After Han Fuqu ordered the three army commanders Sun Tongxuan, Cao Fulin, and Gu Liangmin to gather together, he immediately issued an order to abandon Jinan. At the same time, he also sent a telegram to Yu Xuezhong's 51st Army, a subordinate of his Third Army, to follow the main force of the Third Army to retreat south.
At this point, the four armies of Han Fuqu's Third Group Army, totaling 80,000 troops, lost Jinan without firing a single shot!
As soon as the news reached Wuhan, Chairman Chiang was furious because he had lost Nanjing even though he was defending it. He directly ordered Dai Li of the Secret Service to organize the arrest of Han Fuqu. At the same time, he secretly ordered Li Zongren, commander of the Fifth War Zone, to cooperate with Dai Li of the Secret Service. Director Dai carried out an operation to arrest Han Fuqu.
In fact, Li Zongren, commander of the Fifth War Zone, fully agreed with the arrest of Han Fuqu - Han Fuqu led the Third Army to retreat without a fight and abandoned Jinan, resulting in the loss of the Yellow River natural barrier. This move not only The National Government and the National Revolutionary Army slapped Li Zongren hard on the face.
As the commander-in-chief of the Fifth War Zone, Li Zongren failed to manage the Third Army Headquarters well. He was blamed for his lax command and weak command. The withdrawal of the Third Army is not only a shame for the Fifth War Zone, but also a shame for the entire national army!
Therefore, the arrest of Han Fuqu has been put on the agenda.
…
Fifth Theater Commander's Department, Li Zongren's Office.
"Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, Tang Shengzhi, Commander-in-Chief of the 7th Theater Command, called to ask if the gift has been received, sir?" A major ran in with a message and reported.
"Gift?" Li Zongren was a little confused. After all, he had nearly 400,000 troops under his command in the Fifth War Zone at this time, and they were basically composed of miscellaneous troops with many factions. Once these interpersonal relationships are not handled well, it is very likely that problems will arise. Failure to obey instructions.
One Han Fuqu had already troubled Li Zongren enough, but there couldn't be another one. He had been busy these days, so when he heard the telegram, he was a little confused.
After all, there are many things to do, and it is normal to forget some things.
"Yes, that's what it said in Commander Tang's message." The major said with a straight face.
Li Zongren thought for about half a minute and finally remembered. He said: "Oh, by the way. It seems that Commander Tang said that he would send me a combat unit of the German Arms Reinforcement Group. I agreed before, and the number seems to be No. The Seventh War Zone is directly under the First Regiment, right?”
"Sir, you remembered it wrong." The major corrected Li Zongren, "The designation of this regiment is the first regiment directly under the Third War Zone. It was a unit directly established in Nanjing during the Nanjing Defense War. Although the designation is that of the Third War Zone, No., but its troops have never returned to the Third War Zone. Previously, before crossing the river, Commander Tang gave an order to this troops to assemble in Xuzhou."
By the time the major said this, Li Zongren had completely remembered it. He rubbed his fists and said, "This Tang Shengzhi is really interesting. He sent me a moral weapon reinforcement group at once. It seems that I owe this favor." It’s his.”
As an old fox who has experienced many officialdoms and battlefields, how could Li Zongren not understand what Tang Shengzhi meant?
Tang Shengzhi and Li Zongren were old acquaintances and had a certain friendship in private, so at the last moment, Tang Shengzhi gave him a final gift. Not to mention a big gift, it can only be said to be of medium meaning, but it was also meaningful enough.
Nanjing fell, and the Seventh Theater existed in name only. Most of its troops were destroyed in the battle to defend Nanjing. Among the German Arms Divisions, only the Thirty-sixth Division was mostly withdrawn, and the rest were in name only.
This third theater is directly under the first regiment. Although it is only a small reinforced regiment, it is a German weapon reinforced regiment with very sophisticated equipment. If used properly, it can be used as a very sharp knife.
Moreover, this regiment has not yet officially received an order from the Ministry of Military Affairs or the Wuhan Military Commission, but it is time to take action. If not, Gu Zhutong will pull this unit back.
No matter how small a mosquito is, it is still meat, not to mention that this is not a mosquito, right? This is quite fat thigh meat...
"Immediately call the first regiment directly under the third theater and ask them where they have arrived!" Li Zongren was not the kind of person who was procrastinating. Since he wanted this unit, he had to act quickly.
What's more, the Fifth War Zone is short of troops, especially troops that are sophisticated and capable of fighting, like the 22nd Army of the Sichuan Army's Deng Xihou. Didn't Li Zongren just want them too?
You must know that this 22nd Group Army is a force that the commander of the Second Theater Command, Yan Xishan, does not want, and it is also a force that every theater is unwilling to accept.
Speaking of why this Sichuan Army Corps was disliked by Yan Xishan, the commander-in-chief of the Second War Zone, there is an interesting story.
Deng Xihou's troops were originally stationed in Chengdu, western Sichuan. Because the waterway leading from the defense area to the outside world was blocked by Liu Xiang's troops of the Sichuan Army, they could not purchase ammunition for replenishment. Therefore, most of the firearms and weapons used by the soldiers were poor and inferior.
Motivated by righteousness, Deng Xihou of the Sichuan Army asked Ying to leave Sichuan to participate in the Anti-Japanese War. Under the military order of the headquarters, it was organized into the 22nd Army, which had jurisdiction over the 41st Army and the 45th Army. Deng Xihou was the commander-in-chief, and Sun Zhen was the commander-in-chief. As the deputy commander, Sun Zhen also served as the commander of the 41st Army, and the commander of the 45th Army was Chen Dingxun, a general of Deng Xihou's family.
This time when they came out of Sichuan to fight against Japan, the 22nd Army, led by Deng and Sun personally, went to the Second Theater to participate in the Shanxi Defense War. However, the army hastily set out and traveled a long way, and there was no organization of supply depots along the way. It was necessary to buy food and grass on the spot, which had a great impact on military discipline. With such a large group army and the distance when it goes north, it is inevitable that some troops will appear to grab food. .
Deng Xihou's troops arrived in Shanxi, and Taiyuan had already been declared lost. The Japanese army used mobile and fast troops to charge left and right at the national army. The Sichuan army was scattered by the enemy before it could gain a firm foothold. It followed the army and retreated in embarrassment, encountering the ordnance of the Shanxi-Sui Army along the way. He broke into the warehouse without asking for instructions and replenished the goods without permission. Ahem, to put it harshly, it was just a robbery.
This matter was quickly learned by Yan Xishan, the commander-in-chief of the Second War Zone. Yan Xishan was furious and immediately called the headquarters to ask the Sichuan Army to transfer him.
After the headquarters received this problem, it immediately raised it in the daily report at the high-level meeting. Chiang Kai-shek was also very angry when he heard the report and said: "If the second theater refuses to take them, they will be transferred to the first theater. Ask Chief Cheng if you want it?"
Soon, the Military Commission called Zhengzhou to inform Cheng Qian, commander of the First Theater Command, of the order and honestly told the whole story.
Who would have thought that Cheng Qian had already heard about the Sichuan Army's style, but he refused directly on the phone.
Later, the Military Commission had no choice. After Lin Wei, deputy director of the Military Command Department, reported the news to Chairman Chiang and asked for instructions, Chiang Kai-shek was in a bad mood because of the initial loss of Nanjing. After hearing the news, he became furious. He was furious and said: "Then transfer them back and let them return to Sichuan to proclaim themselves kings and emperors!"
Bai Chongxi listened on the side and persuaded: "Let me call Xuzhou and ask Commander Li of the Fifth War Zone if he wants it?"
Afterwards, Bai Chongxi asked Li Zongren on a long-distance phone call from Wuhan and told him what happened.
For Li Zongren, it was the time when Han Fuqu had retreated without a fight and had no reinforcements to mobilize, so he said to Bai Chongxi: "That's great! That's great! I need troops now, please hurry up and send them." They were transferred to Xuzhou!"
When Bai Chongxi heard that Li Zongren agreed so readily, he reminded him: "Of course their combat capabilities are inferior."
Unexpectedly, Li Zongren smiled bitterly and said: "Zhuge Liang used straw men as suspects. They are better than straw men, right? Please transfer them quickly!"
As a result, the 22nd Army of the Sichuan Army was assigned to the battle order of the Fifth Theater on December 28, 1937.
Coincidentally, it was half an hour before Li Zongren called to ask Zhang Tianhai where the first regiment directly under the third theater was.
…
After receiving the telegram from Li Zongren of the Fifth War Zone, Guo Qiliang was not in a general dilemma. After all, they went north to Xuzhou on the order of Tang Shengzhi, Commander-in-Chief of Nanjing Garrison, and they had not yet received a telegram from the Chief of the Seventh War Zone (i.e. Nanjing Garrison District). An order, an order to be placed under the fifth theater of war.
But Xuzhou is the territory of Commander Li Zongren of the Fifth War Zone, and he has to report it.
Now Guo Qiliang really wanted to wait for Zhang Tianhai, but didn't the call from Chief Li, the commander of the fifth theater, just urge them to report to Xuzhou as soon as possible? Guaranteed, there is a big battle to be fought.
As for whether it will be the order of battle assigned to the fifth theater, these are no longer what he, Guo Qiliang, should care about when he is young. What he needs to care about is how to reply to Chief Li's telegram without exposing the regiment leader Zhang Tianhai. Things that are not at the regimental headquarters.
Disobeying orders on the battlefield is a huge problem. If it is exposed, it will have a great impact on Zhang Yulin's personal future, and it will have a bad impact, so Guo Qiliang feels very embarrassed.
"Chief of Staff Guo, how should I reply to this telegram?" Zheng Man asked Guo Qiliang at the temporary headquarters of the Zhiyi Regiment.
I saw Guo Qiliang sighing softly: "Hey, to be honest, I am also in a dilemma. It must be extremely bad to deceive the commander. The key is that after lying, no one can help us to unravel the lie. "
In Guo Qiliang's opinion, if there has been no news about Zhang Tianhai for so long, something has happened.
"Don't worry. According to reliable information, Zhang Yulin is already leading his troops on the way north." Zheng Man raised a slight smile at the corner of his mouth, not knowing where her reliable information came from.
After hearing the news, Guo Qiliang finally breathed a sigh of relief. He immediately made a decision and said sternly: "Okay, Director Zheng, you call Chief Li of the Fifth Theater Department immediately and tell us The first regiment directly under the third theater will arrive in Xuzhou soon!"
He, Guo Qiliang, could only buy Zhang Tianhai two more days.
"Yes! Chief of Staff!" Zheng Man returned the military salute, but the smile on his lips became even brighter, like a gorgeous mountain flower that had just opened, extremely beautiful.
…
ps: The first update is here.
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