In order to expand the military as much as possible, Yang Zhen drew on the experience of the American college student officer corps. In the upcoming World War II, the number of U.S. troops increased dramatically by hundreds or thousands of times. With only a few military academies, it was It is simply impossible to train a large number of qualified officers in a very short period of time.
It was the Reserve Officer Training Corps established in various universities in the United States that trained a large number of qualified officers for the United States during World War II. This prevented the shortage of officers when the U.S. military expanded, and prepared the skeleton for the expansion of the U.S. military. As long as it is filled with flesh and blood, a huge army will appear in front of everyone.
Although there are only a few internal universities in the base area, it is almost impossible to rely on local universities to train a large number of reserve officers like Americans do. Yang Zhen was reluctant to let them go to the battlefield for the few college students, but the junior high school and the national junior high school The number of high ones is quite a lot.
Relying on these young students can effectively solve the problem of low cultural quality and difficult training of grassroots commanders. But again, all of this requires a lot of time. Without enough time, it is impossible to complete these preparations, especially The training of a large number of commanders takes even more time.
If North Manchuria is lost, the Japanese high-level officials can still barely accept it. If the Anti-Japanese Alliance poses a threat to South Manchuria, which has built huge industries and has become the most important industrial and economic lifeline for the Japanese army to launch the war, then not only will they not be able to accept it, It’s just the Kwantung Army.
The coal and iron resources in Benxi, Liaoyang, and Anshan, the magnesium mines in Dashiqiao, the molybdenum, lead-zinc mines in western Liaoning, and the huge industries are one of the most important industrial foundations on which the Japanese army relies. Once the southern Manchuria industrial base is lost, , Japan’s domestic industry alone cannot maintain its war potential.
If the Japanese want to continue the war, then the industrial zone in southern Manchuria will be an extremely vital lifeline for them, and Yang Zhen is not arrogant enough to think that without involving the Americans, just relying on With his current strength, he can completely defeat the Kwantung Army.
Yang Zhen is very aware of the overall gap between the Anti-Japanese Alliance and the Japanese army. Even describing it as a huge difference is a bit exaggerated. Not to mention that the industrial zone is under construction. Even if the construction is completed, the current industrial strength of Northern Manchuria alone It cannot be compared with Japan.
At present, a considerable part of the Japanese army's strength is still restrained on the battlefield within the Kwantung region, and neither Japan's entire national economy nor the entire Japanese people have entered into wartime physique. Once the Kwantung Army is severely damaged, the Japanese army will do whatever it takes to maintain its The lifeline of Manchuria and Mongolia must be mobilized to fight back against the Anti-Japanese Alliance with the strength of the whole country.
At that time, even if they try their best to mobilize, the Anti-Japanese Alliance, which can only mobilize 4 to 50,000 troops, will not be able to resist it. At present, the Anti-Japanese Alliance can only barely maintain its local advantage over the Kwantung Army, but considering the overall situation, It can be said that there is almost no big difference between having this advantage or not.
The most important thing is that Yang Zhen does not want to go to the fire for the Americans. If it were not to prepare for the future and use North China's huge human resources to supplement the already relatively depleted troop supply in the base area, Yang Zhen would adopt active defense tactics this year, and It is not for the Japanese to focus all their energy on themselves.
At least for now, they don’t hope that the Japanese will put the power to deal with the Americans on themselves and fight against the whole of Japan. Yang Zhen thinks that he does not have this strength, and if the Americans are not involved, Yang Zhen will not be able to take advantage of World War II. A rare opportunity to build China's own modern industrial base.
If you want to draw Americans into the vortex of blood and fire of World War II as early as possible according to the history you are familiar with, the sooner it will be to your advantage. If the Japanese army loses too much vitality at this time, it will be detrimental to your future. The overall development is quite unfavorable.
Moreover, South Manchuria is not only about the Eastern Army, but also the Korean Army in the east, and the Japanese Army North China Front in North China in the southern pass. If necessary, they may go north to join the war. If during the first phase of the battle, the troops cause trouble during the battle, With heavy casualties, in the second stage, facing an almost certain crazy counterattack by the Japanese army, how could the battle be continued?
For Yang Zhen, Xinjing, as the headquarters of the Kwantung Army and the capital of the Puppet Manchukuo, is indeed a flag for the Japanese army to rule the Northeast. But apart from this and its slightly important strategic position, it is nothing. If it is allowed Yang Zhen would risk paying too heavy a price to seize such a city just for some symbols. He would never do it.
Taking Xinjing, the headquarters of the Kwantung Army, and the capital of the Puppet Manchukuo, will indeed be a great boost to the morale of the national resistance war. At the same time, it will also completely establish the name of the Anti-Japanese Alliance internationally, but for Yang Zhenlai It is said that face cannot solve the fundamental problem.
Let Yang Zhen take tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of casualties, to exchange for a city that has no great significance except for its reputation. This price is a bit too heavy for Yang Zhen. For Yang Zhen, it is rather expensive to pay. At the cost of attacking this heavily fortified city by the Japanese army, it was better to concentrate on seizing the grain-producing areas of the Songnen Plain. This was of greater practical significance to Yang Zhen.
Yang Zhenke still clearly remembers the Soviet Union's previous lion's mouth, especially now that the Soviet-German war has broken out. After Ukraine, the Soviet Union's main grain-producing area, is lost, the Soviet Union's appetite will become bigger and bigger. With the transportation lines still relying on the Soviets, using this opportunity to seize the Songnen Plain, one of the most important grain-producing areas in the entire Northeast, would be even more attractive to Yang Zhen.
Regarding Wang Guangyu's suggestion, Yang Zhen smiled and said: "Old Wang, you have a good idea and a broad vision, but have you ever thought that once Chen Hanzhang's troops are entangled by the Japanese army, they will be unable to fight on the Western Front? What should we do if we provide all-out reinforcements, or what should we do if we suffer too many casualties and lose the ability to continue fighting while encircling and annihilating the heavy Japanese army group north of Xinjing."
"Old Wang, you are also a veteran. You also know the true combat effectiveness of the Japanese army. If we want to severely damage or even encircle and annihilate these divisions they deployed north of Xinjing, the price we will pay will undoubtedly be very huge. The capture of Xinjing is indeed of great significance, but from a military perspective, it is not of great practical significance to us. Compared to a city in Xinjing, using this opportunity to seize the main grain producing areas of the Songnen Plain is of great significance to us. The significance is far greater than seizing Xinjing."
"In fact, even if we cannot recapture Xinjing in this battle, as long as we maintain military pressure around Xinjing, the Kwantung Army's heavy force group will not dare to move in other directions. This will be detrimental to our next operation. , is the most advantageous. Although the Kwantung Army has been defeated by us many times, after all, its current strength still occupies a considerable advantage."
"Old Wang, we don't care about the gains and losses of one city or one place. We should focus on annihilating the effective strength of the Japanese army. It is naturally good to take the opportunity to capture Xinjing. If there are no fighter planes, we should not force it, let alone capture Xinjing. For the main goal, we cannot eat a fat man in one bite."
"The western front is mainly focused on attacking southwards. As for the central and eastern fronts, during the feint, the main focus is on annihilating the effective forces of the Japanese army. Conquering cities and seizing territory is not our current main goal in a short period of time. Lao Wang still says the same , there is no point in crippling our troops for the sake of Xinjing."
"Our biggest headache now is the problem of troop sources. This is also the main reason why the headquarters wants to complete the opening of the transportation line within the customs by the middle of this year. If we cannot solve the problem of troop sources, we will not be able to achieve real development and growth. The current situation in our base area , Unless we give up all industrial construction, we will simply not be able to support the troop supply needs of our troops."
"Old Wang, I can understand your thoughts, but we cannot rest on our laurels. In a word, we have to eat one bite at a time and walk one step at a time. Some goals look very good and quite tempting, but we At present, we still need to focus on stability and act within our capabilities.”
There are some things that Yang Zhen said very thoroughly, but there are still quite a few words that Yang Zhen did not say, because there are many things that Yang Zhen cannot say. There is only so much that Yang Zhen can say, and the rest must be temporarily suppressed. In my heart, there are things that cannot be explained clearly if I talk too much. In many cases, being vague may be the best way to deal with it.
How else could he tell the two people in front of him that at the end of the year, the Japanese would launch an air attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet and start a full-scale war with the United States. The reason why he had reservations about this battle was for the reasons explained before. In addition, we also plan to shed more blood on the Americans in the future war between the United States and Japan, and more importantly, take advantage of this rare opportunity to gain as many benefits as possible from the Americans.
These are things that Yang Zhen cannot say openly, and they are even more difficult for him to explain now, because no one can accurately judge the situation in five months, especially the international situation that the Anti-Japanese League is still difficult to contact. If he now Five months after the announcement, the United States and Japan will break out into a bloody war that will last for four years. I am afraid that no one will believe it. He has tried his best to explain the reasons that can be explained, but for things that cannot be explained clearly, he can only temporarily First think of a way to fool him.
Although many of Yang Zhen's words were vague, Wang Guangyu didn't ask for details after looking at Yang Zhen's slightly frowned brows. He knew that there must be something that No. 1 did not say, because he heard what No. 1 explained. Among the reasons, many of them are obviously far-fetched, and some even don't even make it to the point.
But out of his understanding and trust of Yang Zhen, Wang Guangyu did not ask too deeply, because he knew that no matter what Yang Zhen's starting point was, he would not let the Anti-Japanese Alliance suffer, so he gave up the opportunity to seize Xinjing this time. , there must be some reason why he didn't say it, maybe because the time was not right.
Wang Guangyu did not continue to insist on his opinions. Since the merger of the First Army and the Jidong Military Region, apart from the work he was in charge of, he rarely expressed his opinions on other issues, even operations. During this meeting, he seemed very silent. Yang Jingyu would not say anything more.