on the battle situation.

Chairman Jiang nodded again and again, and said happily: "Imitation Lu does not live up to me, imitation Lu does not live up to me." ”

After saying this, Chairman Chiang said: "Immediately telegraph the whole country to commend the 2nd Group Army, and all officers and soldiers will be rewarded with 500 yuan in legal currency!" The fallen soldiers were given a pension of 1,000 yuan! ”

Admiral Chen said with a flattering face: "The commission is wise. ”

Deputy Chief Bai next to him couldn't help but pout.

Today's prices in the national control area are soaring, inflation has reached an unbelievable level, and the fiat currency is seriously depreciated, if it had been put aside two years ago, a fiat currency and a piece of ocean were almost equivalent, but now, the purchasing power of a piece of ocean has even exceeded 5,000 fiat currency, what can this bonus and pension buy?

Chairman Jiang waved his hand and said, "Telegraph Sun Fanglu, let him make persistent efforts to completely smash the sweep of Kouzhi!" ”

Deputy General Bai couldn't hold back and said: "Commission, the 2nd Group Army is very hopeful to recover Qingdao this time, once Qingdao is really recovered, then there will be a chance to get supplies from the sea, is it not for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to come forward and contact the American civilian chamber of commerce, and use the American merchant ships to urgently replenish a batch of supplies for the 2nd Group Army?" ”

Although General Sun Lianzhong did not report to the Military Commission the motive for this attack on Qingdao, Xiao Zhuge is Xiao Zhuge , he has already guessed General Sun's intentions, and at the same time knows the current predicament of the 2nd Group Army, if it cannot get enough supplies from Qingdao, the 2nd Group Army will definitely not be able to hold out for too long.

As soon as the words fell, a senior staff member hurriedly entered and reported to General He: "General seat, the 2nd Group Army is in an emergency!" ”

Admiral He waved his hand and said, "Read! ”

Gao Shen opened the telegram and said loudly: "Headquarters: The 31st Division and the 44th Brigade of Reading Force have entered the periphery of Qingdao, and the enemy garrison is empty, and it will be recovered before it is said. Ministry of Employment, Sun Lianzhong, March 1, 30th year of the Republic of China. ”

General He waved his hand, motioned for Gao Shen to step down, and immediately turned his gaze to Chairman Chiang.

Chairman Chiang's face was embarrassed, and the second batch of $80 million of the $200 million in free aid approved by the US Congress was about to be cashed out. Using US merchant ships to smuggle arms to the 2nd Army is a risk, and if something happens, the follow-up $160 million will be gone.

Compared with the $160 million in gratuitous aid, the 2nd Army pales in comparison.

"This matter is very important, I will go back and discuss it with Xiangxi and Ziwen." Chairman Jiang said indifferently.

Admiral He couldn't help but sigh in his heart, but Deputy Chief Bai was angry, Kong Xiangxi and Song Ziwen were silverfish of the country, what was there to discuss with such a "politician"?

As far as Vice General Bai knows, more than half of the first batch of $40 million in economic aid provided by the United States has already flowed into the private accounts of the Kong, Song, and Chen families, and has been deposited back into the accounts of the three major families in the Bank of America.

"Alright, let's do it first." Chairman Chiang turned around and left.

Seeing Chairman Chiang's figure hurriedly disappear, Deputy General Bai sighed and said to General He: "Brother Jing, it is obviously impossible to expect the Americans to replenish the military supplies of the 2nd Group Army by sea, so it is better to send a telegram to Yue Weihan, asking the 39th Group Army to provide some assistance to the 2nd Group Army within its capacity." ”

"Ugh." Admiral He sighed, "So far, this can only be the case." ”

………… Jingcheng County, Headquarters of the 39th Group Army.

Senior generals such as Yue Weihan and Liu Yi also closely followed the fate of the 2nd Army.

Yue Weihan patted the map and sighed gloomily: "Sun Fanglu is unwise, even if the 2nd Group Army recovers Qingdao, it is impossible to get any supplies from the sea, at this time in the United States, isolationism is prevalent, and the Americans will never risk their lives to deliver supplies to the 2nd Group Army, and besides, President Kong and Vice President Song are afraid that ......they will not agree to anything."

In his bones, the national political axe is a comprador political axe, and Chairman Chiang actually has the intention of revitalizing the national industry, but unfortunately, the Kong, Song, and Chen families who supported him in the ascending position did not give Chairman Chiang a chance at all.

For example, in history, Jiang Dagongzi once cracked down on the speculation of illegal businessmen in Shanghai, but when this fire burned to the three major families of Kong, Song, and Chen, there was no follow-up immediately, and Chairman Jiang made a phone call, and Jiang Dagongzi left Shanghai infinitely gloomily...... "If the 2nd Army cannot get supplies from the sea, this operation will become a failure!" Liu Yi frowned and said unworriedly, "After the 2nd Group Army entered Jiaodong, the strategic maneuver space became significantly smaller, and the large troops concentrated in the Luzhong Mountains only needed to squeeze eastward, and the 2nd Group Army would be suspended." ”

"yes, it's a little late to break it up." Yue Weihan nodded, and said melancholy, "When I was in the Luzhong Mountains, if the 2nd Army was broken into pieces and attacked from all sides, there would always be some troops that could stand out, but now after arriving in Jiaodong, it is not so easy to go through the layers of blockade of the Yue Army and return to the national control area." ”

As soon as the words fell, Major Liu Xin, the chief of the communications department, walked in with a twisted waist and reported in a coquettish voice: "General seat, General Director He of the Military Commission and Deputy Chief Bai jointly sent an urgent telegram, asking our group army to provide support to the 2nd Group Army within its capacity!" ”

"Got it." Yue Weihan waved his hand to signal Liu Xin to retreat, and then said to Liu Yi, "Chief of Staff, immediately send an urgent telegram to Sun Fanglu, so that his troops will immediately be broken into pieces on the spot and march westward separately!" In addition, our group army will attack from multiple directions, attacking all counties in southern Hebei at any cost, so as to meet the various units of the 2nd Group Army that have broken through separately! ”

"Yes." Liu Yi snapped upright, then turned around and left in a hurry.

………… Northern suburbs of Qingdao, temporary headquarters of the 2nd Group Army.

General Sun Lianzhong raised the telegram in his hand to Feng Anbang, chief of staff of the group army, and other senior generals present, and said with a gloomy expression: "The Military Commission has called, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has refused to come forward to contact the Americans. ”

"What? The Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused? ”

"His grandmother is a bear, why!?"

"These bastards, when Lao Tzu returns to Yucheng, he will break their necks one by one!"

When Huang Chensong, Chi Fengcheng and other senior generals heard this, they were immediately furious, and they were all very angry.

"Alright, don't say these angry words." General Sun Lianzhong waved his hand and said gloomily, "I hurt everyone this time, I should have sent a telegram to the Military Commission to ask for instructions before leaving, I knew that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would not come forward, I should not have gone east to Qingdao, and the officers and men of the whole army would have gone deep into danger." ”

"Hey, what did you say this is all about?" General Feng Anbang, chief of staff of the group army, said, "Didn't you ask the Military Commission for instructions at the beginning, wasn't it because you were worried that the Military Commission would have a small copy of the annihilation and that the news would be leaked?" Besides, the brothers who went east to Qingdao also supported it, and the whole army went into danger voluntarily by the brothers, so what does it have to do with the general seat? ”

General Sun Lianzhong shook his head and said: "I also have a telegram here, which was sent by the commander-in-chief of the 39th Group Army, Yue, who once again begged our 2nd Army to break through to Taihang Mountain to rest and replenish, I originally didn't plan to accept his suggestion, but now, I want to hear your opinions?" ”

There was silence in the headquarters, and no one wanted to speak.

"Let's talk about it." General Sun Lianzhong said sincerely, "What do you say?" ”

"Boss, then the humble position will be straightforward." Chief of Staff Feng Anbang said, "I think Commander-in-Chief Yue's suggestion is feasible!" ”

Huang Chensong, commander of the 27th Division, Zhang Huatang, commander of the 30th Division, and Wu Pengju, commander of the 44th Brigade of Reading Power, also nodded.

General Sun Lianzhong nodded, and said abruptly, "Since everyone agrees, let's break it up and act separately, each division and brigade will act separately in companies and platoons, and set off tonight, and the scheduled assembly place will be Jingcheng County, and all the troops arriving in Jingcheng County will be under the unified command of Chief of Staff Feng......"

The commander of the 31st Division, Chi Fengcheng, said: "General seat, what about you?" ”

"Me?" General Sun Lianzhong said miserably, "As the commander-in-chief of the Luzhong Theater, I was ordered to defend the territory and resist the war, how could I escape from the battle?" After saying this, General Sun said to Chi Fengcheng and the others with great sincerity, "But you are different, you led the army to break through the siege, and you acted on orders, and the Military Commission had nothing to say when it knew about it." ”

"Boss, if you don't go, I won't go." Chi Fengcheng said loudly, "If you want to die, you want to live!" ”

"Yes, we're not going either!" Feng Anbang, Huang Chensong, Zhang Huatang and Wu Pengju also stood up.

(To be continued)