In the first month of the Republic of China (1938), the Fifth Theater of the National Army mobilized more than 60 divisions and 500,000 troops to gather in Xuzhou, fought hard for more than four months, and finally severely damaged the main force of the 10th Division of the Japanese Army along the Jinpu Road, and achieved the result of annihilating more than 20,000 enemies.

However, the victory of Taierzhuang did not fundamentally change the situation of the Anti-Japanese War.

Although the main force of the 10th Division of the Japanese Army suffered heavy losses, Japan had a perfect military service system and a strong industrial base; in a very short period of time, a large number of formally trained reinforcements came from the country, and the weapons and equipment lost on the battlefield were also quickly replenished, and the two master regiments quickly regained their combat effectiveness.

On the other hand, the national army has lost veterans and weapons and equipment, but it is difficult to replenish them in a timely manner.

After the great victory in Taierzhuang, the 10th Division of the Japanese Army switched from offensive to defensive, and the Nationalist Army switched from defensive to offensive but the offensive was weak, and the Xuzhou battlefield fell into a stalemate.

As a result, Chairman Chiang once again began to transfer troops and generals, and the dozens of divisions that had been defeated from the Songhu and Nanjing battlefields did not get enough rest and recuperation, so they once again went to the battlefield, and the army, the 71st Army, the 74th Army, the 78th Army, and the L Army were all on the list of reinforcements to Xuzhou.

By the end of April, the national army gathered in Xuzhou had more than 100 divisions and nearly one million troops

But the reality is cruel, the forty or fifty German armor divisions that were transferred to Xuzhou this time are no longer the dozens of German armor divisions that have just set foot on the Songhu battlefield, whether it is weapons and equipment or the quality of soldiers, they are not on the same level at all, at the beginning of the Songhu battlefield, seven or eight German armor divisions can fight with the two A divisions of the Japanese army, but when it comes to the Xuzhou battlefield, dozens of German armor divisions are still weak in the face of the two B divisions of the Japanese army.

The national army was unable to open up the situation on the battlefield in Xuzhou for a long time, so it gave the Japanese army a chance.

In view of the favorable situation in which hundreds of elite divisions of the national army gathered on the battlefield in Xuzhou, the base camp of the Japanese army quickly adjusted its deployment.

The 10th Division continued to hold the front line of Zaozhuang, Yixian, and Linyi, firmly attracting the main force of the Nationalist Army to the Taierzhuang and Linyi battlefields, and at the same time ordered the North China Front Army and the Central China Dispatch Army to form heavy army groups to attack Shangqiu from the north and south ends, in order to encircle and annihilate hundreds of elite divisions of the Nationalist Army near Xuzhou.

In early May, the 16th Division of the Japanese Army crossed the canal from Jining and captured Yuncheng, Shanxian, Jinxiang, Yutai, and Fengxian, and the 14th Division of the Japanese Army also crossed the Yellow River from Puxian, and the front of the troops was directed at Lanfeng.

At the same time, the Central China Army also sent four elite divisions to the north along the Jinpu Road, of which the 9th and 13th Divisions fell to Mengcheng on May 9 and Yongcheng on Japan, so they divided their troops into two routes, the 1st Pei Regiment went straight to Xuzhou through Xiao County, and the 13th Division attacked Dangshan through Han Daokou, trying to join the Japanese 16th Division in Dangshan and completely cut off the Longhai Railway.

Suddenly, the urgent document flew to the Wuhan camp like snowflakes, and Lao Jiang was stunned.

In the face of the cruel reality, Chairman Chiang's seriously feverish mind because of the great victory in Taierzhuang finally cooled down, and finally adopted the advice of Bai Chongxi, Chen Cheng and other high-ranking generals, and decisively ordered nearly 100 elite divisions gathered on the battlefield in Xuzhou to retreat along the Longhai Railway to Shangqiu, Lanfeng, and Kaifeng, and abandon Xuzhou.

After the Huangpi military parade, the 74th Army was incorporated into Xue Yue's L Corps, which was subordinate to the First War Zone.

The corps is a unit between the theater and the group army, so that the national army has a five-level command structure at and above the division level, including the corps, the corps, the group army, the corps, and the theater; what is even more fatal is that there is often a situation of cross-command between the various corps, group armies, corps, and even the theater; in addition, Jiang Zhi's remote command in Wuhan has caused the entire command system of the national army to be out of order, and it is often changed in the afternoon as soon as an order is issued in the morning.

For example, the 74th Army and the Army, after the Huangpi military parade, went to Xiaoxian, took a short rest in Xiaogan and took the train north to Zhengzhou, as soon as the train arrived in Zhengzhou, the situation on the battlefield in Xuzhou had taken a sharp turn for the worse, and the millions of troops gathered on the battlefield in Xuzhou had begun to retreat in great strides, and the 74th Army and Army were transferred to Hebei by Cheng Qian, commander-in-chief of the First Theater of Operations.

So the officers and men of the 74th Army got on the train again and walked north along the Pinghan Railway, but as soon as the train arrived in Xinxiang, they received a telegram from General Xue Yue, commander-in-chief of the 1st Corps, ordering the 74th Army and the Army to go to eastern Henan to join the main force of the Corps, and hold the line of Lanfeng and Shangqiu, so as to cover the retreat of the main force of the national army on the battlefield in Xuzhou.

So more than 30,000 officers and soldiers of the 74th Army and the army hurriedly got off the train, walked back, and after returning to Zhengzhou on foot, there were just a dozen military trains transferred to Shangqiu to transport military supplies retreating from Xuzhou, so the officers and men of the 74th Army and the 27th Army got on the train again and walked east along the Longhai Road.

In the early morning of May 16, 1938, the 74th Army successfully entered Shangqiu.

The donkey woke up from the nightmare and found that the sky outside the window was already numb.

Since the troops were pulled out, Donkey Erdan, like all the recruits who set foot on the battlefield for the first time, fell into endless fear, yes, the endless fear troops had already passed Minquan County in the middle of the night last night, and from the perspective of time, it was time to reach Shangqiu soon, and not far from Shangqiu, it was Dangshan.

It is said that two divisions of the Japanese army are storming Dangshan

In other words, they were about to fight the Japanese army, and the thought of fighting to the death with little Japan on the battlefield made the heart of the donkey beat wildly, and his throat was bursting for a while, and he also felt a burst of dizziness in front of him, and the whole person was like sitting on a cloud pile.

Donkey Erdan hurriedly unbuttoned the placket of the cotton military uniform, and took out a photo from the pocket of his close-fitting shirt, the photo was a girl with a round face, although she was not pretty, but she had a pair of big eyes, two small dimples on her cheeks, and a big black braid hanging down on her bulging chest, and the whole person was full of budding youth.

Looking at the girl's sweet smiling face in the photo, Donkey Erdan quickly calmed down, and gradually, Donkey Erdan also showed a smile on his face, as if he had returned triumphantly from the battlefield, and then it seemed that he and his little daughter-in-law who had not passed the door had already rounded the house, and there was already a baby's cry in the small courtyard of his hometown.

A big hand suddenly reached out from behind the donkey and snatched the photo.

"Let's come and see, look at Erdan's daughter-in-law, Erdan's new daughter-in-law is so beautiful, everyone come and see." The one who took the picture was the most mischievous recruit of the artillery company, whose name was very awkward, and everyone called him "calf", his father was a butcher, and he was raised like a calf since he was a child, and it is appropriate to call him a calf.

"Give it to me, give it back to me." The donkey was in a hurry and reached out to grab it.

The officers and soldiers of the 3rd Company in their sleep were awakened one after another, the veterans did not react, but the recruits followed one by one, one time to pass the photos to the other end of the carriage, and then to the other end of the carriage, the donkey and the two eggs tossed back and forth, so anxious that they were about to cry, but the recruits found fun in it, and the trouble became more and more energetic.

The noise of the recruits disturbed Li Zihan, and he couldn't write the diary anymore, so he had to close the diary.

There is a photo on the cover of the diary, a photo of Wang Yulan, this diary was customized by Wang Yulan, and her photo was used as the cover, so that every time Li Zihan took out the Japanese diary, she could see her appearance at the first time, and below the photo, there was a blessing written by Wang Yulan herself: Triumphant return.

Looking at Wang Yulan's sweet smile in the photo, Li Zihan couldn't help but recall the scene when the two were separated.

Although Wang Yulan found another way out for Li Zihan through her family relationship, Li Zihan was also very moved, but after thinking about it again, Li Zihan finally decided to return to the team, he never let go of the good brothers of the 19th Brigade, and he definitely didn't want to be the first deserter in the history of the 19th Brigade.

After Li Zihan said his decision, Wang Yulan's expression was very complicated, there was appreciation, and there was loss, but more worry, and then she found someone to order this diary, and sent Li Zihan to Xiaogan, and accompanied Li Zihan in Xiaogan for nearly half a month.

Recalling that night when the moonlight was sprinkled on the grove, Li Zihan still felt ecstatic.

Listen closely, the "click" sound of the wheels running over the rail connection gradually became sparse, Li Zihan, who had been in the military train countless times, knew that the train was slowing down, and it should be Shangqiu not far ahead, and then turned his head to look out the window, the scene on both sides of the railway was vaguely arguable, but it was a dilapidated and silent small village.

The speed of the train was getting slower and slower, and when it was about to stop, Li Zihan suddenly gasped.

Outside the car window, endless national officers and soldiers poured over like a tide, only a moment of effort, the outside of the car was crowded with sad and anxious expressions, describing the sleepy and tired national officers and soldiers, from the car window to the end of the field of vision, as far as the eye could see, there were all the moving heads, the surging tide of soldiers, they waved their hands, roared, and were running forward with the train.

There was a deathly silence in the carriage, and all the recruits were stupid, except for Donkey Erdan, who took back the photo from another recruit, and then carefully put it into his shirt pocket and hid it close to his body, and then Donkey Erdan followed to look out the window, and then, like all the recruits, opened his mouth wide and was stupid.

The veterans looked indifferent, one by one they were still napping with their eyes closed, and they didn't even have the interest to stand up and take a look, they had experienced the Songhu rout, and the scene in front of them was nothing, at least now there was no Japanese army chasing behind the ass of the national army, and when the Songhu rout, they bit nine divisions behind their buttocks.