Songhu: Never Give Up

Three days later, the main force of the guerrilla column arrived in Xuzhou one after another, and Yue Qianli and the third detachment, who were responsible for the rear guard, also caught up with the main force;

On the second day after their evacuation, the Third Division captured Bengbu City without bloodshed, and the Huaihe Campaign, which had lasted for more than two months, came to an end.

Fujita Susumu loudly announced the victory of the southern battle, annihilating more than 3 enemies. Yue Qianli led the remnants to break out to the north. The 13rd and th Divisions were pursuing the victory, but their pursuit speed was not fast.
Fujita Susumu and Tanaka Shizuka were not very interested in occupying Xuzhou. They did not want to push the guerrilla column too far and could not afford to cause any casualties.

In Xuzhou City, Yue Qianli convened a meeting with several key members. After learning that there were still a lot of supplies in the city, his face was filled with joy. The atmosphere in the meeting place was good, sweeping away the haze of the defeat in the Battle of Xuzhou.

Yue Qianli waved his hand and said:

"Brothers, the strategic intention of the decisive battle in Jianghuai has been achieved. The Japanese have suffered huge losses in the battle, and many divisions are unable to fight. This is the effect we want;
The most important part of weaving baskets is closing the mouth, and this final touch depends on us to complete.

The loss of Xuzhou is inevitable, but we can't lose it too shamefully. It's impossible to occupy Xuzhou city with a small number of troops. I, Yue Qianli, also have to save my dignity!"

Everyone echoed, and Gao Zhisong said loudly:
"Old Yue, we have tens of thousands of troops and Xuzhou has sufficient supplies. We can catch the opportunity to give the Japanese a surprise blow!

In short, if you want Xuzhou, you have to pay with your life."

Duan Yulin also took over and said:
“I agree with Lao Gao’s opinion, but we must control the scale of the battle and not deviate from the overall strategy of the Military Commission;
There are more than a dozen divisions around Xuzhou now. We must not stir up a hornet's nest and get ourselves involved. We must jump out of the encirclement before the Japanese tighten their pockets."

Everyone agreed that they could fight but they didn't want to get themselves into trouble. This was the consensus of everyone.

Yue Qianli nodded and said:
"I agree with Wang Jianfei's idea. We should set up defenses layer by layer, block the enemy in stages, use the supplementary detachment to attract the enemy, and let the main force of the column hide secretly. When we have the chance, we can annihilate part of the enemy during the movement. In this way, we can retreat calmly.

The most important issue now is where to choose the ambush point. My opinion is to use the tactic of retreating to the west of Xuzhou and fight a decisive battle, gradually giving up Xuzhou and luring the enemy to pursue..."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and then they used their collective wisdom and worked together to further improve the battle plan and finalized it on the spot.

After the guerrilla column emptied all the combat supplies left in the Xuzhou city war zone, it secretly evacuated Xuzhou city.

Wang Jianfei really guessed it right, Yue Qianli came here just for the combat supplies!

With the loss of the country's most valuable areas, the government's control over manpower, material resources, and territory is becoming less and less, and supply will become the biggest problem restricting the development of the army;
After the Battle of Wuhan, parts of Northeast China, North China, Hedong, Huanghuai, Jianghuai, East China, South China, and Central China fell into the hands of the Japanese. It was really difficult for the National Government to feed 200 million troops.

Why did life get worse and worse in the following years? The reason was that the troops did not get enough supplies, they did not have enough food to eat, and they did not have enough bullets. How could they fight this war?
We cannot rely solely on external aid. We can only advance behind enemy lines and fight the Japanese for territory. You fight yours and I fight mine. Only by establishing a solid base can we survive and develop.

It is said that one should prepare for a rainy day. What he is thinking about most now is to ensure that these tens of thousands of soldiers have food to eat and bullets to use.

This sounds simple, but it is difficult to do. Tens of thousands of mouths need food to feed, so he thought of Xuzhou.

Hundreds of thousands of main forces had withdrawn, leaving behind a huge amount of equipment and supplies. He absolutely could not let the Japanese get away with it, which was one of the reasons why he went north to Xuzhou;

The other reason is hard to explain... The supplies in Xuzhou City did not disappoint him. The food and ammunition alone were enough for the guerrilla column to fight for half a year. Fortunately, they had enough mules, horses and carts, and he took all the supplies away.

It is said that if you have food at home, you will not be worried. Yue Qianli, who had gained a lot of benefits in Xuzhou City, felt much more at ease.
He really didn't take the 30 Japanese soldiers around him seriously. If he couldn't defeat them, could he not run away?

East of Xuzhou, 106th Division Headquarters

The enemy situation reported by the 113th Regiment aroused the vigilance of Lieutenant General Fumio Miyano, the division commander. Colonel Yoshitaka Akiyama, the chief of staff, made a suggestion:
“Your Excellency, this is definitely not an ordinary rearguard unit.

At present, the 30-strong empire army has surrounded Xuzhou, and the hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops gathered in Xuzhou have been defeated. The 68th Army, which has been treated as a discarded pawn, cannot possibly still have such a fighting spirit. "

Lieutenant General Miyashita followed his train of thought and asked:
"Mr. Qiu Shan, do you mean that the Chinese have changed their generals?"

"Your Excellency, Division Commander, I'm not sure about this, and there is not enough intelligence to support this inference at the moment, but one thing is certain, the defenders used a large number of Japanese weapons!"

"Nani, Imperial Machinery?"

Lieutenant General Miyashita fell into a brief moment of deep thought, and Colonel Akiyama did not disturb him. After a while, Lieutenant General Miyashita made up his mind and said in a firm tone:
“Akiyama-kun, Xuzhou is like a ripe peach in front of us. Even if the Chinese have changed their generals, my Kumamoto Division will swallow this peach by force.
If you want the Chinese to conceal their intentions, then show them!"

Colonel Akiyama also agreed with the division commander's decision. Since they didn't know the enemy's situation, they should fight first and see how it goes. So he continued to suggest:
"Your Excellency, the 113th Regiment has suffered hundreds of casualties. We are not superior in terms of manpower and firepower. I suggest strengthening the 113th Regiment so that we can force all the Chinese troops out."

"Yoshi, Akiyama-kun's suggestion is very good. Dispatch an artillery battalion to support Tanaka-kun, and order the 147th Regiment to conduct a flanking attack on both wings. I want to see if they can stop the three-sided attack of the two regiments of the Imperial Army.
Tell Harada-kun that the outflanking troops should not carry heavy weapons and baggage, but only a week's supply of food, and should boldly penetrate behind the Chinese and force them to retreat."

Colonel Akiyama now had no worries. Two regiments were enough to defeat an entire Chinese army, and they were reinforced by an artillery battalion.

Although the 106th Division is a special division, they have high morale and always take the 6th Division as a benchmark. They are not afraid of a ragtag army, let alone an army of the Central Army.

One day later, the 2th Regiment, which had been strengthened in manpower and firepower, launched another attack on the 113nd Battalion's blocking position. More than 2 artillery pieces of various sizes fiercely bombarded the nd Battalion's blocking position.

Before the artillery fire could be extended, the infantry group launched a charge towards the artillery points, determined to teach the 2nd Battalion a lesson.

"Brothers, we can't hold on any longer. Retreat!"

The 1st Company, which was at the forefront, was the first to collapse. Yue Wanli lost face for his brother and ran away faster than a rabbit.

The defeat of the 1st Company triggered a chain reaction. The 2nd and 3rd Companies could no longer hold on and scrambled to escape.

Seeing that the Chinese had been defeated, the Japanese officers at all levels immediately issued an order to pursue them, and the battle finally entered a familiar pattern for the 113th Regiment.

(End of this chapter)