Section III

"With all due respect, from what we have received, the situation does not seem to be as smooth as we imagined, after the Japanese army landed in Songhu, swept all the way up to the front of the army, almost no one can stop it, the entire Beijing-Shanghai area has now completely fallen into the hands of the enemy, and in the north, the Japanese army Chen Bing Yellow River, the Japanese army's North China Dispatch Army Second Army is stationed in Jinan, and it may go south at any time." As he spoke, Staff Officer Zhao circled his baton in the middle of the map.

These situations have basically been understood by everyone here, the Xuzhou area has not been peaceful since the fall of Nanjing, and the Japanese army wants to open up the Tianjin-Pudong Railway to unite the two battlefields, they naturally have already studied it, and after listening to these words, there is not much change in their faces.

Seeing that everyone had no objections, Staff Officer Zhao continued: "Since April 3, after the main force of our Fifth Theater surrounded and annihilated most of the Japanese Seya Detachment and the first part of the Sakamoto Detachment in the Qiuhu area north of Lanling, a total of more than 10,000 people, the battle line has been controlled on the Yicheng and Zaozhuang lines, and it is planned to encircle and annihilate the enemy who invaded the Xuzhou area again, but the Japanese army has since changed its tactics and no longer has made large-scale frontal contact with our army, but has divided its troops in four directions, slaughtered villages and towns, and continuously attacked various places on the flanks with small team forces. They can only allocate part of their forces to garrison various critical places. ”

"But dozens of days ago, the Japanese army, which had been silent for a period of time, obviously strengthened the offensive, starting from May 5, the Japanese army in the north and south suddenly exerted force, the 9th and 13th divisions in the south from the Bengbu area along the west bank of the Beiqi River and the Whirlpool River respectively to the north to attack the Mengcheng and Yongcheng areas, and the main force of the Japanese army in the north in addition to continuing to maintain a strong offensive on the front line of Taierzhuang, and the 16th Division crossed the canal from Jining, Shandong, and went straight to the direction of Liancheng and Shanxian." Although Staff Officer Zhao's words were simple, with the baton in his hand waving on the map, the situation was outlined very clearly.

Hearing this, the third battalion commander Qu Yuben seemed to be a little unable to sit still, he suddenly raised his hand and asked, "Staff Officer Zhao, how many defenders are there in the area of Mengcheng and Yongcheng?" ”

Hearing this, Staff Officer Zhao looked at Ji Hongru, and after seeing him nod slightly, he said in a deep voice: "Each has a battalion to garrison." ”

"A battalion? Staff Officer Zhao, are you mistaken? How can this be the case? The voice of the second battalion commander Hu Liqun in disbelief appeared in everyone's ears, his eyes widened, and he looked at Staff Officer Zhao in great surprise, and the doubt in his expression was clear at a glance.

"Cough" Ji Hongru immediately interrupted Hu Liqun's words with a light cough, and said with a serious face: "Battalion Commander Hu, you must pay attention to proportions in your speech and deeds, do you think this is a place to joke?" ”

"No, Tuanzao, this, I was a little impulsive, that, Staff Officer Zhao, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you, I was just a little surprised." Hu Liqun immediately stood up and arched his hand at Staff Officer Zhao, but the expression on his face was not as polite as his tone.

Ji Hongru couldn't help frowning secretly, and then simply got up and said, "Staff Officer Zhao has worked hard, let's talk about it next, you go and rest first." ”

When Staff Officer Zhao heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief, and after handing the baton to the regiment commander, he saluted and sat aside.

Ji Hongru waited for him to sit down, then he tapped the map with his baton, and said affirmatively: "What Staff Officer Zhao said just now is right, Mengcheng, Yongcheng and other places, there is only one battalion of defenders everywhere, not only that, but from the information we have obtained, there are only so many people in the direction of Yuncheng and Shanxian in the north. ”

This time, Hu Liqun didn't doubt the authenticity of these words, but said with a wry smile: "Tuanzao, this is too unbelievable, the main force of the Fifth War Zone plus the friendly troops of other troops, there are not forty but three hundred thousand troops gathered here, how can there be such a small number of troops here?" ”

Looking up and glancing at everyone here, looking at their puzzled gazes, Ji Hongru still calmly looked at Hu Liqun, and asked indifferently: "Does Camp Commander Hu think that there is a battalion less?" So how many troops do you think should be appropriate? ”

Hu Liqun thought for a while, and said affirmatively: "At least there must be a regiment, the strength of the devil's firepower is far from being comparable to us, not to mention a division and a regiment, it is a brigade, I'm afraid that no regiment is very difficult to defend, there is only one battalion in these places, isn't that the same as paper paste?" ”

"A regiment?" Ji Hongru said, his face suddenly showed a smile but not a smile, the baton casually clicked on the map, and he continued to ask: "Mengcheng has a regiment, and Yongcheng also needs a regiment, so is it necessary to arrange a regiment in Tuocheng, Split Mountain, Xiayi, Xiaoxian and other places on this line?" Since the Japanese army in the south must be strictly guarded, and the Japanese army in the north must not be negligent, Jinxiang, Chengwu, Jiaxiang, Fengshan and other places, are they also in this configuration? So this is just the defense of the west of Xuzhou to the east of Henan, roughly calculated, at least about four divisions of troops, east, south and north, what does Battalion Commander Hu plan to do? Throwing troops out like a net? ”

Hu Liqun was stunned when he heard this, his mouth opened wide but he didn't know how to argue, but the stone on the side was shocked when he heard it, and he couldn't help but think of the battles in Songhu and Nanjing, isn't it exactly the same as what Commander Ji said? Although it seems that the troops are not weak everywhere, but when facing the Japanese army, they do not have an advantage everywhere, but after being pinned down by the Japanese army's troops, they are easy to be attacked by the opponent's superior forces, and the entire defense line is useless if it is broken at one point.

He had such a vague feeling before, but he had always been hazy and couldn't grasp the point, and now when he heard the simple words of the head of Ji, it was like an enlightenment, which made him slow down his breathing, and he was eager to hear the head of the group continue.

Ji Hongru saw that Hu Liqun and the others were no longer speechless, and said lightly: "The Shangfeng people are all experienced in a hundred battles, and they have fought more battles than anyone you have seen, how can they not consider this little thing in your mind?" The above orders are for us to carry out, not for us to discuss. Saying that, Ji Hongru said in a paused tone: "Okay, the topic is a bit off, let's go back to the situation in front of us, the Japanese army is attacking in two ways, like two big pincers of a crab, cutting off the weakest point of the friendly army, Staff Officer Zhao has just explained the situation very clearly, presumably you have also seen the situation in front of you clearly, the purpose of the Japanese army is very clear, after the two big pincers control this area in the south and the north, nearly 50 elite divisions in the fifth theater of the friendly army may be encircled in the Xuzhou area. ”

Everyone couldn't help but gasp, the excitement of the previous battle completely disappeared, and several people couldn't help but say in horror: "The devil has such a big appetite, 50 divisions, they are not afraid of death?" ”

"If there is a real chance to encircle the main force of the Fifth Theater in this area, the Japanese army will definitely do its best to participate in the war with the main force of the North China Dispatch Army and the Central China Dispatch Army, even if it temporarily loses control of North China and the Jingsong region because of this, but as long as this force can be eaten, there is no need to fight this battle anymore, and if you lose these main elites, I am afraid that it will not be long before the country will be destroyed." Chief of Staff Lin Xiufeng said with a solemn expression.

Although Shi instinctively looked down on people like Chief of Staff Lin, he had to admit that the other party's analysis was really incisive, and this kind of understanding and mastery of the entire battlefield was not at all comparable to a person like him, is this the difference between having gone to military school and not having attended a military school? Shi couldn't help but smile self-deprecatingly, but he secretly told himself in his heart that he must look at the books and notes of Commander Zhang, he is already a battalion commander, with five or six hundred brothers, if there is any difference, this is hundreds of lives, thinking of this, Shi is whole body is cold, there is a kind of hair standing upside down, shuddering.

Ji Hongru saw the tense and terrifying on everyone's faces, and his face was still calm like no one, as if there was nothing in this world that could make him change color, so he just heard him say calmly: "Don't imagine the situation so bad and terrible, Shangfeng ordered me to wait here to participate in the battle half a month ago, naturally I saw this situation, with our entire Yudong Corps defending the friendly army's retreat, I dare not say that it is foolproof, but at least it can buy enough time for the friendly army." ”

"Now that you have a clear understanding of the situation of the entire battle situation, you naturally don't need me to say anything, the safety of the line from Dangshan to Shangqiu is related to the advance and retreat of hundreds of thousands of troops in the 5th War Zone, since Shangfeng let our 51st Division defend it, we can't live up to their expectations, and before I get the order to retreat, even if I fight to the last soldier, I must hold the position in my hands." Ji Hongru's tone was in vain, and he said very seriously.

Everyone stood up one after another, saluted and said, "Don't worry, you will never take half a step back." ”

Seeing their expressions, Ji Hongru also nodded with satisfaction, and continued: "At present, the order we have received is to guard Dangshan, the west of the entire Dangshan County is the defense area of the 301st Regiment, our regiment mainly defends the county and the east of the county seat, considering that there are friendly mobile troops in the 5th theater in the east, our actual garrison area is only this county town, and the regiment headquarters will continue to stay here as the last line of defense, Battalion Commander Shi, most of your battalion are veterans, and the combat power should be at the head of the whole regiment. What do you think of placing you in the south of the county to face the direction where the enemy is most likely to attack? ”