Nanjing, Operations Department of the Military Commission of the National Government.

Accompanied by He Yingqin and others, Chairman Jiang sat at the conference table in the combat hall anxiously waiting for the battle report on the front line. Now that the Battle of Songhu has reached this point, the Ninth Army and the Fifteenth Army are barely supported. Before the reinforcements of the Sichuan Army, Yunnan Army, Hunan Army and other departments can not arrive at the front line to reinforce, if Luodian falls, the Kuomintang army will be passive in the entire Songhu battlefield.

The Japanese army will use Luodian as the forward base to threaten the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway and attack the rear wing of the national army in the Songhu area. At that time, not only Shanghai will not be protected, but the Ninth Army and the 15th Army will be a question whether the elite troops of the more than 200,000 national troops can be evacuated safely.

If the Ninth Army and the Fifteenth Army are surrounded and annihilated, it will not be as simple as Shanghai's loss. Nanjing, Hangzhou, and the entire hinterland of East China will be lost, so Luodian will definitely not be lost.

Its outstanding strategic position is destined to be the main area for the next bloody battle between China and Japan.

Chairman Jiang sat in a dangerous position at the first meeting table. On the surface, he seemed very calm. In fact, Chairman Jiang was more anxious than anyone else. At the Battle of Shanghai, he almost threw all the elite troops of the Central Army into the battle. This battle was related to the survival of the National Government and the long-term plan of the War of Resistance in the future. If Shanghai lost too early, it would have a serious impact on the overall situation of the War of Resistance in the future.

Since the war has been fought, Chairman Chiang does not want to completely defeat the Japanese army. He just wants to be able to firmly defend the existing defense line of the National Army and wait for reinforcements. As long as the reinforcements arrive, even if the Japanese army cannot be driven into the sea, it should not be a problem to defend Shanghai.

In fact, Chairman Jiang has his own considerations. Shanghai is an international city. In the city of Shanghai, there are concessions of Western powers. Once the Battle of Songhu falls into a stalemate, Western countries are likely to intervene in mediation and mediate the ceasefire between China and Japan.

Only in this way can the National Government have a chance to take a breather, actively prepare for the war, and wait for another battle.

Therefore, the battlefield of Songhu must not fail, at least before reinforcements from all over the country arrive. If you want to consolidate the defense line of the National Army in Songhu, then Luodian must not fall into the hands of the Japanese army.

At the same time, local troops from all over the country volunteered to fight, and their enthusiasm for fighting against Japan was high. In Sichuan, more than 400,000 Sichuan soldiers were sworn out of Sichuan under the leadership of the Sichuan Army leader Liu Xiang. One part reinforced the battlefield in North China and the other part was rushing towards the battlefield in Songhu.

In Guangxi, Guangxi generals Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi also mobilized more than 400,000 Guangxi troops to march to fight to the north to fight against Japan.

In the two lakes, the soldiers of the Hunan Army also volunteered to fight against Japan unshirkable. For a time, nearly one million troops from all over the south swore on the battlefield, rushing to the front line of the anti-Japanese war, killing the enemy and serving the country.

Chairman Jiang was sitting in the middle of the sitting room, his attendant, Wang Shihe, walked in quickly with a telegram in hand and stood attentively and reported: "Committee, Lieutenant General Zhang Zhi called."

"Oh! How is the situation in Luodian? Did Peng Shan and Xia Chuzhong arrive in time?" Chairman Jiang asked anxiously when he heard this.

"General Zhang said in the telegram that Peng Shan and Xia Chuzhong had led their headquarters to Luodian, but Luodian has no troops at present, so it is very likely that they were occupied by the Japanese army first." As soon as Wang Shihe finished speaking, seeing Chairman Jiang's face becoming ugly, he quickly continued: "General Zhang also said that he had issued strict orders to the 11th Division and the 98th Division. If Luodian is lost, they will take back with all their might!"

"Yes!" Chairman Jiang nodded heavily and said with a serious expression: "Give power to Peng Shan and Xia Chuzhong directly and tell them that Luodian must be kept in check, otherwise military law will be carried out!"

"Yes!" Wang Shihe stood attentively, then turned around and strode away.

"Respect me, the Japanese army is a mechanized unit. Luodian has no army stationed. The situation is critical and may have been lost. Do you see if you ordered the Air Force to provide certain air firepower support to the 11th and 98th Divisions to help them regain Luodian." Chairman Jiang turned to ask after watching Wang Shihe leave.

He Yingqin's face became a little ugly when he heard this, and said, "Commission, the Air Force had fought with the Japanese Navigation Air Force for a long time a few days ago. Since most of our aircraft were old and old aircraft, and in a disadvantage in terms of quantity, all squadrons suffered heavy losses. They also had to take into account the air defense in Nanjing and other places, so they might not be able to reinforce Luodian."

"This way..." Chairman Jiang remained silent when he heard this. The Air Force had a weak foundation. He naturally knew that, but this could not be changed overnight. At this time, he could only rely on the front line troops.

…………………………………

Luodian, Xiaotang Village.

With the addition of dozens of defeated soldiers under Yan Tao's army, the defense of the entire position has been strengthened. In order to unify command, Zhang Xinghan temporarily organized more than 100 people into three infantry platoons. The first platoon leader was Zhou Wei, and the main forces were the former Guard Company of the 88th Division and the veterans of the first tutoring regiment, including Sun Siwei, Zhao Desheng and others. However, due to the situation, they are no longer platoon leaders, but an ordinary big-headed soldier.

The second platoon leader was Wu Wenhu, and the third platoon leader was Yan Tao. In order to unify firepower, Zhang Xinghan also gathered all the light and heavy machine guns together to form a machine gun platoon. The machine gun platoon had four Czech light machine guns and two water-cooled Maxim heavy machine guns. The originally seized several crooked light machine guns, but because the ammunition was consumed and there was no replenishment, the blow-up wasted and limited grenades wasted. Therefore, Zhang Xinghan ordered people to throw them into the pond next to him.

On the position, Zhang Xinghan generals Zhou Wei, Yan Tao, Wu Wenhu and others all gathered together.

Zhang Xinghan looked at everyone and said bluntly: "Everyone, let me divide our respective defenses now. There are ponds on both sides of Xiaotang Village, and the Japanese wanted to enter the village with only the entrance of the village. This is also the reason why we built fortifications here.

So, we just need to keep here to block the Japanese's pace.”

"Company Commander, I observed that although the water surface of the ponds on both sides was not narrow, will the Japanese army swim across from both sides to attack us after being blocked from the frontal attack?" Wu Wenhu's respect for Zhang Xinghan was even stronger when he witnessed Zhang Xinghan's obedience to the awesome Yan Tao, and Wu Wenhu's respect for Zhang Xinghan became even stronger.

"Well! What the second platoon leader said makes sense, so I decided to have the frontal defenses of the first and second platoons. The third platoon leader Yan's platoon is left as a reserve team, and sent sentry guards to guard the two wings of the river. Once the Japanese army was found swimming across, report it immediately." Zhang Xinghan nodded and ordered.

"Company Commander, I'm not convinced!" Yan Tao was immediately dissatisfied when he heard Zhang Xinghan's deployment.

"What's wrong? What's wrong with it?" Zhang Xinghan asked coldly.

"We have a few people in the third row, but we have ammunition and morale are high. Why do we need to be the reserve team? No, we have to take the lead!"

Before Zhang Xinghan could speak, Yan Tao said righteously: "Actually, you and I know that taking on the frontal defense is a life-and-death task. You would rather let your own people take over than let us go. I am grateful for this feeling. However, there has never been a coward in our 36th Division who is afraid of death. We do not serve as a reserve team, regardless of whether you agree or not!"

"Okay! I promise you!" Zhang Xinghan nodded with a respectful face and said, "The second platoon is responsible for the reserve team and guards the two wings."

"Company Commander...I..." Wu Wenhu was about to speak, but was interrupted by Zhang Xinghan, "You will fight, we will fight all of them, and you will take it forward. In short, even if the main force of our army arrives, even if it is fought all, Luodian cannot be lost. There is no objection, everyone will prepare."

"Yes!" Everyone stood up and stood up attentively, then turned around and left.

……………………………….

"Ghosts, the Ghosts are here!" Zhao Debian, who was in charge of the guard, ran back and shouted loudly.

"Everyone is ready for battle!" Zhang Xinghan immediately turned over from the trench and ordered coldly.

In a row of trenches, the soldiers of the third row also stood up, pulled the bolts and entered the state of fighting. Yan Tao picked up a formal rifle, gritted his teeth and pulled the bolts, pushed the bullets into the chamber, and his eyes were coldly shot forward, extending the black muzzle out of the cover.

Zhang Xinghan lay in the trench, stretched out his head and looked forward as much as possible. Wherever he looked, about dozens of Japanese soldiers were running quickly towards this side with scattered formations.

Seeing the chaotic formation of the Japanese, Zhang Xinghan could even close his eyes and think that this group of Japanese must have been carried away. He did not even unfold the most basic combat formation and rushed over.

Zhang Xinghan put a MP18 submachine gun in his hand on the cover, took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one, and took two sips with confidence. Then he picked up the gun again, lowered his voice and ordered: "Everyone should be concealed, wait for the Japanese to enter within fifty meters before fighting!"

Soon, Zhang Xinghan's orders were conveyed one after another, and all the soldiers lowered their heads and held the steel gun that was already filled with bullets in their hands.

In the trenches, except for the heavy breathing of the officers and soldiers, the silent fallen needles could be heard. Gradually, the soldiers could vaguely hear the chaotic footsteps coming from the front. They all held their breath and held the steel gun in their hands tightly.

Widths of blue smoke floated out from Zhang Xinghan's mouth one after another. Soon a cigarette about eight or nine centimeters long was smoked by Zhang Xinghan. The burning tobacco turned into pieces of blue ash and fell on Zhang Xinghan's legs.

Although the footsteps were getting closer and closer, Zhang Xinghan could not slap the ashes off. He held the flower mechanism tightly with both hands. The magic pivots made a few sounds, then suddenly stood up and shouted loudly: "Brothers, beat me!"

"Dadadada.......Dadada..."

"Baopao....dah!"

The officers and soldiers who had been waiting for a long time stood up one after another, and all kinds of light and heavy weapons opened fire. The dense gunshots suddenly sounded, and bullets as dense as meteors poured into the hasty Japanese crowd, knocking them down.

Although they were hit by a sudden blow and the Japanese soldiers were caught off guard, the well-trained Japanese still had an instinctive Japanese still quickly spread out and fell to the ground.

He attempted to find a bunker and fire back, but before building the position, all the things that could become bunkers were removed by Zhang Xinghan's order.

In addition, the distance was close, and the remaining Japanese soldiers lay on the ground, and they all became living targets for the soldiers of the National Army.
Chapter completed!