After capturing Nanjing in mid-December, the 13th Division of the Japanese army began to cross the Yangtze River to the north. Due to the heavy losses of the Zhongzhang team on the Songhu battlefield and insufficient troops, Chiang Kai-shek and Li Zongren demolished the east wall to repair the west wall. Despite the Japanese army's attack on northern Shandong, they actually transferred Yu Xuezhong's troops, which were originally responsible for the coastal defense mission in Shandong, to Jianghuai.

After Jinan fell, Chiang Kai-shek and Li Zongren were both very anxious. In Shandong, in addition to the guards, Chiang Kai-shek and Li Zongren could command only Han Fuju's defeated general and Shen Honglie's Marines. However, the guards still insisted on opposing Chiang Kai-shek, and the Marines could not bear the big deal. Chiang Kai-shek and Li Zongren could only order Han Fuju's troops to defend along the Jinpu Road and the canal in the name of the Military Commission and the Fifth War Zone.

Both Chiang Kai-shek and Li Zongren knew that the troops were insufficient in the Jianghuai area at this time, and several troops transferred to the Fifth War Zone, including the Deng Xihou 22nd Army, have not yet been in place. Once the Japanese army in North China quickly crossed Shandong and moved south, the Japanese will not only achieve north-south attacks in the Jianghuai area, but also advance along the Longhai Line to the inland area, and the entire anti-Japanese war situation will also collapse sharply! []

However, Han Fuju is now full of resentment towards Chiang Kai-shek and Li Zongren, believing that one of them was the heavy artillery brigade first and the other was the 51st Army behind, and they were both using knives to kill people, so they did not take Chiang and Li's orders to heart.

Chiang Kai-shek asked Han Fuju to defend Jinan, "Don't let the Japanese pirates hang their hands to set up all Lu." However, when the telegram arrived, Han Fuju had retreated to Tai'an. After Jinan fell, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Han Fuju to defend Tai'an to death, but he had retreated to Jining. However, Han Fuju had sufficient reasons, and he telegrammed Chiang Kai-shek and said, "Our army suffered serious losses and was unable to fight again. The Yimeng anti-Japanese friendly forces will restrain the follow-up operations of the Japanese army."

Han Fuju has not yet directly opposed Chiang Kai-shek's order, but Han Fuju is not so polite to Li Zongren's order to "stay Tai'an". He even replied, "If Nanjing does not defend, why should Tai'an?" "The war between Jiaoji and Jinpu will be borne by the Yimeng friendly forces."

Although Han Fuju did not involve the direction of the Jinpu Road in the agreement reached by Li Shuchun and others through the troops sent to the guards, once the Japanese army advanced south through Tai'an, they would never allow the guards to threaten the security of the flanks. The Japanese army would definitely fight with the guards occupying Xintai, Laiwu and other places! From this aspect, Han Fuju did not lie.

Yimeng was occupied by the escort army, and Chiang and Li also understood that Han Fuju's troops could not deal with the Japanese army through the mountainous areas of Lu. Han Fuju actually used the "guards to send troops" to shirk the responsibility of the Third Army, which made Chiang and Li angry, but for a moment they could do nothing.

Although the Guards still insist on opposing the Kuomintang rule, as long as the ministry can really restrain the Japanese army's actions, Chiang and Li cannot blame Han Fuju too much for the Guards who sent troops! This is really atrocity!

Just as Chiang Kai-shek and Li Zongren negotiated with Han Fuju, the Japanese 10th Division occupied Jinan on December 27, and after taking a break, they pursued Han Fuju's troops south along the Jinpu Line. However, Han Fuju's troops only blocked slightly and retreated. On December 31, the Japanese troops occupied Tai'an, Sun Tongxuan, Gu Liangmin, Li Hanzhang and other troops cut off their rear forces and retreated to Dawenkou, Yushui and Ningyang respectively.

Han Fuju's army's actions to abandon Tai'an not only made Li Zongren extremely angry, calling Chiang Kai-shek, saying, "As for the actions of the Korean army, it is planned to no longer increase the orders to avoid hurting emotions." It also triggered a fierce reaction from the guards.

On the first day after Tai'an's fall, on the New Year's Day in 38, the guards issued a telegram accusing Han Fuju of "disregarding the righteousness of the War of Resistance, not keeping promises, retreating without authorization, and putting friendly forces in dangerous places." He also said that "the invasion of Japanese pirates is due to the consistent policy of the Kuomintang's reactionary stolen government. Our army will never have any practical contact with this reactionary government in the future!"

"Commander-in-Chief, didn't you tell the guards before retreating?" Li Shuchun asked in surprise after learning the news.

Han Fuju didn't expect that the guards would do such a trick, making him feel bad inside and outside. He regretted it in his heart, but he stammered: "I was busy retreating at that time and forgot."

Li Shuchun knew one and two about Han Fuju’s little abacus, but could only sigh.

The power supply from the guards not only made Han Fuju famous, but also made Jiang Jiang, who was scolded together, extremely angry. But now the war in Shandong still depends on Han Fuju, so Jiang Jiang could only save up the tent and calculate it together.

Just when Lao Jiang called Han Fuju to defend the front line of Ziyang, Jining, and the canal, the situation in Shandong deteriorated again. The main force of the escort army fighting the Japanese army on the Jiaoji line was retreating to Boshan, and there were signs of retreating to the old nest, while the Japanese army on the Jinpu line successively seized several cities.

Among them, what Chiang Kai-shek and all walks of life cannot tolerate is that the area along the Jinpu Road south of Tai'an was empty, which made the Japanese army go to Dawenkou, Ningyang, Ziyang and Qufu on New Year's Day in 2018! The cavalry corps led by Sang Wenzhen, the second middle school of the Japanese 10th Division, had been interspersed to only about 6 kilometers away from Jining!

In history, the Japanese army only took Dawenkou with more than 100 people on New Year's Day in 38, while Ningyang, Ziyang, Qufu and other places were originally lost on January 4. But now Han Fuju put all the hope of restraining the Japanese army on the guards. In addition to deploying a brigade of the 74th Division and a 29th Division in the Jining area, other troops of the Third Army have retreated to Chengwu, Shanxian, Caoxian and other places in southwestern Shandong, and the empty doors have been opened in the area south of Tai'an! Faced with this situation, Chiang Kai-shek telegrammed Han Fuju to strengthen the defense of the canal, and ordered Li Zongren to increase troops in southern Shandong as soon as possible to prevent the Japanese army from moving south.

"I think Liu Zhi is a 'long-legged general', I think Han Fuju's legs are not short either!" Du Yishan said angrily at the headquarters of the Guards, "It has been less than 10 days since the Japanese crossed the river, and Han Fuju threw his territory to Ziyang!"

"He had a good plan. He thought that after the Japanese army took over Dawenkou, the main force would attack Xintai, Laiwu and other places controlled by our army. However, the Japanese only invested more than 500 people upstream along the Dawen River, but the main force still went south!" Chief of Staff Sun Guantao smiled and said, "We are indeed on the flank of the Japanese army, but this area is a mountainous area. How could the Japanese put on the railway line? If the highway line is not mastered, they will occupy the mountainous area first? It's just that the organization has done everything!"

In fact, Han Fuju was fighting the escort army's intention to take the initiative to attack Tai'an. However, the escort army had already formulated a combat plan and fought fiercely with the Japanese army near the Jiaoji Line. Without a certainty, he would not fight rashly on both sides. Furthermore, Han Fuju did not say anything when he retreated, and the escort army would no longer have any contact with him.

"If you don't talk about Han Fuju, let's see what our army is preparing." Gu Haichuan reminded, "Tomorrow, the sir will issue a joint power to us. And in another day or two, our army will launch a full-scale operation. All aspects must be more careful."

At present, the 10th Japanese Division has occupied Ziyang in the direction of Jinpu Road and is about to launch an attack on Jining; the main force of the 118th Brigade in the north was also attracted by the Guards to the Baita area near Boshan County, and the task of luring the enemy into depth has been basically completed. The Guards used to gather the three divisions of the 118th Brigade and the two direct brigades of the headquarters have been prepared. At the same time, the forces of the two combat groups of the Guards have begun to fully launch in the areas along the Jiaodong and Gaoxu Highways.

"Sir and we have been in Yimeng for so many years, it's time to make a debut!" Liu Chengshan also smiled, "However, the reactions from all parties in China will definitely be very interesting."

It's more than just interesting, it's simply shocking!

On the evening of January 2, Northwest and Yimeng issued a joint telegram, saying that "The Yimeng Autonomous Government will accept the leadership of the People's Party and form the Shandong Anti-Japanese Autonomous Government to unifiedly lead the Shandong People's War of Resistance and Reconstruction. Zhang Gongyuan was appointed as the chairman of the Shandong Anti-Japanese Autonomous Government. The Guards will be adapted according to the organization of the People's Army of Northwest and carry out the War of Resistance under the leadership of the People's Party. Gu Haichuan was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Guards..."

The power supply is not long, but it is enough to make the leaders of all forces unable to sleep all night.

The Yimeng Autonomous Government was established in 28 years. After its establishment, it basically became a "closed country" and focused on being its own mountain king. The Northwest People's Army rose in 31 years. After the establishment of the Northwest Government, it continued to expand its territory, creating one sensational news after another. The two styles are very different and far away. No one would think that the Northwest and Yimeng have any close ties. Even after the joint power is issued, many people still believe that the Guards were moved by the Northwest in the near future. However, some people who understand it have other understandings.

"Now it seems that the People's Army that rose to the northwest was the Yimeng Guards!" Old Jiang sighed in a complicated mood, "The situation in Shandong and the country will change in the future!"

Chiang Kai-shek had previously ordered people to explore the details of the Northwest People's Army, but earlier he thought that the horse bandits in the Hetao area were uprising, but later he found out that Zhao Zhenzhong was using Huamei Company to make trouble in the northwest. But even so, Chiang Kai-shek only thought that the Shandong people in the Northwest People's Army were disaster victims rescued by Huamei Company and did not connect Yimeng and the northwest.

The Guards appeared in Yimeng in 25 years, while Huamei Company was established in the United States in 27 years and entered the country in 30 years, and the Northwest rose in 31 years. Huamei and the Northwest were still in contact because Zhao Zhenzhong could still contact, but the Guards and Huamei, the Northwest seemed to have nothing to do in terms of time and region. Especially after the Guards occupied Yimeng, in addition to several defensive operations, they remained low-key after 31 years, which also made people ignore these mountain kings. But now if you think about it carefully, the connection between Yimeng and the Northwest was Zhao Zhenzhong. After all, Sihai Industry founded Shifeng Cement in Yimeng, but was only given up after the Guards appeared.

The movements made by the People's Army in the northwest are no longer shaken by Chiang Kai-shek. The current situation in Shandong is also uncontrollable. Now that the Guards and the People's Army have identified the relationship, it means that the People's Party is no longer limited to the northwest, but is about to expand eastward. However, the current situation of the national war of resistance, especially the chaos in Shandong, has made Chiang Kai-shek unable to stop the People's Party's actions at all. This really makes him feel painful!

"Zhao Zhenzhong is one step ahead!" Lao Mao from northern Shaanxi frowned while thinking, "It seems that the development of our party in Shandong is much more difficult!"

After Han Fuju took charge of Shandong, he tried his best to suppress **. Not only did he shoot and kill Deng Enming, the first representative of ** National Congress, and others, but he also cracked the ** Shandong Provincial Party Committee organization five times between April 2011 and July 2013. Under Han Fuju's rule, ** was unable to establish a provincial party committee organization in Shandong for nearly three years. As for the scattered party members hidden in various counties, before the War of Resistance Against Japan, it was just a state of "three or two big cats and two kittens".

After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the *** took advantage of the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and the Nanjing authorities at that time made the decision to release political prisoners. A group of ** detained by Han Fuju were released. ** originally decided to take advantage of the Japanese army occupying Shandong and the Kuomintang rule suffered a heavy blow to develop and strengthen the party's strength in Shandong. But now the People's Party and the Yimeng Guards have joined forces, which will inevitably cause a great impact on **, which is still in its infancy in Shandong. However, even Mao did not expect that when the Guards controlled most of Shandong, the various policies adopted by the People's Party could not gain a foothold in the Guards' control area!

After learning the news, Yan Xishan sighed: "Zhao Zhenzhong has a deep thought!" With the previous dealings with the Northwest and the current actions of the People's Party, especially the Japanese army invaded most of Shanxi and Yan Xishan urgently needed assistance from the Northwest. He was no longer able to raise the idea of ​​competing with the People's Party and the Guards, and only thought about how to seek his best interests in the future.

"Oh... if we had known this, we could have contacted the Northwest! At least we don't have to look at Mr. Jiang's face!" Han Fuju slapped his thigh regretfully. He had no channels to contact the northwest, and the guards were offended by his previous actions. Thinking about the relationship with the country and the Communist Party, Han Fuju even regretted it even more!

In recent years, Han Fuju has not counted the number of offensives against Chiang Kai-shek. During the eight years of governing Lu, the massive killing of the *** has completely cut off the road to the ***. The only People's Party that had never offended before has now become a grudge against the guards. Han Fuju regrets the more he thinks about it!

Jiang, Gong, Yan, and Han were shocked by the joint power connection between the northwest and Yimeng, but the Japanese army was nervous.

"Okabe, send a call to Nishio and ask the Honkawa Province to report the specific situation of the war against the guards!" After the commander of the North China Front Army, Sora Teraunuchi, asked again, "Tokugawa, can the Northwest Air Force go to Shandong?"

The People's Army has annihilated the 15th Brigade in the northwest, and the Temple does not want the 118th Brigade to repeat this ending. The several battles between the North China Airlines and the Northwest Air Force have proved that the Japanese fighter jets are not an advantage in front of the People's Air Force except for the large number of them! Once this air force appears in Shandong, the Japanese army will be in trouble! Not only will the Jinpu Road operation and the landing war in Shandong be affected, but the northern part of the Pinghan Line, Tianjin, Hebei and other places will be threatened by the People's Air Force!

"Your Excellency, judging from the performance of the Northwest fighter jets in Shannan and the several battles with our aviation corps in northern Shanxi, the combat radius of the Chinese People's Army fighter jets should not exceed 500 kilometers. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain that they did not take off from Prade to bomb our Yanggao Airport." Tokugawa Yotoshi analyzed with confidence, "From this calculation, the maximum range of the Northwest aircraft should be about 1,000 kilometers. This distance cannot be flew from the northwest to the area controlled by the Guards!"

Tokugawa Yotoshi's analysis made the Temple feel much more at ease. But these two people didn't know that the F-1 fighter jets equipped by the Northwest Air Force had a combat radius of more than 1,200 kilometers. In the previous northern Shanxi battle, the reason why the Northwest Air Force retained not to take action against Yanggao Airport was just to leave some thoughts for the Japanese so that they could invest more fighter jets to the northwest to hone the People's Army Air Force.

When the next day, after receiving a detailed report on the battle with the escort army from the third institute of the Honkawa Province, the temple saw that the escort army lacked heavy weapons and the infantry firepower was not strong, it was relieved.

In order to control Shandong as soon as possible, the Temple immediately ordered the troops of Itagaki's troops of the 5th Division of the Gang to speed up the marching speed and arrive in Texas early to join the combat operations on the south bank of the Yellow River.

The Japanese army was preparing to increase its troops, and hundreds of thousands of guards were also dispatched in full swing on the evening of the 2nd. The rolling iron flowed to Jiaodong, Gaoxu Highway, southern Shandong, and Jinpu Road. At the same time, the 5th combat group in the Boshan area was ready to annihilate the Honchuan brigade.


Chapter completed!