In the evening, a telegram from Commander-in-Chief Chiang suddenly arrived. After reading it, An Yi immediately convened a military meeting to convey the contents of the order. Based on the intelligence sent back by the reconnaissance team one after another, An Yi nervously discussed the interception plan.
This blocking battle is no small matter. Although the battlefield is only more than ten kilometers north of Wangji, the brothers are all aware of the difficulty and danger of this battle:
There is no support from any friendly forces in the surrounding area. Twenty-five kilometers to the north of the battlefield is the railway line where Chu Yupu's army is heading west. Forty kilometers to the west is the main battlefield in Xuzhou, where fierce fighting is going on. Forty-five kilometers to the southeast is where Sun Chuanfang's army has just arrived.
Occupied Suqian.
Determining a retreat before fighting is one of the principles that An Yi has always adhered to. Although he has never talked about it publicly, several deputies understand what An Yi means and know that this principle is consistent with the art of war.
To ensure the morale of the military, everyone is tacitly aware of it.
It was quite strange that An Yi's order to block the attack northward came from Commander-in-Chief Chiang Kai-shek, rather than from the Second Route Army Headquarters directly under him. However, as Bai Chongxi's supplementary order "agreed with the headquarters' decision and suggested moving north immediately" arrived, An Yi quickly
dispelled the doubts in my heart,
Thinking that it was an urgent report he sent to Bai Chongxi in the afternoon, it was transferred to Commander-in-Chief Chiang Kai-shek, who was commanding the Xuzhou West Road operation. Based on the needs of the current battle situation, Commander-in-Chief Chiang directly issued orders to his independent division and also won the second place.
Approval from Commander-in-Chief Bai of the Route Army.
The meeting was coming to an end, and Yin Jinan, who usually had few objections, made a suggestion:
"I personally believe that the enemy troops we faced in this battle amounted to more than 16,000 people. Even if we used the night battle to defeat the enemy's vanguard in one fell swoop, in order to ensure that we intercepted this enemy army and prevented it from continuing to rush to Xuzhou
On the battlefield, we have to continue fighting with the enemy after daybreak. Unless the enemy is defeated at the first blow under our attack, we can only insist on blocking and cannot retreat south against the order.
In view of the current battle situation and the dangerous position of our division facing enemies on three sides, as a precaution, the artillery battalion and logistics and military supplies departments that cannot move at high speed should be withdrawn to the rear. After the war is successfully restored in Xuzhou, it is okay to drive up to join them.
Not too late."
The mature and steady Yang Bin nodded repeatedly, and immediately agreed with Yin Jinan's opinion without waiting for the brothers to express their opinions:
"Deputy Commander Yin's suggestion is very sound. The twelve artillery pieces of our artillery battalion have exhausted their ammunition. Even if they are brought to the front line, it will not have much effect. On the contrary, due to the slow marching speed, other units will be affected and they will retreat dozens of kilometers.
It is undoubtedly correct to rest and replenish your health in a safe place.
We can send an urgent telegram to Commander Bai at the same time, requesting additional artillery pieces and corresponding ammunition. Didn't Commander Bai promise to allocate twelve artillery pieces to us as soon as possible? I believe that under this situation, everyone can understand our difficulties.
"
Hu Jialin and Xia Jian also echoed. Zheng Guang pointed out that the division's mortar company and the mortars of each regiment were enough. If the war required, seventy-two mortars could be used at once. The power was not in the artillery battalion.
With the use of artillery, the maneuverability has been greatly enhanced.
Captain Li Tianen, commander of the artillery battalion, saw An Yi's questioning gaze and immediately stood up: "Although I personally disagree, I will follow the division's decision. I only make one request here, and I am allowed to lead the artillery battalion.
Five hundred brothers from the infantry company and the engineer company went north to join the battle. Since our artillery camp has no artillery, we should go into battle as infantry."
"No! Sit down!"
Chief of Staff Yang Bin was unwilling to send his old subordinates and hundreds of outstanding artillerymen who had been trained and tested in battles to the front line, and immediately refused.
Li Tianen earnestly requested: "Chief of Staff, I only use half of the artillery battalion's troops, and most of them are infantry and auxiliary engineers who protect the artillery battalion. More than 500 artillery brothers will be ordered to withdraw south. I know that
This battle is so dangerous that having a few hundred more men will only bring benefits and no harm to the battle. I believe that under the wise command of the division commander, this battle will be fought very soon. At that time, we will naturally return to building the artillery battalion's combat effectiveness.
It will also improve a lot due to the growth of infantry and engineers."
An Yi briefly discussed with Yang Bin, Yin Jinan, and Hu Jialin, and agreed with Li Tianen's opinion. An Yi finally issued an order:
"Lao Li, you go back immediately and make preparations. Order your battalion deputy Lao Liao to take the artillery and baggage to Yinji, 35 kilometers south for rest and recuperation. More than two hundred brothers from the logistics and munitions departments will work with you. There
This is the defense area of General He Yaozu's regiment, and they will take care of you. When the principal and Commander Bai capture Xuzhou and stabilize the front line, the division headquarters will give you further instructions."
"clear!"
Li Tianen grinned and sat down calmly.
The meeting dispersed, and the commanders of each regiment immediately returned to their respective departments, making preparations nervously. Smoke from cooking fried fragrant rice and barbecued jerky was everywhere inside and outside the town. This is the unique battlefield food preparation method of the independent division. Whenever a fierce battle is about to begin, each company
The rice will be fried, and the bitter pork, beef, and horse meat marinated in coarse salt will be cut into thin slices and roasted in a hot pot. The quantity is usually prepared for three days to reduce the difficulty of logistical supply.
.
At midnight, the world was silent, and everything fell into a deep sleep. The 10,000 soldiers of the Independent Division who had made all pre-war preparations immediately chewed their coins in their mouths. Under the guidance of each team of Ding Zhicheng's Special Forces Brigade, they kept silent and drove north.
An Yi, Yang Bin, Liu Shoujiang and others walked out of the division headquarters and saw Yin Jinan in the yard with a stern look on his face, chatting in a low voice with Hu Jialin. An Yi smiled, walked over and asked:
"Jinan, why are you looking so sad? Don't you still trust the artillery regiment and the logistics brothers?"
Hu Jialin explained: "Jinan said that his right eyelid has been beating non-stop since the afternoon, and he is always worried that something big will happen."
An Yi smiled: "Remember the nonsense that the soldiers said about 'causing money on the left and disaster on the right', right? When did you believe this stuff, Ji Nan? Do you need to send a telegram to Lao Nanchang and let Lao Dao know?
Can I help you calculate a hexagram?"
The brothers burst out laughing after hearing this. Yin Jinan touched his head and smiled sheepishly: "Be careful with your boat, let's go."
The brothers walked out of the courtyard one after another and boarded their own horses. An Yi approached the little black colt, hugged its neck affectionately, and whispered a few words. The little black colt raised its head and shook its beautiful mane, but turned its head
Turning to the south, An Yi pulled the little black horse several times but still turned south reluctantly.
An Yi slapped the little black colt, laughed and cursed a few words, turned over and reined in the horse's head, and joked with Shen Fengdao who was riding beside him as he walked:
"Old Shen, just now Jinan said that his right eye was twitching sharply today, why am I doing the same thing? His grandma's has been jumping since the morning, and it's getting worse and worse, but I'm too embarrassed to mention this!
I don’t know why, but I always feel overwhelmed. What do you think is going on?”
Shen Fengdao looked at the Big Dipper in the sky, then at Chang Geng Star and several surrounding constellations, sighed slightly, and replied in a low voice: "The war is approaching, it is always good to be careful... You have to keep your eyes open for this battle. Just watch six channels. If possible, let Ding Zhicheng expand the scope of the investigation and use all four radio stations as much as possible."
"Hey, are you worried too?" An Yi said with a smile, but felt frightened in his heart.
Shen Fengdao shook his head and laughed at himself: "How can we not be worried when there are bullets and bullets on the battlefield? The stars and moon are very bright tonight, and the marching speed will not be slow. It is estimated that the fighting will begin in four hours."
An Yi understood that this was Shen Fengdao's euphemistic suggestion to speed up the fight and make a quick decision. He called the captain of the guard behind him and whispered a few words. Lin Xudong nodded and quickly rode forward to catch up with Hu Jialin and Yang Bin, who were in command of the former enemy.
At this moment, neither An Yi nor his brothers knew that all the omens and hidden worries in their hearts would soon become reality.
In fact, Commander-in-Chief Chiang Kai-shek, who commanded the counterattack army's westward operations, had been defeated two and a half hours ago: the enemy's commander-in-chief Cheng Guorui had indeed judged the same as Bai Chongxi, and adopted the strategy of luring the enemy deeper. At 5:30 in the afternoon When both armies were exhausted from the fight, the fresh force of three divisions of the Zhili Allied Army suddenly rushed in from behind seven kilometers from the left flank of the revolutionary army.
Wang Tianpei, who was alert in advance, immediately led his troops to retreat quickly, but one division was still surrounded by enemy troops and was wiped out in the blink of an eye like a small canoe in the huge waves.
He Yaozu's Forty Army and Chen Cheng's Division, who had lost their left wing escort, were still fighting fiercely with the enemy in the south of Xuzhou City, launching wave after wave of offensive charges. The sudden retreat of the Tenth Army caused the enemy's army to advance straight in, and in the blink of an eye the Forty Army was overwhelmed. More than 50,000 people from Chen Cheng's division surrounded the battlefield four kilometers south of the city.
The enemy defenders in the city doubled their troops and rushed out of the trenches to respond to the outflanking reinforcements. They rushed all the revolutionary army units to pieces. The extremely shocked Commander-in-Chief immediately sent General Wang Pu, who served as the reserve force, to lead the soldiers of the 27th Army to fight to the death. The rescue finally broke through the encirclement, allowing Chen Cheng and He Yaozu to lead the remaining troops to escape.
In the early morning of the next day, He Yaozu's troops and Chen Cheng's divisions, who had resisted and repelled enemy pursuits time and time again, retreated to Suxian. Only less than 20,000 of his more than 50,000 soldiers were left. The furious Commander-in-Chief fled to Suxian while calling Wang Tianpei of Guoyang asked questions and called Bai Chongxi, who was in charge of attacking the right wing.
Wang Tianpei called back and said that the headquarters was suddenly attacked by tens of thousands of enemy troops. Now less than 50% of the troops were left. The retreat was really unavoidable and the headquarters was unable to fight anymore. However, Bai Chongxi said that the headquarters suddenly retreated due to the commander-in-chief's army. , the whole army was unable to hold on alone, and was slowly retreating to the Bengbu line to re-establish its position.
Commander-in-Chief Chiang felt dizzy for a moment, feeling that everyone had betrayed his relatives and that there was no way to recover. He hid in a small bedroom alone and meditated in agony for two hours. When he came out, he looked calm and calm, and as usual, he ordered the staff office to order all ministries to evacuate south again. , strode back to the Jiangbei area on the Chuzhou front line to set up defenses.
The generals were shocked, but seeing the Commander-in-Chief's resolute attitude, they had no choice but to comply. Later, the frustrated Commander-in-Chief did not stay at the front line, and led the headquarters staff directly to Bengbu by car under the protection of the guards.
The Xuzhou counterattack plan has completely failed. The An Yi division, which was kept in the dark, was surrounded by the Zhilu Allied Forces and Sun Chuanfang's troops, and its future was bleak.