Chapter 5: Blood and Fire (31)

Xu Ping and his gang were not given a chance to continue the attack, and early the next morning, the entire Ninth Division withdrew from Shimen and withdrew to Tuzhou.

Hearing the news of the retreat of the Ninth Division, the first to breathe a sigh of relief was Liao Lei, who had successfully completed the task of blocking the southern line of Jinpu Road. The Japanese army's strategic plan to open up the north-south communication line and attack Xuzhou from the north to the south was crushed here, and as the commander-in-chief of a group army, although the losses of the troops were not small, it was able to achieve the strategic goal, that is, victory. The second relieved was Li Zongren of Xuzhou, who would attack Xuzhou on the third road, and he had gone to one of them, followed by Ryosuke Isoya on the North Road and Seishiro Itagaki on the East Road. Yu Xuezhong's 51st Army and Zhang Zizhong's 59th Army were all transferred to Xuzhou, and the strength of the Fifth Theater increased greatly, and Li Zongren actually had the urge to annihilate the enemy forces on the North and East Routes.

Bai Chongxi was more thoughtful, he believed that the 9th Division retreated to Tuzhou and joined forces with the 13th Division, Tuzhou's strength had increased greatly, and he would soon counterattack again. If the time of the counteroffensive can be delayed until the end of the battle on the northern line of Jinpu Road and the eastern front of Jiaoji Road, it is possible to become entangled with the Japanese army on the southern front of Jinpu Road again, and if the time of the counteroffensive is before the end of the battle on the northern line of Jinpu Road and the eastern front of Jiaoji Road, it will bring huge variables to this campaign.

At the same time as the Ninth Division retreated, an order from the Fifth Theater came to the military headquarters of the 59th Army, which was being transferred, and asked Zhang Zizhong of Yixian County to rush to Linyi day and night, and the 40th Army of Pang Bingxun's 3rd Army Corps, which was holding Linyi, had reached the final moment. On the same day, the Japanese army launched an attack on Tengzhou on the northern front, Sun Zhen's 41st Army held Tengzhou, the first line of defense was Wang Mingzhang's 122nd Division, and Yu Xuezhong led the 51st Army to rush to the aid of the starry night. Zhang Zizhong and Yu Xuezhong were transferred, and there were only two remnants of the Gui Army's 7th Army and the 48th Army on the southern line of the Jinpu Road, and it was completely impossible to resist the attack of the two divisions of the Japanese army.

The two divisions of the Japanese army must not be allowed to entrench themselves in Tuzhou, and they must retreat further and retreat to the area east of Jiangpu, and at the same time use harassment operations to strand the enemy troops on the Yangtze River line, at least until the 31st Army and the 84th Army rush from Guangxi to the southern line of Jinpu Road, and the two sides will have the possibility of fighting, and the time should be a month later.

Because of the retreat of the Ninth Division, the previous verbal battle about special ammunition was no longer mentioned, the Japanese would not give up the advantage of special ammunition in their hands, the national army still did not dare to open its own Pandora box to release special ammunition, the war still continued to be such a one-sided progress, the dead are already dead, and when the living will die, only God knows.

"The Japanese ran away!" The news was very sudden, unexpected, knowing that the Japanese had not been grinded, but they did not expect to be so grindless, if it was not for the fact that the Japanese army had a plan to retreat, that is, the blow of yesterday's special operation to the other side was a bit too big, and the other side could no longer bear it.

Yoshizumi Ryosuke's retreat was quite tragic, and it felt like a strong man had broken his wrist. Without gasoline, tanks could not move cars and could not walk, and without trains, all people had to walk, including a large number of lightly wounded. The seriously wounded need to be carried, the baggage and materials need to be carried, and the pack horses have been killed and eaten for meat for the past two days, and now they know that it is a pity when they need to use them. Retreat along the railway in the direction of Tuzhou, more than 80 kilometers long, plan to walk for two days, but also to rush early in the morning and see darkness in the evening. Fortunately, the 13th Division of the Dizhou Legislature in Tuzhou had already sent a telegram to send the personnel up the railway, and set up camp in the area of the Three Realms this evening and was responsible for the guard, so that the 9th Division could spend the night safely. Even so, Yoshizumi Ryosuke was absolutely unwilling to leave the great tanks and cars to the Chinese army, so early in the morning, forty tanks and sixty cars were piled up with firewood around them, ready to be burned.

There were too many wounded, and the walking speed was surprisingly slow, and the 36th Wing, which had not been hit yesterday, became the front army, searching and exploring the way all the way, and the march was most vulnerable to being attacked at this time, although the Central China Front had verbally promised to send planes to cover the retreat, but the planes were flying in the sky, and they were always a little weak about what was happening on the ground. The three attacked wings are the Chinese army, and the division headquarters and the logistics department are also with the Chinese army, this one is already like a defeated army, the battalion is full of wounded people, everyone is full of supplies, and the * artillery squadron to which the wing belongs, because they have eaten gruel for two days in a row, and their guns are carried out, and their eyes are black. Trembling knees. The technical soldiers, who had lost their tanks and cars, organized themselves, picked up the 38 covers of the wounded, and together with the guards of the division and regimental headquarters, became a mobile force behind the palace, which was a typical rabble, and as long as someone struck from behind, it was bound to be defeated.

"To fight or not?" Huang Tianhua asked, he saw that there was a advantage to take advantage of.

"Don't fight!" Mo Di said: "The Japanese army will not let the Ninth Division go back all the way to be beaten like this, and if it can withdraw its troops under our noses, there must be corresponding arrangements." I estimate that there will be more planes flying on this railway today than on any other day. Again, the 13th Division will definitely send someone to respond. As soon as we fight, we will definitely be entangled by the other party, we are such a small number of people, but we are not the opponent of a division, even if it is a disabled division, there are tens of thousands of troops, that is ten times our strength, this is cheap, we can't afford to take advantage of it. Inform Chen Zhengxin that he was monitoring the enemy troops coming from the south by the railway, how many people came, and what kind of troops they were, and it would be best to confirm where their camp was today. ”

Huang Tianhua didn't really want to fight, his own team, the only one who could fight was the third battalion, and the three brigade companies were tired after working all night last night, and as for the first and second battalions, it would take time to form combat strength.

Ou Shounian also called to ask if it was a tail-end blow, but Mo Di excused himself with the excuse that he was sleepy and lacking in continuous combat, and said that other units would take advantage of this advantage. Sure enough, Mo Dehong of the 138th Division also saw that this was a great bargain, and ordered Zhong Yi's troops to attack at the end.

When Zhong Yi led his troops to rush to Shimen, except for the smoke of burning tanks, he did not see a single enemy, and was about to chase down the railway, but was discovered by the Japanese air force that took off from Nanjing, more than 30 planes flew overhead, and the aerial bombs and machine guns were thrown down like capital, and the 414 Brigade was blown back alive, and more than 100 people died in vain. When the news came, Mo Di snickered very much, if you are cheap, you don't take advantage of the bastard, and if you can't take advantage of the cheap, you are a bastard, some things that look cheap are not necessarily cheap, but traps, knowing that they are traps and have to drill into them, they are the bastards of the bastards. Huang Tianhua looked at Mo Di with admiration, his boss was really Zhuge Zhiliang, and he knew that the Japanese had this trick.

"Boss, just watching the Japanese retreat smoothly and take away all the 92 infantry artillery shells, haven't I been busy for so long, and there is no cheap at all." Li Baicheng shouted, another person who wants to take advantage.

"Yes! Boss, the Japanese strained and brought artillery, walking very slowly, it is estimated that it will take two or three days to reach Tuzhou, there are Japanese planes to make ghosts during the day, we will go to get it again at night, how much we have to return some supplements, 92-type shells, Tomosaka-type bullets, we don't have much inventory. Xu Ping said that he also saw the cheapness, and his thinking also took a step forward, not doing it during the day and doing it at night.

Mo Di thought for a while, nodded, and said, "Send scouts, follow them all the way, see where they live tonight, and if possible, we will make them fire again." ”

"Gas bombs again?" Xu Ping asked.

"Any bullet is fine, as long as it can kill people." Mo Di said.

Xu Ping asked: "Boss, do you know which part is stationed in Bengbu now?" ”

"I don't know, why are you asking this?" Mo Di replied.

"I don't know, I want people to walk along Shimen to Bengbu and find a hand-cranked rail car, on the railway, this thing is more convenient and faster." Xu Ping said.

"Okay, you go, take a class, go on horseback, and pay attention to safety." Mo Di said: "I went to the 172nd Division to see off Commander Zhang Guangwei, and he went back to Guilin to recuperate from his injuries and was promoted by the way." ”

Xu Ping took a few people to ride a horse straight to Shimen Railway Station, saw the tanks and cars that had been burned into scrap iron, sighed that the car without oil was not as good as the horse, and walked along the railway to Bengbu, the railway was repaired well, the neat sleepers, the neat roadbed, the roadbed can not only walk people, but also horses, in this place for half a month, this is the first time to blatantly walk on the railway in broad daylight, Xu Ping felt very comfortable.

It didn't take long to arrive at a station called Xiaoxi River, where there was a hand-cranked railcar, and under the threat of gunpoint, the railroad workers not only gave the car, but also taught them how to use it. The hand-cranked railcar is a wooden board laid on top of four iron wheels, the wooden board is not large, it is very loose to sit ten or eight people, and there is a handle like a fire faucet, and when the handle is pressed, the trolley can travel on the rails. Xu Ping's people were all in contact with this thing for the first time, and they were not small interested, shaking around on the railway, shouting loudly. Let a soldier ride a horse with other horses and walk slowly, Xu Ping and the others all sat on the rail car, gently pressed, the rail car moved, they were all strong men, the car was pressed faster and faster, the wind blew the hair fluttering, it was very refreshing, when I went, I walked for almost two hours, and when I came back, it was only a few minutes. It's good that things on the railroad are dedicated to the railway.

When Mo Enemy came to the 172nd Division, an American Dodge truck was already waiting there, with several large oil drums tied to the car, a lot of hay, and a lot of bedding rolls, Zhang Guangwei's personal belongings had already been loaded, and the guards were reinforcing the tarpaulin for the car and repairing the air leakage. From here to Wuhan, it is not easy to walk for two days and two nights, and to survive this uncomfortable 48 hours.

There were a lot of people who saw Zhang Guangwei off, the 7th Army and the 48th Army were basically present at the division-level officers, and there was only one enemy at the regiment commander level, and the brothers of the 172nd Division had long known that this little colonel was Zhang Guangwei's iron buddy, and hurriedly welcomed him inside.

"It's coming!" Li Benyi is also the only brigade-level officer, and his military rank is also a colonel, among a bunch of generals, the two colonels are indeed a bit different.

"I heard that your division was blown up?" Mo Enemy asked softly.

"Don't say it, don't listen to it, Zhong Yi, this guy is shallow and greedy, and sooner or later he will suffer a big loss." Li Benyi said that he did not advocate that the 138th Division take advantage of this, but unfortunately it was ineffective because of his slight words.

Several division commanders of the 48th Army stood together, Mo Di walked over, and first saluted a few officials, Ou Shounian said with a smile: "Why didn't I pick up the bargain of the Ninth Division, it turned out that I wanted to see off Zhang Yunqiao, fortunately, otherwise, our 176th Division would not see a hundred or dozens of people." ”

Old Mo Dehong's face was flushed, and he slapped Ou Shounian on the shoulder and said, "Make fun of me!" ”

He Weizhen, the commander of the 173rd Division, said to Mo Dehong with a smile: "It's not to make fun of you, if it is Tianzong to take advantage, it is estimated that you will be able to take advantage of it, you are so blatantly taking advantage of the Japanese, it is a bit too deceitful." ”

Wang Zanbin smiled, pulled Mo Di aside, and said, "Tianzong, you understand, will you take advantage of this?" ”

Mo Di laughed and replied: "If you have this idea, it depends on whether there is a chance." Take advantage of this kind of thing, take advantage of the opportunity, don't take advantage of the opportunity, and don't take advantage of it. ”

Wang Zanbin laughed and said to the three division commanders: "How about it, I'm right, you three have a treat." ”

The three division commanders said in unison: "Please, please, how much can you eat alone, and a pheasant will die." ”

Mo Di didn't listen to their nonsense anymore, and when he came to Zhang Guangwei with Li Benyi, the gauze on Zhang Guangwei's eyes had been removed, but he couldn't see the strong light, and he got a pair of sunglasses, which had a different demeanor. Seeing Mo Di and Li Benyi, Zhang Guangwei said with a smile: "I have already received accurate news, this time I will go back to form a new 174th Division, and then it will be incorporated into the 48th Army, and we can fight together in one army again, you two must be careful to take precautions, you must not act rashly, try to maintain the current situation, and when we come back, if the Japanese do not attack, we will counterattack." ”

Li Benyi smiled, I don't know whether to approve or disapprove, Mo Di crooked his mouth, just rely on the militia groups you brought back, some guns won't be released, it's good to be able to stay in the trench and let the guns go, counterattack, go dream!