Chapter 331 The most worrying thing for the commander
Regarding Li Zhigao's suggestion, the army commander shook his head and said: "The political commissar always looks at problems comprehensively and from a long-term perspective. He insists that we only use five-watt radios, which must be his reason. We still follow the political commissar's request.
, wait until we reach southern Jiangsu before turning on the high-power radio. Since they are calling on the radio, it means that the political commissar and the others should not have any problems at least for now."
Having said this, the army commander sighed slightly and said: "I don't know what the situation is like on the political commissar's side? The entire Third War Zone's troops in southern Anhui were attracted by them, and there were not many troops around them. I was really worried.
They were worried. Fortunately, we insisted on keeping Li Huilan in the first place, hoping that she would use her proficiency in radio communications to help the political commissars and others escape."
"I still know Li Huilan's capabilities. With her here, the entire military deployment in the third theater will not have any big secrets to protect. At least the political commissar and the others will not be ambushed. The political commissar originally insisted on not retaining female operators because he was worried about being surrounded.
It is inconvenient to be a lesbian. We insisted on keeping Li Huilan behind his back. It seems that this move was the right one."
Li Zhigao seemed a little helpless at the commander's insistence. He opened his mouth and finally swallowed the words on his lips. The commander had been suppressed for too long and almost lost his sense of autonomy. Although the political commissar has been here since he arrived,
After Wannan, I have always respected military commanders and dared to delegate power to them.
The military commander now has the authority and is responsible for the combat operations of the entire army. After the troops were divided, the political commissar repeatedly emphasized that all actions of the military headquarters and the main force are fully responsible for the military commander, and no one is allowed to interfere. The military commander is given sufficient freedom.
Trust and rights, but it is a pity that the commander himself has a personal problem. But this kind of thing is something that he, as a subordinate, cannot say.
As the chief of the operations section, Li Zhigao chose to remain silent on this matter, but he could not choose to remain silent on other matters within his scope of responsibility. There are some things that should be said: "Commander, according to the
According to time calculation, the first echelon is estimated to be close to its destination now. Should we contact Sunan's troops? Let them send capable personnel to assist us."
"There is also the army commander. Deputy Chief of Staff Zhou is following the first echelon. With Deputy Chief of Staff Zhou following the command, there shouldn't be any big problems. Isn't it time for you to take a rest? You haven't slept for two days. This is a critical moment.
Come on, you can't be exhausted. You can go and rest for a while, we will support you here."
Regarding Li Zhigao's suggestion to take a rest, the army commander shook his head and said: "Compared to the political commissar who put himself in danger, there is nothing wrong with me taking a little less rest. When the troops are safe, won't there be plenty of time to rest? No.
It’s just a while away. Go tell the second echelon and ask them to hurry up and prepare. After the first echelon’s ship returns, boarding must be completed within half an hour.”
"The political commissar used his own safety to buy us time, and not a single second can be wasted. After the fleet returns, according to the original plan, all ministries must board the ship in order. Order the New Third Regiment, which covers the entire army, to do a good job
In preparation for battle, before the entire army has boarded the ship, if there is an enemy invasion, whether it is the Japanese army or the Third War Zone, no matter how many troops there are and what kind of equipment they have, even if one soldier is defeated, the entire army must be covered.
mission.”
Hearing the commander's words, Li Zhigao frowned and said: "Commander, haven't the main forces of the Second Guerrilla Zone been attracted by the political commissar to the junction area of Jingde, Ningguo and Jingxian County? In addition to the Second Guerrilla Zone
Besides, there are no large groups of enemy troops around us. Are you worried that the Japanese troops in Wuhu will take advantage of the second guerrilla zone to move south?"
"Probably not. The Japanese 15th Division along the line from Wuhu to Nanjing is very dispersed, and concentration of troops cannot be completed in a short time. Although the main force of the second guerrilla zone has now moved south. But if the Japanese army is dispatched,
Their speed of returning reinforcements will not be too slow. Moreover, the Second Guerrilla Zone still has two divisions in Jing County."
"The Japanese troops have come in too few and will not work. If they have more troops, Nanjing and Wuhu will be empty. In addition, it will take time to mobilize and gather troops. Southern Anhui is too close to southern Jiangsu, and the little devils will not be so stupid.
, redeploying too many troops from the periphery of Nanjing."
"Although this place is close to enemy-occupied areas, it is, after all, under the jurisdiction of the Third War Zone. If the Japanese army sends troops, they will not hesitate at all. Our troops are weak and we are indeed no match for them now. But there are still more than 100,000 troops in the Third War Zone.
I don’t believe it. If they send troops, the Third War Zone will just ignore them?”
Regarding Li Zhigao's words, the army commander shook his head and said: "Although the 15th Division and the Third War Zone are rivals, there is no difference between them in terms of destroying us. If the Japanese troops from Wuhu and Nanjing are dispatched,
The Third War Zone will definitely not participate in the war, and may even make way for it. Therefore, we must be a hundred times more careful and be prepared to deal with all possibilities."
Li Zhigao did not answer the commander's speculation. He knew that the commander's worries were definitely not unreasonable. Although the two armies would not openly join forces, there was still a possibility of forming a certain tacit understanding on strategy.
Now the Japanese troops on the Wuhu front line may even be dispatched.
Thinking of this, Li Zhigao shook his head and said: "Commander, I think as long as we act quickly, there is still hope that we can all cross Nanyi Lake before the Japanese troops are dispatched. As long as we cross Nanyi Lake and join up with the southern Jiangsu army
, I think even if the Japanese army deploys in large numbers, there will be nothing they can do for us."
"Commander, I will go to the New Third Regiment to take charge, and you will command the second echelon of troops to board the ship here. As long as we act quickly, even if the Japanese troops in Wuhu and Ma'anshan are dispatched, there will be nothing we can do. What I am most worried about now is not the ground
The enemy forces on the ground are numerous, and there are many river branches around Nanyi Lake, which can become natural positions for us to exploit. Even if the enemy forces on the ground attack, we can delay them for a while. What I am most worried about is not the ground, but the sky."
"We don't have any anti-aircraft weapons. Once the Japanese army dispatches a large number of aircraft to carry out air attacks on us. When the troops are crossing the lake, they are on the unobstructed lake. Once the Japanese army dispatches aircraft to carry out bombing and strafing, we are afraid that we will suffer casualties.
It will definitely not be any smaller.”
Regarding Li Zhigao's worries, the army commander nodded in agreement and said: "It is precisely because of this concern that I ordered the troops to speed up their operations. Although Nanyi Lake is not big, the lake is not small either.
.We don’t have a motorized ship on hand, and the speed itself is not fast. Once we encounter an enemy plane, it will be very dangerous.”
"But as you said, we don't have any anti-aircraft weapons and can only be passively bombed. But no matter what, the losses are still a small number. As long as most of the troops can break through, we can only accept some losses.
Fortunately, the number of Japanese aircraft deployed in Nanjing is not large. Most of the aircraft are concentrated in Wuhan and Anqing and are busy carrying out air strikes on the rear. They will not use too much force to deal with us."
Having said this, the commander looked at the surrounding situation, gritted his teeth and said to Li Zhigao: "If the first echelon goes well, it should be about to land now, and there won't be any big problems. Let the second echelon find it."
Several boats piled with reeds were arranged crosswise among the fleet. Once a Japanese aircraft arrived, these boats piled with reeds would be set on fire. After the entire army crossed the lake, we would just pay more compensation to the boat owners."
"Although we can't do anything about the Japanese aircraft, we can still reduce the losses a little. It's better to reduce the losses a little. I heard that the political commissar and his Northeast Military Region have established an air force. Last year, they actually fought a battle with the Japanese aviation force. We achieved success.
achieved considerable results.”
"It will be great when our New Fourth Army can have its own air force like them. In the future battles, we will no longer be helpless against the Japanese planes. Watching our comrades under the bombing of enemy planes
, it was lost in vain, but we were helpless.”
"Even if there is no aviation force, even if we can have some anti-aircraft guns or anti-aircraft machine guns, it will be fine. It's a pity that we don't even have an anti-aircraft machine gun, and we don't even have enough heavy machine guns that can shoot anti-aircraft fire. There is no other way except being passively bombed. Only
Hopefully we can go smoothly today."
Looking at the sky in the distance, when Li Zhigao was about to speak, his topic was interrupted by the Chief of Staff of the New Third Regiment who hurriedly led a person. Seeing the commander and Li Zhigao, the New Third Regiment
The chief of staff said quickly: "Commander, we have just received reconnaissance personnel sent by the southern Jiangsu army to look for us."
The man brought by the chief of staff of the New Third Regiment was obviously known to the commander. When he saw this person, the thick cloud that had been covering the commander's face since he broke up with Yang Zhen dispersed a little, and he even said excitedly: "Little
Why are you Zhang? After the main force from Jiangnan went north, didn't you stay at the Jiangnan headquarters as a reconnaissance staff officer? How did you find yourself here?"
"You appear here, where are your troops now? What is the situation in southern Jiangsu now? What are the movements of the Japanese troops in Wuhu, Ma'anshan and southern Jiangsu? Have they been dispatched, and how many troops have been dispatched? How is your contact with Jiangbei?
?Can Jiangbei raise enough ferries in a short time?"
After hearing the military commander's series of questions, Zhang Tao, the reconnaissance company commander of the Jiangnan Command who was sent out by the Southern Jiangsu Army to conduct reconnaissance, said quickly: "Commander, our Southern Jiangsu Army received an order from the political commissar to take over the main force. In addition to leaving some troops behind,
Except for monitoring the Japanese troops in southern Jiangsu and remaining base areas, all have been mobilized now."
"The main force has now arrived at the northwest shore of Nanyi Lake. It has encountered the Japanese troops dispatched on the front line in Wuhu, and is currently engaged in a fierce battle. Since our commander and political commissar have been unable to contact the military headquarters on the radio, they sent me
Come and find the main force."
"Commander, you are very anxious that the political commissar cannot contact you. We have received orders to find the main force at all costs and cover your retreat to southern Jiangsu. We have been calling the military headquarters on the radio, but the military radio station has been delayed.
There is no response. The military commander and the political commissar are very worried about the delay in being able to contact you."
Regarding this person's words, the military commander could only shake his head and smile bitterly: "The Communications Section does not understand the political commissar's method of using low-power radios to transmit signals over long distances. The political commissar has repeatedly asked us not to use high-power radios, so we can only
I heard the other party's call on the radio and couldn't reply."