Previously, the fall of Nanxun had made Zhang Fakui's prestige plummet, and now Wu Xingcheng had fallen again, Zhang Fakui was frightened like a lost dog, and hurriedly led the remnants to cross Xitiaoxi south after encountering obstacles in the north, and came to Lijiawan Village in the southwest of Wuxingcheng, and joined the temporary third division that had withdrawn here in advance.

Long Shaogang and Dai Ziran welcomed Zhang Fakui and others into the headquarters of the temporary Third Division.

Long Shaogang briefly introduced the current situation to Zhang Fakui, and heard that the right-wing army was already surrounded by the Japanese army, Zhang Fakui was extremely shocked, and Liu Jianxu was like a mourner, after all, most of the troops in this encirclement woven by the Japanese army were Hunan troops, and after staying for a while, Liu Jianxu looked at Long Shaogang and asked anxiously: "Commander Long, is the situation really so sinister?" ”

Long Shaogang was a little despised for Liu Jianxu's slow news, but he still spread out the map on the table and explained to Zhang Fakui and Liu Jianxu:

"The passage to the west and to the north has been cut off, and there is only a glimmer of life left in the south, and we must hurry up and march. Xiahu Town is a big lock in the southern defense line, and its gains and losses are directly related to whether the Japanese army will drive straight in, and the current line is guarded by our division's Chen Yanhua regiment. ”

"The Japanese attack was unusually ferocious, the area of Xiahu Town was not large, the room for maneuver was small, and the continuous hard fighting has so far, and Chen Yanhua's troops have suffered huge losses. Once the Japanese army is allowed to occupy the town of Haho, we can confidently and boldly advance westward to occupy the town of Myoxi and the surrounding area, and then our attempt to move from there to Heping Town and then retreat to Si'an will be frustrated. ”

"Which army is guarding Myoshi Town now?"

Zhang Fakui is still savoring, but Liu Jianxu is anxious, once the only escape route is occupied by the Japanese army, then tens of thousands of horses and horses of the right wing army will be surrounded by the Japanese army, and there is no way to enter the heavens and the earth. In the face of such a sinister environment, Liu Jianxu couldn't help but think about himself and his old subordinates.

"At present, there is no military presence in Myaoxi Town. In fact, we were ready to send a regiment of militia officers and soldiers, but we were unanimously opposed by the gentry of Miaoxi Town, who said that Miaoxi was located in the hilly area of the northern foot of Tianmu Mountain, and the transportation was inconvenient, and the Japanese army might not notice such a small place. ”

"They stressed that once we stationed troops in Myaoxi, we would inevitably be taken seriously by the Japanese army, and fortifying there would anger the Japanese and bring them disaster. The mayor of Myosai Town, who used to study in Nagoya, Japan, believes that Japanese people are also human beings, and as long as the common people do not resist, there will be no problem."

Long Shaogang said with some regret.

"Stubborn"

Liu Jianxu scolded and said: "Where are the Japanese so easy to get along with? They want peace, will the Japanese bring them peace? Could it be that the atrocities of the series of massacres of the Japanese propagated on the radio have not awakened them? ”

"It's a pity that they really don't believe it, and most of them think that this is a fabrication made up by the Nationalist Government and our army to intimidate them."

Long Shaogang shook his head regretfully: "It's a pity, if our reconnaissance team can get the photos of the Japanese massacring our people in advance, maybe the fathers and villagers in Miaoxi Town will understand."

"What now?"

Zhang Fakui asked in a deep voice, with no expression on his face, and a calm and calm general demeanor. I don't know what Lu Dao is for, as long as he is with Wu Ming's generals, Zhang Fakui feels a lot more at ease.

Long Shaogang pointed to the map: "We can only rush before the Japanese army captures Xiahucheng, and the army completely passes the road between Miaoxi Town and Miaohe Village, and turns to the line of Heping Town. In other words, from now on, we are in a race against time. ”

Zhang Fakui frowned slightly, thought for a while, nodded and said, "It seems that it can only be like this"

"Boom-"

Suddenly, there was a loud bang in the northwest, followed by an earth-shattering shouting of killing.

Zhang Fakui, Liu Jianxu, Long Shaogang and others were startled, and hurriedly ran out of the headquarters, only to see bursts of thick gunpowder smoke rising from the direction of Xisai Mountain.

Long Shaogang grabbed the binoculars and took a closer look, only to see that the Japanese troops on Xisai Mountain were fiercely rushing towards the line of Lijiawan, and at present the enemy and us were engaged in a fierce battle on the line from Baishu Village to Leiquanqiao Village.

Long Shaogang's face was tense, he couldn't think of the essentials, and hurriedly returned to the house to call the four regiments guarding the northwest direction of Wuxing City to inquire.

Wu Guohua, commander of the Fourth Regiment, telegraphed back that the Japanese troops occupying Benshan and Longwang Mountain had split up to cross the river at Bailongshan on the left flank, and had joined forces with the Japanese paratroopers on Xisai Mountain. The Japanese army was not willing to be lonely and took the initiative to attack, and at present, the third and fourth regiments were very dangerous, and they could be blocked by the Japanese army at any time.

Long Shaogang was very helpless, at present, the enemy and us are staggered, the Japanese army occupies the city of Wuxing and the eastern and northeastern suburbs, while the temporary third division controls the northwest, west and southern suburbs of Wuxing, relying on the river to stubbornly block the Japanese army, but on the whole the enemy is already strong and we are weak.

After all, our army was attacked head-on by the sixth, seventh, and eighteenth main divisions of the Japanese army, which was by no means something that ordinary troops could do, and the slightest carelessness would lead to a situation in which the entire army would be annihilated.

Long Shaogang hurriedly ordered Wu Guohua to fight a counter-charge of the Japanese army and retreat at the right time. Subsequently, he called Zhou Juncheng again, and immediately took alternate cover to lead his troops to retreat south and chase after the army.

After taking care of everything, Long Shaogang returned to the house and suggested to Zhang Fakui:

"Commander, if my prediction is correct, the 3rd Infantry Brigade of the 2nd Division of the Japanese Army, which has been withholding it until now, is attacking our belly from the front line of Xisai Mountain, and because our division has set up minefields and multiple blocking points on the way of the Japanese army's advance, the Japanese army is not making rapid progress."

"The Japanese army is strong, I don't know how long we can resist, please Commander quickly lead people to withdraw, I have given an order to the troops responsible for blocking the attack, choose the opportunity to retreat, we will soon become a battlefield here, we can no longer stay."

Zhang Fakui had already seen everything that was happening in front of him, and he dared to slack off at this time, and immediately issued an order for the whole army to retreat to Miaoxi Town.

Okamura Ninji received a report from the front line that the Chinese troops guarding the area around Wuxing were retreating to the south, and the 7th and 18th divisions were in pursuit, and immediately happily said to the generals around him: "The whole line of the Chinese army has collapsed

The chief of staff of the 2nd Division, Tamurahara Ichisa, was very excited: "With the movement of the 3rd Brigade in place, the rope around the necks of the people of China is being tightened, and now it is one step behind."

"Yo West"

Okamura Ninji stretched comfortably and lay down on an antique rattan chaise longue that he didn't know where to find it. The long march and command of the battle made Okamura Ninji have a sore back, and the staff officer hurriedly called a beautiful female military doctor to give Okamura Ninji a massage lightly.

Chief of Staff Tamura suddenly remembered something and reported to Okamura Ninji: "General, until now the Katayama Brigade has not replied to our telegram, and it seems that they have not yet captured Shimokojo"

Hearing this, Okamura Ninji's good mood suddenly disappeared, pushed away the female military doctor who was massaging his shoulder, and with a tiger face, he coldly ordered:

"Call the Katayama Brigade and if they can't take the town of Shimokusu before sunset, Katayama's brigade commander will be replaced by Chief of Staff Noguchi"

Summarizing all aspects of the information, the new 2nd Division Supplementary 1st Regiment guarding the front line of Shimohujo was actually a reserve regiment that provided troops for the main force, and in Okamura Ninji's impression, it was the same as those local faction armies with rudimentary weapons.

In the face of such a weak infantry regiment guarding the town, as the 15th Brigade of the Empire, it was impossible to complete the task, and repeatedly spent precious time, how could Okamura Ninji not be annoyed and angry?

At this time, Okamura Ningji didn't know that it was this regiment that he despised very much, who had taught the once-invincible Sixth Division a hard lesson in Jiaxing City, and as the absolute main force in the Nanxun area, he would have defeated the Kunisaki detachment head-on, otherwise he would not have made the above remarks.

"General, it's not good."

Chief of Staff Tamura was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly persuaded: "The big net we have arranged is almost complete, and the national army in the encirclement will definitely not be able to escape, isn't it a bit ...... to treat Katayama-kun like this?"

"You don't have to worry about this"

Okamura Ninji waved his hand proudly: "There is only a supplementary regiment of the New Second Division stationed in Xiahu Town, and they have been fighting for most of the day, and they can't take it for a long time, so delaying the fighter plane like this, if you don't let Katayama disembowel, it's cheaper for him."

The Japanese Army was highly disciplined, and at another time and place, because the commander of the 11th Army did not follow orders, Okamura Ningji dismissed the 11th Army from its post as a commander to the commanders of its divisions, regiments, and brigades, along with the chief of staff and operational staff officers.

The dismissal of the commander of a major general's brigade may be an extremely difficult thing for other generals, but for such a fierce man as Okamura Ninji, it is really not worth mentioning.

Seeing this, Chief of Staff Tamura shook his head helplessly, no longer persuaded him, and immediately went to send a report, and peace was restored in the headquarters.