Since the artillery position at Xiaozhuzhuang was attacked and almost all the shells in reserve were blown up, the small Japanese did not launch a large-scale attack today, but only sent a small force to harass and attack the forward positions of the 74th Army.

Compared with Nakajima Imasago , Kusaba Tatsumi, an old devil, still cares about the casualties of the troops, and is unwilling to launch a large-scale attack on the national army without artillery coordination.

Moreover, the engineering units sent by the Front Army Headquarters have already rushed to repair the airfield in Xuzhou, and in three days at most, the North China Front Army's aviation regiment will be able to provide air fire support to the Japanese troops on the Xuzhou front.

In the evening, Li Hansoul's army finally arrived at Dangshan and replaced the 74th Army.

The 74th Army retreated to Dachangji to rest, and tonight there will be a group of supplementary soldiers from Shangqiu to supplement the 74th Army in the firing line, but whether it is Feng Shengfa or Wang Yaowu, who has just become the deputy commander of the 74th Army, they did not take this batch of supplementary soldiers to heart, saying that they are supplementary soldiers, but in fact, they are a group of strong men who have never touched a gun.

Although Feng Shengfa's telegram requesting merit was rejected, Xu Shijiu was fortunate to become the first battalion-level commander to be dealt with by the Ministry of Military Affairs, but the Ministry of Military Affairs still gave a bereavement pension to the officers and soldiers of the 19th Brigade.

Of course, there is absolutely no cash, only a white slip stamped with the big seal of the Ministry of Military Affairs, and the commander of each unit has a thick stack of this kind of white slip, and as long as an officer or soldier dies in battle, a white slip will be issued, and the Ministry of Military Affairs does not care whether or not the families of the officers and men who died in battle can get pensions from the local government by virtue of this white slip.

In addition to the list of officers and soldiers who died in battle, the list of surviving officers and soldiers should also be compiled and handed over to the next commander-in-chief.

"Captain, don't do it." Gao Shenxing frowned and persuaded, "What are you handing over?" ”

I don't know if it's because the 19th Brigade is too small to attract He Yingqin's attention, or because of other considerations, He Yingqin did not directly appoint a new chief officer to the 19th Brigade this time, but promoted Gao Shenxing to lieutenant colonel battalion commander, and Xu 19 became Gao Shenxing's major battalion deputy.

"Lao Gao, there is no longer the Nineteenth Brigade, and I am no longer a captain, now I am the deputy of the major battalion." Xu Shijiu smiled on his face, but his hand did not stop

To say that Xu Nineteen does not have the slightest resentment in his heart, of course it is impossible, even if he is the remnant of the Nineteenth Route Army, even if he can't erase the memory of the Nineteenth Route Army being dismembered by the Central Army, but the Nineteenth Brigade has made many meritorious contributions is always true, right? You are a dignified leader of the national government, and you can't tolerate a small nineteenth brigade?

Xu 19 doesn't care about being demoted, for him, being a captain or a big soldier, in fact, there is no difference, the only thing he cares about is the number of the 19th Brigade, in Xu 19's heart, the 19th Brigade is actually the 19th Route Army, the 19th Brigade is in the 19th Route Army, the 19th Route Army is there, and his home is still there.

Xu fled to Guangdong at the age of nineteen or seventeen, except for a vague impression of his grandfather, he had almost no impression of his hometown Guanzhong and other relatives, and then he was admitted to the 19th Route Army by his old uncle, it can be said that the 19th Route Army is his home, once the number of the 19th Brigade is no longer there, Xu 19 will become a homeless orphan.

If you are not an orphan, I am afraid it is difficult to understand an orphan's longing for home.

Xu Shijiu turned his head, looked at Gao Shenxing and said, "Now there is only an independent battalion, and you are the battalion commander." ”

"Captain, you're slapping me in the face." Gao Shenxing felt his face burn hotly, as if someone was really slapping him in the face, and he would never forget that when Xu Shijiu showed the message, Zhang Youquan, Shu Tongwen, Hu Jie and the black blind man looked at him, and he seemed to have become a betrayer.

Gao Shenxing really wanted to leave the 19th Brigade desperately, so as to clear the suspicion of "usurpation", but he didn't, because this is a coward's choice, a real man, a real soldier, should never evade responsibility, but should face the reality bravely, and do his best to change the reality.

Xu Shijiu sighed, of course he would not be angry with Gao Shenxing, not to mention that this was not out of Gao Shenxing's original intention, even if Gao Shenxing really wanted to be the commander of this unit, Xu Shijiu would not mind, because Gao Shenxing had this ability, and whoever the Nineteenth Brigade let be the captain of this brigade was actually the same, Zuihou or he had the final say.

What really makes Xu Shijiu unhappy is still the number.

However, there were still people who were not happy to come to find it, a platoon deputy from the Central Military Academy hurriedly walked into the headquarters, ignoring Xu Shijiu who was sitting in the chair, but went straight to Gao Shenxing and stood upright, and said loudly: "Camp seat"

Gao Shenxing's face was immediately pulled down, and he slapped the platoon deputy on the ground.

Gao Shenxing was extremely heavy, and the platoon deputy was stunned at once, and at the same time, the ambition of the platoon deputy and several junior officers from the Central Military Academy was extinguished, and they thought that Gao Shenxing's ascension would become their opportunity, because Gao Shenxing was also from the Whampoa Military Academy, and he was their senior, and he would definitely reuse them after he took the position.

"Camp, you ......" The platoon deputy looked at Gao Shenxing, a little at a loss.

"You dare to talk nonsense." Gao Shenxing was furious, and kicked the platoon deputy out of the lower abdomen, kicking the platoon deputy out two meters away, and a butt on the ground, Gao Shenxing was especially unrelieved of his hatred, stepped forward and kicked the platoon deputy buttocks, and scolded loudly, "We only have the captain of the 19th Brigade, where is the bullshit camp?" ”

After a pause, Gao Shenxing pointed at Xu Shijiu and shouted: "Moreover, there is only one captain of our 19th Brigade, and there will always be only one, his name is Xu 19, it's not me Gao Shenxing, do you hear clearly?" ”

The platoon deputy looked at Gao Shenxing, then turned his head to look at Xu Shijiu, and nodded stunned.

The situation on the battlefield in Xuzhou did not improve because of the re-consolidation of the Dangshan defensive line, and the two heavy army groups of the Japanese North China and Central China Fronts were continuing to approach the Central Plains from the north and south along the Jinpu Railway, while the transfer of personnel and materials was extremely disorderly and disorderly after the Nationalist army decided to abandon Xuzhou and retreat to Wuhan.

To this day, a large amount of supplies hoarded at Shangqiu Station have not been transported.

After a few days of delay, this information was finally discovered by the air scouts of Little Japan.

Lieutenant General Naosaburo Okabe, chief of staff of the Japanese North China Front, happened to be supervising the battle at Shimen at that time, and the old devil immediately convened a cabinet meeting after receiving the information.

Shoichiro Iida, chief of staff of the 1st Army, first gave an explanation of the situation: "Aviation scouts have reported that a large number of unidentified targets have been found near the Shangqiu Railway Station, and although these unidentified targets have all been camouflaged and are quite well camouflaged, it can be basically determined that all of them are war materials, and most of them are materials from the end of last year to the beginning of this year. ”

The senior officers attending the meeting immediately pricked up their ears, China and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact at the end of last year, which is not a secret to the Japanese army, since then the Soviet Union has provided China with a large amount of free or paid military aid, including a large number of guns and ammunition, medicines, chemical raw materials and even tanks, planes and artillery.

With the Soviet Union's aid to China aircraft and ground support, the Chinese Air Force was rebuilt after the August 13 air battle, and now the Japanese army's long-range bombers don't even dare to go to Wuhan to bomb, as well as tanks, with the Soviet Union's T26 tanks and trucks to aid China, the national army even formed the first mechanized heavy division - the 20th

The agents lurking in Wuhan sent back the news that part of Di Pei had left for the battlefield in Xuzhou.

In addition to aircraft and tanks, the Soviet Union's most aid to China is guns, ammunition and medicines, earlier the national army set up a jiashi to fight a big battle with the Japanese army in Xuzhou, it is bound to hoard a large number of war materials, now the national soldiers have run away, these war materials want to be transported away but not so easy, considering the low capacity of the Longhai railway, to rush to the rear at night to transport troops, during the day to be bombed by the Japanese air force to disturb, it is completely possible to transport this batch of materials in time.

A simple fact is that once this batch of war materials is intercepted, the war potential of the national army will inevitably be severely damaged, and without guns and ammunition, what will the national army use to compete with the Japanese army? Without medicines, a large number of veterans with only minor injuries will also die in despair without a quick recovery and return to the battlefield.

To put it bluntly, whether or not this batch of war materials can be intercepted will directly affect the next battle of Wuhan.

Seeing that Okabe Naosaburo didn't mean to speak, Kazuki Kiyoji knew that this decision could only be made by him, but on the issue of whether to send troops deep into Lanfeng to intercept this batch of war materials hoarded in Shangqiu, Kazuki Kiyoji did not dare to make a decision lightly.

At present, although the national army has abandoned Xuzhou, there are still heavy troops stationed in the entire eastern part of Henan, and once this detachment is alone, it is very likely to be surrounded by the heavy army group of the national army, and the tragedy of the Taierzhuang fiasco may be repeated.

Although the combat effectiveness of the national army has declined seriously after the Battle of Songhu, if it is surrounded by dozens of divisions of the national army, even if it is the Guards Division or the Dipei Regiment, it is also unbearable.

However, Kazuki Kiyoji's hesitation did not last long, and soon a communications staff officer hurriedly entered and reported to the chief of staff of the L Army, Iida Shoichiro, a most emotional report: Kenji Dohihara led the main force of the 14th Division straight from Heze to Kaocheng without the consent of the group army headquarters, and went to Lanfeng.

Obviously, Kenji Dohihara had already smelled the smell and reacted before the army headquarters made a decision, with the aim of creating a fait accompli and forcing the entire L Army and even the heavy army groups of the two major front armies in North China and Central China to fight around him.