The fierce attack of the Air Force effectively delayed the Japanese attack pace, but the Japanese army still stubbornly rushed towards Shangqiu. The Xuzhou tragedy aroused strong indignation among Chinese officers and soldiers. The Chinese team on the front, both senior generals and soldiers, had their eyes red when the Japanese army was screaming and rushed up.

Faced with the 20th Army and the 40th Army of Ando, ​​fighting with the Japanese army in Dangshan, senior generals such as Guan Linzheng Wang Zhonglian and Pang Bingxun came to the front line to supervise the battle. No matter how fierce the Japanese artillery fire was, all the officers and soldiers always stood firm. The soldiers shouted the slogan of avenging the dead compatriots in Xuzhou and fought to the death.

The New 38th Division and the New 22nd Division were unable to go to Haozhou to reinforce Deng Xihou and Lu Han. They were dragged down by Fengwen, who was immediately chased by the soon-to-be-chasing Shanxia, ​​and were forced to block the Japanese army in the Yongcheng area with the Forty-Sixth Army.

Deng Xihou and Lu Han were supported by Liu Ruming's troops in Haozhou, who had retreated here at some time. Deng Xihou commanded four armies to fight fiercely with Gu Shoufu's five divisions, and he had no choice but to retreat.

On the northern line, Cao Ji, who was defending Sun Lianzhong and Shan County, defending Sun Tongxuan, fought extremely fiercely. With the support of the Air Force, the two armies defended two county towns. Sun Tongxuan's front of defending Shan County was far superior to Sun Lianzhong. After three days of hard fighting, Sun Tongxuan could not support him and gave up Shan County. The 55th Army and the 56th Army retreated to Huanggang line under Cao Fulin. He himself led the 12th Army of the direct line to retreat to Qingge to cover the flanks of Sun Lianzhong's troops of Cao Ji.

Hesitating about the fight between the Second and Third Army and the death-blocking campaign won three days for Zhuang Jihua. The 74th Army and the Second Corps had arrived in Shangqiu. The vanguard of the rapid column led by Qiu Qingquan had also arrived in Suiyang, not far from Shangqiu. The First Army and the 78th Army also established defensive positions south of the old Yellow River.

More importantly, the 71st and 27th Army led by Xue Yue have crossed the Yellow River south, and the 23rd Army also feel that the 72nd Army is striving to block the Japanese army that is counterattacking. To the west of them, the 8th Army led by Huang Jie is responding to the 32nd Army to cross the Yellow River south. The joining of these troops has made Zhuang Jihua more confident.

Zhuang Jihua was ready to fight. When the Japanese army was fighting near Shangqiu, Chiang Kai-shek suddenly sent a telegram asking if he could stop the Japanese army. He hinted that if he could not stop the Japanese army, he immediately led his troops to retreat to Xuchang and retreat west of the Pinghan Line. He had his own strategy to defeat the enemy.

Chiang Kai-shek's telegram made Zhuang Jihua a little confused, especially Chiang Jieshi's own strategy to defeat the enemy, which made him even more confused.

"Brother Yan Mou, what do you think of Chairman?" Zhuang Jihua asked Xu Zuyi strangely.

Xu Zuyi was scolded by Zhuang Jihua in public, and was embarrassed in front of the officers in the war zone. He felt a little unhappy, but he didn't dare to express it. The man in front of him didn't even sell Bai Chongxi's account, what was he? He took the telegram and looked at it slightly and shook his head and said, "I don't know this, why don't you generate a power to ask?"

Zhuang Jihua and Xu Zuyi felt cold in his heart, but he quickly felt relieved. He really didn't know and didn't lie to him. Their performance made Gong Chu see clearly. For Gong Chu, although he didn't think Zhuang Jihua was right, he could not speak for Xu Zuyi. Zhuang Jihua was too strong, Bai Chongxi's order could be abolished immediately, and Chiang Kai-shek had to discuss with him. Such a strong commander had both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was that once he gained his appreciation, he would immediately become successful; the disadvantage was that his temper was relatively strong and his subordinates were inevitably more angry. But in his situation, he actually had one choice. Xu Zuyi was unhappy and could apply for transfer, but it would be difficult for him to meet a boss who appreciated him like this and let him go.

But what is Chiang Kai-shek's strategy to retreat to the enemy? He didn't know, so when Zhuang Jihua looked at him, he smiled bitterly: "Commander, I can't guess the Chairman's thoughts. However, to retreat to the enemy, we must have troops, but the Chairman asked us to leave quickly, which means that this is a dangerous land, why is this happening? There are still more than 100,000 people here."

Gong Chu's words made Zhuang Jihua's confusion even stronger, and it was accompanied by strong uneasiness; Xu Zuyi's face changed drastically, and his eyes were filled with fear.

"Brother Yan Mou, what did you think of?" Zhuang Jihua noticed Xu Zuyi's expression and asked immediately.

"Yellow River." Xu Zuyi said two words bitterly and hard.

Gong Chu's face finally changed drastically, but Zhuang Jihua still didn't understand. He looked at the map and the Yellow River was hundreds of miles away: "Yellow River? What's wrong with the Yellow River?"

Gong Chu shook his head gently. Zhuang Jihua knew too little about Chinese history, and his mouth suddenly became bitter: "I wonder if the commander knows the story of flooding the seven armies."

Zhuang Jihua understood now, and his face suddenly turned pale. After a long time, he said: "The Chairman means digging the Yellow River and flooding the Seven Army again. But what should the people in this radius of thousands of miles do? Isn't this killing one thousand enemies to lose ten thousand of them?"

"If the Chairman did not send reinforcements, it would probably be like this. If the Yellow River water is introduced into the old path, Ito and Yoshio Shinozuka will be finished immediately, and the 100,000 Japanese troops can be wiped out in one sentence." Xu Zuyi shook his head and said.

"But there are millions of people here," Zhuang Jihua looked tragic: "How much will this break be? 500,000 or 1 million? This deal is not cost-effective and must not be done," Zhuang Jihua then emphasized and said in a heavy tone: "This is a sinner for the ages, and history will record a lot."

Xu Zuyi nodded silently. Indeed, these millions of people would be swallowed up by the surging flood without any precaution. I am afraid no one dares to take this historical responsibility, and even Chiang Kai-shek would not dare to take it.

"Reply call, call the Chairman immediately. Our department can defend Shangqiu, stop the Japanese army, and dig the Yellow River," Zhuang Jihua's expression is absolutely not feasible.

Zu Yi replied loudly.

Chiang Kai-shek did have this idea, but the first one was not him, but Li Zongren's chief of staff Yan Xunfu. At the beginning of the Second Jinpu Road Battle, Yan Xunfu proposed to Li Zongren that he could dig the Yellow River in Zhongmu, divert the Yellow River water into the old path of the Yellow River, and prevent the establishment of a Yellow River defense line on the west side of Zhengzhou.

After Bai Chongxi unified the command of the 15th War Zone troops, Li Zongren revealed this plan to him, but Bai Chongxi refused. Bai Chongxi was very confident at the time that the Japanese army's attack deployment was completely under control, and five times the enemy's strength could completely wipe out Honma. But when Ito broke through to the north bank of the Yellow River, Bai Chongxi knew that failure was inevitable. With his eyes, he naturally understood that this retreat would be likely to fall into an uncontrollable state. If hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops could not stop him, he might rush to Wuhan.

So Bai Chongxi thought about it over and over again, picked up the suggestion again, and solemnly recommended it to Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang Kai-shek convened He Yingqin, Lin Wei, Chen Cheng, and Chiang Baili to discuss and believed that this strategy was feasible, but at present, hundreds of thousands of Zhongzhao teams were gathered to the east of Kaifeng to Shangqiu and Haozhou, and this strategy must be implemented after these troops retreated. In addition, Chiang Baili proposed to solicit the opinions of the front-line commanders, especially Zhuang Jihua's opinions. At the same time, since the battle situation has been concentrated in the area centered on Shangqiu, the area has been significantly reduced, and there is no need to coordinate the 15th War Zone. It is recommended to recall Bai Chongxi and abolish the Xinyang Command. All the troops in Kaifeng to the south of the Yellow River are under the command of Zhuang Jihua.

Jiang Baili's suggestion made Chiang Kai-shek feel a little embarrassed because it was equivalent to depriving most of the troops of Li Zongren of the First World War Zone. He only had the 32nd Army and the seriously weakened First Army. His dissatisfaction was completely predictable.

"Since ancient times, there are no two commanders in the army. Two theater commands were set up in such a small area, and the command functions were seriously overlapping. The chairman was very unfavorable to the operation." Jiang Baili insisted on his suggestion. He did not want to dig a river, but if there was no other way, he could only dig a river. Now he placed all this hope on Zhuang Jihua, and for this reason he was willing to seriously offend Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi.

Chiang Kai-shek hesitated. Of course, he knew that Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi must be dissatisfied. He was still considering the purpose of Jiang Baili's words. Chen Cheng looked at Jiang Baili's expression. His originally elegant face showed a little anxiety, which was very different from Jiang Baili's usual calmness.

"Chairman, I think it's feasible," Chen Cheng calmed down and understood Jiang Baili's thoughts: "The Yellow River break will cause disasters to several provinces, and millions of people affected by the disasters. The government relief is also a big problem. It's better to hand it over to the Cultural Revolution. If he can defeat the Japanese, he will be able to avoid disasters to the people in these provinces."

Chen Cheng's words reminded Chiang Kai-shek that to be honest, Chiang Kai-shek's heart was also ups and downs when he broke the Yellow River. He was completely clear about the consequences of this matter. Once the break is broken, it must be pushed to the Japanese. Neither the National Government nor Chiang Kai-shek instinctively could not bear this responsibility.

But when he thought about it, Chiang Kai-shek's face turned darker again. He looked at Chen Cheng coldly, as if he wanted to see through his thoughts. Chen Cheng was not only nervous.

"This responsibility cannot be borne by the Cultural Revolution, it can only be the Japanese." Chiang Kai-shek's tone was cold.

"Report, emergency electricity from the Five War Zone."

Keishi said in a deep voice.

"The Yellow River breaks, leaving disasters for several provinces, and the harm will last for decades. Moreover, this is winter. The Yellow River is in the freezing period. The breach effect is extremely poor at this moment. It is unknown whether it can stop the Japanese army. Students have already had a counterattack plan and can launch a counterattack after the entire rapid column arrives. Students are 60% sure to defeat the Japanese army and regain the initiative on the battlefield."

Chiang Kai-shek sighed in his heart. It seemed that Zhuang Jihua dared to say anything in order not to let him break the mouth in the Yellow River, but he never thought that I, Chiang Kai-shek, would be so willing to break the mouth in the Yellow River?

Chiang Kai-shek said that Zhuang Jihua could not bear the responsibility of breaking the law, and that Chen Cheng's heart would fall to the bottom of the house. He just wanted Zhuang Jihua to take this responsibility. He could not see that in the past few years, Zhuang Jihua had taken too fast in the past year, holding hundreds of thousands of heavy troops, and behind it was supported by Chongqing Arsenal Base. He had a very high reputation among the people and had unlimited development potential. He had to take the blame and suppress it, otherwise he would not be able to surpass him, Chen Cheng.

Chen Cheng's face suddenly became gloomy. Lin Wei could see clearly from the side. He couldn't help but laugh in his heart. Chen Cheng didn't think it clearly, but Chiang Kai-shek understood. This responsibility could not be borne by Zhuang Jihua. Everyone understood that without Chiang Kai-shek's consent, anyone who dared to dig the Yellow River would be unable to take on even if Zhuang Jihua wanted to take on this responsibility.

"Okay, follow Mr. Baili's opinion, let Bai Jiansheng come back, and the Xinyang command center is abolished. The troops south of the Yellow River and east of Kaifeng are all under the command of Zhuang Jihua, the commander of the Fifth War Zone. Wei Wen, you plan an order and send it." Once the idea is decided, Chiang Kai-shek will never drag on the slumber and immediately issue an order.

When Chiang Kai-shek in Wuhan was thinking about how to save the situation and stop the Japanese army from rushing to Wuhan, the North China headquarters of Peking also fell into a fierce quarrel. The central content of the quarrel was still to rush directly to Wuhan or stop and rest.

"Commander, Hu Zhi suggested stop the attack. The army has realized the strategic intentions of the Imperial Army and has escaped from the encirclement of the Imperial Army. The Imperial Army suffered great losses in the early battles. We must stop and rest and then launch an attack." Ligao Support looked calm, but he was very upset. He did not expect that with the information he provided, the battle was defeated. Honma's 60,000 people could not afford it. Now he must lure Sugiyama to make an order to stop the pursuit, but his opinion was firmly opposed by the staff officers led by Eto.

"Jun Li Gao, what's wrong with you!" If Li Gao hadn't performed very well in the early stage, Jiang Teng's attitude would definitely not have been so kind: "The army was hit hard by the Imperial Army. Although they escaped from the encirclement of the Imperial Army, they were already defeated. It was a great opportunity to take advantage of the victory and recover the impact of the last battle in Xuzhou."

"Eto-kun, we should remember the lessons of the Battle of Nanjing," Ligao retorted unambiguously: "After the Battle of Songhu, the Imperial Army should have rested for a month before attacking Nanjing, but General Matsui Ishione did not do this. At that time, he thought that the army had no strength to stop our army, but what was the result? Yes, the army suffered serious losses under the attack of the Imperial Army, but the losses of the Imperial Army were also quite large. What's more, the weather is getting better now, and the Air Force can already be dispatched. The results of these days of air battles prove that the Imperial Army Air Force suffered huge losses, and the army can act arbitrarily over the war zone and attack our ground forces."

"Bastard! After achieving such a victory, he dared not pursue it. This is something that has never been seen in the history of war!" A young officer stood up and scolded loudly.

Ligao Support looked extremely calm. He was not scared by improperness, but instead laughed in a louder voice and said without hesitation: "Military school study, book knowledge is dead. We must adapt to the situation on the battlefield and not copy it hard! Are there few cases of winning the battle at the beginning of the battle and then being counterattacked by the enemy in the end and finally failing?"

The officer was choked and had nothing to say. Then two more officers came forward to refute Ligao Support. Ligao fought back without hesitation, but Nishimura of the intelligence department stood up to support Ligao Support.
Chapter completed!