Pinghu County is located in the southeast of Jiaxing, with convenient waterway and highway transportation to connect Zhapu, Jiaxing and other places around, and is the hinterland of the Zhajia line of defense fortifications in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

At the same time, in order to confuse outsiders, the headquarters of the new Second Division were also set up in Shiqiaotou, Xinfeng Town, Zhapu, Jiulongshan and other places, and sufficient communication lines were erected, which could be used as the headquarters of the division when necessary.

Mo's manor was built in the 23rd year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty, after three years of spring and autumn, costing 100,000 taels of silver, it was completed, and it was a large mansion where the three generations of local gentry Mo Fang Meizu lived. The manor covers an area of seven acres, with a construction area of 2,600 square meters, more than 70 large and small rooms, and the main structure is three groups in the north-south direction and four in the east-west direction. There are hall, ancestral hall, account room, flower hall, Buddha hall, kitchen, sedan hall, main hall, hall hall, garden, study and bedroom. Its complete architecture, typical style, and abundant physical objects can be called unique in the south of the Yangtze River.

As the war in Songhu became more and more intense, the Mo family, who felt the threat of war, moved to Nanjing in mid-August, leaving only a housekeeper and a few family members to watch the house, and this manor was empty.

The main hall of Mo's Manor is now the command center of the new Second Division, Wu Ming convened the generals of the division headquarters to discuss the current battle situation in Songhu, and Colonel Zhang Ying, chief of the operations section of the division's staff office, held a slender baton to analyze the current battle situation:

"Due to the fact that the Japanese army suddenly tore up the armistice agreement and launched an attack on our position in the heart of Songhu, the Military Commission officially issued a plan for the second phase of the Battle of Songhu a few days ago, deciding to focus on resisting the rapid offensive of the Japanese army in the near future, and at the same time adjusting the battle sequence of Songhu, with Chairman Chiang personally concurrently serving as commander, General Gu Zhutong as deputy commander, and appointing General Chen Cheng as commander of the Left Wing Army, General Zhu Shaoliang as commander of the Central Combat Army, and General Zhang Fakui as commander of the Right Wing Army."

Among them, the Left Wing Army is composed of the 15th Group Army and the 19th Group Army, the Central Combat Army is composed of the Ninth Group Army, the Right Wing Army is composed of the Eighth Army and the 10th Group Army, the commander of the Ninth Army is General Zhu Shaoliang, former chairman of Gansu Province who replaced General Zhang Zhizhong, the commander of the 19th Group Army is General Xue Yue, chairman of Guizhou Province and deputy commander of the Third Reserve, the commander-in-chief of the 15th Group Army is concurrently General Chen Cheng, and the commander of the Eighth Group Army is General Zhang Fakui. The commander of the 10th Group Army was Liu Jianxu, director of the Zhejiang-Jiangxi-Anhui Border Region Pacification Office and commander-in-chief of the Fourth Route Army. ”

"In Luodian, starting at 8 o'clock in the morning the day before yesterday, the 11th Division of the Japanese Army attacked Cai Bingyan's brigade, and the Japanese army used large-caliber naval guns, including two battleships, to cover our defensive position, and dispatched more than 80 fighters to bombard our defense line in turn.

"The Japanese launched another onslaught in the afternoon, and the carrier-based aircraft group dropped a large number of bombs into the depth of the 67th Division's defensive line, and the division commander Li Shusen was seriously wounded, and General Huang Wei urgently took over the post of division commander. The day before yesterday afternoon, the Japanese attacked four times in succession, and the commander of the 402nd Regiment, Li Weifan, was killed in battle, and the front line was once in danger.

"At the same time as the storming of Luodian, the main force of the Japanese Third Division launched an attack on the first line of the Liuhe River, because the Liuhe River belongs to the key defensive areas of the 15th and 19th Group Army, and the strength of more than ten divisions is gathered, coupled with the strong fortifications, the Japanese army attacking the first line of the Liuhe River has made little progress."

Wu Ming was silent, his face full of sadness, and at the same time there was a hint of deep happiness.

The entire Luodian area was flat and lacked the commanding heights to establish an effective defense, while the Japanese army could give full play to its firepower superiority and use reconnaissance balloons to guide the warships and ground artillery fire in the Yangtze River Mountains to accurately bombard the positions of the Chinese army.

In my memory, the battle for Luodian day after day was a bloody battle of life and death, the Japanese army relied on the superiority of technical equipment to attack during the day, and the Chinese army counterattacked at night.

In such a desperate fight, even if it is a first-class team, it can only withstand five or six days at most.

This is also the main reason why Wu Ming was anxious to make a meritorious contribution in the battle of the Shanghai Concession and then leave the front line in the name of rest and reorganization; no matter how elite the new Second Division is, it will still be overwhelmed by the threat of more than 300 mm naval guns and bombs dropped by carrier-based aircraft; this is not a question of combat effectiveness and tactical use at all, but is determined by the terrain and the real gap between China and Japan, and it can only be beaten passively.

Zhang Ying then said: "At dawn yesterday, the Japanese army launched a full-line attack on the position of the 98th Division in Yangjiaqiao and Yuepu, the Japanese army first bombarded our army's positions in Yangjiaqiao and Gu Sanfang with heavy artillery fire, and then the infantry launched a fierce attack, Gu Sanfang's position was first broken through by the Japanese army, and most of the casualties were suffered after a regiment of defenders fought fiercely with the Japanese army for three hours, and a reinforced regiment also suffered more than half of the casualties. ”

"At one o'clock in the afternoon of the day before yesterday, the Japanese army used more than 50 tanks as an assault force, and the Wusongkou landing point rushed along the military road to the positions around Sanguantang of the Sixth Division of the National Army. Sanguantang in the south of Baoshan City is located in the center of Baoshan, Yuepu, Yanghang and Wusong, with the southwest of Baoshan City in the north, and Yuepu and Yanghang in the northwest and southwest respectively, which is the key point of transportation. The Japanese army threw two wings into a fierce attack in one fell swoop, and the 6th Division suffered heavy casualties, and the commander of the 18th Brigade, Weng Guohua, and the regiment commander Zhu Fuxing were seriously wounded. ”

In the evening, the Japanese army attacked the positions from Baoshan to Sanguantang from Wusong, Zhang Huabang and Shalokou, the Sixth Division suffered the enemy on its back, the defenders of the Gunpowder Bureau were all killed, and the commander of the 17th Brigade, Ding Yousong, suffered more than half of the casualties, and fought until late at night, and the Sixth Division retreated to the Sitang River. The Japanese army crossed the Sitang River and continued to invade westward, so the communication channel between Shishilin and Wusong was opened by the Japanese army, and the defenders of Baoshan City fell into a heavy siege. ”

Wu Ming's heart tightened, and he carefully checked the map and found that with the loss of the Sanguantang defense line, Baoshan City became an isolated city again, and under the heavy oppression of the Japanese army, it was only a matter of time before it fell.

As long as Baoshan is lost, the Japanese army will completely open up the connection between Zhang Huabang, Wusong, and Shishilin, and can completely attack west along the Baoluo Highway, and Yuepu will become its main target. At this time, the Chinese army was paying full attention to the situation in Luodian, and once Yuepu was also threatened, it would inevitably lead to the collapse of the overall war situation.

At the end of Zhang Ying's explanation, every new second division general had a heavy heart.

Wu Ming nodded, and was very satisfied with the intelligence collection work of Zhu Wenhua, deputy chief of the Intelligence Section, but the rapid deterioration of the battlefield situation made Wu Ming a little mentally unprepared. Although all the Japanese marines stationed in Shanghai had been annihilated before, relieving the worries of the left wing army, this move also allowed the Japanese army to speed up the pace of adjustment and reinforcement of the Songhu battlefield, which is really good and bad.

At this time, the star officer came in to report that Chiang Ching-kuo had arrived with the Maoliangwu militia, with almost four regiments of troops.

Wu Ming stood up and clapped his hands: "Okay, let's stop here for today's meeting, the little devil's reinforcements are here, and our reinforcements are also here." Let's go, let's go and pick up our heroes."

After Wu Ming's troops were transferred to the south of Jinshan, the line of Jiaxing, Pinghu, and Zhapu, and returned to the right wing of Zhang Fakui's Eighth Army, Wu Ming sent a telegram to Chiang Ching-kuo, who was left behind, and asked him to lead the Maoliangwu militia to join him

The four regiments brought by Chiang Ching-kuo this time were all reorganized by new recruits and veterans after being disorganized, which fully ensured the combat effectiveness of the militia regiments. At the same time, the officers and men drawn from various militia regiments in eastern Jiangxi have been concentrated in the Changshan battalion and newly organized into four regiments, and the western Zhejiang region has once again formed a huge scale of nine regiments, and at the same time, the work of recruiting new soldiers continues to be vigorously carried out in the western Zhejiang and eastern Jiangxi regions.

Wu Ming led the division headquarters to greet the gate of the manor, and saw Major General Chiang Ching-kuo and Colonel Zhao Bingyi, deputy director of the Phoenix Mountain Base, coming over from a distance.

"Report to the division, Chiang Ching-kuo led his troops to report"

Chiang Ching-kuo's waist was very straight, and after standing up and saluting, he said loudly: "Among the four regiments, the first, second, and third regiments have arrived at the Jiaxing Railway Station, and one regiment is carrying a large number of mules and horses and newly produced weapons and ammunition, and is on the way by water. ”

Wu Ming nodded with satisfaction.

Seeing that Jiang Jingguo was sweating profusely, and the whole person was much thinner than when they first met, Wu Ming sighed secretly, Jiang Dagongzi is really a practical talent

The four new regiments together have more than 9,000 people, and so many people have to assemble in the Changshan camp first, and then mobilize water and land transportation, and do everything possible to rush to Pinghu, and the organization and coordination are not something ordinary people can handle.

After Zhao Bingyi saluted, Wu Ming stretched out his hand and shook it tightly.

Zhao Bingyi gave a brief report on the operation of the Fenghuangshan base, and now the sharp knife companies prepared for each regiment are in full swing for training, and at the same time, the garrison regiment and the instructor group of the base are also responsible for the training of the militia regiments, and the tasks are arduous. If it weren't for the importance of this time, he would not have followed Chiang Ching-kuo to Pinghu.

Wu Ming encouraged a few words, saw that the time was not early, and took everyone to walk towards the division canteen renovated from the kitchen of Mo's Manor and the nearby wings, and said to Jiang Jingguo as he walked: "Brother Xian, have you worked hard all the way?" ”

Jiang Jingguo wiped a bead of sweat, shook his head and said: "Brother, I don't work hard, compared with the soldiers who fought on the front line, Jianfeng is really easy."

"Too humble"

Wu Ming waved his hand and smiled: "Your propaganda and agitation in the rear is as important as the organizational work, isn't it a great help to me now?" Your timely arrival this time is a great contribution to our new Second Division...... By the way, there is an important task for you now......"

"I promise to complete the task, even if I let Jianfeng carry a gun to fight devils, I won't frown." Chiang Ching-kuo stood up and replied solemnly.

"Okay, the virtuous brother is really a tiger guts"

Wu Ming praised it, but muttered in his heart, if he really let the prince go to the battlefield, Chairman Jiang in Nanjing would not have to jump up and scold Niang Xipi

Seeing that Wu Ming's smile was a little strange, Jiang Jingguo became apprehensive, and asked a little uneasily: "Master, I don't know what task Lu Dao gave to Jianfeng?" ”

Wu Ming patted Jiang Jingguo's shoulder to let him relax, and then pointed to the canteen in front of him: "Brother Xian, you just arrived, let's eat first, and then talk about having a full stomach."

Jiang Jingguo was a stubborn person, standing there motionless, and said very seriously: "Master, if you can, please tell Jianfeng before eating, if you don't know the mission, even if the food is good, it tastes like chewing wax."

"Okay"

Wu Ming looked solemn: "Now that the Japanese reinforcements have arrived in Shanghai one after another, the expansion of the Sino-Japanese war is inevitable, Shanghai is the largest city in the Far East, and most of the factories and enterprises in the country are distributed in Shanghai and the surrounding areas...... That's right, the task I have given you is to save the national industry of our country"