Chapter 10: The River Rises (2)

As a supplementary regiment leader, Zhang Huimin was not sure about the true intention of the Fifth War Zone Command, but he knew that it was an indisputable fact that Han Deloitte's troops were about to collapse with the 101st Brigade in the south. In addition, the troops that were originally deployed on the Longhai Line also retreated to the west, posing as if the Japanese army was allowed to go north. The People's Party and the National Civil Affairs Bureau were indeed in hostility, and Zhang Huimin also felt that what Xu Haitang said was reasonable.

After thinking about it, Zhang Huimin said a little embarrassedly: "I admire the determination and attitude of your army to fight against Japan to the end, and understand your army's actions. However, since your army wants to send our regiment back to the west of Bayiji, can we bring back that limited weapon? No matter what the superior decides, our brothers are indeed training strictly and are willing to do their part to fight against Japan. Besides, your army is well-equipped and should not look down on our little bit of junk, and the brothers of our regiment will be less punished after they return."

According to the army reorganization plan of the 60 German armed divisions that Chiang Kai-shek had fiddled before the War of Resistance Against Japan, the supplementary regiment was organized to 2,578 people, and should be equipped with 56 light machine guns, 18 heavy machine guns, and 1,871 other rifles, carriage rifles, pistols and other firearms, and equipped with 6 small cannons and 4 infantry cannons.

However, due to the lack of equipment, before the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Chiang Kai-shek only organized twenty divisions into "adjusted divisions", not the original German-armed division. That is, the general army has completed the plan, and the technical troops are in short supply.

The earliest pilot project, the most well-equipped Central Army Training Corps, all lacked a health team, while the Third Division of the Central Army under Li Yutang's headquarters lacked 12 companies, including a logistics battalion headquarters and two logistics companies, four inch howitzers and an anti-aircraft gun battalion.

Zhang Huimin's supplementary regiment was transferred to Li Yutang in the early 1938. It had more than 2,000 personnel, but the lack of equipment was even more serious. Not only did there be no artillery and heavy machine guns, but even light machine guns were less than 56, and the number of other guns was greatly reduced. Moreover, the existing equipment was also old guns replaced by front-line troops. Zhang Huimin was called "dirty", and although he was a bit self-deprecating, it was also a fact.

"As long as you don't make trouble during the deportation, you can send the weapons back." Xu Haitang did not see the little equipment of Zhang Huimin Group. After nodding and agreeing, he saved another problem and asked, "Is the leader of the 16th Regiment of Pi County, Fang Xianjue? Do you think he can persuade him to retreat to the west?"

Zhang Huimin thought for a while, shook his head and said, "President Fang was born in Huangpu, and the equipment of the 16th regiment is much better than our supplementary regiment. I'm afraid it's hard to impress words."

Xu Haitang nodded, and then said, "Captain Zhang is a sensible person. If you have the chance, we welcome to work with Captain Zhang and fight the Japanese together!"

"Since everyone is fighting against Japan, they are already working together." Zhang Huimin's answer was clever, "I hope we can have the day to fight the Japanese together!"

After hearing this, Xu Haitang only smiled and said, "I hope there will be that day."

After seeing off Zhang Huimin, Xu Haitang ordered: "Yaozong, you bring the first regiment, the second regiment and two air defense battalions. After sending Zhang Huimin regiment to the west, one regiment will be used to guard the west, and the other forces will first solve the Fang Xianjue unit of Pi County. Then establish a defense line against the west between Bian Tang and Yaowan. Zhendong and I will continue to lead the team south!"

"I really need to solve Fang Xianjue's unit by force?" Lin Yaozong, chief of staff of the Fourth Division, was a little worried.

"First use force to deter others. If they are not jealous, then we will be fine. If they really dare to fight, then we won't be polite!" Xu Haitang said with some disdain, "Before seeing the Japanese, Tang Enbo's 20th Legion is about to be removed. What's the matter of leaving Fang Xianjue to a top in Pi County? I don't think it's any other function except to cause trouble for us!"

Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi were not sure whether the guards would go south or when they would go south, so they still retained it when they ordered the 20th Army to retreat west along the Longhai Line. The main thing was to retain a team in Pi County as a barrier to Xuzhou eastward.

In addition to the Fang Xianjue Regiment left by Pi County, the main force of Li Yutang's Third Division was also deployed between Xuzhou and Pi County. In this way, when the Japanese army advanced west along the Longhai Line, Li Yutang and other troops could delay the Japanese army's operations and gain time for the fifth war zone.

In addition, Li Yutang's troops can also test their attitude towards the Fifth War Zone when the Guards go south. If the Guards really go south to fight against Japan, the troops left by Li, Bai and others in Pi County will become a nail behind the Guards, and it will also be the vanguard for the subsequent counterattack and recovery of Subei. If the Guards use force against Pi County and surrounding troops, Li, Bai and others can accuse them of attacking the anti-Japanese team and provoking civil wars, thereby attacking the prestige of the People's Party in the hearts of the people.

"I think it shouldn't be fought." Deputy division commander Cui Zhendong said in thought, "With the precedent of Zhang Hui's militia retreating westward, even if Fang Xianjue wants to fight, Li Yutang may not agree. Unless he is really willing to lose a regiment, he also wears the hat of "obstructing the guards' anti-Japanese war." We should put pressure on others and force him to retreat westward!"

"Old Cui is talking about it. Just apply force first. If it really doesn't work, then solve it. The specific situation is up to Yaozong." Xu Haitang decided.

Xu Haitang and Cui Zhendong continued to lead troops to head south along the east bank of the canal, while Lin Yaozong led the team to stay and deploy defense lines in the Biantang to Yaowan area, and at the same time sent troops to surround Pi County.

The movement outside the city was naturally not hidden from Fang Xianjue. The sky was not clear at this time. He wanted to take the opportunity to fight when he didn't know which side came, but after learning that there was a guard outside the city, Fang Xianjue hesitated again.

Although he is a direct descendant of Huangpu and has no good impression of the People's Party armed forces, Fang Xianjue also knew that if he really fought with the Guards, it would mean the beginning of the armed conflict between the People's Party armed forces and the National Civil Affairs during the War of Resistance. The responsibility of only taking the war is not something that Fang Xianjue can afford! Besides, after seeing the warning shooting that the Guards did outside the city, Fang Xianjue also understood that his group of more than 2,000 people was too far from the opponent's firepower. If he really fought, how long the 16th Regiment could last is a problem.

Regarding the current situation, Fang Xianjue really couldn't find a solution, so he ordered: "Creating power to the brigade headquarters, our regiment has been surrounded by the superior forces of the guards and firepower. Although the enemy has not attacked, our regiment has to retreat west within a specified period of time. It is related to the two parties and the overall situation of the War of Resistance. How to stop it, I beg the brigade to give a message!"

"This Fang Xianjue! Isn't this asking me for a difficult problem?" After receiving the telegram, Hu Yunshan, the commander of the 9th Brigade, also complained deeply, "How can I, a brigade commander decide on such a big thing? Let the division commander have a headache!"

The ball hit Li Yutang, but Li Yutang ordered without hesitation: "Let Fang Xianjue agree to the guard's request and retreat to the west of Bayiji first, but he must not be disarmed by the guard when retreating west!"

"Teacher, this rash retreat to the west is contrary to the orders above!" Chief of Staff Zhu Xilin reminded.

"The supplementary regiment has been sent back by the escort army! You know the situation reported by Zhang Huimin. The escort army went south and said that there were tens of thousands of troops to the youngest! Unless we want to start a full fight with the People's Party, a 16th regiment alone is not enough for the escort army to get stuck in the teeth!" Li Yutang snorted coldly and said, "I can't make a clear idea of ​​the War Zone Command. I only know that if I don't retreat west, the 16th regiment will be gone! As for the order, I will talk to the commander!"

With Li Yutang's order, Fang Xianjue "was ordered to retreat westward" and retreated to the west of Bayiji under the supervision of the guards. Lin Yaozong also controlled Pi County without bloodshed, and then commanded his troops to seize the time to build a defense line in the areas west of Bian Tang to Luomahu.

The escort army was suitable, but Li Yannian was scolded by the Fifth War Zone Command. After the training, Li Yannian found Li Yutang's command.

"Brother Yaojie, is this what you said to do your best?" After seeing Li Yutang, Li Yannian was angry and scolded, "Do you know that if you retreat like this, our army will have no foothold on the east bank of the canal! Even if the guards really defeated the 101st Brigade, we can only watch the guards occupy northern Jiangsu!"

The defending Pi County was to leave the position before retaining the east bank of the canal to prevent the Japanese or guards from approaching Xuzhou too much. This was an order issued by the Fifth War Zone Command. Tang Enbo's army handed over the task to Li Yannian's army, and Li Yutang just volunteered to accept the task.

"Give up Pi County and let the 16th Regiment and the Supplementary Regiment retreat westward, this is indeed impossible, but this is also the only way to preserve our strength and avoid going to war with the guards. I don't think this move is wrong!" Li Yutang had obviously thought about it and shook his head and said, "If our army starts fighting with the guards, we will wear the hat of attacking the anti-Japanese forces firmly. This is something that makes people thrust the backbone behind us!

The Gu Liangmin incident is not far away, and we are the direct line of the Central Army. If we fight with the People's Party at this time, it will not only make people attack the central government, but also make the Japanese watch the tiger fight! The responsibility is unbearable, I cannot afford it, and the military officers can't afford it either!

To take a step back, we really fought with the escort army. According to the situation reported by Zhang Huimin and Fang Xianjue, these two regiments could not defeat the escort army's troops going south! Even if we suppress our entire army, we would definitely go without returning! That was all carried by cars and well-equipped tens of thousands of troops!

Although these two regiments are now being repatriated by the escorts, they are all in full force and equipment. The superiors can't punish me for not fighting a civil war with the escorts? I guess at best I was scolded, and the board was raised high and fell down gently, it was not in the way!"

Li Yannian was stunned. After being scolded, he just wanted to find Li Yutang for a reprimand, but he didn't expect that Li Yutang's reason was so sufficient! And the consequences of going to war with the People's Party were indeed not something he could afford, just a commander.

You should know that the Guards are only part of the People's Party's armed forces. It occupies the northwest and threatens the people's army in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan and other provinces. Once there is a full-scale conflict with the People's Party's armed forces, the Guards and the Five War Zones fight in northern Jiangsu, southern Shandong and other places, the People's Army will definitely not be idle in the northwest. If they send troops to Sichuan, Shaanxi and then attack Yunnan from northern Myanmar in Shannan, it will be a mess!

After receiving Li Yutang's reminder, Li Yannian also came back to his senses. After thinking about it, he felt a chill in his heart and said angrily: "This 'Little Zhuge' first made Han Deqin retreat again and again, and now we have our army retreated to the west of the canal, and we have to fight with the guards. This notorious reputation has been brought back by our Central Army. What does he mean?!"

The 20th Army of Tang Enbo's army is the direct line of the Central Army, which is no need to say. Although the 24th Army of Han Deloitte's army has a team of 57th Army from the Northeast Army and a shadow of the Northwest Army in the 89th Army, the first commander-in-chief of the army was Gu Zhutong. In addition, there are also many Huangpu students in the army. Gu Zhutong and Han Deloitte are also part of the Chiang Kai-shek faction, and the entire army has been branded as the Central Army, which can be regarded as a sideline in the Central Army.

Regardless of the truth inside, in the eyes of the Chinese people, Han Deqin and Tang Enbo should bear the responsibility for the failure of northern Jiangsu. Since these two departments are both Central Army, the spearheads of these parties also pointed at Chiang Kai-shek intentionally or unintentionally.

"Brother Yaojie, no matter whether Li and Bai have other ideas, but all this in northern Jiangsu is not good for the Chairman. We must report the situation as soon as possible!" After a while of silence, Li Yannian made up his mind.

"I'm afraid the report is not very useful. Besides, the chairman doesn't like me as a student." Li Yutang smiled bitterly and said, "The military commander really has this idea. You might as well join the commander of the army. As for me, just attach the situation of the 16th Regiment and the supplementary regiment to the escort. "

As a student of Huangpu First Class, Li Yutang is not among the best, but his talent is pretty good. However, because of his appearance, he is a little sorry for the audience. Although he has made many military achievements, his promotion is lagging behind most of the same people. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, with the expansion of Jiang Jiang's army, most of the mid-term people in Huangpu First Class, such as Li Yannian and Guan Linzheng, who were originally the commander of the division, became commanders of the army, while Li Yutang, who served as commanders of the third division in 35 years, remained in the position of commander. For this treatment, it is impossible to say that Li Yutang has no idea about it.

Li Yannian also knew about Li Yutang's situation, so he persuaded: "Brother Yaojie, you noticed the situation first, so you must have your name. Besides, what if it is the principal's eyes? Just follow my arrangement."

Li Yutang was not inconvenient to tell Li Yannian about his kindness, so he nodded and agreed.

Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi wanted to drag the guards into the water. Whether the Central Army had other selfish intentions was to let the Central Army bear the unfavorable reputation of the war in northern Jiangsu was different. But if Tang Enbo took the lead, Li Yannian and Li Yutang jointly reported the relevant situation to Lao Chiang Kai-shek. It would be strange if Lao Chiang did not arouse suspicion due to the past grudges between the Guangxi clique and Lao Chiang Kai-shek. However, as a result, the trouble caused by the fifth war zone to the guards in northern Jiangsu was temporarily calmed down.

After annihilated the 149th Regiment and resolved the conflict with Li Yutang's Third Division. The Fourth Army under Yu Dehai's troops faced only the 101st Regiment led by Izuka Kogoro and the 101st Brigade Brigade Headquarters and direct troops led by Sato.

After the Fourth Division occupied the front line from Bian Tang to Yaowan and captured Pi County, almost at the same time as the 14th Division captured Lianyungang, the Ninth Division of the Guards also had an encounter with Izuka's troops west of Shuyang on the morning of the 27th. Under the command of the division commander Shi Yixin, more than 20,000 officers and soldiers of the Ninth Division annihilated the 101st Regiment and other units, and then captured Shuyang.

Iizuka Kiyogoro's troops in Shuyang only had two brigades of the 101st Regiment, plus the artillery brigade and cavalry squadron that were equipped with combat, the total strength was less than 3,000. However, the 9th Division of the Guards had more than 20,000 troops, which was nearly seven times the enemy's strength, and it had an advantage in firepower and equipment. Moreover, the two sides encountered battles in the field, and the Japanese army did not prepare any defensive measures. Under the influence of various factors, the result of the battle was determined without any suspense.

First, Tsuda's troops were attacked by the escort army in Lianyungang and requested emergency tactical guidance, but then they lost contact. Then Iizuka encountered the escort army in western Shuyang. They also requested tactical guidance first and then lost contact. These mutations completely fooled Sato, who was in Lianshui! Sato knew very well that Tsuda and Iizuka must have encountered an unexpected situation!

Whether it is Tsuda or Iizuka, the troops he led were more than those who were left in Lianshui. Since these two units were attacked by the guards, Sato thought about it with his toes and knew that he would definitely not have a good result in Lianshui.

The previous march had violated the orders of the Expeditionary Army Headquarters and the 101st Division. Sato is even more afraid to reveal the true situation of Tsuda and Iizuka, so he fabricated a reason to retreat: "There is information that the troops in the Fifth War Zone of China will attack our rear transportation line. In order to ensure smooth transportation, a squadron was left to guard Lianshui, and the brigade headquarters and its direct troops immediately returned to defend Funing!"

As for the news of the guards going south, Sato decided to wait until they retreated to Funing and report it after safety is guaranteed.

At nearly 11 o'clock, Xu Haitang led the main force of the Fourth Division from the east bank of the canal through Suqian, Xiba and other places to Lianshui. After dealing with the Japanese army left behind, Xu Haitang and others learned that Sato had retreated to Funing more than an hour ago. Just when Xu Haitang was upset, the 14th Division, the 9th Division, Yu Dehai and others also arrived in Lianshui one after another.

"This Sato slips away quickly!" After understanding the situation of each unit, Yu Dehai felt a little regretful and immediately ordered, "The Ninth Division and the Group Heavy Artillery Brigade are north of the old trough of the Yellow River, from Xiba to the east; the Fourth Division and the Group Air Defense Brigade are from Biantang to the south and along the east bank of the canal; the 14th Division cooperates with the naval speedboat troops to arrive to shoulder the important task of coastal defense from Ganyu to the old trough of the Yellow River. At the same time, the 14th Division must cooperate with the Air Force and logistics forces to establish a forward airport west of Donghai County and north of Qingyi Lake to allow the Air Force to enter. In addition, the Group Army Command is located in Shuyang."

"Commander, Sato doesn't have much force in his hands. Now we can take Funing, which can not only completely annihilate the 101st Brigade, but also push the defense line to the Beiyang River. If Huaiyin and Huaian to the south of Xiba are taken down, wouldn't the entire defense system be more complete?" Shi Yixin, commander of the 9th Division, suggested.

Xu Haitang, Guo Yuqing and others also thought it made sense, so they all turned their attention to Yu Dehai.

"As the saying goes, 'hazard will lead to failure'. We cannot just fight too much and seek speed." Yu Dehai smiled and explained to everyone, "It is the end of April now, not far from the rainy season. And the lower reaches of Hongze Lake and the Huai River, which is the area of ​​the old trough of the Yellow River, will cause floods of varying sizes almost every year. If we push the defense line southward, it will not only increase the pressure on the logistics, but also allow the troops to bear the risks brought by the rainy season, which is not worth the loss!"

Gu Daochuan, deputy commander of the Fourth Army, also said: "Unless the Central China Expeditionary Force can withstand the loss of the 101st Brigade and withdraw Sato's troops, leaving Sato's tail in the south can better restrain the enemy's strength. As for the defense line, we must first stabilize the newly occupied area. After the rainy season, we are fully prepared and it is not too late to advance south. Mr. and Chief of Staff Zhou have said that it is much more difficult to control the Huai River than to fight."

Xu Haitang, Gu Daochuan, Guo Yuqing and others were relieved.

...


Chapter completed!