Chiang Kai-shek is convening a military committee meeting to discuss the organization of troops at the group army, corps, division and other levels belonging to various forces and theaters.
By four o'clock in the afternoon, the formations of the major army groups had been freshly released.
The group army sequence that belongs to the direct line of the Central Military Army includes Jiang Dingwen's Fourth Group Army, Zhu Shaoliang's Ninth Group Army who replaced Zhang Zhizhong as commander (Zhang Zhizhong was transferred to the chairman of Hunan Province), Guan Linzheng's Tenth Group Army, Xu Tingyao's Thirteenth Group Army, and Wei Lihuang's Fourteenth Group Army.
, Chen Cheng's 15th Group Army, Luo Zhuoying's 16th Group Army, Hu Zongnan's 17th Group Army, Xue Yue's 19th Group Army, Huang Jie's 24th Group
Group armies, Huo Kuizhang's 25th Group Army, Yu Jishi's 26th Group Army, Xia Chuzhong's 27th Group Army, Shangguan Yunxiang's 28th Group Army, Tang Enbo's 31st Group Army, Gu Zhutong's 32nd Group Army, Chen Yi's 32nd Group Army
The Thirty-sixth Army captured 17 of the 41 Army Groups in the country in one fell swoop. From this moment on, the Central Army truly established its absolute advantage over the local armies.
The Shanxi-Sui Army has four group army numbers: Yang Aiyuan's 6th Group Army, Fu Zuoyi's 7th Group Army, Shang Zhen's 20th Group Army, and Chen Changjie's 40th Group Army, which are mainly responsible for combat tasks in Shanxi.
The Gui army that has been deployed to the surrounding areas of Xuzhou includes Li Pinxian's 11th Group Army, Liao Lei's 21st Group Army, and Xia Wei's 41st Group Army. They have become the absolute main force in the Xuzhou battle.
The huge Sichuan Army's six armies were evenly distributed in the first, second, and fifth theaters, all on the first line of battle against the Japanese invaders. In addition, there were the Guangdong Army Zhang Fakui's Tenth Army and Yu Hanmou's Third Army.
The Twelfth Group Army is responsible for the heavy responsibility of coastal defense in the southeast, and the Northwest Army is responsible for
Zisun Lianzhong's Second Group Army, Sun Tongxuan's Third Group Army, Song Zheyuan's 29th Group Army and Zhang Zizhong's 33rd Group Army were concentrated in the first and fifth theaters to fight against the Japanese troops on the north bank of the Yellow River and the Shandong front line, and the 18th Army under the leadership of the Communist Party
The group army still falls under the leadership of the second theater.
At the same time, the Yunnan Provincial Army was officially independent from the First Army System. Zhu Peide was appointed commander of the Fifth Army. In addition to Zhu Shigui's 58th Army, Zhan Huanqi's 27th Army and Lu Han's 60th Army were also given official command.
No., these three armies all belong to Zhu Peide
Command. The Military Commission ordered that the Fifth Army must assign an army to go out to Yunnan to participate in the war. Zhu Peide responded by telegram and said that Lu Han would be sent to the expedition. Although Lu Han knew clearly that this was a means for Zhu Peide to eliminate dissidents, he still accepted the order. Soon he would
Take a train and head east to Nanjing to join the war.
In view of the fact that the Japanese troops in Datong and Shijiazhuang are ready to move, the Fifth Army Group assumes important responsibilities. In order to declare that the Anjia Army is independent of other military systems, the designation of the 30th Group Army is specially assigned. Hu Jialin serves as the commander of the group army. Currently, Lu Yixuan temporarily acts as the group army.
affairs, and independently command operations.
During this time, good news came from various places.
In the second theater, the Japanese army in Datong assembled heavy troops. They formed two divisions, the 102nd Division and the 103rd Division, and four independent mixed brigades. They wanted to forcibly assault Yanmen Pass. On the Xiawu Mountain line, they encountered the Central Army under the command of Wei Lihuang.
9th Army, 14th Army and 9th Army
The 7th Army suffered a heavy blow, and the Japanese army dispatched aircraft and artillery. However, Wei Lihuang's 14th Group Army also had a large number of anti-aircraft artillery and a huge 75mm artillery group. The Japanese attacking troops encountered a large area of artillery fire, lost their troops, and fled back to the mountains in embarrassment.
Yin County Town.
Later, unwilling to accept defeat, Itagaki Seishiro mobilized the Fifth Division, crossed the canyon between Huangyajian Mountain and Longxu Mountain in the Hengshan Mountains, captured Shizhuang, then captured Lingqiu County, and went all the way west to occupy Donghenan Town.
But at the Pingxingguan line between Mount Taixi in the Wutai Mountains, we encountered major setbacks:
The baggage troops behind the Fifth Division were ambushed by the 115th Division, 120th Division and 129th Division of the 18th Group, losing nearly 2,000 troops. Then Yan Xishan assembled the Shanxi-Sui Army Yang Aiyuan, Shang Zhen, and Chen Changjie to join the Sichuan Army Deng Xihou's Second Division.
The Twelfth Group Army, with a total of 24 divisions and 15 independent brigades, launched an all-out attack on the Taixi Mountain and Hengshan Mountain flanks, and was defeated by more than 500,000 Chinese soldiers.
The encircled 5th Division had to switch from offensive to defensive. However, facing the continuous influx of Chinese troops from all sides, they ran out of ammunition after holding on for a day. They had no choice but to retreat sadly and return to Guangling County in one breath. After stationing in Yu County,
With the support of the 26th Division, they finally regained their composure. The Chinese army followed them all the way and successfully regained Lingqiu County and regained the Hengshan defense line.
On the line of Zijingguan in the northwest of Baoding, due to the dangerous mountains and extremely narrow roads, mechanized troops could not move at all. On the line of Pinghan Road, the Japanese army dispatched three divisions to fight in turns, but the Chinese army defended it like an iron wall.
In front of me, I am helpless.
Although the Japanese army dispatched bomber groups to carry out repeated bombings, the thousand-year-old ancient city wall coupled with continuous reinforced concrete reinforcements, the national army soldiers of the three independent brigades of the Shanxi-Sui Army guarding here only need to hide underground more than ten meters deep.
Just wait for the Japanese troops to come and shoot from the shooting hole into the narrow mountain road.
Okay, the Japanese army fell down one after another on the mountain road that was completely inaccessible. The Millennium Pass, which was continuously attacked by the Japanese army, did not fall. In addition, there were enough food supplies in the Bauhinia Pass. In the end, the Japanese commander had to retreat sadly.
, return to Baoding and look for the pass into Shanxi again.
The defeats of the above two armies are nothing. The most embarrassing thing is the Japanese army on the front line at Niangziguan.
For more than a month, Lu Yixuan has not been idle. From the moment the war in North China resumed, he dispatched three divisions of the 17th Army, which had been initially trained, to Jingxing County, to the Zhengtai Railway northeast of Jingxing County.
Five lines of defense fortifications were repaired on high ground such as Lianhua Mountain and Jingxingguan along the route.
When the Japanese army captured Baoding and was blocked at the Dasha River, Yang Jiuxiao had already led the 17th Army and began to attack Zhengding, Wuji, Jincheng (now Jinzhou), Luancheng, Yuanshi, Shijiazhuang, Huolu (now Luquan), etc.
The region organized people to relocate, and by the time Shijiazhuang fell completely, all people within a radius of several hundred miles had been relocated.
As the retreat of the defeated National Army from Baoding was completed, the 17th Army Engineering Corps quickly demolished the tracks of the Zhengtai Railway west of Huolu County. At the same time, large areas of pressure mines and mixed mines produced by the Xufu Arsenal were laid along the railways and highways.
Mines, trigger mines, induction mines and smart mines that use electromagnetic effects to brake, as well as miniaturized booby traps disguised as branches, leaves, stones, grass, etc., have turned the narrow road leading to Shanxi into a
Death passage.
After occupying Shijiazhuang, the Japanese army immediately gathered heavy troops aggressively and rushed towards Huolu County along the Zhengtai Railway. They found that Huolu County was empty just like Shijiazhuang. They were so angry that they continued to march westward like crazy. In the eyes of the Japanese commander,
,The wealth and people of the city can be transferred, but the underground resources cannot be transferred, right?
Jingxing Coal Mine is a famous large mining area in North China. It has been mined as early as the Song Dynasty. For Japan, which is extremely resource-poor, the Jingxing Coal Mine located next to the Zhengtai Railway has high mining value. The Japanese army headquarters also occupied Niangziguan.
Jingxing County to the east was the end point of the first phase of the campaign.
As you can imagine, the Japanese army was attacked by all kinds of landmines just after leaving the west gate of Huolu County. Less than one-tenth of an infantry regiment that served as an outpost was able to return to Huolu County safely.
, and all were injured. This serious incident was quickly reported to the front army headquarters, and Ishihara Kanji immediately ordered the troops to stop marching and wait for professional engineers to conduct demining.
However, when the Japanese engineering troops entered the minefield, they still suffered heavy casualties.
It turns out that the series of landmines produced by the Xufu Arsenal include not only metal mines that can be detected by metal detectors used by engineers, but also ceramic landmines, plastic landmines, and glass mines that can be detected by engineers. The most terrifying ones are smart landmines.
Since the metal detectors used by engineers are magnetic, and smart landmines were originally designed specifically for engineers, once the magnetic field in the area changes, the mines will quickly detonate, leaving no hope of survival for the engineers clearing the mines.
In this way, the Japanese army filled in an engineer regiment, and the minefield cleared was less than 500 meters, which made the Japanese army feel frustrated.
So far, the Japanese army has used a variety of methods, such as using dense artillery fire to cover the carpet, using flamethrowers to detonate landmines at high temperatures against the hot ground, and other demining methods. The results are not very good, and landmines are almost everywhere.
All the Japanese soldiers were shocked.
You must know that the terrible thing about landmines lies not in how destructive they are, but in their secrecy and uncertainty. It is not terrible to be killed on the spot, but it is terrible to be left with broken limbs, broken arms and blind eyes. Those wailing sounds will make you
It seriously affects the morale of the troops and makes the whole army fearful.
Taihang is majestic and majestic. If the mechanized corps wants to enter Shanxi from the Hebei area, it can only pass through the valley bends carved out by the Hutuo River tributaries, which are the canyons between the steep mountains that the Zhengtai-Taiwan Railway currently passes. Otherwise,
nothing else
On the other hand, this minefield that stretches for dozens of miles has become the protector of Niangziguan. Even now, the Jingxing Coal Mine, which is only more than 30 kilometers away from the Japanese army, is still being mined, providing a steady stream of coal for the cause of the Anti-Japanese War.
Transporting energy.
It was precisely because of the outstanding performance of the Fifth Army Corps at Niangziguan that Chiang Kai-shek once again turned his attention to Lu Yixuan, a student he admired very much.
In Chiang Kai-shek's eyes, Lu Yixuan, who only joined the Independent Division in 2028, was not a true direct descendant of An Yi. Moreover, Lu Yixuan later commanded the Seventeenth Division and participated in the encirclement and suppression of the Red Army's Soviet area in the south of the Yangtze River. Politically, he was more important than An Yi.
Others in the group are more resolute and thorough. Under the current monolithic situation within the Anyi Group, if Lu Yixuan can be won over to his side, the strength of the central army will undoubtedly increase.
What's particularly important is that Lu Yixuan, who has a long history of grudges with the Red Army, is also a useful pawn for Chiang Kai-shek to monitor the movements of the Eighteenth Army nearby. As long as Lu Yixuan uses the same energy to deal with the Japanese to deal with the Eighteenth Army, then the Ten
Even if the Eighth Army had the ability to do so, it would not be able to develop rapidly. Therefore, after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, it would be fully guaranteed to transfer power to the central government to achieve military and political unification in the true sense of the country.
Therefore, during this nationwide military reorganization, Chiang Kai-shek not only instructed Chen Cheng to upgrade the Fifth Army to the 30th Group Army, but also gave Lu Yixuan the establishment of two divisions, the 35th Division and the 106th Division.
In this way, together with the original three divisions of the 17th Army of the Fifth Army, plus the 170th Division, the 30th Army will become the main army of the Sixth Division. I believe it will play a greater role in conducting large-scale operations.
function.
Compared with the second theater, the battle in the fifth theater in Jinan, Shandong is more difficult.
The five Japanese divisions gathered on the south bank of the Yellow River, eager to open the passage south, stormed Zhangxia, Jieshou and other towns along the Jinpu Railway. However, although the mountains on both sides of the Jinpu Railway are not as steep as the Taihang Mountains, they stand on the plains.
The Lishan and Taishan mountains lie across the main route for the Japanese army to move south.
Although the Jinpu Railway runs through the winding canyon washed out by the overflowing Shah River, it is not conducive to the deployment of large corps, and the defenders have a unique advantage in ambushing. Since the railway tracks have long been demolished by the Chinese army, the Japanese army can only go south on foot, and many
After encountering an ambush battle in the middle of a cut-off and tail-cut attack, they simply spread out their troops and advanced head-on from hilltop to hilltop.
As a result, on the high mountains between 200 meters and 600 meters above sea level in the hinterland of Shandong, the Chinese and Japanese armies launched a life-and-death contest and fought for each mountain.
The commander-in-chief of the Fifth War Zone, Li Zongren, took turns dispatching the troops under his control to front-line operations to sharpen their skills and sacrifice their lives in order to gradually increase the combat effectiveness of the troops.
At this time, the Central Air Force also learned to be smart. It would never confront the Japanese four-engine bomber group head-on. Instead, it would bypass the Japanese fighter group and chase the tail of the Japanese ground troops. It would use its speed advantage to fight flexibly. Therefore, despite the
Our army's defensive positions were subjected to overwhelming Japanese aerial bomb attacks, but the Japanese supply lines were also
Suffering frequent attacks from the Chinese Air Force, many materials cannot be supplied at all. In addition, the Chinese army resolutely clears the country. The relocated people are responsible for the war zone headquarters and will all move westward. It does not matter whether the Anyi Group, which is responsible for resettlement, can withstand such a move.
With a large population, the Japanese army tried its best to obtain quiet villages and towns.
After continuous battles, the Japanese army has now reluctantly advanced to Wande Town between Lishan and Taishan. This is completely different from the Japanese army's high hopes of quickly capturing Tai'an and even Ziyang. It also made the Japanese army start to reflect on whether to carry out such a plan.
Is an extremely brutal war of attrition worth it?
Just when Chiang Kai-shek was wondering how much the Japanese army would have to pay to capture the entire defense line of the Chinese army north of Tai'an, Foreign Minister Wang Chonghui quickly walked into the conference room and placed a newly obtained diplomatic document on Chiang Kai-shek's desk.
After reading this, Chiang Kai-shek looked extremely shocked. He immediately stood up and stopped the meeting:
"Everyone, early this morning, Germany officially sent troops to occupy Austria. Austrian Nazi Party member Seth Inquart, who took office as Prime Minister at the beginning of this month, solemnly signed his signature on the "Austria-Germany Reunification Act" presented by German diplomats.
Name, officially announced the merger of Germany and Austria, Austria became the Eastern Province of Germany, Seth Inquart took office as the governor of the province, the German government has sent a formal diplomatic message to our National Government, requesting us to change the level of the embassy in Austria,
Withdraw the embassy and turn it into a consulate in Vienna..."
There was buzzing discussion in the conference room, and the participants were not only shocked but shocked.
Germany is willing to risk the disapproval of the world and annex a sovereign country that is jointly supervised by the international community. This is a very unimaginable thing. Is Germany ready for war with Britain and France at this time?
At this time, He Yingqin had already instructed the staff of the General Staff to hang up a large map of Europe as soon as possible.
Chiang Kai-shek was very satisfied with He Yingqin's astuteness. He walked to the map and pointed to Austria in southern Germany: "Austria is a small country with an area of approximately more than 80,000 square kilometers. It is located in the middle of Europe, so it is also called the heart and connection of Europe.
At the crossroads of the west and the east, Germany annexed Austria. Its territory suddenly expanded by 17%, its population increased by 10%, its military strength was greatly enhanced, and the situation in Europe will be drastically turbulent. Let's discuss how European and American countries will react...
....”
There are many experts in European and American diplomatic issues in the Nationalist Government, but obviously not including the generals attending today's meeting. Which one of those who can enter the Military Committee and attend the meeting does not have sufficient qualifications and military exploits to get to this point? Relatively speaking, they are far away from me.
He is not so good at distant international affairs, so it is difficult to understand the current changing international situation.
In the eyes of many people at this time, Britain is still the well-deserved leader in the world today. Its territory covers every corner of the world. Its powerful fleets cruise in the Pacific, Indian Ocean, Atlantic and even the Arctic Ocean. The name of the empire on which the sun never sets,
It is definitely not a pile of rubbish. The emerging United States has strong economic strength and ranks first in industry and agriculture. In addition, the French army defeated the German army in the last European War, so everyone is interested in Germany's adventure.
Feel incredible.
He Yingqin hurriedly browsed through the relevant information sent by the staff, focusing on confirming the "Versailles Treaty" and several related international treaties. He had a clearer and more intuitive impression of the European powers. Seeing that everyone was silent, he smiled slightly,
Actively said:
"With the profound lessons learned from the last European War, and the "Contract of Versailles" containing formal clauses prohibiting the annexation of Germany and Austria, France will not sit idly by. In order to prevent Germany from gaining power and at the same time establish an isolation zone to deal with Russia, France
It has successively signed treaties with Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia and other countries to the east and south of Germany for mutual assistance in the event of Germany launching aggression. At the same time,
Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania, Turkey and Greece have also signed mutual assistance treaties to prevent German and Russian aggression. With such a complete prevention system, I think the Germans will suffer a terrible defeat, and Britain and France may even
Taking resolute crackdowns and sanctions on Germany, after all, allowing Germany to develop will be a huge challenge to European security."
Li Liejun, Tang Shengzhi, Xu Yongchang, Chen Tiaoyuan, Xiong Bin, Long Yun and others, who were still frightened by the terrifying power of the British Empire, all expressed their support for He Yingqin's analysis.
Although Chen Cheng had different opinions, he had no arguments to support his point of view, so he turned to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and asked curiously: "I wonder if Germany's coveting of Austria was sudden, or was there a warning? What happened to Britain, France and other countries before?
To deal with it?”
Wang Chonghui is very clear about the grievances and disputes between European and American countries, and patiently explained:
"The struggle between the left and right factions in France is extremely fierce, the political situation is unstable, and the cabinet changes frequently. After entering the 1930s, there were several governments that lasted only a month. Therefore, they were unable to adopt a tough policy against Germany. In early July this year, the French Foreign Minister
Bonnet once publicly declared to the media that France was not interested in the German-Austrian Agreement of July 1936.
After the signing, the two countries had no objection to establishing closer economic and cultural ties, and agreed that the German ethnic minority in Czechoslovakia should enjoy broad autonomy. Later, French Prime Minister Chaudan said at a press conference that he "does not
Opposing Germany's apparent expansion of its power in Austria through evolutionary means'.
"The United Kingdom has been seeking to comprehensively resolve its conflicts with Germany. Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland are the bargaining chips between the two countries. Late last month, when Hitler showed his strength against the Austrian government, British Privy Minister Halifax
When he paid a visit to Hitler in Berchtesgaden, he made it clear that "everyone
The errors of the Treaty of Irsa must be corrected. Changes in the European order, that is, the issues of Danzig, Austria and Czechoslovakia, are bound to happen sooner or later. All the UK is concerned about is that "these changes must be achieved through peaceful evolution." Therefore
, I think Britain and France are unlikely to take measures against Germany."
Wang Chonghui's introduction broke the deep-rooted admiration for Britain and France in the minds of many generals.
Chen Cheng nodded repeatedly, fully understanding many things he had suspected for a long time, and said without hesitation: "The matter is already obvious. With the lessons learned from Japan's blatant violation of the League of Nations Covenant and the provisions of the Washington Treaty, and its aggression against Britain and France in China, but unable to impose sanctions,
I believe that this German adventure will be a great success. I believe that in a few days, Britain, France, the United States and other countries will recognize Germany's annexation of Austria, just like they recognized Japan's invasion of our country. Austria is finished, no one sympathizes with it, this is
The sorrow of weak countries in international exchanges.”
Having said this, Chen Cheng sighed and pointed at Czechoslovakia in eastern Germany: "Once Britain and France adopt a policy of appeasement and compromise, it will greatly boost the ambitions of the Germans, especially their leader Hitler, and their next target of aggression will be
It must be Czechoslovakia, which has a large number of Germanic people. If Britain and France take another step back on the Czech issue, then Poland will also fall into the prey of Germany.
“There are too many grievances between Poland and Germany. Poland is essentially the product of the Allied Powers’ victory over the Central Powers in the last European War. Its territory is mainly drawn from Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Western Ukraine region of Russia.
There are political factors and conflicts of interest. In other words, Poland is essentially an empire that was created by forcing Germany to cede territory. For Germans, Poland is actually Germany’s country within a country. As long as it exists, the German nation will
Unable to raise their heads, there is bound to be a war between the two countries.
"However, Poland is different from Austria and the Czech Republic. Britain, France and other countries have signed more than ten alliances with Poland, and they have unshirkable responsibilities for Poland. According to my estimation, the day Germany attacks Poland is when Britain and France declare war on Germany.
, and this also means the outbreak of the second European War!”
The entire audience was silent, silently digesting Chen Cheng's shocking inference.
Chiang Kai-shek was very satisfied. Chen Cheng's judgment was exactly the same as An Yi's, which showed that he had a good eye for people. This did not disappoint him in this military expansion. He expanded the direct troops of the Central Army under Chen Cheng into four group armies in one go. You must know that Chen Cheng
The department is
The first unit in the country's military to make its financial administration open to the entire army. Chen Cheng was even more loyal to himself and reported to himself every detail. This made Chiang Kai-shek always feel respected and valued, and he also gave
Chen Cheng has more trust.
Bai Chongxi slowly digested Chen Cheng's judgment and suddenly asked: "If Germany and Britain and France went to war, who would win and who would lose?"
Chen Cheng hesitated a little, then said: "It should be similar to the result of the last European War, with Britain and France winning and Germany losing. The French not only built the Maginot Line on the border, but their infantry is second to none, plus the British powerful navy
With strength, Germany may lose worse than the last European war!"
Bai Chongxi nodded, and then asked: "Then what benefits can our country get from this?"
Chen Cheng smiled bitterly and said: "Now we are too busy taking care of ourselves, how can we do any good..." At this point, Chen Cheng suddenly felt something in his heart:
"It's not necessarily true. Germany and Japan have signed the "Anti-Comintern" treaty. Maybe Japan will create some friction in the Far East to attract the attention of Britain and France. Then Germany will suddenly launch an attack, saying that there may not be any surprises...
...However, that treaty is not a formal alliance. The Japanese will not be stupid enough to get themselves into trouble. I think at least Europe must have a winner before they can decide their position. Just like the last European war, they just sit back and settle.
Fisherman's profit."
Chiang Kai-shek nodded silently. At this moment, he suddenly remembered a person - Wu Ziliang, the head of the French Annan Party Department of the Kuomintang.
Wu Ziliang, also known as Chonglou, was born in an overseas Chinese family in French Annan. He studied in Tokyo Imperial University in Japan in his early years, and joined the Tongmenghui at Tokyo Imperial University. Since then, he has been following Mr. Sun Yat-sen until he opposed Mr. Sun Yat-sen's "Alliance with Russia" and "Alliance with the Communist Party".
As for the big policy, he was assigned to serve as the director of the French Annan Party Department of the Kuomintang, and he stayed there for several years.
After the September 18th Incident, Wu Ziliang personally rushed to Nanjing and presented himself with the "Strategy for the Southern Advance", which seemed to have mentioned suggestions on how China could profit from Japan's increasing pressure and the deteriorating situation in Europe. At that time, he also
I think this person is ridiculous and frivolous. He dared to predict a few years later. I didn't expect that today's incident would actually happen. It seems that after returning to Qilu, I have to turn out the "Strategy" and take a closer look. It may not be correct to see the current situation clearly.
The complex international situation has inspired us.