Chapter 5: Blood and Fire (39)

With the retreat of the 9th Division, the artillery fire on the southern front came to an end for the time being, and fierce battles were raging on the northern and eastern fronts.

In late February, the 5th Division of the Japanese Army East Road moved south from Weixian County, Shandong, and trapped Yishui, Juxian, and Rizhao in succession, and went straight to Linyi. In response to Itagaki Seishiro's aggressive posture, Li Zongren adopted countermeasures of resistance at various levels.

After the Nankou operation of the 5th Division of the Japanese Army in 1937, the 9th Brigade of the two subordinate brigades, under the leadership of the brigade commander Major General Noboru Kunisaki, formed the Kunisaki Detachment and went to the Songhu Battlefield to follow Yanagawa Heisuke to land at Jinshanwei. The 5th Division became a vacant division, and only one brigade and the troops directly under the division were assigned to stay at Nankou.

Seishiro Itagaki, the commander of the 5th Division, once planned the "918 Incident" with Ishihara Waner, known as "the wisdom of Ishihara and the courage of Itagaki", and was an extremely vicious guy. This guy was unwilling to take half of the division to guard the south entrance to watch the excitement, and led the missing division to follow the defeated Fu Zuoyi's Seventh Army along both sides of the Pingsui Line, and launched an attack on Suiyuan, expanding the battle to Shanxi, which was completely beyond the plan of the base camp and the North China Front, and also shifted the direction of the North China battlefield from Hebei to Shanxi. At the beginning of September 1937, the Tojo Heroic Aircraft Regiment attracted the main force of the Second Theater of the National Army to the vicinity of Datong, and the Itagaki Division turned its head and defeated the Liu Fengbin Division of the Jin Army. The door of Shanxi was opened, Yan Xishan woke up like a dream, and hurriedly transferred troops to block the attack, but finally due to poor cooperation and chaotic command, Ruyuekou was broken through, and the Jin army retreated on all fronts. After that, the Itagaki Division (with the addition of the 2nd and 15th Brigades) attacked the Xinkou position head-on, and fought for 23 days, Xinkou abandoned the defense, and the Itagaki Division captured Taiyuan. After that, the Itagaki Division went out of the Taihang Mountain, entered the Hebei Plain, and swept across the entire North China, as if entering a no-man's land, becoming an invincible myth among the Japanese army in North China, and the division commander Itagaki Seishiro also became the most dangerous enemy of the Japanese army invading China.

At the beginning of 38, Itagaki again led half of the division to land in Qingdao, Shandong, and joined up with the Kunisaki detachment of the Ninth Brigade Regiment returned from Nanjing, opened the Jiaoji line, and occupied the whole province of Shandong.

The 21st Infantry Brigade of the 5th Division, under the leadership of Major General Shun Sakamoto, composed of six infantry brigades, formed the Sakamoto Detachment, and began to besiege Linyi on March 7.

Sticking to Linyi is the 40th Army of the Third Army, the corps commander Pang Bingxun, the army commander Pang Bingxun, there is only one 39th division below, and the division commander is also Pang Bingxun. Pang Bingxun wears many hats, not because of his outstanding ability, but because this unit is too large and has too few personnel. There is only one 40th Army under the Third Army, and in addition to the 39th Division, there is also a 14th Cavalry Brigade of Zhang Zhankui, which is all of the Third Army. Pang Bingxun is the oldest division commander in the National Revolutionary Army, and he is also the oldest army commander, almost the oldest regiment commander, he is 59 years old this year, approaching the age of sixtieth year.

This 40th Army, originally belonged to Yuxiang's Northwest Army, after the Central Plains War, crossed the Yellow River and became a subordinate of Lao Jiang, after 1934, has been ordered to suppress the red, and Xu Haidong's Red 25th Army fought happily, Xu Haidong went away to northern Shaanxi, and also beat his own soldiers and generals were outnumbered and lonely, and they were about to be canceled by the Military Commission, Pang Bingxun just wanted to return to his hometown to run a snack shop. The Lugou Bridge Incident, the Japanese army attacked North China on a large scale, and the Anti-Japanese War was prosperous, Pang Bingxun also wanted to find a way out for his old department, and with a shy old face, he found Xu Yongchang, the director of the Military Command Department of the Military Commission, who was also from the Northwest Army, and said a lot of good things and made a lot of friendships, and finally kept the establishment, and also got the name of a boss of the Third Army Corps, but he did not get the supplement of one person and one gun, and his strength did not improve, and he became a freak in the establishment of the army directly under the corps and then the division directly under the corps. After the Anti-Japanese War, they obeyed the dispatch of the First Group Army and did some gags, and after being transferred to the Fifth War Zone, Li Zongren gave them some equipment supplements and let them garrison Linyi.

With such a crippled and old ragtag army, to fight against the 5th Division of the Japanese Army, known as the "Steel Army", you will know what the ending will be with your toes. In order to reverse the unfavorable situation, Xu Zuyi, chief of staff of the Fifth Theater, immediately rushed to Yixian County to persuade Zhang Zizhong to reinforce Linyi.

Xu Zuyi knew that in the past warlord melee, Pang Bingxun and Zhang Zizhong were enemies of life and death, but the 59th Army was the closest and most mobile team to Linyi, and in addition to this team, there was no second team that could support. In order to stabilize the entire war situation, Chief of Staff Xu Zuyi went to Yixian, ready to give full play to his negotiating advantages and persuade Zhang Zizhong to reinforce Linyi. When Xu Zuyi told Zhang Zizhong about the situation and importance of Linyi, and that it was Pang Bingxun who was guarding Linyi, he hadn't started to persuade him, but he only heard Zhang Zizhong laugh and say impassionedly: "I underestimate Zhang!" At the moment of the great enemy, the state affairs are important, and a small old grudge can stop me from killing the enemy. "Immediately ordered, and set off.

Some people say that on the battlefield in China, the Japanese have never had a blind spot in intelligence, and they think about how confidential the shipwreck in Jiangyin was, and there are also Nanzao Yunzi who spread the news, so that the Japanese fleet that penetrated deep into the Yangtze River was able to escape ahead of schedule. The same is true of the Xuzhou battlefield, as soon as Zhang Zizhong's 59th Army set off, the Japanese army got the news, and the staff of the 5th Division passed precise calculations, and also referred to the feud between Zhang Zizhong and Pang Bingxun and other factors, Chief of Staff Sakurada Takeshi believes that the 59th Army will take three days at the fastest to rush from Yixian to Linyi.

Sakurada Takeshi believed that with the three-day time difference, it would be enough to annihilate the Linyi National Army one by one and report the results of the analysis to the regimental headquarters of the division. Itagaki Seishiro ordered the Sakamoto detachment to use the most powerful attack to first defeat Pang Bingxun's troops who had exhausted their ammunition in Linyi, and then counterattack Zhang Zizhong's troops with ease. Let Zhang Zizhong's 59th Army not only not become a rescue army, but will become a "dead army" sent to the door because it cannot arrive in time.

The battle immediately escalated, early in the morning, the fifth wing of field artillery transferred from Zizhou appeared under the city of Linyi, which was a complete field artillery wing, with a total of 2,894 personnel, 2,269 horses, 48 field artillery, and 541 guns. Kobori is a standard Japanese, less than 1.5 meters tall, weighing no more than 80 pounds, wearing snow-white gloves, delicate official uniforms, and shiny high-waisted riding boots under red-edged breeches. Standing straight and straight by the artillery array, holding the command knife as a crutch on his chest, the Japanese also have their advantages in being short in stature, if it is a Chinese big man, if you want to use the command knife as a crutch, you must bend down, not like the Japanese can still hold your chest up.

With the wave of Xiao Hori's sword, one by one field artillery shells sprayed out of the barrels and flew towards Linyi City, and suddenly, the shrapnel of Linyi City flew sideways, and the loud noise shook the sky, and there were bullet marks all over the place.

In the past few days, the Japanese army's attack on Linyi City has been wave after wave, repeatedly rushing to kill, Pang Bingxun has been scheming, taking defense as an attack, relying on the high wall of Linyi to deal with the Japanese army, that is, not going out of the city gate, so that the Japanese army is like boxing cotton, unable to exert strength, but was beaten by the sharpshooters in the city to casualties. The Sakamoto detachment is like a dog biting a pig's urine bubble, and it can't go beyond the thunder pond. The best of the legendary Imperial Army was frustrated by a motley army that was not well known, and Seishiro Itagaki became angry and attacked Sakamoto Shun again to reinforce the aircraft and chariots, but to no avail, and instead left more corpses outside the city of Linyi.

Pang Bingxun's department in Linyi City did not have a good time, 5 regiments were wiped out 3, Pang Bingxun's guards, grooms, men, stretchers all went to the front line, such a danger was the first time in his 38-year career as a horse.

Pang Bingxun estimated that today was his last day, he was a little regretful, he was still a year away from being sixty years old, if he died after the age of sixty, he could be regarded as an old death, and one year old could only be classified as middle-aged. Deputy Army Commander Ma Fawu said to Pang Bingxun with a wry smile that he was afraid that he would not be able to survive today, and that the Japanese had only moved the mountain artillery two days ago, but today they have moved the artillery. In fact, the caliber of the Japanese field artillery and the mountain artillery is exactly the same, both are 75 mm, the mountain artillery has a short barrel, light weight, short firing range, easy to maneuver, suitable for mountain combat artillery, belongs to the light * gun, the trajectory is curved. The field artillery has a long barrel, heavy weight, long range, and is not as mobile as the mountain artillery. Equipped with field artillery is generally a class A division, that is, the horse pulling division, this kind of artillery needs to use horse-pulling, not mountain artillery can be disassembled with horses, with horses to carry the mountain artillery division, the Japanese army is also called the horse division regiment, which is a grade lower than the horse pulling regiment.

"Throne, do you want to withdraw?" Ma Fa asked.

Pang Bingxun shook his head: "If you don't withdraw, after decades of civil war, you can die on the battlefield of the national war, which can be regarded as a good death." In a while, I will gather the brothers who can't go, fight here to the end, and you can retreat with those who can still walk, which can be regarded as leaving some seeds for our 40th Army. ”

"Hehe, if the military seat doesn't leave, I won't leave, today, just throw these hundred and ten catties here!" Ma Fawu smiled.

Perhaps it was fate, just when Linyi City was about to be broken, a unit entered the 5th Division from the side. The 5th Division was fighting smoothly, completely defenseless, and immediately in chaos, although the field artillery of the 5th Wing of the Field Artillery in the rear was fierce, it could not attack the enemy in front of it, and the soldiers had no power to fight back, and they were killed within three minutes. Seeing that there were troops responding, Ma Fawu saw a chance to live, and shouted loudly and rushed out of Linyi City with his troops. The soldiers of the Forty Army were pressed and beaten for nearly ten days, and their eyes were full of the fire of revenge. Shun Sakamoto was shocked and shouted to retreat. The two armies chased after two miles before they stopped.

Ma Fawu, who stopped, found that with the withdrawal of the Japanese army, the soldiers of the reinforcement team could no longer take a step and collapsed directly on the ground.

This was Zhang Zizhong's 59th Army, which gave full play to the spirit of enduring hardships and standing hard work and the fighting spirit of being bold and dry, and under the order of the army commander, they marched rapidly day and night, and even galloped 180 miles in one day and one night, and rushed to Linyi ahead of schedule. As soon as they arrived, they rushed into the enemy line, and when the battle was over, the will that supported them was exhausted, and it was only then that their physical strength was exhausted.

Pang Bingxun ran out of the city with gratitude, running towards this life-saving unit, shouting as he ran: "The grace of saving lives is unforgettable, Pang Gengchen is very grateful!" Thank you very much! ”

When he got closer, he opened his mouth wide, so surprised that he couldn't speak, the person standing in front of him was clearly Zhang Zizhong, a former enemy, he imagined that all the people would come to the rescue, but he didn't expect it to be this person.

Zhang Zizhong, like Pang Bingxun, was a subordinate of the Northwest Army, but after the end of the Central Plains War, there was a serious conflict between the two sides. Because of the defeat of the Central Plains War, Feng Yuxiang's dismal operation of more than 20 years of the Northwest Army completely collapsed, the following departments have become independent, when the separation, Zhang Zizhong's camp next door is Pang Bingxun, Pang Bingxun wanted to annex Zhang Zizhong's department, took the lead in firing at Zhang Zizhong's military camp, Zhang Zizhong almost died of a mortar, and the feud between the two was like this.

Xu Zuyi walked over with a smile, took Pang Bingxun's hand, walked to Zhang Zizhong with a stupid Pang Bingxun, and held their hands tightly. Pang Bingxun hugged Zhang Zizhong, howled and cried, and the old tears were rampant: "Brother Xinchen, I can hug you again in this life, although I have no regrets in death." Seeing this situation, Zhang Zizhong couldn't help but shed a few heroic tears.

With the assistance of Xu Zuyi, Zhang Zizhong and Pang Bingxun jointly formulated a battle plan, coordinated various armies, and successfully stopped Sakamoto's detachment under Linyi City and stabilized the eastern front of Xuzhou under Linyi City.