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Chapter 436: A sudden confrontation

"Chief of Staff, the division is in an urgent telegram, ordering Brother Ziang to lead the three regiments and the integrated team to set off immediately, rush to Tai'an along the railway, and then transfer to a special train to Yanzhou, train strictly, and wait for the replacement of equipment. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 The rest of the divisions, led by the chief of staff, immediately crossed the Yellow River and joined up with the 40th Army under General He Yaozu of the 3rd Army. Luo Lei, chief of the communications section, reported loudly.

Lu Yixuan was anxious when he heard it: "What? Let's pull my three regiments to the rear? ”

"Brother Ziang, don't worry, it makes sense for the division seat to be arranged in this way, how can the more than 3,700 stragglers who have just been recruited have messy weapons, a great shortage of ammunition, and uneven quality of officers and men? If we reluctantly pull to the front line, not only will we not be able to coordinate with all units of our division, but on the contrary, it will play a negative role, and the division headquarters will order to drive back to the Yanzhou battalion for redressing and training.

Moreover, at present, the Japanese army is eyeing Shanghai, 3,000 Japanese troops have entered the Hongkou camp, the headquarters has secretly ordered the rear departments to enter a state of combat readiness, and even Jinan has returned from Xuzhou to Lao Nanchang to actively prepare, once something happens in Shanghai, my two divisions of Lao Nanchang will all go to the front line, are you still afraid that there will be no battle to fight? After the training of the more than 3,000 new brothers under our command, our independent division will increase the number of elite soldiers of two more regiments. Cheng Guang whispered.

Lu Yixuan could only salute and obey the order, and Lu Guang also ordered to pack up and set off immediately.

Almost at the same moment, Huang Zhi, deputy chief of the Operations Section, took the telegram and turned under the hollowed-out railway embankment, entered the temporary headquarters, and reported to Hu Jialin:

"Deputy division commander, call from the division seat: The 40th Army of the 3rd Army is advancing towards Dawangmiao, which is 4 kilometers west of you, and General Cheng Guang will lead all divisions to cross the river to move closer to you, and urgently order Fu Qiang to lead his subordinates and the newly formed cavalry battalion to rush to the Shijiawu ferry 18 kilometers downstream along the north bank with new equipment, and be stationed at the headquarters of the 26th Army to stand by."

Hu Jialin took the telegram and pondered for a moment: "It seems that there is really going to be a fight, Lao Li, quickly carry out the order!" The Japanese artillery is terrible, and you and the cavalry are wasted staying here. ”

"Yes!"

Li Fuqiang saluted and turned to leave.

"Report, a regiment urgent: According to forward observations, about three regiments of Japanese troops have entered the south bank and are building fortifications, and about one artillery regiment can be faintly seen appearing about three kilometers behind the enemy's position." The signal corps shouted loudly.

Hu Jialin nodded: "It's a good time, pass on my order, each regiment will plant all the national flags they carry on both sides of the position, and order the model battalion to plant their battle flags on the high slope behind the position." ”

"Yes!"

Hu Jialin turned to the communications staff officer: "Call the division: I have received the call, our unit is ready to contain the enemy's main force on the south bank." ”

"Yes!"

Hu Jialin whispered to Huang Zhi and said: "Let's go, let's go and check the construction of trenches and bunkers, now there are only thirty-six mortars, and there are not many shells, so we can only dodge the Japanese artillery fire." ”

"My subordinates are looking to see the level of fortification construction of independent divisions and model battalions, which represents the highest level in the whole army." Huang Zhi happily followed Hu Jialin out of the command post under the railway.

At 11:40 a.m. on 2 May, the headquarters of the First Group Army at Dangjiazhuang Station, 15 kilometers southwest of Jinan.

After reading the calls from Lu Guang and Hu Jialin, An Yi nodded slightly, put a large pile of telegrams back on the table, walked to the map, and whispered to Commander-in-Chief Jiang and Zhu Peide:

"An infantry brigade of the 6th Division of the Japanese Army has taken full control of the stations, intersections and wharves inside and outside the city of Jinan, and its headquarters is located in Zhengjin Bank, Shangbu District, and about one wing is preparing for battle on the front line of Linjiaqiao in the north of Jinan, and it is estimated that it will launch an artillery bombardment on the positions of the 1st and 2nd regiments of the independent division led by General Hu Jialin on the north bank; Another brigade is rushing to Xingdu in the northeast, the main force of the Second Army Corps of Chen Tiaoyuan's predecessors has crossed the Yellow River, the main force is rushing to Jiyang, Chen seniors are calling back at the Longshan Headquarters, and preparations for retreat are currently being made, leaving a regiment to monitor the south bank according to the order of the headquarters; The 4th Army Corps to the northwest did not find the Japanese pursuers. ”

"Well, it seems that the Japanese army pounced in Jinan, and it was really annoyed."

Chiang Kai-shek saw clearly the situation of the enemy and us on the map, and turned his eyes from the map to An Yi: "You did a good job, not only arranged the retreat of the various armies in an orderly manner, but also pinned down the main force of the Japanese army on the north line of the city, eliminating the worries of other departments, and also put your two regiments under the enemy's artillery fire as bait, which is commendable!" ”

An Yi said modestly: "Headmaster, in fact, the Japanese commanders have already understood in their hearts that the best time to fight is no longer there, and the reason why they know that they still have to put on a fierce and vicious appearance is not that their commanders are reckless, but a means to boost morale and encourage the morale of the army, so that the more than 20,000 people who came quickly can vent, show their determination and domineering, and may even show a gesture to Zhang Zuolin and Zhang Zongchang."

Again, they sent more than 100 people to blow up the bridge, but there was an accident, they blew themselves to death, think about it will feel very cowardly, and must retaliate to relieve the hatred, just across the river is the independent division of the students, the Japanese army will naturally not easily let go of the opportunity to strike, at this time I am afraid that General Hu Jialin has already erected the banner of the model battalion and the independent division, due to the long propaganda of newspapers and magazines, the independent division will definitely be regarded by the Japanese army as the main division of our army, to a certain extent, it can provoke them to attack. The subordinates considered that the Futian Division came at high speed and had a limited amount of ammunition, so they simply provoked him to let him fight enough, and when he was almost done, he would withdraw. ”

Zhu Peide reminded: "Enough is enough, don't provoke the Japanese army too much, otherwise they are likely to take out anger on civilians." ”

"I'm not worried that the Japanese army will be angry with the civilians, after our army has retreated, the Japanese army has no goal of provocation, and it will never be too barbaric to our civilians, otherwise it will be difficult for the League of Nations to explain. What I'm worried about now is Brother Yingbai and Brother Gongshi, who stayed in the Negotiation Office in Jinan City, and I'm worried that their personalities will be humiliated! Chiang Kai-shek said worriedly.

Zhu Peide whispered a few words, and then heard a report from the front that the Japanese army launched a fierce artillery bombardment on the north bank of the Yellow River in the north of Jinan City, and then Hu Jialin's telegram also confirmed this, and said that General Yaozu's 40th Army had moved to the area of Dawangmiao, and the artillery was building a position.

An Yi thought about it and immediately suggested to Chiang Kai-shek: "Principal, there are no other troops in the southern area of the city, I implore the principal and the headquarters organs to immediately evacuate the party village and go south to Tai'an, under the current situation, it is safer and more secure to temporarily set up the headquarters in Tai'an." Otherwise, the students were worried that the Japanese army would soon learn of the location of our headquarters, and that it would be really troublesome for the Japanese army to suddenly gather forces and turn eastward, and if we did not fight and be pursued by the enemy, we would only increase our losses, and if our army could not bear to fight back, all the efforts made before would probably be in vain. ”

"Chief of Staff An is right, and I implore the principal to retreat south immediately." Chen Lifu and Chen Bui also stepped forward to advise.

Chiang Kai-shek thought for a long time before nodding: "Okay, let's withdraw." ”

At the same time, the headquarters of the Second Army Corps at Longshan Station in the east of Jinan was repeatedly requested by An Yi, and General Chen Tiaoyuan, who was ready to retreat, also issued an order to retreat, and the headquarters and the two divisions of the 37 th Army immediately took action, and after more than three hours of travel, they rushed to Hujiadu, nine kilometers south of Jiyang, and crossed the Yellow River in more than an hour.

General Chen Tiaoyuan had just entered Jiyang City, when about 1,500 Japanese officers and soldiers suddenly appeared at the Hujia Ferry on the south bank, and after being unable to cross the river, they became angry and opened fire on the north bank for more than ten minutes. When the news reached the headquarters of the Second Army Corps, there was an uproar up and down, and everyone exclaimed that it was dangerous.

Chiang Kai-shek, who took the train south to Tai'an, faced the map, carefully checked the positions of each army, and casually asked where An Yi was? Zhu Peide stepped forward and replied in a low voice, Zhuang Anyi, the party family, did not get into the car, and had already gone to the front line to inspect. When Chiang Kai-shek heard this, he immediately stood up angrily, loudly criticized An Yi, as the former chief of staff of the enemy, for not knowing the severity of his life, and ordered the generals and colonels around him to contact An Yi immediately and ask him to return to Tai'an immediately.

At this moment, An Yi had already rushed to Hujialin's underground command post, and the position of the independent division within a radius of two kilometers was bombarded beyond recognition by Japanese artillery, the hills on both sides of the railway were cut down layer after layer, and large areas of trees were still blazing, but all the boats on the river were brought back to the north bank by various units of the revolutionary army, and the Japanese troops who could not cross the river could only shell round after round across the river, strafing with machine guns, and all the blue sky and white sun flags on the north and south positions disappeared.

Not long after An Yi arrived, Cheng Cheng Guang led all the divisions of the independent division to rush over, and was surprised to see the battered position, but An Yi whispered in Cheng Guang's ear, Cheng Cheng Guang nodded frequently, and hurriedly left.

Half an hour after Japanese artillery and machine-gun fire stopped, the forward observation post reported signs of retreat of the enemy troops. An Yi immediately ordered the machine gun battalions of each regiment to go out along the communication trench and carry out a five-minute fire counterattack against the enemy within 10 minutes, and at the same time, the officers and men of the 40th Army also suddenly entered the five-kilometer-long position to the west to coordinate the battle, and more than 70 battle flags were planted on the position again.

The artillery and machine guns of the Independent Division and the 40 th Army on the north bank suddenly roared, and the first salvo of 18 gram artillery pieces and 36 French mortars that had been waiting for a long time blew up the enemy's position, and the fire was blazing, and more than 300 Japanese officers and men who had hurriedly entered the position fell one after another.

Fukuda, the commander of the Japanese division, was shocked by the great change and was furious, and ordered the Japanese army to concentrate superior artillery fire to destroy the artillery positions of the Independent Division and the 40th Army on the north bank, and urgently called Qingdao to send planes to help the battle, and ordered to collect ships by all means to prepare for a strong attack across the river.

After five minutes of artillery bombardment, the independent division only put away the Flying Tiger Flag, five regimental flags, and model battalion flags issued by the Military Commission, and the 40th Army only put away the battle flags of each division, and General Mao Bingwen led more than 10,000 officers and soldiers to evacuate their positions and go to the front line of Linyi and Yucheng in the north.

Two days later, the Japanese army learned from various sources that most of the revolutionary army's actions in Jinan adopted the strategy of An Yi, the former chief of staff of the First Group Army, and the Japanese army regarded An Yi as a thorn in the eye and a thorn in the flesh, and the battle report was sent back to the base camp, which immediately aroused the great attention of the Japanese military, and the Japanese Army General Staff Headquarters set up a special group to conduct systematic analysis and research on An Yi's growth process and all the battles he commanded.