So Zhou Wen has to wait now. When the news of the continuous failure of the Rehe War comes, the Peking Branch will definitely change its original plan and make corresponding emergency arrangements. At that time, let alone go to Shijiazhuang to join the 32nd Army, it is a matter of opinion whether the 32nd Army is still in Shijiazhuang.
Zhou Wen just wanted to wait for the Peiping branch to be in chaos, and hoped that when the troops could rush to the Great Wall defense line as soon as possible, he took advantage of the transportation convenience of the northern railways and highways to take the advance detachment of more than a thousand brothers and take the train directly from Yangqu. Arrive at Changli or Luan County on the Beining Railway, then take a truck directly to Jianchangying, and then pass through the pass without anyone noticing through the trail that most people don't know about.
Zhou Wen's foresight before taking people to survey the terrain outside Lengkou Pass was now reflected. He knew all the roads and trails from Rehe to Lengkou. As long as he sent a few brothers to investigate, he would be able to quickly obtain the movements of the Japanese army. By then, how could we fight if everyone was a fish and I was a knife? Where to fight? It's all up to you.
After the officers' meeting, Zhou Wen stayed with the commander-in-chief and Zhao Changshu and told them all about his analysis and plans.
The commander was shocked and said: "You mean General Rehe can't hold on for half a month? It's impossible. No matter how powerful the Japanese army is, they can't defeat the 200,000 Northeastern Army in a short time. You know, that's a full 200,000 people." Man, even if there are 200,000 pigs and tens of thousands of Japanese troops, it’s impossible for them to catch them all in half a month, right?”
Although Zhao Changshu knew that Zhou Wen had the ability to predict like a magic stick, he agreed with the marshal's opinion this time. He also persuaded Zhou Wen: "Awen, I know you look down on Marshal Zhang who lost the Northeast, and you also look down on the Northeast Army, but this This time, Marshal Zhang has sent a message to the whole country, vowing to defend Jehol Province to the death. He is very determined to resist and will never escape without a fight."
"Furthermore, his generals such as Zhang Zuoxiang, Tang Yulin, and Wang Yizhe also signed the power, which shows that this time everyone in the Northeast Army is working hard to compete with the Japs. Awen, are you too pessimistic? "
Zhou Wen smiled bitterly in his heart. If he hadn't known this history, even he himself wouldn't have believed the ending.
You must know that this basically goes against every military common sense since the advent of thermal weapons. Even if your heavy firepower is inferior to the opponent, even if your tactics are passive and dull defense, in Jehol Province, which is mainly mountainous, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. The terrain, as long as 200,000 people have a little determination to resist, even if a city or a dangerous terrain only holds on for one day and then gives up, it will not last for half a month.
However, judging from the time, the most incredible scene in the history of this kind of war is about to happen in the second half of this month. By then, it will really only take 12 days from the launch of the Japanese attack to the occupation of the entire Rehe Province. The Japanese army will create It is a miracle in the history of world war, and it is also a shame in the history of the Republic of China, and it is also a shame in the history of the army of the Republic of China.
Zhou Wen analyzed it carefully: "Commander, since Marshal Zhang ordered no resistance during the September 18th Incident and the Northeast Army lost its home base, the Northeast Army is no longer the world-famous army it was back then. , the moment they lost the Northeast, it was equivalent to losing their own soul."
"The homes and relatives of hundreds of thousands of officers and soldiers were all abandoned to the Japanese. They didn't have time to think about it when they fled, but after the shock subsided, the whole army became dissatisfied with the young commander. The soldiers had no fighting spirit. , the generals have different intentions, and when the war breaks out, as long as one person surrenders, they will follow suit, and as long as one person escapes, they will follow like a cloud. They can no longer be regarded as an army, they are just a group of frightened birds, and they have no fighting power at all."
Zhou Wen then analyzed in detail the situation of several leading generals of the Northeastern Army. He said that he had received some information channels from Nanjing and told how Tang Yulin, the chairman of Rehe Province, was acting perversely in Rehe Province, squeezing the people and deducting military pay. The situation of military morale and people's morale in the province was also discussed.
After listening to Zhou Wen's words, the Marshal was silent for a while, shook his head and sighed: "The situation you mentioned is not impossible to happen. Alas! How majestic Marshal Zhang was back then, and his huge family fortune fell to Xiao Liuzi In the hands of this dandy, he has already been completely defeated in just a few years. It’s so heart-breaking for him to be a traitor!”
After the commander sighed, he said to Zhou Wen: "Although the old man still doesn't believe this result, there is a saying in the art of war: calculate defeat before calculating victory, so we will plan according to the worst outcome. Today, the old man I called the Peiping branch and the 32nd Army respectively, saying that the old man needed a few more days to collect military supplies and military supplies, and asked the model brigade to postpone its journey north until all the food and ammunition were collected before setting off."
Then the marshal discussed it in detail with Zhou Wen. In order to ensure that the army could board the train and set off at any time, the marshal had mobilized dozens of carriages from several railway stations in the name of raising food and grass for the northern war. , all concentrated at Yangqu Station, waiting for the situation in the north to change, and then immediately headed towards the final destination.
Of course, Zhou Wen would not explicitly say that he was going to Lengkou Pass now, but historically, the 32nd Army was urgently transferred to Lengkou Pass for defense by the Peking Branch after the fall of Rehe.
In the next few days, more than 10,000 people in the model brigade stopped field training. All officers and soldiers who were away returned to the team. The entire camp was tight on the outside and tight on the inside. All combat weapons and equipment were distributed, waiting for news about the Jehol War. .
By late February, the Japanese Kwantung Army launched the invasion of Jehol as scheduled.
Kwantung Army Commander Muto Nobuyoshi issued an ultimatum to the Northeast Army on the 22nd, requiring all Chinese troops stationed in Rehe to withdraw.
On February 23, Japan's request for China to withdraw its troops from Jehol was rejected, and the Japanese troops divided into three groups and began a large-scale attack.
On the same day, the 17th Cavalry Brigade of the Northeast Army, led by the brigade commander Cui Xingwu, garrisoned the important town of Kailu in the north of Rehe. Thousands of the defenders fled without fighting, and Kailu fell into the enemy's hands.
On February 25, Shao Benliang, commander of the 58th Regiment of the 18th Brigade of the Northeast Army stationed in Chaoyang, an important town in the east of Rehe, surrendered to the enemy. As a result, the 18th Brigade's defense line was broken by the Japanese army. The 18th Brigade fought hard to no avail. The whole brigade broke out south, and Chaoyang fell.
On February 27, the garrison in the eastern fortress of Rehe fled without a fight, and the Japanese army arrived at the Laoha River.
At this point, only four days after the battle began, the Chinese defense line east of Rehe completely collapsed. Tens of thousands of defenders fled and surrendered, without even fighting a decent battle.
When the news reached the rear, Marshal Zhang at the Peiping Branch Headquarters stared at the telegram in his hand dumbfounded, as if in a dream. He couldn't believe that this was the tiger and wolf division he was once familiar with. For a moment, he wanted to cry without tears.
On this day, the Model Brigade received an emergency order to head north.
