Ru County, 74th Division Headquarters of the 57th Army.

When Yue Weihan was in full swing preparing for a surprise attack on Shimen (Shijiazhuang), the battle for Ruxian County also entered the final moment.

After four days of fierce fighting, the 57th Division was sharply reduced from more than 8,000 people to less than 2,000 people, all the outer positions were lost, and the remnants retreated to the city and continued to resist relying on the fortifications of the city walls.

In the war room of the division headquarters, the atmosphere was solemn.

The chief of staff said to General Yu Chengwan, commander of the 57th Division, with a solemn expression: "Division, the troops have been reduced by more than two-thirds, and there are less than 2,000 people who can fight, and all the ammunition is exhausted, there is also a shortage of food and drinking water in the city, the officers and soldiers are hungry and thirsty, and they can only fight with the enemy with bayonets and broadswords. ”

"Yes, Shizuo, ordered a breakthrough, right?"

"If we continue to fight, will the brothers all be here?"

"We are not afraid of death, but we can't die in vain, we have to leave a few brothers behind to avenge the brothers who died in battle, right?"

Several senior staff officers and brigade commanders in the war room were immediately indignant and demanded that General Yu Chengwan give the order to retreat.

"Boom!" General Yu Chengwan suddenly pulled out a Browning pistol and slapped it on the table, and everyone was suddenly silenced, and General Yu Chengwan said murderously: "If there is a person who withdraws, there will be no forgiveness!" ”

The chief of staff choked up and said, "Master, I ......"

"Chief of Staff!" General Yu Chengwan Huo Ran turned his head and said coldly, "You and I have worked together for ten years, and we are incomprehensible, but the military law is ruthless, if you dare to retreat and disturb the morale of the army, don't blame me for being ruthless!" ”

The chief of staff and all the officers were all stunned and kept their mouths shut.

General Yu Chengwan suddenly sighed, and his tone softened: "Brothers, how can I be willing to do this? But we're tiger masters! Shangfeng's order is to let us defend Ruxian until one soldier and one soldier, as a soldier, receive military pay and eat military rations, and fight for the country and the nation, only death! ”

"Master!" General Yu Chengwan's voice fell, and several regiment commanders broke in in a hurry.

After entering the war room, the 1st Regiment Commander, who was covered in blood, fell to his knees and said miserably: "Master, the east gate has been lost, and the little devil has entered the city!" ”

"The East Gate is lost?" General Yu Chengwan said awe-inspiringly, "What about the rest?" ”

The other regiment commanders immediately lowered their heads in shame, and the 2nd regiment commander even wailed and cried: "Master, the little devil used a poison gas bomb, and the brothers didn't even have a chance to fight with a bayonet, ......."

"What about the troops?" The chief of staff hurriedly said, "How many troops are left in your regiments?" ”

"The troops are all fucking gone." The 3rd Regiment Commander stared at his blood-red eyes, like a beast with a seriously wounded head, and roared with great grief and indignation from the depths of his throat, "It's all gone, it's all gone!" The brothers were all killed in the muzzle of the little devil's gun, and we tiger masters don't have a single seed! ”

"Bulk, Bulk, Bulk, Bulk, Bulk, Bulk, ......Bulk, Bulk,

Suddenly, the sound of the army's crooked machine guns sounded on the periphery of the division headquarters.

"Master!" The commander of the guard battalion rushed in with blood and shouted, "The division headquarters is surrounded!" ”

The entire war room suddenly became dead silent, and everyone's eyes were focused on General Yu Chengwan's face, General Yu pulled the general on his body, and said to the chief of staff: "Propose electricity." ”

The chief of staff hurriedly picked up the folder and spread out the copy paper.

General Yu Chengwan paced back and forth in the war room with his hands behind his back for two steps, and then paused, and said in a solemn tone: "The bullets are exhausted, the aid is gone, there are no people, the city has been broken, the chief of staff, the division deputy, the director of the political department, the chief of staff, etc., stick to the division headquarters, and the regiment commanders divide the area, hold the walls, make the final resistance, swear to the death, and wish victory, the 57th Division of the 74th Army, Yu Chengwan, June 29, 27 years of the Republic of China, 10 o'clock in the morning." ”

…………

Dengfeng County, Xue Yue Corps Corps Headquarters.

General Xue Yue put down the telegram in his hand in a daze, and his face had become extremely solemn.

In the war room, all the senior staff officers looked at each other, and the air was filled with suffocating depression.

More than a dozen field divisions of the three major group armies of the army are squeezing over from all directions, leaving less and less space for Xue Yue's corps to toss and turn, originally, there is the only retreat channel in Ru County, but now Ru County has been lost, and the entire Xue Yue Corps has fallen into a heavy encirclement, almost like a turtle in an urn!

"Command!" General Xue Yue gritted his teeth and suddenly ordered, "All divisions immediately turn around and go north to attack Zhengzhou!" ”

The senior staff officers in the war room were puzzled at first, and then they immediately understood General Xue Yue's plan, obviously, the annihilation of the entire army of Xue Yue's corps was inevitable, but even if the whole army was destroyed, it was necessary to drag the three heavy army groups of the army as much as possible, so as to win time for the contraction and redeployment of the main force of [***].

…………

Wuhan, General Staff.

The message was as white as snow from the hands of General He, chief of the General Staff of the National Revolutionary Army and minister of military affairs, and he immediately sat down in a chair with his legs limp and paralyzed.

It's over, it's all over!

The whole army of the Tiger Ben Division was wiped out, Ruxian County was lost, and Xue Yue's corps was afraid that it would be difficult to escape!

Once Xue Yue's corps is completely annihilated by the Yue army, the loss will not only be more than a dozen elite divisions, but also the morale and morale of all [***] troops in the entire Wuhan battlefield will suffer a heavy blow! Under the chain reaction, the rout of the Battle of Wuhan is inevitable, if the Battle of Wuhan is defeated, the army will take advantage of the situation to sweep Huguang!

It's dangerous, the Republic of China and the Chinese nation are really dangerous this time!

…………

Wuhan, the official residence of Chairman Chiang.

Seeing the telegram sent by General Yu Chengwan to the Theater Commander's Department, Chairman Chiang burst into tears.

In Chairman Chiang's heart, he actually hoped that the Tiger Ben Division would be able to carry the heroic banner from the hands of the Baoshan Brigade, but now, due to his Jiang someone's insistence and wrong command, it directly led to the destruction of the Tiger Ben Division in Ruxian County.

If it's just a tiger division, it's okay, but the problem now is that Xue Yue's corps can't come back!

Under the chain reaction, the battle of Wuhan could only end in failure, at the beginning Chairman Jiang said cruel words, he would swear to live and die with Wuhan, if Wuhan is really lost, he doesn't know what kind of face he has to face the world? Li Zongren and Bai Chongqi, these two guys, I'm afraid they are going to say strange things behind their backs again.

At this moment, Chairman Jiang really regretted his intestines.

Chairman Jiang took out the secret telegram sent to him by Yue Weihan in his personal name from the drawer: "Although this is only a small land, it has a strong national strength and a strong industrial base, and its long-lasting combat capability is far beyond that of China!" Today, our army is holding on to the aftermath of the victory at Pingdingshan, and the battle situation may be barely maintained.

…………

Zhengzhou, the headquarters of the Third Army of the Army.

Major General Teng Tian Zhi, chief of staff of the Third Army, strode into the office of Lieutenant General Naosaburo Okabe, commander of the Third Army, and immediately suddenly retracted his feet and said uprightly: "General, I just received a battle report that the 5th Division had captured Ruxian County ten minutes ago, and the Tiger Ben Division of the defending army of China, from the division commander Yu Chengwan and below, were all killed, and none of them escaped the net!" ”

"Yo Si." Okabe Naosaburo said happily, "The 5th Division has finally regained the style of the 'Steel Army'!" ”

"General." Teng Tianzhi said again, "There is another situation, the Xue Yue Corps of the Chinese Army has turned around and headed north. ”

"Well, Xue Yue's corps turned around and headed north?" Naosaburo Okabe immediately frowned and said, "Their target?" ”

Teng Tianzhi strode to the map hanging on the wall, picked up the command pole and pointed to the map: "Judging from my humble position, the target of Xue Yue's corps should be Zhengzhou!" Its purpose should be to hold back the three major heavy army groups of the imperial army and buy time for the readjustment and deployment of the Chinese army in the Henan and Wuhan battlefields. ”

Okabe Naosaburo's face suddenly became gloomy.

Xue Yue's move was completely out of the expectations of the front army!

As a matter of fact, the Central China Front only put on a posture of encircling and annihilating Xue Yue's corps, and although more than a dozen field divisions and regiments of the three major group armies put on a posture of encircling on all sides, they did not press too hard, and the order of the 5th Division to seize Ruxian was only to intensify the panic of Xue Yue's corps, causing it to lose its fighting spirit and flee south in a hurry.

If Xue Yue's corps broke and fled, the army would be able to chase and kill and win the greatest victory at the lowest cost

Because once Xue Yue's corps is defeated, all the squadrons in the Henan and Wuhan battlefields will inevitably be defeated along the whole line, so that the Yue army can not only capture Wuhan without much effort, but also take advantage of the situation to sweep through Jingchu and Sanxiang and seize the largest granary of the national political axe, thus strategically seriously weakening the resistance of the Chinese nation.

But now, Xue Yue's corps chose to turn around and go north, which immediately made the plan of the Yue army completely fail.

Teng Tianzhi sighed and said, "General, for today's plan, we can only solve Xue Yue's corps first!" ”

…………

Beiping, the headquarters of the North China Front Army.

Sasaki Zhiichi walked into Terauchi Shouichi's office with an excited expression, and said uprightly: "Your Excellency General, I just received an urgent report from the Central China Front that the 5th Division captured Ruxian County half an hour ago, and completely annihilated more than 8,000 people in the Tiger Ben Division of the China Army, but its own casualties were less than 2,000!" ”

"Oh?" Shouichi Terauchi said happily, "Yoshio Shinozuka has lived up to His Majesty's expectations of the Emperor. ”

As the commander of the North China Front, the better the performance of the 5th Division, the happier he will naturally be, and if the 5th Division can restore the majesty of the "Steel Army," it will be even better.

"Hello." Sasaki bowed his head suddenly, and said, "Your Excellency, General, there is another situation. ”

After saying this, Sasaki said again: "Shimen (Shijiazhuang) Army Secret Service Chief Kasin Mizo Osaku reported that since yesterday afternoon, a large number of unidentified armed personnel have suddenly appeared in various towns, townships, and villages within 20 miles of Shimen, and it is estimated that there are tens of thousands of people, and their appearance is extremely suspicious. ”

(To be continued)