Chapter 49 1. to be in trouble

The 10th Division of the Japanese Army defeated Taierzhuang, the 5th Division suffered setbacks under the city of Linyi, and the failure of the two Japanese ace troops put the Japanese base camp in an embarrassing situation.But at the same time, it also made the Japanese base camp understand the truth that only one or two divisions cannot deal with the Chinese army.Although the Chinese army has simple weapons and poor equipment, it has an advantage in the number of troops.Attacking the Chinese army with hundreds of thousands of troops with tens of thousands of troops is undoubtedly hitting a stone with an egg.Even if a partial victory can be achieved, a heavy price must be paid.

A war won by consuming human resources is fatal to a small country like Japan. The failure of the two divisions in the Xuzhou theater showed that Xuzhou was not easy to get. Moreover, the Chinese army won the victory in Taierzhuang, the morale was strong, and a large number of elite troops assembled towards Xuzhou.At this time, Xuzhou was not what it used to be, and it was difficult to mobilize heavy troops to encircle Xuzhou and pass through the Jinpu railway line.The combat intention of the Japanese base camp did not want to be exposed prematurely, so as not to startle the enemy and let China's 600,000 elite troops slip away.The cunning and insidious Japanese base camp, in order to realize their wolf ambitions, mobilized 13 divisions from various battlefields in the Chinese theater, with a total of 300,000 horses.

In this operation, the Japanese army dispatched all the most elite troops dispatched to China, equipped with various heavy weapons such as aircraft, heavy artillery, and tanks. This is an excellent opportunity.According to the overall plan, they began to draw nets in areas far away from Xuzhou, built countless encirclement circles, and gradually shrunk to the land centered on Xuzhou, so that they could set up nets in Xuzhou and catch big fish. It was the Taierzhuang victory of the Chinese army that created this excellent opportunity for the Japanese base camp.The victory of Taierzhuang greatly encouraged the confidence of the people of the whole of China in the war of resistance, and at the same time inspired the courage of the Supreme Command of the National Government, especially the ambition of Chiang Kai-shek.Chiang Kai-shek actually confronted the Japanese army's battle plan tit for tat, and also dispatched a large number of reinforcements, trying to fight the powerful Japanese army on the Xuzhou site.

Chiang Kai-shek's actions were clearly seen by the Japanese headquarters, and they were secretly happy.It is indeed not easy to find such a fighter on the Chinese battlefield. If this battle can be fought well and the 600,000 elite troops placed by the Chinese army in the fifth theater can be completely wiped out, then the problems in the Chinese theater will be solved.This is exactly the war opportunity that the Japanese government and the Japanese emperor can't wait for.Therefore, when the Japanese emperor learned of Chiang Kai-shek's strategic deployment, he was overjoyed and asked the Japanese troops to go all out to prevent the Chinese troops in the Xuzhou area from slipping through.

It is not that the Chinese military supreme command did not fail to see the intention of the Japanese army, and later it fully saw it. The Japanese army increased its troops from the north and the south to achieve its own goals, and it became more and more obvious.If the Xuzhou theater can follow the policy of mobile defense and mobile warfare to ensure the initiative, and have a strong reserve corps on the southern side of Shandong, strive to attack the Japanese army during the movement, and stick to the canal line; and put a reserve corps in the west of Xuzhou , to cope with sudden changes in western Shandong and northern Anhui, that is to say, to increase the strength of the mobile and general reserve forces and reduce the strength of the frontline troops, then the battle in Xuzhou will be completely different.

However, the objective situation is the opposite. To be on the safe side, Li Zongren sent all his troops to the front line for a long-term resistance deployment.For example, Zhang Zizhong and Li Xianzhou contained the Japanese army in the southeast of Linyi; Pang Bingxun's troops were transferred to the Tancheng area for reinforcements and to cover the safety of the eastern section of the Longhai Railway; Sun Lianzhong and the 75th Army occupied a deep position on the northern line; Zhong's 51st Army is in the right position of Sun Lianzhong's department; Sun Zhen's 22nd Army is on defense at the south bank of Hanzhuang; Tang Enbo controls Sihu Town as a mobile strike force; The 46th Army of the Communist Party of China placed one division in Xuzhou, and the other two divisions were near Jiawang and Liguoyi; the five divisions of the General Reserve of the Fifth Theater were placed in Dangshan and Shangqiu.

Xuzhou Fifth Theater not only put all its troops on the front line, but even more wrongly engaged in an extended-wing competition with the Japanese army. In the southeast of the city, it stretches for hundreds of kilometers along the east bank of the river from the port town to Tancheng.This kind of wing extension competition will inevitably lead to the deployment of huge troops from the fifth theater to the front line.The Japanese army has a high degree of mechanization, and they are fast and flexible, so the Chinese army is in a passive position. The fighting in the Xuzhou area developed to the beginning of May, and the entire battle situation changed.The Japanese army's plan to implement a strategic detour from the rear of Xuzhou is about to be realized. The Japanese army coming from Jining in the north has reached Jinxiang and Yutai, and the 14th Division crossed the Yellow River and headed south towards Heze.In the south, the Japanese troops from Huaiyuan, after capturing Mengcheng, advanced towards Yongcheng, cut off the Longhai Road west of Xuzhou in a pincer shape from north to south, and completely surrounded the Chinese army in the Lunan area east of Xuzhou.

It is not difficult to see from the above situation that in the southeast, northwest and all directions of the Xuzhou area, the Chinese troops fought against the Japanese troops on their respective positions.They could not get the support of reinforcements, and there was no mobile force in the Xuzhou theater, so the Chinese army had to struggle on the ground, entangled and bitten by the Japanese army, and they were in a very dangerous situation. At this time, the Japanese base camp is not as secretive as it was at the beginning. They are not afraid to expose their intentions. Their wolfish ambitions have been revealed to the world. Now is the time to move forward quickly and close in all directions. Surround it, and then wipe it all out.

The number of Japanese troops that have arrived has reached more than 100,000. The Chinese army has discovered the designations of many Japanese troops on the battlefield. For example, in the northern battlefield, apart from the 10th Division of Isoya and the 5th Division of Itagaki, the 14th Division has been found , 103rd Division, 105th Division, 110th Division, Yamashita, Sakai and other corps; on the southern battlefield, in addition to the original Japanese 3rd Division and 9th Division, the 101st Division, Each of the 102nd Division, the 116th Division, and the 107th Division. Obviously, under the siege of the powerful Japanese army, if Li Zongren, the commander-in-chief of the fifth theater, did not take quick measures, then the more than 10 troops deployed in the southern Shandong area would be in danger of being completely wiped out in the Xuzhou area.In fact, both the Wuhan Supreme Military Command and the Fifth Theater had made corresponding combat plans against the enemy, but the participating troops were powerless in combat and tactics, and could not complete the tasks entrusted by the strategy.The situation of the troops participating in the battle is not that they are not fighting hard, but that after dozens of days of fighting, the troops have suffered heavy casualties. Although they still have a considerable advantage in numbers, their combat effectiveness is very low.

Not to mention the fact that the battle had lasted until this time, even when the morale of the whole army was high after the victory in Taierzhuang, they did not completely annihilate the defeated Japanese soldiers in Yi County and Zaozhuang near Taierzhuang in one go.Not to mention that the Japanese army received reinforcements and added strength, and the Chinese army was extremely exhausted from continuous combat. The aspirations of China's Supreme Military Council are far from the combat capabilities of the front-line troops and the ability to complete the strategic tasks of the Supreme Command.Ignoring this fact, Chiang Kai-shek was angry at the powerlessness of the front-line combat troops and often vented his dissatisfaction.Liu Fei, then Director of the First Office of the Kuomintang Military Command Department, explained this issue to Chairman Jiang. He also gave an example at that time that the Japanese army in northern Jiangsu had only 3,000 troops on the front line, and the Japanese army in Huaibei had only 3,000 troops on the front line. The force is no more than 5,000 people.Tired teacher, it's useless to complain, war has the law of war, desire is always desire.The soldiers in front have done their best, and they have made huge sacrifices. It is considered pretty good to be able to maintain the situation on the battlefield to this day.It is the chain of command decisions that should be blamed and blamed.

Until then, Chiang Kai-shek still did not give up. He believed that there were hundreds of thousands of his elite troops in the fifth theater of Xuzhou, so what would happen to the encirclement of the Japanese army.He told Lin Wei, the deputy head of the military command department, and Liu Fei, the director of the first department, that when you go to the front, you must explain clearly to the generals at all levels and ask them to carry out the orders of the command headquarters.As long as everyone works together, we will first defeat the enemies in Huaibei and Luxi one by one, and then transfer our offensive to southern Lunan, victory is assured. Lin Wei and Liu Fei went to Xuzhou, and they conveyed Chairman Jiang's latest deployment to Li Zongren.Liu Fei asked Li Zongren if he had mobilized the mobile force, and his words sounded like a complaint.Li Zongren said that when the troops are pulled up, one radish and one hole, is it so easy to pull it down? The day after Lin Wei and Liu Fei went to Xuzhou to deliver Chairman Jiang's instructions, they woke up and couldn't go back.Huangkou Station on the east side of Dangshan has been occupied by the Japanese army.The only traffic artery behind the Xuzhou Fifth Theater was cut off by the Japanese army, and Xuzhou was surrounded by the enemy. Li Zongren couldn't hold his breath anymore. He gave up his idea and recruited the commander-in-chiefs of the various group armies and related officers to Taierzhuang, and listened to Deputy Chief Lin Wei and Director Liu Fei conveying Chairman Jiang's decision on adjusting deployment: The new position line is from Yaowan and Maoerwo on the right, along the line of Hanzhuang on the south bank of the canal. The cameras of each unit are turned to the new position, and the fortifications are gradually strengthened. The forward positions of Shanshan and Taierzhuang should not be abandoned prematurely. The 2nd Corps of Li Yannian's Corps, the 4th Artillery Regiment of Tang Enbo's Army and some heavy artillery companies were transferred to Xuzhou to assemble and stand by immediately. Afterwards, Tang Enbo commanded to break the invasion from Huaibei to the west of Xuzhou. The enemy, all the troops were left under the command of Sun Lianzhong directly.Then Li Zongren appointed Sun Lianzhong and Yu Xuezhong as the commander-in-chief and deputy commander of the Southern Shandong Corps, Tang Enbo and Liu Ruming as the commander-in-chief and deputy commanders of the Longhai Corps, Han Deqin as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Jiangsu Corps, and Liao Lei as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Jiangsu Corps. The commander-in-chief of the Huaibei Corps, Li Pinxian is the commander-in-chief of the Huainan Corps.Li Zongren instructed the main commanders that if the Longhai Road was cut off, the Lunan Corps could transfer from Yongcheng and Mengcheng to Taihe and Bozhou under the cover of the Longhai Corps and Huaibei Corps.