"Our army on the south bank is all elite. The siege has been established. Why has it been delayed and broken through? What is the reason? Are the armies afraid of the enemy and avoid war? If it is verified, they should be severely punished! The Japanese army on the southeastern and east sides are fierce, and the southern front is particularly active. Our army is unlikely to support us. I hope you will be brave and make progress and annihilate the stubborn enemy!"

This strongly worded telegram made Xu Zuyi fully understand Zhuang Jihua's anxiety. It had been several days since he forced Honma to the bank of the Yellow River, but he never could go further. The Japanese soldiers in desperate situations were very tenacious in resisting. Every position, every trench, and even every ditches had to be taken down through fierce battles.

Faced with such slow progress, Xu Zuyi was at a loss. He used all the methods such as urging, supervising the battle, rewarding, etc., but the progress was not much, and he didn't know where the problem was.

"The battlefield is vast, don't stick to the division of the 15th War Zone. You should attack boldly and first defeat the Japanese army on the north bank."

Before long, Zhuang Jihua's second telegram arrived again. Xu Zuyi was cheerful. At present, there were 160,000 troops concentrated on the South Bank. The Japanese army had been compressed to Dongkou. In such a small area, it was impossible to put all the troops into the attack. It would be better to send one or two divisions to attack the North Bank, cooperate with Xue Yue to defeat the Japanese army on the North Bank, and then clean up the Honma on the South Bank. Zhuang Jihua pointed out his skill.

Xu Zuyi immediately adjusted his deployment, the First Army and the 78th Army still attacked from the west, the 101st Army attacked from the south, and the two divisions of the 47th Army launched an attack from the west. Sun Zhen commanded the 102nd Army to force the Yellow River in Ouhongling Village and directly rushed to the back of the 36th Division on the North Bank.

This attack was beyond the expectations of the Japanese army. The Zhong** team had never fought across the war zone before. The proud Xue Yue even refused Li Zongren's inquiry for transferring troops from the South Bank of the Fifth War Zone to the north, and wanted to use his own troops to clear the Japanese army on the Northern Line. But now the battle situation has reached a critical moment, Xu Zuyi no longer cared about it and no longer cared about Xue Yue's feelings. Unexpectedly, this move caught the Japanese army off guard.

Sun Zhen soon stood firm north of the Yellow River, and then attacked westward. Jingguanren suddenly faced the enemy three times and turned into enemies all over the world. Sun Zhen had a fierce attack. Wang Mingzhang, the right-wing Wang Zhuangjizhuang, and went straight to Wanggu Township. Guo Xunqi, the left-wing, advanced along the north bank of the Yellow River, conquered Zhoulou and Xiangcheng, and rushed to the fish bones on the other side of Dongkou, Changlou; Sun Zhen personally led Rao Guohua Division to follow up.

Jingguanren was forced to draw troops from the front to block Sun Zhen, and Xue Yue seized it. The opportunity was to launch a fierce attack. Wang Jingjiu's 71st Army tore a gap in the Japanese defense line, and Huang Jie led the Eighth Army to tear open the defense line of the 17th Division from the north. Jingguanren's evil consequences of dismantling the east wall to repair the west wall were undoubtedly revealed.

The north bank of the Yellow River quickly fell into a state of collapse, and Masaharu Honma was almost desperate, but at this time, the North China Front Army Command sent a war report, and the reinforcements attacking in the north broke through the 21st Army's defense line, forced a crossing of the Jindi River, and Xiang Wenliu came. The forward was only ten miles away from the Jingguan Blade.

Xue Yue was so angry that he almost vomited blood when he received the report. The situation was just right. There was a problem there again, and it was a big problem that affected the overall situation. He thought about it and had to order Sun Zhen to support Tang Shizun immediately through Zhuang Jihua, and make sure to intercept the Japanese army in Wenliu. He didn't even have time to apply to transfer the 102nd Army to the first war zone.

Rao Guohua's troops marched to Wenliu, intercepted the Japanese army in Wenliu, defeated the Japanese vanguard, and helped Tang Shizun stabilize the defense line.

Honma Masaharu felt that his nerves were almost collapsed, and the attack of the Chinese team was getting stronger and stronger. The Chinese generals were almost crazy, completely ignoring casualties and attacking at all costs. His troops were getting more and more casualties. All the shells, including the mortars, had been exhausted. The soldiers' ammunition began to be in a hurry. The officers had to ask the soldiers to save ammunition and try to put the Chinese team closer to the point, which increased his casualties. Now the two and a half divisions had nearly 70,000 people left, and a large number of wounded soldiers could not be sent back. As the artillery got closer, some of the wounded began to take the initiative to return to the front line to act as meat bullets, lying on the road to advance with the Chinese team with grenades, and died with the Chinese soldiers.

Long-range shells could already hit Dongkou, and Honma could no longer stay in the command center. All the people he could to mobilize had been dispatched to the front line. There was a strong smell of blood in the air, and the shells exploded on the streets from time to time. Although the Chinese team could hit this place, they did not regard this place as the main target of bombardment.

Standing on the river bank north of the village, Honma looked at the other side, and there were also gunfires on the other side. A large number of wounded soldiers were moving to this side on the pontoon bridge. Obviously, Jingguan Bian was unable to stop the attack of the Zhongzhang Team.

"Are you defeated like this?" Honma asked himself this for the fiftieth time, and he was very unwilling to accept it.

"Your Excellency, the army attacked Xijizhuang and Fu Temple, and General Heiyan requested reinforcements."

"Tell him that I have no reinforcements, tell him to carry forward the spirit of the samurai and defend the position." Honma didn't even look back, but just said calmly.

"Hayi!" The officer hesitated and finally turned around and left.

The sound of cannons suddenly became even more intense.

"I don't have reinforcements, tell them that the people are in the position!"

Almost the same words were said in Du Yuming, holding on for ten days, and now only four days have passed, Zhang Lihui and Situ Fei are asking for help at the same time. After destroying the Japanese tanks, the Japanese army almost used barrage propulsion to attack. Each attack was like rain, all the trenches were blown off, and all the covers were blown down. Even the troops retreated to the second-line position could not escape the Japanese artillery fire, and casualties rose sharply. Zhang Lihui and Situ Fei retreated step by step and had to ask Du Yuming for help, but Du Yuming was unmoved and held Wang Guobin's division tightly.

There are six days left, but Du Yuming doesn't think he only needs to guard here for six days. The attack in Juancheng is not going smoothly. Honma Masaharu shrinks into a hedgehog. The Japanese army north of the Yellow River fights desperately to help. It can be imagined that the intensity of the battle is definitely not lower than here. Annihilation of Honma in ten days is likely not enough. If the troops are exhausted now, if there is any change, you will be helpless.

The biggest advantage of Jining is that it can only attack from two lines. It is the canal to the west and Nanyang Lake to the south. It is impossible for the Japanese army to besiege Jining, so it can only attack from the north and the east, which is of certain help to defense.

Without support, Zhang Lihui and Situ Fei could only shrink his troops and struggled to support him.

Also struggling were Zhang Zizhong and Tang Enbo from the canal area. After the Japanese army failed to break through on the front, Ando Rikihito moved the 16th Division of the Yamashita Fengwen from the front and detoured towards Pi County. Tang Enbo urgently dispatched Sun Liren to block the New 38th Division. After the New 38th Division left, the frontal defense became weaker. Ando Rikihito took the opportunity to break through the Qiuzhuang on Zhang Zhen's flank, and entered the west bank of the canal, and then conquered Suyang Mountain, resulting in the division between the New 38th Division and the main force. Sun Liren saw that the situation was not good, so he led his troops to retreat to Xuzhou through Nianzhuang. Zhang Zizhong and Tang Enbo also retreated from the west bank of the canal at the same time, retreating to Xuzhou while fighting.

The battle situation on the Eastern Front occurred, and the entire city of Xuzhou was shocked. The troops directly under the theater were temporarily appointed as commander-in-chief and led the guard regiment and the military police to Jiawang urgently. Lu Ruishan marched to Jiawang overnight and defeated the Japanese vanguard in Jiawang and temporarily stabilized the battle situation on the Eastern Front.

Then Zhuang Jihua was urgently transferred to Xuzhou in the 20th Army in Pei County. This army was originally staying here to defend against the Japanese army's sneak crossing Weishan Lake, but for some reason, the Japanese army never took such action.

The 20th Army led the rush to Xuzhou in an emergency. Halfway through, he received the order from Zhuang Jihua to cancel the order from Xuzhou and immediately advanced westward to seize Dangshan. Yang Sen, who was rushing, was surprised. This was completely different. The first order was to advance eastward and the next order was to retreat westward. Before he could ask questions, Zhuang Jihua's second telegram told him the reason that Suxian was lost.

Before dawn, it was the coldest moment. Looking at the dark city walls in the distance, Kazushima Kangjian's heart tides were undulating. As Yang Yuchun judged, his target was Suxian. He would probably be completely eliminated by the 74th Army that was chased before the breakthrough of the defense of the Zhong** team. Therefore, the many actions he made in the south were all to lure the enemy. The real goal was to enter Suxian east, eliminate the army's southern line command, and shake the army's rear.

Yang Yuchun judged Nakajima's target correctly, but both him and Zhuang Jihua misjudged his speed. When Liao Yaoxiang's troops, who were all soldiers at the front of the car, set off from Xuzhou, Nakajima was less than ten miles away from Su County. Nakajima requisitioned all the cars, carriages, bicycles and mules he had grabbed along the way. He personally led the mobile unit and Lu Cao's cavalry. Chief of Staff Gu Shu led the remaining soldiers to force their troops to Su County. The minor wounded remained at the end, and the serious wounded committed suicide on the spot.

In the dark night, Japanese soldiers formed several fire dragons and advanced forward quickly. Some horses ran and foamed at the ground while running. As long as the soldiers did not fall to death, they would get up and then run forward. As the infantry walked, they fell straight down and never stood up again.

Seeing that more and more soldiers were behind, Kazuya Nakajima had fallen behind and more and more horses died, he immediately jumped off his horse and gave the horse to a cavalry who had lost his war horse. Then he drove all the officers out of the car, loaded the soldiers, especially machine guns and mortars into cars, and then led the officers and soldiers to Suzhou on foot.

There was no movement at all at the top of the city wall, and the lantern on the city wall was still shaking, all of which meant that the Chinese team had not yet realized his arrival.

Listening to the uncontrollable breathing sounds coming from behind, Nakajima hesitated a little. The marching that lasted for a full twenty hours had exhausted the soldiers' physical strength. He was not sure whether this would be successful in attacking Suxian.

"Your Excellency, give an order. We can't take Suxian. We are already standing by the door of victory. You, you can't hesitate." Lu Cao saw through Nakajima's hesitation, knew what he was thinking, and urged him to make up his mind.

This march turned most of the cavalry of Lucao into infantry, the horses were either exhausted or given up, the soldiers were also exhausted, and his own horse was also abandoned, it was a seven-year-old Oriental horse, the addition of black fur made it look extremely fierce, and even such a strong horse collapsed in this marching race against time.

Nakajima turned his soldier and when he glanced at him, the soldier who was breathing immediately straightened his waist, tried to adjust his breathing, and faced his gaze fearlessly.

"Lu Caojun, take five hundred people to take the train station and block the train station. The others follow me and take Suxian." Nakajima shouted calmly, and then walked towards the dark city first. Lu Cao waved his hand and led the five hundred people to the north of Chengbei Railway Station. Several guards from Nakajima took a few steps and stood in front of him.

A sun flag flutters in the cold wind.

More than a thousand people walked silently, no one spoke, no one shouted long live, everyone's eyes were filled with determination, and leather boots creaked slightly while stepping on the snow.

There was still no movement at all at the top of the city wall. When Nakajima waved his hand, more than 100 soldiers quickly ran under the city wall, then quickly took out the rope and went to the city wall, climbing up the city wall quickly. After a while, a short and fierce gunfire sounded on the city wall.

Nakajima looked at the city gate nervously. After a while, the city gate creaked open. Nakajima pulled out his command knife and pointed at the city gate hole, "It's time to establish merit for the empire! Long live!"

Nakajima was the first to rush towards the city gate, "Long live!" A shout of roar sounded behind him, and more than a thousand Japanese soldiers picked up their bright bayonets and rushed towards the city gate.

The gunshot alarmed Li Pinxian in the command center. Contrary to Zhuang Jihua's rapidity, Li Pinxian did not think that Nakajima's attack target would be Suxian. He believed that Nakajima was not in line with the distance, so he would continue to go south to attack Deng Xihou or Lu Han. Therefore, although he received a telegram from Zhuang Jihua, he still did not believe that Nakajima would come to Suxian. At the same time, he was very dissatisfied with Zhuang Jihua's severe handling of Wei Yunsong. He simply told the guard commander to strengthen his security and no longer cared about this matter.

But now the gunshots from Ximen really told him that Nakajima was coming, and Li Pinxian was stunned. When he woke up, his first thought was that it was over, it was completely over.

Guns were fired everywhere in the city, and they were burning everywhere. Japanese soldiers divided into dozens of strands and rushed into the city. They fired guns at will, creating panic throughout the city.

There was no idea how many Japanese troops entered the city, and panic spread among the defenders. The defenders collapsed quickly. Li Pinxian fled out of the city in a hurry under the protection of the guards. He even forgot to bring the radio station that was extremely important to command. It was not until a few hours later that the radio director arrived with the communications office. During these hours, the shadow of the commander-in-chief of the southern line could not be found in the entire southern line.

Li Pinxian's delay caused the New 22nd Division to suffer inexplicable losses. Shortly after Lu Cao occupied the railway station, the train carrying the 716th Brigade, the vanguard of the New 22nd Division, rushed to the railway station. Before the train entered the station, it was raided by Japanese firepower. The 716th Brigade suffered heavy losses. The brigade commander Dong Xiangxun was killed on the spot, and the troops lost more than 1,000 people. Deputy Brigade Commander Yao Songtao led his troops back ten miles before he could seize it.

After receiving the telegram from Yao Songtao, Zhuang Jihua had no time to get angry. He felt that the war could not continue and it was time to retreat.

"Chief Bai was transferred to the chairman of Wuhan. Suxian was lost this morning, and the southern front line had been cut off in half. The fall of the river was only a few days. Based on the Jinpu Road war, our army has dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese army. We will continue to fight, and the attack on the Japanese army will not increase much. We requested to retreat and protect the main force of the war zone to facilitate the long-term resistance."

However, the call from Chiang Kai-shek and Bai Chongxi surprised Zhuang Jihua.
Chapter completed!