The failure of the Japanese army to quickly capture Pukou shattered the plan of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army Headquarters to encircle and kill the main force of the national army in the Nanjing area. Although the Japanese army's advance was unstoppable in several other directions, as long as there was one direction If there were no mistakes, the Japanese army would not launch a general attack on Nanjing. For the Japanese army, "The basic purpose of the Nanjing strategy is not to capture Nanjing, but to consume the effective strength of the national army as much as possible." Matsui Iwane's speech at a military conference Since Pukou is still in the hands of the Chinese army, once the Japanese army launches a general offensive and the Chinese army is determined to break through, the Pukou line will become a ready breakthrough point.
Three days after the Battle of Pukou, a military meeting convened by Chiang Kai-shek in the name of the Military Committee was held in a military camp in the northern suburbs of Nanjing.
The participants, in addition to the bosses of various systems of the Central Army and the top officers and subordinates of each group army, as well as the top officers and important subordinates of other forces garrisoning Nanjing, participated in such a high-level meeting for the first time, and every participant attended the meeting. Basically, he can be regarded as a heavyweight who could cause earthquakes by stomping his feet during the Republic of China. It would be a lie to say that he is not nervous. But all Ouyang Yun can do is take more deep breaths and try to make himself look calm.
From the beginning of the Battle of Nanjing to the present, although the Military Commission made several preparations and even spent a lot of money to establish several lines of defense, due to the uneven quality of the troops, the results were minimal. Among them, the most ridiculous That’s the Xicheng Line and the Wufu Line,
The cement fortifications that had been built after a huge amount of money and manpower were turned into mere decorations because they could not get the keys. Ouyang Yun thought of the defense line he set up in Wen'an, which played a huge role in the early independence of the Xuebing Army. Effectively, precisely because of the existence of that line of defense, the Japanese army's military operations against the Xuebing Army could only be launched from the gap they had reserved in advance. This gave the Xuebing Army a chance to attack a corner of the force and save the enemy. The base area that the Xuebing Army originally had was pitiful in size.
As for the Xuebing Army, the only ones who received the invitation were Ouyang Yun and Li Hanhun. When they arrived at the venue ten minutes before the scheduled time, the large conference room was already full of people, some wearing brand new military uniforms. Beautifully dressed female officers shuttled among them, serving tea and water to the generals who were already seated. They were very busy.
As the leader of the Xuebing Army, Ouyang Yun's images were frequently published in the newspapers because of the Xuebing Army's previous brilliant achievements. Therefore, he was recognized by many people as soon as he walked in.
"That's Ouyang Yun."
"Commander of the Xuebing Army."... Those who talked about him in this way were naturally those butterfly-like female officers.
Most of the people who just looked at him with their eyes were commanders of other armies or some important officials of the Kuomintang government. Suddenly becoming the focus of everyone, Ouyang Yun took a deep breath and walked to the sign-in table by the door. To sign in and receive his seat number, a young general in his thirties came over with a few people and shouted from a distance: "It's Commander Ouyang, I've seen you for a long time. Your army is in Jiangyin and Zhenjiang, including The fighting in Pukou a few days ago was really good. Perhaps your unit is the only unit that has not been defeated so far."
He has a long and thin face, bright eyes, relatively delicate appearance, and a slightly big mouth. As soon as Ouyang Yun saw his appearance clearly, he immediately guessed the identity of the other person. He immediately greeted him warmly, saluted and shook hands. , said: "Commander Chen, thank you very much. The 15th Army Group you led also fought well."
This person is none other than Chen Cheng, a leader in Chiang Kai-shek's direct lineage.
Hearing what Ouyang Yun said, he waved his hands repeatedly and said: "I won't say any more polite words. I have been admiring the general for a long time. I was originally thinking about when I could see the anti-Japanese vanguard force. Jiangyin Fortress Sniper warfare has given me a lot of experience, Commander Ouyang, on behalf of all my colleagues in the Navy Department, I would like to thank you. If your department had not sniped at the Japanese Third Fleet regardless of sacrifice, our navy would no longer be able to fight."
Ouyang Yun said modestly: "Where, where, as a soldier, it is our bounden duty to expel foreign enemies. These are all what we should do."
Chen Cheng introduced him to a few people around him, but they were all key figures in the civil engineering department. Among them, Huang Wei, who was a member of Ouyang Yunxue's military team,
If when Chen Cheng and others saw Ouyang Yun, they were just surprised at the speed of this young talent's rise and had some speculations, then as the planner of the former student training class, Huang Wei had much more emotions. You know, the original soldier training class only had about 200 people at full capacity. However, with just these 200 people, Ouyang Yun was able to develop it into a regiment, a division, and even a regiment in a very short period of time. Such a speed of expansion of a group army was rare even in the era of warlord separatism in the early Republic of China. Ouyang Yun is really not a simple person.
A few people were chatting, and Shaoshuai Zhang came over with a few people. Although he and Ouyang Yun had not known each other for a long time, their relationship was extraordinary because of their shared experiences of adversity. Chen Cheng and others looked on with cold eyes and noticed that they They greeted Ouyang Yun in a tacit understanding and exchanged glances. When this direct descendant of the Chairman looked at Ouyang Yun, his eyes were no longer so innocent.
Whenever there are many participants and important content, the seating arrangement of the participants is very particular. For example, for the few people who gathered just now, their seats were all arranged in the first row. , among them, Ouyang Yungeng and Chen Cheng became neighbors. Of course, this does not rule out the latter's intentional result. After all, he is Lao Jiang's right-hand man, and it is very easy to change his seat to a more satisfactory one.
On the other hand, looking at Marshal Zhang, his seat is puzzling.
After the Xi'an Incident, although he himself was not punished and even retained his title of deputy commander, his seat was arranged to the far right of the first row. Noting this, Ouyang Yun couldn't help but frown. He wrinkled slightly, and at the same time, he had a better understanding of some people's behavior.
He Yingqin presided over the meeting, and the first speaker was Elder Jiang, the member of the Military Commission. After all the participants stood up and applauded, he slowly walked onto the podium. Then, he put down the speech in his hand and scanned the audience. , said in a slightly hoarse voice: "Everyone, at this time of national crisis, I have called you together to hold this meeting. I believe everyone already knows the main topics of this meeting. Yes, the main content of this meeting is to discuss …”
Old Chiang Kai-shek was talking eloquently above, while Ouyang Yun was on the job below. No matter how fanciful Chiang Kai-shek's words were, the fall of Nanjing was inevitable. What he was most concerned about now was whether the Nanjing government had detailed information. At that time and space, the Nanjing government still had some illusions about holding Nanjing, which gave rise to the tragedy of the "Nanjing Massacre". What Ouyang Yun thought was: if the Nationalist government had prepared for a rainy day, it would have Just make an evacuation plan. So, is it possible to avoid the "Nanjing Massacre"?
Chiang Kai-shek's speech alone lasted for more than half an hour, and then, when he asked all the participants to express their opinions, Ouyang Yun, who did not listen to a word of his speech, immediately gave He had a problem,
Ouyang Yun spoke after Chen Cheng, because just after Chen Cheng finished speaking, everyone's eyes fell on him. In fact, many people's eyes actually fell on Chen Cheng, but Ouyang Yun I just misunderstood,
Chen Cheng's previous speeches were all about how to stabilize the defense line and protect Nanjing. As a direct descendant of the old Chiang Kai-shek, this is also his duty. In this way, as soon as Ouyang Yun and his speeches were completely different from each other, they Attracting everyone's attention, Ouyang Yun's suggestion was: Given the current war situation, it is meaningless to defend Nanjing. The correct approach now is to organize a retreat and prepare to abandon Nanjing.
Nanjing was the capital of the National Government at this time. Regardless of whether his suggestion was right or wrong, from a purely standpoint point of view, his suggestion was treasonous. As soon as he finished speaking, many people criticized and some cursed Some people accused him of not having military integrity, and some people accused him of not caring about the overall situation. Even worse, they directly accused him of being a traitor.
Historically, just when the Japanese army began to attack Nanjing, the Nationalist Government began to evacuate. At this time and space, due to the early fall of Shanghai, the evacuation was much earlier. At this time, the Nationalist Government was still stationed in Nanjing, leaving only Some departments related to the military. It is said that Ouyang Yu's suggestion played into the hands of Lao Jiang. What's funny is that for some unknown purpose, Lao Jiang took this as an opportunity to severely punish the Xue Bing Army. spur,
Chiang Kai-shek did not mention any names in his criticism, but only referred to "certain troops" instead. It was not that Chiang Kai-shek was taboo against the Xue Bing Army. In fact, in his speech not long ago, he praised the Xue Bing Army.
As the only unit that has dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese army at this stage, the Xuebing Army deserves the commendation from the chairman of the committee. However, as an armed force with a private nature, this is also the ultimate. No matter how hard the national army on other fronts fought, No matter how bad it was, after all, he was his direct descendant, and it was impossible for Chiang Kai-shek to attack him without any scruples. However, due to the importance of the Jiangyin Fortress sniper battle to the Battle of Nanjing, he had to praise the Xuebing Army, and now , Ouyang Yun's words undoubtedly gave him an opportunity to exploit the topic, so the Xuebing Army was honored to transform from an ace army into a selfish private armed force.