Shao Fei led the special combat team west of the river, instead of going north to Wuhan or south to Chongyang to join Zhang Chong. Wuhan has begun to evacuate in a big way, and there is no point in going; As for Zhang Chong, he had already helped him fight the battle of Pai City, and he almost lost his life.

Now that Shao Fei's mission has been completed, there is no need to take his own special combat team to adventure. From Anqing, Qianshan, Madang, Hukou, Jiujiang, Jinguanqiao, Dongguling, Minshan, all the way to Paishi, it can be regarded as an explanation. At this time, Shao Fei is going to another place to witness the greatest miracle in modern history.

The flame of resistance against Japan is still burning in the south of the river. On the battlefield of Nanxun, Xue Yue fought vigorously, and Okamura Ningji was anxious and unable to move an inch; But in the Dabie Mountain on the northern front, the Japanese army was like a bamboo.

The 6th Division of the Japanese Army conquered Guangji at the southern foot of Dabie Mountain; At the northern foot of Dabie Mountain, the 3rd Division and the 10th Division attacked Luoshan and approached Xinyang.

Both important places are the north-south gateways of Wuhan. Judging from the overall situation of the war, a situation has emerged in favor of the Japanese army.

The chairman of the CPPCC National Committee learned the lessons of the Battle of Songhu, listened to the opinions of the Chinese Communists, and no longer stuck to one city and one pool.

As early as September 16, the "Wuhan Battle Operational Plan" clearly pointed out: The purpose of the national army is to fight for a long time through self-reliance, consume the enemy's troops and materials, make them fall into a predicament, and urge them to rush to defeat and guide the operation.

However, despite the desperate resistance of the Chinese army and the heavy losses of the Japanese army, the Japanese army still advanced to the outlying positions in Wuhan.

Chen Cheng, commander of the Wuhan garrison, invested a large number of troops to build fortifications and prepare to start a battle to defend the city with the Japanese army. But the Chinese army was overwhelmed by the fighting on the outskirts of Wuhan and therefore did not have enough strength to defend it. In terms of military layout, Wuhan is actually an empty city.

Tianjia Town is an important gateway to Wuhan, and no matter how large the military map is, the location of Tianjia Town must be drawn. The importance of its strategy is extraordinary.

The 6th Division approached Tianjia Town, and the Chinese 4th Corps held its position with the 2nd Army and the 87th Army, and responded with the periphery of the 26th, 48th, and 86th Armies to attack the Japanese flank.

At the beginning of the war, Tianjiazhen was only attacked by the Imamura detachment, and the Chinese defenders besieged the Imamura detachment from the perimeter. However, this situation was completely broken by the Potian detachment of the Taiwanese brigade.

After the Botian detachment occupied Jiujiang, it conquered Ruichang under the cover of the navy, then attacked Zhanfuchikou along the Jiangxi stream, and then launched a three-dimensional attack on Tianjia Town by land, sea and air.

Hundreds of planes bombed the defenders' positions en masse, and nearly 100 warships carried marines to land in operations. The Imamura detachment took the opportunity to storm and the Chinese defenders were forced to retreat.

The 314th Regiment was ordered to contain the Japanese army, cover the retreat of the main force, and was finally surrounded by the Japanese on all sides.

Now, there were less than five hundred people left in the 314th Regiment, and the head of Long Ziyu stood on the battlefield and looked at the soldiers below, their eyes were dusty and scarred, and there was the last tragedy in their eyes. Long Ziyu shouted: "Brothers, the time has come to sacrifice your life for the country, are you afraid!" ”

"Don't be afraid!"

"Don't be afraid!"

“……”

The soldiers below roared loudly and angrily, resounding through the position. Everyone knows that there is no way back now, so it is better to fight to the death with the devil.

"Good! It's all good! It is my honor to live and die with you; It is our glory to defend against foreign invaders and die on the battlefield! ”

Immediately, Long Ziyu led 500 warriors to resist to the death, fought to the last man, and finally sacrificed his life for the country. As Shao Fei said, they are all heroes, but in despair.

The fall of Tianjiazhen marked the complete opening of the southeast gate for the attack on Wuhan along the river.

The heroic sacrifice of the head of Long Ziyu and the singing and crying of the sacrifice! However, there was one man, who was a general, and a colonel who was in stark contrast. Regardless of the safety of friendly troops and the orders of his superiors, this person evacuated the important place without authorization, so that the fall of Wuhan was advanced. He is Hu Zongnan, who is regarded as a "dog thing" by Li Zongren.

Blessings are not double, and disasters are not singular. Just as Tianjia Town was occupied by the Japanese 11th Army, there was a problem with another gateway for the Japanese 2nd Army to attack Wuhan at the northern foot of Dabie Mountain.

Regrettably, after the three divisions of the Japanese army lost tens of thousands of people, they broke through Song Xilian's 36th Army with difficulty, and were ambushed by the 88th Division in the north and lost more than 2,000 people. Then the reinforcements were constantly increased, and the plan to attack Xinyang was accelerated.

First, with the loss of 5,000 men, it broke through the defense line of General Zhang Zizhong's 59th Army and occupied Huangchuan. The Japanese 10th Division attacked the southern part of Huzong on the line of Luoshan and Xinyang.

Under the fierce attack of the Japanese army, the 124th Division defending Luoshan City shamelessly abandoned the city and fled. The Japanese army successfully occupied Luoshan City, and took advantage of the victory to penetrate deep into Xinyang, threatening the Pinghan Railway.

If the ace of the descendants in the south is Yu Jishi's 74th Army, then the ace of the descendants in the north belongs to Hu Zongnan's First Army. Due to the needs of the Anti-Japanese War, the First Army was expanded into the 17th Group Army, and Hu Zongnan served as the commander of the corps. Although both of them are descendants, why is the gap between people so big?

Under the extremely critical situation, Hu Zongnan commanded two divisions of the First Army, with the support of artillery and armored units, to block and counterattack the Japanese army between Luoshan and Xinyang.

The fighting was extremely fierce, with heavy casualties on both sides. Until a large number of Japanese reinforcements arrived, Xinyang was in danger.

Li Zongren immediately gave Hu Zongnan an order to keep Xinyang, which was related to the overall situation of Wuhan and the rear road of the two corps of Sun Lianzhong and Li Pinxian.

Li Zongren knew Hu Zongnan, who considered himself a "protégé of the Son of Heaven" and never looked at the miscellaneous cards and himself, so he added another sentence at the end of the order: If you don't support it, you can retreat to the three passes in northern Hubei to ensure the retreat of hundreds of thousands of friendly troops.

Looking at Li Zongren's telegram, Hu Zongnan smiled and threw the telegram aside.

Hu Zongnan is not tall, he is good at heart and eye, and he feels that he has little chance of winning, and he can't fight all his family foundations. After thinking about it again, he decided to preserve his strength, cooperated with Sun Lianzhong to resist, and retreated west for hundreds of miles in one go, directly leaving the battle circle. In the city of Xinyang, only one regiment remained of the First Army.

The terrain in northern Hubei is more favorable than that of Taierzhuang, and Li Zongren believes that it is entirely possible to block the Japanese army, and no matter how bad it is, it can drag on through the winter. Hu Zongnan retreated without a fight, and the three passes in northern Hubei were suddenly empty, and if these three passes were lost again, the Japanese army would be able to reach the city of Wuhan within a day.

Hu Zongnan evacuated without authorization, and Li Zongren was furious, but he was helpless. Just because Hu Zongnan is the "prince's protégé" of the first phase of Whampoa, even if he evacuates without authorization, he may not be punished in any way. can only speak so fast that Hu Zongnan is a "dog thing"!

Li Zongren no longer had the luxury of annihilating the Japanese army on a large scale, and he was writing about the glory of the great victory in Taierzhuang, as long as hundreds of thousands of troops could be evacuated safely, he would be thankful.

When the Japanese army launched another onslaught on Xinyang City, a regiment defending the city fled when they heard the news. Xinyang was lost. At this point, the northern gateway of Wuhan was once again open to the Japanese army.

The loss of Xinyang marked that the Japanese army could rely on the Pinghan Railway and use mechanized troops to move south to take Wuhan. A large amount of rear materials can continuously support the front-line operations of the Japanese army. Wuhan is at stake, and it is difficult for the battle to continue.

Xinyang became the turning point of the Battle of Wuhan. is such a choke point, but Hu Zongnan easily gave up, can this not make the Chinese people feel cold?

To the south, there is the Sixth Division and the Potian Detachment; The Pinghan Road in the north was controlled by the Japanese army, and the soldiers pressed the border. The three towns of Wuhan are already in jeopardy.

(End of chapter)