Time is like an arrow, the sun and the moon are like a shuttle, and most of the months have passed in a blink of an eye.

During this period, the situation in the Central Plains has undergone new changes.

On the battlefield of the southern front of Xuzhou, the 13th Division of the Central China Front Army made significant progress in February, and on February 1, the Japanese army on the East Road crossed the Chihe River, then captured Linhuai Pass, and occupied Bengbu five days later; The Japanese troops on the middle route crossed the Chihe River on February 2 and occupied Fengyang on the 4th; The Japanese troops on the West Road crossed the Chihe River on 1 February and occupied Dingyuan on 5 February.

When the Japanese army forcibly crossed the Chihe River, Li Zongren urgently transferred the 51st Army, a strong force of the Northeast Army, to the south for reinforcements in order to strengthen the defensive strength of the southern front. The defenders of Bengbu blew up the Huaihe Bridge when they retreated to the north bank of the Huai River on the 5th, but the hundreds of civilian boats that had been moored on the south bank did not withdraw in time, giving the Japanese sufficient tools to cross the river.

After that, the Chinese and Japanese armies engaged in a tug-of-war on both sides of the Huai River.

On 10 February, more than 20 Japanese planes bombed Xiaobengbu and immediately prepared artillery fire to destroy all the fortifications on the north bank.

Under the cover of artillery fire, more than 1,000 Japanese troops took civilian boats, motorboats and other tools to carry out forced crossings. The defenders resisted stubbornly and twice repelled the Japanese troops who crossed the river.

At 11 o'clock that night, the Japanese army carried out a night forced crossing, once landed on the north bank, and captured Xiaobengbu. The defenders fought back and resumed their positions at 1 a.m. on the 11th.

At dawn on the 12th, the Japanese army launched a large-scale forcible attack again, capturing Xiaobengbu around 10 o'clock, although the defenders counterattacked with all their might, but Xiaobengbu was finally occupied by the Japanese army.

At the same time as the Japanese army that occupied Bengbu launched an attack, the Japanese army that occupied Linhuai Pass also launched a forced attack.

At around 6 o'clock on the 12th, the Japanese army broke through the coastal positions of Yangongmiao, and soon occupied Meiyuanzi, Qianbanzi, Xinzhuang and other places. The defenders fought bloodily all day and managed to recapture part of their positions. However, by the 13th, the follow-up troops of the Japanese army had crossed the Huai River one after another, and the defenders suffered heavy casualties.

Due to the fact that the positions along the Huai River were broken through by the Japanese army in many places, and many of the defending troops lost their command because of the death of officers, in order to concentrate on the strength and reorganize the troops, Yu Xuezhong, the commander-in-chief of the defenders and the commander of the 51st Army, ordered the whole army to move to the line of Heji and Xinmaqiao near the Huai River.

On 15 February, Li Zongren transferred Zhang Zizhong's 59th Army, which had just been transferred to the Fifth War Zone, to the vicinity of Guzhen to take over the defense of the 51st Army, and the 51st Army withdrew to the area around Xisipo Station for rest.

At this time, most of the main force of the 13th Division of the Japanese Army advanced to the north of the Huai River, and Li Zongren ordered the 31st Army to move from the Huainan Railway to Lushangyao and Fengyang, and ordered the Seventh Army of the Xinli Fifth Theater to carry out a flank attack from Hefei to Mingguang and Dingyuan, and at the same time asked for air force support to bombard the enemy at Bengbu and Linhuai Pass, forcing the Japanese army to withdraw the main force that had crossed the Huai River to Huainan and strengthen the defense of Bengbu and the Tianjin-Pudong Railway.

Zhang Zizhong took the opportunity to dispatch a reinforced regiment to counterattack the enemy in Xiaobengbu on the 18th, and after hard fighting, successfully recovered Xiaobengbu, and all the Japanese troops north of the Huai River withdrew to the south of the Huai River.

After 20 February, the situation in the northern section of the Jinpu Road became tighter, and the Japanese army began to attack from Jining to the west of the canal. On the 22nd, in accordance with Chiang Kai-shek's instructions, Li Zongren telegraphed Zhang Zizhong to be transferred to Lincheng to wait for orders, and the southern section of Jinpu Road was still defended by Xuezhong's 51st Army, and temporarily confronted the Japanese army across the Huai River.

When the Chinese and Japanese armies were engaged in fierce offensive and defensive battles on both sides of the Huai River in the Bengbu area on the southern front, in order to prevent the Japanese troops on the northern front from taking advantage of the opportunity to move south, the Fifth Theater adopted the tactic of attacking and defending in accordance with the intention of the Military Commission, and ordered the Third Army to launch an offensive against Jining, the 22nd Group Army to Zouxian, and the Third Army to Mengyin.

At this time, the Japanese army in Jining was the main force of the 39th Wing of the 8th Brigade of the 10th Division of the Second Army, with more than 1,500 people, most of which were controlled in Nanguan, and the city guard troops were about 400 people, and the Japanese army in Wenshang was the 3rd Brigade of the 39th Wing, with about 500 people, and the main force of the 8th Brigade and the headquarters of the 10th Division were located in Yanzhou.

On 10 February, Sun Tongxuan, commander of the Third Group Army, ordered the 55th Army to launch an attack from Jinxiang to the enemy at Nanguan in Jining, and ordered the 22nd Division of the 12th Army to make a detour from Dingtao through Juye and Jiaxiang to the vicinity of Shilipu north of Jining, and then attack the north gate of Jining, coordinate with the 50th Army to recover Jining City, and order the 81st Army to attack and harass the enemy in Wenshang.

Cao Fulin's 55th Army sent a force to advance to the west bank of the canal near Anju Town in the southwest of Jining, and at the beginning of the attack, only less than one regiment crossed the river and attacked Jining Railway Station and Xiguan and other places, but did not attack with the main force, and was soon repulsed by the Japanese army.

After Gu Liangmin's 22nd Division arrived at the west bank of the canal east of Jiaxiang, it deployed the 64th Brigade as the main attacking force and the 60th Brigade as the reserve to control the west bank of the canal with the division headquarters. The 64th Brigade crossed the wooden bridge over the canal from Dachang and arrived at the starting point of the attack before dawn on the 12th.

According to the situation detected in advance, it was originally planned to sneak into the city in small detachments disguised as civilians after dawn, and then launch an attack, which should be combined with the outside to control the city gate and annihilate the Japanese army in the city, but the Japanese army had already noticed that the city gate was not opened that day, and the 64th Brigade had no choice but to launch a strong attack on the city.

At about 22 o'clock on the 12th, the 64th Brigade began to attack the city at the same time with long ladders and multiple roads, and suffered many casualties, and then broke down a section of the city wall at the northwest corner of the city, and about nine companies of officers and men broke through the gap into the city.

The Japanese commander transferred the main force into the city for reinforcements, first controlled the gap in the northwest corner of the city with a counter-charge, cut off the connection between the Chinese troops inside and outside the city, and then launched a siege on the troops who broke into the city.

The troops who broke into the city fought alone, and the ammunition and personnel could not be replenished, and the bloody battle lasted for a day and night, and by the dawn of the Buddha on the 14th, all the warriors of the nine companies died heroically.

At 23 o'clock on the night of the 13th, the remnants of the 64th Brigade in the north of the city received an order from Commander Sun Tongxuan to retreat to the west bank of the canal, and with the assistance of the local people, they moved from the Beiguan Outer Trail to the east bank of the canal through the marshland, and the 66th Brigade responded and crossed the canal by civilian boats to the west bank.

The rearguard battalion covering the retreat suffered heavy losses, the battalion commander was killed in battle, and Xue Mingming, the commander of the 66th Brigade who was in charge of the response, was also shot and wounded.

Zhan Zhongtang's 81st Division began to attack Wenshang City on the night of the 12th, once attacked Beiguan, was attacked by the Japanese heavy fire, suffered heavy casualties, because the 64th Brigade of Jining had withdrawn to the west bank of the canal, the 81st Division also took the initiative to withdraw to the vicinity of Kaihe Town, along the line of the canal defense.

On 17 February, the Japanese Second Army instructed the 8th Brigade of the 10th Division to form the Nagase Detachment with four and a half infantry brigades and a squadron of mountain artillery as the backbone, and began to attack the Chinese troops on the canal defense line on the 20th. After five days and five nights of fighting, the Japanese broke through the canal defense line on the 25th and occupied Jiaxiang on the 26th. After the Japanese occupied Jiaxiang, a force was left to defend, and the main force was assembled in Jining.

After resisting one by one, the Third Army retreated to the lines of Juye, Dushan Town, Dayiji, Mengjiatun, and Xiangliji to defend.

When the Third Army attacked Jining and Wenshang, the 22nd Army began to attack the enemy in Zouxian. Due to the excessive attrition of personnel and inferior equipment in continuous operations, the unit was unable to stop a large-scale offensive, so it could only carry out guerrilla raids and harassment operations behind enemy lines with battalions and companies as units, but did not achieve major results.

Pang Bingxun's Third Army Corps was transferred from Haizhou to Linyi in early February, and the assembly and deployment were completed in the middle of February, when the Japanese army had already occupied Mengyin, Yishui, Weixian, Zhucheng and other places, and the Third Army Corps could not carry out offensive operations in time to build fortifications and confront the Japanese army.

On the 21st, the 5th Division of the Japanese Army sent the 21st Brigade and the 21st Wing of the 21st Brigade from Weixian to attack Ju County.

Pang Bingxun ordered the 115th Brigade to be accompanied by two mountain artillery guns to help, and the brigade reached the vicinity of Ju County on the 26th, but Ju County had been lost two days earlier, Liu Zhendong was killed, and the Marines moved to the vicinity of Gaoli.

At this time, the Japanese army with the 21st Infantry Brigade as the backbone of the formation of the Sakamoto detachment was advancing westward to prepare for the attack on Linyi, and launched an attack on the 115th Brigade on the 27th.

The Japanese army followed the 115th Brigade to pursue the westward advance, but was resolutely resisted by the defenders of the 39th Division, Pang Bingxun organized a counterattack, and made a detour from the left and right flanks to the enemy's flank, and the Japanese army was forced to retreat, and the two sides temporarily formed a confrontation.

"The above is the situation of the armies of the north and south of Xuzhou during this time, from all aspects, the Japanese army has always been in the upper hand, even if it is a weak enemy, it is not in the slightest sense of proportion, and its combat power is extremely terrifying. As long as the Japanese army put in more troops from the north and south respectively, the future of the Chinese army on the Xuzhou front line is worrying. ”

After Zhang Ying returned to his seat, Wu Ming stood up and said: "Although the Japanese Central China and North China Front were resolutely blocked and counterattacked by the Chinese army in the Huai River and Jining areas of the north and south lines, and suffered certain setbacks, thanks to the victory in Shanghai and the easy occupation of Nanjing and Shandong, the Japanese army command will inevitably misjudge the development trend of the war and insist on expanding the scale of the war. ”

"Therefore, when the fierce battle in Xuzhou is in full swing, we cannot sit idly by, and we must use various methods to draw the attention of the Japanese army in Central China and create positive and powerful conditions for the operation in the Fifth Theater!"

Luo Yuming's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked: "Military seat, how have you considered the matter of sending a small detachment to cooperate with the New Fourth Army to fight in the Japanese-occupied areas?" ”

"Commander, send our new third division! Although the new third division is a little worse than the new second division, but you didn't give us a chance to exercise, if you let us attack this time, we will definitely be able to successfully complete the task! Yang Sixian hurriedly stood up and expressed his attitude to Wu Ming.

Lu Kuiyuan, the head of the guard, looked at Wu Ming with a look of hope.

Fighting deep behind enemy lines is very much in line with Lu Kuiyuan's appetite, and the special service battalion and special battalion will certainly be able to display their strengths. It's just that because of his current identity, he is embarrassed to come forward to compete with Luo Yuming and Yang Sixian.

Wu Ming looked at Dai Ziran, Dai Ziran nodded knowingly, stood up and issued an order.

The order was very simple: one battalion was selected from the New Second Division and one battalion from the New Third Division, and at the same time, the guard regiment selected a reinforced company from the special service battalion and the special battalion, and after disrupting the formation, it was organized into small detachments to infiltrate the Japanese-occupied areas to cooperate with the New Fourth Army.

Hearing the news, Luo Yuming, Yang Sixian, and Lu Kuiyuan danced with their eyebrows, and they were so happy that they couldn't close their mouths. Yin Dizhong, the commander of the independent division, was drooling, but he was helpless, after all, compared to the two main divisions, the independent division was much worse, and now he could only practice the basic skills well and talk about other things.

Wu Ming patted the table, and only after the conference room was quiet did he say solemnly: "I won't ask about the selection criteria, because I believe that you will definitely select elite soldiers." When the troops enter behind enemy lines, we can only let them play on their own, but here I have three requests, and you must convey them to the officers and men......"

"First, pay attention to protect yourself, and all actions must be based on the premise of ensuring that you are not threatened; Second, seize every fighter plane to annihilate the Japanese puppet army, and every time we destroy a Japanese army, we have one more hope of survival; Third, after entering the Japanese-occupied areas, we must make full use of the tremendous prestige of our New Second Army in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions to win the support of the common people and win over the people! ”

"Yes!"

Luo Yuming, Yang Sixian, and Lu Kuiyuan stood up and saluted Wu Ming together, and then left the conference room in the aftermath of Wu Ming's announcement of the "dismissal".