The prelude to the big battle has not begun, and the small battle continues.

On 17 April, a regiment of the 41st Division's Hu Minghe Brigade marched south to capture Ningyang County and Wucun Town on the Jinpu Line, and the next day, a regiment of Huang Huamin crossed the Sihe River and conquered Surabaya County. With Zhang Lingfu's insistence on the regiment in Yanzhou, a semi-encirclement of Qufu was formed. The 122nd Regiment of the 245th Brigade also took over the defense of Dongping and Wenshang County, allowing Zhang Lingfu's 246th Regiment to concentrate on the defense of Yanzhou.

Most of the reinforcements of the 16th Division, which arrived in a hurry, were directly blocked outside the city by the tank armor of the 3rd Tank Battalion, and retreated ten miles back to confront Zhang Lingfu's regiment. Qufu's reinforcements stopped after learning of the 41st Division's move and continued to hold on to Qufu.

But these news were drowned out in the national excitement of Taierzhuang's victory, and not many people paid attention.

The victory in the Battle of Taierzhuang encouraged Lao Jiang. Xuzhou is not as good as Shanghai, and it doesn't matter if it is broken, as long as it blocks the passage for me to quickly enter the hinterland of the Central Plains. At this time, in the Xuzhou area, the advantage of the Central Army was still obvious, but Lao Jiang was still increasing his troops. Not only the increase in troops, but also the preparation of materials and other materials needed for a big war were not prepared in three or five days.

He said that he was also preparing. Although the Jinpu line was jammed by the vanguard army, Lianyungang and Yuezhao fell into the hands of the enemy. This point is very different from history, in the original time and space, it is said that I did not start attacking Lianyungang until May 38, and it was not until September that all of them fell. And in this time and space, due to the intervention of the vanguard army, everything has gone out of shape. Lianyungang fell early.

Because of Sun Yat-sen's planning, Lianyungang, which had just formed a berthing capacity in 36 years, was also closed by a shipwreck. In the sound of explosions, it didn't make the devil bargain much.

The defenders of the 57th Army from the Northeast Army retreated to Houyuntai Mountain to continue the attack. did not let the devil continue to rush forward. This also made it impossible for the devils to attack along the Longhai line for the time being, but through Lianyungang and the small port of Zhaozhao at that time, they could replenish the military supplies of the Fifth Division and the 114th Division along the coastal area.

The supply of the 10th Division and the 108th Division was much tighter, although they occupied Zaozhuang and other places, and there was no shortage of food and other materials, but there was no way to replenish the weapons and ammunition and other materials after the Jinpu line was stuck. It could only be received through the 16th Division in Jining.

"We must concentrate all our forces to occupy Xuzhou first, open up the Longhai line, and advance to Zhengzhou step by step." Nishio Shouzo didn't care that this was a high-level meeting at this time, and shouted with a red face. It is said that the North China Front Army secretly held a meeting on the Battle of Xuzhou in Beiping.

Shouichi Terauchi frowned slightly, and he also agreed with Nishio Shouzo's proposal. In the first battle of Taierzhuang, the locust army was defeated at the hands of the Central Army, which made him lose face. But at this time, Nishio Shouzo is a little out of shape, because of repeated failures, he may not have much chance.

"We should first capture the area around Shangqiu, block the retreat of the central army of China, and completely surround them. Then, destroy it in one fell swoop. Kiyoji Kazuki said unhurriedly.

The chief of staff of the Central China Dispatch Army, Kawabe Shozo, also nodded and said, "We should cut off the back road first, and then wipe it out." This is also in line with the requirements of the decisive battle put forward by the base camp. ”

After the defeat at Taierzhuang, the base camp put forward instructions for a decisive battle with the Central Army in the Xuzhou area, but it was with the North China Front Army as the main combat strength. In order to save face, the 2nd Army was used as a frontal attack, and the 1st Army and Central China sent troops to fight in a roundabout way. In this regard, the First Army and the Central China Dispatch Army hoped to fight head-on at a later date, so that they could earn more military merits.

"What about the Vanguard?" Naosaburo Okabe couldn't help but interject.

"From this battle in Taierzhuang, we can already see that the threat of the Central Army is greater. As long as they recover and have more soldiers and weapons, they will be a greater threat to the Empire. The area of the Vanguard Army was too small and did not have much potential for development. Terauchi Shouichi still put the vanguard army in a secondary position in his heart, and defeating the regular central army of China is what he wants to do.

This secret meeting is a meeting for the three parties to renegotiate and adjust the contradictions between their interests. After some bargaining, a compromise was finally introduced. And all this, the headquarters of the base camp stationed in the guidance group is ignorant of this, and once the war machine pushes, many things are beyond the control of a few people. The strength of the military community is also a threat to the military. With the resources of the plundered land and the support of a large number of soldiers who have gained the benefits, invisible warlord groups have emerged.

On April 25, the Sakai detachment of the 14th Division arrived in Jining by train from Jinxiang, Henan, carrying a large number of supplies, and sent supplies to the four divisions of Jining and Zaozhuang.

On the 26th, the main force of the 16th Division in Jining suddenly crossed the canal from the section of Jiaxiang County, which had been occupied long ago, and began to attack to the west and south, aiming directly at Jinxiang. The Sakai detachment also crossed the river and attacked Yuncheng County, trying to relieve pressure on the main force of the 14th Division to cross the river.

"Yu Kou is going to cut us off and eat us in one bite, do they have such a big appetite?" Bai Chongxi smiled, but he was also worried in his heart, the strength of these devils was not too terrible, what was terrible was the troops that he kept deploying. There is already definite information that the base camp is planning to transfer more divisions and regiments. At that time, the Central Army, which had been cut off from the back route, would be in danger.

"The division of troops is just right for each breakthrough!" Li Zongren didn't care much when he received Bai Chongxi's reminder, this needed to make a time difference, and cut off one of his fingers before he said that he didn't come around. He directly ordered the 74th Army stationed in Shangqiu and Dangshan to assemble at Yongcheng, the eastern gate of Henan. At the same time, he ordered Li Hanxun's 64th Army, which had just been transferred from Guangzhou, to also assemble to Yongcheng.

But the 74th Army, as a descendant of Lao Chiang, was so easily mobilized. That night, Lao Jiang issued an order to Li Zongren and Cheng Qian of the First War Zone, changing the combat areas of the two war zones, and directly assigned Lu Xi to the First War Zone. and included Yu Jishi's 74th Army, Huang Jie's 8th Army and Li Hansoul's 64th Army into the First Theater of Operations, forming the Luxi Offensive Corps, all under the command of Xue Yue.

Li Zongren, who heard the news, could only sigh.

After hearing the news, the vanguard army immediately ordered Hu Minghe's brigade to hand over the defense of the Tai'an area to the 18th Division, and cooperated with a regiment of Huang Huamin's brigade, which occupied Surabaya County, to press to Qufu. Huang Huamin's other troops also continued to defend the areas of Yishui, Yinan, and Mengyin.

At the same time, the 245th Regiment was also gradually moving south to support Zhang Lingfu's 246th Regiment, and the vacated Dongping County was also taken over by the 18th Division.

At this time, there was only one wing in Jining, and nearly half of it was still near Yanzhou. The 109th Division was also knocked out by the vanguard army one after another. In the face of the attack of the vanguard army, they were still hesitating. However, the 81st Division, which had been reorganized for a period of time, also began to move south along the Jinpu line with great fanfare, joining the ranks of attacking Qufu. At the same time, the 122nd Regiment of the 244th Brigade also crossed the river from Surabaya County and headed for Zoucheng County.

"Approach Qufu step by step, but hold off the attack." This is the scheme given by the General Staff of the Vanguard Army. In a sensitive place like Qufu, there are many places that need to be paid attention to, and you should not rush it. With the transfer of the 16th Division, everything was affected, and it was impossible for the 109th Division to only stay on the chicken ribs of Qufu. If 109 retreats, they will occupy Qufu, and if they defend, they will be destroyed directly.

The movement of a large army takes time, and a series of transfers requires time to be put in place. The 50th Division has been defending in the east, and the successive transfers of the 18th Division and the 41st Division have made Meng Xiang a little stretched, and the 81st Division has to be dispatched, but the 81st Division, which is mostly recruited, has limited combat effectiveness. Gu Liangmin's 22nd Division was also mobilized and prepared to break south. The only thing Meng Xiang relied on around the base was the security regiment.

And the devil also had no soldiers in his hands, and a wing of the 108th Division began to return to aid Zoucheng. But the battle line on Zaozhuang's side is also tight. The 10th Division and the 108th Division in the middle were also difficult.

"Can't be so passive! Need to jump out and look for opportunities! "Ryosuke Isoya's defeat made his position untenable, he no longer expected to defeat the Central Army at this time, he only wanted to leave some vitality for the 10th Division.

"We should cross Weishan Lake, establish a defensive line west of the canal, encircle the Central Army, and wait until domestic reinforcements arrive to relaunch the offensive." He directly gave advice to Nishio Shouzo, but the suggestion was sunk into the sea. Nishio Shouzo is gambling to the last hand, but Terauchi Shouichi sees the danger here. He wanted the duel to be fought by the Central Army, not by the vanguard of the local forces.

"Give them Qufu and see what they do next. The 109th Division went south and stuck Zou Cheng. The main force attacked in the direction of Zaozhuang. "Shouichi Terauchi is also planning to take a risk. At this time, the 16th Division had already conquered Jinxiang and Juye, and was attacking Yutai and Shanxian. The 14th Division had just crossed the Yellow River south of Puyang on the 29th, and the outer encirclement was about to form.

"What? The 109th Division withdrew from Qufu? You didn't set fire to the city, did you? Meng Xiang was also surprised, the devil's broken wrist was very resolute, except for the looting of some precious belongings, the others did not move. He didn't know that he attached great importance to the influence of Confucius, and if he was presumptuous on the head of Confucius, how would he govern China in the future? Although the descendants of Confucius ran away, there is still a chance to redeem it in the future.

"The troops will occupy it first." Meng Xiang ordered.

He didn't care about anything else now, the No. 7 base car had already been deployed.