Chapter 226: The chaos before the war

The prelude to the big battle has not begun, and small battles have been continuous.

On April 17, a regiment from Hu Minghe's brigade of the 41st Division conquered Wucun Town on Ningyang County and Jinpu Line. The next day, a regiment from Huang Huamin crossed the Si River and conquered Sishui County. In conjunction with Zhang Lingfu's persistence in Yanzhou, a regiment formed a semi-encirclement of Qufu. The 245th regiment of the 122nd Brigade also replaced the defense of Dongping and Wenshang County, allowing Zhang Lingfu's 246th regiment to concentrate on defending Yanzhou.

Most of the reinforcements of the 16th Division rushed to the 16th Division were directly blocked outside the city by the tank armor of the 3rd Tank Battalion. They retreated ten miles to confront Zhang Lingfu's regiment. After learning about the actions of the 41st Division, the reinforcements of Qufu stopped and continued to defend Qufu.

But these news were drowned in the national excitement of Taierzhuang's victory, and not many people paid attention.

The victory of the Taierzhuang Battle inspired Chiang. Xuzhou is not as good as Shanghai, and it doesn’t matter if it is broken. Just block the passage of the *** people to quickly enter the hinterland of the Central Plains. At this time, in the Xuzhou area, the advantage of the Central Army is still very obvious, but Chiang is still increasing his troops. Not only the increase of troops, but the preparations for the war are not prepared in three or five days.

The *** people were also preparing. Although the Jinpu Line was stuck by the Pioneer Army, Lianyungang and Rizhao fell into the enemy. This was very different from history. In the original space and time, the *** people did not start attacking Lianyungang until May 1938, and they all fell in September. In this time and space, due to the intervention of the Pioneer Army, everything had gone out of shape. Lianyungang was lost early.

Because of Sun Yat-sen's plan, Lianyungang, which had just been built in 36 years, was also sealed off by a shipwreck. The explosion did not make the Japanese get much advantage.

The 57th Army, the defenders from the Northeast Army, retreated to Houyuntai Mountain to continue blocking the attack. The Japanese did not allow them to continue to break out. This also made it impossible for the Japanese to attack along the Longhai Line for the time being, but through Lianyungang and the small ports in Rizhao at that time, they could replenish military supplies to the Fifth Division and the 114th Division along the coastal areas.

The supply of the 10th Division and the 108th Division was much tighter. Although it occupied Zaozhuang and other places and was not short of food and other supplies, weapons, ammunition and other supplies were stuck on the Jinpu Line and could not be replenished. It could only be supported by the 16th Division in Jining.

"We must concentrate all our strength to occupy Xuzhou first, open up the Longhai Line, and reach Zhengzhou step by step." Xiwei Shouzao didn't care about this high-level meeting at this time and shouted red-facedly. *** The North China Front Army secretly held a meeting on the Battle of Xuzhou in Peiping.

Teraunuchi frowned slightly, and he also agreed with Nishio Suzusao's proposal. In the battle of Taierzhuang, the locust army was defeated at the hands of the Central Army, which made him lose face. But at this time, Nishio Suzusao was a little out of control, because of the successive failures, he might not have many opportunities.

"We should first capture the Shangqiu area, block the retreat of the Chinese Central Army, and completely surround them. Then, destroy them in one fell swoop." Xiangyue Qingsi said slowly.

Kawabian Masazo Kawabian, the chief of staff of the Central China Expeditionary Army, nodded and said, "The way of retreat should be cut off first and then completely wiped out it. This also meets the requirements of the decisive battle put forward by the base camp."

After the defeat in Taierzhuang, the base camp proposed an instruction to fight the Central Army in the Xuzhou area, but it took the North China Front Army as its main combat power. In order to save face, the 2nd Army was attacked on the front, and the 1st Army and the Central China Expeditionary Army fought roundaboutly. In this regard, the First Army and the Central China Expeditionary Army hoped to fight head-on later and gain more military merits at that time.

"Where is the vanguard army?" Okabe Naossaburo couldn't help but interrupt.

"From this battle in Taierzhuang, we can already see that the threat from the Central Army is greater. As long as they recover and have more soldiers and weapons and equipment, they will have a greater threat to the empire. The area of ​​the Pioneer Army is too small and there is no much development potential." Teraunuchi still put the Pioneer Army in a secondary position. The thing he wanted to defeat the regular Central Army of China, which is famous for its history.

This secret meeting was a meeting of three parties re-discussing and adjusting the conflicts of interests. After some price adjustments and bargaining, a compromise plan was finally introduced. All of this, the *** base station guidance team knew nothing about this. Once the war machine was promoted, many things were not something that a few people could control. The increasing strength of the military group was also a threat to the ***. With the resources of the plundering land and the support of a large number of soldiers who had gained benefits, invisible warlord groups appeared one by one.

On April 25, the Sakai Detachment carriers of the 14th Division arrived in Jining by train from Jinxiang, Henan, and sent supplies to the four divisions in Jining and Zaozhuang.

On the 26th, the main force of the 16th Division in Jining suddenly crossed the canal from the Jiaxiang County section, which had long occupied, and began to attack westward and southward, with the target aiming directly at Jinxiang. The Sakai Detachment also crossed the river and attacked Yuncheng County, trying to reduce the pressure for the main force of the 14th Division to cross the river.

"The Japanese invaders plan to cut off our retreat. If they want to eat us in one bite, do they have that big appetite?" Bai Chongxi smiled, but was also worried that the strength of these Japanese devils was not too terrible. What was terrible is the troops constantly dispatched by the *** people. There is already a clear news that the *** base camp is planning to transfer more divisions. At that time, the Central Army, which has been cut off from the lies, will be in danger.

"The Japanese invaders are suitable for each breakthrough!" Li Zongren did not care much when he received a reminder from Bai Chongxi. This required a time difference. Before the *** people surrounded him, he cut off his finger. He directly ordered the 74th army stationed in Shangqiu and Dangshan to gather at Yongcheng, Dongdamen, Henan. At the same time, he ordered the 64th army of Li Hanhun, who had just been mobilized from Guangzhou to gather at Yongcheng.

But as the direct line of Chiang Kai-shek, the 74th Army was not so easily mobilized. That night, Chiang Kai-shek issued an order to Li Zongren and Cheng Qian of the First War Zone, changing the combat areas of the two war zones and directly assigned western Shandong to the First War Zone. He also assigned the 74th Army of Yu Jishi, Huang Jie's 8th Army and Li Hanhun's 64th Army of all the troops into the First War Zone, forming the western Shandong offensive corps, which were under the command of Xue Yue.

Li Zongren could only sigh after hearing this news.

However, the vanguard army did not need to be restrained by others. After hearing this news, it immediately ordered Hu Minghe's brigade to hand over the defense of the Tai'an area to the 18th Division, and cooperated with a regiment of Huang Huamin's brigade occupying Sishui County to press towards Qufu. Huang Huamin's other troops continued to defend the Yishui, Yinan and Mengyin areas.

At the same time, the 245th Regiment was gradually heading south to support Zhang Lingfu's 246th Regiment. The vacant Dongping County was also taken over by the 18th Division.

At this time, Jining had only one regiment, and nearly half was still near Yanzhou. The 109th Division was also knocked out by the vanguard army one after another. Faced with the attack of the vanguard army, they were still hesitating. But then the 81st Division, which had been reorganized for a period of time, began to move south along the Jinpu Line and join the ranks of attacking Qufu. At the same time, the 244th Regiment of the 122nd Brigade also crossed the river from Sishui County and headed towards Zoucheng County.

"Press step by step towards Qufu, but delay the attack." This is the plan given by the General Staff of the Pioneer Army. There are many places to pay attention to in such a sensitive place as Qufu, and you should not be too hasty. With the mobilization of the 16th Division, everything has been affected. The 109th Division cannot only defend Qufu, which is a useless piece of rib. If 109 retreats, it will occupy Qufu. If they defend, they will directly destroy them.

The movement of the army takes time, and a series of movements requires time to be arranged. The 50th Division has been defending the east, while the successive draws of the 18th Division and the 41st Division made Meng Xiang a little stretched. He had to be dispatched by the 81st Division, but the 81st Division, which is mostly new recruits, has limited combat power. Gu Liangmin's 22nd Division was also mobilized and prepared to advance southward. Meng Xiang relied on the security regiment around the base.

The Japanese also had no troops to adjust, and a corps of the 108th Division began to return to Zoucheng. However, the front line in Zaozhuang was also tight. The 10th Division and the 108th Division were also difficult to bear.

"You can't be so passive! You need to jump out and look for opportunities!" Isotani's failure made his position unable to be saved. He no longer expects to defeat the Central Army at this time. He only hopes to leave some vitality for the 10th Division.

"We should cross Weishan Lake, establish a defense line west of the canal, surround the Central Army, and wait until the domestic reinforcements arrive to launch a new attack." He directly advised Nishio Suzuki, but suggested that Ishidunya bet on the last bet, but Tsaichi Tanuchi saw the danger here. He hoped that the Central Army would be duel, not the vanguard army of local forces.

"Give them Qufu and see their next move. The 109th Division went south and stuck Zoucheng. The main force attacked in Zaozhuang." Sakaichi Seune was also planning to take a risk. At this time, the 16th Division had conquered Jinxiang and Juye and was attacking Yutai and Shanxian. The 14th Division had just crossed the Yellow River south of Puyang on the 29th, and the external encirclement was about to be formed.

"What? The 109th Division withdrew from Qufu? Didn't it set fire to the city?" Meng Xiang was also surprised. The devil was very determined to cut off his arm. Apart from plundering some precious property, the others did not move. He didn't know that the people attached importance to Confucius' influence. If they were arrogant on Confucius' heads, how could they manage China in the future? Although Confucius' descendants ran away, there was still a chance to recover them in the future.

"The troops will take over first," Meng Xiang ordered.

He doesn't care about anything else now, and the No. 7 base car has already been launched.
Chapter completed!