Chapter 40 Chapter 8 Lure the Enemy Deep (4)

Long Muhan stopped hesitating and wandering, determined to carry out the military order.He instructed his adjutant to record in detail the time, place, messenger, content of the order, and execution time of the military orders in the "88th Army Division Combat Log", which is now stored in the Second National Archives in Nanjing. But only one month later, Long Muhan, the lieutenant general of the "No. 1 Division in the World", was charged with "running away without authorization" and was escorted to Wuhan for execution because he gave up Lanfeng and was killed.Decades after the shooting of Long Muhan sounded, history left us with many question marks full of flaws; since the army commander Gui Yongqing ordered to lure the enemy deep, why was Long Muhan the one who was shot?Since Long Muhan was born and died with outstanding military exploits and led his troops to participate in many major battles since the Anti-Japanese War, did Chiang Kai-shek not understand his students, make the mistake of employing people negligently, and hand over the "No. ?Why did Chiang Kai-shek personally order the shooting of his trusted students, and what are the unavoidable difficulties and unknown difficulties of the chairman of the general committee?All of these are puzzling.History is often a mess, and it takes time to sort it out. Fortunately, the parties have left some intermittent clues and written records for us, making it possible to clarify this headless case.

The 88th Division abandoned Lanfeng County on the day the order arrived and moved to the Hongmiao position to prepare for battle.After investigation, it was found that Lanfeng County was in an unguarded vacuum for at least 24 hours, which shows that the cunning Doihara was suspicious and refused to take the bait easily.It was not until the afternoon of the next day that the enemy entered the city cautiously, and immediately raised the sun flag symbolizing occupation at the head of Lanfeng City and the railway station. 5 After the Doihara Division occupied Lanfeng, an important place in eastern Henan, Commander-in-Chief Juichi Shouyi, who had been waiting in the war room, heaved a sigh of relief. He immediately sent a telegram to the Fourteenth Division and said: Your department must do whatever it takes. Stick to Lanfeng County, especially to ensure that the train station is not occupied by the enemy until the main force of the dispatched army arrives.

The commander of the First Army, Xiangyue Qingsi, also instructed Doihara to say: You should send strong and powerful troops to reinforce Luowangzhai Railway Station, so as to prevent the enemy from succeeding in their attempt to open up the Longhai Railway. The former spy chief Doihara Kenji, who was originally suspicious by nature, had always had a lot of concerns about this adventurous operation deep into the hinterland of the Central Plains, so he always concentrated his main force on the banks of the Yellow River in Kaocheng and Dongbatou, walking cautiously and slowly.The dispatched army was very dissatisfied with the progress of the 14th Division's battle, and called repeatedly to urge Doihara to attack resolutely.The commander-in-chief in the temple was even more furious, reprimanding Doihara as an "incompetent soldier", and even warned that he would be responsible for serious consequences if he missed the fighter.

The Lanfeng defenders suddenly withdrew from the county and their whereabouts were unknown. This unexpected situation made Doihara, who had always been scheming, vigilant. All signs showed that the Chinese voluntarily abandoned Lanfeng.But his division crossed the Yellow River and rushed for hundreds of miles. Isn't the purpose of cutting off the Longhai Railway and fighting the enemy in the Central Plains?He believes that it is precisely because the Chinese know this that they put an empty city in front of him, which is like a challenge. Now it was Doihara's turn to be hesitant.The dispatched army was very happy to hear this information, and urged Doihara to attack immediately. The commander-in-chief of the temple even made such a proud and optimistic analogy: war is a contest of strength. If the trap is set for the rabbit, then the elephant Will you care?The Imperial Army is this invincible elephant, it will ruthlessly trample to death the enemies who set traps.

After a short period of hesitation, Doihara finally made up his mind to go all out, which is why it took 24 hours for the Japanese army to be belatedly occupying an empty city. Not long after, intelligence came in from all quarters, and the main force of the enemy who disappeared before did appear in the Red Temple behind him, and more Chinese troops also came from different directions.Aerial reconnaissance shows that Dohihara faces at least several times as many enemies as he does, and there are still a large number of Chinese troops gathered in Luoyang and Wuhan. They will travel along the Beijing-Hanzhou and Longhai Railways in just 48 hours. drive up.What worries Doihara most now is that the ammunition and supplies carried by the troops can only last for a week at most. If the battle is fierce, the shells can be fired within two days, and the tanks will become a pile of scrap iron because the gasoline is exhausted. Japanese officers and soldiers who have run out of ammunition You can only fight the bayonet with the enemy.If that happens, the end of the Japanese will come.

Scouts disguised as Chinese troops capture two stragglers.According to the confession of the prisoners, Doihara learned that the garrison of Lanfeng was the 88th Division known as the "No. 1 Division in the World". On the way to the battlefield, this important information was like a mountain that almost crushed the Japanese general's determination to fight.Doihara, the spy chief and "China Hand", has repeatedly warned his subordinates: When you face a hundred Chinese soldiers, as long as you treat death like a real Japanese samurai, they will immediately turn around and run away.But if your enemy is a Whampoa soldier, then you have only one choice, either kill him or be killed by him.Ten months after landing in North China, the 14th Division had mopped up local miscellaneous troops with low combat effectiveness, and now he finally had to face the real formidable enemy—the Whampoa soldiers.

Doihara issued a combat order to the chief of staff: use the 28th brigade to stick to Lanfeng County and the railway station until the dispatched army arrives.In addition, the troops directly under the division and the 27th brigade quickly reinforced the Luowangzhai railway station. The division headquarters was located in the small village called Luowangzhai. Chief of Staff Tadyoshi Sano was so surprised that he was speechless on the spot.