Chapter 5: Blood and Fire (5)

After waiting for five days in Huizhou, I finally waited for the gasoline sent from Yingtan, and as a reward, two American Dodges transporting gasoline also joined the ranks of the 1056 regiment.

In the past few days, Zhang Yichun, like an ant on a hot pot, has long been in a panic, because the Japanese offensive on the southern line of Jinpu Road has entered a white heat, and troops are driving to that area every day, and casualties are reported every day.

In the view of Cheng Qian, He Yingqin, Bai Chongxi, and Chiang Kai-shek, the Japanese army got Nanjing in East China, occupied Taiyuan in North China, and included the entire territory of Shandong. It takes time to digest such a huge area, and this precious time is a great time to heal the wounds of the Chinese army, and it is also the best time to ask the League of Nations to mediate. Unexpectedly, the Japanese were not satisfied with the status quo, but immediately began to dredge the Jinpu Road after the end of the day.

The assumptions of the General Staff Headquarters of the National Army are not groundless, but have a certain basis. After the occupation of Nanjing in mid-November 1937, the Japanese General Staff Headquarters formulated the strategic policy of "passive and protracted war against China", preparing to launch a large-scale offensive after rectifying, replenishing, and expanding its military strength, and "then turn into a situation of complete contraction", and stipulated the limits of the occupied areas: "North China, north of the Yellow River and most of Shandong; In Central China, Wuhu and Jiangnan to the east of Hangzhou". The next key task is to strengthen the rule of the occupied areas and try to build a second Manchurian state and a second Taiwan, instead of blindly expanding the results of the war, the so-called food must be eaten bite by bite, and land must be occupied piece by piece.

However, with the smooth progress of East China and North China, the invading Japanese army began to become arrogant and blindly proud, believing that victory was close at hand, especially the senior generals of the North China Front headed by Terauchi Shouichi, who occupied Shandong without a fight. After occupying Nanjing, the Central China Front basically did not encounter a large-scale confrontation, and it also one-sidedly believed that the main force of the Chinese army had been exhausted when fighting in Shanghai and Nanjing. Therefore, they also expressed strong dissatisfaction with the decision of the General Staff Headquarters, believing that with the current strength of the army, the Chinese army could be defeated and the Nationalist Government could be forced to submit.

Since the end of 1937, the headquarters of the two invasion fronts in Central China and North China have repeatedly proposed to the base camp that in order to link North China and Central China to carry out the Xuzhou operation and to exert coercion on the enemy in Wuhan and thus occupy the strongholds on the south bank of the Yellow River (Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, etc.), they have repeatedly applied to attack Xuzhou.

The Japanese base camp held that the preparations were not sufficient, that the troops were already insufficient, and that if the battlefield was further expanded, the forces would be even more dispersed, which would be detrimental to the subsequent operations, and refused to approve the request of the commander of the Central China Front, Shunroku Hatata. The reply telegram pointed out: "Do not let the enemy lure the situation of the war to expand and the strength of the army to be contained, thus hindering the country's comprehensive rectification and rectification...... According to the established policy of the base camp, it must not be approved. ”

The commander-in-chief of the Japanese army in North China, Toshiichi Terauchi, and the commander-in-chief of the Japanese army in Central China, Shunroku Hata believed that it was a top priority to open up the Jinpu Road and connect North China and East China as a whole. After capturing Nanjing, the Central China Front not only did not shrink on the south bank of the Yangtze River, but occupied Chuxian, Lai'an, Liuhe, Quanjiao, and Yangzhou in December 1937 and January 1938, and attempted to advance north along the Jinpu Road with the strength of two divisions to cooperate with the operations of the Japanese army in North China in Shandong.

In January 1938, as the vanguard of the Japanese Central China Front, the 13th Division of the Ogizhou Libing Corps began to attack along the Jinpu Road along the Huai River after occupying Tuzhou. The 13th Division deployed the Three-Way Army, and the commander of the 26th Brigade, Numata Tokushige, led 4 infantry brigades and 2 mountain artillery brigades to attack Bengbu along the Jinpu Road; The commander of the 13th Division, Dizhou Libing, led the main force to the middle road, starting from Chuxian, crossing the Chihe River in Chihe Town, and attacking Bengbu from Zongpu and Fengyang; The 65th Wing Commander Liang Jiaoye led 3 infantry brigades and 1 mountain artillery brigade to the west road, starting from Quanjiao, crossing the Chi River near Daqiao Town, passing through Dingyuan, Xishilidian and Nianjiagang, and detouring to the Shangyao area at the northern end of Gaotang Lake, covering and preparing for the operation of the East Route Army and the Middle Route Army.

In the south of the Jinpu line, the 13th Division encountered the resistance of the 135th Division of Su Zuxin, the new 31st Army of the Gui Department, as the number one think tank of the Gui Department, Liu Shiyi showed strong combat power, and he adopted a variety of guerrilla means to deal with the Japanese army advancing north, aiming to slow the pace of the Japanese army's offensive and win time for friendly troops with his own sacrifice. After stagnating the Japanese army for half a month, finally in the bright light by the Chi River, Liu Shiyi was forced to start a bloody struggle with the Japanese army, Liu Shiyi's combat power was vividly exerted on the side of the Chi River, a Chi River seemed to have spirituality under his hands, advance can be attacked, retreat can be defended, although there is only one 135 division in hand, but it was entangled with the 13th Division here for four days and four nights, so that the Ogizhou soldiers were shocked.

However, after a long period of guerrilla warfare, coupled with the fierce battle in Mingguang, the losses of the 31st Army were also quite serious, so Wei Yunsong was ordered to lead the 173rd and 174th divisions to rush to the aid and replenishment at night. On February 3, 1938, the 31st Army retreated to the west of Dingyuan and Fengyang after resisting one by one in the area on the west bank of the Chihe River, and the Japanese army successively captured Linhuai Pass and Bengbu.

The Japanese army hated the 31st Army to the core, and decided to follow the 65th Wing Commander Liang Jiaoye on the West Road, and did not stop until the 31st Army was defeated, and just approached Dingxi, but found that Wei Yunsong led the 173rd and 174th Divisions to Dingxi, and the strength of the 31st Army increased greatly. The 13th Division of the Japanese Army knew that the Gui army was difficult, not to mention the addition of new forces, so it could only give up the pursuit of the 31st Army, concentrate all the main forces, and let the Western Route Army of Liangjiao Ye Zuo Dazuo withdraw as a reserve army for forcibly crossing the Huai River at Bengbu and Linhuai Pass and launching an attack on the north bank.

Because Liu Shiyi of Mingguang successfully stranded the Japanese army south of the Huai River, Yu Xuezhong's 51st Army, which was stationed on the north bank of the Huai River, had time to prepare, not only calmly blew up the Huai River Bridge, but also allowed the 113th Division of the 51st Army to arrive in time and form an effective cooperation with the 114th Division. On the 12th, the 51st Army retreated in the direction of the Lu River and the Hu River.

Just when Lieutenant General Dizhou Libing led the 13th Division to fight fiercely with Yu Xuezhong in Xiaobengbu, Li Zongren ordered Zhang Zizhong, commander of the 59th Army, to lead his troops to rush to the Guzhen area, and cooperate with the 51st Army to stubbornly resist the Japanese army in the area on the north bank of the Huai River. On February 13, the 59th Army was transferred to the vicinity of Guzhen and took over the defensive positions of the 51st Army. The 51st Army withdrew to the area around Xisipo Station for rest. The 59th Army deployed the 38th Division (owed to the 81st Brigade) to defend the line from Watuanji to Yangdianzi west of Guzhen, and the 180th Division to defend the line from Yangdianzi to the southeast of Guzhen, with the army headquarters located at Renqiao.

At this time, most of the main force of the Japanese 13th Division advanced to the north of the Huai River. A temporary emptiness forms south of the Huai River.

Taking advantage of the weakness was the key to Li Zongren's never giving up, and he immediately ordered the 173rd Division of the 31st Army to march from the Huainan Railway to Shangyao and the 174th Division to Fengyang, and ordered the Seventh Army reorganized in Hefei to carry out flank attacks from Hefei to Mingguang and Dingyuan; At the same time, he asked for air force support to bomb the enemy at Bengbu and Linhuai Pass. If all goes well, it will be the final battle of Li Zongren's Jinpu Line South. Even if it does not succeed, it can force the Japanese army to withdraw the main force that has crossed the Huaibei to the south of the Huai River.

On February 15, Zhang Zizhong took the opportunity to order the 180th Division and the 38th Division to form a reinforced regiment to counterattack the enemy at Xiaobengbu. After fighting, Xiaobengbu was recovered, and all the Japanese troops north of the Huai River withdrew to the south of the Huai River, achieving the expected goal.

On the south bank of the Huai River, the battle network composed of the main forces of the Gui system has been rolled out, with the Seventh Army and the 31st or so flanking attacks, and the 138th Division of the 48th Army, which arrived in advance, to hold the bottom line in the Dingxi Luqiao area, and ordered the 176th Division of the 48th Army to immediately end the reorganization and rush to Dingxi, including the 1056th Regiment still in Huizhou.

The battle of the Huai River is in full swing, how can Zhang Yichun not be anxious, as soon as the gasoline arrives, he will set off immediately.

As soon as the car moved, General Zhang Yunyi of the General Staff of the New Fourth Army had already sent information that Wuhu had fallen, and that if the 1056th Regiment went to Wuhu again, it would fall into the hands of the Sixth Division of the Japanese Army. Mo was shocked, and he sincerely thought that his life was good, and with his previous friendship, he had today's return, and this news alone was worth 300,000 oceans.

Immediately diverted the route, crossed the river from Chizhou, and went straight to Anqing. The military situation was urgent, and the enemy unloaded all the materials on the 20 vehicles, and Huang Tianhua led the 123rd Battalion to board the vehicles and set off, and immediately rushed to the Dingxi Luqiao area along the Lujiang River in Tongling at the fastest speed, joining the 526 Brigade in the battle sequence. He accompanied Zhang Yichun to Anqing on foot, placed Zhang Yichun in Anqing, crossed the Lujiang River in Tongcheng, and joined the large army.

On the way, Mo Di told Zhang Yichun about the situation, and Governor Zhang immediately reported the news to the General Staff, believing that the appearance of the Sixth Division showed that the Japanese army would not only open up the Tianjin-Pudong line, but also march west along the Yangtze River, and asked the Jiangfang troops to be ready for battle. At the same time, it was suggested that the first detachment of the New Fourth Army, Chen Yi and Fu Qiutao, who had already arrived in Xuancheng, should cross the Yangtze River north to disturb the Japanese army's logistics in the Wuwei Hanshan area, so that the Japanese army could not let go of the attack. The defense of the Yansi area of Shexian County was handed over to Zhang Dingcheng and Su Yubu of the Second Detachment of the New Fourth Army, and the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army entered Jing County and took over the defense of the Xuancheng area after the first detachment left. At the same time, the Hunan 28th Army was requested to quickly cross the Qiantang River north and enter the area around Hangjiahu to harass the Japanese army's Nanjing rear road, and strive to pull back part of the Japanese army and reduce the pressure on the Huai River area.

Bai Chongxi immediately adopted Zhang Yichun's suggestion, because after February 17, the situation in the northern section of the Jinpu Road became tense, and the Japanese army began to attack from Jining to the west of the canal. In order to increase the strength of the northern front, Zhang Zizhong's troops were transferred to Lincheng. On the surface, the southern section of the Jinpu Road was still confronted by Xuezhong's 51st Army and the Japanese army across the Huai River, but in fact, the three armies of the Gui system were fighting with the Japanese army south of the Huai River.

Mo Di, for a long time, has not gone through such a long and rapid march, the most uncomfortable thing, every soldier has become a baggage member, Mo Di is no exception, carrying a box of bullets on his back, pressing the two little short legs and shivering.