The news that Hagi Chau Libing was leading the 13th Division to the north was soon discovered by the Intelligence Department of the Wuhan Military Headquarters.
Chiang Kai-shek immediately sent this important information to Li Zongren, commander of the Fifth Theater of Operations in Xuzhou, and at the same time, he also sent an urgent telegram to Gu Zhutong of the Third Theater, asking him to immediately send troops to contain the Japanese 13th Army behind his back and help Li Zongren win time.
Considering that Li Zongren's troops were insufficient, Chiang Kai-shek assigned Liao Lei's Third Theater of the Seventh Army to the Fifth Theater, and asked Cheng Qian of the First Theater to be ready to support the Fifth Theater at any time.
Here we would like to explain that after the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Bai Chongxi flew to Nanjing to discuss with Chiang Kai-shek the great plan of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, while Li Zongren was training a new army in Guangxi. During the Battle of Songhu, Li Zongren was appointed commander of the Fifth Theater of Operations and thus garrisoned Xuzhou, occupying both sides of the Jinpu Line in Lunan and Northern Jiangsu, as well as the eastern section of the Longhai Line.
Han Fuyu retreated without a fight, causing the front of the Gimpo Line to open widely, and for safety reasons, Chiang Kai-shek wanted Li Zongren to move the headquarters of the commander of the Fifth Theater from Xuzhou to Guide in Henan or Bozhou in Anhui, but Li Zongren refused. Li Zongren believes that many of these areas are easily accessible, have convenient communications, and have a wide range of telephone networks. If the headquarters were moved to Guide or Bozhou to issue orders, they could only rely on radio, which took too long, and was easily deciphered by the Japanese army, which was not conducive to wartime command.
In addition, there was another reason: the headquarters and troops were concentrated in Xuzhou, so the internal line was fought. On the surface, it is a bit passive, but once the battle is played, under the condition of ensuring the internal communication line, it can be interspersed with each other, and the enemies scattered on the periphery can be broken. Of course, there is also a fatal point in internal combat, once it is not fought well, the encirclement circle will become smaller and smaller, and it is possible to be surrounded and annihilated by the enemy.
Shortly after Li Zongren received the information sent by Chiang Kai-shek, another piece of information was also sent over: After the fall of Qingdao, Itagaki Seishiro marched west along the Jiaoji line, captured Weixian County, and then turned south, breaking through Gaomi and Zhucheng, and commanding The important town of Lunan, Linyi.
Linyi and Teng counties in the Lunan region are the two gates north of Xuzhou, and the geographical location is very important.
At this time, all the reinforcements had not yet arrived at the Fifth Theater, Li Zongren had very few men in his hands, there was no reserve, and he wanted to come and go, so he had to appoint Pang Bingxun to lead the Third Army to Linyi to block the Japanese army.
Pang Bingxun, a man of great seniority, had been working among the warlords of his immediate lineage in the early years, and in the battle with the warlords of the Fengzhi clan, he had a broken leg. Like many people in that era, he defected to Feng Yuxiang and fought Han Fuyu and attacked Zhang Zizhong.
Tang Bingxun is not cunning, but he has always had a small nine-nine in his heart, and he will save his strength the most.
For such a person, how did Li Zongren admonish?
When the two met in Xuzhou, there was the following conversation.
Li Zongren said:
General Pang, it's big brother, I shouldn't have only you. But in terms of the sequence of battles, I am the commander-in-chief, shouldering a more important position, in public affairs, I am the commander, and in personal relations, we are brothers.
You and I have been in this chaotic situation for more than 20 years, although most of them are forced by the world, but looking back on that kind of life, it is really meaningless, how to win, how to lose. Now there is an opportunity, there is an opportunity to resist the country, and only when he can fight and die for the country and the nation is worthy of being a soldier. You and I are forty or fifty years old, and it is worth it to die like this.
Li Zongren's emotional bomb directly exploded Pang Bingxun's heart and directly led the troops to rush to the aid of Linyi.
Although Pang Bingxun hangs the name of the commander of the regiment, there is actually only one army under his command, that is, the Fortieth Army, which commands a division, and although the name is large, it is actually only so many people, with 5 regiments and more than 10,000 soldiers, and it is an authentic miscellaneous army.
According to the recollections of relevant people, everyone will find that Tang Bingxun's troops are not bad in weapons and equipment. Although the number of people is only 13,000, there are 8,000 rifles, more than 900 pistols, 60 heavy machine guns, and more than 600 light machine guns.
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There are four mountain guns and more than 60 light and heavy mortars.
At this number, many people have doubted that the troops of more than 10,000 people, even if they are supplemented with weapons, how can there be more than 600 machine guns in the configuration?
Of course, there were no doubts, and for the 40th Army at that time, it was not important at all, and the great war was about to break out. Pang Bingxun, although in 1943, after falling into trouble, surrendered to the Japanese army. Some people say that he is a traitor, some people say that he is a preserver of strength, but history is so complicated, after surrendering, he is a traitor, just like he was a great hero in the Battle of Linyi.