Chapter 23 9. Linyi Great Victory

Zhang Zizhong's 59th Army, with the cooperation of Pang Bingxun's 3rd Army, surrounded the Sakamoto Detachment, the main force of the Japanese 5th Division, in Tangtou Town, Linyi County.To Zhang Zizhong's regret, this remnant enemy was not wiped out.A telegram from Li Zongren, commander of the Fifth Theater, transferred his 59th Army away.What's the rush?Of course there is something, it is likely to be a major event, otherwise Chief Li Zongren would not have sent him a telegram at this juncture.Zhang Zizhong didn't dare to neglect, so he had to leave regrets. After transferring the 114th Brigade to Pang Bingxun's command, he led his troops to Fei County.

Zhang Zizhong is the hardest in the fifth theater. Can the mobile troops in the theater not work hard?The defense zone with a radius of thousands of miles, where it can't stand it anymore, where it is tight, and where the Japanese army has increased its troops, these series of things need to be solved by mobile troops.Therefore, all encounters are endgames, defeats and bad battles.However, Zhang Zizhong had no complaints with all the soldiers of his 59th Army, and he never expressed dissatisfaction.They just went from south to north, from east to west. Zhang Zizhong didn't know the reason for this emergency mobilization in the theater.He just judged something big based on the experience of a soldier.On the way to Fei County, Army Commander Zhang received briefings from the war zone one after another, and learned the whole story.

On the day when the 59th Army fought the main force of the Itagaki Division of the Japanese Army for the last time, on his left flank, the soldiers of the Sichuan Army fought bloody battles. Thousands of Chinese soldiers lived and died with Teng County. In the end, the city was destroyed and everyone died. A tragic page.What made Zhang Zizhong heartbroken was the lives of tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers and the outstanding general Wang Mingzhang. From Wang Mingzhang, he saw the integrity of soldiers and the integrity of the nation.He didn't have time to think about his personal life and death. The most urgent thing was the defense of Fei County, how to resist the arrogant Jigu Division.

The Isoya Rensuke Division occupied Teng County, the north gate of Xuzhou, and their arrogance cannot be expressed in words.They stood on the ruins of Teng County and pointed towards Xuzhou.Indeed, Teng County fell, Xuzhou's left arm was cut off, and his right arm was entangled by the 5th Division of the Japanese Army.Just like a person whose hands cannot protect his body, he has to expose his chest to be beaten by others.Xuzhou is at stake. In order to prevent the Jigu Lianjie Division from going south to Taierzhuang and Xuzhou, the fifth war zone formulated a combat plan to concentrate its forces to completely wipe out the enemies in front of the Jinpu Railway and ensure the safety of the Xuzhou theater.That's why I urgently sent General Zhang Zizhong's 59th Army to Fei County to block the passage between the Jigu Division and Itagaki Division in Teng County.However, if the fifth war zone wants to defeat the frontal enemy on the railway line, where should it concentrate its forces?The front line is very tight, and there is not a single soldier to be dispatched.Therefore, the fifth war zone's combat plan against the frontal enemy of the Jinpu Railway is just wishful thinking of the theater command and cannot be implemented at all.

The only unit that can be mobilized is the mobile unit of the 59th Army.However, when Zhang Zizhong's 59th Army had just left Linyi and had not yet arrived in Fei County, Pang Bingxun was in a hurry and sent telegrams to Xuzhou one after another: Linyi is in a hurry, Linyi is at stake. Li Zongren was helpless.After losing Teng County, Linyi couldn't lose it no matter what.If Linyi can't defend anymore, Xuzhou will be meaningless, and the entire defense line of the fifth theater will collapse.Li Zongren had to send a telegram to General Zhang Zizhong, asking him to return the same way to save Linyi from danger.

Itagaki division saw that the Sakamoto detachment besieged in Tangtou Town was not attacked, and the Chinese siege troops disappeared the next day, so they knew that something else had happened.In less than a day, the Japanese army obtained a large amount of information, knowing that Zhang Zizhong's 59th Army had gone to Fei County, so Itagaki Seishiro began a frenzied counterattack against Linyi. Itagaki Seishiro was extremely vicious towards Linyi, not only because of the hatred of the previous battle, but more importantly, the Isoya Division had occupied Teng County and was on its way to Taierzhuang.The distance from Teng County to Taierzhuang is not far, and there is no resistance along the way. With the mechanized strength of the 10th Division, it will take less than two days to arrive.

Itagaki Seishiro is in a hurry!General Shou in the Temple of the North China Army was very polite, and he only called to inquire about the situation. Linyi has been calling for almost a month, why hasn't it been taken yet?These words sounded soft, but Itagaki's back was sweating coldly.The commander-in-chief of the 2nd Army was not so polite. Hisao Nishio was very angry. He was very dissatisfied with the performance of the 5th Division. Complete the aggressive intentions of the Great Japanese Empire. On March 22, the 10th Division of Isoya Rensuke, who had gone south from Teng County, had entered the Taierzhuang area.The next day, I went deep into Nigou Station in Taierzhuang.When Seishiro Itagaki heard the news, he slumped on his chair, and the one who entered the customs first was the king. Could it be that Isoya and his 10th Division snatched this first achievement like this?So the whole army of the Banyuan Division advanced, trying to pass through the northwest of Linyi City, and went straight to Taierzhuang, chasing the Jigu Division.

Things didn't go as smoothly as Itagaki Seishiro thought.They were blocked by Pang Bingxun's 3rd Army and the 114th Brigade of the 59th Army on the outskirts of Linyi, and fought fiercely for a whole day at Buqiandian and Sanguan Temple in the east of Linyi City.The Itagaki division is too powerful, coupled with his madness, the battle was so frustrating, and the flames of the war burned to the sky.While Pang Bingxun's 40th Army killed a large number of Japanese troops, it also paid a heavy price. It even had to organize a group of student teams and send them to the front line to fight.

The Itagaki Division's offensive momentum continued unabated. With the cover of the aircraft in the sky, dozens of tanks and chariots rushed forward.Pang Bingxun's 40th Army had no choice. They retreated steadily, and finally had to rely on Linyi County. All were occupied by the Japanese army. The 108th Division of the 59th Army, which returned from Fei County, arrived in the north of Linyi City on March 25.The very tired 108th Division had no time to rest. On the way back to aid, they encountered the Japanese army in Maojiazhuang and Beidao villages in the north of the city, and fierce battles broke out immediately.Zhang Zongheng of the 26th Brigade took the lead and led all the officers and soldiers to kill the bloody road, rushed into the enemy's position, overwhelmed the enemy with overwhelming momentum, and wiped out one part of the Japanese army, causing the other to retreat.The main force of the 59th Army came up, seized favorable terrain, and blocked the enemy.

Commander Zhang Zizhong ordered the 38th Division Huang Weigang to start field operations with the Japanese army in the north of Linyi, and ordered the 108th Division to fight in the west of Linyi City to support Pang Bingxun's troops to defend the county.The enemy and the enemy are intertwined, and the battles everywhere are inextricably linked. Itagaki Seishiro seemed to be in a desperate situation, and he increased his troops from three sides to the front line.The pressure was greatest in the west of Linyi City, where the Japanese army had added a brigade, with sufficient weapons and ammunition, and extremely fierce firepower.

Under the command of Master Huang, the 38th Division fought hard. The 108th Division also fought very hard in the north of the city. All the village positions were bombed by dozens of planes. The houses in the villages were burned and the positions were lost one after another.A regiment of the 26th Brigade fought bloody battles with the Japanese army for two days and nights, and all died heroically. The heroic 59th Army is also in crisis. Zhang Zizhong, who is as hard as iron, has never yelled at his superiors. Today he had to send a telegram to Li Zongren, commander of the fifth theater.Gu Xiangzhen, who was then a combat staff officer, recalled: The whole army was forced to shrink the front and occupy positions in Qide, Fengjiazhuang, and Qianqiangang.At this time, although heavy losses were suffered, the fighting spirit of the entire army was unabated. On March 29, Commander Zhang stated in a telegram to Li Zongren, the commander of the fifth theater: "The army has suffered more than 2,000 casualties in the past two days. There are more than ten thousand people. The post is still alive, and we will fight the enemy to the end." After March 29, our army received the news that Wang Zhaozhi's brigade of the Fifth Army and the cavalry regiment of Tang Enbo's army from the fifth theater had come to reinforce it, and the morale of the whole army was even higher. After Army Commander Zhang Zizhong announced the good news to the whole army, he sent a warrant to Brigadier Zhang Zongheng. He told Brigadier Zhang three things: First, the reinforcements will arrive tonight, and hope to last another 5 hours before there is a turning point.This period is the last 5 minutes. My brother’s hard work, as we all know, has made great contributions to the organization according to the war of the previous few days. After the past two days, he has worked so hard. The group admires.Hope to make persistent efforts to achieve full success.The second is that the war has reached its final juncture, and whoever can endure the last minute will win.The third is that our difficulties are even more difficult for the enemy; if we fight hard, the enemy's suffering must be several times that of ours. Li Zongren, who is far away in the fifth theater of Xuzhou, is very concerned about the situation in Linyi.At this time, Taierzhuang was also fighting extremely fiercely. Sun Lianzhong's 2nd Army and Jigu Division fought a life-and-death tug-of-war in Taierzhuang Village. The Jigu Division suffered setbacks in Taierzhuang and kept shouting to the Supreme Command of the Northeast Front Army and the commander of the 2nd Army.And the commander of the 2nd Army kept scolding Seishiro Itagaki.The Taierzhuang Japanese Army formed a chain with the Japanese Northeast Front Army, the 2nd Army and the 5th Division, one link after another.Therefore, the Itagaki division had to fight desperately, and had to make a desperate struggle.On this point, Li Zongren sees it clearly.No matter how bloody the fight in Taierzhuang was, he had to dispatch troops to Linyi to help. If Linyi does not defend, let the Banyuan Division come over, and the mechanized troops can arrive in a day, then Sun Lianzhong's 2nd Army in Taierzhuang will be completely finished.If Sun Lianzhong is defeated or eaten, the strategic plan of the theater will lose all.The key to the Battle of Taierzhuang depends on the safety of Linyi. This is obvious, and everyone can see it very clearly.Not only did Li Zongren want to reinforce Linyi, but Chairman Jiang did not dare to neglect. Zhang Zizhong readjusted his troops at the most difficult time for the whole army.The purpose is to cooperate with the reinforcements. Once the reinforcements arrive, they can attack across the board.For this reason, he also called the commander of Pang Bingxun's army and the 114th brigade.They decided to go all out and completely defeat the current Itagaki Division. Wang Zhaozhi's brigade of the 57th Army of the Kuomintang and Tang Enbo's cavalry regiment arrived in Linyi as scheduled.Commander Zhang Zizhong decided to launch a counterattack by surprise at dawn on March 30.The Itagaki Division didn't know that the Chinese army had reinforcements, and without mental preparation, they were confused by the Chinese army's counterattack. The Japanese army was cut off at the middle and divided into two independent formations. The counterattack of the Chinese army was like a tiger descending the mountain, and the main force of the Itagaki Division was defeated at once and was forced to flee northward.The other part of the Japanese army was even more miserable. They were flanked by front and back, so they had to flee westward, hide in a village called Zhuzhen, close the gate of the village, and guard inside.This battle greatly hurt Itagaki's vitality, and the Japanese army lost more than half of its troops. The 5th Division of the Japanese Army launched the Battle of Linyi from the beginning of March, and fought hard for a month without any results.The heavy damage in Linyi was the second serious setback suffered by this ace force since the invasion of China after the setback at Pingxingguan. Seishiro Itagaki lost all face.He couldn't sleep or eat, became angry from embarrassment, and was depressed. He wanted to commit suicide by caesarean section several times to apologize to the emperor. According to statistics, in the Battle of Linyi, the 59th Army and the 3rd Army cost more than 15,000 casualties, resulting in more than 5,000 Japanese 5th Division casualties, a ratio of 3:1.From it, we can see the fearless spirit of the Chinese army, which is not afraid of sacrifice and brave to fight. In front of the Japanese powers and the Japanese army armed to the teeth, the Chinese army and the indomitable Chinese nation only rely on the swords, spears, and earthen guns in their hands. , Tu Pao, would rather die than surrender, would rather die than be a subjugated slave. The most important thing in the Battle of Linyi was that the Fifth War Zone cut off the left arm of the Japanese army in the northern section of Jinpu Road, completely shattered the plan of the Japanese army to join forces in Taierzhuang and capture Xuzhou, and facilitated and guaranteed the victory of the Battle of Taierzhuang. The great victory in Linyi was a precedent for the Kuomintang army since the Anti-Japanese War, and it was also the first victory achieved by the Kuomintang army on the frontal battlefield, which greatly boosted the morale of the Chinese army.The anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians all over the country were inspired by it, and they did not think highly of Linyi's victory. As Li Zongren, the commander of the war zone, said: it was a brilliant prelude battle before the Taierzhuang War.Yes, without the great victory in Linyi, how could there be the great victory in Taierzhuang later. What I want to say here is that Pang Bingxun, a miscellaneous army, actually defeated the ace 5th Division of the Japanese army with his broken guns and broadswords.General Pang Bingxun became famous in the first battle and won high praise from the military and civilians across the country.Especially Zhang Zizhong, with his heroic and outstanding performance, completely washed away his humiliation in the early stage of the War of Resistance.Because of his repeated outstanding achievements, the national government issued a special order to revoke the punishment of "dismissal and investigation". On April 30, Zhang Zizhong was promoted to the head of the 27th Army Corps, commanded the 59th Army and the 92nd Army, and continued to fight against Japan.