Chapter 10: The River Rises (Three)

The escort army went south to northern Jiangsu and annihilated the main force of the 101st Brigade. This news not only shocked Ito Masaki of the 101st Division, but also shocked Hata Shunrok of the Central China Expeditionary Army and Sugiyama Moto of the North China Front.

Before the Battle of Xuzhou, most of Shandong was occupied by the escort army. Even before the Japanese army destroyed the escort army, they could not completely open up the Jinpu Line. However, after consideration, the Japanese base camp decided to attack Xuzhou with two major groups from north to south. This was its own intention.

As long as the Jinpu Line south of Xuzhou and the Longhai Line east of Henan are occupied, and then connected to the North China Front Army controlled by southwestern Shandong and eastern Henan, the Japanese army can also achieve smooth traffic between the north and south. Moreover, using the southern section of the Jinpu Line and the eastern section of the Longhai Line, the Japanese army can easily mobilize troops and materials, not only can threaten the control area of ​​the guards from the south, but also attack the National Government's First War Zone to the west and attack Wuhan along the Pinghan Line. In addition, through Lianyungang and Longhai Line, the Japanese army can also strengthen control over northern Jiangsu, northern Anhui, Henan and other places after capturing Xuzhou, and obtain relevant resources to enhance the strength of the Japanese army.

This plan not only takes into account relevant interests but also avoids fighting with the guards. In addition to not expecting that the guards would go south to northern Jiangsu so early, it is indeed relatively complete.

But now, the escort army sent troops in northern Jiangsu, not only annihilated the main force of the 101st Brigade north of the Huaihe River, but also occupied the east section of the Bayiji Road in the Longhai Line. Instead, it formed a semi-encirclement situation against Xuzhou from the east and north directions. This not only made it difficult for the original combat intention of the Japanese base camp to realize, but also greatly reduced Xuzhou's strategic position.

The Bayiji, occupied by the Guards, is located about 40 kilometers east of Xuzhou, and the Liguoyi in southern Shandong is located about 30 kilometers north of Xuzhou. At such a close distance, it is not necessary to mention that the Guards Air Force bombed, and only the firepower was used to open the road and carry out heavy ground assault, I am afraid that the Guards could attack the city of Xuzhou without the escort for a long time. If you want to reduce the losses, the Guards could also advance about half of the distance and then use heavy artillery to level Xuzhou!

Considering the threat of the escort army, the occupation of Xuzhou became a bit useless. The original plan to use Lianyungang and Longhai Line to assist the Xuzhou battle and strengthen control of relevant areas after the war also fell into the air, and the situation in Sugiyama Moto and Hata Shunrok against Xuzhou and even after the war must be re-examined.

Of course, if the Japanese army can fully control northern Shandong, southwest Shandong, and control Jianghuai and northern Anhui in the south, then it can still achieve north-south smoothness through Xuzhou, as long as it can withstand the pressure of the guards and their possible attacks.

Through telegram communication and weighing the pros and cons, Sugiyama and Shinji Hata finally chose to continue the Xuzhou Battle. Although the threat of the escort army cannot be ignored, the main purpose of the Xuzhou Battle is to eliminate the troops of the Five War Zone and eliminate the resistance forces deployed by the Chiang Kee National Government outside Wuhan was. In addition, the two major heavy troops in North China and Central China have made good progress in southwestern Shandong, eastern Henan and northern Anhui. Sugiyama and Shinji Hata cannot cancel the original battle plan just because the escort army progressed. This battle must continue.

In order to deal with the threat of the escort army, Sugiyama and Shinji Hata not only reported the relevant situation to the Japanese base camp and requested the increase of troops, but also strengthened the defense of the area controlled by the escort army. In North China, Sugiyama Moto drew a corps from the 114th Division to strengthen it to the north bank of the Yellow River; in Central China, Shinji Hata Hata strengthened the 18th Division, which was originally responsible for public security and security tasks in Central China to the north of the Jiangsu direction to prevent the escort army from continuing to move south.

After a busy and chaotic situation, the Japanese army finally pushed the guards south to northern Jiangsu. The main force of the 101st Brigade was destroyed to a minimum, and continued to step up attacks on the troops in the fifth theater. In this way, the pressure faced by Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi was greatly increased.

Although the 14th Division was a little late to cross the Yellow River due to distance, and after crossing the river, the main force of the division entered the First War Zone from Heze and fought with Cheng Qian's troops in eastern Henan, which to a certain extent reduced the pressure on Li Zongren's fifth war zone, the 2nd Army commanded by King Minorhiko Higashijiujiu, crushed the 5th Divisions from southwest Shandong to Shangqiu, Xuzhou and other places.

It would be fine if the North China Front Army was alone, but the fifth War Zone faced attacks from four divisions, the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 13th divisions of the Central China Expeditionary Army, in the direction of Jianghuai. The pressure on the south side is greater than that on the north side!

"This Japanese really look down on us! It's not counting the 14th Division and the 18th and 101st Divisions that were restrained by the Guards, there are seven divisions that attack our theater troops in full!" Bai Chongxi lost the usual relaxation and comfort, and replaced it with solemnity. "Brother Delin, the current situation is no longer something that can be dealt with by the troops in the fifth theater alone. Either the central government can draw heavy troops to join the battle, or it will formulate a retreat plan as soon as possible."

"The Second World War Zone in southern Shanxi has not stopped yet, and the First World War Zone has fought with the 14th Japanese Division again. The defense around Wuhan also requires troops, and the central government has no extra troops to send us." Li Zongren sighed and shook his head, then frowned and asked, "Jiansheng, if Sun Lianzhong's troops on the west bank of the southwestern Shandong Canal, do you think the guards will cross the river and advance west now?"

"If Sun Lianzhong's troops retreat, the Japanese army will definitely take over, and at least one of its troops can be restrained." Bai Chongxi pondered, "But there are many things to say whether the guards will cross the river and move west. After all, they have sent more than 70,000 troops south to northern Jiangsu. If they are not fully prepared, it is not very likely that the enemy will cross the canal in front of the enemy. However, the grudge between the Japanese army and the guards is not small. It is possible that the two sides confront each other across the river, and it is possible that the guns and fire will cause a big mess."

Although the guards had some friction with Li Yutang's Third Division in northern Jiangsu, the troops wiped out the main force of the 101st Brigade after heading south. Compared with Han Deqin's previous retreat and Tang Enbo's contraction, the warriors' results were particularly obvious.

With this result, Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi originally planned to accuse the Guards of watching the Japanese rampage. As for criticizing the Guards for grabbing territory and causing friction, although there is something to do, they can't slap them. In addition, the retreat of the Han and Tang departments and the impact of the Guards' achievements, even if they are really noisy, they will not have any big impact.

Neither Li nor Bai could be sure whether the guards could cross the river to attack southwestern Shandong, but after the Sun Lianzhong's troops were removed, it was certain that the Japanese army deployed defenses on the west bank of the canal. In this way, even if the guards did not advance westward, at least the Japanese brigade could be restrained on the west bank of the canal. Considering that the 18th Division and the 101st Brigade were bound to the south of the old trough of the Yellow River, although the guards did not face the Japanese heavy army group, the front and back were equivalent to restraining the forces of the two Japanese divisions!

"Although the two commanders and the guards had had friction with Li Yutang, they did not really use force. Fang Xianjue and Zhang Huimin's two regiments were all released. Although the other party has arranged heavy troops on the east bank of the canal, they are only alert to the forces in the war zone and should not advance westward. In this case, will the main force of the 20th Corps Tang Enbo's army be strengthened to the west and north of Xuzhou?" Xu Zuyi, chief of staff of the War Zone, suggested, "In this case, at least my war zone can last longer."

The Fifth War Zone was originally arranged in the west and north of Xuzhou. The 22nd Army of Sun Zhen, the 51st Army of Yu Xuezhong's army, and the 20th Army of Sun Lianzhong, if Tang Enbo's 20th Army, would have reached a total of about 300,000 troops of 11 Army and 21 divisions. With such a huge force, if only dealing with more than 70,000 troops of the three divisions of the North China Front Army, just fighting for consumption should also drag down the Japanese army! But the Fifth War Zone also had four divisions of the Central China Expeditionary Army, but these four divisions are now a little far from Xuzhou.

"Yan Mou's suggestions are very good." Bai Chongxi looked at Xu Zuyi with admiration and said, "Brother Delin, I think I will leave Tang Enbo's 2nd Army of Li Yannian on the west bank of the canal, and other troops will be transferred westward. In addition, Han Deqin's 24th Army was transferred to Si County and under the command of Liao Yannong Huaibei Corps to strengthen the defensive force south of Xuzhou."

After pausing, Bai Chongxi said again: "The People's Party armed forces will definitely carry out large-scale combat with the Japanese army in the future. Whether it is the People's Army's attack on northern Shanxi, southern Shanxi, or the escort army attacking southwestern Shandong or continuing to move south from northern Jiangsu, the difficulties faced by our fifth war zone will be greatly alleviated. Take a step back and say that even if we can't hold on to that time, we can break through early and retreat our troops to the Henan and Anhui mountains so that we can fight again later!"

"Just give the order as Jiansheng said!" Li Zongren finished speaking to Xu Zuyi and sighed, "I hope we can persevere until the situation of the battle improves..."

Li and Bai put the hope of a better situation on the People's Party's armed forces to send troops, but the escort troops that had just occupied the seven counties in northern Jiangsu did not want to continue to attack the Japanese army for the time being.

The Fifth War Zone is now busy dealing with the attacks of the two major Japanese troops and is unable to take care of northern Jiangsu. After the main force of the 101st brigade of the Japanese army was annihilated, although Hata Shunrok urgently dispatched the 18th Division to northern Jiangsu, it was difficult to pose a threat to the Fourth Army of the Guards with a division and the main force. At this time, it was just used to stabilize northern Jiangsu and prepare for the next stage of combat.

The southern Shandong and northern Jiangsu are connected, and many people know about the deeds of the Guards over the years. In the eyes of the people in northern Jiangsu, before the Guards came out, they were heroes who "robbed the rich and helped the poor and performed the way for heaven", and after the mountain, they were good men who bravely went to the difficulties to defend their families and the country. Moreover, with such a group of strong soldiers, not only did they no longer have to worry about the Japanese attacks, but even the heavy taxes collected by Chiang Kai-shek in the name of resisting Japan could be completely exempted. With the policy of exempting taxes for two years, the Guards won the general welcome of the people in northern Jiangsu.

Of course, it is inevitable that some people will be worried. After learning that the Guards came, the majority of middle and lower-class people were excited to share the land and reduce taxes, while a few big landlords were deeply distressed that their land would be distributed. Fortunately, the People's Party encouraged industry and commerce. After the interests of the land were given up, as long as they were not covered with blood debts, the few big landlords could still obtain other policies or dividend compensation from the People's Party and the Guards. In addition, the People's Party and its armed forces showed a more than Chiang Ji National Government. Taking into account the long-term interests, these landlords and wealthy people reluctantly accepted it. After all, the People's Party and the Guards are still reasonable, which is better than the Japanese who speak with bayonets and Chiang who collects heavy taxes?

While eliminating the remnants of hostile forces, counting and allocating land, and establishing regimes at all levels, Gu Haichuan and others mobilized forces from the Shandong-controlled area of ​​the Guards, and mobilized local people in northern Jiangsu to repair river embankments before the rainy season arrives to avoid serious floods and disasters. This is not a big deal for Gu Haichuan, but since the Yellow River diverted Shandong into the sea during the Xianfeng period, floods and disasters have been constantly occurring in the old trough of the Yellow River and the lower reaches of the Huai River in the past century. If prevention is not strengthened, minor disasters can also become major disasters.

In the second year of the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty, in 1128, the Yellow River was diverted from Henan to southwest Shandong and northern Jiangsu, and then entered Hongze Lake. It entered the sea from the lower reaches of the Huai River. Since then, it has been a history of capture of Huai River for more than 700 years. Until the fifth year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty, that is, in 1855, the Yellow River broke the entrance of Tongwaxiang in Lanyang, Henan and moved northward, and entered the sea through Shandong, thus ending the situation of the Yellow River seizing Huai River.

The so-called old trough of the Yellow River is the old way of seizing the Huai River into the sea for more than 700 years after the Yellow River was redirected during the Xianfeng period.

This old path once caused serious damage to the flow of rivers such as Si, Yi, Huai, etc. Now it is suspended on the surface due to the river sand accumulated by the Yellow River for hundreds of years, making it impossible for the Huai River to vent into the sea after it flows through Hongze Lake. Every year, the rainy season causes floods of varying degrees in northern Jiangsu.

If the guards want to establish themselves in northern Jiangsu and make a difference, the harms of the Huanghuai River are the problems that must be solved! Of course, it is a war period, and it is unrealistic for the guards to completely eradicate the harms of the Huanghuai River, but it is possible to repair relevant water conservancy projects so that the seven counties in northern Jiangsu can avoid major floods and disasters.

With the approval of Zhao Zhenzhong and the research and decision by the Shandong Bureau of the People's Party, Gu Haichuan nominated Li Shuchun and Huang Taiming as the head and deputy chairman of the Huanghuai Water Conservancy Committee. He is specifically responsible for the water conservancy projects between the Yellow River, Canal and Huai River in Shandong and northern Jiangsu, striving to turn harm into profit.

"Shandong and Jiangsu are both coastal provinces, and the overall economic development level is not much different from the population. However, northern Jiangsu is a poor area due to the many years of damage to the Huanghuai River. If you want to be rich, you should first build roads. However, northern Jiangsu has no other railways except the section of Longhai Road to the west of Lianyungang. The reason is that flood disasters are difficult to cure, and the difficulty of construction is an important reason. Even the two highways leading to the north bank of the Yangtze River are interrupted to varying degrees every year due to flooding. Due to conditions, we cannot completely cure the harm to the Huanghuai River, but we established Huang

The Huai Water Conservancy Committee is to minimize the losses caused by disasters." At the first meeting of the Huanghuai Water Conservancy Committee, Gu Haichuan said to Li Shuchun, Huang Taiming and others, "Mr. Li and Taiming had close cooperation when managing the Yellow River before. This time, you are the two of you who will take the lead in the management of the Huanghuai River. The troops and local governments will work closely together. Unlike the battle that lasts for several months at most, eradicating the Huanghuai River will be a protracted battle. Maybe we will fight for a few years, but we must win! Please ask the two of you for this battle!"

Since Li Shuchun surrendered to the Guards together with Gu Liangmin, he had been preparing to be idle for the rest of his life, but he did not expect that after only more than a month, he became the director of the Huanghuai Water Conservancy Committee! Although this committee is only responsible for water conservancy projects, which is incomparable to the Minister of Civil Affairs of Shandong Province, he was originally the Minister of Civil Affairs of Shandong Province, Li Shuchun knew the weight of this committee.

As a director of the Civil Affairs Department, even if he has a good reputation, he can only be remembered for decades. If he can cure the harm of the Huanghuai River, he will be famous in history! Look at the figures who have successfully controlled water in history. From Dayu and Li Bing, he has surrendered. Anyone who has made contributions in controlling water will leave a heavy mark in history books.

"Commander Gu is trustworthy, Yinxuan is grateful!" Li Shuchun expressed his opinion, "Remediating the harm of the Huanghuai River is a great event that will benefit the present and the future! It is a great honor for Yinxuan to have the opportunity to participate in this matter and do his best to improve people's livelihood and benefit future generations! With the support of Commander Gu and you all, Taiming and I dare to issue military orders in this battle!"

Huang Taiming has been familiar with Li Shuchun when Huamei Company was in charge of the Yellow River in 35 years. He is now working together, and his relationship has brought him much closer. He heard that Li Shuchun wanted to issue a military order, he smiled and said, "Old Li, although we are quite sure, it will take several years to manage the Huanghuai River. We should be more conservative first and give Commander Gu a surprise at that time."

"You can't get an ambush, you must speak truthfully." Gu Haichuan laughed and said, "If you encounter problems that require government cooperation and labor mobilization, you can directly contact us Governor Zhang; if you need troops to cooperate, you can directly contact the local garrison. I have greeted Commander Yu Dehai of the Fourth Army. If you have any troubles that are difficult to solve, you can just contact me."

After the meeting, Gu Haichuan called Huang Taiming and carefully learned about the hydrological situation of the canal south of the Yellow River in Shandong. However, this time it had nothing to do with the water conservancy project, but was related to the next crossing of the river that the guards would carry out.

As the Japanese army advanced to Cao and Shan counties in southwestern Shandong, and Sun Lianzhong's troops retreated from the west bank of the canal to northern Anhui, the entire southwestern Shandong had basically become the world of Japanese devils. Although the Japanese army did not cross the river to attack the guards' control area, the north bank of the Yellow River had fallen into the hands of the Japanese army. If the southwestern Shandong was controlled by the Japanese army again, the surrounding situation of the guards would deteriorate sharply.

The Japanese army occupied northern Shandong for half a year and built many fortifications. The water level of the Yellow River during the rainy season is much greater than that of the canal. Now, crossing the river and regaining northern Shandong is not only the right time, but also inconsistent with the strategic plan of the guards first and then north. In contrast, crossing the river and capturing southwestern Shandong is much easier.

Southwest Shandong was just occupied by the Japanese army, and Minamiyan commanded the main force of the 2nd Army to attack Shangqiu and Xuzhou, which created conditions for the escort army to occupy southwest Shandong.

However, after the last time the floating bridge was built, the water level of the canal dropped a lot due to continuous drought. If the floating bridge was rebuilt, it would be fine for the guards and light equipment to cross the river, but the reduction in the water level made the floating bridge unable to carry the heavy equipment. This invisibly added a lot of difficulty to cross the river.

Gu Haichuan and others are now watching the situation of the combat in the Fifth War Zone, while eagerly hoping that the canal area will receive rainfall as soon as possible. They will be able to cross the river to fight after the canal water level rises.

"I heard from the sir that it would be possible to rain artificially in the future. If we had the ability now!" Han Tiezhu, the commander of the artillery of the Guards, looked at the blue sky and sighed, "If our big guys can't cross the river, it would be a big loss in the fight!"

"Old Han, I have also heard from Chief of Staff Zhou that artificial rainfall, but it is said that it takes clouds in the sky. But since late March to the present, the counties around the canal have sunny days almost every day! Even if you have the technical means of artificial rainfall, there is no place to use it! We are so busy with drought relief these days." Chief of Staff Sun Guantao looked at the dry land under his feet and sighed, "Southwest Shandong suffered a severe earthquake last year, and this year it was the Japanese. It was another serious drought. Even if we occupy it, we are probably busy with disaster relief first!"

!#


Chapter completed!