pappabearbooks Chapter 102 Li Jianghe Arrives in Xuzhou
Chapter 102 Li Jianghe Arrives in Xuzhou
For ordinary infantry and horse-drawn carriages, it was fine, but for mechanized troops, moving around was extremely difficult.
What should have been a journey that took three or four days took Li Jianghe's troops a whole week.
By the time they arrived in Xuzhou, it was already March 11th, and the outer battles of the Tengxian defense battle had already begun.
At the Fifth War Zone Headquarters, commanders at all levels were engaged in heated arguments due to the Japanese army's southward advance.
"We must hold Tengxian at all costs to buy some time for the rear troops to deploy their defenses."
Commander Li said firmly.
Officer Tang, sitting in the corner, raised his eyebrows slightly while smoking a cigarette and said:
"Tengxian only has the Sichuan 41st Army, and it's all decimated units. On the other side is Isogai Rensuke's 10th Division, an elite Japanese force. How can they possibly hold out?"
Sun Zhen, commander-in-chief of the 22nd Army Group, raised his voice at this moment:
"Brother Tang, what are you saying? Are you looking down on our Sichuan Army? Our equipment may be a bit lacking, but we've never been sloppy when it comes to fighting the Japanese."
Commander Tang glanced at Sun Zhen, not taking these local ragtag troops seriously, and said with a calm smile:
"Commander-in-Chief Sun, if your troops can hold Tengxian for a few more days, then I, Tang Enbo, have nothing to say. However, my troops cannot be deployed to fight a war of attrition against the Japanese on the front lines."
Seeing the two of them talking back and forth, Commander Li slammed his hand on the table and said:
"Commander-in-Chief Sun, I will send you another unit, our Guangxi Army's Independent Third Detachment, plus the reorganized Fifth Regiment."
"The Independent Third Detachment?"
Sun Zhen felt that the code name sounded familiar.
"I feel like I've heard this somewhere before."
"It's that unit that fought its way out of Nanjing. They call it a detachment, and the detachment commander is Li Jianghe, who is a capable fighter."
Commander Bai said with a smile, "These are our elite Guangxi troops, Brother Sun."
After hearing this, Sun Zhen slapped his forehead and said:
"So it's Li Jianghe. He's quite famous. He fought several brilliant battles in Nanjing and Shanghai."
After he finished speaking, his expression turned grim again, because there were some things he couldn't say in front of Commander Li.
After the Battle of Jinling, it was unknown how many remaining soldiers Li Jianghe would have.
Even if Li Jianghe is a capable fighter, you can't cook without rice. In the end, he's just a commander without troops, so how much of a role can he play in the war?
Commander Tang chuckled inwardly, thinking that the troops who had just fought their way out of Nanjing were still ambushing the Japanese along the way, and it was going to be a bloody battle.
Subsequently, the Nationalist government did not provide any actual troop reinforcements, and Zhu Chi and other Central Army combat units had already returned to Wuhan. Li Jianghe's remaining troops probably totaled less than two thousand men.
Even if Li Jianghe is a capable fighter, what can these two thousand men do on the battlefield?
However, Tang Enbo didn't say this outright, as he couldn't embarrass the two superiors. He simply smiled at Commander Bai and continued smoking.
Looking at Sun Zhen again, he also looked troubled. It was clear that Commander-in-Chief Sun must have thought of this as well. But at this time, having reinforcements was better than having none. Even wounded soldiers were still soldiers.
In Tang Enbo's view, this battle will be difficult to win, and he is likely to lose.
If they can win, then the Central Army he leads should not be at the forefront.
After all, he didn't trust the local army, and he wouldn't take action unless the outcome of the battle was already decided.
The reason he had this idea was because he had previously led troops to resist the fierce attack of the Japanese Fifth Division in the Battle of Nankou.
As a result, the Northwest Army and the Jin-Sui Army sent very few troops to provide reinforcements. They said they were on their way, but in reality, very few people came. No matter how many telegrams were sent, it was of no use.
Ultimately, due to insufficient troops and the Japanese cutting off their retreat route, Tang Enbo was forced to lead his troops in a withdrawal. The book, "You Were Ordered to Guard Sihang Warehouse, and You Developed a German-Equipped Division," is currently sparking a reading frenzy. Haven't you read it yet?
This left Tang Enbo with a lingering resentment and a natural distrust of these local armies.
Just as they were talking, there was a knock at the door. A communications soldier stepped forward and said:
"Reporting, Li Jianghe, commander of the Independent Third Detachment, requests an audience."
"He's here?"
The people in the room were all taken aback; it really was as if speaking of the devil himself.
"Let him in."
Commander Li smiled.
A few days ago, he received a telegram from Li Jianghe saying that he was already on his way, but the roads were muddy and the march was inconvenient, which delayed him for a few days. Now he has finally arrived, so it is not too late.
Before long, Li Jianghe pushed open the door and entered. After saluting everyone, he looked around and found that the room was indeed filled with "distinguished guests".
There was Commander Tang, the King of Electricity, Commander Bai, the Little Zhuge Liang, and Commander Li, the soul of the Guangxi Clique.
My own position as a minor official is truly insignificant and insignificant here.
"Jiang He, although your unit has just arrived, the Japanese offensive in the Tengxian direction is fierce. Are you willing to go and reinforce Commander-in-Chief Sun's troops?"
Commander-in-Chief Li asked the question directly.
Li Jianghe thought to himself, "What I wished for really came true. I was just short of merit points to spend, and now I have a mission to fight the Japanese."
"I will follow the arrangements."
Li Jianghe replied.
Sun Zhen glanced at Li Jianghe and saw that he was indeed a young prodigy, but he was still uneasy and couldn't help but say:
"Jiang He, I wonder how many soldiers your unit still has capable of fighting after the breakout from Jinling?"
He knew that if he didn't ask now, he wouldn't have another chance.
If all else fails, we must get some reinforcements from Commander Li; otherwise, Teng County will definitely fall.
Commander Li and Commander Bai were also somewhat nervous, because they knew very well that the Chairman would definitely not provide Li Jianghe, the commander of the Guangxi Army, with additional troops.
Li Jianghe managed to gather at most some of the defeated soldiers in the city; he could manage a good two thousand men.
Tang Enbo, on the other hand, remained calm and composed, a smile still playing on his lips, intending to see the Guangxi Army and the Sichuan Army make fools of themselves.
Seeing that the atmosphere in the command post was not quite right, Li Jianghe thought it best to play it safe.
After all, a detachment has too many people, and they are all mechanized troops; it would be too conspicuous to talk about it.
"Um, there are about seven thousand people."
"How much? Seven thousand!?"
They all said in unison.
After all, replenishing troops is not easy, especially trained troops. Even in the Xuzhou war zone, the reserve of replenishment troops is less than 10,000. The fighting in the Huai River area has also caused considerable losses.
As a result, Li Jianghe actually replenished the troops to this number in just two months, which naturally surprised everyone.
Tang Enbo was the first to speak, asking:
"Li Jianghe, where did you get these soldiers from?"
Li Jianghe answered honestly:
"After breaking through, we rested in the Jiuhua Mountain area. The local people were extremely enthusiastic about resisting the Japanese. We recruited 5,000 young and strong soldiers, who were also capable of being used after training."
He withheld some information, after all, there were Central Army troops, Sichuan Army troops, and Guangxi Army troops in the room.
Frankly speaking, Li Jianghe was more inclined to trust a member of the Guangxi Army within his own faction, but Commander Tang from the Central Army...
"Oh, they're newly recruited soldiers. That explains it."
Commander Tang sat down again, leisurely exhaling smoke rings.