For more than a month after that, the large-scale battle between the Chinese and Japanese armies in the Xuzhou area of the Central Plains was in full swing.

The Chinese side invested about 600,000 people in 64 divisions and three brigades, while the Japanese army mobilized eight divisions, three other brigades, and two detachments of about 240,000 people, and fought in the area with Taierzhuang as the center.

The New Second Army began to carry out frequent sabotage operations in the Japanese-occupied areas of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Japan, and effectively supported the Chinese army in the Fifth Theater.

On 23 March, Li Yong's squad succeeded in a sneak attack on the Japanese grain requisition squad at Caojiagou, south of Langxi.

On 25 March, Lei Chi's squad cooperated with a regiment of the New Fourth Army to wipe out a large Japanese stronghold in Guquan Town, northwest of Xuancheng, in one fell swoop, annihilating more than 150 Japanese troops, more than 200 puppet soldiers, and capturing more than 400 puppet soldiers.

After negotiation, the Lei Chi squad was allocated part of the materials and reported to the headquarters of the northbound detachment for approval and then expanded into a squadron.

On 27 March, the county town of Deqing was attacked by the eastward advance detachment of the New Second Army, and the officers and men of the Baihua squadron that invaded the city killed the garrison commander Hirota Ichiro Nakasa, who was left behind by the Japanese army, and at the same time eliminated Chen Buxian, a great traitor of Deqing who had defected to the Japanese, and killed and wounded more than 400 Japanese puppet soldiers.

After the Baihua squadron looted all the Japanese supplies, it escaped from Deqing County and fled into the nearby mountains before the arrival of Japanese reinforcements.

In the early morning of 1 April, the Zhang Yang squad of the northbound detachment of the New Second Army attacked the Beijing-Shanghai railway line from Danyang to Zhenjiang, causing the Japanese army's special train to transport weapons and equipment to derail.

On the same day, with the cooperation of officers and men of two battalions of the New Fourth Army, the eastward advance detachment of the New Second Army wiped out a Japanese railway squadron in Chang'an Town along the Shanghai-Hangzhou-Ningbo Railway. By the time the large Japanese troops stationed at Kipshi arrived, the New Second Army had been divided into pieces and scattered into the countryside.

On 5 April, the New Second Army penetrated deep into Li Xiang's squadron in the Pinghu area of eastern Zhejiang, and concentrated four squadrons to annihilate several Japanese grain collection squads.

In the early morning of 8 April, the Zhao Long Squadron of the New Second Army, with the cooperation of the Special Service Corps of the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Beilu Mobilization Force, launched an artillery bombardment on a Japanese stronghold in the area south of the Wujiang River on the east bank of Taihu Lake......

In a short period of more than half a month, bursts of gunpowder suddenly rose from the Japanese-occupied areas south of the Yangtze River, and the officers and men of the New Second Army appeared in unexpected places like ghosts, and changed places with one shot, leaving the Japanese troops overstretched with exhaustion.

Under these circumstances, most of the Japanese troops retreated to the cities, and no longer dared to go to the countryside to loot and requisition grain.

######

Nanjing, the headquarters of the Central China Front of the Japanese Army.

Shunroku Hatata, who received emergency telegrams from various places, was furious, only read a few copies, and directly threw a thick stack of telegrams into the face of the confidential section chief, and roared: "What's going on? Why are there so many distress telegrams all of a sudden? What happened to the fearless Imperial Japanese Army? The attack of a small force has made a mess of us...... Baga, it's so hateful! ”

Under the anger of Shunroku Hata, all the generals did not dare to speak, and could only look at Lieutenant General Okamura Ninji, the commander of the 11th Army, for help.

At this point, anger could not solve any problems, Okamura Ninji walked to the side of Shunroku Hahata and gently persuaded: "Commander, according to the analysis of the intelligence department, the Chinese army operating in the Jiangnan area is mainly composed of three parts, they are the special service of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Beilu mobile forces and the small units of the New Second Army and the New Fourth Army. ”

"The Jiangsu-Zhejiang Beilu Movement Force earlier cooperated with the retreat of the Chinese army on the front line of Songhu, and was wiped out by most of our imperial army, and the New Fourth Army has just come out of the ravine, and it will take time to form combat power! Therefore, the only one that can pose a threat to our Imperial Japanese Army in a short period of time is the New Second Army. They—"

"Okay, Okamura-kun, don't say it!"

With a gloomy face, Shunroku Hata rudely interrupted Okamura Ninji's words, moved his gaze to Urawa Jiro Nakasa, the head of the Intelligence Division of the Front Army, who was cowering in the corner of the conference room, and said coldly: "Urawa-kun, is this how you guide the intelligence department?" ”

"Hay—"

Urawa Nakasa, the head of the intelligence section, immediately stood up and bowed, trying to suppress his panic.

"As early as the first attack, I said that you must find out the movements of the Shina army, and now that half a month has passed, you have only found out their identities, and you are really ashamed of your trust in His Majesty the Emperor. You should apologize for your sins! Shunroku Hata's face turned pale.

"What? Do you want me to have a caesarean section? ”

Urawa Nakasa didn't care about the offense, and stared at Shunroku Hata with both eyes, extremely shocked.

Shunroku Hata didn't bother to look at him, waved his hand to the confidential secretary, and ordered, "Turn on the radio and tune in to Phoenix Radio!" ”

"Hay!"

The confidential secretary quickly turned on the radio button, and after the stage was selected, a high-pitched chorus of "March of the Volunteers" came out of the radio speakers, and the impassioned voice reverberated back and forth in the conference room.

As the powerful music ended, a passionate voice came out:

"Listeners and friends in front of the radio, dear compatriots, now our land from north to south, everywhere is flowing the blood of the Chinese people, the Japanese devils rob our homeland, slaughter our brothers, and plague our sisters...... Where there is oppression, there is resistance, and the time has come when we must settle the blood debt of the Japanese invaders. ”

"General Wu Ming, a famous anti-Japanese general, has sent the New Second Army deep into the Japanese-occupied areas, and since the successful sneak attack on the Japanese grain collection squad at Langxi on 23 March, the officers and men of the New Second Army have launched more than 100 attacks on the Japanese puppet army, killing and wounding more than 2,000 Japanese soldiers and destroying more than 8,000 puppet troops, effectively dealing a blow to the arrogance of the Japanese army, and also a huge deterrent to traitors and traitors."

After General Wu Ming issued the order to march to the Japanese-occupied areas, the officers and men of the New Second Army descended like heavenly soldiers and rescued one compatriot after another. Many people praised General Wu Ming as the white tiger star in the sky, saying that he was the reincarnation of Yue Wu Mu Qi Shaobao, specializing in fighting Japanese devils. However, here I would like to point out that General Wu Ming is not a star, and the officers and men of the New Second Army are not heavenly soldiers, they are ordinary people with flesh and blood and their own emotions. ”

"In order to defeat the Japanese invaders, ensure that our people are not burned, killed, and plundered, and in order to let the common people live a good life, the officers and men of the New Second Army launched a counterattack against the Japanese devils without hesitation. According to the latest statistics, since its participation in the Battle of Songhu, the New Second Army has killed more than 12,400 people and seriously wounded more than 18,900...... Many officers and soldiers have scars after scars, and they are the loveliest people of this era. ”

"We, the staff of Phoenix Radio, advocate that all citizens with a conscience should help the New Second Army and cover their attack, retreat and transfer without hesitation, because they are the protectors of the safety of our lives and property, and they will not allow the Japanese devils to harm us, and we will not allow the Japanese devils to harm them......"

Shunroku Hata stepped forward to turn off the radio, his eyes narrowed into a slit, stared at Urawa Daisa, and said coldly: "Urawa-kun, as the head of the intelligence department, you have an unshirkable responsibility for the robbery of grain and weapons and equipment on the Beijing-Shanghai and Shanghai-Hangzhou-Ningbo railways...... You'd better disembowel, take it down! ”

"Your Excellency, Commander—"

Urawa Nakasa resisted with all his might, but was still forcibly taken away by the guards.

The looting of weapons, equipment, and food supplies on the Beijing-Shanghai and Shanghai-Hangzhou-Ningbo railways directly affected the offensive of the Central China Front in the southern section of the Battle of Xuzhou.

After Urawa Nakasa was taken away, the conference room became quieter and quieter, and no one dared to speak.

Hata Junroku slowly turned his gaze to the direction of Quzhou on the map, and his heart was ruthless - Wu Ming, your happy days are coming to an end, just wait for the arrival of domestic reinforcements, and you and your new second army will enter the grave together.

When the Japanese generals such as Toshiroku Hata listened to the radio, Wu Ming of the military headquarters of the new Second Army of the Phoenix Mountain Base also led the generals and colonels of the military department to listen to the radio.

"Throne, I have a question......

Dai Ziran came to Wu Ming's side and asked puzzledly: "Where did you say that the infantry artillery of Zhao Long's squadron came from, and dared to shell the Japanese garrison, even if there was the support of Dai Li's Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Beilu mobile forces, it was impossible!" ”

"You ask him, he arranged it!"

Wu Mingha smiled and pointed at Zhang Dongning.

"Chief of Staff, where did you say the infantry artillery came from?" Dai Ziran asked Zhang Dongning.

"It's easy!"

Zhang Dongning smiled and waved his hand: "At the beginning, the military seat asked me to lead the baggage and artillery units first, because we captured too many ordnance materials in the warehouse of the Japanese army in Jinshanwei, and the little devils were chasing too quickly, there was really no way, so I assigned someone to disassemble some infantry guns and wrap them in oiled paper and choose a place to fill them." This time, our troops who went deep behind enemy lines dug up the infantry guns that were buried in the ground and used them. ”

"Ha Luha, fight the devil with the devil's infantry artillery, well done!" Dai Ziran stroked his palm and smiled, and everyone laughed.

"That's it!"

Wu Ming interrupted everyone's laughter and took out a telegram: "Ladies and gentlemen, the troops that have entered the battlefield behind enemy lines one after another have completed a new round of expansion, and the team of 1,500 people a month and a half ago is now almost expanding to 4,000 people, more than doubled!" ”

"Expanding so fast?" Long Shaogang was a little surprised.

"Yes, since participating in the Battle of Songhu, our new second army has been polished into an iron army after all operations, and has a high reputation among the people, and the people praise it, and after being bullied by the Japanese, the young people are actively joining the army, so we have no shortage of soldiers at all!"

Wu Ming took a breath and continued: "In the Japanese-occupied areas, many ordinary people risked the murder of their entire families to hide our officers and soldiers, cover their whereabouts, and even give us a small amount of food...... They are the food and clothing parents of our new Second Army, and if we don't fight devils well, then I'm so sorry for them! ”

"Since there is no shortage of soldiers, should we send some more troops into the occupied areas to further expand the scope of the guerrilla areas and turn the Japanese devils upside down?" Dai Ziran opened his mouth to suggest.

"That's not going to work!"

Wu Ming shook his head, and then explained: "I have already said before that it is okay for a small group of troops to rely on the supplies of the villagers, and there will be problems with food and ammunition as soon as there are more people. In addition, at present, Japan is expanding its army on a large scale, and once their troops are trained, they will be sent to China, and after Xuzhou and Wuhan are settled, our western Zhejiang will become the target of the Japanese army's key strikes. ”

"At present, the main task is to speed up the training of troops, increase the intensity of training, and alert the Japanese troops on the front line of Lin'an, Fuyang, and Xiaoshan, while our troops who go deep behind enemy lines can speed up the construction of guerrilla zones and base areas, with a view to containing more enemies. At the pace of development of troops behind enemy lines, they can play a much greater role. ”

"The military seat is right, now the patriotic youth of the whole country like to join our new Second Army, in the Japanese-occupied areas, Dai Li's Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Beilu mobile teams can hardly recruit people, only rely on Du Yuesheng's face, recruit some gang members to strengthen the façade." Zhang Dongning squinted his eyes, like a fox who had eaten grapes.