The fall of Xuzhou shocked the whole country. The European and American powers that were in secret contact with the Nanjing government invariably suspended negotiations. The prestige of the Nanjing government and the morale of the National Revolutionary Army suffered a huge blow. Sun Chuanfang made a comeback, triggering panic among tens of millions of people in the Yangtze River Basin.
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Commander-in-chief Chiang Kai-shek was fighting to the death with various princes in Nanjing. He was exhausted. When he received the bad news that made matters worse, his heart felt as cold as ice. He was shocked and angry. The next day, he immediately rushed to the former enemy headquarters of the Northern Expeditionary Army that had been evacuated to Bengbu.
He urgently discussed countermeasures with the commander-in-chief, General Bai Chongxi, and ordered that Xuzhou be recaptured at all costs.
That night, emergency messages flew to the generals of the divisions of the Second Route Army who were evacuating Lunan. An Yi and his brothers, who had just been stationed in Pi County for three hours, received an urgent order that suddenly changed the overall deployment of troops. They couldn't help but be stunned:
The headquarters of the Northern Expeditionary Army strictly ordered the Anyi Independent Division to defend Pi County; He Yaozu's 40th Army rushed south and headed for Su County at full speed; Ye Kaixin's 44th Army, which had retreated to northern Jiangsu, was ordered to immediately drive westward and rush to Su County via Pi County.
Yinji in the east of the county was on standby; Gu Zhutong's 3rd Division and Deng Zhenquan's 1st Division retreated at full speed to defend Suqian.
An Yi ordered the signal corps to notify the chief officers of each regiment to hold an emergency meeting. Before the brothers arrived, he quickly hung up the map and faced the map with Yin Jinan, Hu Jialin, Yang Bin, Liu Shoujiang and Zhan Huanqi. While discussing, he marked the current Northern Expeditionary Army.
Distribution of troops in each department.
Zhan Huanqi skillfully drew a prominent defensive line, and then put several battle flags representing each division on it according to the latest deployment of the headquarters. None of An Yi and all the brothers could laugh anymore, even
Liu Shoujiang, who was the least skilled, also felt heavy and sighed frequently.
Yang Bin was worthy of being an experienced chief of staff. He took a step forward and pointed at Pi County, which stood alone outside the entire front line, and asked angrily:
"Whose bad idea was this? Isn't this a joke on the lives of more than 10,000 brothers in our independent division? Look, 30 kilometers to the north are Chu Yupu's two armies, and more than 40 kilometers to the west is Cheng Guorui's occupation of Xuzhou
Three armies, thirty-five from the east
Kilometers is Xinyi, which we suddenly gave up. The enemy only needs to send one division from three directions to attack Pi County. Besides fleeing south, where else can we hide? He actually ordered us to defend to the death? Faced with multiple times
Can we defend it against our enemy's army?"
Hu Jialin stared at the map with a pale face. After listening to Yang Bin's words, he pondered for a moment and asked in a low voice: "His uncle...couldn't it be decided by the principal himself?"
"It's possible, but I personally think it's probably Chief Bai's idea, because Chief Bai knows the battle situation and the combat effectiveness of our division best. Judging from the latest strategic layout, the geographical location of Pi County has suddenly become more important. Chu
As long as Yu Pu captures Pi County, his two armies will be able to move westward to aid Xuzhou and Suxian, or go south to jointly attack Suqian with Sun Chuanfang's troops. If he cannot capture Pi County, we will attack and harass him from behind and on his flanks.
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Therefore, Pi County has now become a nail in the enemy's offensive path. The enemy will not dare to move south unless it is removed.
Secondly, the terrain of Pi County is complex, surrounded by water, and the city walls are not necessarily worse than Si County in the south. If the defense is properly defended, the two enemy armies will not be able to capture it within three to five days, or even within ten or eight days.
The above two points may be the reason why Chief Bai ordered us to stay and defend. The purpose is to contain the enemy's forces and facilitate the counterattack in the direction of Xuzhou. The principal has come to the front line in person, and the battle in Xuzhou will be fierce." Yin Jinan is calm and generous.
State your opinion in detail.
After hearing this, the brothers thought it was quite reasonable. However, no one would feel comfortable being pushed to a forward position and faced with a possible heavy siege by the enemy.
An Yi knew that the brothers were waiting for him to express his position, so he thought for a while and warned everyone in a low voice: "No matter how difficult it is, since the order has been issued, we must implement it. Besides, the principal has already arrived in Bengbu and must have participated in the formulation of the overall plan. It is impossible to take
The lives of more than 10,000 of our brothers are a joke.
Therefore, I hope you will stop mentioning the difficulties we are facing. The leaders of each regiment will arrive soon. What will they think if they hear your frustrated words? Especially the strong-tempered Xia Jian and Hu Tou, if they are noisy
If you start shouting, won't it affect morale? So everyone must pay attention to this."
Seeing all the brothers nodding, An Yi continued very domineeringly: "This battle will be a tough battle, and the difficulty will never be lower than that of the Battle of Wuhe. We will face the enemy's strength several times our own. I believe that the principal and
Chief Bai and others knew it very well.
I think they also know that the topography of the Pi County area is similar to that of the Five Rivers. The hills are densely covered with water networks, which is very unfavorable for the use of large troops and heavy weapons. The northern soldiers are not used to marching and fighting in such terrain, and we
If you are familiar with the road, there will be no problem. It is very easy to sneak for 30 to 50 kilometers in a night. This is a major advantage for us, and we must take advantage of it!
Another major advantage we have is that we have a good mass base. We have recruited more than 800 brothers from Danji, Nianzhuang and other places in the south and west of the city. These brothers are familiar with the terrain and are good at water warfare.
We all belong to the villagers, and we will never go hungry wherever we go. There are people who will help us. We only need to spend some money to prevent the villagers from suffering. Therefore, as long as we unite as one, we will not necessarily be defeated by Old Man Chu’s troops.
There is no way to resist."
"Master, what you said makes sense!" Liu Shoujiang said happily. After listening to An Yi's analysis, the other brothers also calmed down and weighed it carefully.
An Yi nodded, and then said seriously: "In this battle, I do not intend to let the regiment and battalion commanders participate in the discussion and formulation of action plans as usual. All combat plans and orders will be decided by a few of us.
At the meeting later, I will issue preliminary orders directly to each regiment, so that the brothers in each regiment can get busy first, so that they will not have random thoughts. Lao Liu and Jinan, you two must reiterate the military order again and be sure to follow the orders and prohibitions.
, unconditionally execute the orders issued by the division headquarters. Only by doing this can we face this battle well. Otherwise, not only will we not be able to complete the task of containing the enemy's main force in the middle, but we may also cause huge casualties.
We only have two days at most to prepare, and maybe in less than two days, the enemy's main force will come forward after resting, so we must seize the time, do you understand?"
"Understood!" all the generals replied in unison.
"Okay! Get ready for the meeting." An Yi turned back to the big table and signaled the orderly to make him a cup of strong tea. Tonight was going to be another sleepless night.
By the time the meeting dispersed, it was already late at night.
An Yi and several of his right-hand men immediately devoted themselves to formulating the plan. Not long after, another extended telegram from Bai Chongxi came. An Yi looked at his watch and it was already 1:40 in the night. After reading the telegram, he joked with his brothers
To be honest, Chief Bai and the principal probably won't be able to sleep either.
The brothers smiled and felt much more relaxed, but after only a few dozen seconds, everyone could no longer laugh after hearing Yang Bin read the contents of the telegram:
Bai Chongxi strictly ordered the independent division to stick to Pi County and hold off the enemy's main force in the middle for at least three days! And the time starts from 7 o'clock tomorrow morning. This means that today cannot be included in the three days. It seems that Bai Chongxi is very aware of Chu Yupu's plan.
The army could not arrive so quickly, and the independent division had not been substantively threatened by the enemy in the past two days.
On the morning of the next day, urgent reports came one after another from the special forces sent out for reconnaissance: Zhu Panzao's Ninth Army under the command of Chu Yupu, commander of the Seventh Army of the Zhili Allied Forces, took the lead in driving to the Dawangmiao line fifteen kilometers north of the city. Yuan Zhenqing's Fifteenth Army followed closely.
Subsequently, the enemy still had one division to defend the enemy headquarters at Taierzhuang.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, the 27th Division of Zhu Panzao's Ninth Army arrived at the north bank of Shunhe River, five kilometers north of the city. It was immediately attacked by the machine gun company of the Independent Regiment of Anyi Division and the division's mortar company. When Zhu Panzao urgently ordered the artillery to rush,
Arriving at the battlefield, the battle is over.
During ten minutes of fierce shelling and heavy machine gun fire across the river, the 27th Division paid the price of more than 300 casualties before they could clearly see their opponent. Under the heavy firepower, the entire division was forced to retreat two kilometers to camp.
Led by Chang Zhu Panzao
The temporary division arrived and heard that the attackers were carrying more than a dozen battle flags of the model camp. He immediately ordered his troops to build positions on the spot and strengthen vigilance to prevent sneak attacks by the elusive independent division. He also quickly reported the information to the commander in Taierzhuang.
Chu Yupu.
At 6:30 in the afternoon, veteran Chu Yupu was half lying on a comfortable lounge chair under the shade of a tree, fanning himself leisurely. After listening to the report of adjutant Qin Shanhu, he slowly sat up and looked at the southern sky, which was reflected golden by the setting sun.
Yun Cai said calmly:
"As expected, it was the independent division of the First Army with strong combat power that was stationed in Pi County. It seems that Chiang Kai-shek and Bai Chongxi also knew the importance of Pi County and showed their trump card.
However, this young man named An Yi is indeed a talent. Our two armies advanced in two directions along both sides of the canal. We were cautious along the way for fear of unnecessary losses, but in the end we still followed his way. Although we said it was not
Many people died, but morale was greatly damaged."
"Shuai Yu, it's no wonder that the two armies that broke out in front are the independent division of the First Army of the Revolutionary Army. They took advantage of the range advantage of heavy machine guns and mortars to occupy favorable terrain in advance and launch a surprise attack.
I know that this area is densely wooded, full of waterways, and the undulating terrain is really difficult to guard against. The opponent is the famous An Yi who is cunning and scheming, and he uses all possible methods to fight. I don’t know if they can hide it.
The troops are waiting to give us a head-on blow!
Gu Zhutong's third division on the enemy's first line has disappeared since it went south. There is no intelligence from Suqian. It is very likely that it is hiding behind the Anyi Independent Division at this time. In this way, we are not facing a division.
, but the enemy of the two divisions. Therefore, my subordinates are very worried and feel that it is better to be more cautious!"
Ever since Qinshan Tiger was almost captured by An Yi in Wuhe County, he still has lingering fears when mentioning An Yi, and his aura has weakened by three points unconsciously.
Chu Yupu took out his snuff bottle, took a pleasant sniff, closed his eyes and raised his head to the sky, sneezed happily, scraped his nose with his carefully manicured little fingernails, and then said calmly:
"You are very careful, but you don't need to worry about Gu Zhutong's third division that retreated to Suqian. Under the pursuit of Marshal Sun's two armies, even if he had the courage, he would not dare to abandon himself.
The friendly First Division came to Pi County to join in the fun. Otherwise, if something went wrong, Gu Zhutong wouldn't worry that Chiang Kai-shek would take his hat off?
Furthermore, what if Gu Zhutong desperately came to Pi County to help in the battle? We currently have two armies in front of us. Even if we add one enemy army and three divisions, we will still be in a situation of more fighting with fewer.
If we fight step by step and fight steadily, we will be invincible. Of course, we still have to believe in the friendly forces. Under their pressure, Gu Zhutong will never appear here. You only need to focus on the Anyi Independent Division.
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Seeing Qin Shanhu nodding his head, Chu Yupu changed the subject: "But, just like you said, this An Yi is becoming more and more cunning in fighting. From the time he fought Lingbi, Si County, and then
Judging from the Taierzhuang and Liuquan Blockade battles, this guy has almost no shortcomings. It can be said that he can fight in any battle, and he fights them very neatly. Therefore, in this complex terrain, it is better for us to be cautious and advance slowly.
No alternative!
Hum hum, since this kid chose to take the initiative, let's let him be proud for a while. You will see again at this time tomorrow. How long can he be proud of his 10,000 men under the encirclement of my five divisions? Don't think that Pi County
The city walls are tall and the river is wide and deep.
In ancient times, it was naturally impregnable. Even if it persisted for half a year, there would be no problem. But what era is it now? Under the attack of forty-six artillery pieces from my two artillery regiments, and under the encirclement of my fifty thousand soldiers, I don't believe him.
How long can we hold it?"
By the end of the speech, Chu Yupu was already stern in both voice and appearance.
Qin Shanhu nodded excitedly, and then asked with some worry: "Commander Yu, what if An Yi leads his troops to escape early? I have wanted to teach this kid a lesson for a long time, and the shame of Wuhe is still fresh in my memory!
"
"What are you afraid of? Now that Ninghan has broken up and internal strife is imminent in the Northern Expeditionary Army, there are plenty of opportunities for revenge. Don't be obsessed with it. In fact, it would be better if he chooses to take the initiative to escape. It will save me the trouble of mobilizing troops and losing troops to attack the city. As long as he escapes, we will immediately attack
It is very convenient to move the headquarters to Pi County City and command the four divisions to go west or south according to the needs of the war situation.
If our army marches westward, it can join forces with our right-wing army to attack Suxian County and go straight to Bengbu. If it goes south, it can encircle Suqian with Marshal Sun's troops and cut off the entire front line of the revolutionary army in one fell swoop. The initiative from now on will be firmly in our hands.
." Chu Yupu said confidently.
Qin Shanhu smiled sheepishly: "To be honest, for the sake of the overall interests, my subordinates do not expect immediate revenge. I really want him to run away from Pi County to save us from fighting with him. But on second thought, I
I don’t want him to run away, but my subordinates will bear in mind the battle of Wuhe, and this revenge must be avenged! I feel very conflicted inside..."
Chu Yupu nodded and said "Yeah": "Don't talk about you, even my half-life reputation as an old guy was almost ruined in the hands of this junior. This is such a rare opportunity, and we must not let it go easily. As long as Wang Dong's success tomorrow morning
one
The division followed the plan and took a train from Xuzhou to block his escape south. Together with our two armies, they surrounded the small Pi County town with lightning speed. An Yi
Where else could the boy run?
When the encirclement is successful tomorrow morning, you can pass the order for me and do nothing else. This An Yi will be captured alive!"