At eight o'clock in the evening, Wuhe County, Zhili Allied Forces Qing Suppression Headquarters.
After listening to Cheng Guorui's report, veteran Chu Yupu, who rushed to Wuhe Camp from Liuxiang, showed deep disappointment on his face. He stood up angrily and took a few steps, turned back and said to Cheng Guorui:
"Jingwu, An Yi is extremely cunning. Judging from his evil deeds of escaping from the siege several times, bloodbathing the gentry in Shaji, and setting fire to the entire town of Taiping, we can see that this person has reached the point of being extremely vicious. He is also full of tricks and all the remnants of his subordinates are dead.
Desperate man, we must not take it lightly. Today he suddenly led a group of people on a boat to the east, and then turned north again at sunset. It is very puzzling, don't you realize?"
Cheng Guorui smiled helplessly and said: "It is difficult for my subordinates to understand. After receiving the urgent telegram from Marshal Sun, my subordinates and others also analyzed it repeatedly and believed that the fleeing enemy was repeating his old tricks, true and false, in an attempt to influence our judgment in clearing out the various armies.
, maybe he will appear in the Dongzuijiao area in the north tomorrow morning.
After detailed estimation, the two steamboats can still sail about 80 kilometers on fuel, and they will soon run out of fuel. Therefore, he is probably going in circles with us. After all, Hongze Lake has a radius of hundreds of miles and there are many tidal flats in the lake, which our army cannot count.
Searching and remnant enemies is a hundred times safer than searching on land. I believe An Yi understands this very well."
"That makes sense."
Chu Yupu thought for a moment and asked again: "What if all this is an illusion, and the remaining enemy is dormant in the dense forest of Daxingtan?"
Cheng Guorui was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said: "In the past two days, the sky has been clear and clear. Our military aircraft have never stopped reconnaissance of the enemy. Marshal Sun has also specially deployed two reconnaissance aircraft for close surveillance. The lake is unobstructed and has an unobstructed view. It belongs to
I believe that the information is correct. Even if An Yi's remnants suddenly turned around after nightfall and rushed to the southeast or southwest river mouth to land, the 40 to 50 kilometers of waterway would require at least six hours of sailing. An Yi's remnants have been closely pursued by our army for several days.
, fought hard one after another, the enemy chief An Yi must also know that his troops are at the end of their war effort and unable to fight anymore. Therefore, his subordinates think that it is more likely that he will huddle in the lake.
Furthermore, Marshal Sun yesterday urgently mobilized three divisions to block the southeast river mouth and the east bank. It was really difficult for the remaining enemy to break through. His subordinates also transferred a regiment of the 39th Division stationed in Mingguang County to Xuyi, together with an original regiment in Xuyi.
The camp defenders are taking strict precautions, so it is difficult for the remnant enemy to break out from the direction of Xuyi. Moreover, at this moment, the remnant enemy is taking boats to go north along the east coast, so we can only let the troops under Marshal Sun do their best to search and eliminate them."
Chu Yupu nodded and walked slowly again. He hesitated for a long time and finally made up his mind: "Tongfang, where are the Sixth Division and Wang Dongjun going now?"
"The Sixth Division has arrived at Liuxiang to rest. Wang Dong's army rushed to Shuanggou Town on the north bank. Both divisions were stationed in place in accordance with Yu Shuai's orders and closely monitored the movements along the lake. Zhang Zhenbei Cavalry Brigade drove to the north bank of the Huaihe River and received large
After the commander's transfer, he immediately turned back and headed north, probably to fight against Feng Yuxiang's northwest army in eastern Henan and western Shandong." Chu Yupu's new chief of staff of the Seventh Army replied.
Cheng Guorui shook his head: "Commander Yu, Feng Yuxiang has been silent for ten days and suddenly launched a full-scale attack on the Henan front line. Yan Xishan's Jinsui Army has occupied the Shijiazhuang front line. Now that Jiangbei has set its base, the Japanese army will rush northward if not. If An Yi's remnants shrink back
In Hongze Lake, we have no choice but to let Marshal Sun worry."
"This is exactly what I am worried about. If this thief is not eliminated, there will be endless troubles!"
Chu Yupu was quite frustrated and could only put the matter aside for the time being and discuss with the generals the deployment of Xu Beng's front-line troops, striving to complete the defense handover with Sun Chuanfang's army as soon as possible so that he could leave and go north to defend his home base of Zhilu.
At 9:40 p.m., the intelligence staff suddenly rushed into the conference room and reported urgently to Chu Yupu: "Commander Yu, the 17th Army of the Anhui Army urgently sent a telegram: The enemy's Anyi Division's fleet arriving at the mouth of Shunhe River in the east of Hudong was empty, and everyone on board was empty.
It’s a dummy made of wild grass and wooden sticks. The Seventeenth Army requested our army to strictly block the west bank and southwest lakeside areas!”
"not good!"
Chu Yupu suddenly stood up: "Pass my order: The Sixth Division will immediately move eastward along the lake to Xuyi. Wang Dongjun will completely blockade the Huaihe estuary and the Liuxiang line! Jingwu ordered the Mingguang garrison to detach a brigade to rush north to support the direction of Xuyi. I will immediately
Communicate with Marshal Sun and request him to march to Jinhu while Changtian's two divisions head west."
"Yes!" the generals replied loudly.
Ten o'clock in the evening, west of Xuyi City.
The panting steamer dragged more than 30 fishing boats across the Xima Bridge and headed south along the Huaihe River. The boats were loaded with nearly a thousand sick and wounded brothers. Only the Chen Zhibiao Second Regiment of more than 500 officers and soldiers was left to take charge of the safety and security of the fleet.
.
Chen Zhibiao arranged three escort brothers and a group of machine guns on both sides of each wooden boat. If everything goes well, the fleet will arrive at the entrance of Nushan Lake in two and a half hours, and then enter the Qili Lake area that An Yi is very familiar with, and finally
The target is Jinli Town, 21 kilometers north of Mingguang City, which is the southernmost tip of Qili Lake.
An Yi's plan was that even if he could not escape, the enemy would be helpless in the vast Qili Lake area. Moreover, the independent division had a good mass base in this area, and the enemy would not be able to encircle and suppress them even if they sent three or four divisions.
On the East Bank Avenue, more than 2,000 brothers of the Independent Division, who had put on the uniforms of the Zhilu Allied Forces and carried sufficient ammunition, were neatly arranged in regiments and marched south one after another amid the low-pitched commands of the chief officers at all levels.
In the surprise attack an hour ago, An Yi's division once again paid a heavy price with 285 dead and more than 300 injured. The brave and tough Ding Zhicheng led more than 20 brothers to rush straight into the enemy's headquarters in the city.
, captured the enemy regiment commander, regimental deputy and more than ten famous captains in one fell swoop, but they also paid the price of five killed and eight wounded.
Ding Zhicheng, who was extremely heartbroken, did not restrain the three hundred brothers who followed him, and allowed these angry elites to go on a killing spree. The soldiers of the other two regiments who arrived in succession were infected by the brothers from the special brigade, and they also lost their restraints and attacked the enemy.
Start a killing spree.
Chen Zhibiao's Second Regiment set up machine guns at the gates outside the city and fired at anyone they saw. They killed those who surrendered or fled on sight. The entire Xuyi City was littered with corpses, with blood splattering everywhere. Two thousand soldiers were killed.
Not one of the more than one hundred garrison soldiers was spared, and dozens of panicked civilians who had not been able to return home were lying dead on the streets. The whole city was wailing and bloody, and the tragedy was like a hell on earth.
An Yi did not accuse any of his brothers. Ding Zhicheng, who had personally cut off more than a dozen heads of the enemy commander and others, knelt down in front of him and admitted his mistake. An Yi said nothing, but lifted Ding Zhicheng up and patted his arm gently to express comfort.
, whispered to Ding Zhicheng to cheer up, and immediately led his soldiers to reconnoiter the enemy's situation along the way to ensure the safety of all brothers.
The team slowly drove southward under the starry sky, walking continuously in silence for an hour and a half.
Since all the horses were assigned to soldiers of the special brigade who were responsible for important tasks, An Yi marched with rifles on his shoulders like all the soldiers. When he saw Zhan Huanqi walking in front wearing an oversized enemy lieutenant uniform and walking very awkwardly, An Yi laughed.
Xia Jian smiled and turned to Xia Jian:
"The whole road smells of blood. How many have you killed?"
"About ten, I can't count. Tiger Head killed the most. Not long after I rushed into the city, I saw Beard rushing towards Zuoqian Street anxiously. I thought he was trying to stop Tiger Head from chopping off the surrendered prisoners, but I didn't expect that.
I led my brothers to rush into the military camp from the east. At a glance, I saw the two big knives of Hutou and Hushu flying around. There were people everywhere they went, and there were no generals. I was frightened at that time.
Worried that the two murderers could not see clearly and were heading toward me, I quickly ordered my brothers to hold up torches and stop advancing. I led more than 600 brothers to watch helplessly as they led three groups of more than 500 bandits to attack in and out.
"Xia Jian shook his head and laughed softly.
An Yi looked at the starry sky and let out a long sigh: "Well, this is the first time I have killed a surrendered person, and I feel very uncomfortable. But when I saw Lao Ding coming to me with blood stains on his body to admit his mistake, I couldn't express my feelings.
Fortunately, the look in Lao Ding's eyes has returned to clarity, otherwise I would have been really worried that he would go crazy."
"Brother, don't blame Lao Ding. The five beloved generals who died under his command were all first-level squad captains. Among them, Fan Minggang, the deputy captain of the second squadron, was his favorite apprentice. He was knocked down by the enemy battalion commander who was pretending to surrender.
He lost half his head, do you think he can help but hate me?"
Xia Jian took a deep breath, took out the seized cigarettes, and suddenly realized the marching discipline and put it back in his pocket: "Brother, our journey should be quite safe. Judging from the loose defense of Xuyi City, the enemy will not expect that we have two or three thousand people."
No. 1 dared to attack his county town, but he would not have thought that we would be so arrogant and go south overnight."
An Yi shook his head: "You can't say for sure. In such a complicated situation, anything can happen. Don't be careless. You should learn more from Cheng Guang on this. Only after passing Heqiao Town in the south and walking along Qili
Walking by the lake is relatively safer.
Just now, some brothers suggested to rest for half a night in Xuyi. They all said that the brothers were too tired. They had been fighting here and there these days and were already exhausted. After only one day of rest, there was another surprise attack. If we didn’t catch our breath and ran for our lives, I might not be able to bear it. Okay.
Hutou, Huzi, Lao Li and Lao Ding are experienced in the martial arts world, so they can let the brothers know the dangers of staying in a few words, which is more effective than a lot of words from me."
The herald ran from the front of the team and reported in a low voice to An Yi: "Master, a team suddenly appeared five kilometers southeast of us. There are many horses and about 5,000 people. Chief Ding suggested that we get to the fork in front.
, immediately enter the west side of the path and ambush five hundred meters away, and wait for this enemy force to pass before embarking on the road."
An Yi was shocked: "How far is the fork ahead?"
"About seven hundred meters, the leading independent regiment stopped there."
"Send orders to all regiments and battalions to enter the west trail in absolute silence and walk for ten minutes to find the ambush location." An Yi ordered.
"Yes!" The herald ran away.
In less than twenty minutes, the sound of horse hooves shook the ground slightly. Hundreds of war horses came from the south and galloped north at a medium speed amidst the shouts. The long team behind the horse team all moved forward at a trot.
The officers on horseback shouted and cursed loudly on both sides of the team from time to time. It took the whole team a full fifteen minutes to pass.
Five hundred meters away to the west, An Yi carefully calculated that the enemy troops rushing to Xuyi in the north were no less than 6,000 men. At the same time, he also realized that within two hours, his whereabouts would be completely exposed.
Five minutes later, the team returned to the road. An Yi immediately ordered everyone to run forward. At this moment, Ding Zhicheng led his troops to dismount and assemble in the north of Heqiao Town, six kilometers ahead. He held urgent discussions with Hu Jialin, who was accompanying the team commander, and made a decisive decision quickly.
Annihilate a company defending the enemy in the town, otherwise the whole army will have to go around the muddy area by the lake and walk an extra seven kilometers of curves. This seven-kilometer path will definitely not be completed in three hours, and at this time, the three hours will probably be lost.