[***] tactical deception was a great success.

Three days later, the 38 elite divisions of the [***] main force of the Fifth Theater had quietly advanced to Wucheng, 40 kilometers northwest of Mengcheng, and several heavy army groups of the Yue Army participating in the encirclement and annihilation operations had also entered the periphery of Xuzhou, and the Second Army of the Yue Army, which was responsible for blocking the Longhai Line, had already defeated Li Pinxian's 11th Group Army and occupied Shangqiu.

………… Vortex Yang, the temporary prefect's department of the fifth theater.

Surrounded by Chief of Staff Xu and Deputy Chief Bai of General Officer, Admiral Li hurriedly walked into the war room, and immediately ordered: "Chief of Staff, immediately telegraph to the Wuhan camp that the 38th Division, the main force of our Fifth Theater, has advanced to Wuyang, and then send cavalry messengers to order all divisions to lift the radio silence and report the latest location!" ”

"Yes." Chief of Staff Xu Zuyi took the order.

As soon as Chief of Staff Xu left, the adjutant hurriedly came in and reported: "General, the scouts report that there are about two infantry brigades in the army that are marching along the Mengwu Highway towards Wuyang, and there are still about twenty miles away from Wuyang. ”

"Two infantry brigades?" Admiral Li said murderously, "What you didn't say, eat them!" ”

At this time, the main force has completely jumped out of the encirclement of the army, and the major heavy army groups of the army have already approached the city of Xuzhou, and soon the army will find that the main force has actually turned to Mengcheng and Fuyang, so there is no need to worry about exposing their whereabouts, and how can they easily let go of the two infantry brigades that were sent to the door?

………… Jinan, the base camp of the army sent a command post to the front.

The general of the temple stood in front of the battle map with a blue face, and the lieutenant general Okabe next to him also looked solemn.

Except for Nishio Shouzo's Second Army, which had a fierce battle with Li Pinxian's 11th Army near Shangqiu, the Fifth, Seventh, and Tenth Armies did not have any contact with the Central [***] Team, not even a skirmish.

Seeing that the encirclement was getting tighter and tighter, the expressions of the senior general Terauchi and Lieutenant General Okabe became more and more serious.

The four major heavy army groups of the Yue army have even approached the city of Xuzhou, but they still haven't found the whereabouts of the [***] main force, where did the [***] main force hide? Are they all shrunk in Xuzhou City? Or are they lurking in a narrow area of dozens of kilometers outside Xuzhou? Obviously, neither of these possible surnames is significant.

"Your Excellency General, the main force of China is definitely not near Xuzhou anymore." Lieutenant General Okabe said.

"Okabe-kun, don't jump to conclusions just yet." The general of the temple frowned and said, "At least, the dozen or so branch divisions that have been drawn from Xuzhou and marched on foot along the Longhai Line in the past few days must still be in the encirclement of the imperial army, and as for the remaining dozen or so branch divisions, it is not known whether they are still cowering in Xuzhou City." ”

Lieutenant General Okabe was silent, but he thought in his heart that this possibility was almost zero.

The reason is obvious, Xuzhou is not as good as Nanjing, [***] to defend Nanjing because Nanjing is the capital of the national political axe, and at that time a large number of military supplies were accumulated in Nanjing, [***] has the capital to stick to the War of Resistance, but Xuzhou does not have the strategic value of defending at all, and there are not enough military supplies in Xuzhou.

[***] really want to leave hundreds of thousands of troops to defend Xuzhou, and the army does not need to attack head-on at all, and [***] can be trapped in Xuzhou City by just besieging it.

"Report!" A staff officer of the young man suddenly stepped inside, and immediately retracted his feet and stood on the right path, "Your Excellency General, Your Excellency the Commander, I have just received an urgent report from the 26th Division in the direction of Mengcheng, the two infantry brigades under the jurisdiction of the division encountered the heavy army group of the China Army in Wuyang, 40 kilometers northwest of Mengcheng, and after two hours of fierce fighting, they were defeated and retreated!" ”

"The Heavy Army?" When the general in the temple heard this, his face suddenly changed.

"Towards Mong?" Lieutenant General Okabe felt even more frightened, the more he worries about something, the more he comes, he was still worried just now, whether the main force of the [***] team took advantage of the fact that the attention of the imperial army was attracted to the Longhai line, and secretly turned in the direction of Mengcheng, but he didn't expect it to be like this.

"Did the 26th Division report how many armies it encountered?" General Terauchi is obviously still lucky, maybe the two infantry brigades under the 26th Division encountered only a few Chinese divisions?

But the return of the young staff officer immediately shattered the luck psychology of the senior general in the temple: "Your Excellency, the Central China Front has also dispatched reconnaissance planes from the air force directly under it, and according to the reconnaissance plane report, a large number of Zhina troops have been found in the area near Wuyang, with a total strength estimated at more than 300,000 people, and there are at least 30 divisions from the number!" ”

"At least thirty divisions!?" When the general in the temple heard this, his expression suddenly froze.

Lieutenant General Okabe also said with a bitter face: "Your Excellency, it seems that we have really been fooled!" ”

"What's the point of saying that now?" The general of the temple frowned, and said gloomily, "Due to a serious strategic miscalculation in the front-line command post sent by the base camp, the Shina army calmly broke through the siege, and the empire consumed a lot of military supplies in vain without gain, Okabe-kun, you better think about how to explain it to the base camp." ”

Lieutenant General Okabe suddenly looked miserable, and it was obvious that the senior general of Terauchi was going to put the blame on him.

There was such a serious strategic miscalculation in the Battle of Xuzhou, so that hundreds of thousands of troops of the empire were busy for several months in vain, and the empire consumed a large amount of military supplies.

Taking a deep breath, Lieutenant General Okabe forcibly suppressed the negative emotions in his heart and said calmly: "Your Excellency, it is not yet time to pursue responsibility, I think the top priority is to quickly find a way to remedy it. ”

Seeing that Lieutenant General Okabe did not shirk his responsibility, the senior general of the temple immediately nodded happily and said: "Yo Xi, Okabe-kun, regarding the strategic mistake of the front-line command post sent by the base camp, I will explain it to the headquarters of the base camp and Ishihara-kun on my behalf, you don't have to take it to heart, now let's think about how to reverse the unfavorable situation." ”

"Hello." Lieutenant General Okabe bowed his head abruptly and said, "Since the main force of Zhina has appeared near Wuyang, it means that they have completely jumped out of the encirclement of the imperial army, and it is impossible for the garrison in the direction of Fuyang alone to stop them, but if they want to cross the Dabie Mountain and return to Wuhan, it will take at least half a month!" ”

The general of the temple moved slightly, and said, "Okabe-kun, what do you mean ......?"

Lieutenant General Okabe said: "Your Excellency, there is an old saying in China, misfortune is blessed!" Although the plan for the battle of Xuzhou came to naught, it was not necessarily a bad thing for the imperial army, the main force of the Zhina in the direction of Xuzhou had all been withdrawn to the Dabie Mountain, and it was absolutely impossible to return to Wuhan within 20 days, and the imperial army could completely go west along the Longhai line to take Zhengzhou, and then quickly move south along the Pinghan line to take Wuhan, where the political axe of the Zhina was located! ”

The general of the temple suddenly lit up and stood in front of the map again.

Lieutenant General Okabe followed and stood in front of the map, stretched out his hand to cross the Longhai Line and the Pinghan Line, and said: "Your Excellency, please see, the political axe of China is completely the tactic of rejecting the enemy from the country, and all the heavy army groups are deployed in the northern section of the Shanxi and Pinghan Railway, along the Yangtze River and in the vicinity of Xuzhou. ”

"Yo Si." The general of the temple was quite moved, "Okabe-kun, your idea is very valuable, if the mechanized corps of the imperial army marches along the Longhai line and the Pinghan line, it will be able to reach Wuhan in ten days at most, and at this time, the main force of Zhina, who retreated from the Xuzhou battlefield, is only afraid that it is still spinning in the Dabie Mountains, right?" ”

………… Wuhan Xingying, the official residence of Chairman Chiang.

General He Yingqin, chief of the General Staff and director of the Military Orders, hurriedly entered Chairman Chiang's office and said: "Commission, I have just received an urgent report from the Fifth Theater that the 38th Division of the main force of the Fifth Theater has successfully broken through the heavy encirclement of the Yue Army, and has not suffered from the heavy army group of the Yue Army on the way, and now the main force of the Theater has advanced to Wuyang, 20 kilometers northwest of Mengcheng. ”

"Oh?" Chairman Jiang suddenly got up when he heard this, and said, "It's already prominent?" ”

"Yes." General He said, "Except for the Baoshan Brigade, the main forces in the theater have all broken through. ”

Chairman Jiang said again: "What about Yu Xuezhong, Sun Lianzhong and Li Pinxian? ”

"I'm about to report to the commission." General He said busily, "Yu Xuezhong's department has been stationed in the front line of Xuti and Sihong, and Sun Lianzhong's department has also entered the vicinity of Mengyin and Xintai, and the losses of the two roads are not large, and they are confronting the pursuit corps of the Yue army, but Li Pinxian's 11th Army has been defeated by the Yue army, and only two divisions are out of the encirclement. ”

Hearing that most of Li Pinxian's group army had been defeated, Chairman Chiang breathed a sigh of relief.

In fact, it was already a fluke that the Battle of Xuzhou could end in such a way, and Chairman Chiang thought that the 62 divisions gathered in Xuzhou should lose most of their troops, and it would be quite good if 20 divisions could finally retreat to Wuhan, but now, most of these 62 divisions have been preserved.

"What about Xuzhou? What's the news on Baoshan Travel? ”

Most of the [***] main forces in the Fifth War Zone have broken through, and Chairman Jiang has begun to worry that Yue Weihan is coming, saying that the reason why most of the [***] main forces in the Xuzhou War Zone can be preserved is because Yue Weihan has made the greatest contribution, Chairman Jiang has never been so grateful to Yue Weihan as he is now, but he has never been so jealous of Yue Weihan as he is now.

Yue Weihan is not only unmatched in tactical planning, but also superior in strategic vision!

The reason why Chairman Chiang likes Deputy General Bai among the Gui warlords but hates General Li is that Deputy General Bai is only good at tactical planning and lacks strategic vision, while General Li is extremely strategic, and a small Guangxi Province has the ability to contend with the central government under the painstaking management of General Li!

There is also the Yan'an one, the reason why Chairman Jiang is so jealous of him, and even at the expense of the infamy of "non-resistance", he must adhere to the national policy of "fighting outside the country must first secure the interior" is because the Yan'an person is a real strategic master, and this person's strategic foresight is even far better than Li Zongren.

Now, a new name is going to be added to this blacklist - Yue Weihan!

(To be continued)