On May 19, the 184th Division successfully evacuated Yuwang Mountain, crossed the canal, circled Xuzhou, and assembled in the western suburbs. Zhang Chong ordered the 1086th Regiment to be responsible for the defense of the northern front, and the 60th Army was reorganized, and it would take a day to go south to Wuhan.

That night, General Lu Han met with Sun Lianzhong in a village near the western suburbs of Xuzhou. Although the 60th Army was led by Li Zongren in the Fifth Theater, Li Zongren had already allocated the 60th Army to Sun Lianzhong of the Second Army.

In a private house, the atmosphere is not very harmonious.

"The 60th Army just arrived at the battlefield in Xuzhou, and it went to the front line before the butt was hot. Towne's unauthorized withdrawal from the position led to a long drive of the Japanese army. Such important information was actually hidden from us, which led to our hasty response and the death of a brigade commander and five regiment commanders. At the first stage, only one regiment remained of the two divisions. Since the first battle, we have sacrificed 14,000 people, and now we are still asked to defend Xuzhou, is he going to kill our Yunnan army! ”

Lu Han first asked the teacher for guilt, and directly gave Sun Lianzhong a dismissal. Although Sun Lianzhong was a little embarrassed, Tang Enbo and the Xuzhou command were inextricably responsible for the heavy casualties suffered by the Yunnan army in the first stage.

Sun Lianzhong soothed: "General Lu, you calm your anger first, we can discuss something slowly." The casualties of the first stage of our Northwest Army are no less than yours. ”

"General Sun, is this the same? Your Northwest Army is really sacrificing on the battlefield of resistance against Japan, and we ...... Never mind. ”

Lu Han didn't want to say the taboo words, and after calming down, he said: "We are not afraid of sacrifice, we don't want to preserve our strength, it is the mission of soldiers to protect the family and defend the country." But now that the 600,000 national troops have been safely evacuated, and the defense of Xuzhou has lost its strategic significance, we don't want to sacrifice in vain. Xuzhou is not as good as the capital Nanjing, and there is no need to sacrifice the Dian army to fight a political battle. ”

What Lu Han said was reasonable, and Sun Lianzhong was powerless to refute it. His original intention was also to ask the Dian army to evacuate Xuzhou, and it was Li Zongren's intention to ask the Dian army to defend Xuzhou. Later, Li Zongren was afraid that the Dian army would not obey Sun Lianzhong, so he sent another telegram before leaving.

In desperation, Sun Lianzhong agreed to the withdrawal of the 60th Army from Xuzhou and went south to Wuhan. As for Li Zongren's side, Sun Lianzhong promised to explain it himself, after all, the Dian army occupied the word "reason".

After getting the results he wanted, Luján returned to the military headquarters overnight to hold an emergency operations meeting. The meeting was attended by officers from the 60th Army Corps and above, and now the 60th Army has only 5 regiments, 4 of which belong to the 184th Division.

After an hour-long operational meeting, the military department worked out a plan for the withdrawal: the 60 Army was divided into three echelons. The commander of the 543 Brigade, Wan Baobang, fell three regiments as the first echelon and was responsible for opening the way to break through; The command post of the military headquarters and the staff and logistics of the subordinate artillery units are the second echelon: Zhang Chongluo's two regiments are the third echelon, which is responsible for the broken rear. Set off early in the morning of the 20th and go south along the Suxian Highway in Xuzhou.

The Dian army was perhaps the last main force in Xuzhou to retreat, and the encirclement of the Japanese army had been formed. Zhang Chong did not report an optimistic attitude towards this retreat, but only sighed: There are many mountains to pass.

Zhang Chong's fears were fulfilled shortly after the troop departed.

"Boom Boom" "......"

Dozens of enemy planes roared and circled in the air, bombarding indiscriminately below, and diving at the Dian soldiers on the road. Tens of thousands of officers and men of the Yunnan Army were constantly attacked and harassed by enemy planes, and they stopped moving, and the marching speed was very slow.

After the 60th Army arrived at Min Xianji, it took a short rest.

"Report! Call from Wuhan. ”

A communications soldier handed the message to Lu Han, who read it with a sad face. The Japanese army on the southern front had conquered Suxian, cut off the road for the Yunnan army to go south, and advanced rapidly to the north, not far from the vanguard of the Yunnan army; The Japanese army on the northern front occupied Xuzhou and broke through Yongcheng to the south; The Japanese troops in the direction of Bengbu also rushed to this side by capturing Mengcheng and Wuxian, and the 60th Army was already surrounded by Japanese troops in three directions.

Lu Han handed the telegram to the chief of staff beside him, and after reading it, the chief of staff said without thinking: "The established course must be changed." ”

"Where are you going?"

"To the west, although there are many mountainous areas and the road is difficult, it is the safest."

Luján was still hesitating. Although there were no Japanese troops there, the Japanese troops in Suxian were not far from him, and he was worried that the follow-up troops would be bitten.

The chief of staff knew Lu Han's concerns and urged: "Military seat, the overall situation is important, give orders." Time was pressing, and the vanguard and the Japanese army must not be allowed to exchange fire. ”

"Okay."

Luján decided to change the route of the march, and the troops went west. All Lu Han can do now is believe in Zhang Chong.

On the 21st, the 60th Army reached the vicinity of Liucun. Luján again reorganized the 60th Army. The previous three echelons were changed to two echelons, and he personally led the three regiments of the first echelon; The 1085th and 1086th regiments of the second echelon are still commanded by Zhang Chong.

However, less than half a day after the 60s marched into the army, Luján's worries still occurred. The follow-up troops were caught up by the Japanese troops in the direction of Suxian, and a fierce battle ensued.

A communications soldier ran over and reported: "Report to the division commander! The 1086th Regiment was caught up by the Japanese and was blocking on the spot. ”

Hearing the sound of gunfire, Zhang Chong already knew what was happening, and ordered: "The troops continue to advance!" ”

After the order, Zhang Chong rode his horse and ran back quickly, heading to the temporary command post of the 1086th Regiment.

"Neighing" There was a horse call, Zhang Chong pulled the reins hard, and then quickly dismounted.

"How's it going!?"

Zhang Chong strode into Yang Hong's temporary command post and asked directly.

Yang Hong replied: "The third battalion was bitten by the vanguard of the Japanese army and is occupying favorable terrain to block it. ”

Zhang Chong ordered: "Let the logistics materials and non-combatants evacuate first and keep up with the large army." ”

"I've arranged it. And ......"

Without waiting for Yang Hong to finish speaking, Gao Yi rushed in and reported: "Report to the regiment commander, the independent battalion has been deployed, occupied favorable terrain and built simple fortifications, and can participate in the battle at any time!" ”

"Excellent! The third battalion was ordered to withdraw and march west with the large force. ”

Before Zhang Chong came, Yang Hong had already given the order. The third battalion was bitten and rushed into battle, and the blocking did not have a good effect, so the independent battalion was ordered to build fortifications behind the third battalion and occupy the terrain to block the Japanese army.

Yang Hong asked, "Commander, do you have any other instructions?" ”

Zhang Chong smiled and said, "With you, a veteran, in charge, what else can I say?" ”

At this time, Gao Yi interjected: "Regiment Commander, even if we succeed in blocking the attack, the large army will still be bitten. Bray it! ”

Yang Hong couldn't help but be surprised: "Gao Yi, you don't want to live anymore!?" ”

Gao Yi replied calmly: "Before leaving Yunnan, I was ready to sacrifice. If this is not done, the sacrifice of the Dian army will be even greater. ”

Just as Yang Hong was dissuading again, Zhang Ran shouted: "Okay! is worthy of my Yunnan soldiers! ”

After Zhang Chong finished speaking, he called Gao Yi aside alone and secretly instructed some things.

"Commander, take care!"

After Gao Yi said goodbye to Yang Hong, he left the command post.

Yang Hong asked, "Commander, what did you explain to him?" Do you really want to bray? ”

Zhang Chong said with a smile: "The secret of heaven must not be revealed. Don't worry, I know that Gao Yi is your favorite general, and I showed him a way out. ”

Subsequently, the independent battalion went to block the Japanese army, while the 1086th regiment continued to advance westward, and the independent battalion and regimental headquarters were separated.

Although the second echelon asked the Japanese to pursue, their bad luck was not over. When passing by the Iron Buddha Temple, suddenly the cannon rang out. The vanguard of the second echelon was shelled by friendly forces.

"! Are they blind!? I don't see them so fierce in fighting devils! ”

When Zhang Chong learned that it was a friendly shelling, he was furious. In desperation, the troops stopped advancing and negotiated with friendly forces. In this regard, the first and second echelons were cut off, and the connection (not the connection) was broken.

When Lu Han learned of the situation, he quickly ordered Zhang Chong, and the two echelons broke through in different directions.

The first echelon of Luhan fell through Yongcheng, Maozhou, Luyi, and Chenzhou, and arrived in Zhoujiakou, Henan.

Zhang Chong's second echelon passed through Huhe, Wuyang, Shancheng, Jieshou, and Shenqiu, and arrived at Zhoujiakou to join the first echelon.

The second echelon was blocked by the Japanese army several times along the way because of the detour, but fortunately, a field artillery battalion of the 16th Artillery Regiment and a field artillery company of the 12th Artillery Regiment were incorporated on the way, and the field artillery was used to help break through the encirclement, and it was able to successfully break through.

?? Since the 60 th Army went out from afar for the local army and had a great friendship with the villagers, there were officers and soldiers and soldiers, and all the officers and men of various departments, staff officers, logistics quartermasters, medical personnel, and personnel of the Field Service Corps encouraged each other, broke out of the encirclement with the army, and finally arrived in Wuhan in early June to turn Huangpi and Songfu for rectification.

During the training period, Lu Han incorporated all the veterans of the 183rd Division and the 184th Division into the 184th Division. These veterans have experienced the baptism of war and are extremely combative. The 184th Division became the mainstay of the 60th Army and continued to write brilliant stories in the Battle of Wuhan.

(PS: Bai Chongxi, then chief of staff, went to Songfu with Soviet military advisers to inspect the 184th Division, and the Soviet advisers praised: "With such well-equipped and high-quality divisions, you have 30 in China, and you can drive the Japanese out of China.") ”）

(End of chapter)