Age of Rebirth

Chapter 550: Desperate Situation

A small Xiao County has touched the hearts of the commanders of both China and Japan. For the Japanese army, being able to save Rensuke Isotani from the danger of annihilation means that they can break through the defense line of the Chinese army. Breaking the current stalemate, the pattern of the Sino-Japanese War will be rewritten.

As far as the army is concerned, the elimination of Isoya Rensuke's First Army is tantamount to eliminating a sharp knife in the hinterland of Japan. On various battlefields, the Chinese Army and the Japanese army were fighting, and they were very clear about the significance of the Battle of Xiao County to their own side.

Xuzhou, an antique deep house compound, with carved beams and painted buildings, copper nails the size of a bowl are nailed to the black lacquered gate, and two stone lions squatting at the gate, maybe it is a long time ago, and the traces of rain can be seen, and most of the surrounding Compared with the houses that were shelled by the Japanese army, they miraculously survived the war. This was originally the house of a rich family. After Li Zongren arrived in Xuzhou, the owner had to give up the yard to the anti-Japanese chief. set here.

In the living room, there are several delicate dishes on the table of the Eight Immortals, a tin jug, scalded in boiling water, exuding an intoxicating aroma of wine, giving people who come from the cold, a kind of heartfelt warmth , Li Zongren, commander of the Xuzhou theater, paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, with a smile on his fair face from time to time. [

He took great pains to set up a banquet, just for one person. Tang Qiusheng, deputy commander of the Yellow River Basin Theater Command and deputy division commander of the Independent Division, Li Zongren has already received a telegram from Tang Qiusheng, and the independent division troops have received a telegram from Tang Qiuli, the commander-in-chief of the theater. Following the general's order, he immediately went to the Taihang Mountains to carry out new combat missions.

Li Zongren felt relieved, and suddenly felt relieved. To be honest, with troops with independent divisions in the Xuzhou area, he always felt oppressed. This is the strategy he and Bai Chongxi discussed, and it is also the main motivation for the Gui army to actively participate in the Battle of Xuzhou.

Now, the start is good. Isoya Rensuke's remnant soldiers have been tightly surrounded in the Xiaoxian Maru. It will be a matter of time before they will be destroyed, and it will not take too much effort. Therefore, Li Zongren hopes that the end of the Xuzhou battle will be achieved by The Gui army comes to fight, so the influence will be different. With this battle, the new Gui family and the Gui army will become famous and gain the recognition of the people of the country.

The most difficult thing is that the troops of Vice Chairman Tang Qiuli fought in the first half of the Xuzhou Battle, and they contributed the most and paid the greatest price. Without the desperate resistance of Kaifeng and Shangqiu for six days, they themselves could not send their troops to the battle. Deployed to the front line of Xuzhou, there will be no such good situation today.

Therefore, Li Zongren took a lot of brains to arrange Tang Qiusheng's five brigades. First, they were placed away from the main battlefield. Let others eat it, and then put the troops of the independent division on the periphery of the Xiaoxian encirclement.

In doing so, Li Zongren himself felt that it was not very authentic. In his own later words, he was a bit low-key and narrow-minded. Up to now, the troops of the Independent Division in the direction of Cangzhou are still under the attack of more than 30 Japanese troops, so he has plenty of time. Come and arrange to destroy the first army of Isoya Rensuke who was huddled in Xiao County.

The telegram he sent to Tang Qiuli also implied that he was testing his tone. If Tang Qiuli, the vice chairman of the Military Commission, insisted on letting his troops participate in the final general attack on the Japanese First Army, Li Zongren would not be able to tell. What, there is no reason on the table to refuse. Fortunately, Tang Qiuli did not insist, which made Li Zongren feel faintly uneasy.

Now, Tang Qiuli actually withdrew his troops in front of this great achievement that could cause a sensation in the whole country. This surprised Li Zongren. I can only convince myself with the reason that the Guangxi family needs Xuzhou's victory too much.

There was the sound of guards standing at attention and saluting at the door. Li Zongren walked quickly to the door of the living room. He had worked together in Xuzhou for many days, and he had never seen the face of the third person in the Independent Division. , I pictured Tang Qiusheng's image in my heart, and a chill came to my face. Tang Qiusheng appeared in front of Li Zongren with the wind and dust of the battlefield.

Both of them were taken aback. In Tang Qiusheng's mind, this long-renowned leader of the Xingui Clan must be a sophisticated and shrewd character. In Li Zongren's mind, this Deputy Teacher Tang must be a A majestic and handsome martial artist, who knows, when they meet, they overturn each other's imagination.

After the guests and hosts were seated, Li Zongren explained the purpose of the banquet, which was to thank the independent division for their great assistance to the Xuzhou theater during the Xuzhou battle and the great sacrifices made. Deputy Commander Tang is about to leave Xuzhou for a new battlefield , as the commander of the war zone, no matter what, he had to prepare a little wine for a farewell party for Deputy Commander Tang.

Tang Qiusheng said a few polite words and didn't say too much. With his delicate mind, how could he not guess Li Zongren's meaning, and he didn't want to get too much entanglement and hypocrisy on it, so he took Tang Qiuli's words intact. He immediately conveyed to Li Zongren that although the Japanese army is now encircled in Xiao County, their command organization still exists. The fighting power of more than 5 Japanese troops should not be underestimated.

Therefore, Tang Qiuli suggested that Li Zongren must not blindly attack, which would bring great casualties to the troops. He should adopt the tactics of stripping bamboo shoots layer by layer, gradually compressing the Japanese army's activity space from the outside to the inside, and consuming its troops. , to use concentrated artillery fire to do covering and devastating blows, so that the final victory can be achieved at the lowest cost.

It should be noted that to prevent the Japanese army from risking their lives to break through, the deployment of troops must be equal, so that the Japanese army cannot find a weak link, and there is no opportunity to take advantage of it. To guard against the Japanese army's suicide counter-assault, use artillery fire to kill and wound the Japanese army's vital forces. In a word, slow down Play slowly, gather and annihilate at the end.

Li Zongrenhe listened attentively, and called the chief of staff. He secretly broke out in a cold sweat. He really thought the battle of Xiao County was too easy. He thought it would only take two days to end the battle. 23 troops, Even with a pile of people, more than 5 Japanese can be crushed to death, but the Japanese army's will to fight has not been estimated. One thousand enemies, eight hundred losses, a loss-making business.

He believed that what Tang Qiusheng conveyed was the truth. No unit knew the Japanese army better than the Independent Division. They fought against the Japanese from the northeast to the north of China. These experiences were very important to him. .

Watching Tang Qiusheng's handsome back disappear at the gate, Li Zongren didn't speak for a long time. This Tang Qiusheng made him feel refreshed. That Tang Qiuli, who is famous all over the country and hasn't met yet?Is it more attractive?In Li Zongren's mind, Tang Qiuli and his generals have been listed as a group of people who can be friends with each other rather than offend.

On December 25, Li Zongren moved his headquarters to Xiao County to command Liao Lei's No.20 First Army and the eight divisions of the Sichuan Army. After careful preparation, the battle started in four directions in Xiao County at the same time. According to Tang Qiu In accordance with the isolated tactics, the Chinese army adopted a step-by-step and steady approach to compress the Japanese army from all directions, and the battle was very intense.

Under the command of officers at all levels, the Japanese army's powerful fighting power in the face of desperation and the will to fight to the death were beyond Li Zongren's imagination. In the afternoon of the battle, the progress of the attacking troops everywhere was slow, and the casualties were quite large. Every position has to go through repeated scrambles. The bloody corpses of soldiers from both sides can be seen everywhere. There are many Japanese soldiers who completely adopt suicide attacks, covered in explosives, howling and rushing towards the crowd of Chinese soldiers. There is a loud noise, often The death of one Japanese soldier was exchanged for the lives of four or five Chinese soldiers. [

In the evening, Li Zongren ordered to stop the attack and consolidate the existing position. On this day, the Chinese army's attack had little effect, and the average advance was less than one kilometer. The ferocity of the Japanese soldiers gave Li Zongren a headache. I believe Tang Qiuli's words are completely correct.

The fierce gunfire on the front gradually faded away. Li Zongrenzi thought hard in the headquarters. The division commander of the Gui army who followed Tang Qiusheng in the Tongshan battle asked to see the commander. The division's style of play was explained to Li Zongren in detail. Li Zongren's heart suddenly became clear, and he immediately held a military meeting overnight to adjust the deployment.

Sure enough, the next day, the Chinese army fought very smoothly, using the artillery to cooperate with the infantry's tactics, and gradually advanced. In this way, the Japanese soldiers were dumbfounded and could not find their opponents even desperately. It was an exhausting cannon. After a whole day of fierce fighting, good news came from all directions. The Japanese army on the opposite side was gradually repelled and retreated to the core area of ​​Xiao County. The remaining Japanese army was finally compressed within a radius of only a few kilometers.

Rensuke Isotani was completely desperate. He received telegrams from all directions to reinforce the troops, claiming that he could not break through the blockade of the squadron. He fought fiercely for two days and nights, did not make an inch, and was trapped in a bitter battle. He understood that there was no hope. Well, the Chinese army commanded by Li Zongren is determined to keep himself and tens of thousands of imperial soldiers here.

The staff sent another telegram, which was sent by the commander of the dispatched army, Xiangyue Qingsi. In the telegram, Xiangyue Qingsi ordered him to organize troops to break through. The direction of the breakout can be in the direction of Cangzhou. Prince Zairen is commanding the troops , Attack the blocking positions of the Chinese army with all your strength, and your troops try their best to move closer to Cangzhou, the chances are great.

After reading the telegram, Rensuke Isotani didn't even give a sneer, and tore the telegram to pieces. It's about this time, and he still said this kind of tasteless nonsense. If he can break out, why bother to spend more than 20 yuan here? The attack of the Chinese army, next to the bombardment and gunfire, killed people every minute, and they couldn't move a step.

(To be continued)