It's late at night, and it's silent.

In the front-line headquarters of the revolutionary army in Bengbu, Commander-in-Chief Chiang was still gathering a cadre of generals to discuss the operational plan for counterattacking Xuzhou, and because many generals expressed doubts about the record of An Yi's division in "destroying more than 6,000 enemies", the rigorous Bai Chongxi used the forces of Wang Tianpei and Ye Kaixin's troops on the front line to verify it, and then verified it through the secret telegram sent by the secret agents of Chen Tiaoyuan's department hidden in Xuzhou City, and finally came up with the result after 10 o'clock in the evening:

The number of enemy annihilation by An Yi's reading division is completely true, and the enemy's Fifth Army stationed in the east of Xuzhou City was in mourning because of the destruction of the main division, and the deputy army commander Di Zhanyuan was removed from his post and investigated, and the number of losses secretly spread by the enemy army was even nearly 1,000 more than the number reported by An Yi.

What made Commander-in-Chief Jiang and the generals of the headquarters couldn't help but be amazed was that the secret report showed that the Zhilu Coalition Army now mentioned An Yi's name, all of them changed color, and the Reading Division was called the "Leprosy Force" by the officers and soldiers of the Zhilu Coalition who hated and feared it, and Bai Chongxi's nickname "Flying Fox" to An Yi spread to the enemy at some point, and the enemy is now very taboo to mention An Yi's name.

Although An Yi's reading division was outnumbered, but unexpectedly achieved a big victory, but the commander-in-chief of Chiang Kai-shek was still unsure of whether An Yi could lead his headquarters to block Chu Yupu's two armies from attacking Suqian or entering the Xuzhou battlefield, before the counteroffensive was about to be launched, he was very concerned about the enemy in Xuzhou getting reinforcements, if he went to the front line to command the operation this time and still could not recapture Xuzhou City, his reputation would be more affected, and his military ability would also make people doubt and even criticize, which Chiang Kai-shek was absolutely unwilling to see at present.

Seeing Commander-in-Chief Jiang's worried gaze involuntarily moving back and forth between Pixian and Xuzhou, Bai Chongxi immediately realized the worry in Commander-in-Chief Jiang's heart, and he explained with a smile:

"Commander-in-chief, please rest assured, his subordinates think that Chu Yupu's two armies and one division will never reach Xuzhou, at least within three days, they will not be able to move westward within three days, they can only completely eliminate or severely damage An Yi's reading division, can they rest assured and boldly drive over to reinforce, otherwise they will suffer all the hardships of An Yi along the way, and there is a time buffer of three days, which is enough for us to launch a full-scale counteroffensive, which is obvious.

Chu Yupu and An Yi are old rivals, it is not so easy to defeat the reader with the cards in his hand, from An Yi's analysis of the situation of giving up the county seat of Pixian to start a sports war, An Yi is very clear about the disparity in strength between the enemy and us, so he is very clever to use the complex terrain and landform of the Pixian area, grasp the initiative to carry out the sports war they are best at, Chu Yupu wants to solve An Yishi in just a few days, how easy is it for Chu Yupu to solve An Yishi? ”

"Yes, my subordinates completely agree with Brother Jiansheng's analysis."

Ge Jingen, chief of staff of the General Headquarters, said: "According to the analysis and comparison of many combat cases by his subordinates, it is found that so far, no division in the whole army can be compared with An Yi's troops in terms of maneuver speed and strike ability, and the commander-in-chief should remember that An Yi reads the five rivers campaign, the same four divisions facing the enemy, and he won, and he won in just one week.

In that battle, Chu Yupu almost became his prisoner, and he buried a shadow in his heart, and now he has not yet seen his face and mercilessly annihilated a division under his command to An Yi, and successfully cut off the Longhai Line to run the Zhuang section, Chu Yupu is afraid that before An Yi is cleared, he will not dare to march the army westward.

It's just that An Yi has completely angered Chu Yupu, a veteran who has been well-known in the military circles for many years, at this moment he is facing the enemy's five divisions alone with one division, and we can't send troops to help in a short period of time, they can't even guarantee food and salary, let alone the replenishment of weapons and ammunition, and his subordinates are really worried about him! ”

Bai Chongxi said with a smile: "Brother Kanhou doesn't need to worry too much, An Yi's victory this morning has captured a lot, at least in terms of weapons and ammunition in a short period of time." According to the experience of An Yi's department, they are very good at handling military-civilian relations, and it is not difficult to raise food on the spot, and as long as they drag the enemy's army in the middle for three days in this battle, they can retreat south, to a certain extent, it is not difficult for An Yi to spend only three days, I believe he has a way to deal with it. ”

Yin Zusheng, deputy director of the General Staff Department, glanced at Bai Chongxi, and always felt that there was unfinished meaning in the other party's words, and his smile was also very eerie, so he thought about it and replied: "Having said that, An Yishi faces an enemy who is several times his own, and as long as one of them is negligent, it will be in danger, and there is even the possibility of being surrounded and annihilated by the enemy." ”

Commander-in-Chief Jiang was also very helpless, and let out a long sigh: "Everyone, we still have to believe in An Yi, and believe in the soldiers of the Reading Division where the model battalion is located, as long as we fight the battle of Xuzhou's counteroffensive, the enemy will not dare to rush south in the middle, and An Yi's division will be able to relieve a lot of pressure...... So, let's focus on Xuzhou. ”

…… At 8 o'clock in the morning of the next day, Commander-in-Chief Jiang personally served as the commander-in-chief of the Third Road, leading four divisions of Wang Tianpei's 10th Army and two divisions of He Yaozu's 40th Army to storm Xuzhou from the southwest of Xuzhou.

At the same time, Chu Yupu's army, which had been disturbed all night by An Yi's reading division, took advantage of the night to shoot cold guns and release cold cannons, and finally took the initiative to attack, and the two divisions of the 15th Army attacked the mouth of Luoma Lake along both banks of the Pihong River, and the two divisions of Zhu Panzao's Ninth Army went west to Nianzhuang, and then quickly inserted themselves into Tushan Town on the north bank of the Fangting River in an attempt to encircle and annihilate the main force of An Yi's reading division in an area of 15 kilometers south of Pi County.

An Yi fought-for-tat, leaving Yin Jinan to lead the reading regiment and the division's subordinate units, and retreated to the front line of Huangdun Town in Hukou with great momentum to attract the attention of the enemy, while the division headquarters moved to Sunset Island, which was three kilometers away from Hukou and full of trees and reeds, at the same time, the first, second, and third regiments under the leadership of Hu Jialin first retreated south, and then quickly marched westward, and finally arrived at Yaojiaji in the west of the enemy's Ninth Army at about two o'clock in the afternoon, rested for a while and immediately went north at full speed. At 7 p.m., we arrived at the new estuary of Danji in the west of Tushan Town.

At 8:50 p.m., the front-line headquarters of the Ninth Army, located in Tushan Town, on the north bank of the Fangting River, was fiercely attacked by three regiments of An Yi's Reading Division.

At this time, the 26th Division, the vanguard of the Ninth Army, had set up camp in Gupi Town, 12 kilometers to the south, while the 27th Division was distributed along the line of Lizhuang, Huzhuang, and Youfang a few kilometers to the south, and the military headquarters on the north bank left only one guard regiment and artillery regiment to guard around the headquarters.

Suddenly, more than 6,000 officers and men of the three regiments of An Yi's division were attacked by divine soldiers, and the command headquarters was terrified from top to bottom, and army commander Zhu Panzao and dozens of generals and colonels of the military department fled in confusion, and under the escort of the officers and men of the savior of the guard regiment, they rushed all the way to the south, and finally crossed the south bank by boat, turning the corner for safety.

Fortunately, at this time, the main force of the 27th Division had rushed to the river to respond, and Zhu Panzao and a cadre general were relieved, and hurriedly ordered the 27th Division to cross the north bank at full speed to support the resistance of the guard regiment and artillery regiment, and then immediately reported to Chu Yupu in Pixian County.

Pi County, the headquarters of the Seventh Army of the Zhilu Coalition Army.

Chu Yupu was shocked to hear the news that the Ninth Army had been attacked by the main force of the Reading Division, that more than 700 officers and soldiers had been killed in the battle, more than 1,000 had been wounded, and that all the artillery of the artillery regiment had been blown up by the opponent with cluster grenades.

"Judging from the information you provided, the enemy's main force should be gathered on the line from Huangdun Town to Hukou, how could it suddenly appear behind the main force of our right flank?"

"The subordinates believed that the enemy's main force was likely to be ambushed in the area west of the Xinhe Estuary in advance, otherwise it would be impossible for them to jump out of the search range of the two armies and four divisions in most of the day, and suddenly turn behind the Ninth Army to launch a sneak attack...... The local population has been bribed by the enemy and has provided us with false information. Yan Wenju replied cautiously with apprehension.

Chu Yupu did not pursue Yan Wenju's dereliction of duty, but lowered his face and continued to ask: "The report said that after the enemy's main force successfully attacked, all fled westward, do you judge that the enemy will really go west?" ”

"This ......"

Yan Wenju was speechless, so anxious that his head was full of beads of sweat the size of beans.

The communications staff officer suddenly came in and reported loudly: "Report to Yushuai, the third battalion of the guard brigade of our army, which had just been stationed in Nianzhuang in the morning, suddenly lost contact, and the phone could no longer be connected, and the subordinates were worried that Lianzhuang would be attacked by the enemy!" ”

Chu Yupu was taken aback: "Quick! Urgently order the 26th Division of the Ninth Army to rush to Nianzhuang and be ready to engage the enemy's main force at any time! ”

"Yes!"

"Report to Yushuai that the officers and men of the 15th who approached Huangdun Town encountered a non-stop attack by the enemy, and the enemy troops hid in the dense forests and large weeds and reeds along the way, and fired cold guns and cannons at our vanguard troops, and the pursuing cavalry prepared by our army in advance could not chase the attacking enemy in the quagmire area.

Another report: Whenever the enemy's artillery shells attack, many officers and men of our army are accustomed to leaving the main road and hiding in the grass and woods on both sides, and they do not want to touch the bombs and mechanisms planted by the enemy in advance, and often a single explosion causes the explosion of many cluster grenades hidden within tens of meters, and the brothers of the newly formed Third Division of the 15 th Army have suffered extremely heavy losses, among which the main force regiment responsible for opening the road has suffered more than half of the casualties, and the main force of the whole army has to stop advancing on the empty line from Pinglou to Huangzhuang, and is now sending a vigilant patrol with a company as a unit. ”

Qin Shanhu's cold hair, who received the urgent report, stood up, and he turned his head to look at Chu Yupu's face nervously.

"Uhh

Chu Yupu angrily slammed his fist on the table, his face flushed, and a series of orders were almost shouted: "Order the Ninth Army to return to the front line on the north bank of the Fangting River to open up the formation, strictly prevent the enemy's main force from fleeing south, and at the same time send a mixed brigade to rush to Nianzhuang to merge with the 27th Division and hold it; The 15th Army was ordered to occupy Huangdun Town at all costs, collect all the ships on the lake and the wharf, and burn them all with a fire. ”

"Yes!"

Chu Yupu calmed down slightly, and turned to Qin Shanhu again: "Shanhu, pass on my order, all departments inside and outside the city shrink their formations, keep a tight guard, and order all the artillery regiments in the south of the city to enter the position, as long as the enemy dares to approach within five kilometers of the county seat, immediately give me a hard blow with artillery fire!" I don't want to repeat the Five Rivers scene! ”

"Yes!"

At one o'clock in the evening, Suyang Mountain, nine kilometers north of Nianzhuang.

Hu Jialin took the telegram handed by Peng Jianqing, read it carefully with a flashlight covered with a red cloth, read it twice, put the telegram in his pocket, and issued an order to the generals around him:

"Xia Jian, the situation is urgent, your group can't rest, set off immediately, pass through the small pass two kilometers north of Dawang Temple, you must arrive at Guanhu Town before dawn, burn down the enemy's logistics warehouse and immediately withdraw to the grass bridge in the east, and rush to Miaowei along the east bank of the Yi River, where the fleet of the militia is waiting for you."

"Yes!" Xia Jian left excitedly.

"Tiger Head!" Hu Jialin shouted.

Gu Changfeng took half a step forward: "The subordinates are here!" ”

Hu Jialin squatted down and pointed to Zhaodun Town on the map: "Shizuo estimates that the enemy army will be reluctant to give up Nianzhuang, and will inevitably draw troops to occupy the Lianzhuang that we have just attacked, your department will immediately go south to attack Zhaodun Station located between Lianzhuang and the county seat, I will let Chu Xianzhi's demolition team follow your actions, after destroying the station defenders, immediately blow up the small iron bridge in the east, and quickly withdraw here after succeeding, Jianqing and a company with a radio station will stay and wait for you, remember to keep in touch with Shizuo at any time, he will give you the next action order." ”

"Yes!"

Gu Changfeng took two steps and turned back again: "Huzi, we're all gone, where are you going?" ”

Hu Jialin waved his hand disapprovingly, and said arrogantly: "I will lead the second regiment of brothers with Zhibiao to kill back along the road." ”

Gu Changfeng looked at the beard in surprise: "Ah, aren't you throwing yourself into the net?" ”

"No, the enemy's Ninth Army is scattered, three regiments remain in Tushan Town, about three regiments are rushing to Nianzhuang, I took the second regiment and mortar company and machine gun company to Nianzhuang to fight hard at night, so that Old Man Chu will think that our main force is around Nianzhuang, so as to transfer the enemy's 15th Army back from Huangdun Town, and Jinan will greet them well along the way.

Don't worry, don't you know that I'm at war? If we can't beat us, we will run, we are familiar with this area, at most we will run dozens of miles more, and the enemy will not be able to hurt us a single hair. Hu Jialin said confidently.

Gu Changfeng grinned: "So, Lao Tzu's three regiments have the heaviest task?" ”

Hu Jialin nodded: "Yes, we can all easily retreat, only your three regiments stay in the north of the county to fight alone, surrounded by dangers, every step needs extra care." Remember to keep in radio contact with the division headquarters at all times, I think in less than two days, we will meet again. ”

Gu Changfeng laughed: "Most of Lao Tzu's troops are bandits, and there are ghosts in the war, so don't worry!" Let's go! ”

(To be continued)