Xuzhou, the Fifth Theater Governor's Department.

Li Zongren and Bai Chongqi had not slept all night, and the two were restlessly waiting for news from the front.

Li Zongren said worriedly: "Jiansheng, is it too risky to order the 22nd Group Army to counterattack Tengxian and Pang Bingxun to counterattack Linyi?" If the attack does not go well, and the army takes advantage of the situation to counterattack, these two forces will be suspended. ”

"I'm afraid that the army won't fight back." Bai Chongqi said, "If the army fights back, it will be easy to do." ”

Li Zongren changed color slightly: "Jiansheng, you are ......"

Bai Chongqi said with a gloomy face: "Degong, you are willing to give up, and you can only get if you are giving." ”

Li Zongren was silent, Bai Chongqi's words were undoubtedly reasonable, if the Battle of Xuzhou could completely annihilate the 5th and 10th elite divisions of the Yue Army in one fell swoop, then even if the 22nd Group Army and Pang Bingxun's corps were all wiped out, what would it matter? In the final analysis, the Sichuan Army and the Northwest Army are just miscellaneous cards in the [***] battle sequence, Li Zongren will not care, and Chairman Jiang will not care.

"Report!" Suddenly, a communications staff officer came in to report, "Headquarters, the 22nd Group Army has sent an urgent telegram from Tengxian!" ”

Li Zong couldn't bear to look back and said, "Read." ”

The communications staff officer immediately unfolded the telegram and read: "Theater Commander's Department: The 122nd Division of our division entered Tengxian County at 12 o'clock last night, and began to attack the city, and the fierce battle has been until 2 o'clock in the morning, the enemy has not been defeated and retreated, and now the 122nd Division has taken control of the whole city, and has built fortifications to prepare for the enemy's counterattack, Deng Xihou, January 14, 27th year of the Republic of China. ”

"What?" Li Zongren was stunned and said, "One division recaptured Teng County?" ”

Before the words fell, another communications staff officer reported inside: "General seat, the 3rd Army Corps is in an emergency!" ”

Li Zong forbearantly said: "Read." ”

The communications staff officer said: "Theater Commander's Department: The main force and supplementary regiment of our 39th Division counterattacked Linyi at 10 o'clock last night, and the fierce battle for two hours was to reoccupy Linyi, annihilating more than 300 people from the two infantry squadrons of Yuekou. ”

"Huh? Pang Bingxun's army also recaptured Linyi? What's wrong with the little devil? ”

Listening to these two telegrams, Li Zongren was suspicious, but Bai Chongqi's cold sweat was brushed down, and he said to Li Zongren with palpitations: "Degong, it's so dangerous!" I'll just say, with the arrogance of this old devil Banyuan, how could he take the initiative to retract, it turned out that it was only their small force that attacked Tengxian and Linyi! ”

"Small troops?" Li Zongren said suspiciously, "But Deng Xihou and Pang Bingxun also sent a telegram yesterday saying that the artillery fire of the Yue army is very fierce, and the offensive is extremely sharp!" ”

"Their words are not credible." Bai Chongqi waved his hand and said, "Who is Deng Xihou?" Who is Pang Bingxun? In their eyes, a dozen mortars are already very powerful artillery fire, and the charge of two or three infantry squadrons of the army is already overwhelming. ”

………… Tai'an, the headquarters of the 10th Division of the Army.

The chief of staff Ti Bu Gui Dazuo strode into the headquarters, and suddenly retracted his feet and said: "Your Excellency, the 33rd Brigade sent an urgent telegram from Zoucheng, Tengxian County was raided by the Zhina Army last night, and the two garrison squadrons in the city were all shattered, in addition, His Excellency Sakagaki of the 5th Division also sent a report just now, and Linyi was also recaptured by the Zhina. ”

"Oh?" Ryosuke Isoya's expression moved slightly, and he said, "The people of Shina actually counterattacked?" ”

Ti Bu Jia Gui nodded heavily: "Yes, and the counterattack of the people of China is extremely sharp. ”

Ryosuke Isoya muttered: "Why did the people of China suddenly abandon the two important military towns of Tengxian and Linyi? Why do you want to fight back after abandoning? It's very puzzling. ”

Tibu Jiagui shook his head and said, "Yes, the actions of the people of China are indeed very suspicious. ”

Ryosuke Isoya suddenly showed a smile on his face and said, "However, I seem to have guessed what happened. ”

Ti Bu Jia Gui said respectfully: "Your Excellency the General has traveled in China for many years, and he knows the thinking habits of the China people well, and he has dealings with many high-ranking officials in China, so it is only natural that he can guess the reason. ”

Ryosuke Isoya waved his hand and said, "If I'm not mistaken, this should be the result of a factional struggle within the Shina Army. ”

"Factional fighting?" Tibu Jiagui asked very cooperatively, "Are there many factions within the Chinese army?" ”

"Of course." "There are many factions within the Chinese army, first the Feng line, the direct line, and the Anhui line, and later the Northeast Army, the Northwest Army, the Gui Army, the Dian Army, the Sichuan Army, the Guangdong Army, and the Central Army under the leadership of the national government leader Chiang. ”

"I see." "The reason why the Zhina army in Tengxian and Linyi retreated without a fight during the day yesterday was because the warlords of the faction to which they belonged wanted to preserve their strength, and the reason why the Zhina army suddenly counterattacked last night was because the battle between the various factions in China had a result or a temporary threat. ”

"Yo Si." Ryosuke Isoya said happily, "You're very smart. ”

Tibu Gui Dazuo said: "Your Excellency General, so what should we do now?" ”

Ryosuke Isoya smiled and said: "The Imperial Army is ready to go, but the opposing army is still passing the buck and intriguing with each other for their own interests, don't you think this is a good opportunity?" After saying that, Ryosuke Isoya's expression and tone suddenly became serious, and said, "Order the Seya Brigade and the Field Artillery Wing to immediately launch an attack on Tengxian, and the Sewu Brigade and the Cavalry Wing immediately leave Zou City in front of Qufu to protect the flank and rear of the Seya Brigade." ”

"Hello." Tibu Gui Dazuo suddenly bowed his head, and immediately took the order.

………… Xuzhou, the war room of the Fifth Theater Commander's Department.

Li Zongren said: "Jiansheng, do you think the army will attack in a big way this time?" ”

"Definitely!" Bai Chongqi said categorically, "If the two old devils of Sakagaki and Isogu can still calm down this time, then we will not be wronged if we lose the battle of Xuzhou." ”

Li Zongren said: "Is that to let Deng Xihou and Pang Bingxun withdraw again?" ”

"Nope." Bai Chongqi shook his head and said coldly, "If nothing else, the main forces of the 10th and 5th Divisions of the Yue Army are afraid that they have already launched a counterattack on Tengxian and Linyi, and at this time, they ordered Deng Xihou and Pang Bingxun to retreat, and the 22nd Group Army and the 3rd Army Corps will immediately herd sheep. ”

Li Zongren was silent, stubbornly defending Tengxian and Linyi, basically letting the 22nd Group Army and the 3rd Army Corps go to death, although the 22nd Group Army has a lot of troops, but the equipment is inferior and ammunition is scarce, the 3rd Army is nominally a corps, but in fact it is only four regiments of troops, how can they fight the two most elite field divisions of the Yue Army?

However, from the standpoint of the entire Battle of Xuzhou, Bai Chongqi's suggestion was undoubtedly correct.

If the 22nd Group Army and the 3rd Army Corps can defend Tengxian and Linyi to the death, they will not only be able to greatly consume the vigor of the two elite divisions of the Yue Army, but also consume the ammunition reserves of the Yue Army in advance, so that when the entire Battle of Xuzhou begins, the difficulty of the main force encircling and annihilating the two main divisions of the Yue Army will be much smaller.

After hesitating for a long time, Li Zongren still did not give the order to retreat after all.

………… Teng County.

Just as Bai Chongqi estimated, the 33rd Brigade of the Yue Army, that is, the Segu Detachment (the so-called detachment, in fact, is a mixed infantry brigade and artillery wing), had already rushed to the city of Tengxian, from Zou Cheng to Tengxian only more than 70 miles, and the Segu Qi Brigade was a mechanized brigade, and it arrived in less than two hours.

The air force directly under the North China Front also sent six bombers to help in the battle, repeatedly dive-bombing the [***] position in Tengxian County, and even dropped dozens of white phosphorus bombs, and the city of Tengxian suddenly burst into flames, and the flames rolled up dozens of meters high, and the thick black smoke soared upward, and it was clearly visible hundreds of miles away.

As soon as the bombardment of the planes ended, the shelling of the 10th wing of the field artillery began again.

Before the two brigades of 24 75 field guns and 12 105 field guns could build artillery positions, they lined up along the highway, facing Tengxian County and the [***] positions outside the city were several rounds of indiscriminate bombardment, and the two regiments of the 122nd Division outside Tengxian County were blown to pieces before they could engage in battle.

How could hastily constructed field fortifications withstand the bombardment of 105 caliber grenades?

By the time the artillery bombardment was over, General Wang Mingzhang, commander of the 122nd Division, urgently ordered the two regiments outside the city to retreat into the city, and there were less than 2,000 people left in those two regiments, and the casualty rate was as high as 60 percent.

Without waiting for the officers and men of the 122nd Division to catch their breath, the Yue Army dispatched two infantry squadrons, and under the guidance of four tanks, they rushed towards the gaps in the city walls that had been blown open on both sides of the north gate of Tengxian County.

Although the equipment of the officers and men of the Sichuan army was inferior, they were not afraid of the enemy and were afraid of war.

The arrogant 10th Division of the Sichuan Army was stunned that it failed to take advantage of the 122nd Division of the Sichuan Army, and even the 95-type tanks that participated in the attack also allowed the officers and men of the Sichuan Army to blow up two, although the 122nd Division of the Sichuan Army did not have anti-aircraft guns, but they had people who rushed forward with grenades!

Major General Kei Seya, commander of the 33rd Brigade of the Army, was annoyed and angry, and immediately requested tactical support from the air force directly under the Front Army.

Lieutenant General Tokugawa Yoshitoshi of the Aviation Regiment directly under the North China Front immediately dispatched 12 bombers, carrying a large number of white phosphorus bombs and poison gas bombs with the surname Mustard Seed, to fly over Tengxian County to carry out a second round of air raids.

The Seya detachment then sent two infantry squadrons, heavily armed and wearing gas masks, to break into the city.

Soon, fierce gunfire rang out in the city walls, and occasionally the explosion of grenades, the remnants of the 122nd Division of the Sichuan Army still did not give up resistance, they relied on the broken walls and a small number of rifle bullets, they were still resisting to the death, fierce fighting until the evening, Major General Seya Kai saw no hope of clearing the remnants of the enemy in the city, had to order the troops to temporarily withdraw from the city walls.

(To be continued)