Although due to the haste of time and insufficient preparation, Sun Weiru's troops did not blow up all the iron bridges on the Yiluo River west of Black Stone Pass, several collapsed bridge decks successfully blocked the pace of the Japanese armored clusters' continued westward advance. (1_1) This made Sun Weiru in Yanshi and Jiang Dingwen in Luoyang breathe a sigh of relief.

The chariot cluster was blocked from advancing west, which made Toraki sigh. According to his original intention, he wanted to command the 12th Army to occupy Luoyang before the 1st Army headed south to seize the first prize in the battle of Xi'an. After the chariot cluster was blocked from advancing west, Toraki was still unwilling to give up, hoping that the 32nd Division, which followed up, could seize the West Bank position as soon as possible with the cooperation of air firepower and restore the iron bridge to the engineering troops, so that the chariot cluster could advance west again. However, Okamura's electric order made most of the hope of the chariot cluster fall into the air.

Okamura focused on the situation in the western Henan battlefield and changed the direction of the main force of the chariot cluster. According to his order, the 35th Division would follow the main force of the chariot cluster up the Yiluo River, and head south through Yiyang, Linru, Lushan and other places, launch an assault from the side and backward to the defenders in the Nanyang area to cooperate with the 3rd and 40th Divisions of the 11th Army on the east bank of the Tang River to gather and annihilate Tang Enbo's troops.

In order to enable the 12th Army to continue to maintain its attack power when advancing west, Okamura Yasuji also left three chariot squadrons for Tobashi on the east bank of the Ilo River, so that after the iron bridge resumes traffic, it can continue to advance west with the 32nd Division and two ** brigades. As for the 59th Division, it is responsible for cleaning up the defeated troops in the war zone from the Sishui west, avoiding the threat of the rear of the Japanese troops advancing west after the reassembly of the defeated troops, and ensuring smooth transportation.

Although Tang Enbo predicted in advance that the Japanese chariot group would turn south after being blocked at the Heishi Pass line and sent Shi Jue's troops to delay the speed of the Japanese army, the 13th Army, which basically relied on both legs, was defeated in the race against the Japanese chariots. In the early morning of the 19th, as soon as the main force of the 13th Army passed Linru, the reconnaissance unit in front heard that the Japanese van had entered Baisha Village.

"Bah! The Japanese's iron turtle shell is quite fast!" Shi Jue spat hatefully and ordered helplessly, "Let the troops retreat and block the enemy between Linru and Yiyang!"

The 13th Army is the direct line of the Central Army. It is also the starting force that Tang Enbo has become famous since the War of Resistance Against Japan. Its equipment can be listed as first-class among the troops under the Chongqing authorities. However, it has been more than five years since the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan. The heavy equipment of the 13th Army is due to its loss in the war of war. Now only a few 37 war defense artillery can pose a threat to the Japanese armored forces!

Without other effective anti-armored weapons and the First War Zone had not previously built anti-armored assault fortifications inside the defense zone, Shi Jue knew very well that if the 13th Army wanted to block the Japanese tank cluster with a limited number of combat artillery, it would be a dream! What he could do now was to withdraw the main force of the troops to the south bank of Ruhe River, in order to withstand the Japanese attack with this natural obstacle.

In fact, it is not the only one who lacks heavy weapons. It is the common situation of the troops under the Chongqing authorities. Even in some miscellaneous armies, in addition to guns, the heavy weapons that can be used are limited to a few mortars!

After the Japanese army occupied Hainan Island in 1939, the material passage that entered the mainland through the southeast coast was cut off by the Japanese army. Later, under pressure from Japan, Britain interrupted the material passage of Yunnan-Burma again. It was not until 40 that the Japanese army invaded French Indochina that Britain reopened the material passage of Yunnan-Burma in October of that year. The United States had previously abide by the neutrality bill and did not provide war materials to China. It was not until May 1941, two months after the loan leasing bill passed. Roosevelt said that the bill was applicable to China.

However, due to the tense situation in Europe at that time, most of the large amount of military aid provided by the US Lease Act was transported to Europe, and Chiang Kai-shek did not get much. After the Pearl Harbor incident, Chiang Kai-shek was delighted that when the Chongqing government ushered in spring, the Japanese army launched an attack on Southeast Asia and cut off the Yunnan-Burma channel again!

Since then, the Chongqing authorities have been in a very difficult situation in the supply of military supplies. The Chongqing authorities can also supplement light weapons such as firearms and other light weapons through domestic imitation. In terms of heavy weapons, Yan Xishan's arsenal cannons can also produce a small number of imitation Japanese mountain cannons and field cannons, except. 1 (1) Chiang Kai-shek has no other way!

As for the Flying Tigers led by Chennard, which had played a lot of roles in China's anti-Japanese battlefield, they also suffered too much losses in the Myanmar war and lacked fuel, making it difficult to provide the troops of the theater troops in this battle. This also made the first war zone facing heavy Japanese troops attacking more difficult in combat.

"Your Excellency, the chariot cluster was once again blocked from the north bank of the Ru River. Did you order it to return to the east bank of the Yiluo River to strengthen the attack power of the westward troops?" In the command of the North China Front Army, Chief of Staff Anda Twenty-three suggested, "Or order this unit to go down the Ru River, pass through Yancheng and Wuyang, and join the attack on Nanyang from the northeast?"

"Andajun, you can realize that the power of armored troops lies in movement and assault, which is very good. But for now, it is more beneficial to cruise the east bank of the Yi River and the north bank of the Ru River!" Okamura Yanji, who remotely commanded the battle situation in western Henan, did not agree with Anda 23's opinion, but further said, "In this way, the chariot cluster can threaten Jiang Dingwen and Tang Enbo at the same time, forcing the two to mobilize troops to deal with it. What Jiang Dingwen can draw is nothing more than the river defense forces on the south bank of the Yellow River and the forces east of Tongguan, which will create opportunities for the 1st Army of the Front to cross Henan. What Tang Enbo can draw is the troops that are fighting against the 3rd and 40th Divisions, which will also provide opportunities for the 11th Army. As long as Jiang and Tang are willing to transfer troops, we will not be far from victory!"

Okamura Yasuji dared to assert this, which had a lot to do with the arrangement of troops in the War Zone. Especially the Longhai Line and the Yellow River Defense Line, which Jiang Dingwen was responsible for, was useless in Okamura's eyes!

On the Longhai Line and the Yellow River River defense in the north, Jiang Dingwen not only deployed the troops from the five armies he commanded in order to an area of ​​more than 300 kilometers, leaving almost no mobile troops available in the rear, but even more shockingly, he actually set up the First World War Zone Command in Luoyang not far from the Yellow River!

With such troops deployed, as long as the Japanese army broke through the Yellow River defense in one place, the entire defense line would lose its due role! And if the Japanese army crossed the river and captured Luoyang and ended the First War Zone Command, it would cause even more overall chaos!

At the military meeting at the beginning of the war, a general raised objections to this deployment, but Jiang Dingwen believed that: "Since the Japanese army opened the southern section of the Pinghan Line last year, the reason why it was impossible for the Japanese army to cross the Yellow River south or advance westward for nearly a year. It was because the defense line was well arranged, making it difficult for the Japanese army to cross the line half a step! Therefore, there was no need to adjust the defense line!

In addition, the front has already started. Adjusting the deployment now will inevitably cause chaos among the departments, giving the enemy an opportunity to take advantage of it! It is no longer realistic to re-adjust the defense line! All departments should stick to the existing defense zone and not act rashly to avoid loopholes in the deployment of troops!"

Regarding the suggestion that Liu Maoen, Li Jiayu and other generals would move the theater command to the rear to avoid any in case, Jiang Dingwen also refused on the grounds that "it is convenient to command operations on the front line, be with the soldiers on the front line to boost morale." It was Jiang Dingwen's persistence that laid a huge hidden danger for the premature overall defeat in the first war zone!

On the night of September 29, just as Sun Weiru, the troops of the Fourth Army fought against the Japanese assault on the west bank of the Yiluo River to prevent the 32nd Division and the ** from forming the 5th and the 6th Brigade from forcing the Yiluo River to advance westward, the 1st Army of the North China Front quietly arrived at the north bank of the Yellow River and began to smuggle the Yellow River at the pre-selected crossing point.

After nearly a month of sweeping southeastern Shanxi, Jimuzhen - left the third and the fourth brigades to continue bluffing there, but he himself led the three main divisions of the 1st Army to go south at night. In order to ensure the concealment of the troops' operations, Jimuzhen - specifically stipulated that all troops preparing to fight south of the Yellow River must be at night when leaving their original garrison! Before the operation begins, the troops can only use wired telephones. The use of radio is absolutely prohibited!

The North China Front Army had previously concentrated engineers to build bridges on the Huaihe River and organized troops to conduct forced transition drills. The crossing equipment was transported in batches to the Japanese-occupied area on the north bank of the Yellow River as early as the summer. In addition, the southward movement of Jimuzhen-tei was extremely hidden, and Jiang Dingwen and others focused their attention on the fierce war on the Longhai Line. These factors led to the Japanese crossing of the river smoothly on the night of the 29th.

It was not until around 3:30 on the 30th that Liu Maoen's troops of the 14th Army stationed in Mengjin area discovered the movements of the Japanese crossing the river and began to use machine guns to implement fire blocking.

"Since the intention has been exposed, then force the crusade!" Yoshimu Shinichi ordered, "Shim ordered all artillery soldiers on the south and north sides of the Taiwan Strait to implement firepower suppression on the enemy in Mengjin first! The 36th and 37th Divisions have crossed the river and attacked Mengjin and Luoyang! The 69th Division will be ordered to penetrate Mianchi while continuing to keep hidden to cut off the enemy's escape route west along the Longhai Line!"

With this series of orders from Shinichi Yoshimu, the Japanese army deployed on the north bank of the Yellow River and the artillery transported to the south bank and completed assembly opened fire on Liu Maoen's troops stationed near Mengjin. The Japanese motor vehicles and follow-up troops on the north bank also began to run to the south bank through the pontoon bridge under the cover of artillery fire.

"The Japanese vanguard has crossed the river. It is estimated that Shinichi Yoshimu's 1st Army went south! Judging from the artillery fire, there are at least two divisions! Commander, the enemy's artillery fire is fierce, and our troops are suffering too much casualties! For the sake of the Anti-Japanese War, send some reinforcements here!" Liu Maoen did not care that he would be held accountable and begged Jiang Dingwen on the phone, "Brothers really can't stand it for long!"

"You bastard! You, the group army defense, let the Japanese cross the river?!" Jiang Dingwen shouted in a panic, "Reinforcements? Even if I can find reinforcements, you have to bear until tomorrow!"

"Commander, I only have one of Wu Tinglin's 15th Army. I have to protect the river defense from Mengjin to Luoyang, and to take over the lack of Sun Weiru's 38th Army's 38th Army's eastward transfer of Yanshi is not enough!" Liu Maoen complained while leaving the responsibility cleared up, "The floating bridge built by the Japanese is not in our defense zone, but in the original defense zone of the 38th Army! This is really not a big deal!"

"You stand up first, I'll mobilize reinforcements now!" Jiang Dingwen put down the phone, but patted his forehead in great anger and cursed, "These Japanese devils have a more awesome nose than dogs! I just agreed to Sun Weiru to mobilize troops to reinforce the Longhai Line, and he could touch and build a floating bridge there!"

"Commander, why not transfer Sun Tongxuan's Third Army from the township?" Dong Yingbin, chief of staff of the War Zone, suggested, "They used to be good at fighting, but now they are far from Shandong, so they have no connection with them."

After the Japanese army opened the southern section of Pinghan Line last year, due to serious losses, Sun Tongxuan hoped to garrison the eastern part of the Longhai Line of the War Zone in order to select young and strong people from Henan to supplement their lack of personnel. However, the Chongqing authorities considered that the direction of the Longhai Line was not far from the control area of ​​the Guards, and most of Sun Tongxuan's troops were Shandong people, for fear that he led his troops to rebel. Sun Tongxuan and Liu Yufen, who served as the pseudo Henan Governor in Kaifeng, also rejected Sun's request. Instead, he transferred the troops to the Huayin area where the Eighth War Zone belonged to the Eighth War Zone for rest. It was not until the Japanese army launched an attack on the First War Zone that the Chongqing authorities re-entered the Third Army to the First War Zone to command, but still placed the troops in the Yan Township far away from the battlefield.

"One carrot and one pit, now there is no other troops to adjust except Sun Tongxuan's army! That's it!" Jiang Dingwen sighed and said, "Xianzhen, bring people to clean up. Before the Japanese army comes, we should quickly withdraw the headquarters to Xin'an! Avoid letting the Japanese take us in one fell swoop, and that would be a big trouble!"

Although Jiang Dingwen is now evacuating the headquarters. It is more likely to cause the morale of the army to be shaken, it is much better than asking the Japanese to surround the First War Zone Command and then use the air and destroy the ground firepower. After all, it is still a matter of blame for Jiang Dingwen being too rash and should not have set the War Zone Command in front of Luoyang.

However, as the chief of staff of the War I Zone, Dong Yingbin knew that Jiang Dingwen's original decision was not as he said, "It is convenient to command operations on the front line and be with the soldiers on the front line to boost morale", but because Luoyang, as an existing big city in the War I Zone, can meet the needs of Commander Jiang in terms of eating, drinking, gamble, etc. If he changed to another small county town, where would Commander Jiang find so much fun?

Dong Yingbin opened his mouth, trying to oppose Jiang Dingwen's suggestion to evacuate the headquarters, but thought of the current tension, and when he wanted to refute, he swallowed it back into his stomach, but nodded and responded: "I'll make arrangements now!"

As soon as Jiang Dingwen led the headquarters to leave, Liu Maoen, whose command headquarters was located in the northern part of Luoyang, received news.

"We are only one army, and we can't even take care of the current defense zone. We still want me to draw troops to defend Luoyang? Even if we pull me into eight pieces, I can't hold it down!" Looking at the handwritten warrant issued by Jiang Dingwen in my hand, Liu Maoen was stunned and shouted in surprise, "This is not possible! Contact the commander quickly! Our troops can't stand it!"

"Commander, I can't contact you anymore!" Wu Tinglin, the commander of the 15th Army, grinned and said bitterly, "I heard from the correspondents that Chief Chiang issued a warrant before retreating. I called at that time and didn't find anyone from the headquarters! I could only come to you with the warrant!"

"This..." Liu Maoen didn't breathe, and he was choking, and asked again, "Then where are our reinforcements?"

"I heard the messenger say that Chief of Staff said that we had to bear until tomorrow, Sun Tongxuan's troops in the Third Army were rushing from Qi Township to this place!" Wu Tinglin sighed, "The Japanese planes exploded during the day, and it was inconvenient to march at night. It was more than 400 miles from Qi Township to this place. I guess that even if Sun Tongxuan and the others could really come up, it would take at least three or four days, and we couldn't wait!"

"***! Everyone wants to run to the back and wait for victory first, but they coax me to force me to do it here!" Liu Maoen's bandit spirit also came up and said hatefully, "I can't retreat during the day, so we will leave after dark!"

"Commander, where are we going? Retreat without authorization will be subject to military law!" Wu Tinglin reminded, "Commander Jiang has a very different relationship with the supreme authority. If he can leave, we cannot leave! If we pursue it in the future, we must be pushed to scapegoat!"

Liu Maoen pulled off his hat irritably, threw it aside, stared at Wu Tinglin and shouted: "If you can't beat it, you can't retreat, but you can't retreat. So, what should I do?"

"I want me to tell you that we will retreat to Luoyang for a while, and when the other troops are defeated, we will retreat together!" Wu Tinglin smiled cunningly and said, "Sun Weiru's Fourth Army is still east of us. When the Japanese broke into Mengjin, he was worried that the retreat would be cut off and he would definitely withdraw. At that time, we will take him to defend Luoyang together. Even if the above really pursues it in the future, we will say."

"Okay, Qifeng! It's worthy of being a famous figure in western Henan back then!" Liu Maoen laughed after careful calculation, "Then it's decided, don't you blame the public!"

Liu Maoen's unit of the 14th Group Army was trying to retreat overnight here, but Jiang Dingwen, who had just retreated to Xin'an on the morning of the 30th, encountered new troubles.

Just after dawn on the 30th, the 69th Division, which had previously been hidden in the Shijing area northwest of Xin'an, attacked and advanced all the way, occupying Mayi Station east of Mianchi on the Longhai Line, cutting off the retreat of the Fourth, Fourteenth, and Thirty-Sixth Army and other combat troops in the eastern part of the War Zone!

Jiang Dingwen, who had just arrived in Xin'an, learned the news from Li Jiayu of the 36th Army. He was so shocked that his hands and feet were cold and said in a trembling voice: "The Japanese are so vicious! This is clearly trying to take us all!"

"Commander, I'm looking forward to you! I don't know what happened to Liu Lin, so I asked the Japanese to cross the river from the east! I only have a 47th Army, and the Japanese on the opposite side have at least one division. Brothers can't take it long!" After telling the situation of the battle and removing his responsibilities, Li Jiayu looked at Jiang Dingwen with a gaze and said earnestly, "Commander, give some reinforcements!"

"The reinforcements asked for in Luoyang and Mengjin have not yet been settled, so you are asking for help again!" Jiang Dingwen smiled bitterly, "As soon as the Longhai line is broken, Sun Tongxuan and the others can't get through! Where can I find reinforcements?"

"After the Japanese army's troops of Shin-shi Yoshimu crossed the river, our theater was facing attacks from at least eight Japanese divisions! With the superior firepower in the air and the ground, and our theater troops were scattered everywhere, this is no longer something we can withstand!" Dong Yingbin suggested eagerly, "Commander, report the relevant situation to Chongqing and ask the commission for help!" (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!