Chapter 24: The Opening (Part 1)

  Liu Tianlong's telegram not only threw the various units of the pseudo-Manchu Ninth Division into chaos, but also dragged the headquarters of the Japanese Tenth Division and the commander-in-chief of the Xuzhou War Zone into a fog of confusion.

  The headquarters of the Fifth War Zone Command was a bit better off, after all, Cheng Jiayu would report on the actual situation on the battlefield when he was young. The Japanese 10th Division Headquarters was not so lucky, they could only understand what happened in Guanhu Town little by little according to the changes on the battlefield, and thus had to act slower than the Chinese army by several beats. This kind of overall passivity is the most undesirable thing for the Japanese "guest" army that invades other countries' territory.

  But compared to the Seri Brigade, which is fighting fiercely with the Chinese army in Taierzhuang, everyone else is happy. The disturbance at Guanhu Town was a direct blow to the Seri Brigade. If a large number of Chinese troops broke through the defense line of the puppet Manchurian Ninth Division and attacked the Japanese Seri Brigade on the flank of Taierzhuang, after more than ten days of bloody battles, it is now a question whether the Seri Brigade can hold out for another day.

  The doubts of all parties did not last long. Two hours later, at around 6 pm on May 7th, everything became clear.

  "Yan Mou, have you ever felt that since the 100th Division entered Tai'erzhuang, the headquarters of the war zone commander seems to be pushed around by this little guy. How can he always run ahead of us?"

  After receiving the good news that a regiment of infantry and a regiment of cavalry from the Ninth Division of the Puppet Manchukuo Army had risen up on the battlefield, one infantry regiment was disarmed, another brigade and an infantry regiment were being annihilated, and all other troops had fled the defensive zone. The commander-in-chief of the war zone was in high spirits. This is not surprising, as just a few hours ago, a fully armed Puppet Manchukuo division with 5,000 to 6,000 men had been completely defeated. Not only did they give up all their positions, but two regiments also turned against them on the battlefield. This was not only a brilliant military victory, but its political impact was far-reaching. The rebellion of these two Puppet Manchukuo Army regiments alone was enough to offset the elimination of an entire Japanese army corps in terms of political significance, let alone the fact that a lieutenant general and division commander of the Puppet Manchukuo Army had also defected to the central government through telegram. This has an incalculable impact on inspiring the masses' anti-Japanese enthusiasm.

  Not only are the commanders in the war zone excited, but also the Supreme Commander has sent several congratulatory telegrams.

  "Deputy Commander, don't you think we should reinforce the troops of the Cheng Brigade? The battle plan they just reported is to push all the way to Cangshan, which would cut off the rear route of the Japanese army in Taierzhuang. If the Japanese turn back, it will definitely be a fight to the death!"

  Xu Canzuo had mixed feelings towards Cheng Jiaji, loving how he could always come up with new tricks no matter the situation, but hating that this guy never listened and was never a good kid. He found that whenever Cheng Jiaji got involved in anything, it would always escalate into something bigger. This time, what was supposed to be a limited strike plan had been turned by Cheng Jiaji into a full-scale military operation.

  "The vanguard, once the recovery of Guanhu Town is complete, won't the division from the Third Army stationed in Jiaowan be freed up? Let them join forces with Cheng Jiaxu's strike team to attack Xia County. Moreover, didn't a regiment from the 60th Army just arrive in Xuzhou this afternoon? Have that regiment defend Jiaowan and prepare to reinforce Taierzhuang at any moment." The commander of the war zone spoke, already indicating his support for Cheng Jiaxu's proposed flanking maneuver, otherwise he wouldn't have allocated another division to join forces with Cheng's team.

  "De Gong, this 80th Division is a regular division. Is the 80th Division commanding the Cheng Brigade or is the Cheng Brigade commanding this division?" Xu Canzhuang's question was very reasonable. When two equal-level troops execute a combat mission, the top priority is to determine the temporary command authority; otherwise, there would be no need to fight this battle. At the same time, this was also a troublesome problem. If the 80th Division were allowed to command the Cheng Brigade, it's likely that the division commander of the 80th Division wouldn't have the courage to implement this combat plan to attack the rear of several tens of thousands of enemies. If the 80th Division were placed under the command of the Cheng Brigade, not to mention that there was no precedent for a temporary brigade-level unit commanding a regular division, even Cheng Jiaxiang's seniority wouldn't be enough to command the 80th Division, which had originated from the Northwest Army.

  "Yan Mou, who do you think should be in charge of commanding this strike brigade?" The war zone commander's question was actually an order. If he really couldn't control the strike brigade composed of several different troops, there were only a few people in the Fifth War Zone who could.

  "De Gong, I'll go instead. Let Xie Junchen help me out, he has a good relationship with Cheng Jiaji and is also capable of commanding. Xu Canzuo's mind was clear, only the Chief of Staff of this war zone could personally take charge to suppress the various lords in this strike brigade."

  "Yan Mou!" The commander said excitedly. He knew that this time it wasn't just a matter of going to Linyi to direct the battle, but rather to dig into the Japanese enemy's vital parts, with unpredictable risks. Xu Canzhang was able to take the initiative to propose himself as the commander of this circuitous detachment at this critical moment, which couldn't help but make the war zone commander feel a sense of familiarity and understanding.

  "Please rest assured, Director De. Yan's plan is just to help the Cheng family gain an advantage, it's not a big deal." Xu Zepan was very clear about his position, and he knew that his role this time was just to assist the Cheng family in gaining an upper hand, as for the specifics of how to fight, it still depended on the frontline commanders like the Cheng family.

  This time, Commander Zhang was speechless, and he just tightly held the hand of his old friend.

  On the battlefield, sometimes the two sides are like a seesaw, one side is on the upward slope, and the other can only go downhill.

  The atmosphere of the 10th Division Headquarters of the Japanese Army was not so good, and the bad news of the "Manchukuo" Ninth Division's mutiny and defeat was like a dark cloud that had been lingering over the headquarters. In normal times, the life or death of a division of the puppet Manchurian army would be a trivial matter. But at this critical moment, the collapse of the "Manchukuo" Ninth Division in Guanhu Town exposed the flank of the Sano Detachment to the Chinese, putting not only the Sano Detachment, which was fighting fiercely with the Chinese army on the Taierzhuang front line, in a precarious position, but also making the entire Tianjin-Pukou Railway battle north of Xuzhou extremely unfavorable for the Japanese.

  Everyone in the command of the Japanese Tenth Division knew that the Chinese army had already gained the initiative on the battlefield. If the Japanese side could not reverse the situation in a short period, the Tenth Division would likely suffer a disastrous defeat on the Tianjin-Pukou Railway. Letting the Tenth Division create a precedent for the Japanese side's complete defeat in a large-scale battle since the "July 7th Incident" was something that everyone in the division was unwilling to see!

  However, Isami Kondō was not incompetent either. As the situation gradually cleared up, he made a decisive decision immediately.

  "Order the Hata detachment to advance the time of attack on the 20th Corps of the 'Shina' army to 8 o'clock tonight, and let the Hata detachment join forces with the Sakamoto detachment to defeat this 'Shina' army's trump card within two days."

  "Order the vanguard of the Tairazhao Line to immediately stop attacking and switch to defense, with the main defensive focus on the wing facing Guanhu Town."

  "Order the remnants of the 9th Division of the Manchurian Army to retreat into the defense zone of the Sekiya Branch, and put them under the command of the Sekiya Branch."

  "At the same time, send a telegram to the Expeditionary Army Headquarters, requesting that the Expeditionary Army Headquarters provide combat guidance again."

  The operational intention of Lieutenant General Rensuke Isogai was clear, which was to take a defensive position on the Tai'erzhuang line, concentrate his forces and first break through the main force of the Chinese 20th Army Corps, and then join with the reinforcements sent again by the Expeditionary Force Headquarters.

  The decisive battle has entered the final stage! The top command organs of both China and Japan on this battlefield have made a decision to go all out, and the middle and lower-level officers and soldiers of both sides are not lacking in the courage and perseverance to fight to the death. Who will die in whose hands depends on the performance of the commanders on the battlefield, and perhaps also on a little luck and divine protection.

  But this is on Chinese soil, and it's hard to say whether the Japanese "god" spirit will work or not.