The national army's tactical deception achieved great success.
Three days later, the main force of the 38 elite divisions of the National Army in the Fifth Theater of War had quietly entered Whirlpool City, 40 kilometers northwest of Mengcheng, and several large Japanese military groups participating in the encirclement and annihilation operations had also entered the outskirts of Xuzhou, responsible for
The Japanese Second Army, which blocked the Longhai Line, had defeated Li Pinxian's 11th Army and occupied Shangqiu.
…
Guoyang, the interim commander of the Fifth War Zone.
General Li hurriedly walked into the war room, surrounded by Chief of Staff Xu and Deputy Chief Bai, and immediately ordered: "Chief of Staff, immediately telegraph to the Wuhan camp that the main thirty-eight divisions of our fifth theater have entered Woyang
, and then dispatched cavalry correspondents to order each division to lift radio silence and report the latest position!"
"Yes." Chief of Staff Xu Zuyi took the order.
As soon as Chief of Staff Xu left, the adjutant hurriedly came in and reported: "General desk, the scouts reported that there are about two infantry brigades of the Japanese army heading toward Woyang along the Mengwo Highway. They are still about twenty miles away from Woyang.
.”
"Two infantry brigades?" General Li said murderously, "I didn't say anything, eat them!"
At this time, the main force of the Chinese army has completely jumped out of the Japanese encirclement, and the major Japanese army groups have already arrived at Xuzhou City. Soon the Japanese army will find that the main force of the Chinese army has actually turned towards Mengcheng and Fuyang, so the Chinese army
No longer have to worry about exposing their whereabouts, how can they easily let go of the two infantry brigades that came to their door?
…
Jinan, the frontline command post of the dispatch squad in the Japanese army base camp.
The general in the temple, Zheng Tie, stood in front of the battle map with a livid face, and Lieutenant General Okabe next to him also had a solemn look on his face.
Until now, none of the heavy military groups involved in the encirclement and annihilation operations have discovered the main force of the Chinese army. Except for the Second Army of Hisao Nishio, which had a fierce battle with Li Pinxian's 11th Army near Shangqiu, the Fifth Army, the Seventh Army,
The Tenth Army did not have any contact with the Chinese army, not even a small-scale encounter.
Seeing the encirclement tightening, the expressions of General Terauchi and Lieutenant General Okabe became more and more serious.
The four major Japanese army groups have even arrived at Xuzhou City, but they still haven't found the whereabouts of the main force of the Chinese army. Where are the main force of the Chinese army hiding? Are they all huddled in Xuzhou City? Or are they lurking dozens of kilometers outside Xuzhou?
Within a small area? Obviously, these two possibilities are unlikely.
"Your Excellency, General, the main force of China is definitely no longer near Xuzhou." Lieutenant General Okabe said.
"Okabe-kun, don't jump to conclusions yet." The general in the temple frowned and said, "At least, the dozen or so Chinese divisions that set off from Xuzhou and marched on foot along the Longhai Line in the past few days must still be in the imperial army.
Within the encirclement, as for the remaining dozen or so Chinese divisions, they may still be huddled in Xuzhou City.”
Lieutenant General Okabe was silent, but thought in his heart that this possibility was almost zero.
The truth is obvious. Xuzhou is no better than Nanjing. The reason why the Nationalist Army defended Nanjing is because Nanjing was the capital of the Nationalist Government, and a large amount of military supplies were accumulated in Nanjing at that time. The Nationalist Army had the capital to persist in the war of resistance, but Xuzhou simply did not have the capital to defend Nanjing.
It has strategic value, and there are not enough military supplies in Xuzhou City.
If the Nationalist army really wanted to leave hundreds of thousands of troops to defend Xuzhou, the Japanese army would not need to attack from the front at all. They could trap the Nationalist army in Xuzhou city by just siege.
"Report!" A major staff officer suddenly stepped inside, immediately stood upright and said, "Your Excellency, General, Your Excellency, Commander, we have just received an urgent report from the 26th Division in the direction of Mengcheng. The division has two infantry brigades.
Encountered a heavy Chinese army group in Guoyang, forty kilometers northwest of Mengcheng. After two hours of fierce fighting, they were defeated and retreated!"
"China Heavy Army Group?" The general in the temple suddenly changed his face when he heard this.
"In the direction of Mengcheng?" Lieutenant General Okabe felt even more frightened. The more he worried about something, the more likely it would come. He was still worried just now whether the main force of the Chinese army was taking advantage of the imperial army's attention to be attracted to Long.
At the sea level, I secretly turned towards Mengcheng. I didn't expect that this would actually be the case.
"Did the 26th Division report how many Chinese troops it encountered?" General Terauchi obviously still had luck. Maybe the two infantry brigades of the 26th Division encountered only a few Chinese divisions?
But the report from the major staff officer immediately shattered the general's luck: "Your Excellency, the Central China Front also dispatched reconnaissance planes of the directly affiliated air force. According to the reconnaissance plane report, a large number of Chinese troops were found in the area near Woyang.
The troop strength is estimated to be more than 300,000, and judging from the designation, there are at least 30 divisions!"
"At least thirty divisions!?" When the general in the temple heard this, his expression suddenly froze.
Lieutenant General Okabe also said with a bitter look on his face: "Your Excellency, General, it seems that we have really been fooled!"
"What's the point of talking about this now?" General Temple frowned and said grimly, "Due to a serious strategic misjudgment at the frontline command post of the base camp's dispatch squad, the China Army broke through calmly, which cost the empire a huge amount of money.
We have received military supplies but gained nothing, Okabe-kun, you should think carefully about how to explain it to the base camp."
Lieutenant General Okabe suddenly looked miserable. It was obvious that General Terauchi wanted to put the blame on him.
There was such a serious strategic misjudgment in the Battle of Xuzhou that the empire's hundreds of thousands of troops were busy for several months in vain, and the empire consumed a large amount of military supplies. Someone must bear the responsibility for such a major mistake, and Touichi Takahiro Terauchi was responsible for it.
The possibility of the Imperial Earl taking responsibility is extremely small, so this responsibility can only be borne by him, Naosaburo Okabe.
Taking a deep breath, Lieutenant General Okabe suppressed the negative emotions in his heart and said calmly: "Your Excellency, General, it is not yet time to hold people accountable. I think the top priority is to quickly find a way to remedy this."
Seeing that Lieutenant General Okabe did not shirk responsibility, General Terauchi immediately nodded happily and said: "Hey, Okabe-kun, regarding the strategic mistakes made by the frontline command post of the base camp's dispatch squad, I will personally explain to the base camp staff headquarters and Ishihara-kun on my behalf.
Yes, you don’t need to take it to heart, now you should think about how to reverse the unfavorable situation."
"Hai." Lieutenant General Okabe lowered his head suddenly and said, "Since the main force of China has appeared near Guoyang, it means that they have completely jumped out of the encirclement of the imperial army. The garrison in the direction of Fuyang alone can no longer stop them.
But if they want to cross the Dabie Mountains and return to defend Wuhan, it will take at least half a month!"
The general in the temple looked slightly moved and said: "Okabe-kun, what do you mean..."
Lieutenant General Okabe said: "Your Excellency, there is an old saying in China, misfortune comes with blessings! Although the plan for the Xuzhou battle came to nothing, it may not be a bad thing for the Imperial Japanese Army. The main Chinese forces in the direction of Xuzhou have all withdrawn.
To the Dabie Mountains, and it is absolutely impossible to return to defend Wuhan within twenty days, the imperial army can completely go west along the Longhai Line to Zhengzhou, and then quickly go south along the Pinghan Line to directly attack Wuhan, where the Chinese government's camp is!"
The general in the temple's eyes suddenly lit up and he stood in front of the map again.
Lieutenant General Okabe then stood in front of the map, stretched out his hand to draw the Longhai Line and the Pinghan Line, and said: "General, please see that the China government has adopted a tactic of keeping the enemy out of the country. All heavy military groups have been deployed.
In Shanxi, the northern section of the Ping-Han Railway, along the Yangtze River and areas near Xuzhou, once the main Chinese forces in the Xuzhou area retreated, the door to the north of Wuhan was suddenly opened, and there were almost no regular Chinese troops stationed in the eastern section of the Longhai Line and the southern section of the Ping-Han Line.
"
"Yo Xi." The general in the temple said excitedly, "Okabe-kun, your idea is very valuable. If the mechanized corps of the imperial army marches along the Longhai Line and Pinghan Line, they will be able to reach the gates of Wuhan in ten days at most.
, and at this time, the main Chinese force that retreated from the Xuzhou battlefield is probably still wandering in the Dabie Mountains, right?"
…
Wuhan camp, Chairman Chiang's official residence.
General He Yingqin, Chief of General Staff and Minister of Military Order of the National Army, hurried into Chairman Chiang Kai-shek's office and said: "Commissioner, we have just received an urgent report from the Fifth Theater Command that the main thirty-eight divisions of the Fifth Theater Command have successfully broken through the Japanese encirclement.
, we did not encounter heavy Japanese troop groups on the way, and now the main force in the theater has entered Woyang, 20 kilometers northwest of Mengcheng."
"Oh?" Chairman Jiang stood up immediately after hearing this and said, "Has it already popped out?"
"Yes." General He said, "Except for the Baoshan Brigade, all the main forces in the theater have broken through."
Chairman Chiang asked again: "Where are Yu Xuezhong, Sun Lianzhong and Li Pinxian?"
"I am about to report to the committee." Admiral He said hurriedly, "Yu Xuezhong's troops have already entered Xutai and Sihong, and Sun Lianzhong's troops have also entered Mengyin and near Xintai.
The losses were not big, and they were facing off against the Japanese pursuing corps, but Li Pinxian’s 11th Army had been routed by the Japanese, and only two divisions broke through the encirclement.”
Hearing that most of Li Pinxian's army had been defeated, Chairman Chiang breathed a sigh of relief.
In fact, it was a stroke of luck that the Battle of Xuzhou ended like this. Chairman Chiang originally thought that the sixty-two divisions gathered in Xuzhou would lose most of their strength. In the end, there would be twenty divisions.
It would have been quite good to retreat to Wuhan, but now, most of these sixty-two divisions have been preserved.
"Where is Xuzhou? Is there any news from Baoshan Brigade?"
Most of the main force of the national army in the fifth theater has broken through, and Chairman Chiang has begun to worry about Yue Weihan again. It is said that the main reason why most of the main force of the national army in the Xuzhou Theater can be preserved is Yue Weihan's greatest contribution. Chairman Chiang has never been like this.
I am so grateful to Yue Weihan now, but I have never been so afraid of Yue Weihan.
Not only is Yue Weihan unrivaled in his tactical planning, his strategic vision is equally superior!
The reason why Chairman Chiang likes Vice President Bai among the Guangxi warlords but hates General Li is that Vice President Bai is only good at tactical planning and lacks strategic vision, while General Li has a very strategic vision. A small Guangxi Province
Under General Li's hard work, he has the ability to compete with the central government!
There is also the one from Yan'an. The reason why Chairman Chiang Kai-shek is so afraid of him and insists on the national policy of "reconciling the internal situation before resisting foreign aggression" even at the cost of being called "non-resistance" is because the Yan'an one is a true strategist.
This person's strategic foresight is even far greater than that of Li Zongren. Such a person is more than just an amazing talent!?
Now, a new name will be added to this blacklist - Yue Weihan!