The confidential meeting of the Xi'an camp held by Hu Zongnan was extremely confidential. Except for one person, all participants were senior military and political officials of the camp. Unless there was an accident, it would never be leaked.
Zhou Weihan and others did not know about it at first, but on the night of the meeting, the contents of the meeting were handed over to our senior management, and Zhou Weihan and others also obtained the contents of the meeting.
"July 4th, isn't that today? I didn't get any news in advance!" Zhou Weihan said.
The brigade commander was wearing a sweatshirt and holding a cigarette in his hand. After reading the content clearly, he couldn't help but gasped: "Hu Zhongnan is so brave. He loses everything with one careless move. If he really lets
If the Japanese army takes advantage of this loophole, he is a sinner of the nation!"
Zhou Weihan was also surprised by Hu Zhongnan's risky move. Why did Hu Zhongnan do this?
The main goal of the Central Army in Shaanxi Province is to blockade the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region. The secondary goal is to assist the national army in Zhongtiao Mountain to fight against the Japanese army. Originally they only needed to stick to the defense zone and watch the fire from across the bank, but now they actively want to let the Japanese army cross the Yellow River.
"This is too abnormal. I'm afraid it's because he's deceived by eating too much lard. Where did Hu Zhongnan get such courage? On the contrary, I'm worried that he will steal the chicken but lose the rice. When the time comes..." the brigade commander
murmured to himself.
"How about I go check it out tomorrow?"
"No, absolutely not. This kind of confidential information was passed on by our comrades lurking within the national army at the risk of their lives. Once they realize that the information has been leaked, it will be easy to identify them!"
Zhou Weihan immediately realized something was wrong, and a name came to mind. As long as this comrade was around, it was like having a surveillance camera installed around Hu Zongnan, and the Eighth Route Army could obtain important information at any time.
"I asked why, even with the participation of Americans, the joint talks have not yet yielded results. It turned out that the plan was to hide it from the outside world. If we could hide it from the Japanese, we might actually have a slight chance of winning!"
"At present, we are not able to make decisions without authorization. Even if the national army mobilizes troops, it cannot be completed in a short time. But we are not in a hurry. We should wait for instructions from our superiors!" The brigade commander did not dare to make decisions without authorization, so he could only
Take a more prudent approach.
The words were divided, and Ishihara Kanji arrived in Peiping in April and served as the commander of the Japanese North China Expeditionary Force.
Since he took office, Japan has added two additional divisions, the 59th and 69th divisions, to North China, as well as 10 supplementary brigades. The depletion of Japanese troops has been effectively alleviated.
At the same time, more conservative measures were taken against the Eighth Route Army base areas. Japanese troops in various places began to shrink their forces, abandoning some strongholds wedged into the Eighth Route Army base areas, and concentrated their main forces in counties and along transportation lines.
Taiyuan First Army Headquarters.
The recent restart of the bombing of Nishihara was personally carried out by Kanji Ishihara. The purpose was very obvious, which was to disrupt the negotiations between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and to arrive in Taiyuan before the operation.
"Your Excellency General, according to inside information, today's bombing did not have the expected effect. The Chinese people in the planned bombing sites are all low-level personnel, and there are no important people among them. Obviously the opponent has been prepared for it!"
Hanagu Zhenghui, Chief of Staff of the First Army, reported that he did not take it seriously as to the intelligence team that was damaged afterwards.
Ishihara Wanji didn't show any disappointment when he heard this: "Hanagani-kun, this is a bad strategy. The real decision of victory or defeat has to be done on the battlefield!"
"What I am most concerned about now is the situation of the Chinese troops mobilizing!"
"Hey, the Chinese Central Army and the Eighth Route Army are still in a high-pressure situation. The two sides have not reached an agreement and have no intention of withdrawing their troops."
"In recent years, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region of the Eighth Route Army has continued to grow under the blockade of the National Army, exerting great pressure on the National Army. At the beginning of the joint talks between the two sides, Hu Zhongnan still issued an order to mobilize troops from the Yellow River defense line, resulting in
The various defense departments are not organized uniformly, and the number of personnel is generally reduced by one-third!"
After hearing this, Ishihara Wanji did not express his attitude immediately, but fell into deep thought. On the contrary, Yoshio Iwamatsu looked anxious. The First Army needed military exploits to wash away the shame it carried.
"Ishihara-kun, perhaps this is an excellent fighter opportunity for the Japanese Imperial Army. If our First Army can defeat the national army entrenched in Shaanxi Province, occupy Shaanxi Province, and thus open up the southward passage, it may be possible to directly attack the Chinese capital.
Opportunity!"
Before Iwamatsu Yoshio finished speaking, he was interrupted by Ishihara Wanji: "Iwamatsu-kun, you are too impatient. You need to keep a calm mind to judge the situation. The strength of the Imperial Japanese Army in China is not what it used to be. This cannot be changed.
fact!"
"But, Ishihara-kun, I think the imperial army still has the advantage!"
"So we have to choose the right target. The national army on the west bank of the Yellow River is not the first target to be solved, but here!" Ishihara Wanji pointed at the map.
"Nani, Zhongtiao Mountain?"
"Yes, the top priority is to deal with the national army entrenched in Zhongtiao Mountain. Only in this way can the pressure on the imperial army's military strength be greatly relieved. In the future, we can be free to deal with the Eighth Route Army. This is the only way for the imperial army to break the situation.
method!"
"The Chinese seemed to be expanding northward in the Zhongtiao Mountains and regaining the area occupied by the imperial army in one fell swoop. However, they lost more. Many troops were scattered in large and small mountainous areas, and they had lost their original mobility!"
"Besides, since the Chinese changed their commanders, the discipline of the soldiers has rapidly deteriorated, and their combat effectiveness is not as good as before!"
Although Yoshio Iwamatsu felt that what Ishihara Wanji said was reasonable, he still felt that it was too risky: "Ishihara-kun, there are not only the national army in southern Shanxi, but also the Eighth Route Army entrenched here, and there is also the vacillating Shanxi-Sui Army in western Shanxi.
!”
"Every time the Imperial Army carries out a major military operation, bad things will happen to the Eighth Route Army, so you must be on guard!"
"Ishihara-kun, Hanagani-kun, have you ever read the Chinese military manual?"
Before the two of them could answer, Ishihara Wan'er continued: "In the Thirty-Six Chinese, there is a trick called crossing the sea, and I think it can be used this time!"
"The imperial army should secretly concentrate its forces on the east bank of the Yellow River, make a crossing posture, and show its determination to break into the east of the Yellow River, so as to attract the national army forces in the Zhongtiao Mountain area to mobilize, and then the main force of the imperial army secretly retreated, and the raid was underway
A mountain!"
"Soldiers are more valuable than large numbers. Using one brigade as the vanguard to attack one point is enough to cause the defeat of the national army in the Zhongtiao Mountain area!"
At this point, Yoshio Iwamatsu and Masaru Hanatani truly understood Ishihara Kanji's intention. They both looked at each other and felt that the plan was feasible, but the details still needed to be carefully considered.
In particular, how to fully mobilize the national military forces in the Zhongtiao Mountain area while preventing the Japanese military forces from being mired in the western front battlefield and allowing the main force to be placed on the southern front.