Anti-Japanese War: From Becoming Chu Yunfei to Rising

Chapter 220: An order from the Command Headquarters! Chu Yunfei: Soldiers must have backbone (Subscription Request)

"If the 68th Army defends Xuzhou to the death, which reinforcement force will come from?"

"When will they arrive?"

"If all the troops hold on, how long will it take to complete the mission?"

these questions.

Li Zongren was unable to answer Liu Ruming.

Because he is currently the only fresh force in the Fifth War Zone that can stop the main force of the 13th Division.

Previous battles in the Second World War.

The elite Kwantung Army troops, or an infantry regiment of a regular division, would be enough to defeat Liu Ruming's main force.

Now, they are facing the most elite permanent division in the current battle sequence of the Japanese army.

If the fight lasts for a day or two, Liu Ruming can still hold on if he grits his teeth.

But now.

The order given to him by the Fifth War Zone Commander Headquarters was to hold on for seven days at all costs.

After seven days, you can turn towards Woyang.

In the view of Liu Ruming and others, this was an impossible task.

According to Liu Ruming's estimation, if the Japanese offensive continues to be as fierce as today.

In such a plain terrain, we faced the Japanese armored forces' attacks, artillery bombardments, and air support.

There is a high possibility that his 68th Army will not be able to last even three days.

Shi Zhengang, the chief of staff of the 68th Army, noticed Liu Ruming's concerns and immediately advised him, "General, what are you hesitating about?"

Liu Ruming said solemnly: "Don't forget, the Chairman is determined to rectify military discipline. The example of Tang Enbo is right in front of us. If we withdraw, we will most likely be held accountable by Chiang Kai-shek after the war."

It is obvious that Liu Ruming was worried that he would be liquidated after the war.

Before the Battle of Nankou, Liu Ruming was almost sentenced to military trial by Chang Kai-shen.
"But General Tang Enbo is different from you. After all, Tang Enbo is a direct descendant of the Central Army. For Tang Enbo, he has no right to refuse. But we are different. We have soldiers in our hands."

"With the enemy at hand, these are your foundation. With them alive, you will be able to gain more say in Chongqing. As long as you don't learn from Han Fuju and leave your main force, Chiang Kai-shek will never do anything to you."

Liu Ruming was quite moved by what Chief of Staff Shi Zhengang said.
From the frown on his face.

You can see his dilemma.

As for the idea of ​​avoiding war and preserving strength, he had it before the battle.

But after they ran away once, Chu Yunfei's Flying Tiger Honor Division cleaned up the mess for them.

If he ran away a second time, would Chiang Kai-shek let him go?

After all, Liu Ruming has had a military career for decades, and he knows how important Mengcheng is.

After hesitating for a moment, he slowly said, "We'll hold on for another two days, depending on the situation. If there are heavy casualties, we'll withdraw."

"Yes!"

The next day.

The Japanese offensive was launched under continuous bombing by air force units.

What followed was a continuous barrage of shells.

For a moment, the entire battlefield in Mengcheng was filled with deafening explosions.

In just less than three hours.

Two thousand artillery shells and aerial bombs were poured on the front line of Mengcheng and the positions in the city.

The fighting was quite fierce.

The 143rd Division under the command of Division Commander Li Zengzhi launched a diversionary offensive at the first opportunity.

The 119th Division suffered heavy casualties in the frontal defensive operations.

In just one morning, more than a thousand people were killed or injured.

Although the Japanese attack was repelled, the soldiers did not inflict any effective casualties on the Japanese invaders.

This leads to a rather critical practical issue.

Liu Ruming believed that they were simply risking their lives to buy time.

And if the casualties continue like this.

It was simply impossible for him to complete the task assigned to him by Li Zongren to hold out for seven days.

If we keep fighting like this, only one thing will happen.

That is, the combat troops of the 68th Army under his command were completely wiped out.

Just as Liu Ruming was thinking about how to escape from the battlefield.

Li Jintian, the commander of the 119th Division who was commanding the battle at the front line, was injured by a Japanese plane while supervising the battle and his life or death is unknown.

As his subordinates were injured, Liu Ruming made up his mind to escape.

He immediately turned around and ordered his chief of staff: "Pass on my order. Once the Japanese invaders stop attacking, immediately withdraw from the defensive position and move towards Woyang."

"Commander..should we notify Deputy Division Commander Zhou?"

"Confused!"

Liu Ruming loudly rebuked: "If we tell them, what if they also move their positions? Mengcheng will fall into the hands of the Japanese. Then the hundreds of thousands of troops in Xuzhou will be attacked by the Japanese."

Chief of Staff Shi Zhengang fell silent.

In the final analysis, it’s okay for you to run away, but for others to run away they are disregarding the overall situation?

Damn, so shameless
Shi Zhengang was also an old military officer. He just smiled and agreed, "General, you are right... I will arrange it right away."

Mengcheng, command center.

Division Commander Zhou Yuan listened to the sound of gunfire outside and couldn't help but sigh: "The troops under Commander Liu are truly a strong force that is hard to find in the world. The division commander has already led his troops to support us. I believe this will buy more time for the defenders in Xuzhou to retreat."

"I heard before that Liu's army would not fight hard battles, but now it seems that this is also a rumor spread by someone with ulterior motives."

"Despite such a fierce attack, they still fought to the death. Their fighting spirit is very strong."

Boom!

Captain Ling Yunshang hadn't finished speaking yet.

The Japanese artillery shells hit the city directly.

"What's going on, what's going on?"

"Report to the commander, the Japanese army has driven away our friendly forces and they are now attacking the city."

"What did you say? The 119th Division withdrew?"

"Anyway, the Japanese have already reached the outskirts of the city." muttered the messenger.

Zhou Yuan felt that the situation was not good, and he hurriedly ordered: "Send a message to the frontline troops to prepare for a counterattack. We must not let the Japanese seize Mengcheng."

"Yes!"

Zhou Yuan sighed: "Send a telegram to the war zone commander's headquarters...Liu's troops are retreating, Mengcheng is in danger!"

This feeling of ups and downs cast a new layer of haze over the hearts of everyone in the command center.

Sixtieth Army, headquarters.

At this time, General Lu Han had already received the retreat plan issued by the headquarters of the commander of the Fifth War Zone.

The 60th Army will merge with the 20th and 25th Corps and withdraw towards Xuzhou in three days.

The commander-in-chief of the evacuation was Commander-in-Chief Sun Lianzhong and Deputy Chief of Staff Bai Jiansheng, who was temporarily serving as the commander of the 20th Corps.

According to the arrangement of the theater commander's headquarters, the 60th Army will serve as the rear guard.

The last batch retreated to the rear.

Li Zongren also explained the corresponding reasons to him.

First, even though the casualties of the 60th Army have reached one third, the 60th Army's combat effectiveness and organization are currently the highest and most intact in the Xuzhou area.

Second, they are needed to cover the evacuation of the real main force and make plans for subsequent battles.

Li Zongren expressed it quite frankly.

The withdrawal of the 60th Army was to cover the withdrawal of the Central Army's direct troops.

The 25th Corps has 20,000 men, and the 20th Corps has more than 30,000 men.

This is the most elite force in the five war zones at present, and it is also the foundation for persisting in the protracted war of resistance in the future.

Lu Han really liked this.

The loss of the vanguard battalion under his command could actually be entirely attributed to the fact that Sun Lianzhong and Bai Jiansheng did not tell him the truth.

But Li Zongren was different. He not only told the truth, but also stated the reasons for making such a decision and issuing such an order in the telegram.

The choice actually lies in Lujan's own hands.

Whether the 60th Army should continue to block the Japanese invaders or join the retreating army was actually just a matter of Lu Han's thought.

Soon, he made the relevant choice.

Resolutely implement the orders of the Fifth War Zone Commander-in-Chief Headquarters.

And a telegram reported the current situation of the 60th Army to the Supreme Command and the headquarters of the commander-in-chief of the Fifth War Zone.

The 60th Army had previously shown amazing bravery and tenacity in blocking operations.

But they also paid a huge price for it. After ten days of bloody fighting, more than 10,000 casualties. Among the twelve infantry regiments, the casualties had reached seven regiments.

The massive consumption of weapons and ammunition even reached the point where the five war zones were unable to supply them in a timely manner.

The twelve 150mm artillery pieces assigned to them had also emptied their last reserves of ammunition, and they retreated hastily among the retreating troops of the th Corps.

The loss of each position was not due to active withdrawal.

This group of elite Yunnan troops fought to the last man, and even all of them died, before the Japanese army was able to seize the position.

The rearguard troops led by the 60th Army caused extremely heavy casualties to the main attacking 50th Regiment Kuniqi Detachment and the 10th Division Changse Detachment.

According to the Japanese war history: As of May 3, the battle lines of various detachments had become stalemate and were resisted and counterattacked by the majority of the enemy (from the Japanese perspective, the National Army had thirty main divisions concentrated on the Taierzhuang front line), and were caught in a bitter battle.

The enemy once again infiltrated the rear area where my front-line troops passed, so the front line became a complete melee, and it was extremely difficult to maintain the rear defense communication line.

On April 22, the commander of the 10th Division entered Lanling Town from Zaozhuang to command the front-line operations. In addition to guiding the front line, he also took corresponding countermeasures against the enemy harassing the rear, and was quite busy.

Jigu Lianjie was not only busy, he was also facing the elite main force of the National Army led by the 60th Army, and he only slept twice in more than ten days.

Jigu Lianjie, who was already very thin, now looked like a corpse, in a terrible state.

The Second Army of the North China Front Army carried out its fourth reinforcement in the Battle of Xuzhou.

The Caochang Detachment was formed with Caochang Chensi's 19th Infantry Brigade as its core, and was ordered to be assigned to the 10th Division to reinforce the southeast battlefield of Taierzhuang.

However, just as the Caochang Detachment entered the Jinling Temple in the vicinity of Taierzhuang, it encountered stubborn resistance from the Chinese Army's 110th Division (affiliated to the 13th Army of the 20th Corps, with Wu Shaozhou as the division commander) and the 30th Division (under Zhang Jinzhao), which prevented the Japanese invaders from uniting their forces and forced them to stagnate.

The 41st and 42nd Infantry Regiments of the Guoqi Detachment had not received sufficient reinforcements since the Linyi counterattack, and the cumulative casualties in each squadron had reached 60 to 70 percent. In fact, the Guoqi Detachment only had three battalions of combat forces left at this time.

The Japanese troops in the southern Shandong region were actually at the end of their strength.

The Japanese army paid a huge price for their so-called detention operation. Both divisions suffered heavy casualties, much more than they had paid in capturing any other area before.

The surrounding areas of Taierzhuang became a nightmare for the Japanese army.

Just as the national army troops in southern Shandong were fighting desperately and preparing to retreat according to plan.

Headquarters of the Fifth War Zone Commander.

Chief of Staff Xu Yanmou walked quickly to the combat command room: "Mr. De, the deputy commander of the 173rd Division, Zhou Yuan, sent an urgent telegram, Liu Ruming and his 119th Division were defeated by the Japanese army in the direction of Mengcheng."

The 119th Division is Liu Ruming's direct force.

The 143rd Division is the additional force that arrived later.

During this retreat, Liu Ruming, the commander of the 68th Army, led his troops away without even saying hello.

General Li Zengzhi was quite indignant. How could he just sit back and watch when the country was in crisis?

The 143rd Division was determined to lead its troops to defend Meng County with Zhou Yuan, Ling Yunshang and others.
Apart from the Wo River which can be used slightly, there is almost no place to defend in Mengcheng.

The Japanese army had a lot of heavy weapons. After attacking for less than two hours, they blasted through the city walls of Mengcheng and broke into the city.

The regiment commander Ling Yunshan went to the front line in person and controlled the heavy machine gun to fire crazily, thus blocking the Japanese troops pouring in from the gap.

The soldiers of the engineering company quickly stepped forward and managed to block the gap with difficulty. After a slight reorganization, the Japanese army launched another attack.

Equipped with tanks, they launched a fierce attack directly towards the ruined East Gate and East City Wall.

The defending troops had extremely limited firepower and no support, so they could only watch as the Japanese army rushed into the streets.

The Japanese tanks were rampaging along the streets. Under the cover of the Japanese infantry, it was difficult for the soldiers to get close to the Japanese even if they wanted to use explosive packs and cluster grenades to destroy them.

The defending troops were divided by the elite Japanese soldiers and the battlefield was divided into several parts.

The fierce street fighting had just begun.

The commander of the third battalion, Lan Quan, was killed in action. Not long after, General Zhou Yuan, who led his troops to counterattack, was also shot and killed.

There were only less than one company of soldiers left in the 1033rd Regiment, and they barely broke through with the support of the 143rd Division.

The fall of Mengcheng
The second day after the fall of Mengcheng.

Chu Yunfei also received the first military order after the rest.

This order surprised him quite a bit.

He placed the telegram on the table beside him, and picked up the slightly scalding tea on the table as if in a daze.

"Commander...what happened?" Sun Ming, who was standing nearby, noticed something was wrong and quickly spoke out to remind him.

"Mengcheng fell a day ago..." Chu Yunfei sighed and put the tea bowl back on the wooden table beside him. "Deputy Division Commander Zhou died for his country, and the three battalion commanders Jia Junyou, Li Guowen, and Lan Quan all died for their country. The regiment commander Ling Yunshan was rescued with the help of the 143rd Division, but he was shot and is still in danger."

"Did the Sixty-Eighth Army retreat so quickly?"

Sun Ming was a little confused, and Zhang Dayun, who was teaching Gong Yuxin at the side, also looked up.

Chu Yunfei was furious: "Liu Ruming, that useless piece of shit, ran away with his 119th Division. The support troops of the 173rd Division were blocked by the Japanese army. The Mengsu Highway has been cut off by the Japanese army."

As he ran away, the original retreat plan of the Fifth War Zone had to be changed to a breakout plan.
The amount of losses is even more unpredictable than before.

Sun Ming picked up the telegram beside him, also with a look of shock on his face.
"Sir, what does the chairman mean by this?"

"Those who desert the battlefield shall be killed!"

"If Commander Liu himself is not decent, we will give him decent gifts."

"Should we contact the command headquarters to confirm?"

Chu Yunfei shook his head: "The fact that such a telegram was sent shows that the Chairman has made up his mind. Otherwise, it would not be the telegram that came to Kaifeng, but Lu Zhonglin, the deputy director of the Military Law Enforcement Department. There is no need to hesitate at this time."

"This matter..." Chu Yunfei was silent for a moment and finally arranged: "Let Fang Ligong take Qian Bojun and Li Kuishan to deal with it together."

"Then you?"

"It's just killing one person, I still have to go to the cover to see the chairman!"

The reason why Chiang Kai-shek did not agree to Chu Yunfei's request a few days ago to establish a political training department under his command.

It was because he didn't understand what Chu Yunfei was doing.

Generally, some miscellaneous troops set up political training departments.

To put it bluntly, the central government sent people to monitor the military officers.

The initiative to set up the Political Training Department really confused Chiang Kai-shek.

He did not see this as a sign of loyalty to him.

Chiang Kai-shek felt that there was absolutely no need for Chu Yunfei to do this.

In his opinion.

Chu Yunfei's loyalty to him does not need to be superficial.

That's why Chu Yunfei made the trip to Kaifeng.

Go meet Wang Shihe and tell him what you want to do.

As for Chiang Kai-shek himself, his main focus now is on seeking foreign aid.

Even small countries like Denmark and Sweden.

Kong Xiangxi and others did not give up communication under the arrangement of Chiang Kai-shek.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has even sent people to contact Canada and other countries to seek further support.

These efforts are not completely ineffective.

At least another 30 million US dollars worth of aid was secured.

Even though these equipments were backward equipment produced during the interwar period (between World War I and World War II).

But for the Republic of China at that time, it was also extremely precious.

That afternoon, the Honorable 196B 197st and nd Infantry Regiments, B th and th Infantry Regiments, and the Mountain Artillery Regiment secretly set out south to Woyang.

Under the leadership of Chief of Staff Fang Ligong, they followed the order from the Supreme Command to reorganize the former 69th 119th Division.

At the request of Chiang Kai-shek, the unit's number was permanently cancelled due to its shameful behavior.

General Li Zengzhi, the former commander of the 143rd Division, will be promoted to the new commander of the 68th Army after the reorganization is completed.

That night.

Chu Yunfei met Wang Shihe, an attendant of the First War Zone, at the headquarters of the commander of the First War Zone.

The two met again and became much more familiar with each other than before.

At Wang Shihe's invitation, the two people who had not yet had dinner together had dinner together.

Seeing the steaks, pasta and other foods on the table, Chu Yunfei joked with interest: "Only by following Mr. Wang can we eat the food that foreigners eat."

"Haha, Chief Chu, please don't make fun of me."

Chu Yunfei smiled slightly..
"please"

"please"

The two didn't talk about anything serious during the meal. Wang Shihe asked Chu Yunfei about his views on the current war situation while talking about how hateful Liu Ruming was.

Chu Yunfei was very interested in scolding useless people like Liu Ruming.

For a general like this who only wants to preserve his strength, Chu Yunfei only has two words to say: He deserves to be killed!

Even if the person who did such a thing was a direct general of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army or the Central Army, and even Chiang Kai-shek personally asked him about it.

Chu Yunfei still had the same attitude.

It is not enough to enforce military discipline if such trash is not killed.

Soldiers should have backbone.

Anyone who deserts the battlefield will be killed without mercy!

Wang Shihe had some understanding of Chu Yunfei, and he admired and approved of his current attitude.

Didn't he also want to become a general, command thousands of troops, and turn the tide in times of national crisis?
You don’t have the ability, you know?

"Speaking of which, Chief Chu, what exactly is this Political Training Department that you mentioned this time?"

"I'm not afraid of being laughed at by Mr. Wang. Our army is facing a very serious problem right now."

"Are those new recruits afraid to go to the battlefield?" Wang Shihe raised his eyebrows: "This is very common in all troops. It's enough to survive on the battlefield once."

Chu Yunfei shook his head and said something that Wang Shihe did not expect.

"It's not the new recruits who are in this situation, but the truly elite veterans under my command who are unmatched in their abilities!"

(End of this chapter)