Xu Rui led a special operations unit disguised as Japanese soldiers, carrying a load of Japanese weapons and ammunition, and swaggering onto the road from Meizhen to Bengbu. At this time, the Japanese army's attention was focused on the Huaihe front line, except for the armored trains on the Jinpu Railway. Patrols are carried out at all times, and there are no troops patrolling either highway. [Read full text]
Therefore, Xu Rui and the others did not encounter any obstacles along the way.
The Japanese Central China Front's northern advance group was mainly divided into two groups, one from Hefei to the north, and the other to the north along the Jinpu Railway, and then formed a stalemate with the Japanese on the line from Huainan to Bengbu. The confrontation with the Japanese in Huainan was Pang Bingxun's regiment and Yu Xuezhong's unit were the 59th Army that confronted the Japanese army in Bengbu.
Two months ago, the Japanese army had actually crossed the Huaihe River, and the forwards were almost reaching Mengcheng. However, at this time, the 59th Army unexpectedly launched a counterattack, and its troops went straight to Bengbu. Japan saw that the Jinpu Railway was a lifeline. In danger of being cut off by the 59th Army, they quickly ordered the Japanese troops heading north to withdraw to Bengbu.
After that, the Japanese army and the Japanese army launched a tug-of-war along the Huaihe River, which was very costly.
All units of the 59th Army are under great pressure, but the greatest pressure is on the 180th Division, which is isolated on the south bank of the Huaihe River.
After the Japanese army returned to Bengbu, the main force of the 59th Army withdrew to the north bank of the Huaihe River. However, in order to maintain pressure on the Japanese army and reduce the pressure on the frontal defense line, Zhang Zizhong, commander of the 59th Army, left Xiang Tianhu's 180th Division on the south bank. As a result, the 180th Division became a lone force in the front line and was under great pressure.
After two months of fierce fighting, the 180th Division had suffered more than half its casualties.
Compared with the casualties, what worries Xiang Tianhu and Yan Yuhui is that there is not much ammunition left. If the ammunition is not transported up from the north bank within two days, the remaining 5,000 soldiers of the 180th Division will only Being able to fight the Japanese with a bayonet, Xiang Tianhu and Yan Yuhui couldn't sleep all night because of this, and their eyes were red.
Xiang Tianhu took a nap in a daze, and when he opened his eyes, he saw Yan Yuhui walking in with a solemn expression.
Xiang Tianhu rubbed his bloodshot eyes, frowned and asked, "Chief of Staff, how is the mood of the troops?"
"The mood is okay." Yan Yuhui nodded and said sadly, "When the war has reached this point, the country has been destroyed, and the family has been destroyed, the brothers have long given up on surviving. Even you, Master, have already written it. Did you leave a suicide note?”
Xiang Tianhu slammed his fist on the table and said bitterly: "But I really don't want to accept it."
"Who is not?" Yan Yuhui also said, "If the equipment is not as good as the people, we will not survive. We only give half of the rations. Brothers have to fight the Japanese hungry every day. We can tolerate it, but we don't even have ammunition." If we don’t give enough, what can we do for our brothers to fight with the Japanese? Are we really going to fight the Japanese with bayonets? They have to be willing!"
"I don't understand!" Xiang Tianhu said, "We are guarding the Longhai Line and the highway from Bengbu to Xuzhou is intact. Why can't weapons and ammunition be transported? Why can't they be transported?"
"What's not clear about this?" Yan Yuhui sneered, "All the train wagons running on the Longhai Line were sold to wealthy businessmen in Henan at high prices by those old Jiang disciples named Gui. Now the trains running on the railway line It’s all tons of commercial goods. Master, didn’t you listen? Because the soldiers couldn’t be transported, Commander Li lost his temper!”
"That's not right." Xiang Tianhu said, "The rich river merchants are transporting supplies to the rear. The wagons should be empty when they come back. It's just the time to transport military supplies to the front, isn't it?"
"Oh my master, you only know one but not the other." Yan Yuhui said, "Do you know how much goods these wealthy merchants in Henan transport to the rear? In fact, it is not just merchants in Henan, but also merchants from Henan. Businessmen from Peiping, Tianjin, Baoding, and Shandong who fled all the way south had all their supplies hoarded at stations along the line, and these stations were blocked to death. Without supplies, even people could not enter the stations. This railway line In fact, he is paralyzed. Otherwise, how could the soldiers not be transported? Why would Commander Li get so angry?"
"Donkey's day." Xiang Tianhu cursed bitterly, leaving only sulking.
However, Xiang Tianhu also knows that the businessmen cannot be blamed for this matter. After all, it is the property they have accumulated all their lives. If it were him, he would not be willing to throw away those supplies. He would definitely try his best to keep them. These supplies, after all, many of these supplies are machinery and equipment.
If China wants to survive, these machines and equipment are indispensable.
The blame for this can only be attributed to those senior generals who have enriched their own pockets, especially those senior generals of the Central Army. Because they were Chiang Kai-shek's favorite disciples, they did not even take Chief Li seriously and did whatever they wanted in Xuzhou. It is simply shameless to take advantage of the national crisis to make a fortune.
But those were senior generals of the Central Army after all, and Xiang Tianhu had no control over them.
So after being sulky for a long time, I finally had to find a way to solve the problem myself.
Xiang Tianhu thought for a moment and said, "Are the batches of Japanese weapons and equipment seized in Hai'an last time still there?"
"They're all here," Yan Yuhui said, "It's been sitting in the warehouse. It's almost getting rusty."
"Take it out and distribute it to the brigades and regiments." Xiang Tianhu said, "When the ammunition of the domestic weapons is exhausted, we will switch to Japanese weapons. As for the ammunition, we will resupply it on the battlefield."
Yan Yuhui sighed: "That's all we can do."
While the two were sighing, the cavalry battalion commander Tiegang suddenly walked in excitedly.
"Teacher, please take a seat!" Tiegang stood at attention, then turned around and said with stern hands, "Look, who is here?"
Xiang Tianhu and Yan Yuhui looked up when they heard the sound, and saw a tall and upright "Captain Ghost" striding in. Seeing this heroic and heroic Captain Captain Xiang Tianhu, Hu couldn't help being stunned, and Yan Yuhui even subconsciously reached out to touch the Browning pistol at his waist.
However, Yan Yuhui reacted quickly, let go, and gave the man a shy smile.
The Japanese captain stood at attention and said: "The newly formed Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army, the Dameishan Independent Brigade, the captain, Xu Rui, has met two officers!"
"You are Xu Rui." Xiang Tianhu glanced sharply, looked Xu Rui up and down, and sighed, "You are to be feared when you are born, but you are afraid of being born."
Yan Yuhui also stepped forward and clasped his fists and said, "Captain Xu, I have admired you for a long time."
"You're welcome, Chief of Staff Yan." Xu Rui clasped his fists in return and smiled, "Actually, I wanted to come to see the two officers last time, but unfortunately, I was injured at the time, so I couldn't make it. But this time, I made a special trip I’m here to say thank you to the two officers for helping our independent brigade at your headquarters in Hai’an last time.”
"Look at what you said." Xiang Tianhu waved his hand and said, "We are all our own troops, fighting Japan together, no thanks or thanks, that's too foreign."
Xiang Tianhu deliberately used the word "his own troops" in a very strong way, and then observed Xu Rui's reaction.
Not to mention, when Xiang Tianhu learned from Tiegang that Xu Rui's independent battalion was in Hai'an, he actually came up with the idea of collecting the temporary 79th Division independent battalion, which was to give Xu Rui a main commander, Xiang Tianhu He didn't hesitate, but it was a pity that Xu Rui didn't give him this chance at all, and fled with his troops halfway.
When meeting Xu Rui this time, Xiang Tianhu clearly hasn't given up yet.
Yan Yuhui and Xiang Tianhu have been colleagues for many years, and they can be said to have the same mind. They immediately agreed: "It is a pity that talents like Brother Xu stay in the mountains and valleys to fight guerrillas. Talents like Xu Rui should go to the frontal battlefield. Command the army to engage in head-to-head confrontation with the Japanese in an upright and upright manner, so that you can live up to your life and what you have learned."
Xu Rui's mouth immediately evoked a wicked smile, okay, this is the rhythm of poaching.
Tiegang, who led Xu Rui in, also looked at each other a little bit. Isn't it a bit inappropriate to openly poach like this
But how could Xu Rui be moved by their words? He laughed and said: "The two officers laughed. Xu actually cannot be called a great talent. The battles in Wuxi, Baoxing and Nantong were just a fluke." , If the Japanese had been more cautious, they would never have suffered such a tragic defeat, but the two officers, by staying here, seemed to have sacrificed themselves for the sake of others."
"Sacrifice the basics to pursue the weak?" Xiang Tianhu was surprised.
Yan Yuhui said, "Brother Xu, what do you say?"
Xu Rui smiled and said: "Zhang Junzuo left the 180th Division on the south bank of the Huaihe River. His original intention was simply to let the 180th Division threaten the Japanese rear and relieve the pressure on the 59th Army's front. But now the 180th Division is just defending a lonely piece of land on the south bank of the Huaihe River. , at most it only serves as a certain barrier, and does not threaten the Japanese behind at all, so how can it not be to sacrifice the fundamentals and pursue the inferiors?"
Yan Yuhui and Xiang Tianhu looked at each other and asked, "I don't know, what is Brother Xu's advice?"
"It's not a high opinion, it's just a superficial view." Xu Rui said cheerfully, "If the commander can jump out of the Huaihe battlefield and focus on the entire Xuzhou battlefield, he should lead his troops to advance to Damei Mountain. In this way, he can capture Pukou and cut off the enemy to the east. The Jinpu Railway can attack Hefei to the west and cut off the Feinan Highway. It can also threaten the Japanese behind Huainan to the north. At that time, the Japanese will be like a thorn in the back. If you want to eliminate the threat of the 180th Division, you have to specially deploy two divisions. In this way, The pressure on the Huaihe River Frontline will be greatly reduced! The pressure on the entire Xuzhou battlefield will also be greatly reduced!"
Xu Rui's words were actually completely out of public motives.
If Xiang Tianhu can really adopt his suggestion and lead the 180th Division to advance into Damei Mountain, then the battle situation on the Huaihe front line will immediately change. It can be imagined that a main Japanese division is entrenched in Damei Mountain, with both sides facing east and west. It can threaten the lifeline that the Japanese army relies on for survival, and it can even stab the Japanese army in the butt to the north. How uncomfortable will the Japanese army be then
However, when Xiang Tianhu and Yan Yuhui heard this, it was completely different.
Well, I, Lao Xiang, just want to dig out a battalion, but your son directly wants to dig out the entire 180th Division of Lao Xiang. If you really dig me out, what do you want Lao Xiang to do? Will you be the company commander for your son? You really dare to think and dare. Come on, just pretend that this matter has never happened to me.