Anti-Japanese War: From Becoming Chu Yunfei to Rising

Chapter 215 General Hata Shunroku personally came to the front line to supervise the battle; the main force of the Japanese army was completely wiped out in three days! (Subscribe)
"Where is Commander Chu? Why did he suddenly order the army to stop marching?"

Qian Bojun rode his horse to the command post, he was quite puzzled at this time.

Fang Ligong turned around and said, "Be patient, this is the chairman's order."

"Change again?"

Seeing Fang Ligong nodded slightly.

Even Qian Bojun, who had never been very fond of the chairman, was full of complaints at this time.

"Changing orders every day... Even if the war situation changes rapidly, you can't change it like this, right?"

Let alone Qian Bojun, the one who revised the telegram three times in five days.

Chu Yunfei was overwhelmed at this moment.

There are two fighters that can be captured in Xuzhou in the later stage.

The first fighter plane is the 13th Division and the 9th Division in the southern Shandong direction.

The second fighter plane was the 14th Division that advanced alone.

But based on the current strategic situation.

Chu Yunfei was not sure whether the 14th Division would advance alone again.

However, the 13th Division and the 9th Division in southern Shandong are relatively easy targets.

These two divisions fought against the Guangxi troops.

In terms of firepower, they were completely crushed, and the flank attacks by the Guangxi clique's troops were basically ineffective against them.

The Japanese army did not engage in combat with them at all.

Thrust hard.

Just to complete the strategic encirclement.

Liu Ruming's troops had just arrived in Xuzhou.

Yes, it was Tang Enbo, the one who led to the bloody battle at Nankou.

The battle in northern Shanxi preserved the main force of the direct line.

This left the Second Security Brigade under his command isolated and helpless, with most of its members suffering casualties.

After Brigade Commander Ma Yutian died in battle, Battalion Commander Shu Xiaokong died in battle.

It is because Liu Ruming is preserving his own strength and is afraid of fighting.

And this person Liu Ruming.

Looking back on his entire military career, he can only be said to be a typical local military general in the Republic of China period.

The Central Army resisted the front.

He had no problem leading his troops on the flanks and sneaking around in the rear, doing piecemeal attacks.

Even each attack could kill dozens or hundreds of Japanese devils.

And it caused considerable trouble to the Japanese army.

Forcing the Japanese troops to set up separate garrison areas.

Unable to launch a full-scale frontal attack.

But if you let Liu Ruming lead his troops to resist on the front line and carry out positional defense operations.

Just as written in the previous article.

He must have run away.

The friendly forces will definitely be beaten to a pulp by the Japanese.

Fighting side by side with Liu Ruming, there would be no flank cover.

Only fight alone.

Li Zongren asked Liu Ruming's 68th Army to be under the command of General Liao Lei of the 21st Army Group.

Liu Ruming and his troops have just arrived in Xuzhou.

Then we received the order to go south for support.

When he led his troops south, they had only traveled less than 50 kilometers.

Liu Ruming found that the situation on the battlefield seemed quite unfavorable.

The original support mission was abandoned immediately and the troops began to retreat urgently to the Woyang area in the west.

That's how he gave in.

The entire gate of Xuzhou was wide open.

How could Liao Lei, a Guangxi clique general, command Liu Ruming, who came from the Northwest Army?

Speaking of Liao Lei, the cause of his death is also full of mystery.

After cooperating with the New Fourth Army, he was criticized by some generals of the CC faction and the New Guangxi faction.

Died of a sudden cerebral hemorrhage.

Liao Lei's health was not very good to begin with, but his death at such a critical juncture, to be honest...it's hard not to have conspiracy theories.

In terms of seniority, Liu Ruming is actually not much worse than Liao Lei. The two are also about the same age.

Logically speaking, if it were a general of the Northwest Army, he might respect Liao Lei.

But Liu Ruming didn't even listen to Chiang Kai-shek's telegrams. He was a typical petty warlord.

Relying on the fact that I have someone with a gun, I do whatever I want.

This concession made Li Zongren even more angry.

A telegram was immediately sent to Wuhan.

In the combat meeting room at this moment.

In Chiang Kai-shek's hand was a telegram from Chu Yunfei requesting him to go to western Shandong to support the Third Army's operations.

The other telegram accused Liu Ruming of fighting poorly and retreating without authorization, which left the gate of Xuzhou open.

In the first telegram, Chiang Kai-shek was still in a relatively stable mood.

After all, he had already been mentally prepared for Chu Yunfei's proposals and requests.

But when he saw the second telegram, Chiang Kai-shek was instantly ignited with anger: "Liu Ziliang went too far. He gave way to the Japanese army without firing a single shot."

"Committee..."

"I'm going to show him how powerful I am sooner or later!"

Chiang Kai-shek cursed a few times.

Then he frowned and looked at the telegram sent by Chu Yunfei again.

After thinking for a long time, he turned to look at Xiong Bin on the side and said, "Call Chu Yunfei back to ask about his specific plans."

"Also, tell him that the Central China Expeditionary Force currently heading north from Mengcheng is heading straight for Xuzhou."

"Yes!"

Chu Yunfei has not received the telegram yet.

He Weizhen's 173rd Division received Liao Lei's death order and led his troops to Mengcheng to build a defense line.

Mengcheng is a small county town with a thin earthen wall.

It is far inferior to the important cities of Taierzhuang, Linyi, Lincheng and Yixian in southern Shandong.

The surrounding open wheat fields are not only unsuitable for defending the city.

It even facilitates the attack of the mechanized troops specially assigned by the Central China Expeditionary Force.

Fortunately, God finally helped me a little this time.

The long-drought southern China welcomed the rain.

After the rain, the roads became muddy and the speed of the Japanese attack naturally slowed down.

However, the 173rd Division heading to Mengcheng for garrison was also affected by the muddy roads.
It is still unknown whether Mengcheng can withstand the Japanese army's swift attack.

After receiving the call back, Chu Yunfei quickly spread out the battle map in Sun Ming's hand.

The location of Mengcheng was found as soon as possible.

"This Liu Ruming"

Fang Ligong pushed his glasses. Qian Bojun gritted his teeth and said, "This rubbish! The gates of Xuzhou are wide open. The main force of hundreds of thousands is at risk of being surrounded..."

Chu Yunfei remained calm and collected, and he quickly analyzed the current situation.

northern line.

The Third Army and the 51st Army under Yu Xuezhong were resisting the Japanese army in the direction of Heze and Yutai.

As for Jinxiang, it had already fallen after days of fierce attacks by the Japanese invaders.

"The Japanese army is advancing so slowly, most likely because they are concerned about the large number of guerrilla activities in the rear. Which of our troops is in this area?"

Fang Ligong shook his head in silence: "According to the intelligence we have so far, no Nationalist army is active in this area..."

Chu Yunfei was startled, then said: "Then it is most likely the advancing detachment of the Eighth Route Army."

As far as I can remember, the Eighth Route Army's advance into the plains areas mainly took place after May.

Moreover, they suffered considerable losses in the early stages and were only able to establish a few small bases.

Logically speaking, it shouldn't have such a strong restraining ability.

This made Chu Yunfei unable to figure out the reason for this situation for a while.

But it doesn’t matter. At least at this stage the Japanese army has not been able to break through Yutai and Shanxian, so there is room for maneuver.

"If the Japanese troops on the northern front cannot break through in a short period of time, our army may move south and annihilate part of the Japanese main force, which can relieve the pressure on the combat troops."

Qian Bojun suggested: "The 13th Division is advancing alone. Although it seems to be in close contact with the 9th Division, the distance between the two sides is about 50 to 80 kilometers."

Fang Ligong also agreed with Qian Bojun's idea at this time: "If we can know the current size of the army, we can take the risk of going south to annihilate it, and then make plans."

After Mengcheng was lost, the entire Xuzhou area was completely exposed.

Although Chu Yunfei knew.

Even if Mengcheng fell.

The Japanese army's limited force was unable to encircle the main force in the Xuzhou area.

But there was a hasty escape and an orderly evacuation.

The biggest difference is the evacuation of supplies, light and heavy weapons, and corresponding wounded, manpower, and non-combatants.

Chu Yunfei nodded and agreed with their idea: "Send a telegram to the Chairman, expecting to rush to Mengcheng tonight to provide assistance and strive to annihilate the first part of the Japanese army to ensure the safety of Xuzhou's flank."

"Yes!"

Wuhan.

War meeting room.

Seeing Chu Yunfei's call back, Chiang Kai-shek grinned.

In his opinion.

This disobedient student finally listened to him, the principal, for once.

That’s right, Chiang Kai-shek’s idea was for Chu Yunfei to rush to Mengcheng’s rescue as quickly as possible.

Ensure the safety of the main force in the Xuzhou area.

In the combat conference room.

Feeling confident, Chiang Kai-shek slowly stood up.

Pointing to the senior generals gathered in front of the battle map.

He gestured out loud: "Everyone, judging from the current strategic situation.

The Japanese invaders in southern Shandong failed to attack effectively and gave up important areas in Shanxi, Suiyuan, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Only small forces are holding key points in various places, and at best they are barely surviving."

Chiang Kai-shek confidently raised his cane and pointed in the direction of the Longhai Railway Line.

"The Japanese invaders are currently concentrating all their forces on the eastern section of Longhai and making a desperate attempt to succeed. This is a taboo in military strategy." Yes, from a military perspective, the comparison of the strength between the enemy and us is ignored.

There is indeed nothing wrong with what Chiang Kai-shek said, and he is quite capable.

But here's the problem.

There are indeed many problems with the Japanese army's style of fighting.

Its total military strength is only a mere 150,000 men.

Part of the main force was in the rear and did not engage the enemy.

But Chiang Kai-shek overlooked one point.

At that time, three to five thousand Japanese troops dared to rush all the way to the Longhai Line.

Where does the arrogance of wanting to cut off the railway line with a small force come from?

That was because the Japanese troops on the Jinpu South Road only mobilized the combat forces of two brigades.

They broke through the defense lines of three divisions of the two Guangxi corps.

After resting, the Central China Expeditionary Army launched a swift attack with its absolute firepower advantage and air support.

Even if Chu Yunfei's troops were teleported over there.

He was not sure that he could stop the Japanese army in this state.

Not to mention the Guangxi troops who have already begun to think about preserving their strength.

Chiang Kai-shek's thoughts.

In fact, it is just paper talk.

He believed that the combat strength of the National Army was more than four times that of the Japanese Army.

Moreover, the Third Army is restraining the western part of Shandong.

The 59th Army and the 3rd Corps were used to contain the southern Shandong region.

The transportation and supply lines of the National Army had a great advantage over those of the Japanese invaders.

There is a chance to divide and surround them, or even annihilate them completely.

If these hundreds of thousands of troops are all the direct combat troops of the Central Army.

The soldiers are numerous and well-equipped.

There is absolutely no problem with Chiang Kai-shek thinking and fighting this way.

There is even a high possibility of winning this battle.

But the reality is.

The vast majority of the troops in the Xuzhou area were ragtag troops.

The 59th Army and the 3rd Corps are considered elite.

Even the 52nd and 89th Armies suffered heavy casualties.

The 60th Army of the second echelon was currently fighting the main force of the Japanese army at Yuwang Mountain.

Yu Xuezhong led his troops in a bloody battle on the Yutai front line...and was unable to extricate themselves.

To take a step back, even if these two troops have friendly forces to take over.

How to ensure that friendly forces can hold their lines?

This is not an impossible task.

Not to mention.

In the Xuzhou area, there are apparently 600,000 troops.

One third of these are "supplementary troops".

Its combat capability is not even second-rate, let alone third-rate.

Facing the Japanese invaders, they would be defeated with just one charge.

No one understood why Chiang Kai-shek responded when he already knew that the front-line troops were weak in combat effectiveness.

The phenomenon of people drawing salaries without working is widespread, but they are still so confident.

As for the national army, its transportation lines are currently smooth.

That's because the Japanese army concentrated and deployed its air force on the front line.

On the one hand, the Japanese invaders formulated a battle plan and prepared to bomb Wuhan on April 4, the day of "Tencho Day" (the Emperor's birthday), dreaming of using victory in the air battle as a gift to celebrate the Emperor's birthday.

(This intelligence was obtained from a downed Japanese reconnaissance plane)
On the other hand, their air force no longer had the energy to bomb the railway lines.

Instead, they were all deployed to the frontline by the commander of the North China Front Army, Terauchi Hisaichi, and the commander of the Central China Front Army, Hata Shunroku.

This is also one of the reasons why the Japanese offensive was so fierce and unstoppable.

A group of senior generals watched Chiang Kai-shek speaking in front of them.

I don’t know what I’m thinking.

Perhaps, Chiang Kai-shek and even a group of senior generals knew this.

It is also possible that both sides have the same idea.

They all tacitly did not point this out.

Quietly waiting for Chiang Kai-shek to express his attitude and express his opinions.

According to the relevant procedures, other generals will then need to make corresponding suggestions to improve and modify his strategic plan.

Or you can raise objections and explain the corresponding points of view.

It all depends on whether Chiang Kai-shek is willing to adopt it.
The possibility is relatively low, and the senior generals present are actually not pure.

It's more of a political consideration.

For example, He Yingqin.

He has never cared about the interests of the grassroots people. His starting point has always been his own political interests.

rather than national interests.

This is also the reason why He Yingqin was scolded before and after the war.
Chen Cixiu, who was always known as the Little Chairman, stood in the front row and concluded loudly: "What the Chairman meant should be that the enemy, regardless of its insufficient military strength and unfavorable strategic situation, dared to adopt an external encirclement operation. It will surely be defeated one by one by our army and bring about its own defeat."

Chiang Kai-shek nodded with satisfaction: "Yes, that's what I mean."

Just when everyone thought that Chen Chi-xiu would strongly support Chiang Kai-shek's views.

Chen Chi-xiu was the first to jump out and question Chiang Kai-shek's ideas.

"But Mr. Chairman, at present, our 200,000 troops gathered in the Jinpu South Road are still unable to stop the Japanese invaders' offensive. Isn't it a bit risky to rely only on the additional combat forces of Liu Ruming and Chu Yunfei?"

"The Japanese army is taking a risk by betting everything on it, but our army is betting the hope of victory in the decisive battle of Xuzhou on two troops with less than 50,000 troops."

Chen Cixiu paused, his face serious: "I admit that Chu Yunfei's troops are indeed a powerful and well-equipped force, and they can exert combat power far beyond their current scale on the battlefield.

But in the current area, apart from part of He Weizhen's division that was rushing to Mengcheng to set up defenses, there were only Liu Ruming's troops.

If the 68th Army's combat power were to attack the Japanese, it would be like throwing an egg against a rock."

Chen Cixiu said it very bluntly.

The combat effectiveness of the 68th Army is indeed average, and it has not had any outstanding performance before.

Doubt the leader, believe in the leader, worship the leader.

Chen Cixiu still uses the same old tricks.

Chiang Kai-shek knew it in his heart, but he benefited greatly from it.

Because he will never say the wrong thing, and he will never talk nonsense.

The current problem is what will happen without Liu Ruming’s cooperation.

Can Chu Yunfei's troops truly annihilate the vanguard of the 13th Division?

If Chu Yunfei's troops had just left Jin to fight.

Naturally, the senior generals would not have any doubts.

Because at that time, the combat effectiveness of Chu Yunfei's troops was relatively intact.

But now, the Xuzhou area has been fighting for two months in a row.

The cavalry regiment directly under the command has not yet completed its expansion and training.

The newly purchased anti-tank guns have been equipped.

Three anti-tank artillery companies also accompanied the battle, but there was no need to estimate their combat effectiveness.

General Liu Fei also reminded: "Chairman, everyone, I want to remind you that in the ten months since our full-scale war broke out.

In Japanese army operations, there seems to be no concept of who is in charge and who is subordinate.

Let’s take the Xinkou-Taiyuan Campaign as an example.

The 5th Division was combined with the elite units of the Kwantung Army, and the 20th Division was combined with the Xiyang Detachment.

When the two forces jointly attack the main force of our army in the Second War Zone, there is no question of who is the leader and who is the follower.

They moved forward in unison, as if they were competing for the credit of capturing Taiyuan.

In addition, we can also clearly observe the battle in northern Shanxi caused by the elite Chahar Corps of the Japanese Kwantung Army and the Sakagami Division when they attacked Shanxi.

There seems to be no concept of assists among the Japanese army.”

Liu Fei’s reminder was very timely.

Because at this time, including the Fifth War Zone, many senior generals in Wuhan believed that the Central China Expeditionary Army on the southern line was an assist.

The North China Front Army on the northern front had plans for Xuzhou.

This is also the reason why support troops prefer to be dispatched to the northern front... The offensive on the northern front was launched earlier and was the most rapid.

The Japanese offensive on the southern front was launched later, and their combat forces were smaller than those on the northern front.

It's just that the numbers seem to be more numerous.
Chiang Kai-shek and others looked up at the situation on the battlefield in Xuzhou.

It is also this time.

Zhu Peiji walked quickly into the conference room, looking a little flustered.

"Committee Chairman... latest information."

A letter of accurate intelligence was sent to the Chinese command.

The above details the current positions of each Japanese commander.

The intelligence is very reliable.

"According to intelligence, in order to capture Xuzhou, the enemy's North China Army Supreme Commander General Terauchi Hisaichi, Second Army Commander Lieutenant General Nishio Hisazo, Jinpu Railway Operation Commander Lieutenant General Higashikuni Prince Toshihiko (a member of the Japanese royal family and one of the culprits of the Nanjing Massacre), and Jiaoji Railway Operation Commander Major General Sanmao Kazuo have all been at the front line in Zhilincheng to command the battle."

"The commander of the Pinghan Railway, Michijiro Umezu, plans to lead the 14th Division to cross the Yellow River along Puxian County, pass through Heze and Caoxian County, and respond to the enemy forces west of the Jinpu Railway."

"The enemy's Central China Expeditionary Army Commander General Hata Shunroku and Commander Lieutenant General Okamura Yasuji have set up a command post in Bengbu and are personally supervising the battle!"

The Japanese army's purpose is now very clear.
Their purpose was not to capture Xuzhou, but to annihilate the main force of the National Army in the Xuzhou area!
As mentioned before
Today, the main forces of the Chinese army are no longer restrained.

Unable to adjust the battle line and divide the troops to block the attack.

The only troops that could be mobilized were Chu Yunfei's troops and Liu Ruming's 68th Army.

Chiang Kai-shek ordered Zhu Peiji to reply to Chu Yunfei, asking whether he was sure of annihilating the enemy in Mengcheng, while he passed the telegram in his hand to other generals for circulation.
Just as everyone was discussing specific countermeasures and the vast majority of generals advocated retreat.

But just an hour and a half.

The reply from Chu Yunfei's troops was put back in front of Chiang Kai-shek.

"I have received your order. After careful consideration and judgment based on the current enemy situation, it will take three days to completely wipe out the Japanese vanguard."

Three days!

This is a rather sensitive number.

If Chu Yunfei could really annihilate the enemy within three days after going south.

Then the combat effectiveness of Liu Ruming's troops can be fully unleashed.

By then, no matter if they go south to contain the main force of the Japanese army.

Or it was the attack force that flanked the Japanese 9th Division.

It will cause great trouble to the Japanese invaders, and the situation on the Jinpu South Road will improve.
Thanks to the readers for the reward..
I'm really sorry if there are any typos.
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(End of this chapter)