"Your Excellency, Division Commander, the Eighth Route Army at war with our army is retreating eastward."
As soon as the troops of the Northern Henan Army Division retreated, the Japanese and puppet troops of the 35th Division who were fighting with them immediately noticed it.
Situations like this are not uncommon in the three-day struggle between the two sides. At the beginning, the Japanese and puppet troops would immediately attack and try to bite the retreating Eighth Route Army.
However, the actual situation was not as simple as the enemy imagined. The Eighth Route Army's formation retreated without breaking up, and there were ambushes on the flanks. The Japanese and puppet troops suffered too much, and they also lost their memory.
Within the division headquarters.
The commander of the 35th Division, Taijiro Iida, said calmly: "The troops are ordered to rest where they are. The Imperial officers and soldiers stationed in the Imperial Alliance Army must always pay attention to the movements of their subordinates."
Finally, he added: "Try not to conflict with the Imperial Alliance Army."
"Hi!" the Japanese officer who came to report responded and left.
At this time, Iida Taijiro felt that he had received a 10,000-point critical hit. On the same route, why was Kuroshima Morita's independent 4th Infantry Brigade able to safely evacuate from Shangqiu to Kaifeng, but the 35th Division was unable to move forward after the attack on Kaifeng?
.
Is it that the independent 4th Infantry Brigade has strong combat effectiveness? Or is it that Kuroshima Morita has a good command? Why can he do it but I can't?
In fact, the situation was really different. Kuroshima Morita took everyone with him to escape for his life. Although many puppet soldiers broke away from the team along the way, people's hearts were still there.
Taijiro Iida claimed to have led his troops to Shangqiu for reinforcements, but whether he was a Japanese army or a puppet army, they all knew that Shangqiu was the core of the battlefield, so he was going to die.
Taijiro Iida's decision was not wrong, but people's hearts did not allow him to do so. Although more than a thousand Japanese troops were deployed among the puppet army, the effect was not good.
When encountering the blocking attack from the Northern Henan Army Division, the Japanese troops were also afraid of death, so they hid behind and let the puppet troops attack the Eighth Route Army positions. Later, both sides came to a tacit understanding.
Although there was a lot of momentum on the battlefield, after the puppet troops rushed out, they lay down directly on the ground and fired into the sky. No matter how hard the Japanese troops behind them drove them, they could not move.
Iida Taijiro knew this situation, but he had no choice. The ratio of Japanese and puppet troops under his command was seriously imbalanced. He did not dare to really break with the Imperial Alliance Army, so he could only keep all the senior leaders of the Imperial Alliance Army in the division.
department.
It was late at night, and all the senior officials of the Royal Association Army were staring at each other, and they had plans in their minds.
At this time, a Japanese telegraph operator at the division headquarters received a telegram.
Just as the telegraph operator thought about it, he was stopped by Taijiro Iida. He was wary of these senior officials of the Imperial Alliance Army. After all, these people had been around the Japanese for a long time and still knew some Japanese.
The telegram came from the North China Expeditionary Forces Headquarters. It roughly means that intelligence personnel have found out that someone from the Nationalist Government, Chiang Kai-shek, took a special plane northward during the day and has now arrived in Luoyang, where the First Theater Command Headquarters is located. Ishihara Wanji ordered the 35th Division Headquarters
Return to Kaifeng immediately.
"Baga!" Taijiro Iida cursed angrily. Once he withdraws from Kaifeng, doesn't it mean that all the efforts he has done in the past three days have been in vain.
Moreover, intelligence personnel affiliated with the 35th Division have long since discovered that the national troops in Zhengzhou and the Changjin area north of the Yellow River are ready to move, and there are signs of action at any time.
Neither Kaifeng nor Shangqiu is safe. The difference is that Shangqiu has already started fighting, but at least the main force of the Eastern Army is still there, while the powder keg in Kaifeng has not yet exploded.
Taijiro Iida believed that sticking to Kaifeng was a dead end, and the Imperial Army under his command were all hidden dangers. He might not be willing to surrender to the Eighth Route Army, but the possibility of surrendering to the National Army was extremely high.
"Everyone, I have been ordered to return to Kaifeng immediately. What do you think?"
The faces of the senior officials of the Imperial Alliance Army immediately showed joy. After all, the city was safer, while Taijiro Iida's heart sank into his stomach.
"Commander of the division, it's hard to do anything, but it's better not to move at the moment. Marching at night is too dangerous, so it's better to wait until dawn."
At the other end, the First Theater Command Officer's Department was brightly lit, with Chiang Kai-shek sitting on the main seat, and Li Mo'an, Fan Hanjie, and Sun Tongxuan sitting on both sides.
Chief of Staff Dong Yingbin stood in front of the map and introduced the current situation to everyone present. In fact, it was mainly for Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang always liked to intervene in frontline battles. His arrival made the national army generals who were gearing up feel like they were facing a formidable enemy.
Listening to Dong Yingbin's explanation, Chiang Kai-shek nodded frequently. The National Army in the first theater had actually been preparing for some time, but the National Army had always been slow in military operations. It was not possible to just fight, and the opportunity to fight was often delayed as a result.
Such a large-scale military operation must be reported. The Ministry of Military Affairs agreed, and Chiang Kai-shek had no objection, so he went to Luoyang in person.
Military deployment is mainly divided into two battlefields, one is Zhongtiao Mountain and the Yuncheng area. The First Theater Command dispatched two armies to attack the Yellow River on the east and west lines of Luoyang, while Shaanxi's Hudong Southeast attacked Yuncheng from Fenglingdu.
The second battlefield was around the Pinghan-Han Railway, which was roughly divided into three routes. The Zhengzhou National Army advanced eastward, and Tang Enbo's troops in the Zhumadian area headed north along the Ping-Han Railway to jointly attack Kaifeng.
The national army in the Changjin area was responsible for clearing out the local puppet troops, and then also attacked along the Pinghan Line.
After the explanation, Lao Jiang began to make a summary: "Everyone, all the officers and soldiers in the first theater are on the front line of fighting the Japanese invaders. This spirit and style are worthy of commendation!"
"The current situation is good, and I personally strongly support it. The Eighth Route Army is preparing for a counterattack, and our army cannot fall behind!"
"There must be a place to stand in southern Shanxi. The Shanxi-Sui Army and the Eighth Route Army must not be allowed to interfere. The north and south of the Yellow River must be connected together. The Ping-Han Railway must also be firmly controlled. The Eighth Route Army in Tainan and Hebei, Shandong and Henan must be controlled.
Isolated.”
Facts have proved that in addition to having considerable experience in political maneuvering, Chiang Kai-shek also had a certain vision in military strategy, but his practical implementation was poor.
He himself also understood the problem, and saw Lao Jiang standing up and saying: "I understand in my heart that this trip to Luoyang has put pressure on everyone here, but this represents my determination to regain the lost ground. I hope you understand."
After old Jiang finished speaking, Li Mo'an stood up immediately: "Resolutely obey the commission's orders, regain the lost territory, and annihilate the enemy invaders!"
The others followed closely and expressed their loyalty. Lao Jiang nodded with satisfaction. This was the effect he wanted. He had already decided to go there in person after regaining Kaifeng.
It was not for anything else but to show off the leader's demeanor in the newspapers and periodicals. It was under his personal command that the national army achieved such a victory.
After the meeting, Fan Hanjie and Sun Tongxuan walked out side by side.
Fan Hanjie complained in a low voice: "Oh, I'm afraid it's another misfortune. The principal's whereabouts cannot be concealed. Doesn't this clearly tell the Japanese army that our army will have a major military operation next?"
"Besides, the principal likes...how difficult it is!"