7.137 Xuzhou Epilogue

"Degong! Huang Youchen has completely annihilated the Isogu Division! If you don't take over the command of the attack on Sakamoto's detachment again, the credit for the Battle of Xuzhou will all belong to him Huang Youchen alone! ”

Wang Hongshao rushed into Chief Li's office with the telegram that Huang Haoran had just sent to Xuzhou, and in Wang Hongshao's opinion, Huang Haoran was sent by the highest authorities to the 5th War Zone to grab the credit! Even if there is no Huang Haoran, Chief Li will teach the Japanese army in North China a profound lesson in Taierzhuang!

Chief Li raised his head from behind a large pile of documents, smiled at Wang Hongshao, and then said, "Zhenwu! You've got a good temper... Gotta change! Huang Youchen just gave you a little embarrassment on the first day in Xuzhou, and you targeted him everywhere! I won't say those polite words in front of you, if the battle on the northern line of Jinpu Road is fought by me, I'm afraid the results of the battle will not be as big as Huang Youchen's battle! In order to annihilate Ryosuke Isoya, Huang Youchen even threw out his own family, and the losses of the 25th Army were really not small! If it's Shingo, you're still going to find Huang Youchen's trouble.... It's a bit ......"

Wang Hongshao hurriedly said: "Degong! When did you become a lobbyist for Huang Youchen!? I admit that this kid can fight, but he is very rude! I'm afraid that Duke De will fall into the plan of the highest authorities, and you will come to Xuzhou for nothing! ”

Chief Li shook his head and said with a smile: "How can I be alone in this war of resistance?" If there are a few more officers like Huang Youchen in the government, I will be happy! ”

Wang Hongshao saw that he couldn't convince Chief Li, so he ran out to find Xu Zuyi in a huff, he wanted to find a helper for himself. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Chief Li looked at the back of Wang Hongshao leaving, and said in his heart: "Huang Youchen has already fought ninety percent of the tough battle on the northern line of Jinpu Road, if I intervene to take over at this time, won't I be ridiculed and compete with a junior boy?" If I do reach out, I will be in the hands of the highest authorities! ”

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On the morning of April 17, the propaganda department of the Wuhan government could not wait to release the news of Taierzhuang's victory, completely ignoring the fact that there was still a Sakamoto detachment left in the encirclement of the 5th theater. The good news spread, and all walks of life and overseas Chinese across the country were jubilant. In Guangzhou, Wuhan and other big cities, hundreds of thousands of people held grand rallies and parades on an unprecedented scale to celebrate the victory.

In the three towns of Wuhan, all the people, regardless of men, women and children, were immersed in the excitement of the festival, and there were cheering crowds everywhere;

In the streets and alleys, the national flag is hung in front of every house, and it is connected to show patriotism;

The streets are full of horizontal and vertical banners: "Celebrate the victory of Taierzhuang" and "China will win";

The sound of festive firecrackers turned the whole city upside down;

The people of the newspaper hall used cars to load large bundles of numbers, and scattered them all over the streets, and the pictorials printed with Huang Haoran's photos were sold at sky-high prices!

All sorts of rescue groups rushed into the streets, marching, shouting slogans, singing, impromptu speeches, and performing operas, to vilify the invading army to their heart's content.

The Political Department of the Military Commission of the Wuhan Government played a role in these activities. They launched and organized various celebrations to arouse the people's anti-Japanese patriotic enthusiasm. Many democrats also took to the streets, giving impassioned speeches calling on people to unite against humiliation.

Tokyo, Japan, is a different story entirely!

The total annihilation of the Isoya Division has become an ironclad implementation, but the Japanese military department still lied in front of Emperor Hirohito: "This is not a defeat, it is just a small mistake by the commander, the 10th Division still exists, Isoya Ryosuke's troops have not been annihilated, and the 10th Division is making a new strategic shift." ”

Emperor Hirohito exposed the trick of the military department on the spot, pointed at the landing minister Sugiyama Moto, and shouted: "Transfer? Where to go? Taiwan?? North Korea? Mainland? Or the Yasukuni Shrine? ”

Lu Xiang Sugiyama could only bow his head and say nothing, allowing Emperor Hirohito to sneer at him!

According to Emperor Hirohito's original arrangement, the invading Japanese forces would not launch an offensive into any new areas before August. However, after the collapse of the Isoya Division, Emperor Hirohito could no longer consider the question of whether to advance strategically or disperse, and he demanded that the Japanese Army must immediately try to defeat the Chinese army in order to restore the reputation of the "invincible imperial army". In accordance with the Emperor's instructions, the Konoe Cabinet made a decision: to quickly massively increase the number of troops in China, launch a larger attack, and swear to avenge the defeat of Taierzhuang.

Lu Xiang Sugiyama Yuan knows very well that Xuzhou is an important town in the Central Plains, and the Wuhan government will definitely not give up easily, if it can't mobilize heavy troops and encircle it on all sides, it will be difficult to open up the Jinpu line! It would take time to gather troops, so Sugiyama ordered the commander of the Japanese forces in North China, Terauchi Shouichi, to instruct Seishiro Itagaki's 5th Division to rescue the Sakamoto detachment as soon as possible, and then get out of the battle and wait for the opportunity.

According to Sugiyama Moto's plan, the invading Japanese army will gather 13 elite divisions and about 300,000 troops (including the Itagaki division after retreating to replenish and recuperate) from the army divisions of the North China Front Army and the Central China Dispatch Army, and will be equipped with various heavy weapons and hundreds of aircraft, and the troops will form a large encirclement of Xuzhou in six routes, and adopt the tactics of advancing from north to south and flanking to encircle and annihilate the main force of the 5th Theater gathered in the Xuzhou area.

The Sakamoto detachment, which received the order, immediately turned around and frantically moved in the direction of Linyi, and Tang Enbo's 20th Army did not dare to retreat a single step, and stubbornly stood in front of the Sakamoto detachment.

Huang Haoran slowly pressed up with the hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops who had wiped out the Isogu Division!

At this time, the Japanese front-line commander telegraphed to the base camp: There was a powerful group of Chinese troops in the Xuzhou area, and according to reliable intelligence, the strength of the group was about 50 divisions and more than 600,000 people, almost all of which were elite troops of the Wuhan government.

The army high command was immediately overjoyed, believing that this was a rare opportunity to avenge the revenge of Taierzhuang.

Sugiyama Motoriku immediately reported to Emperor Hirohito and strongly advocated the Battle of Xuzhou. He said: "Striking hard at the Chinese troops concentrated in Xuzhou can have the tremendous effect of dampening the enemy's will to resist the war. Therefore, the army is preparing to carry out an annihilation operation against Xuzhou, and since the enemy is almost the elite main force of the Chinese army and is already in a state of isolation, our army should lose no time in fighting with a large number of troops and on a large scale to completely annihilate the enemy in one fell swoop. He believes that as long as the strategic attempt to annihilate this enemy force is achieved, it will be possible to resolve the China incident by force, induce the Wuhan regime to submit and surrender, take a decisive step, and restore the negative influence of our army in Taierzhuang. ”

Emperor Hirohito was overjoyed when he saw the report, and he also thought that this was a good opportunity to suppress the arrogance of the supreme authorities, so he immediately approved it: the army was allowed to encircle and annihilate the Chinese army in Xuzhou, and demanded that this attack must achieve great results, and that not a single Chinese army of 50 divisions in the Xuzhou area should be allowed to slip through the net, so as to ensure that all the 50 divisions of Chinese troops in the Xuzhou area can be completely annihilated.

In order to achieve a quick victory and not lose this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the War Department of the base camp issued an operational order on the same day to General Toshiichi Terauchi, commander-in-chief of the North China Front Army, and General Toshiroku Hata, commander-in-chief of the Central China Dispatch Army:

1. The commander of the North China Front should break through the enemy near Xuzhou with a forceful force and occupy the area east of Lanfeng and north of the Longhai line

2. The commander of the Central China Dispatch Army shall occupy the vicinity of the Jinpu line south of Xuzhou with one section.

While mobilizing the main forces of the North China Front and the Central China Dispatch Army to participate in this battle, the Japanese base camp also ordered the Kwantung Army to send troops to support.

Since General Terauchi Shouichi, commander of the North China Front, had the same rank as General Shunroku Hatahata of the Central China Army, neither of them would accept the command of the other side, so the only way to do this was to urgently dispatch Major General Hashimoto Qun, chief of operations of the Army General Staff Headquarters of the base camp, to lead the staff officers of the General Staff Headquarters to set up a base camp dispatch squad in Jinan to organize staff officers including the Japanese forces in North China and Central China to carry out operational coordination work in the Battle of Xuzhou.

The Japanese reinforced the 16th and 144th Divisions of the 5th Division on the Northern Front, and advanced south along the Jinpu Road to lure the main force of the Chinese army; The 14th Division crossed the Yellow River from Puyang into southwestern Shandong and eastern Henan, cutting off the Longhai Road, thereby blocking the Chinese army aiding Xuzhou and cutting off the retreat of the defenders of Xuzhou; The 13th Division was assembled between Bengbu and Huaiyuan on the southern front; with the 6th and 9th Divisions to Fengyang and Hefei; With the 101st Division, he attacked northern Jiangsu.

Sugiyama Yuan's hand immediately made Chief Li feel the pressure, but Huang Haoran, who was concentrating on besieging Sakamoto's detachment, was completely unaware.

From April 17th to 18th, the Chinese army stormed the Sakamoto detachment of the Itagaki Division, but because the Sakamoto detachment had held out for many days under the heavy pressure of the 20th Army Corps, it formed a relatively complete fortification, which made the Chinese army pay a large price of casualties.

In the early morning of the 19th, the main force of the Itagaki Division encountered the 13th Army of the 20th Army of Tang Enbo, and successfully defeated the main force of the 13th Army and advanced to Xiangcheng, echoing the Sakamoto detachment from afar.

Huang Haoran ordered Tang Enbo to block the advance of the Itagaki Division, and sent the 57th Army and the Sichuan Army to help the battle, but after all, it was still a step too late, and Sakamoto Shun in the encirclement played a trick to attack the west, and did not break through from the east closest to the Itagaki Division, but went north with a false shot, concentrated all the vehicles and artillery to defeat Zhang Zhen's 110th Division and broke through, Huang Haoran sighed after learning the news of the successful breakthrough of the Sakamoto detachment, and then reported the news to Chief Li.

The Chinese troops in the 5th theater carried out several looting and killings on the way to the Sakamoto detachment, and when the Sakamoto detachment and the Itagaki division converged at Xiangcheng, this detachment of more than 10,000 men remained less than 4,000 people. Fearing that his 5th Division would also fall into the heavy encirclement of the Chinese army, Itagaki Seishiro followed in the footsteps of the Isoya Division and immediately retreated north after receiving the Sakamoto detachment, and the 59th Army and the 3rd Army took the opportunity to regain Linyi.

At this point, the Battle of Taierzhuang was all over, plus the killing and wounding of the Sakamoto detachment, the total number of Japanese soldiers killed and wounded in the 5th theater rose to 31,000, and in this battle, the number of casualties of the Chinese army also exceeded 30,000, and the Battle of Taierzhuang was actually a tactical draw and a strategic victory.

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The victories of the Chinese army at Linyi and Taierzhuang greatly stimulated the desire of the highest authorities to win. In order to expand the achievements of Taierzhuang's victory, the supreme authorities mobilized a large number of troops from various theaters, so that the strength of the 5th theater increased from 29 divisions to 64 divisions and 3 brigades, totaling 600,000 people. At the same time, Hu Zongnan, Huang Jie, Gui Yongqing, Yu Jishi, Song Xilian and other units of the Central Army were also deployed in eastern Henan as the backup force of Xuzhou, trying to fight the Japanese army in Xuzhou.

The above-mentioned thoughts of the highest authorities were expressed long before the Battle of Taierzhuang. He once again came to Xuzhou to supervise the battle, and said to the generals of the 5th theater: "Xuzhou is the core of this battle. Xuzhou is located between the Huanghuai and Huai, the boundary of Shandong, Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces, which is the north and south of Tianjin and the barrier of the Central Plains. In Chinese history, the gains and losses of Xuzhou and the rise and fall of relevant countries. ”

Minister He, who accompanied him, still grasped the principle of wearing a thousand clothes without wearing a sycophant, and he immediately echoed and said: "The chairman's instructions are extremely important and very wise. Xuzhou has always been a place where soldiers must fight, the south guard can be slightly Yu and Lu, and the north guard can overlook the Huai River, and it is not easy to give up. ”

"We must defend Xuzhou!" Lin Wei, the head of the chamberlain, also echoed.

But Huang Haoran, Chief Li, Xiao Zhuge and others never spoke.

Huang Haoran knew very well in his heart that Xuzhou would inevitably not be able to hold it in the end, although he led the Chinese army in the 5th theater to annihilate the Isogu Division, but on the whole, the situation of the enemy's strength and weakness remained unchanged. As the Japanese army from all walks of life gets out of various battlefields, Xuzhou will inevitably become stormy!

And his 25th Army is exhausted to the extreme, and it must not fight anymore!

Huang Haoran considered that he was on the side of the highest authority after all, so it was inconvenient to openly "compete" with the highest authority, so he had to stare at "Xiao Zhuge " with his eyes, hoping that "Xiao Zhuge " or this Chief Li would come up with a good idea. Chief Li saw the meaning of Huang Haoran's eyes, but he was not good at opposing the opinions of the highest authorities in person. I can only make a detour: "This time the Japanese army attacked Lunan from multiple routes, and it was very arrogant!"

Without waiting for Chief Li to finish speaking, the highest authorities interrupted Chief Li's words and sang in a high tone:

"What are you afraid of? We can send additional forces to the 5 theater of operations. Isn't the Isoya Division also very arrogant? In the end, it was not annihilated in Zaozhuang? I repeat! Xuzhou must be defended to the death, because in the decisive battle in Xuzhou, you can buy time to defend Wuhan. The longer Xuzhou is defended, the more time we will gain and the better we can do our preparations for the defense of Wuhan. ”

"The foresight of the chairman is admirable!" Minister He let out another sound of praise, it seems that he is determined to pat himself to the end! Huang Haoran scolded Minister He countless times in his heart, but on the surface, he looked very agreed with what Minister He said.

Seeing that the highest authorities had made up their minds, Chief Li could not say anything more.

After the victory of Taierzhuang, there was blind optimism within the Wuhan government!

However, Li Zongren, who was the supreme commander of the 5th Theater, and Huang Hairen, who was the deputy commander of the 5th Theater, were not optimistic about the future situation, and both Huang Haoran and Commander Li believed that Xuzhou was surrounded by plains and there was no danger to defend, and the Japanese army was a mechanized unit with many air forces to help in the war, and the Chinese army would suffer a great loss if it fought here.

Both Huang Haoran and Chief Li thought that the Chinese army was foolish in a war of attrition in Xuzhou with the Japanese army in a position. He also pointed out: "With the equipment of the Chinese army, it can only take advantage of the terrain conditions to engage in mobile warfare with the enemy."

However, due to the fact that the highest authorities and some high-ranking officials of the Military Commission were intoxicated by the victory on the northern line of the Jinpu Road, the correct proposal of Commander Li and Huang Haoran to evacuate Xuzhou was rejected. Under the command of the highest authorities, the deployment of a new Battle of Xuzhou began in the 5 theater.

The Japanese army, which had eaten a trench and grown wise, changed their way of play, and used part of their forces to contain the Chinese army in the 5th Theater in the front, and the main force detoured to the west, in an attempt to encircle Xuzhou from the flank and rear and annihilate the main force of the 5th Theater.

On April 28, the 10th and 5th Divisions of the Japanese Army advanced south from Yicheng (now Zaozhuang) in Shandong Province and the Yitang area northwest of Linyi respectively, and carried out a diversionary attack on the 2nd Army, the 20th and 3rd Army Corps, the 27th Army Corps, and the 59th Army of the Chinese defenders. The defenders resisted stubbornly, and by the end of the month, the Japanese army was held back on the front line of Hanzhuang, Pixian (now Pizhou) and Tancheng. On May 15, the Japanese army began to encircle the west side of Xuzhou from the north and south. In the south, the 9th and 13th divisions of the Japanese army marched north from the Bengbu area along the west bank of the Beiqi River and the Vortex River respectively, and on the 23rd, after capturing Mengcheng and Yongcheng, they attacked Xiaoxian and Dangshan; The 3rd Division entered the Dayingji area from Bengbu and attacked Suxian. In the north, the 16th Division of the Japanese Army crossed the canal from Jining, Shandong, and on the 24th, after capturing Yuncheng, Shanxian, Jinxiang, and Yutai, it advanced to Fengxian and Dangshan in Jiangsu; The 14th Division crossed the Yellow River from Puyang, Henan, and after trapping Heze and Cao County in Shandong, it went straight to Lanfeng, Henan; At the same time, the Japanese 10th Division crossed Weishan Lake near Xia Town and attacked Peixian. The 5th Theater of Operations put up fierce resistance in the vicinity of Xuzhou, but failed to stop the Japanese offensive.

Under the active counteroffensive of the 2nd Theater, the 20th Division of the Japanese Army, which had lost the support of friendly forces, was forced to abandon Puzhou, Ruicheng, Pinglu and other places, leaving only a small number of troops in Yuncheng, Hejin, and Wenxi, and retreating the main force to Quwo, Houma, and Xinjiang areas.

The supply of the 20th Division was completely interrupted due to the destruction of the railroad by the troops of the 2nd Theater of Operations and the control of the Japanese airfield by artillery bombardment. At that time, the Japanese army had no troops to mobilize and reinforce, so it had to be replenished by airdrop, but the planes were insufficient to meet the needs of one division, and finally the Japanese 20th Division had to loot civilian food, wild vegetables, leaves, and grass to satisfy hunger.

As the main force of the Japanese army in North China moved south to attack Xuzhou, all areas of North China occupied by the Japanese army were unstable. Due to the lack of troops, the Japanese army in North China could only passively defend and had no ability to attack on a large scale at all, let alone attack the Chinese army.

The increasingly tragic battle reports from the front continued to reach the case of the highest authorities of the Wuhan Military Commission, and the serious crisis that Xuzhou was suddenly facing calmed down his brain, which was a little dizzy because of the victory in Taierzhuang. The highest authorities suddenly realized that the intention of the Japanese army was to encircle and annihilate the main force of the Chinese army in Xuzhou. If the 50 elite divisions in Xuzhou were eaten by the Japanese army, what else could his highest authorities use to resist the war?

The highest authorities who came to their senses immediately called Minister He, Xiao Zhuge , Chen Cixiu and others to study and plan together. The Japanese army's attempt had been exposed, and it was no longer realistic to defend Xuzhou, and Chen Cixiu and others also advocated breaking through the siege as soon as possible and decided to abandon Xuzhou.

Since the Japanese army had formed a situation of encirclement of Xuzhou on all sides, on May 25, the Supreme Military Council of China decided to abandon Xuzhou. (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to the www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )