Chapter 6: Fighting and Killing (1)

Since the Battle of Taierzhuang ended on 7 April, another major battle was staged in Xuzhou at the same time, which was a battle of words, and its intensity was not weaker than that of the previous real guns.

Liu Fei, director of the First Department of Operations of the Military Command Department, believed that Taierzhuang had won a great victory, and the pursuing troops had failed to expel the enemy from the country or eliminate them on the spot, but had held on to the south and west of Yixian with the remnants of the Seya Detachment and Sakamoto's Brigade, and that in time, the enemy would inevitably reinforce the counteroffensive. Liu Fei combined the research report of the First Hall and the minutes of the talks of the 21st Group Army at the Bengbu Military Conference, and advocated that the operation in Lunan should be changed to a mobile defense, with part of the army maintaining contact with the enemy, and the main force gathering in a favorable position of mobility, and then striking at the enemy; It was proposed to reduce the front of the battlefield, retreat the large forces to the canal and deploy along the canal, and the strong reserve corps to control the west of Xuzhou to deal with the situation in all aspects.

Although Chiang Kai-shek reluctantly agreed to the policy of mobile defense and mobile warfare to defeat the enemy, he refused to give up the existing points in terms of the specific deployment of troops, and demanded that the first line be deployed for a protracted defense.

The battle of words was very fierce, and various opinions came out one after another, and in the end, it was Lao Jiang who made the final decision, and the commander of the Fifth Theater became a Buddha statue, a Buddha statue with only ears and no mouth. It's also a good thing to have Lao Jiang personally intervene, and the replenishment of battle-damaged units is causing a headache, so let Lao Jiang worry about it.

On April 21, a resolution was finally formed, and the High Command issued an order in the form of a directive to the Fifth Theater in the name of Chiang Kai-shek.

The Instruction requires:

(1) Enemy situation: The enemy in Lunan is still the two divisions of Banyuan and Isogu, and there are more than 10,000 enemy reinforcements in Jinan, half of which has been defended by Yan, Ji and Teng.

(2) Linyi frontline: Zhang Zizhong's army and Li Xianzhou's army commanded the army, on the southeast side of Linyi, the main force was placed on the left bank of the Yihe River to contain the enemy, and launched guerrilla attacks in the area of Juxian and Feixian behind the enemy. Pang Bingxun's army transferred the horse head of Tancheng to reorganize and cover the railway.

(3) Taierzhuang frontline: Sun Lianzhong's army attached to Zhang Zhen's division and Zhou Zhen's army, occupied a deep stronghold position in Liuzhuang, Gaohuangmiao, and the line near the high ground on the north side of the cross road building, and resisted for a long time; However, it is necessary to control the strong reserves in the vicinity of Nanluo and Beiluo, and strengthen the Taierzhuang position with one section. Yu Xuezhong's 51st Army attached to the 139th Division, with the main force in Changgou and Hongwatun line to occupy the deep stronghold position, protracted resistance, the army was under the command of Sun Lianzhong.

(4) The Luhan division was concentrated on the south side of Taierzhuang, Sun Zhen's division was appointed as the garrison of the southern canal of Hanzhuang, Tang Enbo's army (owed to Zhang Zhen's division) was reorganized between Sihu Town, Daxiaoliangbi, and Chahe Town, and the 3rd, 9th, 50th, 92nd, and 140th divisions were the general reserve.

(5) The southern front was still dominated by the 21st Group Army, and the 7th and 48th armies were replenished in place, and the Gui 31st Army was urged to complete its reorganization and return to the front line.

The Japanese base camp originally decided not to expand the battlefield for the time being due to lack of preparation, but a large number of Chinese troops gathered in Xuzhou, especially the existence of Tang Enbo, a big fish, which made the Japanese base camp have a strong interest. Thinking that a major blow to Chiang Kai-shek's main force was a great opportunity to dampen the will of the Nationalist army to resist the war, it was decided to carry out the Xuzhou operation, and as early as April 7, when the Seya detachment retreated on all fronts, it had officially issued the "Mainland Order" No. 84 order

(1) Objective: To defeat the enemy near Xuzhou.

(2) North China Front: Defeat the enemy near Xuzhou and occupy the area north of Longhai Road east of Lanfeng.

(3) Central China Front: The troops were divided into three routes, with a force to move north along the canal, and cooperate with the North China Front Army to break the enemy near Xuzhou. The main force of the Central China Front Army then went north along the Jinpu Road, divided into two roads in Bengbu, all the way along the Huai River to Mengcheng and Wuyang, entered Bozhou, echoed with the friendly army in Lanfeng, and entered Suzhou along the railway to join the friendly army in Xuzhou. And occupy the area near Luzhou with one part and threaten the rear.

The resolution of the Chinese Military Commission was issued nearly half a month after the issuance of the "Mainland Order" No. 84 of the Japanese army base camp, and it did not effectively intervene in the Japanese army's plan, but seemed to be cooperating with the actions of the Japanese army.

The besieged Seya detachment became a link between the previous and the next.

Knowing the resolution of the Military and Political Council, Liu Fei couldn't help but sigh and found a reason to leave Xuzhou, the reason was to accompany Li Xingshu, deputy chief of staff of the Fifth War Zone, to Bengbu to take office. Xu Qiming, deputy commander of the 7th Army, no longer concurrently served as the commander of the 170th Division, and Li Xingshu served as the commander.

After several months of fighting, the railway north of Xuzhou was paralyzed, and the train from Bengbu to Pukou could not be smoothed, but the train from Xuzhou to Bengbu has not stopped, of course, it can only go to the small Bengbu on the north bank of the Huai River, because the Bengbu iron bridge has been destroyed in the war.

Sitting on the train from Xuzhou to Bengbu, Li Xingshu was a little scared, and said to Liu Fei: "Since I returned from the Northern Expedition, I entered the tenth phase of the Army University for further study, and after graduating and returning to Guizhou, I have been serving as a staff officer, and I have not led troops on the front line. ”

"Brother Haishan (Li Xingshuzi) doesn't need to be presumptuous, you are a veteran of the Sand War, a former relict of the ninth phase of the Baoding Army No. 1 Middle School, and you will be appointed as a division commander, do you still need the bottom?" Liu Fei said with a smile.

"For Brother Zhang Xian, Brother Fool has something unclear, now that Liu Shiyi has left in Xuzhou, there is no one around Degong (Li Zongren's character Delin), it is the time to employ people, why do you want to transfer me away, don't you let Degong have no one available." Li Xingshu is a loyal person, and he is puzzled by the transfer of him at this juncture.

"Xuzhou is no longer the fifth war zone before, and Degong is just a pretense now, Lao Jiang has assigned the task to the battalion, company and platoon, and what is the matter with Degong." Liu Fei said in a somewhat mocking tone: "We can't adopt our suggestions, we can't target the layout of the Japanese army, I don't know what I have and I don't know what I am, I insist on going my own way, and the defeat of Xuzhou is already predictable." Lao Jiang is this person, if he wins, he is arrogant, and if he loses, he is cheating, you are the deputy chief of staff, and you are the best person to carry wood for him, so Degong will let you go first, as for Degong himself, he can only accompany Lao Jiang to fight a battle that must be lost. ”

Li Xingshu was greatly moved, straightened his body, arched his hand in the direction of Xuzhou, and said: "Thank you for your righteousness, for Brother Zhang Xian, it seems that you are very worried about the future of Xuzhou, and please solve your doubts for Brother Wei." ”

Liu Fei knew that Li Xingshu was a kind person but less wise, and a loyal person with little martial arts. Although he graduated from the ninth phase of the No. 1 Middle School of the Baoding Army, he studied the major of armament and was good at baggage. When Li Zongren and Huang Shaohong rose, Li Xingshu, who was the battalion commander in the Maji Army, gave them full assistance, and then in the battle to unify Guangxi, Li Xingshu also made a lot of contributions. Therefore, in the Gui army, Li Xingshu has always been known for his qualifications. After the end of the Northern Expedition, in order to let him grow, he was sent to the tenth phase of the regular class of the Army University, and his growth after graduation was not great. Li Zongren loves his loyalty and has always been by his side, and there is no way to send him out to serve this time.

Liu Fei told him that the Japanese army, relying on their equipment superiority, has always wanted to fight with the main force of the national army, hoping to achieve the purpose of destroying the morale of the national army by eliminating the main force of the Chinese army, and the appearance of Tang Enbo's army in Xuzhou has aroused the interest of the Japanese, and they did not hesitate to use the Seya detachment and the Sakamoto detachment as bait to entangle the Tang army in Xuzhou, gather a large number of troops, and prepare to fight a big battle in Xuzhou.

The 16th Division and the 114th Division of the Northern Front, which were rebuilt from Shanghai and Nanjing, had already appeared in Shandong, and the Guoqi detachment also began to attack the outer positions of Linyi on April 16, and fought fiercely until the night of the 19th, capturing Linyi.

On the southern front, the commander of the 101st Brigade of the 101st Division, which was garrisoned along the Yangtze River, led the Sato Detachment, which was based on five infantry brigades and one field artillery brigade, to set out from Dongtai on April 24 and occupy Yancheng on the 26th.

The 9th and 13th main divisions, which had been replenished, had already set out from Chuzhou to attack Bengbu, which was the main force of the Japanese army on the southern front and was our main opponent.

The Sakai Detachment, led by the commander of the 11th Brigade of the 6th Division, led by the 13th Infantry Wing, the 6th Cavalry Wing, and the 3rd Brigade of the 6th Field Artillery Wing, set out from Wuhu on April 23 to occupy Hexian and Hanshan on the 26th.

The three armies are unstoppable.

"According to our analysis, this will be a more tragic and large-scale battle than the Battle of Songhu, and the national army will undoubtedly be defeated because of its equipment and geographical advantages. Chiang Kai-shek fought wars and liked wishful thinking, you must know that while we are seeking others, others are also seeking you, and if you want to seek others, you must first not let others seek you. Liu Fei said very clearly: "In the previous victory in Taierzhuang, General Liu Shiyi first showed weakness to the enemy by hiding the Tang Army, and only after the Segu detachment completely entered the trap did he let the Tang Army show up, and one move became a lore. In Xuzhou today, we don't have any secrets, nor do we have any means, the red strips are there, let the enemy attack, and it is strange if we are undefeated. ”

Li Xingshu realized that he was just dull, not stupid, and he was still clear about the simplest analysis and comparison, but he had to feel strange that Chiang Kai-shek and his think tank could not see through such a simple question.

After the 21st Group Army's Taierzhuang victory celebration banquet in Bengbu, Mo Di proposed to the division commander to set up the 1056 Regiment Intelligence Department and appoint Gong Qingyuan as the director of the Intelligence Division. Both requests were not approved, for the simple reason that Gong Qingyuan was a member of the 20th Army, and he was forcibly retained and could not be explained to friendly forces. As for Xu Ping, now is the time for war, and everyone on the front line is very important, so we will not arrange further education for the time being. Back at the station, Gong Qingyuan was happy and hateful, happy that he had become a three-no personnel, and what he hated was that he had become a lost dog, under the instruction of Mo Di, he returned to the Centipede Mountain base, and brought all the baggage teams that had stayed in Centipede Mountain to Fengyang Mountain in Fengyang County, of course, they were not empty-handed, this time in the Three Realms, in addition to equipping the 138th Division and the 412th Brigade, all other materials were taken away by them. Three days later, Xu Ping applied for retirement because of the recurrence of his old injury, and formed a 200-man guard force with Liu Qinglong and other stragglers who had not been included in the formation, serving as the guard of the Fengyang Mountain base. At the same time, Major Zhang Suhe and her infirmary also entered Fengyang Mountain.

The diversion work has just ended, and the tasks of the 526 brigade have been put in place. Qin Zhenyuan's 1055th Regiment, as a regiment directly under the division, was stationed in Huaiyuan with the 176th Division, and Mo Wei led the troops directly under the 526 Brigade and the 1056 Regiment to Xiatang.

After careful consideration, Mo Di placed his stronghold in the furnace bridge not far from Fengyang Mountain. For this Japanese army, Mo Di has a certain rule in his heart, Sakai Tokutaro but Hefei Mo Enemy will not make a move, Sakai Tokutaro dares to cross Hefei, so he has no return.