Chapter 18 Chapter 18 Sand or Ants

The arrest and execution of Han Fuju lifted the spirits of the soldiers and civilians during the Anti-Japanese War, and the situation that the troops on the Jinpu Line were less inclined to advance and retreat was greatly changed. However, Han Fuju’s previous mistakes were too big. Once he abandoned the natural danger of the Yellow River, and then abandoned the important towns and passes, the Jinpu line became undefensible. territory. The head of the Himeji Division is Rensuke Isoya. Rensuke Isotani, graduated from the 27th issue of Luda University, he, Doihara and Itagaki Seishiro are classmates of Lushi, both from the "16th issue of glory". "Three China Hands".

The so-called "China hands" all have the advantage of being familiar with China's geography, so they are all candidates for the generals who invaded China.Since Isoya became the commander of the 10th Himeji Division, the division was also known as the Isoya Division. The 2nd Army went south, requiring Isoya and Itagaki to cooperate and implement the tactics of splitting and attacking.At this time, Itagaki's reputation is in full swing, but with such a star alumni, Isoya is not willing to play a supporting role. He thinks that he also has the potential to become famous overnight like Itagaki, but it will only be sooner or later.

Since the successful crossing of the Yellow River, this conclusion seems to be verified step by step. Han Fuju ran in front, and Jigu chased after him—in fact, there was no need to chase, Jigu almost became Shandong's "receiver".After the Jigu Division crossed the Yellow River, they entered Jinan in four days and took Tai'an in another four days. Except for the time needed to travel, the rest of the journey was smooth. At this time, the spring breeze was blowing on Isoya's face, and his hands were so hot that he felt like touching something in the lottery ticket. When another general named Isogu rises on the North China battlefield besides Itagaki, don't be surprised, because it should be like this.

Jigu sat on the horse with a "smug smile" on his face, as if he had already stood under the city of Xuzhou. Compared with Jigu, his opponent is worrying about the lack of major generals and no one to defend Jigu. Li Zongren originally hoped that Han Fuju and the Lu army could hold the line of defense, but unexpectedly, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. Since the Lu army retreated, there were almost no soldiers on the Jinpu line, and no generals were available. Lao Mengzi's characteristics in terms of generals can be summed up as "eclectic". Of course, his current situation is that even if he wants to "detain", he can't "detain". After the Songhu War, the elite Chinese army was severely damaged, and most of the remaining troops were withdrawn to Wuhan. He can only lead a group of miscellaneous cards to fight the world.

During the civil war, Chiang Kai-shek's wooing of miscellaneous brands relied on doing what he liked and giving what he wanted, but Li Zongren didn't want what he wanted. Money, beauties, and commissions were nowhere to be found. Don't look at Lao Li as the boss of the Guangxi Clan, but these people in the Gui Clan, including himself, usually live a very simple life. Except for their prominent status, their diet and daily life are no different from ordinary people. They always let the wife go to the street to buy vegetables and cook them by herself. Such a person, even if he is a great official in the frontier, doesn't know what it means to spend time and drink, and what it is to sing songs every night, so he can't learn or practice the sugar-coated cannonball at all.

But what to do with the major general who is short of soldiers, there is no other good way, but to learn from the tattered king, and wherever he goes, he will look around with his eyes wide open.Anyone who sees something that is suitable for use, no matter what his name is or where he is from, he desperately picks it up in the basket. The terrible thing is that now even the picked ones are being filled in everywhere, and the basket is empty. Just when he was depressed, Bai Chongxi suddenly called and said that he happened to have an army on hand, but he didn't know if you would like it.

The troops "Little Zhuge" referred to were the Sichuan Army that retreated from the front line of Niangziguan. In the Yan Xishan World War II zone, this poor army belonged to the guest army, had no military depot in the north, and suffered from a lack of money. Not to mention replenishing ammunition, it was difficult to even eat. People can do anything in a hurry. When they first went to Shanxi, the officers and soldiers were still hungry and tried their best. When the Taiyuan battle was over and retreated, let alone no one to take care of them, and no one to supervise them, the grassroots troops would inevitably meet. Some violations of military discipline and sneaky things happened.

That's all right, if they were not careful, they offended Yan Xishan, the commander of the war zone. On the way back, someone with sharp eyes found the armory. Anyway, no one was managing it, so they broke in and took all the guns and ammunition inside.If you say it's nothing at all, if you escape in such a hurry, maybe you don't take the devil, and the loss will be even greater.But whose armory is this, Yan Laoxi's, such a stingy person, would he be willing to let you take his things for nothing? After Taiyuan fell, Yan Xishan was forced to become the captain of the guerrillas.How can the days of riding a donkey in the ravine be compared with the time in Taiyuan? Old Xier became more and more depressed, and often calculated old accounts, thinking that all the guest troops owed him for not helping him keep Taiyuan. In particular, Huang Shaohong and the Sichuan Army were regarded as the main culprits for the defeat in the Taiyuan Battle.

Huang Shaohong was the imperial envoy, no matter how dissatisfied Yan Xishan was in his heart, he could only murmur a few words behind his back and dared not challenge him publicly. Only Deng Xichuan, who had no background and no strength, became his first target of bombardment.Now that I heard it, this group of people broke ground on Tai Sui's head and robbed his armory, which is not bad. So he filed a vicious complaint against Chiang Kai-shek, scolding Deng Xichuan's army for not only bad weapons and ineffective combat, but also more than a nuisance to the people. After being kicked out by Yan Xishan, the Sichuan army had to continue their bitter journey because no one wanted it.

Chiang Kai-shek frowned and asked Cheng Qian if he wanted the First War Zone. Cheng Qian was not happy when he heard it. Yan Laoxi doesn't even want a lousy army, you kick me like a football, what is a war zone, a waste collection station? don't want! At this time, Chiang Kai-shek was full of anger because of Liu Xiangdong's incident. He couldn't hold back anymore and slapped the table: Forget it, go back where they came from, let them continue to go back to Sichuan to be the local emperor! Bai Chongxi was in charge of troop mobilization. He said, "Chairman," don't worry, I'll ask the Fifth War Zone again. If you don't even want the Fifth War Zone, then no one will really want it.

With the idea of ​​giving it a try, Bai Chongxi called Li Zongren. When the latter heard that there was such a good thing, he immediately declared that he would not refuse anyone who came. The Sichuan Army performed poorly in Shanxi, and almost all theaters had heard about it, and Li Zongren knew no less than Cheng Qian.According to the thinking of ordinary people, if he accepts the Sichuan army again, he will naturally appear to be even more depreciated.But Lao Li is good at this point. When using soldiers and generals, he knows that practicality is more reliable than face. In fact, in terms of the current situation, he is really not much better than Deng Xihou.Deng Xihou was not willing to ask for it, and Li Zongren was not willing to come, so they were both helpless. Bai Chongxi said, I can give you a vaccination. The combat effectiveness of this Sichuan army is very average. That means, ugly words first, don't expect too much.Everyone has been on the same kang, if you regret it at that time, don't say that I am not mean enough to give you unqualified products without prior notice. Li Zongren couldn't wait any longer. Zhuge Kongming borrowed arrows from a straw boat, and he was able to turn danger into a disaster. Are Sichuan people not as good as straw people?Stop talking nonsense, it's important to transfer the Sichuan Army as soon as possible. Bai Chongxi smiled, and finally understood what kind of situation Lao Li was in. Even if you gave him worse troops now, he would not pick and choose. In this way, Deng Xihou came to Xuzhou. When he first came out of Sichuan, Deng Xichuan's army had four divisions with 40,000 troops. They went to Shanxi to fight a battle, and lost more than half of them, and even less than 20,000 troops.What makes people feel even more unlucky is that other people have no credit and hard work. Not only did the Sichuan army have no credit for all the hard work, but after being buried, they were kicked here and there like a football, and they were about to be kicked back to Sichuan. I went to my hometown. Knowing that they might be sent home, the whole Sichuan army sighed and felt ashamed to see Jiangdong's elders, and Deng Xihou's face was ashamed because he saw the bleak future. Suddenly, someone fished them out of the water. In the past when the southwest united against Chiang, although Li Zongren had many contacts with Liu Xiang, Long Yun and others, he had never met Deng Xihou. Now that he can take him in, it is like stretching out his hand to give his brother a hand when he was in dire straits. The surprise and touch are simply indescribable. Deng Xihou is called "Crystal Monkey" by the outside world, a person who is a monkey and a monkey. In the later stage of the Battle of Niangziguan, everyone was retreating, but Lao Yan was dissatisfied with the Sichuan army, thinking that the Sichuanese were ineffective in fighting and messed up the matter, so he did not send Deng Xihou a retreat order for a long time. When Deng Xihou arrived at the front line, his Sichuan army had already been confused, and it really reached the point where it was impossible to fight, and it dared not retreat. In order to avoid the fate of being annihilated while sitting, in a hurry, Deng Xihou made a trick and ordered the main force of the Sichuan Army to quietly withdraw with other troops, but not along the road but on the side road.At the same time, send a brigade to stay in place as a rear guard, and retreat one by one according to the situation. Fortunately, the Sichuan army didn't have any supplies, so they didn't need to take the road. In this way, not only was no one seen, but also the congestion was reduced, and the retreat was smoother than other troops. On the way, I finally received Yan Xishan's order to retreat, and if it was later, I would really be unable to escape. The cunning is for survival. When seeing Li Zongren, the "Crystal Monkey" couldn't help being moved: We are not wanted in every war zone. The world is so big that there is no place for us. If you, Chief Li, are willing to take us in, that is a great honor. For a down-and-out army like Deng Xichuan's, Lao Li has his own way of warming the opponent's heart. In this world, the wishes of the poor are actually the easiest to realize, and you will get the most rewards in the future—just give a few seeds, and maybe you will receive a few cartloads of melons and fruits by the end of the year. No need to ask, the Sichuan army must have "too bad guns and too few bullets", and their wish must be to give some good guns and bullets. Li Zongren made a report and allocated 500 new guns to the Sichuan Army. Of course, these are too few, and it is enough to arm a battalion. I know because there are more here. Lao Li opened the armory in the Fifth War Zone: There are not many rifles left, but there are plenty of bullets and grenades. Take as many as you can. When the Sichuan army used to fight, they basically fired a few shots and then had to use the guns in their hands as rolling pins. Now seeing so many ammunition, they were so excited that they burst into tears. When Li Zongren wanted to transfer the Sichuan Army into the southern Shandong battlefield, Deng Xihou and Sun Zhen already knew that the enemy would be the Jigu Division. When he was ordered, he still did not hesitate, expressing absolute obedience to the order, and he could fight as he was told. The Sichuan army suffered a lot in fighting in Shanxi. In addition to the extremely poor equipment and limited combat power, it was difficult to get out of Sichuan, and the lack of experience in the world was also a major reason. They couldn't tell the difference between the uniforms of the central army and the Japanese army.One day, a sentinel saw a man passing by one by one. He was wearing a yellow woolen cloak, leather boots, and a command knife on his waist. In the eyes of the Sichuan army, this is the standard attire of a senior officer of the Central Army, and the sentry almost didn't go up to salute.In fact, it was just an ordinary Japanese scout. Due to the lack of a map, the Sichuan army did not know the terrain at all, and they didn't even know where they were. When some soldiers saw Japanese tanks, they thought they were tanks of the Central Army. Not only soldiers, but Deng Xihou, the commander-in-chief of the group army, also had embarrassments. At Niangziguan, his left and right armies had already retreated, but he didn't know it. As a result, his army went deep alone and entered a village occupied by the Japanese army.When the Japanese army fired shots, he thought it was a misunderstanding among his own people. He didn't realize that something was wrong until someone was killed or injured. If he hadn't reacted quickly, he would have been captured by the devils. Deng Xichuan's first battle after leaving Sichuan was unsuccessful, but after this encounter, they finally saw the world and learned a lesson. Thinking back in the past, Zhuge Wuhou came out of Qishan six times, and he didn't rest until his death. This is only one setback, so it's nothing. After the Sichuan army entered Lunan, it took on a new look.The military discipline issue that was once criticized has completely disappeared. The people in Shandong even believe that the Sichuan Army has done a better job than the Lu Army in this regard. Even in Sichuan itself, the military discipline of the Sichuan Army used to be frowned upon. Now that the changes are so great, it cannot but be said that it is the result of purges of the entire army after learning from the pain. At this time, because Liu Xiang died of illness and there was no one in Sichuan, Deng Xihou was transferred back to Sichuan to preside over the military affairs in Sichuan and Kang, and Sun Zhen, the commander of the army, took the post of commander-in-chief of the group army temporarily. Sun Zhen appointed division commander Wang Mingzhang as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy and led the Sichuan army to carry out an active counterattack. However, the Sichuan army used only light weapons and did not even have a single heavy field artillery. God, so soon they can only retreat to Teng County. The failure of the counterattack made Wang Mingzhang realize that with such weak combat power and weapons of the Sichuan Army, it is difficult to match the identity of the main force on the Jinpu Line. The strength of the Sichuan Army is not insufficient, but far from enough. To put it bluntly, in terms of combat effectiveness, if the current Isoya Division is a dune or an elephant, the Sichuan Army is almost a grain of sand or an ant. However, no one has ever been able to deny that small grains of sand cannot compete with huge sand dunes. Even ants have the instinct to defend their homes. Wang Mingzhang said to his subordinates: The 20-year civil war in Sichuan is unique in China. As soldiers, we have committed a great crime. This time we went to Sichuan to fight against the war, not for meritorious service, but for atonement. Therefore, even if every soldier is wiped out, there can be no complaints. . From March 14th to 15th, the Jigu Division stormed Teng County, but was stubbornly blocked by the Sichuan Army, and the multiple storms organized by it were repelled one by one. Under such circumstances, Jigu suddenly pulled out a regiment, put aside the front, and made a detour to Teng County. In order to defend the outer defensive positions, Wang Mingzhang put almost all the combat troops on the front line. The two sides were in a stalemate and could not withdraw at all suddenly, and those who stayed in Teng County were all non-combat units such as division headquarters and brigade headquarters. Looking at the past , full of security companies, communication companies, health teams... plus the Tengxian County Security Corps, they are full of force, and there are no more than 3,000 people. How can an isolated city and weak soldiers abide by the law? Wang Mingzhang hurriedly asked the headquarters for help, but Sun Zhen didn't have any extra troops, so he could barely spare three infantry companies to help. This amount of troops is of course a drop in the bucket for the city defenders. Just as he was in such a hurry, Sun Zhen suddenly thought of the ammunition he received from the armory of the fifth theater, and hurriedly transported it to Teng County by train. There is a box of 50 grenades under the buttocks. This is the night of March 15th. Under the command of Wang Mingzhang, the Sichuan Army stepped up the construction of city defenses.At this time, they may not know that what they are about to create will be the most glorious page in the history of the Sichuan Army. March 16, dawn. The Isoya Division began to exert the power of the special forces, and the shells swept across the city of Teng County like a violent storm. Wang Mingzhang convened the generals to discuss, and everyone believed that judging from the momentum of the Japanese attack on the city and the strength of the two sides, Teng County might not be able to hold it for a day. As a result, Wang Mingzhang himself hesitated about defending the isolated city, so he asked Sun Zhen if he could conduct mobile operations outside the city. Sun Zhen conveyed a telegram from the fifth war zone: defend Teng County to the death, waiting for backup. He told Wang Mingzhang that sticking to Teng County is to buy time for the follow-up large troops to assemble, so he must stick to it to the end. Knowing this, Wang Mingzhang no longer hesitated. Tell the three armies: defend Teng County to the death, the city will survive and survive, and the city will perish and perish. Anyone who violates the law will be punished on the spot. All the logistics personnel were ordered to be converted into combat soldiers, and together with the police regiments in the city, they supplemented the defense forces, and even the documents written for Wang Mingzhang were no exception, and were sent to the city to defend. Wang Mingzhang took senior officials to inspect the position. Since they were all wearing ordinary soldier uniforms, no one recognized them along the way. Only the clerk saw the officer coming and raised his hand to salute. Someone behind Wang Mingzhang knew the clerk, so he jokingly asked: You are very good at saluting, but can you shoot? The chief of staff joked on the sidelines: Don't underestimate people, maybe he is more accurate than you. On the day of March 16, the Isoya Division first bombarded the gap in the city wall with field artillery, and then used infantry to attack in waves, and its offensive was higher and higher. The hand grenades that Sun Zhen transported temporarily became the trump card of the defenders. The commander gave an order and threw two or three hundred grenades at once, which quickly drove back the Japanese army and sealed the gap. The clerk who temporarily participated in the war also shot and threw grenades again, which was very addictive. One day passed, and Teng County miraculously remained motionless. It was unimaginable in the past that the Sichuan army with less than one regiment blocked the elite main force of the Japanese army of a regiment. Wang Mingzhang was very happy when he heard about the situation on the front line, and his mood became optimistic. Two regiments from the front line will be transferred back to the city. In this case, there will be three regiments defending the city tomorrow.Less than one regiment can still last a day, can't three regiments still last a day? If we can make it through tomorrow, follow-up reinforcements will arrive, and Teng County will surely be able to ensure that. But what Wang Mingzhang didn't know was that every day was different.In fact, the scheming Jigu had sent another regiment to the south of Teng County to block the reinforcements. More importantly, the reason why Tengxian was able to defend on the first day was that Jigu didn't use all his strength. After encountering unexpected and tenacious resistance outside the city of Teng County, the determination of the Sichuan army to defend Teng County has been fully revealed, and Jigu is also gradually increasing its attack power. On March 17, Isoya raised the use level of special forces to the highest level. A heavy field artillery brigade was transferred outside the city, and at the same time the heavy bomber brigade attacked. The effect of this was that the shells falling into the city were upgraded from "storms" to "downpours". The streets of Tengxian County can no longer be found. The streets are full of small hills made of collapsed houses, and there are deep pits, seas of fire, and scorched earth everywhere. When Teng County was tightly surrounded by Japanese troops from the north and the south, and the situation was in dire straits, Wang Mingzhang still did not give up hope of being rescued. Standing in the city, you can clearly hear the fierce gunfire from the south, indicating that the reinforcements are very close. Organize commandos to go out of the city and meet reinforcements. But this hope was quickly dashed, Jigu continued to increase troops to the south of the city, the reinforcements were unable to attack, and the commando had to retreat into the city. The gap in the city wall was finally blasted open, and besides much more infantry than the first day, there were also tanks that rushed in. The Sichuan army finished throwing grenades and using broadswords, and finished blowing up infantry and tanks, but they still couldn't stop the Japanese army from flooding in. Since then, the two sides have entered the stage of close-range hand-to-hand combat. When he heard the news that the defense line had been breached, Wang Mingzhang seemed extremely calm. Although he was no longer optimistic, he also knew that the last moment had come. The miracle will not happen again, the sand will be buried soon, and the ants will also face the fate of being trampled ruthlessly, but the only thing we don't have to worry about is our courage. Wang Mingzhang called together the only guards and officers around him, and decided to lead them personally in a desperate fight. Before walking out of the command post, he sent the last telegram of his life to Sun Zhen: "We will refuse to defend with all our strength, to repay the country, and to repay the situation." After one after another hand-to-hand combat, most of the people with guns were killed on the spot, and Wang Mingzhang was also seriously injured. The last sentence he left was: Hold on, hold on, and defend Teng County! Before he finished speaking, the wound on his abdomen was bleeding profusely, and the adjutant couldn't even pour the white medicine into his mouth, and was stunned for a moment.When I stepped forward to touch it again, my hands and feet were already cold. Until noon on March 18, in Teng County, the remaining small units of the Sichuan Army were still fighting on their own. It was a fight no Westerner could have imagined, a desperate fight by groups of people who had lost all hope. At night, the gunfire finally stopped, because all the defenders were killed. Sichuan Army, they looked so weak, but they finally guarded their courage and dignity to the last moment of their lives. Li Zongren's fifth battle area is small, but the pressure is not small. He has to deal with opponents from three different directions. In addition to sending the Sichuan Army to stop the Jigu Division on the Jinpu Line, he also wanted to prevent the 13th Division from going north. Although the latter was a newly formed division, it was also very difficult to deal with because it was equipped with special forces directly under the Central China Front Army. In the end, the 31st Army of the Gui Army was mobilized in Huainan, and Yu Xuezhong's 51st Army was mobilized in Huaibei. The Isoya Division and the 13th Division are fierce enough, but there are still more fierce and fiercer than them, and that is the top Japanese player who came from Qingdao: Itagaki Division. Lao Li is a good general. Really, if the Banyuan Division went south from Qingdao quickly, he would never escape, because after all, he only has two hands, so he can't be busy. At the critical moment, Itagaki had a quarrel with the navy and had no time to go south. There is roughly a dividing line within the Japanese navy and army, that is, the north belongs to the army and the south belongs to the navy.According to this "convention", the navy should have nothing to do with the northern battlefield, but the navy's warships are wandering around the waters of Qingdao all day long. If the Songhu Battle hadn't erupted suddenly, they would have wanted to land in Qingdao long ago. In the battle of Songhu, the navy fired first, but the army, like the "January 28th" battle of that year, came later and completely overwhelmed the navy. When attacking Qingdao this time, the staff headquarters thought that instead of letting the opponent take the lead , it's better to say hello and let's all come together. The military command didn't say anything at first, but after getting a report, they quit. The report was sent by the 4th Fleet. According to them, Yu Xuezhong's 51st Army, which was originally stationed in Qingdao, has been transferred to Huaibei. Qingdao is almost equivalent to an empty city. An empty city can be handled by the 4th Fleet family, why wait for their army. Itagaki Division?It is still far away from Qingdao. The last sentence is not false, because it is necessary to give Han Fuju time to consider "independence". It will be too late for Jigu to cross the Yellow River, and itagaki will be even later. When the military command heard that Qingdao was in such a situation, it was immediately moved, and it no longer cared about the so-called "gentleman's agreement" with the staff headquarters. Then you should land quickly and take Qingdao, which is your first achievement. The 4th Fleet followed suit and captured Qingdao as it wished two days later. After landing, they discovered that dozens of important Japanese factories worth more than 200 million yen in Qingdao had all been destroyed, and the railways and highways on the Jiaoji Line were also damaged. It doesn't matter if the factory is bombed, but the railway and highway can't be watched, they have to be repaired, because the Itagaki Division will soon pass there. But the navy ignored them. Since the "January 28th" battle that year, they have not really occupied a few important cities by their own ability. Now that they have won Qingdao, it is too late to celebrate the victory. Why don't you?Which onion is Itagaki? The Banyuan Division has always been known for its fast maneuvering speed, but for this reason, they arrived in Qingdao very late. When Itagaki visited Qingdao, the navy didn't even say hello, and he ate alone in advance, and he was furious. What made Itagaki even more angry was that after the 4th Fleet occupied Qingdao, it seemed that it was all owned by them, and the army could not even touch it. You gotta give us somewhere to eat and sleep, right? The 4th Fleet rolled its eyes, or you can sleep on the street, which is not under the management of the Navy. Itagaki's face turned green.As a famous general who was "invincible and invincible" on the northern battlefield, who can not give him a three-pointer, how can he bear this bad breath. At this time, Itagaki is not idle, there are a lot of serious things waiting for him to deal with, the most important of which is to go south to cooperate with Jigu, and will attack Xuzhou, but itagaki is also a bloody person. What about "Itagaki's guts"? It doesn't matter if Xuzhou attacks later, will it still fail? But this navy is too hateful. I don't want to go south, so I will compete with him in Qingdao. Let me sleep on the street, my mother will fight with you! Itagaki appealed layer by layer, and the petition was first handed over to the headquarters of the Second Army. After hearing the news, Commander Nishio Shouzo took Itagaki's side as a matter of course. We agreed to work together, but changed our minds on the spur of the moment. Why are these people always so thieves.Now even if it can't be divided into 50-50, 30-70 is still necessary. The navy must give up part of the defense area to our second army. How could the 4th Fleet want it? We worked so hard to fight it down, so why should we share it with you? Nishio refused to give up, and brought the complaint to the North China Front Army Command. The Banyuan Division is the main force directly under the North China Front Army, which is equivalent to a son. Of course, the temple is not willing to let his son be wronged. Let me tell you, Mr. Banyuan is a famous general, how can you dare to insult him? Although Terauchi is the highest military leader of the Japanese Army in the North China battlefield, the 4th Fleet also does not give face and is unwilling to make any concessions at all. When the matter got to the highest level, the bosses of both sides had to negotiate directly with the General Staff Headquarters and the Military Command, and the latter finally agreed to let the 4th Fleet raise its ass and give some space to the 2nd Army. Because of such a quarrel, Itagaki was dragged down when he went south, which gave Li Zongren time to redeploy and select generals.