Chapter 128: Encirclement Begins
Twentieth Army Group headquarters, fifty li south of Zaozhuang
Twentieth Army Group commander Tang Enbo paced back and forth in the command post with his hands behind his back, his expression exceptionally conflicted.
A few hours earlier, he had received a telegram from Li Zongren, and the content of the telegram was extremely stern, making even him feel somewhat frightened upon reading it.
He asked the operations staff officer again, “Has that Japanese force behind our army still not left?”
“No.” The operations staff officer shook his head: “Our cavalry just sent word that that group of Japanese cavalry is still lingering behind our main force.”
Tang Enbo’s brows furrowed, “Have we tried sending troops to drive them away?”
The staff officer looked troubled: “We tried… but they don’t engage at all. They retreat as soon as they see our cavalry, then follow again once our cavalry leaves, sticking like taffy.”
The troubled expression on Tang Enbo’s face grew even more intense, and he couldn’t help complaining, “Our Commander Li only knows to urge me to attack Tai’erzhuang, but he doesn’t know our actual situation. Once we move, the Japanese behind us will close in, and then we’ll be attacked from both front and rear—the Twentieth Army Group will be in danger.”
Nearby, Guan Linzheng couldn’t hold back and shouted loudly, “Army Group commander, I am willing to lead the 52nd Army to strike out alone. If I cannot complete the mission, I will gladly face military justice!”
“Nonsense!” Tang Enbo rebuked angrily: “Matters of the state and military are not to be treated lightly. Your death wouldn’t matter much, but what about the more than 20,000 officers and men of the 52nd Army? Should they die with you?
We’ve already spotted Japanese forces behind us. Once we’re done for, Tai’erzhuang won’t hold either!”
Guan Linzheng grew anxious and wanted to continue speaking, but he was pulled away by nearby 85th Army commander Wang Zhonglian.
Just as Tang Enbo planned to continue observing, a communications staff officer hurriedly ran in, “Sir… a telegram from Chairman Jiang.”
Tang Enbo’s expression changed, “What does the Chairman say?”
“Fight bravely for merit… annihilate the stubborn enemy!”
Tang Enbo’s expression immediately became excited, and he pointed his index finger to the sky, “Pass my orders: Guan Linzheng’s 52nd Army units, 2nd Division Zheng Donguo, 25th Division Zhang Yaoming, Wang Zhonglian’s 85th Army units, 4th Division Chen Daqing, 89th Division Zhang Xuenzhong, 13th Army units, and 110th Division Zhang Zhen—immediately advance south at top speed per army group orders to reach Tai’erzhuang!”
On April 3, 1938, the Twentieth Army Group led by Tang Enbo struck out on orders from Fifth War Zone Commander-in-Chief Li Zongren, attacking toward the 16th and 10th Divisions that were fiercely assaulting Tai’erzhuang.
Normally, Tang Enbo wouldn’t dare attack two divisions at once even if given ten times the courage, but now it was different.
The 10th Division had already been weakened in continuous fierce fighting with the 31st Division and Nanjing Security Regiment. The 16th Division was still engaged in firefights with the Nanjing Security Regiment at Tai’erzhuang and had no defense whatsoever against this fresh force killing out from behind, catching them completely off guard.
“Good!”
Bai Chongxi slammed the table hard, his face overflowing with joy, and sighed.
“This Tang Enbo has finally manned up for once.”
Nearby, Li Zongren was somewhat unconvinced, “In my view, if the Chairman hadn’t sent him that telegram, this guy probably still wouldn’t have struck out.”
“That’s true.” Bai Chongxi agreed, then lightly sighed: “I heard that Mingxi has been fighting very hard in Tai’erzhuang these past days. This should finally relieve some of his pressure.”
“Yes.” Li Zongren also sighed: “These past few days, Nakajima Genzai mobilized over a hundred sorties of aircraft to bomb Tai’erzhuang relentlessly, with dozens of heavy artillery pieces bombarding from the ground, and more than 20,000 infantry launching wave after wave of attacks.
An assault of this scale—forget a mere security regiment—even a Central Army unit might not hold. Unexpectedly, Mingxi held firm.
Not only did he hold, but he also achieved the feat of downing more than twenty aircraft and over three thousand Japanese troops… impressive, truly impressive.”
Bai Chongxi also said with some regret: “That kid is a good one, it’s just a shame he’s a hothead like me.”
“Hahaha…” Li Zongren couldn’t help bursting into laughter upon hearing this.
After laughing, he looked at Bai Chongxi, “Jiansheng… the time has come, it’s our turn to strike.”
“Indeed.” Bai Chongxi nodded, “The timing is ripe, we can issue the orders.”
“Good!”
Li Zongren walked to the desk and picked up the phone, cranked it twice, then said gravely: “This is Li Zongren… now I order… the entire army to strike out per the original plan, target Tai’erzhuang!”
“Yes… target Tai’erzhuang… strike out immediately!”
With the order from Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi, the entire Fifth War Zone began to move.
The 40th and 59th Armies at Linyi, the 22nd Army Group at Bengbu, the 21st Army Group at Yanzhou, the 3rd Army Group at Gushan, and the 2nd Army Group at Xuzhou all launched fierce counterattacks against the Japanese.
In an instant, the entire Xuzhou region was ablaze with war, and within a single day, the North China Area Army headquarters under Teruchi Hisaichi received countless telegrams from Japanese forces requesting tactical guidance.
Of course, as North China Area Army commander, Teruchi Hisaichi naturally knew that most of the attacks on Japanese forces were feints; the only place that truly mattered was the 10th and 16th Divisions at Tai’erzhuang.
In the North China Area Army headquarters office in Beiping, Teruchi Hisaichi stood before a 1:100,000 military map, intently scribbling with red and blue pencils on the map.
After a good while, when he finished drawing and took a close look, even he drew in a sharp breath.
On the small Tai’erzhuang, countless red arrows representing the National Revolutionary Army were pouncing toward blue circles representing the Japanese.
Not only were there more than 70,000 elite National Revolutionary Army troops from five divisions of the Twentieth Army Group—110th, 2nd, 25th, 4th, 89th—charging straight at Tai’erzhuang from behind.
In front was that Nanjing Security Regiment that had heavily damaged the 6th Division in the Nanjing area, and beside it the 31st Division under the 2nd Army Group.
Adding it up, seven divisions and 100,000 troops had now surrounded these two divisions.
Normally, at full strength, the 10th and 16th Divisions wouldn’t fear 100,000 men—even if a few more divisions came, Teruchi Hisaichi wouldn’t blink.
But things were different now: the 10th Division had been beaten to residual strength, and the 16th Division was already mentally and physically exhausted after days of fierce fighting.
Now suddenly encircled by Chinese forces, they could count themselves lucky to retain sixty percent of their ability—how could they withstand the siege of 100,000 troops?
“Order the 10th and 16th Divisions to immediately withdraw toward Linyi and link up with the 5th Division to deploy in place and build fortifications.
Also, tell Isogaya Renji and Nakajima Genzai to act swiftly—absolutely no delays!”
“Hai!”
