Chapter 40**Provide a plan to annihilate the enemy

On March 22, all the main forces of Tang Enbo's army arrived at the war zone, crossed the canal, gathered in Lanling, heading towards the city, and preparing to attack the Japanese army on Zaozhuang and Yi County. Li Zongren finally had a force with the last assault force in his hands.

The 2nd Army of Japan had no chance to fully play its military achievements in the battlefield in North China. In addition, after it attacked Shandong, the Chinese team retreated without fighting, which made the 2nd Army of Japan seem quite anxious and underestimated the enemy. In addition, the troops in Shandong were repeatedly counterattacked by the Chinese team and suffered a lot of losses, so naturally they were furious to retaliate. The 5th and 10th Divisions under the 2nd Army asked the North China Front to allow them to attack south. The North China Front agreed to the 2nd Army's proposal to attack the 2nd Army, and believed that the Japanese army could not limit themselves. Therefore, they obtained permission from the base camp to give the 5th and 10th Divisions to attack southern Shandong. However, the base camp still drew a prohibited line for the Japanese army to go south - it must not exceed the front line from Lincheng to Linyi.

Lieutenant General Isogaya Risuke, the commander of the 10th Division of the Japanese army, did not take the Central ** team seriously at all. The 10th Division led by him was a mechanized unit with heavy equipment and the ability of the air force to cooperate in combat. After capturing Teng County, he conquered Lincheng, which was the Japanese base camp's southward ban line for the North China Front Army. However, Isogaya judged that Li Zongren's troops were insufficient and the troops that could be mobilized had already been entangled in the 5th Division of Itagaki on the right wing, so he decided to boldly go deeper, cross the Lincheng and Zaozhuang front lines, and prepare to attack Xuzhou directly, and capture the 5th War Zone Command of the Central ** team in one fell swoop, so he led his troops south at full speed, and did not accept the ban line set up by the base camp for the Japanese army to fight in southern Shandong.

On March 18, after capturing Teng County, the 10th Division of the Japanese army, regardless of the blockade of its left 5th Division and the response of Bengbu reinforcements, rushed towards Taierzhuang in an attempt to go to Xuzhou in one fell swoop and seize the first contribution to the opening of the Jinpu Line.

"General, China's Sun Tzu's Art of War says that going deep into the army is a taboo for military strategists!" Chief of Staff Atsuro Umemura kindly reminded Isotani Ryosuke.

"The Chinese army is vulnerable!" Isoga said disdainfully. "How is Wang Mingzhang? It's hard enough, right? But in the end I cut all over and destroyed the entire division?!"

Colonel Umemura was stunned for a while, but he knew in his heart that the arrogant commander of the division could not listen to his advice at all. Besides, Lieutenant General Isotani's qualifications were far higher than himself, so the colonel finally chose to remain silent. "A arrogant soldier will be defeated! A arrogant soldier will be defeated!" Colonel Umemura kept screaming in his heart.

At this time, Risuke Isotani became extremely arrogant. Apart from Taierzhuang, there was no resistance to the team that had been in front of him. He couldn't wait to cut the butcher knife at Taierzhuang at all costs. Especially when he learned that his brother's army Itagaki Division was defeated in Linyi and could not go south to Taierzhuang to meet, he was extremely impulsive and immediately decided: to move south and quickly capture Taierzhuang! He not only wanted to monopolize Taierzhuang and Xuzhou, but also tried to fight the Huaihe River and seize the independence.

He has a great military achievements that have penetrated the battlefields of the north and south of China! In his own heart, he really wants to compete with Itagaki Seishiro and see his elongated black face after he took down Taierzhuang. Although Itagaki Seishiro is a recognized famous general, TaIotani Ryosuke is no worse than Itagaki Seishiro. Now, history has finally given him this opportunity. Iotani Ryosuke silently prays: "God Amaterasu! Bless me to defeat the Chinese army! Beyond Itagaki Seishiro's military achievements!"

On the 20th, the right pursuit troops of the 10th Division of the Japanese army captured Hanzhuang, confronted the Chinese garrison troops across the canal, and the left pursuit team captured Yi County. At this time, the center of gravity of the battle situation in southern Shandong moved to the Jinpu Railway on the left. The Japanese army faced the choice of continuing to move south from the Jinpu Line, heading straight to Xuzhou, or expanding to the southeast, seizing Taierzhuang, breaking through the canal defense line, and then taking Xuzhou westward. The Japanese command body decided to give up the former and choose the latter because:

First, the south of Hanzhuang on the front of Jinpu Road is densely surrounded by mountains, which is not conducive to offensive operations. It is only along the railway line and heads straight down. The point and line are easily attacked by the middle team on the side. The Zaozhuang on the east side, from Yi County to Taierzhuang on the east side, is flat, which is conducive to the development of mechanized troops. Occupying this area can serve as a flank cover for the Japanese army heading south of Jinpu Road, and also prepare for the attack on Xuzhou.

Second, at this time, the 5th Japanese Division, who was heading south along the Taiwei (fang) Highway, wanted to take a joint attack with the 10th Division against Xuzhou, was blocked in Linyi and could not move south on schedule.

The 2nd Japanese Army Command conveyed the above situation to the 10th Division and ordered the Segu Detachment of the 10th Division to distribute some of its forces to reinforce Linyi. Based on this, the commander of the 10th Japanese Army's 10th Division, Akisuke Isogata ordered the captain of the Segu Detachment: "It is necessary to ensure the front line of Hanzhuang and Taierzhuang Canal, and guard Lincheng and Yi County. At the same time, as much force as possible, we should advance towards Yizhou (i.e. Linyi) to assist the 5th Division in the battle."

After receiving the order, Captain Seya made the following arrangements for the troops' operations:

1. Stop the advancement of Hanzhuang, and use the 10th Regiment, which is equipped with artillery, etc., as the Hanzhuang garrison, guarding near Hanzhuang and on the canal line.

2. The Yizhou Detachment was formed based on the 2nd Battalion of the 10th Regiment, and set out from Lincheng and advanced towards Yizhou to support the Sakamoto Detachment's operations. The main force of the 10th Regiment gathered in Lincheng.

3. The 63rd Regiment was equipped with artillery, etc., and the main force gathered in Yi County to ensure the line of the canal near Taierzhuang.

4. The detachment headquarters and its directly affiliated troops gathered in Zaozhuang, near Yi County.

In this way, the main force of the Segu Detachment heading south turned around in Lincheng and stretched eastward, near Zaozhuang and Yi County.

The ** side was also deeply worried about the situation at that time. Xuzhou is now in a tight situation and the situation is deteriorating step by step. If Xuzhou is lost, Wuhan will be difficult to save. Wuhan is always a place that must be fought for. Once it is lost, the entire hinterland of central China will open its doors. However, among the senior Kuomintang generals, Chiang Kai-shek's direct troops only followed his instructions. While fighting against the Japanese invaders, they stared at the ** people beside them, dreaming of completing their "unfinished careers in 10 years". Another part of the local troops, such as the Sichuan Army, Yunnan Army, Guangdong Army, Guangxi Army, Northeast Army, Northwest Army, etc., although they have started to fight since the War of Resistance.

Some of the scenes have indeed shown the patriotic spirit that the Chinese people should have, and they fought bravely and tragic, which is praised by the world. However, it is undeniable that some people often have concerns when fighting with the Japanese, worried about losing all their money and losing the "capital" that they bargained with Chiang Kai-shek in the future. As the suspicion, restraint and contradictions within the army greatly weakened the combat effectiveness of the Chinese team and became an important reason for the Chinese team to lose the defeat in many major wars since the "July 7th" War of Resistance.

Bai Chongxi returned to Wuhan to report the war to the Military Commission. Before flying to Xuzhou, he specially sent an invitation letter to the Wuhan Office of **, asking for advice. Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi were the pro-war faction among the senior Kuomintang generals. The attitude of anti-Japanese war was firm. The Guangxi faction also had a certain position within the Kuomintang. Doing a good job in Li and Bai is undoubtedly very important for consolidating and developing the anti-Japanese united front. Therefore, after receiving the invitation from Bai Chongxi, ** decided to send Zhou Enlai and Ye Jianying to.

Before meeting Bai Chongxi, Zhou Enlai had carefully read the commander-in-chief of the 5th War Zone to send materials on the battlefield on the Xuzhou battlefield. He had thought about this battle and formed his own opinion. Bai Chongxi asked Zhou Enlai what he thought about the upcoming battle of Taierzhuang. Zhou Enlai analyzed and pointed out: "Itagaki and Isogaki's intentions are very obvious. They are to attack Xuzhou, the base camp of the 5th War Zone from two directions. Their goal is to cooperate with Taierzhuang, and then support the enemy troops in the southern section of the Jinpu Road to attack Xuzhou together. Although the ** team won in the Linyi battle, it is not optimistic because the entire situation has not changed fundamentally. Itagaki's spirit was frustrated, but in my opinion, the Isogaki division will not change its plan to attack Taierzhuang. On the contrary, perhaps itagaki's frustration is more willing to invade the south!"

Bai Chongxi's sutra of Zhou Enlai immediately understood. He said, "You mean that Igu is eager to seek credit, arrogant and conspiring, and will inevitably enter Taierzhuang alone. We will fight it hard?"

"Yes! However, Taierzhuang is a small town located on a low slope, and there is no danger to defend. Therefore, we must first have a defensive force to defend Taierzhuang and the front line of the canal. After curbing the enemy's offensive, we will send another surprise troops to cross the canal and detour from Yi County to Taierzhuang, causing the enemy to be beaten from both sides. In this way, even if the enemy cannot be completely wiped out, it can be severely damaged. Therefore, I suggest: In the southern section of the Jinpu Railway, Li Pinxian and Liao Lei will adopt a joint action based on mobile warfare and supplemented by guerrilla warfare, and move in the vast Huaihe River basin, which will threaten the Japanese army in the southern section of the Jinpu Road from time to time, and dare not rashly go north to support the Japanese army going south; and north of Xuzhou, the main force adopts the policy of combining positional warfare and mobile warfare to defend points and attack support to achieve the goal of each defeat." Zhou Enlai said confidently.

Bai Chongxi highly praised Zhou Enlai's suggestions.

Zhou Enlai finally added: "I am going to order the 4th Detachment of Zhang Yunyi of the New Fourth Army to cooperate with the joint actions taken by the two armies of Li Pinxian and Liao Lei of the two armies in the vast Two Huai River Basin, which has caused the Japanese army to be threatened at all times in the southern section of the Jinpu Line and did not dare to rashly go north to support the Japanese army going south."
Chapter completed!