Time passed, and it soon came May 1938!

The Minister of the Lu family, who advocated the end of the China Incident for three months, was driven out of the Central Committee and replaced by Seishiro Itagaki, and Hideki Tojo also replaced Mijiro Umezu as the second-rank officer of the army.

The victory of the Chinese army in Linyi and Taierzhuang greatly stimulated Chairman Jiang's desire to win. In order to expand the results of the war, more than 600,000 elite troops were assembled in the Xuzhou area and launched a tug-of-war with the Japanese army for more than a month!

Around April 20, the Japanese army increased its troops from north to south, and had obvious intentions to attack Xuzhou again, while the Tang army had no choice but to fight back.

At this time, Li Zongren wanted to win from the existing land acquisition line and compete with the Japanese army to seek to extend his wings to the other side, but ended up putting most of his troops on the front line!

However, the number of Japanese troops reinforced by 100,000 was not only failed to realize Li Zongren's strategic attempt, but instead put himself in danger. If he could not quickly take counter-encirclement or jump out of the encirclement, he would be in danger of being completely wiped out in the Xuzhou area.

The Japanese attack on Xuzhou began in mid-May. On the 9th, the Nakajima Division headed south from Jining, Shandong and quickly advanced towards Dangshan and Tangzhai areas of Anhui, and attacked Xuzhou from the west.

On May 10, the Japanese army in northern Jiangsu began to arrive near Xin'an Town in the eastern section of Longhai, met with the Japanese army heading south in Tancheng, and actively marched towards Pi County, attempting to encircle the battlefield on the right side of the Chinese army in the east of Xuzhou.

On the north of Xuzhou, the Tufeiyuan Division crossed the Yellow River from the Puxian area on the 12th and sent a force to cut off the Longhai Railway Traffic Line near Neihuangji.

After a few days of fierce fighting with the Chinese army in southeast Shandong, the Itagaki Division crossed the canal and advanced towards Suzhou, and then attacked Xuzhou.

To the south of Xuzhou, the Ogisu Division of the Central China Expeditionary Force captured Mengcheng, Anhui on the 9th and arrived at Yongcheng, southwest of Xuzhou on the 13th.

The Yoshizu Division entered near Xiaoxian on the 16th and approached Xuzhou. The Fujita Division captured Dayingji on the 15th and advanced towards Xuzhou. The Japanese army from both north and south completed the siege of Xuzhou.

The troops of Li Zongren's Fifth War Zone resisted fiercely in the area near Xuzhou, but failed to block the Japanese offensive.

Li Bifan's 23rd Division resisted the Japanese army in Heze. Li Bifan died in the war. Zhou Yuan, deputy commander of the 173rd Division of Chang, led 2,000 people to fight to the Japanese army in Mengcheng. Zhou Yuan and most of the officers and soldiers died in battle.

The Japanese army surrounded the four sides, and the Xuzhou military situation was dangerous.

In view of the situation becoming extremely critical, Chairman Chiang decided to take the opinion of counter-encirclement or breaking out of the encirclement.

The increasingly tragic battle reports ahead continued to spread to the Wuchang Military Commission. Xuzhou suddenly faced a serious crisis. Chairman Jiang realized that the Japanese army's intention was to encircle and annihilate the main force of our army in Xuzhou.

If the fifty elite troops in Xuzhou were eaten, the National Government would lose the capital of the War of Resistance.

On the afternoon of May 12, Member Jiang finally admitted that the situation in Xuzhou was at a dangerous moment and sent Li Zongren an urgent telegram:

The Military Commission is asking your troops to avoid the decisive battle, evacuate Xuzhou, and break through quickly.

According to this telegram, Li Zongren decided to abandon Xuzhou and immediately divided the troops into five routes to break through the siege. On May 17, he issued a retreat order: to order Tang Enbo's army to break westward and attack the Japanese army violently; and also ordered Sun Lianzhong, Zhang Zizhong and Pang Bingxun's troops to set up defenses in the canal and defend themselves to cover the retreat of the army.

The main force of the national army in Xuzhou area withdrew from Yi County and quickly turned towards the Dabie Mountains!

The Chinese army fought and retreated, and its formation was not chaotic. It retreated westward and southward in a regular manner.

The Japanese army intercepted and defended along the road, but the Chinese army, which was as powerful as a storm, broke through each place, and was invincible along the way.

The army quickly assembled to southern Henan and northern Hubei, and all armies rushed out of the encirclement one after another. At this point, Xuzhou's retreat came to an end!

In late May, all armies followed the designated routes to all safe areas in western Anhui and southern Henan.

The Japanese army that reinforced the past from both north and south directions was still not in place, and finally the Japanese army turned the tactical idea of ​​the main force of the National Army in Xuzhou to siege near Xuzhou.

General Guo Ruhuai wrote in his memoir about the breakout in the battle of Xuzhou:

My army of 500,000 and 600,000 retreated in a new rush. Every division was annihilated by the enemy and retreated to the enemy as if it were no one else and returned safely afterwards.

It can be seen that although the enemy forms a strategic siege, the land is vast and the troops are sparse, and there are gaps everywhere. I am fighting at home, with the assistance of the people, and I can break the whole into pieces and get out of danger safely at any time!

The Great Breakthrough in Xuzhou was a glorious move in the history of the War of Resistance against Japan. It completely destroyed the strategic attempts of the Japanese army and preserved the elite force for the later War of Resistance in the Yangtze River. It was of immeasurable significance to the subsequent protracted war and final victory.

The Battle of Xuzhou is another major battle on the front battlefield of China after the Battle of Songhu and Taiyuan.

Both China and Japan invested hundreds of thousands of troops, which lasted for more than four months.

Although the Japanese army opened up the Jinpu Line and expanded the occupied areas, the goal of attacking the main force of the Chinese army was not achieved.

The Chinese army's defensive operations and active transfer achieved certain combat goals, winning four to five months for the deployment of the subsequent Wuhan defense battle, breaking the Japanese army's strategic plan for quick battle.

In the early morning of May 26, a "American" 10,000-ton ship full of aircraft, tanks and heavy artillery docked at the Guangzhou port in China.

Since Yang Fan repeatedly emphasized to Chen Bulei and others that he was just purchasing on his behalf and the procurement was very difficult, the procurement time was relatively long, and maybe he would have a meal but not a meal!

Therefore, as soon as Chairman Jiang and others finished their work, they made up their minds to spend huge amounts of money to purchase 100 medium-sized tanks, 80 fighter jets, 5 bombers, 30 150mm grenade cannons, 30 twin-mounted anti-aircraft cannons, and 100 anti-aircraft machine guns!

This made Yang Fan save money and save the income of Taobao manor for three months and empty his own capital. Only then could he barely get enough of 32 million wealth points and place an unprecedented sky-high order!

For safety reasons, Yang Fan naturally did not see the rabbit or show off his eagle. He waited until Chairman Jiang put the golden yellow croaker and boxes of silver dollars in front of him, and then paid the order and selected the delivery address at Guangzhou Taikoo Cang Wharf.

After careful and careful operation, Yang Fan finally made a profit of 3.2 million yuan in wealth without any danger, while Chairman Jiang received the coveted advanced fighter jets, tanks, anti-aircraft artillery and heavy artillery!

With so many advanced heavy weapons, at least one Central Army can increase its combat effectiveness by a huge margin, and the Japanese and divisions will have the capital to fight head-on!

Yang Fan made a profit and earned 3.2 million wealth points in two or three months. Although the income is not much compared to Taobao Manor, the total wealth is not too small!

This transaction is naturally a joyful thing, happy buying and happy selling!
Chapter completed!