Chapter 54: Lack of Strength (1)

In two or three days, the situation on the battlefield deteriorated sharply, and Wu Yuzhao did not return, but the telegram informed Xue Ru that the Japanese army had occupied Jiaxing and cut off the Shanghai-Hangzhou railway. The 6th Division attacked Qingpu, and the entire national defense line collapsed, and the most terrible thing was that before the national army behind could retreat, the army that retreated first actually blew up the bridge over the Suzhou Creek, and hundreds of thousands of troops were blocked on the other side of the river.

The order for the entire military council to retreat was given too late, resulting in complete disorganization of the troops, the loss of their formation, and the collapse of the entire army. The commander asked Xue Ru to ensure that the follow-up road was smooth as much as possible.

Looking at this telegram, Xue Ru knew that the suggestions he made did not work at all, what is the situation in history, the only thing is that the road from Jiading, Qingpu, Putuo to Kunshan and Taicang has its own protection, it has not been blown up, and it can be passed by the troops.

The telegram reported to Xue Yue that there was basically no problem here, but there was only one security regiment in the direction of Taicang, and the troops were too weak, and it was hoped that the troops would be requisitioned to hold on.

The headquarters of the 19th Group Army in Qingpu was in chaos. Wu Yizhi was already in a hurry, but Xue Yue still had no intention of leaving, staring at the map in front of him. Wu Yizhi said: "Commander, Chief Chen has telegraphed twice, asking you to immediately withdraw to Suzhou and the theater headquarters to command the retreat in a unified manner. ”

Xue Yue still didn't look up, and asked directly: "Yu Zhao, is it possible for Xue Ru to raise the Xicheng line?" ”

Wu Yuzhao said: "There must be sufficient material support, and there is no strategic reserve around Changshu at all. The direction of Wuxi is not clear, and the area from Busan Port to Xie Ji is also enough. ”

Xue Yue said: "Order Luo Zhuoying of the 18th Army and Wang Jingjiu of the 70th Army to retreat to Changshu and stick to the line from Changshu to Fushan Port. Ordered Hu Zongnan of the First Army and Li Yannian of the Second Army to stop after retreating to Wuxi, and use the existing fortifications to establish defensive positions. To report the situation to the Military Commission and the Theater Command, we went from Kunshan to Suzhou. ”

"Yes," Wu Yizhi quickly replied.

Xue Yue said to Wu Yuzhao: "The troops have been disorganized, you immediately return to Kunshan, let Xue Ru try his best to gather the troops, and ensure that the 18th and 70th armies and the 1st and 2nd armies pass through first, which will be used to defend the Xicheng defense line." The command corps was ordered to enter Taicang, accept the command of the Snow Fox Brigade, and ensure that the retreat road was unblocked. ”

Wu Yizhi took over and said: "The teaching corps suffered too many casualties at the Bazi Bridge, and now the three main regiments are scattered and repaired, should you let Commander Gui command." ”

Xue Yue knew that the teaching corps was the descendant of the lineage, and Gui Yongqing would not accept Xue Ru's command, and Wu Yizhi was worried about this. said: "In extraordinary times, Xue Ru's tactics are very special. It will not follow the usual tactics. The troops handed it over to her, and it depends on whether she has the ability. Lan Xun Zhou is in Taicang, I believe Gui Yongqing can understand the situation. ”

There was no time to study these, the Japanese attack was very fierce, and the Nationalist army abandoned its position and retreated in great strides, so that the Japanese army advanced rapidly, and it was not far from Qingpu.

This is the headquarters of the group army, and it is also the headquarters of the left flank corps, if Xue Yue hadn't retreated yet, I'm afraid the troops would have run away a long time ago.

In fact, Wu Yizhi understood the reason why Xue Yue did not retreat, and if the headquarters did not move, it would be able to stabilize the morale of the army to a great extent, so he would not urge.

Wu Yuzhao left the headquarters, mounted his horse and rushed to Kunshan with the guard squad on horseback, but as soon as he left Qingpu, he was stunned by the situation on the road. The entire highway was full of soldiers, fleeing in a panic, and there was no formation at all. The roads were littered with guns and ammunition, and many mortars were abandoned on the side of the road.

Other officers' cars were caught in the ranks and honked their horns, causing even more chaos. There were still many civilians in the army, pushing carts and carrying burdens, which caused even more chaos. But there are a lot of paddy fields and rivers in this area, and there are no country roads, only this one road.

Wu Yuzhao's horse couldn't run at all, and he yelled in a hurry, but no one listened to him. With so many people, the Kunshan highway and railway lines can't pass so many people at once, how can the Japanese army catch up and defend it?

Faced with such a situation, Wu Yuzhao deeply understood what Xue Ru was worried about, but this made him even more strange, could it be that Xue Ru really had the ability to predict the future, and even counted this? This made him even more anxious to return to Kunshan.

Just when Wu Yuzhao was at a loss, suddenly the roar of an airplane came from the sky. Boom, one * fell on the road, and immediately several people were blown up. This time it was even more chaotic, and the soldiers and civilians fled for their lives.

As soon as the plane bombed, there was no one on the road, and the soldiers, after all, knew how to do it, so they immediately jumped off the road and lay down in the grass. Wu Yuzhao was anxious and shouted, "Rush with me." ”

With a fierce draw of the war horse, he rushed forward, and the soldiers of a squad behind him also galloped quickly, and there were only a dozen fast horses galloping on the entire road. There were not many planes in the sky, only one plane, which seemed to be a reconnaissance aircraft. The pilot also found these few who were not afraid of death, and immediately followed and caught up.

The machine guns fired two clouds of smoke and dust. Wu Yuzhao wanted to tell Xue Ru about the situation, and ignoring the planes in the sky was to bow his head and gallop quickly. When he couldn't hear the sound of the sky plane, he looked back and saw that there were five other people in his squad of guards, and it seemed that the others were dead under the plane. It is far away from Qingpu, and there are no longer so many people on the road.

The Great Retreat has just begun, retreating at a distance of several hundred kilometers and not yet very crowded. Wu Yuzhao didn't care about anything else, just galloped all the way.

I saw it, and finally saw the soldiers standing guard on the Xuxing Bridge, and the red silk scarf on their chests proved to be from the Snow Fox Brigade.

Wu Yuzhao didn't stop at all, he didn't even see the soldiers saluting, and rushed over. After a few hours, when the war horse was covered in water and trembled, Wu Yuzhao finally rushed into the gate of Kunshan City.

In Xue Ru's headquarters, she was staring at the map with her eyebrows locked, and the devil accelerated her attack. Just now, I received a telegram from Lan Xun Zhou that the 13th Division of the Japanese Army, with the strength of one wing, quickly turned around and headed north to attack the Liuhe River along the west bank of the Yangtze River. The vanguard army arrived at the Liuhe River and sent a brigade to attack Taicang. The 1st Regiment of Snow Fox repelled the vanguard of the Japanese troops at Ludu Town, and it was believed that the Japanese brigade would soon arrive.

Now Xue Ru's mobile combat tactics are not easy to use, and if you want to maneuver, you can't hold Taicang. But there are no reinforcements, and there is only one security guard group in Taicang, what is the use.

Seeing Wu Yuzhao coming in sweaty, Xue Ru didn't have time to ask anything else. He opened his mouth and asked, "What did Commander Xue say?" ”

Wu Yuzhao took a breath and said: "The commander ordered to teach the corps to reinforce Taicang, but I don't know if I can convey it, and I don't know if they can get to the place just after the order is issued." ”

"Why?" Xue Ru still knew that no national army had escaped from the entire Songhu battlefield. The teaching corps has been blocking the Bazi Bridge and has been fighting very tenaciously. So it's strange, since there is an order, how can it not be executed?

When she listened to what Wu Yuzhao said about the road situation, she was also a little stunned, it turned out that what was said in the later books was true. What can I do?

Wu Yuzhao said: "In fact, there is no shortage of troops, the entire direction is to retreat, and it is okay to gather some soldiers, but when they are fleeing for their lives, the establishment is already in chaos and cannot be concentrated, so there is no way." ”

Xue Ru's eyes lit up and said: "I have a way, immediately ask County Magistrate Yao to prepare a red silk scarf, set up a picket team, enter the highway, gather the scattered soldiers who have retreated, temporarily appoint officers, and unify them into the Snow Fox Brigade to reinforce the direction of Taicang." If there are more, they will defend Kunshan, and the rest will be assembled in Changshu and Wuxi. ”

Wu Yuzhao was stunned for a moment, and then said: "It's good, even the stragglers are enough." But what about such chaos? ”

Xue Ru said: "I'll leave the reorganization of the troops to you, and I'll do the rest." ”

Wu Yuzhao didn't know what Xue Ru could do, there was no command order, not to mention Xue Ru as a captain, even if he was a colonel, no one listened to you when he fled, and he couldn't use so many defense troops. There are too many troops that do not belong to the system, and there is no discipline at all.

However, seeing that Xue Ru didn't say anything, he didn't ask, and hurried to find County Magistrate Yao Jingyu. Prepare the place for the concentration of troops, begin to collect stragglers.

Xue Ru said to Liu Quan: "Send a telegram to Chief of Staff Lan, telling him to teach the corps to reinforce Taicang, and find that their troops are staying, blocking the Japanese army in the direction of Liuhe, and covering the retreat of the large army." Hold on, soon reinforcements will arrive. ”

After explaining, he shouted: "Let Xiao Yong and Dai Zong come over." ”

The two hurriedly ran over, and Xue Ru said: "Xiao Yong, take people into the main highway, and when you see the retreating soldiers, let them return to the team according to the number, and if you don't listen or make trouble, you will beat me up, and if you dare to resist, you will be shot on the spot." ”

This is a very special order, and it immediately stands upright: "Yes".

Xue Ru said: "This is a time to test your courage, don't dare to see the officials." ”

Xiao Yong said: "Joke, you bear the responsibility, and I will repair him like the commander of the army." ”

Xue Ru said: "That's good, I'll carry it if something happens, that is, to stabilize the order in front of the city gate, and start to divert from Xujiaqiao." Dai Zong, your task is to supervise the vehicle, no matter whose vehicle it is, immediately detain it so as not to affect the traffic. The commander let him into the city and accepted the command of his troops. Whoever asked, told him that this was an order from Chairman Chiang, and refused to accept the Nanjing lawsuit. ”

"Understood?" Of course, Dai Zong didn't know if it was Chairman Chiang's order, but he carried out the captain's order.

Soon, many signs appeared in the entire Kunshan City, and one block after another was divided, and the white paper was written in black, all of which were army numbers. When Zhao Dongcheng finally had his prestige, Xue Ru told him that once the army entered the city, it was up to him to have the final say, let them immediately belong to their respective regions, and arrest those who did not listen.

Just arrived in the evening, at last ushered in a large number of routs, the day had passed, the situation was even more chaotic, the troops were completely frightened, and the fear of the people was also contagious.

There are all kinds of troops, there are two or three group army numbers, more than a dozen army-level numbers, and even more division-level numbers, all of which are chaotic, especially because there are many civilians among them.

When they arrived here, they found that the whole of Kunshan was already in full battle, with machine guns on the city walls and antlers in front of the city gates. The troops who arrived first could not tell what they were, and they gathered in a haphazard manner in front of the city gates, and the confusion stopped when a shuttle of bullets struck them at their feet. Many people's first impression is to force them to go back to fight, and the retreat order was conveyed by the upper peak, why not let them pass?

Seeing Xiao Yong, a captain, standing in the middle of the road with a gun, Zhang Tingbiao stepped forward: "What kind of unit are you?" Why block here. I want to see your sir. ”

Xiao Yong said impatiently: "Didn't you see the sign?" Which unit are you from, follow the direction of the sign, don't blame me for walking around, you're welcome. ”

"Bold" Zhang Tingbiao is on fire, he is a major general and deputy division commander, a captain actually talks like this, he doesn't want to live, doesn't he? “

Before he could say what he could say, Xiao Yong's gun was put on his head: "Don't chirp for me, believe it or not, I killed you?" This is Chairman Chiang's order, and if he does not obey the order, he will correct the law on the spot. Say, what troops? ”

It really frightened Xiao Yong, Zhang Tingbiao didn't dare to move, so he had to say: "The 87th Division of the 71st Army, I am the deputy division commander Zhang Tingbiao." ”

"Very well, Eighty-seventh Division, then take your troops into the city and concentrate. Since you are the deputy division commander, the military committee ordered your troops to retreat to the defense line in Changshu to Wuxi. Queue up to enter, no chaos. ”

Finally let him in, he didn't see the army commander, there was only one eighty-seventh division in the entire seventy-first army, and there was less than one regiment of soldiers around him, and even the entire division was not many people, and it had been disabled.

Zhang Tingbiao snorted angrily and led the troops to line up into the city. was discovered by Xiao Yong's subordinates that it was not the 87th Division, and they were immediately kicked out and turned to other directions. Until dark, the whole road was still full of people.

The people of the Snow Fox Brigade were already too tired, and from time to time there were screams in front of the city gate, which were beaten soldiers. At this time, there were more and more people who wanted to flee for their lives and go into the city to get food, and they did not obey orders.

After more than a dozen people were shot, the killer finally controlled the rebels. The stragglers who were constantly concentrating in the city were concentrated out of a battalion and driven to Taicang under the leadership of the Snow Fox Brigade.

Xue Ru was also very tired, but everyone understood that this was only the first day, and more soldiers would be withdrawn tomorrow.

Xue Ru was very strange, why hadn't Xue Yue arrived yet? His rights are limited, and he can still control it with few routs, but once he grows more, he won't listen to himself at all, and he can't kill people with machine gun positions, right?

At night, there were few people, and there were no Japanese planes that appeared from time to time, so there were some stops in front of the Kunshan city gate. But Xue is messed up. If it can't be built here, the troops will really disperse. That scrap-like Xicheng defense line will not work at all.