Time passed day by day, but the battle in Xuzhou did not stop, and the battle was still fierce.
On May 1, 1938, enemies from the southern section of Jinpu Road and Hanshan County continued to invade Chao County in the afternoon.
The enemies in the southern section of Jinpu Road are mainly the northward troops of the Japanese Central China Expeditionary Force. Their main purpose is to open up the Huainan Railway, and then open up the Jinpu Railway, and join forces with the North China Front at the foot of Xuzhou City.
Looking at the direction of attack of the Japanese Central China Expeditionary Force, it can be divided into three directions -
Among them, the Eastern Route Army, with the Japanese 17th Division as the main force, combined with the 3rd Division and part of the 116th Division, marched north from Nantong, Hai'an, and Yancheng to attack Funing;
The Central Route Army marched north from Zhenjiang along Shaobo and Gaoyou, and attacked Huaiyin. The Japanese army on this route had the 3rd Division as the main force, supplemented by part of the 116th Division, led by the commander of the 3rd Division Fujita. Become a commander and have a smooth journey!
The West Route Army assembled the essence of the Japanese Central China Expeditionary Force - with the 9th Division and the 13th Division as the main force, coupled with the 102nd Division and the 107th Division, it can be said that it is the main force. At the end of the day, the main force of the army on this road is already 90,000 troops.
In order to cope with the northward offensive, the frantic commander of the Central China Expeditionary Force, General Hata Shunroku, actually ordered the Sixth Division to attack Wuhan directly along the south bank of the Yangtze River. This combat plan cannot but be said to be very crazy.
Although Itagaki Seishiro's 5th Division and Isotani Rensuke's 10th Division suffered a major defeat in the direction of Xuzhou, Hata Junroku believed that it was a problem with the command capabilities of Itagaki Seishiro and Isotani Rensuke. How could a strong man like Hisao encounter failure so easily?
It can be said that the entire Xuzhou is almost reduced to a pot of porridge.
But what measures has the Chinese military taken? Probably only the soldiers will come to stop it, and the water will come to cover it up——
Responsible for blocking the Japanese troops from moving north on the east road was Han Delqin's 24th Group Army. This group army had two corps and four divisions, plus a Jiangsu Security Regiment, which barely counted five divisions.
The 24th Group Army consists of Miao Chanliu's 57th Army and Han Deqin's own 89th Army. This unit is not well-equipped, but it is still capable of fighting.
The ones responsible for defending Huaiyin were Fan Songfu's 46th Army and Tan Daoyuan's 22nd Army, which were urgently transferred from the north of Xuzhou. Commander Fan Songfu served as the frontline commander.
Facing the West Route Army, the absolute main force of the Japanese army, are only the three armies of the Gui Army, namely the 31st Army of Li Pinxian's 11th Army, and the 7th and 48th Army of Liao Lei's 21st Army. military.
Once the battle started, the situation was very fierce.
It's no wonder that almost everyone is not optimistic about the situation in Xuzhou - the Japanese army launched a flanking attack from the north and the south with ferocious force, and their troops have strong combat effectiveness, coupled with the coordination of heavy weapons, at least on paper. The national army has no advantage above!
On May 2, the National Army troops from Pi County and Tancheng County in the northern section of Jinpu Road launched a counterattack at dawn in three groups to attack the Japanese troops who were about to approach the city.
To the east, the attack was from Niangzi Lake; to the west, the attack was from Lianfangshan; and from the front, the attack was from Laogou.
Once the battle started, the fighting was fierce on all sides.
In addition, there were fierce battles in the northwest of Pi County, the northeast of Taierzhuang, and on both sides of the Yixian and Taizao branch lines.
On May 3, Tancheng fell. After occupying Tancheng County, the enemy troops continued to invade Xin'an Town. At the same time, they sent troops to attack the southern border of Pi County and launch a general counterattack against our army!
The outcome of the battle in the northern part of Pi County was decided on the evening of the third day. After the national army conquered Daliang and Xiaoliang, which were heavily guarded by the enemy, one force approached Sihu Town and the other force surrounded Nanqiao.
This unit was the Yunnan Army unit under Lu Han's command. For a time, the battle report that the Yunnan Army stole the show on the Xuzhou front spread throughout the country.
The names of the heroic Yunnan Army troops and Commander Lu Han also began to spread throughout the streets and alleys across the country.
On the afternoon of the 4th, Zhang Tianhai, who had already slept in his room, finally became energetic.
"How's it going? Nothing happened while I was catching up on my sleep, right?" Zhang Tianhai, who had already brushed his teeth and washed his face, walked into the combat hall of the regiment headquarters.
"No major incident happened, but there were quite a lot of battle reports on minor incidents." Zhou Fangjie said with a wry smile.
"Oh? What is a trivial matter?" Zhang Tianhai asked curiously.
"In general, if there is no major defeat, it is considered a minor matter." Zhou Fangjie said with a bitter look on his face, as if Zhang Tianhai had exploited his labor force.
Well, the kind that doesn’t pay.
"Tell me, what do you think is a big deal?" Zhang Tianhai asked with interest. After all, he had already slept, so his mental state was naturally very full.
"Old Zhang, come here and take a look." Zhou Fangjie walked directly to the military map and picked up the baton.
"Well, then I'm here to listen to your opinion." Zhang Tianhai walked to Zhou Fangjie's side with a smile.
"Anyway, in my opinion, as long as Hanzhuang and Pixian are not lost, the other problems are not big." After saying that, Zhou Fangjie pointed at Hanzhuang, Pixian and Taierzhuang on the map with his baton. Location, "Hanzhuang is now the north gate of Taierzhuang, and Pi County is the east gate of Taierzhuang. As long as there is no difference between these two places, Taierzhuang will have no worries. If Taierzhuang has no worries, then Xuzhou will have no worries."
"Then why don't you look at the location of the southern section of Jinpu Road?" Zhang Tianhai pointed to the central area and continued: "As far as I know, the Japanese Army's Central China Expedition Army has also sent many troops north, whether it is Huaiyin or Fu Ning, or something goes wrong in Suxian and Mengcheng areas, it will cause big problems."
"However, as far as I know, our troops responsible for defending these three Japanese armies actually use the strength of four armies, Li Pinxian's 11th Army, and Liao Lei's 21st Army, plus Han Deqin's 24th Army, Fan Songfu's 46th Army, and Tan Daoyuan's 22nd Army. These two armies can barely be regarded as the strength of a group army, right? If such a powerful force can still block Without the Japanese attack, there is nothing we can do." Zhou Fangjie said very confidently, obviously having great confidence in the deployment of troops in the southern section.
"The defense of Su County should not be a problem, but the key is Mengcheng. I just don't know if Mengcheng can hold it." Zhang Tianhai pointed to Mengcheng County, about two hundred kilometers southwest of Susu County.
"Oh? Why Mengcheng? I want to hear your opinion." Zhou Fangjie said with some surprise. After all, the location of Mengcheng is somewhat incompatible with the strategic goal of joining forces in Xuzhou...
"Here in Mengcheng, it seems that you are going to go to Xuzhou in the opposite direction. However, if you look at it from a different perspective, it is completely worthwhile to win here." Zhang Tianhai said somewhat mysteriously.
"What's the purpose? Do they want to attack Fuyang and then enter Huangchuan County, and finally go deep into Wuhan alone?" Zhou Fangjie's brows frowned slightly. It was obvious that he was not optimistic about the prediction that the Japanese army would attack Mengcheng.
"Look, if they capture Mengcheng first, then march north to Yongcheng, and then march north from Yongcheng to Dangshan for a fierce attack. At the same time, the Japanese North China Front will advance from Jinxiang, Shandong to Shanxian, and then attack Dangshan or It's Guide (that is, Shangqiu), look at the battle situation, what kind of shape will it show?" Zhang Tianhai always had a smile on his face, and he had an arrogant look like "I am planning ahead of time".
"Mengcheng, Yongcheng, Dangshan...Jinxiang, Shanxian, Dangshan?" Zhou Fangjie was gesticulating with his baton, but at the end of the gesticulation, his face changed drastically, "Could it be that these little devils are really that big?" Appetite, do you want to devour the main force of the fifth theater of our army in one bite?!"
"Don't be anxious, we have to see if the Japanese army really wants to capture Mengcheng before we draw any conclusions!" Zhang Tianhai said with a smile, his face full of calmness and calmness.
…
PS: The second update is here...
Make up for it, wait a minute, I'll try to make it up tomorrow morning.
