Chapter 6 2. The situation before the war

As mentioned earlier, the village on the bank of the Shahe River is not far from Teng County, a small village on Longyangdian in the northeast corner.After the Japanese army occupied southern Shandong, Teng County became an important anti-Japanese town in the north of Xuzhou.The Chinese army and the Japanese army were in a stalemate between Zou County and Teng County.Therefore, Japanese planes flew over the sky all day long for reconnaissance and bombing.The Chinese army also carried out night raids on the Japanese army many times, hitting the arrogance of the aggressors. At dawn on March 14, the battle outside Teng County began.The two warring parties are the 22nd Army of the Kuomintang Army and the Sichuan Army.In the eyes of Chiang Kai-shek, they are miscellaneous brands.The commander-in-chief of this little-known miscellaneous army was Deng Xihou at first. After Liu Xiang, the director of Sichuan Kang appeasement, died of illness, Deng Xihou was transferred back to Sichuan to continue his post.Under its jurisdiction are two armies, the 41st Army and the 45th Army. The 41st Army has jurisdiction over the 122nd and 124th Divisions, and the 45th Army has jurisdiction over the 125th and 127th Divisions, with a total strength of no more than 30,000.There are also 3,000 people from the local armed forces and the Red Gun Society.

The Japanese Army is the 10th Division, 106th Division, and 108th Division of the Second Army, with a total strength of 40,000 troops, and is equipped with 70 cannons, 50 chariots, 50 aircraft, and two armored trains. , commanded by Rensuke Isoya, commander of the 10th Division. The two warring parties invested a total of 70,000 to 80,000 horses in the palm-sized territory of Teng County, equipped with aircraft, cannons, and armored trains. The fierce scene can be imagined. It is unbelievable that the two warring parties were all under the breath before the battle, and they all held their breath.There is no place to vent the anger in the past, but now it's all right, let's vent the pent-up anger to the other party.Let me talk about the 22nd Army first. They have been isolated from the world for a long time, and the Sichuan Basin has nurtured the Sichuan Army that has never been out of Sichuan.But when the July 7th Incident broke out in 1937 and troops from all over the country rushed to the anti-Japanese battlefield, the Sichuan Army was also excited by the Chinese people's pride.Liu Xiang, who was the chairman of Sichuan Province at the time, did not want to be caught by Chiang Kai-shek in the matter of resisting Japan. Coupled with the strong demands of the Sichuan people, the warlord generals headed by Liu Xiang of the Sichuan Army called the Nationalist Government one after another, asking to kill the enemy.Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek appointed Liu Xiang as the commander-in-chief of the Second Reserve Army, organized 12 armies, a total of 300,000 people, and went out of Sichuan in batches to join the war of resistance.The first column at that time was the 22nd Army at that time. They came to the southeast of Shanxi wearing straw sandals and single clothes, and fought the Japanese army for more than 40 days.They were like beggars in front of the retreating national army, and they were looked down upon and ridiculed by others.The difficult situation did not break these shrewd and short Sichuan men.Although they are not as good as the Central Army with trucks and manpower, they rely on themselves for military supplies, guns and ammunition. The Sichuan army doesn't care about the contempt of the white eyes, and the angry Sichuan army doesn't care so much for food and clothing.They buy first, and if they can't buy it, they grab it.When the army retreated, they encountered an armory in Yan Xishan on the way.Okay, son of a bitch.Shouting, they broke down the armory door.If you don't take it for nothing, you will never keep it for the Japanese devils. It is important to replenish yourself first.The Sichuan army has harmed the villages and villagers along the way.Who told you that the national government didn't provide supplies? It's also an anti-Japanese war. The central army has food, clothing and ammunition. We are raised by a fucking mother.For a time, Shanxi was defeated and disturbed, and the atmosphere was smoky.This angered Yan Xishan, the local emperor of Shanxi.

Yan Xishan in Shanxi had to answer countless calls a day, all of which were reported by the counties to the Sichuan army.Yan Xishan kept cursing at the sky, and he called the Wuhan Military Commission, accusing the Sichuan Army of not doing enough to fight the Japanese and more than disturbing the people.Yan Xishan complained to Chiang Kai-shek, saying that the Sichuan Army was simply a group of bandits, and asked the Military Commission to order the Sichuan Army to leave immediately. I can’t afford to support these people in the Second War Zone. Go wherever you like, and don’t come to Shanxi again.

Chiang Kai-shek has always been dissatisfied with the Sichuan army, and when he heard Yan Xishan's phone call, he kept scolding Xipi, Liu Xiang, for not being human.Not letting him go out of Sichuan, he swore and guaranteed.But I haven't fought much yet, and the lawsuit came first.With Chiang Kai-shek's idea, I really want to clean up this miscellaneous army.But now that the Kuomintang army has suffered a disastrous defeat in Beijing and Shanghai, they don't have the ability and energy to punish them.Besides, now is the time to use people and troops, and it is true that the Sichuan Army has such a large force.Chiang Kai-shek took a sip of water from the cup, and suppressed the anger in his heart. He asked Lin Wei in the attendant's room to ask Chief Cheng Qian from the first war zone if the Sichuan Army and the others wanted it.

When Cheng Qian heard that it was the Sichuan Army on the phone, he seemed to have encountered a scourge, and before Lin Wei could finish speaking, he yelled into the phone, thank you, thank you Chairman for your kindness.You don't even want Yan Laoxi's crap, why are you pushing me here?Don't, don't.He said and hung up the phone. The 22nd Group Army, which came out of Sichuan with patriotic passion, became an abandoned baby that no one wanted, and they were faced with the embarrassing situation of returning home disappointed.At that time, Bai Chongxi, who was by Chiang Kai-shek's side, was then the deputy chief of staff of the Military Command, and asked Chiang Kai-shek if he could ask Chief Li Zongren to see if the Fifth Theater wanted this Sichuan army.

With his back turned to Bai Chongxi, Chiang Kai-shek nodded towards the portrait of President Sun Da, acquiescing to Bai Chongxi's suggestion.So, Bai Chongxi hastily hung up a call to his fellow Li Zongren. Li Zongren is worrying about this matter.Chiang Kai-shek invited him out of the mountain and gave him the position of commander-in-chief of the fifth theater.However, all the mobilized troops were fucking motley crews.Except for the 31st Army, which is his Guangxi army, the rest are all troops without combat effectiveness.Now that Bai Chongxi called, he was overjoyed, because his old subordinates and fellow villagers cared about him.Li Zongren said on the phone, okay, as long as we fight Japan, I want even the worst troops.He was afraid that the Supreme Command would change its mind, so he kept expressing his willingness to accept it.

So the 22nd Army, which no one wanted, just drove to the fifth theater. Li Zongren, the commander-in-chief of the fifth war zone, later recalled the process in this way: At that time, the Sichuan army arrived in Shaanxi and Taiyuan had already fallen. The enemy used mobile and fast troops to rush to our army from left to right.The Sichuan army was not able to gain a firm foothold, so it was dispersed.With the army retreating in embarrassment, when they encountered the armory of the Jin army along the way, they broke into the door and supplied supplies without authorization.Yan Xishan, the commander-in-chief of the second war zone, learned of the incident and was furious, so he sent a telegram to ask the command to transfer the Sichuan Army to him.The high command took up this problem and raised it in its daily report.The chairman of the committee was also very angry when he heard the report, saying: "The second war zone refuses to take it, transfer them to the first war zone, and ask Mr. Cheng if he wants it?"

The Military Commission called Zhengzhou to Cheng Qian, commander of the First Theater Command, to inform him of this order.And tell the truth about it.Cheng Qian had heard about the Sichuan Army's style for a long time, but he refused it outright on the phone.It is said that when Lin Wei, the vice-minister of the Military Order, reported the news to the chairman and asked for instructions, the chairman was in a bad mood because of the initial loss in Nanjing, and he was furious when he heard the report, saying: "Take them back, let them go back to the army." Go to Sichuan and become king and emperor!"

Bai Chongxi listened to him, and persuaded him: "Let me call Xuzhou and ask Commander Li of the Fifth War Zone if he wants it?" Bai immediately asked me by long-distance call from Wuhan, and described the incident eloquently. .At this time, when Han Fuju retreated without a fight and I had no reinforcements to transfer, I immediately told Bai Chongxi: "It's very good! It's very good! I need soldiers now, please transfer them to Xuzhou as soon as possible!" " Bai said, "Of course their combat capability is a bit worse." I said: "Zhuge Liang made grass-roots soldiers as suspicious soldiers. They are better than grass-people, right? Please call here quickly!"

Bai Chongxi smiled when he heard this.The Sichuan Army was transferred to Xuzhou in this way. The Sichuan army who came to Xuzhou later learned the truth of the matter, and was very grateful to Chief Li Zongren for his kindness.From the bottom of his heart, the Sichuan army is absolutely unwilling to go back in such a despondent way. Wouldn't that embarrass the people of Sichuan?The Sichuan army wants to fight for this face. They vowed to fight the enemy hard on the battlefield, wash away the humiliation, and let the soldiers and people all over the country see the heroism of the Sichuan army.

The 10th Army Corps and part of the 106th and 108th Divisions of the Japanese Army who participated in the war also came here to save face.This Japanese invading army is an elite unit of the 2nd Army.After they captured Hebei, they became even more arrogant.They believed that the decisive battle between China and Japan would break out in Hebei, and that the Second Army under the North China Front Army was fully prepared to encircle and annihilate the Chinese army and force China to surrender in one fell swoop.Unexpectedly, with the development of the situation, the top strategic decision-making level of the Chinese government moved the location of the decisive battle to East China, which gave the Central China Front Army the opportunity for a decisive battle. Not only did they capture Shanghai, but they also captured the capital Nanjing in one fell swoop.Not only did the North China Front Army not even have the chance to assist, but it also had to deploy two and a half divisions to support the Central China Front Army in combat.Originally, the North China Front Army wanted to show some performance on the battlefield, but unexpectedly, a standby order in the base camp to defend against the Soviet Union left the North China Front Army with no room for display. reserve team. It was not until the Central China Front Army successfully captured Nanjing, the severe cold and snow blocked the traffic in Siberia, and there was no threat from the Soviet army that the 2nd Army Reserve was released from standby.So they made strong demands to the base camp many times, and finally got approval to attack Shandong. The more than 40,000 Japanese troops under the command of Rensuke Isoya burned, killed and plundered along the way, capturing key points in Jinan, Tai'an, and Yanzhou, and then went south to occupy Zou County.What they didn't expect was the Kuomintang defenders in the Tengxian area. They did not flee without a fight like Han Fuju's troops in Shandong, but built fortifications to block them in Zouxian County, north of Tengxian County. The arrogant head of the division, Isoya Lianjie, was furious. They sharpened their knives on the edge of Teng County in an attempt to scare the garrisoned Kuomintang troops back with obscenity.The 22nd Group Army, which is sticking to Teng County, knows that people have a face, and now is an excellent opportunity to wash away their shame. They are gearing up for the city wall fortifications.Come on, son of a bitch, see if I don't beat you down, I won't be your uncle! Under the city of Teng County, the two armies confronted each other, and the war was imminent.