Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio was speechless for a long time.
Obviously, Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio has been convinced by Tomo Tomo. As Tomo Tomo said, although the Chinese troops assembled in the Xuzhou area are large in number, they are all simply armed peasant armies. Such an army
So what if it annihilates one hundred divisions? The Chinese government will soon be able to reorganize two hundred divisions, and it will not suffer a fatal blow at all.
Unfortunately, the decision-making of the base camp cannot be changed by Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka and Colonel Tomo Tsuda.
After a long time, Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio said: "Tengtian-kun, do you have any good opinions on the upcoming Battle of Xuzhou?"
Teng Tianzhi said without hesitation: "There is no problem in the Xuzhou battle. The imperial army will definitely win. The only suspense is how big the result can be achieved? I think the best result is to completely annihilate the Chinese army gathered in the Xuzhou area. The worst is
As a result, most of the main force of the Chinese army was able to escape successfully."
Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio said: "So, what should the imperial army do to completely annihilate the Chinese army?"
"The imperial army must do at least three things to completely annihilate the Chinese army in the Xuzhou area." Teng Tianzhi said, "First of all, the garrison brigades in Jining, Chucheng and Juxian must detain the Chinese army facing them as much as possible.
Letting the Chinese army cross the defense line should not dampen the Chinese army's spirit too much and make it alert in advance."
"Secondly, the divisions of the second echelon must enter the attack position in time to ensure that a complete encirclement is built before the Chinese army can react."
"Last and most important, the completion of the encirclement does not mean that the China Army will be helpless. The China government will inevitably deploy more troops from the neighboring first, second, and third theaters to rescue the besieged China Army.
At this time, it is necessary for the divisions of the third echelon to successfully block the incoming China Army."
"Yo Xi." Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio said, "Tengda-kun, our 5th Division has been classified as the third echelon by the base camp's dispatch squad frontline command post. We will be responsible for the 25th Division and the 105th Division.
As the China Army monitoring the Ping-Han Line, do you have any good ideas for this combat mission?"
Teng Tianzhidao: "General, I believe that offense is the best defense."
"Attack?" Shinozuka Yoshio said, "You mean to take the initiative to launch an offensive against the China Army on the Ping-Han Line?"
"Yes." Teng Tianzhi said very simply and authentically, "take the initiative to attack and ensure that the China Army along the Pinghan-Han Dynasty cannot divide its forces to rescue the Xuzhou battlefield, but the timing must be mastered!"
"Yo Xi." Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka said happily, "Your opinion is very reasonable. I will immediately telegraph your idea to the frontline command post of the dispatch squad at the base camp and ask Okabe-kun to seriously consider it."
…
Xuzhou, Fifth War Zone Commander's Department.
The generals in the headquarters gathered together. Chairman Chiang walked into the war room surrounded by General Li, Vice President Bai and other senior party and state generals. Chairman Chiang said unhappily as he walked: "What's going on with Sun Lianzhong? Guard Jining."
There is only one Japanese infantry brigade in the city, and they have been fighting for half a month as a group army, but they still can't defeat it?"
General Li smiled bitterly and said: "Committee, the Japanese army has aircraft to assist in the battle and has an advantage in artillery fire. Although Sun Lianzhong's 2nd Army has an absolute advantage in strength, it lacks the heavy weapons to attack the city, so the siege effect is very unsatisfactory. The main attack force is
The 44th Independent Brigade has suffered more than half its casualties."
"Where are Chucheng and Juxian?" Chairman Jiang frowned angrily.
"It's all the same." General Li said, "The Japanese army is defending the fortified city, but our army is unable to attack the fortified city."
Next to him, Deputy Commander Bai said: "Commissioner, the purpose of our army's offensive is not to regain the lost ground, but to drain the Japanese army's energy. But right now we are only facing the garrison forces of Jining, Chucheng, and Ju County. The Japanese army
We haven't even seen the shadow of our field divisions yet. If we continue to waste our troops like this, our army's energy will be exhausted first."
Chairman Jiang frowned and said, "What do you mean, Jiansheng... to take back the troops?"
"At least our army should not take the initiative to attack anymore, otherwise the casualties will be too great." Vice Commander Bai said, "I estimate that the Japanese field division will also arrive at the Xuzhou battlefield. It is better to wait for the Japanese army to come and take the initiative to attack."
"Okay." Chairman Chiang really had no other ideas and could only nod in agreement.
The wait lasted another half month, and in the blink of an eye it was mid-April of the 27th year of the Republic of China (1938). Most of the more than twenty field divisions of the Japanese army were finally in place. In a short time, Jining, Chucheng,
The Japanese troops in the direction of Ju County launched a massive counterattack, and Japanese troops also appeared in the directions of Puyang, Heze, and Yuncheng.
At the Huaihe defense line, the Japanese offensive quickly became fierce.
By the end of April, the three divisions of the Central China Front of the Japanese Army moved from Huainan to attack Fuyang and Mengcheng, posing a serious threat to Bengbu's flanks. The Huaihe River defense line supported by Bengbu suddenly began to be in a hurry. If it could not withstand the attack in time, it would turn to Fuyang and Mengcheng.
The three Japanese divisions and the more than twenty divisions gathered in Bengbu are likely to be completely wiped out!
Suddenly, the situation on the entire Xuzhou battlefield began to take a turn for the worse.
After receiving the news, Chairman Chiang flew to Xuzhou for the third time and urgently summoned senior leaders of the war zone to discuss countermeasures.
In the conference room, Vice President Bai had already introduced the current situation to Chairman Chiang, and finally concluded: "All in all, the situation on the Xuzhou battlefield is already quite serious. If we do not respond in time, the sixty-two people gathered in Xuzhou and Bengbu will
The other two brigades of the division will be surrounded by heavy Japanese troops!"
"The Battle of Xuzhou was so good, why did it end like this?"
Chairman Chiang immediately shouted loudly. Such a result was obviously far beyond his expectation. He originally thought that even if the Battle of Xuzhou could not be won, it could at least severely damage the Japanese army. However, the current situation is that the two armies are not at all serious.
Having fought in many places, the national army in Xuzhou battlefield was already in danger.
Everyone, including General Li, was speechless.
Chairman Jiang tried his best to suppress the anger in his chest and said: "So, the situation in Xuzhou is irreversible?"
Admiral Li sighed: "Although I don't want to admit it, the reality is indeed like this. The defeat of the Xuzhou Campaign has been determined."
Deputy Commander Bai also said: "Based on all kinds of intelligence, it can be basically concluded that the Japanese army has built a tight and huge encirclement outside Xuzhou. If they decisively abandon Xuzhou now, most of the main forces will still have the opportunity to escape from Xuzhou."
The various Japanese military units were interspersed with each other, and if it dragged on for another three to five days, it would be a fight to the death."
"A fight to the death?" Chairman Chiang said solemnly, "Is it possible to risk your life and survive?"
"Absolutely impossible." Vice President Bai said coldly, "Hundreds of thousands of troops have gathered in Xuzhou, and eating and drinking is a big problem every day. The Japanese army only needs to cut off the Longhai Line, and there is no need to engage in direct combat with us. They can only rely on siege.
It was enough to collapse our army. Xuzhou is not Nanjing after all, and the Japanese army will never repeat the mistakes of Nanjing's street fighting."
Chairman Jiang frowned and said, "Jiansheng, what do you mean by this?"
Vice President Bai explained: "Nanjing is the capital of the Nationalist Government, and occupying Nanjing has great political significance. That's why the Japanese army was eager to occupy Nanjing and chose to enter the city to fight with the national army in the streets. However, the political significance of occupying Xuzhou was almost zero, so
The Japanese army will never enter the city and fight in the streets with our army in order to occupy Xuzhou."
"So..." Chairman Chiang said reluctantly, "our army has only one way to retreat?"
General Li sighed and said: "Commissioner, I still say that strategically our army should fight for every inch of territory and defend every city, but in terms of specific tactics, our army should be flexible and maneuverable and must not
Calculating the gains and losses of one city and one pool, sometimes retreating is for a better attack, and retreating is for a more powerful release!"
"We'll talk about the retreat when I get back." Chairman Chiang added coldly, then turned back to Wang Shihe, the chief of the national guard, and said, "Shihe, let's go to Baoshan."
…
Xuzhou Police Headquarters.
Liu Yi was reporting to Yue Weihan: "Brigade, after nearly forty days of intense construction, the tunnel fortifications of each regiment and battalion have basically been completed. I should really thank Reporter Zhao this time. If Reporter Zhao hadn't launched the attack in Xuzhou City,
Many fellow villagers came to help on a voluntary basis, and our construction period will be extended for at least another half month."
"Yeah." Yue Weihan said absently while flipping through the list of supplies in the military supplies warehouse, "I know, I will definitely thank Reporter Zhao some other time."
Liu Yi thought for a while and suddenly said: "Sir, there is something I don't know whether I should say?"
"Say it." Yue Weihan said without hesitation, "Don't keep it under wraps if you have anything to say. You won't get sick."
Liu Yidao: "Look, sir, Reporter Zhao's abilities are beyond words. Her eloquence and ability to mobilize fellow villagers are simply unmatched. This is truly a rare talent."
Yue Weihan understood the meaning and said: "You mean to transfer her to our Baoshan Brigade?"
"Yes." Liu Yi said excitedly, "What I mean is to set up a special agent team, with reporter Zhao as the captain. I think the military rank is major. The work of the special agent team is usually to do odd jobs, and when necessary, it will be mobilized
The fellows came to help us build the fortifications, and all the dealings with the fellows were left to the special forces."
"This is a good idea." Yue Weihan said, "Let's just do it."
"Uh..." Liu Yidao said, "Master, don't you want to report to the superior department to prepare a case?"
"What kind of reports should be made and what records should be filed?" Yue Weihan said coldly, "In extraordinary times, these are not required."
"Then I should talk to Reporter Zhao first, right?" Liu Yi said, "I need to ask for their opinions."
"What are you asking for? What is there to ask for?" Yue Weihan said disapprovingly, "It is the responsibility and mission of every descendant of the Yan and Huang Dynasty to defend the country and resist the war. This matter is settled."
"Yes, that's it." Liu Yi stood up instinctively and responded loudly.
Just as Liu Yi finished speaking, the guard's voice suddenly sounded outside the door: "Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek has arrived..."