(... Some major battles will be known to be mistakes shortly after the start of the battle, and will know that there will be no good results if they continue to fight; but the battle will still be fought, because it is related to the prestige of the generals and the enthusiasm of the people for the War of Resistance; but who has ever cared about those grassroots officers and soldiers who sacrificed their lives for a great battle that will definitely be defeated under wrong command... Excerpted from "My Memories of the War of Resistance - Cao Xiaomin")

In the camp in Zhengzhou, Chiang Kai-shek had already suffered from insomnia on the third day: the armies participating in the war were the elite among the Central Army, the First Army, the Seventy-One Army, the Seventy-Fourth Army, the Twenty-Seventh Army... either a strong army with many battles or a sharp division adapted from the Teaching Corps, but this period of battle has left nothing to say...

Is the army not good? Obviously not right: even the new recruits, the new recruits in these troops have read books and have the strongest understanding of tactics; unlike the soldiers who came from the miscellaneous troops, most of the new recruits selected by these troops are students who join the army or replenish the regiments from places including Zhejiang. They do not have the conditions of fear of fighting or unwilling to fight or not being able to fight. On the contrary, the grassroots officers and even soldiers of these troops are good soldiers who will rush to the enemy without hesitation after listening to the charge. When Chiang Kai-shek went to inspect them personally, these troops even made him feel like he was dreaming about the time when he was in the Northern Expedition. Why did the fight be like this?![]

Judging from the battle reports from all aspects, the artillery fire of the 14th Division of the Japanese opposite was too amazing: Qiu Qingquan's tank troops were hit by full-coverage heavy artillery when covering infantry charges... Doesn't a Japanese division have only one mountain artillery corps? Where do these heavy artillery come from? It can cover the national tank troops while attacking multiple targets... Judging from the results of the deduction of the front-line staff, the number of Japanese artillery on the opposite side was more than five times that of the normal situation. What's even more terrifying is their heavy artillery. Not every Japanese division is equipped with heavy artillery, but the 14th Division's heavy artillery looks more than 75mm conventional artillery!

In fact, no matter who it is, as long as it is a senior general in the Zhengzhou headquarters, it seems that something is wrong: the army is a strong army, but the battle is like this, and it is still fighting in its own encirclement.

What should I do now? Obviously, the Kuomintang army encountered new tactics from the enemy under the circumstances of intelligence error, and the current 14th Division is not alone... But if it does not continue to fight, where will Chairman Jiang put his face?

"As long as you take down Chenliukou, you can cut off the Japanese army between the 14th Division and the North Bank. Taking down Chenliukou is the top priority! In addition, you must fight back and regain Lanfeng and Kaocheng! You can see that in fact, the 14th Division has little room to maneuver. As long as you take back Chenliukou and Lanfeng and continue to squeeze them, according to their firepower consumption, you will soon be out of ammunition and food..." Senior staff members were demonstrating the situation of the battle.

It seems to be correct, but these analyses seem to be valid, but the 14th Division's Japanese soldiers probably completed the reorganization in this period of time; as for the lonely army, are they decorations of the 16th Division and the 10th Division next to the battlefield? In fact, everyone thought that it was impossible to wipe out the 14th Division, but no one said it. Of course, it is not enough to fight to the death now, because the 14th Division occupied Luowangzhai, Luowang Station, Lanfeng Station and other key points of Longhai Road, which is equivalent to intercepting the retreat routes of the troops withdrawn from the Xuzhou battlefield... (In this matter, Bai Chongxi had seen through it for a long time, and even He Yingqin saw through it, but he didn't say it. One was afraid that Chiang Kai-shek would fight to the death when he said it, and the other was because his niece and son-in-law became a deserter...)

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!..." More than a dozen cannons roared. Although they were incomparable to the overwhelming heavy artillery attacks of the Japanese army, this was a rare high-intensity firepower cover for the national army. The 87th Division and the 88th Division gathered together again, and the two armies attacked the Lanfeng line day and night... "Run!..." The shouts were overwhelming, and the charge horns were also covered. As soon as the artillery fire stopped, the officers and soldiers of the 88th Army had a gloomy face and jumped out of the bunker with murderous aura and rushed to Lanfeng Station. The Japanese bunker opposite was made of trains and cars filled with earthblocks, which was very strong. However, after the strong attack of the National Army officers and soldiers for a whole day, they were already full of holes. The news of Commander Long Muhan being dismissed from office and being tried out had spread earlier. Now everyone has received an order: The entire Seventy-first Army is pressed over and must recapture Lanfeng!

"...Teacher Han made the decision to withdraw troops so that everyone would not have to die unjustly in Lanfeng. If everyone could regain Lanfeng, the division commander might have a way out. If it could not be brought back..." This is the message that Song Xilian conveyed when summoning officers of each company commander or above of the 88th Division: Commander Long's life is in everyone's hands!... Then take Lanfeng back! The officers and soldiers of the 88th Division are not just fighting but looking for someone to fight!

The Japanese army, who tried to make the first contribution and withdrew the Xuzhou battlefield, gave up their most successful mobile tactics this time and defended the dead at several stations along Longhai Road. This was the appetite of the national army, who was looking for people to fight desperately. In addition to Lanfeng, General Li Hanhun on the front line of Luowangzhai, also commanded the 58th Division and the 155th Division to attack Luowang Station. It was the position that Dohihara personally defended, and the battle situation was even more intense...

Sanyi Village and Ding Village front line, Gui Yongqing, who made Long Muhan take the blame, still held military power, commanding the counterattack of the 46th, 61th and 106th Divisions...

Take the Lanfeng Station...! The Zhengzhou camp was full of joy. As long as Li Han's soul troops took the Luowang Station, at least the retreating army on the battlefield in Xuzhou would be safe and sound... (Many works written about the Lanfeng Battle showed that the Kuomintang army was defeated after Gui Yongqing escaped, and then exploded the Yellow River... In fact, the process was not that simple. The real situation was that after Gui Yongqing escaped, the Kuomintang army began to attack in a real full-scale attack and regained all the lost lands and began to truly siege Tu Feiyuan.)

"Brothers, take it!" The 58th brothers who broke into the Luowang Station cheered, because they suddenly found that the national army was rushing in at the gap in another position at the same time. The brothers of the 155th Division, who had a comprehensive breakthrough! Meeting!... "Swish! Swish!..." Mortar shells were still falling, but the officers and soldiers who were red-eyed didn't care about so many, but they were just looking for the remaining Japanese in every corner to fill the bayonet...

"Quick! Get ready to defend!..." The torch swinging in the night sky told the brothers who rushed in. The Japanese counterattacked from Luowangzhai and Shizhai...

"Boom! Boom!..." It was another heavy artillery. The Japanese heavy artillery covered the open zone south of the station. The follow-up troops of the 58th Division and the 155th Division were cut off... "Hurry, hurry up..." The officers and soldiers of the same squad were running towards the north position either carrying sleepers or sandbags. Suddenly, a strange "hissing" sound was heard above their heads... It was a mortar shell falling down! Everyone threw down the heavy objects in their hands and rushed towards the bunkers and obstacles nearby... "Bang! Bang!..." The smoke slowly rose and spread in the dull explosion sound, like an expansion skeleton... It was a poison gas bomb!

Because the weather was hot, all the officers and soldiers rushed into the station were shorts, and many were shirtless... Soon, there were brothers twitching everywhere in the station. These people who were still alive at the moment looked dying... "Huo! Huo!..." Soon, the sound of bayonets stabbing into the human body and rubbing between the bones was heard everywhere in the station.

In the last round, the brothers of the National Army assassinated the enemy in every corner, but this time, the Japanese wearing gas masks were bayonets for the poisoned Chinese army officers and soldiers who had no combat capabilities in the station... Luowang Station, after just falling into the hands of the National Army, returned to the Japanese in less than five minutes. The first batch of more than 80 people rushed into the station were not alive!

The combat staff were busy running flags on the sand table, but Chiang Kai-shek looked at a plan in his study, the Tianhe Plan formulated by Farkenhausen!

Tianhe... Tianhe? It hurts Tianhe... Chiang Kai-shek was lying, but he decided. Chiang Kai-shek himself knew the situation that the main force of the Central Army was defeated by the Japanese army's new style of fighting in this battle, and it was actually difficult to completely wipe out the 14th Division!

However, if all the Japanese troops who were chasing the Xuzhou battlefield army could be flooded this time, the War of Resistance might be over; Chiang Kai-shek was actually thinking about negotiations with the Japanese! In fact, before that, a Japanese messenger had already sent the news: Japan hoped to end the war against China as soon as possible!

This is why Chiang Kai-shek revealed the information that he gave the He Long Division's number to Li Tianhao in his telegram to Cao Xiaomin: Once an agreement was reached with the Japanese, the first person Chiang Kai-shek wanted to destroy was the New Fourth Army!

Of course, Chiang Kai-shek was also very clear that to reach a good peace agreement with the Japanese, he had to first hit them hard on the battlefield, so that the Japanese could not continue to fight against China. This was the basis for the success of the negotiations. Now, the opportunity came: the Lanfeng Battle might be the opportunity to attract the main forces of the Japanese army from all parts of North China and finally flood the seven armies. Once more than half of the main forces on the Japanese army's northern line could be flooded in this battle to actively break through the dike, the Japanese probably could only accept the conditions, right?!

Since it was a big gamble, a big gamble that changed the entire situation of the war, then let's make a big tide; the main ace division of the Central Army was all in! Just when Chiang Kai-shek was still wandering in the sea of ​​thought, the secretary outside suddenly knocked on the door and came in, and handed a telegram: North Jiangsu attacked the first victory, and Li Tianhao's soldiers pointed directly at Yancheng!... What made Chiang Kai-shek even more excited was another paragraph: Marquis Lie will fly directly to Zhengzhou tomorrow morning...

OK! Chen Yi was fooled! Chiang Kai-shek's fatigue in recent days suddenly disappeared at this moment...
Chapter completed!