At the same time that the 3rd Army on the North Road fought a series of bloody battles to break the German blockade and join forces with the 21st Army trapped in Lublin, the main battle of the South Road also began.

Zhang Zuoxiang misled Shi Dashou into believing that the German army on the east bank of the Vistula River had escaped from his intended battlefield, although Lieutenant General Xiong Xun, who had rushed to the headquarters of the 2nd Army on the orders of General Wang Mingyuan, objected that this was unlikely. Xiong Xun is calculated from the time, from the German attack in late November, the fall of Starlova Walla was around November 28, and the 21st Army fully engaged the enemy on December 3, how many troops could the German army transport in five days? According to the report of the Military Intelligence Bureau on the equipment of the German army on the Eastern Front, the German army was not equipped with many cars, it was all on two legs and on a road, and it was impossible for the German army, even if it was an iron man who did not eat or sleep, to put two armies on Lublin! Xiong Xun's calculation is three divisions, which is the upper limit, and it is impossible for this German army that defeated the 21st Army to carry too much baggage!

Don't believe the of the 21st Army! The Germans on the eastern bank of the Vistula were still near Starova Walla, most likely between Rzeszow and Starlowa Walla!

This force of the enemy is expected to be 6~7 divisions, because the expeditionary force is invested one by one, Xiong Xun reminded Shi Dashou to pay attention to the German army set up an ambush, the news of the expeditionary force going south can not be completely concealed from the Germans, the German planes have repeatedly bombed Lviv, and it is impossible not to find the huge Chinese convoy on the road. Xiong Xun thus established the main force of the expeditionary force, no longer divided the troops, hugged the five armies together, and marched west along the Lviv-Rzeszow road, and the first step was to go south to recapture the key point of Krakow. This move would provide strong support to the Russian 11th Army, which was mired in a bitter battle, and it would be best to annihilate or crush the German army southeast of Krakow, close the general breakthrough and supply hub of the German army on the southern front of the Polish campaign, and then decide to strike at the German army on both sides of the Vistula River according to the situation. As for the Lublin direction, there is the 3rd Army to respond, the 21st Army does not need to worry too much, it really can't be done, the 3rd Army and the 21st Army can retreat east and return to Ukraine.

Xiong Xun then mentioned the 5th Army and the 9th Army, and the Jianyì General Headquarters transferred these two armies, which had been rested and replenished, to the west of the Lviv direction, and formed a new campaign group with the 3rd Army and the 21st Army. If necessary, direct reinforcement of Russian troops in the direction of Warsaw.

Xiong Xun's plan was tantamount to overturning Ye Yanbing's previous plan to divide and annihilate the German army between Krakow and Lublin. The focus of the attack was shifted to the south and the north, respectively, and the expeditionary force was divided into two disconnected battlefields.

Shi Dashou could not agree with Xiong Xun's construction. He was now at the mercy of the Lublin battle, and his greatest fear was not the annihilation of the 21st Army, but the crossing of Lviv by the Germans to attack Warsaw. Once the German armies in the north and south met east of Warsaw. The Western Front of the Russian Army will fall into encirclement! Although in the rear of the German army there was a Chinese expeditionary force. However, the encirclement of hundreds of thousands of troops meant that the supply was cut off, and with the combat effectiveness of the Southwestern Front in Krakow and Bulgaria, Shi Dashou really did not dare to imagine the situation after the Western Front was encircled. Once the Polish front of the Russian army completely collapses, not to mention the huge pressure that the expeditionary force will be under, the political responsibility alone cannot be shouldered!

Why did the president remove Ye Yanbing, who had won the Romanian victory, from his post and recall him? Shi Dashou would never dare to make such a mistake again. What's more, the 21st Army cannot afford to lose, and if he creates a combat example in which an entire army is annihilated, his military career will almost come to an end. Of course, in that case, he is not the biggest one, but after all, he has served as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy in the Polish direction, and if he does not bear the responsibility, who will carry it?

Therefore, Shi Dashou did not accept Xiong Xun's reminder, and on the one hand, he strictly ordered the 3rd Army of the Northern Front to move towards Lublin to relieve the misfortune of the 21st Army, and on the other hand, he led the five corps under his command to attack Poland from Lviv in two ways, and in the south, the 10th and 12th armies took the 10th and 12th armies as one way, from Lubachuk along the left bank of the San River to Starlova Vola, and the three corps (7th, 15th, and 16th) on the southern route advanced along the Rzeszow-Denbitsa Road, and turned north to Starova Walla.

Shi Dashou of course fulfilled the procedure, and he reported his decision to Wang Mingyuan, who remained in Vinnitsa, and Wang Mingyuan quickly telegraphed back to agree, especially pointing out Lublin, and clearly demanding that Lublin must ensure that not a single German soldier is allowed to cross Lublin.

Xiong Xun also reported his opinion to Wang Mingyuan after Shi Dashou, and pointed out that his stay on the southern front was useless, and asked to return to Vinnitsa.

Wang Mingyuan fell into a dilemma. After the Vinnitsa headquarters evaluated the two group army commanders' completely different battle plans, the staff officers who favored Xiong Xun's plan prevailed, and Xue Xiaocai, chief of staff of the 1st Group Army, who remained by Wang Mingyuan's side, was a supporter of Xiong Xun's plan.

Wang Mingyuan paid attention to the battle in the Lublin direction and thought about the layout of the expeditionary force on the other hand, and made a decision on December 9 to transfer the 5th Army and the 9th Army to fight in the Lublin direction, and readjusted the command sequence of the expeditionary force, with the 5th, 9th, 3rd, and 21st armies under the command of the 1st Group Army, and the 1st Group Army was responsible for the battle situation in the Lublin direction, and before the return of Lieutenant General Xiong Xun, the 3rd Army and the 21st Army were directly under the command of the headquarters.

This was tantamount to partially accepting Xiong Xun's opinion, but did not revise Shi Dashou's deployment in the Rzeszow-Starova Vola direction.

A well-known Western military commander once pointed out in an article that strategy is a kind of emergency measure. The success of the German 20th Army in the Lublin direction mobilized the Chinese army, which caused the top of the expeditionary force to suffer from gains and losses. Of course, the situation would have been different if the 21st Army had repelled the attack of the German 20th Army on Lublin. At any time, it is an iron law of military science to concentrate superior forces, annihilate the enemy individually, and aim at annihilating the enemy's living forces regardless of the gains or losses of one city or one place. However, the Bodong campaign was burdened with political burdens, and the military deployment is not without question.

On December 10, the anxious General Wang Mingyuan finally received the first good news, Major General Yan Shulin's 3rd Army had broken through the German defensive line on the eastern outskirts of Lublin and was advancing towards Lublin, and it was expected to join the 21st Army in a maximum of 12 hours. Its 7th Division made a detour to the south and did not encounter strong resistance. Major General Yan Shulin judged that the German army in the Lublin direction was at most three divisions, and by no means as many as six divisions as previously reported.

This news basically dispelled Wang Mingyuan's concerns. On the one hand, he ordered Yan Shulin to continue to attack westward to achieve a rendezvous with the 21st Army, and on the other hand, he ordered Zhang Zuoxiang to respond to the east. Strive to encircle and annihilate the German army. Wang Mingyuan reported in the telegram the decision to adjust the command sequence, clearly pointing out that before Lieutenant General Xiong Xun took office, Major General Yan Shulin would be in charge of the battle in the Lublin direction, and that the 21st Army should accept the command of Major General Yan in order to coordinate the movements of the two armies.

After the telegram was sent, Wang Mingyuan realized that the pressure on the southern front had increased, and if the main forces of the German army were not in Lublin, then where were they? At seven o'clock in the evening of the 10th, Wang Mingyuan was in a hurry for the carbide birthday. It was noted that the Germans had a heavy group in the direction of Starlova Vola. I want Shi Dashou to deal with it carefully. Since the situation in Lublin eased and the crisis on the northern front was resolved, the advance on the southern front must be cautious, and it would be good to be able to capture the main German force between Rzeszow and Starova Walla. If not. then concentrated their forces north into Lublin. Strive to annihilate the German 20th Army, and then decide on the next move according to the situation.

At 3:10 a.m. the next day, Wang Mingyuan, who had already fallen asleep, was woken up by Xue Xiaocai. After seeing Shi Dashou's emergency call, he scolded twice, who to scold, Xue Xiaocai didn't hear it clearly. Because Shi Dashou reported that the 10th Army, which was advancing westward along the left bank of the San River, was attacked by the superior German army, and the 29th Division of the forward and the main force were wedged with heavy German troops, and the battle was raging.

Didn't Xiong Xun remind him that the Germans were in ambush? Why is this happening? Didn't Cheng Jianguo transfer a wing of planes to Lviv? Why can't I get accurate information? ”

"Recently, it has been cloudy over there, the clouds are very thick, and the aircraft reconnaissance is very unfavorable. Also, the terrain on that side is complicated......"

"What about the 12th Army? Where is Wu Peifu? Wang Mingyuan remembered Wu Peifu, who became famous in Romania.

"He should be behind the 10th Army." Xue Xiaocai recalled the telegram he received before, "Wu Peifu is on the north bank of the Sang River. ”

"Damn! What a damn one! This Shi Dashou, how can you do it. Wang Mingyuan thought that the electric light was not on, so he turned on the flashlight and looked hard at the map. The commander was most afraid of the loss of the initiative, and now that the 29th Division was under siege, Shi Dashou was taken the initiative by the Germans.

"Commander, we are too far from the front line to give instructions indiscriminately...... Xue Xiaocai reminded.

"What about Shi Dashou's determination? Why not? Wang Mingyuan angrily threw the telegram he was holding in his hand to the ground, "Immediately communicate with the 10th Army, and ask Jiang Cun to report the details first." ”

After an arduous wait, an hour later, Shi Dashou's telegram arrived first. The headquarters of the 2nd Army judged that the main force of the German army on the east bank of the Vistula River was concentrated east of Starova Walla, and preliminarily judged that the German army attacking the 10th Army should have 3 armies with a total of 8~9 divisions, Shi Dashou decided to order the 12th Army to cross the San River, and the 10th Army to stick to the spot and firmly absorb the German army, and he commanded the three armies in his hand to speed up the march from Dengbicha to the north along the main road to reinforce the past, and strive to fight a big annihilation battle in Starlova Walla.

"That's all there is to it." Wang Mingyuan stared at the map for a while, "I want him to pay attention to his south, don't have problems in the south!" There are also Germans over there! ”

Wang Mingyuan had a premonition of the opponent's cleverness.

"It seems that the previous judgments were wrong, and there were more than 10 divisions of the German army on this route. The terrain is unfamiliar, the enemy situation is unknown, and this battle is really difficult to fight. Xue Xiaocai sighed.

It would be nice to listen to Xiong Xun's opinion...... Wang Mingyuan felt remorseful in his heart, "Call Commander Shi back, the headquarters respects his decision." He knows very well what our purpose is in the Botong campaign, and there must be no situation in which formed units are wiped out! The contact with the 29th Division should be opened as much as possible. ”

As soon as the telegram to Shi Dashou was sent, the telegram of the 10th Army arrived, after all, it was on the front line, and the telegram of the commander of the 10th Army, Lieutenant General Jiang Cunxian, described the battlefield situation in much more detail: The 10th Army on the west bank of the San River was flanked by five German divisions, and the 29th Division wedged the German army with no less than one division between the main force of the army, and the 29th Division was caught in a bitter battle by the enemy on three sides, and the main force of the army, while resisting the attack from the north, was trying to break through the German army in the west and move closer to the 29th Division. Jiang Cunxian built Wu Peifu's 12th Army in a telegram and quickly crossed the Sang River north and leaned close to him.

"The 10th Army is the basic force of the Northern Army, and there is no doubt about its combat effectiveness. The commander was relieved, even if the Germans had eight or nine divisions, they were not afraid, and when the 12th Army joined the war group, the situation would be eased. Xue Xiaocai said with relief.

"I'm worried that the 29th Division will be scattered! It's best if it's huddled...... Contact the 29th Division directly! ”

After daybreak, the contact of the 29th Division had not yet been established, and another bad news came, the Germans had been spotted north of Rzeszow, and the 2nd Army, located on the far left flank of the 7th Army, had already received fire.

"Obviously, the task of this road German army is to clamp down on Shi Dashou's reinforcements to the north! I'm afraid that the German troops on the west bank of the Vistula have been transferred over, and their goal is us! Xue Xiaocai came to a conclusion, "Commander, do you want to inform the Russian side?" In this case, the pressure on the Russians is much less. ”

It was in this context that the Battle of Botong unfolded. As soon as the main forces of the expeditionary force, which had been in absolute freedom, entered Poland, they fell into passivity. Wang Mingyuan underestimated the abilities of Ludendorff and Hoffmann, and the hunter became the prey instead, which is a common occurrence in the history of warfare.

Wang Mingyuan felt deep pain in the issuance of each telegram. Every decision he made had to be written into the battle log, which was dictated by command regulations. He was not worried that he was responsible for the defeat, but that the country could not afford to lose it. As the first Minister of National Defense, he sat in that chair for six and a half years, and every division and every corps of the Wehrmacht was formed through his hands, and he knew the history of these units and the curriculum vitae of every commander-in-chief at and above the division level. He knows better the background of the country's armaments, and the president is using the Wehrmacht to gamble on the country's fortunes. The expeditionary force was formed, and the Wehrmacht transferred a full 9 armies, accounting for more than one-third of the Wehrmacht's active army! Two of the three independent heavy artillery divisions were transferred to the expeditionary force, two-thirds of the heavy equipment (large-caliber artillery, automobiles, and invaluable aircraft) were also allocated to the expeditionary force, and some of the country's "second-class divisions" were left without artillery. Fighting a war is burning money, and a large-caliber shell will cost a family three months of living expenses! Before leaving, the president jokingly told him, don't worry about the money, someone will pay for us! You just have to fight a good fight...... After taking over as commander of the expeditionary force, he finally had a deep understanding of the cost of war. Only a president has such courage...... Even if you don't think about the cost, you can't lose the troops as a formation, right?

Wang Mingyuan pondered in the war room. In the eyes of the staff officers, the commander is worthy of being the father who followed the president to raise troops, and this kind of calm and calm is enough to learn for a lifetime. They had all read some articles commemorating the rebellion in Guangzhou, and it was no wonder that they were in their early thirties...... How could they understand the huge waves churning in Wang Mingyuan's chest at this moment? Every decision he makes is a matter of life and death for thousands of people!

Wang Mingyuan even envied Ye Yanbing, who was removed from his post and returned to China, and found that his ability to withstand pressure was really inferior to Ye Yanbing! Ye Yanbing played in Romania with ease, and he had seen all the telegrams to the General Staff Headquarters, and he could not read any hesitation and pain from them. Why is it so hard for your turn? It is said that sports warfare is the magic weapon of the Wehrmacht, but who can understand the pressure of sports warfare on the commander-in-chief? If you maintain an intact front, why do you suffer so much from gains and losses? (To be continued......)