Chapter 19 5. Bing is expensive and fast

The head of the Banyuan Division received a report from the combat troops that the Chinese defenders had abandoned their forward positions and retreated to the Linyi city, relying on Linyi to build fortification positions outside the city.At the same time, Seishiro Itagaki received information from the military headquarters that the 59th Army of the Kuomintang was reinforcing in the direction of Linyi.Itagaki Seishiro, who is rich in combat experience, smiled. He knew that the frontal Chinese defenders had shrunk their defenses and were waiting for reinforcements. He unfolded the combat map, and together with Chief of Staff Meijin, compared the distance between the 59th Army and Linyi, which was 180 miles, or three days at least.Just relying on the two legs of the Chinese army, how fast can it be?Besides, they were always lazy and procrastinating, and when they reached less than half of the distance, Linyi might be finished.Therefore, the Japanese army did not take the reinforcements of the Chinese army seriously, thinking that the water far away could not quench the near thirst.

Judging from Pang Bingxun's shrinking front, he has reached the end of his rope.If you have the strength and know that there are reinforcements, from the perspective of military common sense, you should not give up the outer line.It is safer to stand firm in the forward position and wait for reinforcements than to retreat and stand firm.Then Pang Bingxun's shrinking and retreating showed that he was out of strength, and even if he stood firm, it was only at the end of his strength.Seishiro Itagaki's analysis was not wrong, but he underestimated the tenacity and tenacity of Pang Bingxun's motley crew.

The 5th Division of the Japanese Army decided to take Linyi in one go before the Chinese reinforcements arrived.Then use the main force of the division to destroy the 59th Army that came to the door. After occupying Linyi, you can also eat another miscellaneous army by the way.In Chinese language, this is called hugging the grass and beating the rabbit—by the way.Chief of Staff Meijin is indeed a China hand, he even knows this allegory. As a result, the Itagaki Division increased its troops to the attacking Japanese combat troops in an attempt to wipe out the Linyi defenders with its overwhelming military strength.

The Japanese attack on Linyi was more ferocious than the previous two days. Planes bombed and strafed around the clock, and artillery shells fired at the Linyi defenders' positions were as dense as hail.For a while, the dust was flying and the sky was dark.But none of the soldiers of Pang Bingxun's 3rd Army made a sound or cried out for pain.Regarding this battle, Li Zongren of the Fifth Theater wrote in his memoirs: The enemy, with the superior strength of a division, and the first mountain artillery regiment and the first cavalry brigade attached to it, rushed towards us.I, Pang Juntuan, led five regiments of soldiers to defend the city.The enemy army repeatedly charged and killed for days and nights, causing so many casualties that they couldn't go one step further.

At that time, dozens of Chinese and foreign journalists and military attaches from friendly countries accompanied the army to watch the battle in Xuzhou. No one could have imagined that the best imperial army would be defeated by the little-known Chinese troops.For a while, there were rumors at home and abroad, and there were cheers everywhere.Itagaki Seishiro was obviously in a hurry to supervise the battle because of his face.My Linyi garrison gradually felt exhausted, and I was in urgent need of telegrams. The battle scene at that time was horrible.Most of the defenders' positions were razed to the ground, blood and flesh were flying everywhere, and there were heavy casualties.The Japanese army charged in groups and swarmed into the position.Everyone in the entire army took up arms to fight the enemy hand-to-hand, and both sides fought for every inch of land, forming a tug-of-war on the defense line of the defenders.

At the beginning, the Itagaki Division underestimated the strength of the Chinese army and only sent one brigade, and later added another brigade.Now they have sent the main force of the division to take down Linyi in a relatively short period of time.The 3rd Army was not afraid, fought bloody battles, and resisted tenaciously.On the battlefield, you come and go, forming an intertwined state, which makes the extremely arrogant Itagaki Seishiro anxious like a mad dog, howling and not knowing what to do. Just when Linyi was struggling to hold on, Zhang Zizhong's 59th Army arrived near the western suburbs of Linyi.Soldiers are expensive and fast!Zhang Zizhong repeatedly emphasized the word "fast". Reinforcement is like fighting a fire, and you can't do it fast.From Yi County to Linyi, a distance of 90 kilometers, the 59th Army took only one day and night to carry the luggage and so on. It arrived on March 12, and the whole army was assembled in the afternoon.

The rapid advance of the 59th Army never occurred to the Japanese 5th Division.When Zhang Zizhong arrived in Linyi, the Japanese army did not know.They are still deploying their attack plan for the next day.In order to be fast, the 59th Army first used the 38th Division as the vanguard without heavy weapons, and the purpose was to arrive early and occupy favorable terrain.Afterwards, the follow-up troops carried a small amount of luggage, and under the cover of the avant-garde, they arrived as the second batch.Finally, the equipment of the whole army arrived in the afternoon. Zhang Zizhong and Pang Bingxun met at the headquarters of the 3rd Army.They both belonged to the Northwest Army led by Feng Yuxiang.Pang Bingxun is older than Zhang Zizhong and has a higher official rank.During the Central Plains War between Chiang Kai-shek, Feng Yuxiang, and Yan Xishan in 1930, Pang Bingxun was the commander-in-chief of the 2nd Anti-Chiang Army, while Zhang Zizhong was only the commander of the 6th Division.

Regarding the meeting between Zhang Zizhong and Pang Bingxun in Linyi, Li Fengming, who was the deputy director of the 3rd Army Corps at the time, wrote an article and recalled: When General Zhang arrived at the headquarters of the Linyi Normal Army Corps, it was dusk and the frontline battles became more intense. Suddenly, enemy shells flew overhead and the sound of machine guns could be heard clearly.General Pang Bingxun, who commanded Ruoding, came out to greet him. Zhang and Pang hurriedly shook hands and did not let go for a long time.When they entered the office and hadn't sat down yet, a shell suddenly flew into the courtyard and exploded.Pang said to Zhang:

"Brother Xichen came just in time, look how lively it is here!" Then he said: "This morning, Chief of Staff Xu Zuyi asked me how many reserves I have on the phone? My troops have all suffered casualties on the front line. In the battle near the store, even my guards were reinforced to the front line, and then there was me. But I decided to fight the enemy to the end in the Linyi defense battle." Zhang Zizhong laughed when he heard the above words, and said calmly: " Brother, don’t worry, I am determined to do my best to help you win this battle.” Although in the tense atmosphere of the battle, the old friends meet on the battlefield, and they still talk and laugh happily.Pang suddenly smiled humorously and said, "Brother, I don't believe you when people say that you want to be a traitor in Beiping. I remember that we used to electrify the whole country in Beiping and Song Mingxuan. We would rather fight dead ghosts than be a subjugated slave. rest assured."

General Zhang laughed and said, "Today I want to let them see if I, Zhang Zizhong, am a traitor?" Pang Bingxun said that Zhang Zizhong's story is clearly stated in Li Zongren's memoirs. He said this: Zhang Zizhong was originally the division commander of the 29th Army of Song Zheyuan. He was recommended by the Central Committee of the Song Dynasty and appointed as the mayor of Beiping.Before the July 7th Incident, the enemy insisted on making North China special. Zhang, as the mayor of Beiping, followed the Song family's secret order, dealt with the enemy, endured humiliation, and the outside world did not know the truth, and all mistakenly regarded Zhang as a traitor who betrayed the country and sought glory.After the July 7th Incident, the Zhang family was still negotiating with the enemy in Beiping City, so the public opinion circles strongly attacked him, saying that "everyone in the country can say that they can be killed"

It's generous. General Zhang Zizhong was so angry that he couldn't speak clearly even with his mouth full.So, he went to Nanjing to plead guilty, trying to explain the truth.Unexpectedly, the Nanjing public opinion circle accused him of leaving his post without authorization and not resisting, calling on the central government to punish him severely.In the Military Commission, there were also those who advocated the organization of a military judiciary, and there were even unsuccessful people who contributed to the flames in the central government and wanted to take the opportunity to incorporate Zhang Zizhong's troops. Li Zongren had just arrived in Nanjing at that time, and after hearing Zhang Zizhong's statement, he interceded for him.He first found Minister He of the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs, and then found Chairman Jiang. He said to Chairman Jiang: "Zhang Zizhong is a loyal warrior, and he definitely does not want to be a traitor. Now his troops are still in Henan. The central government should let him go back and bring his troops. I heard that someone wants to carve up his troops. If the central government doesn't let him go, his troops don't accept the carve-up. As a result, he becomes agitated and turns into a traitor. That would be bad. .What I mean is, it's better to let him go back and pay for his crimes." The chairman pondered for a moment, then said: "Okay, let him go back!" After finishing speaking, he immediately picked up a pen and approved a note asking Zhang Zizhong to return to the army immediately and be incorporated into the battle sequence of the first theater.By February 1938, the front line of the Huaihe River was tight, and Yu Xuezhong's troops were insufficient, so the military command dispatched the 59th Army to the Fifth Theater for reinforcements. When Li Zongren talked about Zhang Zizhong's past in his memoirs, he also said a little-known thing, that is, the personal enmity between Zhang Zizhong and Pang Bingxun.When compiling the book "Battle of Xuzhou" in China, several versions mentioned this past event, but all of them came from Li Zongren's memoirs.In his memoirs, he described the incident as follows: It turned out that in the nineteenth year of the Republic of China, when Jiang, Feng, and Yan fought in the Central Plains, Pang and Zhang were both strong generals of the Feng family, and they were like brothers to each other.Unexpectedly, Pang's family was secretly bribed by Jiang and turned against Feng, and attacked Zhang Zizhong's division by surprise. Zhang's family suffered several accidents.Therefore, Zizhong always believed that Bingxun was unkind and unrighteous, and vowed not to give up if he did not avenge his revenge.When Zizhong was transferred to Xu this time, he privately stated this difficulty to Chief of Staff Xu, saying that he could fight to the death on any battlefield, but he did not want to be on the same battlefield as Pang Bingxun.Because Pang had higher prestige than Zhang, if they were on the same battlefield, Zhang would inevitably be under Pang's command, so Zhang refused.Fortunately, according to the original plan, he has been transferred to the Huaihe battlefield. It is a perfect coincidence that the main force of the enemy in Huainan was forced to retreat south at this time, and the military situation on the north bank of the Huaihe River has eased. At this time alone, Pang Bingxun was besieged in Linyi and asked for help. Soldiers are adjustable.Chief of Staff Xu was quite embarrassed.When I heard the news, I invited Zhang Zizhong here and said to him sincerely: "You and Pang Bingxun have a grudge, I understand very well, and I don't want to make things difficult for others. However, in the previous civil wars, no matter who was right or wrong, it was all about reputation. Pang Bingxun's bloody war of resistance is a shame for the country and revenge for the country. I hope you put the country first, suffer some grievances, and abandon your personal past. I order you to lead your troops to fight in Linyi. You must Absolutely obey the command of Commander Pang Jun. Don't hesitate to cause a mistake!" Hearing the words, Zizhong replied without thinking, "absolutely obey the order, please rest assured, sir!" Regarding the authenticity of this matter, Pang Bingxun's deputy director of the 40th Army, Li Fengming, once wrote an article, saying that it may be that during the Central Plains War, Han Fuju attacked Pang Bingxun's troops at Heishiguan, Gongxian County, Henan Longhai Line, as "a crown and Li Dai". .When recalling the Battle of Linyi, he said: It takes only a few hours for our army to counterattack from planning and issuing orders to attacking. It can be seen that the unanimous decision of Pang and Zhang to win is the bounden duty of soldiers. , can work together and be loyal to the spirit of the country.The author has served with General Pang for a long time, and I still remember the historical facts of the past.Today, Zhang and Pang are both dead, and the people of the country should not misunderstand, making it difficult for Generals Pang and Zhang to go underground. Li Fengming, deputy chief of the 40th Army, also made some sense in his narration. If Zhang Zizhong and Pang Bingxun had such a big grievance, how could they have electrified the whole country with Song Zheyuan and others in Beiping on the eve of the Anti-Japanese War, vowing to fight Japan to the death?If there is a grievance, can they speak so calmly and humorously when they meet in Linyi?If there is really a grudge, it means that Zhang Zizhong really has the loyalty and zeal of a scholar from Yanzhao, which is even more commendable. Of course, it is better to respect Mr. Li Fengming's opinion, not to write too much on this matter, and let General Zhang Zizhong and General Pang Bingxun rest in peace. After Zhang Zizhong and Pang Bingxun met in Linyi, under the auspices of Xu Zuyi, Chief of Staff of the Fifth War Zone, a military meeting was held immediately, and it was decided to turn the current enemy from defense to offense.Wang Shouwu, the General Councilor of the 3rd Army, recalled this military meeting and wrote: Chief of Staff Xu issued the order on behalf of Li Zongren.The gist is as follows: Zhang Zizhong, the commander of the 59th Army, commanded Huang Weigang's division, and launched a violent attack from the left wing of our army in Zhugecheng to the enemy's right rear. The Artillery Battalion Attached to the 116th Brigade of the 39th Division of the 40th Army still guards the position along the line from Zhugecheng to Yu Jiuqu to contain the main force of the enemy.The supplementary regiment of the 39th Division of the 40th Army and the cavalry company of the division attacked the enemy's left and right rears from the south of Yujiuqu, and joined Zhang Jun in Tangtou Town. A battle of blood and fire is about to kick off before dawn.