At 5 o'clock in the evening of February 26, Jiang Qiang once again led the team from Yishui County! 4 infantry regiments, 1 heavy artillery regiment, 12 tanks, a baggage regiment, an engineer regiment, and a large number of construction personnel, a total of more than 20,000 people slaughtered to Taierzhuang. Taierzhuang is a small town in the southeast of Yi County, Shandong, adjacent to Pi County in Jiangsu Province, and the canal runs around the city, so it is a land and water wharf. Taierzhuang is also the intersection of the Jinpu Line, the Taizao Branch Line and the Taiwei Highway, and is the gateway to Xuzhou, and its strategic position is very important.

The city wall of Taierzhuang is made of bricks and stones, the business in the city is prosperous, and small western-style buildings built with bricks and stones can be seen everywhere, which is not much different from ordinary county seats. Coal is produced near Taierzhuang, there are many coking plants outside the city, there are about 1,000 households in the city, the width of the street can only accommodate horse-drawn carriages, and the road surface is paved with bluestone. In order to ensure the safety of Xuzhou, before the Battle of Taierzhuang, the Chinese defenders had built some fortifications here, built stone walls, and set up 75 pillboxes.

The troops currently stationed in Taierzhuang Town are the 186th Regiment, which is a reinforced regiment, the regiment commander Wang Guanwu is also the commander of the city defense, and the division commander Chi Fengcheng is commanding outside the city! The 31st Division of Chifengcheng was the backbone of Sun Lianzhong, and Sun Lianzhong was the commander of the division.

Because it is Sun Lianzhong's "descendant" unit, although it is several grades worse than Chairman Jiang's descendant unit in terms of equipment and ordnance, it is much stronger than the other two divisions of the Second Group Army, so it was placed by Sun Lianzhong in the most critical and core Taierzhuang Town! Sun Lianzhong arrived at Hanjia Temple, 5,000 meters south of the Taierzhuang Canal, at 4 o'clock this morning, and set up the headquarters of the Second Group Army here.

Huang Qiaosong's 27th Division, Zhang Jinzhao's 30th Division, and Wu Pengju's Independent Brigade have successively assembled in the area northeast of Jiawang and south of Taierzhuang, about 30 kilometers southwest of Taierzhuang. At 9 o'clock in the morning, Bai Chongxi, accompanied by Sun Lianzhong, personally inspected the front line in Taierzhuang, and when he learned that Sun Lianzhong's troops only had rifle machine guns and mortars and urgently needed artillery support, he talked to Li Zongren and Cheng Qian on the phone at the headquarters of the 31st Division. After several communications, Li Zongren and Cheng Qian agreed to immediately transfer field artillery, anti-aircraft artillery, and tank teams to Taierzhuang.

The heavy weapons unit transferred by Li Zongren was the 200th Division, which was expanded by Du Yuming's armored corps on January 15, 1938. The 200th Division assigned the three battalions of the 52nd Regiment and the infantry artillery battalion directly under the division to the units participating in the Battle of Taierzhuang. Each of the four battalions, which has 37 combat vehicles and 18 anti-aircraft guns, is currently being transported by rail to Taierzhuang South Railway Station.

"Chief Bai, thank you so much! If you hadn't helped, these guys in our hands would not be the opponent of the Japanese devils at all! "Sun Lianzhong thanked and sighed from the bottom of his heart, Bai Chongxi still has a big face, and these two phone calls have brought in so many heavy weapons, which has made the defensive combat strength of the Second Army skyrocket!" Haha, Commander Sun is too polite, you are all national heroes of the bloody frontier city, I just did my best! The key to the success or failure of this battle lies in your Second Army! ”

On January 1, 1938, the Military Commission was reorganized, and Bai Chongxi was appointed Minister of Military Training, in charge of the army and navy training and the construction and improvement of military schools. This time, Bai Chongxi accompanied the chairman of the committee to Xuzhou to inspect, and stayed in Xuzhou to assist Li Zongren in commanding the battle of Taierzhuang! After arriving at the Fifth War Zone, Bai Chongxi often went to the battlefield to liaise with the senior generals of various armies and divisions, and exchanged condolences on behalf of the Wuhan base camp to boost morale.

After a pause, Bai Chongxi looked at Sun Lianzhong meaningfully and said: "Commander Sun is the pillar of the party-state, not only has the little devil suffered a lot, but even Jiang Qiang looks at you differently!" Sun Lianzhong understood what Bai Chongxi meant, and hurriedly waved his hand to explain: "Sir Bai, there must be a misunderstanding here, I have nothing to do with Jiang Qiang, and I have always been loyal to the party and the state!" Please also ask Chief Bai to be clear! ”

"Haha, I'll just say it casually, and I don't mean anything else! Don't get me wrong! Bai Chongxi grinned, glanced around, pointed to the sky and said, "It's just that there are some things that are not good to say under the melon field and plums, and you have to avoid suspicion!" Sun Lianzhong hurriedly nodded and said, "Please rest assured, Chief Bai, I know what to do!" Bai Chongxi said with a smile: "I'm really looking forward to meeting Jiang Qiang this time, I didn't expect to meet him in this place!"

To be honest, I admire this guy from the bottom of my heart, he can make the little devil suffer a big loss, and he still doesn't dare to fight with him directly! Well, I just don't know what kind of surprise he can bring us this time? "Hehe, it's a bit fascinating!"

Sun Lianzhong's eyes were fiery and nodded, and he had already begun to think about how to deal with Jiang Qiang and how to jointly defend Taierzhuang. Bai Chongxi looked thoughtfully at the sky in the distance and said: "Whether we can make a big difference this time, this support army is very important, and we must have a good sum up when the time comes!" "At ten o'clock in the morning, Jiang Qiang led the mechanized vanguard to arrive at Taierzhuang, 9 heavy tanks and hundreds of transport vehicles, at a glance, it can simply flash the eyes of a titanium alloy dog!

"Oh my God, what kind of tank is this, it's too big, isn't it?" "There are so many heavy artillery?" "Damn, all mechanized transportation?" "This Jiaodong Group Army is so powerful?" "No wonder you can beat the little devil to a completely temperless one! Ha ha! "yes, now it's good! Let's have a good fight with the little devils! ”

Bai Chongxi, Sun Lianzhong, Tian Zhennan, Feng Anbang and others who came to greet them were all dumbfounded, knowing that Jiang Qiang was well-equipped and had luxurious weapons, but when they saw it for the first time today, they couldn't help but be horrified in their hearts! I'm not afraid of comparing goods if I don't know the goods, Bai Chongxi can be regarded as having seen the world, and at a glance, you can see that the tank brought by Jiang Qiang definitely belongs to the grandfather! If it is a single tank, even if all the tanks of the 200th Division are on board, I am afraid that they will not be able to win a heavy tank of the Jiaodong Group Army!

At present, the main tanks and combat vehicles of the Nationalist Government are imported from the French "Renault" FT-17 light tank (machine gun type), the American-made M-1917 light tank, the Italian-made "Fiat" light tank, the British "Vickers" MKE tank, the British "Vickers" M1936 light tank, and the German-made command light tank. These tanks are much worse than the Japanese 95 light tanks, with armor thicknesses ranging from 6 to 22 mm, and their thin-skinned attack power is even weaker! Even heavy machine gun fire can cause a lot of damage, and as long as the battle defense artillery is accurate, it is basically a small child! "Haha, Chief Bai, I really didn't expect to see you here! Fortunately! Fortunately! ”

After a long period of greetings and mutual introductions, Jiang Qiang had the opportunity to talk to Bai Chongxi alone to get in touch, because Jiang someone has always had an inexplicable curiosity about this "handsome" talent of the national army, who is known as Xiao Zhuge ! Bai Chongxi looked at Jiang Qiang with a smile and said: "Commander Jiang is famous, I have admired him for a long time, and I will know what it means to be a vain man under the fame when I see it today!" Commander Jiang is worthy of being a hero in the world who makes the little devil frightened, and his demeanor is compelling! ”

Sun Lianzhong smiled and said: "Commander Jiang, it's been really hard all the way, we have prepared a thin wine to pick up the dust for Commander Yang, and ask Commander Jiang to move to our army headquarters!" "Haha, then thank you Chief Bai and Commander Sun for your hospitality!"

Jiang Qiang was not polite, nodded and ordered the troops who got off the car to enter Taierzhuang, and the vacated transport convoy returned the same way to pick up the other personnel who were still on the way. Then Jiang Qiang, under the support of the guard battalion, arrived at the Hanjia Temple on the south bank of the canal.

Drinking can bring the relationship closer, and after three rounds of drinking, everyone's chatterbox gradually opened, and they began to call their brothers and sisters a lot less alive. "Brother Lu, since the 30th year of Jiyang's farewell, we have been separated for more than 8 years in a blink of an eye, and I can't imagine that we can fight side by side in Taierzhuang again today, which is really embarrassing!" After a few glasses of wine, Gu Liangmin officially entered the role with the help of a little wine, and began to reminisce about the relationship with Sun Lianzhong.

In 1907, at the recommendation of his third brother Gu Liangyou, he joined the Feng Yuxiang Battalion, the 20th town of the newly built army in Fengtian Xinmin Mansion of the Qing Dynasty, as a soldier. Because of his strong body and intelligence and studiousness, he was soon transferred to Feng Yuxiang's guard. He followed Feng to participate in the Luanzhou Uprising, the defense of the country against Yuan, the crusade against Zhang Xun, the Zhiwan War, the First Zhifeng War, etc., and escorted Feng out of danger many times, and was promoted from a soldier to a guard company commander, brigade commander, and division commander. Gu Liangmin's third brother Gu Liangyou entered Baoding in his early years to "train the army", and Feng Yuxiang was a soldier in the same shed, and he was very affectionate, and became brothers with different surnames, and died of illness in Jinan on October 17, 1934!

And Sun Lianzhong is one of Feng Yuxiang's thirteen Taibao, deeply appreciated by Feng Yuxiang, and naturally had a very good relationship with the two brothers of the Gu family in his early years. In 1930, after Sun Lianzhong accepted the reorganization of the chairman of the committee, he was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the 26th Route Army, and led his troops to Jining, Shandong Province to reorganize and eat.

At that time, the governor of Shandong Province was Han Fuyu, and he had a deep friendship with Sun Lianzhong. After Sun arrived in Shandong, Han made wishful thinking and tried to use Sun's power to strengthen himself. Sun Lianzhong also had the idea of relying on Han at this time. However, the chairman of the committee believes that Han Fuyu is ambitious and changeable, so he should take precautions against him; And Sun Lianzhong is brave in battle, loyal to his boss, once he is pulled over, he must be willing to drive, so he is extremely entrenched in Sun.

The chairman of the committee sent Cao Haosen, who was the chief of staff of Feng Yuxiang's department, to Jining to do Sun's persuasion work; Then he invited the generals of Sun to Nanjing in batches to summon them one by one, and the grant was very generous. Sun Lianzhong sent Yuan Qiqi, chief of the quartermaster department and secretary general of the National People's Congress to Nanjing, to pay homage to Chiang, and the chairman personally hosted a banquet to entertain him, during which he praised Sun Po a lot. The chairman of the committee was gentle and prepared, and Sun Lianzhong was gradually moved, so he decided to work for the chairman. "yes, it's unpredictable!"

Thinking of the past, Sun Lianzhong was quite nostalgic, he almost joined forces with Han Fuyu and stationed in Shandong, but now Han Fuyu has been dealt with by military law, and Gu Liangmin is a rising star who defected to the Third Route Army! However, it is this rising star Jiang Qiang who has become a national anti-Japanese hero and dazzling star who makes the devils frightened and the Chinese officers and soldiers inspired! After eating enough, Jiang Qiang said straight to the point to Bai Chongxi and Sun Lianzhong: "Chief Bai, Commander Sun, the little devil is attacking from the north and the south, the battle of Xuzhou will be a bitter and bloody battle, and Taierzhuang is currently a key node!"

The main purpose of my troops coming here this time is to assist in the defense of Taierzhuang, and as for the other strategic deployments in the Fifth War Zone, I will not mix too much! Regarding this, I would like to ask for your understanding! Jiang Qiang's words were simple, direct and rude, if it were someone else, I am afraid that this would be a big disobedience to the order, even if he was not punished, he would be put in small shoes in the future.

Bai Chongxi did not show the slightest displeasure, but spoke for Jiang Qiang: "Commander Jiang not only blocked the frontal attack of the Japanese 10th Division and the 22nd Division, but also led his troops to stabilize Fei County and Teng County. Now that he personally led the army to come to the aid of Taierzhuang, this is already a model for us, how can we have other extravagant desires? I'm sure Chief Li will think the same way as me! "Haha, then thank you Chief Bai!"

Jiang Qiang nodded with a smile, and then Sun Lianzhong said: "Commander Sun, my engineering troops will arrive in Taierzhuang soon, and when the time comes, I will build stronger fortifications for Taierzhuang and the surrounding areas, and I need the cooperation of your brothers!" In addition, he also asked Commander Sun to transfer all the people of Taierzhuang, because Taierzhuang will become a flesh mill for devils, and all unrelated personnel must be cleared! "There is no problem with this at all, we will definitely cooperate with Commander Yang fully!" Sun Lianzhong nodded without hesitation, to fight a defensive war, you have to rely on strong fortifications!

And what the Jiaodong Group Army is best at is defense, and now they are taking the lead in doing it, which is naturally a great thing, and Sun Lianzhong can't find a reason to refuse at all! "Haha! With Commander Jiang joining the Jiaodong Military Region, Taierzhuang will definitely be impregnable! Come, let's drink this cup together, I wish us a victory, and beat the little devils all over the ground to find teeth! I'll do it first! Bai Chongxi stood up in a good mood, raised his glass and toasted to everyone, and drank it happily!

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the Jiaodong Group Army Engineer Corps and the follow-up troops arrived in Taierzhuang! As soon as they entered the site, the experienced engineering regiment began construction planning, and then the construction team of tens of thousands of people began to work intensively! This time, Jiang Qiang not only brought a large amount of baggage, but also brought a large number of steel bars and special cement, and it would take a day or two at most to build an extremely complete group of fortifications. In order to facilitate communication and liaison with the Second Group Army, Jiang Qiang also set up his headquarters in Hanjiasi on the south bank of the canal, and Gu Liangmin was directly in charge.

There is a former enemy commander in Taierzhuang, and Xu Guangming is personally responsible for commanding, this guy has always been at home on defense, and he has long been "complaining", so this time Jiang Qiang transferred him from Tianjin and brought him out, which can be regarded as letting professional people do professional things! The morale of Taierzhuang is in full swing, but the atmosphere in Xuzhou is a little depressing! "I see! This Jiang Qiang is really good at picking time! ”

After listening to Bai Chongxi's report, the chairman of the committee looked extremely calm, and he couldn't see what he was thinking in his heart. Accustomed to Jiang Qiang's unbridled military actions, the chairman's anti-toxicity has been greatly enhanced! "Bench, the heart of defense is indispensable! Jiang Qiang brought Gu Liangmin to Taierzhuang this time, and his purpose has been revealed! Otherwise, according to his villain nature who refuses to suffer, he can willingly jump into the fire pit? Qian Dajun felt very uneasy, Jiang Qiang's too many previous convictions for digging into the wall made him suffer from persecution paranoia of gains and losses.

Bai Chongxi smiled indifferently: "Director Qian is too worried, although Jiang Qiang has a lot of minor problems, he is not ambiguous in terms of national righteousness!" In this battle of Xuzhou, Jiang Qiang's department has tried his best, not only blocked the strong attack of the two divisions of the devil head-on and caused heavy casualties to the devil, but now he has also resisted the three devil divisions in the north for the fifth war zone by himself! Qian Dajun was still a little unconvinced and said: "It's not because he saw Shandong his own territory, and he was forced to send troops because he wanted to take advantage of the fire to rob!" ”

"Alright, stop arguing!" The chairman waved his hand impatiently, looked down at the sand table in front of him and said: "No matter what, let's finish this battle first, the two divisions of the Japanese army are about to arrive near the Longhai railway line!" At this time, no matter who it is, as long as he is willing to fight the devil, he has to unite! Since the outbreak of the all-out War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the chairman has experienced a series of failures in the defense of Pingjin, Guangdong, Taiyuan, and northern Hebei.

Now not only does the Chinese nation need a beautiful and happy victory to boost the morale of the army and the people, but the chairman also needs a big victory to rebuild his prestige! So no matter what, this well-designed Taierzhuang annihilation battle can only succeed and not fail!

At this time, Li Zongren hurriedly nodded and said: "Jiang Qiang's department is extremely good at defense, and he and Sun Lianzhong's joint defense of Taierzhuang is indeed the best combat plan at present!" The next thing to see if the little devil will be fooled, after all, Jiang Qiang is now famous, and the little devil is quite jealous of him! Li Zongren's worries are not unreasonable, but the Japanese army is determined to win Xuzhou this time, even if they know that Jiang Qiang led a force to enter Taierzhuang, they will never give up halfway! After a pause, Li Zongren said again: "Commission, can you let the Air Force participate in the war?" If our air force can come, it will definitely boost morale! ”

"Let's talk about this then!" The chairman did not agree or refuse! At the beginning of the war, the main force of the Nationalist army was the Hawker fighters, and the Nationalist Army lost 202 planes, damaged 112 planes, killed 122 pilots, and shot down and damaged 271 Japanese planes. Now there are only a few planes left in the National Air Force, and each one is a baby bump, where is it willing to easily fight a decisive battle with the Japanese army?

General Headquarters of the Japanese Central China Front in Qingdao. In the huge conference room, the stars twinkled, and a group of old devils were sitting at the conference table, led by the Japanese army general Shunroku Hatata, who was also the newly appointed commander-in-chief of the Japanese army in Qingdao and the commander of the Japanese army in Central China! On December 27, 1937, Tani was transferred to the Home Defense Force as commander of the Central Army, and his superiors, Ishine Matsui and Heisuke Yanagawa, were transferred to the reserve on February 14 of the following year.

Shunroku Hata was promoted to general in 1937 and became one of the heads of the Japanese Army as Director of Education, one of the three commanders of the Army. This old devil not only has a higher prestige in the army than Matsui Ishine, but also has a far greater ability and vision than Matsui Ishine, and can be said to be a very powerful devil general. On both sides of the conference table sat the commander of the 9th Division, Ryosuke Yoshika, the commander of the 11th Division, Munetake Yamamuro, the commander of the 13th Division, Tatebei Ogisu, the commander of the 16th Division, Noda Yu, the commander of the 101st Division, Masaki Ito, the commander of the 6th Division, Shiro Inaba, the commander of the 114th Division, Shigeharu Suematsu, the commander of the 110th Division, Takaaki Kurumi, the chief of staff of the Central China Front, and the deputy chief of staff of the Central China Front, Tsukada Tsukashi, and the deputy chief of staff Muto Akira! Japan is a country that deceives itself, and the 6th Division, the 16th Division, and the 5th Division have used this name for the second time, including the 20th Division, which has also been re-expanded.

Ryosuke Yoshika said excitedly: "The newly produced Type 97 medium tank of the empire is invincible, the 9th Division and the 11th Division are making rapid progress, and the vanguard has not encountered any decent resistance at all!" Yamamuro Sowu nodded with a smile on his face and said: "That's right, if today, His Majesty the Emperor has made Ishihara-san the chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, specifically responsible for the construction of the Manchukuo military industrial system!" As long as the Japanese army has enough new tanks, it will be able to quickly sweep through China, and then go north to flank Wang Yizhe, achieving a prosperous era that the Yamato nation has not seen in a thousand years! "Yo Si!"

Tsukada attacked: "At present, nearly 200,000 elite Chinese troops have been assembled in the Xuzhou area, and the main Chen soldiers are on the north bank of Suzhou Creek. As long as we can seize the fighters and concentrate superior forces, we will definitely be able to eat the 200,000 Chinese troops cleanly and take Xuzhou to open up the Jinpu South Line! So I think it is necessary to speed up the pace of action and launch a full-scale general offensive as soon as possible! ”

After listening to everyone's excited and optimistic speeches, Junroku Hata's face was still very serious, and he did not show a smug smile, and said without hurrying: "There is an old saying in Huaxia that if you want to be fast, you can't reach it, the more it goes smoothly, the more we can't take it lightly!" Ji Jiajun and Yamamuro-kun, you two divisions must fight steadily and steadily step by step! The other divisions and regiments should put enough pressure on the Chinese army in their respective defense areas to deal with the outflanking operations of the 9th and 11th Divisions! ”

"Hello!" A group of old devils bent down and paused. Shunroku Hata then said: "Once our side officially launches in an all-out way, the North China Front will also have to work harder to break through the northern defense line of the Fifth Theater of Operations in China, so that a strong encirclement can be formed!" After eating the Chinese army in the Xuzhou area, we can take advantage of the victory to pursue and attack the military stronghold of Wuhan!

Once Xuzhou and Wuhan are conquered, this big game of chess will be completely alive, and our great Japanese empire will conquer China and dominate the Asia-Pacific region and even the whole world just around the corner! After speaking, Shunroku Hata looked forward to it, this time to replace Matsui Ishine as the Central China Front, it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him to make contributions, and he will never miss it!

"His Majesty the Emperor is onboard!" "The Great Japanese Imperial Army is onboard!" "Great Japanese Empire onboard!"

As soon as Shunroku Hata finished speaking, Tsukada Tsuka, Muto Akira, Yoshika Ryosuke and others raised their arms and shouted feverishly, and everyone's faces were full of hideous smiles. On February 27, the main forces of the 9th and 11th Divisions of the Japanese Army all arrived around Guanyun County, and there were only 50 miles left before the Longhai Railway Line where the 59th Army was stationed!