On March 24, Chiang Kai-shek took a plane to Xuzhou to cheer for the Chinese army, leaving Bai Chongxi and Lin Wei to assist Li Zongren.

After carefully studying the Japanese army's new offensive route, Li and Bai made a bold and meticulous combat plan, which was to open the front of the Jinpu Road, lure the enemy into depth, and then gather troops to encircle and annihilate them.

At 4 a.m. on March 24, the headquarters of the commander of the Second Army, Sun Lianzhong, arrived at Hanjia Temple, five kilometers south of the canal near Taierzhuang.

At 6 p.m., the main force of the Second Army, also the 27th Division of Sun Lianzhong's basic unit, drove to the area near Taierzhuang.

After the Japanese occupied Zhanshan, more than ten Type 98 bombers carried 300 to 450 kilograms of aviation bombs and their nearby artillery positions. In an instant, Taierzhuang was shrouded in smoke and fire, and the storm-like bombs basically destroyed the fortifications of the outer positions of Taierzhuang. The Japanese infantry pressed forward step by step, and the situation in Taierzhuang was in danger.

On March 20, just when the Japanese army changed its route, the 20th Army received an order from the Fifth War Zone to hand over the defense zone of the Second Division to the Second Army of Sun Lianzhong. The main force of the 20th Army was in Lanling and hidden in the city area, preparing to attack Taierzhuang when the main force of the Japanese army was trying to capture Xuzhou in one fell swoop, the 20th Army immediately headed south and attacked the Japanese army in Linzao area to cut off the enemy's backs, and worked with the 2nd Army to press the Japanese army to the bank of Weishan Lake to encircle and annihilate it.

While other troops of the National Army were fighting bloody battles, the Second Division, as a mobile force, had already caught fire with the enemy, but the 25th Division on the flank of the Second Division had no war.

The 5th Company of the Second Battalion has been constantly shifting during this period and has not fought. Along the march, we saw the defeated soldiers and fleeing people. In the mouths of these defeated soldiers, the bombing of Japanese planes and cannons can be said to be invincible. The "Iron Monster" (most of the soldiers of the National Army are illiterate, and many troops in the Battle of Xuzhou are local warlords. They have never seen tanks, so they call the tank "Iron Monster") are wearing thick iron armor. The National Army cannot defeat the enemy inside. The Japanese army is simply invincible.

The veterans had fought several battles with the Japanese and had seen these new weapons, but they didn't care much, but the recruits who were added later were frightened. Li Qinglin heard from several squad leaders that some of the recruits were already making plans to escape.

It is not a good thing to be timid before fighting.

Li Qinglin immediately ordered the veterans to conduct emergency pre-war training for the recruits, with the focus on how to prevent shells and aircraft bombing, and how to attack tanks.

The recruits were still very honest. After emergency training and the suppression of the squad leader, no one of the recruits dared to say that they had escaped, and the troops were temporarily stabilized.

The soldiers' problem has been temporarily solved, but the squad leader's problem has come again.

When the troops were stationed at night, the squad platoon leaders liked to go to Li Qinglin's company headquarters to inquire about the situation and exchange the information they obtained.

The 25th Division was transferred around during this period, and the march was very hard. Everyone didn't know when the war would be fought. This kind of waiting was the most annoying, and the platoon leaders of the fifth company squad had complained.

One night, the squad leader gathered in the company headquarters. Zhang Ergou asked Li Qinglin: "Boss, I heard that our national army has more than 400,000 people on the battlefield in Xuzhou, and the Japanese have only 70,000 to 80,000. What role can we do when we run around like this? The Japanese are just a few people. If we stop to fight them face to face, I don't believe that a few can't kill them."

Xiao Liuzi also said: "I don't know how the above commands it. The Japanese are just a few people. China is so big and there are so many people. Even if China wins ten to one, the Japanese have already finished it."

Li Qinglin could only smile bitterly but could not answer these questions.

Apart from the relatively advanced weapons of the Japanese and the soldiers are not afraid of death, these problems are actually one problem, that is, the backwardness of the national army's strategy and tactics.

The Japanese army had a small number, but after they stood firm in large urban strongholds, they often concentrated their forces to take advantage of their strong mobility and took the initiative to find the main force of the national army to fight. They did not consider the gains and losses of one city and one place, and mainly gathered forces to adopt mobile combat methods, with the main purpose of eliminating the opponent's resistance.

The Kuomintang army was fighting defensive wars at this time, but they still used the straggling line tactics of World War I. During defense, the Kuomintang army insisted on using positional warfare, and set up positions everywhere and recruited troops before the battle began.

The national army seems to have a large number of people, but they are often dispersed to defend their positions. Once the troops are dispersed, the local number advantage becomes a disadvantage. The defenders surrounded by the positions often can only be passively beaten and cannot form a mobile strike force.

However, this time Li Zongren's tactics were different from the past. He changed the old routine of sticking to the position and decisively adopted the strategy of making way for the broad road to lure the enemy into depth, and then used heavy troops to siege and annihilate the Japanese army that was advancing.

Li Qinglin could not answer the complaints of the squad leader. He could only answer them with the duty of soldiers to obey orders, and comforted them that since they had already planned the combat plan, as long as everyone could execute the orders seriously, they would definitely win this time.

On March 22, the 52nd Army received an order and the entire army secretly advanced to the Pigeon's nest east of Zaozhuang and the Guoliji line.

After receiving the order, the 52nd Army immediately issued an advance order to the 75th Brigade of the 25th Division, and the entire brigade of the 75th Brigade marched towards Guoliji.

Guoliji is a large village, and many strong bunkers have been built around. The plainclothes reconnaissance team of the 25th Division had already arrived here during the day. After careful search, the plainclothes team found that all the people in Guoliji had escaped, and the entire Guoliji was empty. The plainclothes reconnaissance team immediately reported to the rear that the invincible situation and temporarily stationed in Guoliji. They waited until the 75th Brigade's large troops arrived before dusk before leaving.

This place has been reconnaissed by the Japanese plainclothes team, and the news received by the Japanese army was also invincible. After dark on the 22nd, a Japanese reinforcement team also entered Guoliji in the dark. They did not expect that the national army had already arrived, so they were stationed in a large artillery tower northeast of Zi in a large manner.

Both the enemy and us thought that this place was invincible and were neglected to guard against it. After entering, they did not send any personnel to search. Therefore, although the two armies lived in the same village, they were all safe overnight.

In the early morning of March 23, the Japanese army living in the artillery tower were the high terrain, and they first discovered that Guolijili was full of national troops.

The Japanese squad leader panicked, thinking they were completely surrounded by the national army. The desperate Japanese army finally chose to attack suicide. They were hidden in the artillery tower and suddenly opened fire on the national army. A very dramatic encounter occurred without warning.
Chapter completed!