It was past midnight, but the lights in the war room were still bright.
General He was pointing at the map to introduce the frontline war situation to Chairman Chiang: "Commissioner, currently the twenty-six divisions of the Wuhan Garrison Theater and the forty-six divisions of the First and Fifth Theaters are already in Xiaogan, Macheng and Tiantang.
Two solid lines of defense have been built around the village, which have basically blocked the Japanese offensive from southward."
Chairman Jiang nodded and said: "Where is the Xue Yue Corps?"
General He said silently, the prospects of the Xue Yue Corps are not optimistic.
Although the Xue Yue Corps has more than a dozen elite divisions with nearly 200,000 men, there are more than a dozen field divisions and more than 300,000 Japanese troops besieging them, as well as the aviation corps of the two major Japanese strategic front armies in North China and Central China, as well as
With three field heavy artillery brigades and such powerful firepower, it is a miracle that the Xue Yue Corps can persist to this day.
After all, the equipment of the Japanese army is still very different from that of the Japanese army.
The equipment of the Xue Yue Corps is already pretty good among the Communists, but the entire regiment can't even assemble an artillery battalion, and it doesn't even have a few state-made mortars. The Maxim heavy machine guns are very good, but each battalion is only equipped with two.
Yes, the Czech light machine gun is also an excellent infantry suppression firepower, but there are only two in each company!
How could such firepower be used to suppress the Japanese infantry?
The Xue Yue Corps was at a disadvantage in terms of strength, and the difference in firepower configuration was even greater. The terrain near Dengfeng and Xinmi was extremely suitable for the movement of Japanese tanks, armored vehicles and other mechanized equipment. There was no way this battle would be fought. Xue Yue was the God of War.
This battle is bound to be lost. The only suspense is how long the Xue Yue Corps can last?
So far, the Xue Yue Corps has persisted for seven days!
Chairman Chiang said with a bitter look on his face: "How long can the Xue Yue Corps hold on?"
"It's hard to say." General He shook his head and said sadly, "Maybe three days, maybe five days."
"Let's break out of the encirclement." Chairman Chiang suddenly said to General He, "Send a report to Xue Yue immediately and ask him to lead his troops to break out of the encirclement!"
Chairman Chiang really cannot afford to wait any longer. The Xue Yue Corps is not only a corps directly under the Central Military Commission, but also the last trump card in his hand. If even the Xue Yue Corps is wiped out, then he, Jiang, will really become a naked man.
Commander, even if he had won the war of resistance and driven away the gangsters, what else would he be able to do to suppress the major local warlords?
"Breaking through?" General He shook his head and said with a bitter smile, "I'm afraid it's too late for me to entrust you."
General He's words were not nonsense. It was indeed too late for Xue Yue's regiment to break out of the encirclement now.
Until now, the officers and soldiers of Xue Yue Corps have reached their limits both mentally and physically. They are holding on with all their energy. Now that they have ordered a breakout, the officers and soldiers will let out their energy.
It's really a leak, and the entire army will be defeated like a mountain, and even the gods will not be able to suppress it.
"And..." General He said this, and then said, "I'm afraid Xue Yue will not lead his troops to break through."
"Xue Yue will definitely not lead his troops to break through." Vice Commander Bai suddenly interjected, "Although the situation faced by the directly affiliated corps was dangerous, it was not without a chance to break out. At least half of the troops would have no problem breaking out, but Xue Boling did not do so.
Instead, he led his troops to turn around and head north, directly to Zhengzhou! Why did he do this?"
The eyes of Chairman Chiang and all senior generals immediately focused on Vice President Bai.
Vice Commander Bai sighed and said: "Xue Yue knew very well that the situation at that time was very dangerous. If the directly-affiliated corps continued to withdraw south, the Japanese army's twenty field divisions would press heavily, and our army would definitely defend.
If we cannot hold the Jianghan Defense Line, the Battle of Wuhan will be defeated, the two lakes will fall, and maybe we will all be slaves to the subjugation of our country!"
"Yes." General Li nodded and said with some emotion, "Xue Yue, with the power of just one corps, contained more than a dozen Japanese field divisions and guarded the Wuhan War Zone, the First War Zone, and the Third War Zone.
The re-arrangement of defenses bought time, and the Baoshan Division's attack on Shimen and cutting off the Ping-Han Line had great strategic significance!"
As he spoke, General Li's expression suddenly became excited, he clenched his fists and continued: "Now, as long as the Xue Yue Corps can hold on for another five days, and as long as the Baoshan Division can hold on for another week at Shimen, the heavy Japanese troops gathered on the Wuhan battlefield will
The group will be in a predicament of running out of ammunition and food, and this battle is won!"
Chairman Chiang's face was as dark as water and he remained silent.
In fact, General Li and Chairman Chiang knew what they were saying. He just couldn't emotionally accept the sacrifice of the Xue Yue Corps. If it were replaced by the Sichuan Army, the Gui Army, the Guangdong Army, or forty or fifty new divisions, it would be
Sacrifice means sacrifice. Chairman Chiang Kai-shek would never frown, but the Xue Yue Corps could not.
"I'm tired, let's go back first." Chairman Chiang suddenly felt mentally and physically exhausted.
Having said that, Chairman Chiang left the war room accompanied by Wang Shihe, the chief of the national guard.
Chairman Chiang's departure made the senior generals in the war room relax and immediately began to argue fiercely about the current situation. Chen Cheng, commander-in-chief of the Wuhan Garrison Theater, said: "In my opinion, the Xue Yue Corps can at least hold on.
Half a month, but Baoshan Division will definitely not last three days!"
"Sir Chen!" Vice President Bai said coldly, "Isn't this a bit absolute?"
"That's not necessarily true," Chen Cheng said coldly, "There are two reasons why I dare to make this assertion!"
General He had always admired Yue Weihan very much, but he was a little annoyed at the moment and said coldly: "I'm all ears!"
Chen Cheng curled his lips and said: "The first is the strength of the troops. Although the Baoshan Division played a clever trick in Xuzhou, the number of troops that could finally break through would not exceed six or seven thousand at most. After breaking through, they went through many battles in Lunan.
, Qinghe and Shi (men) Zheng (Ding) battles, how much is left now?"
Many senior generals present nodded, and Chen Cheng's analysis was quite reasonable.
Chen Cheng added: "The Baoshan Division now has only three to four thousand men. However, the Japanese army that can attack Shimen has three divisions with nearly 100,000 men. Two of them are still the most elite standing divisions. There is a huge difference in strength."
With such a huge disparity, and the Japanese army still has powerful mechanized equipment and aviation support, how can we fight this battle?"
After saying this, Chen Cheng added: "The second is ammunition. The Baoshan Division is far away on the battlefield behind enemy lines, and it is impossible to obtain any ammunition supplies from the rear. After the battles of Lunan, Qinghe and Shizheng, the ammunition carried by Xuzhou when it broke out was
It’s almost time to use up all the ammunition, and then I’m afraid I’ll have to fight with the little *** on the bayonet, right?”
General He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to refute, but he didn't know how to refute.
Vice President Bai shook his head and said disdainfully: "When I was a child, I had a private acquaintance. There was a sentence in the text, a sparrow knows the ambition of a giant panda. I have never quite understood what this sentence means? But today I finally understand, some
Man, he only knows how to sit in a well and look at the sky, he is self-righteous, and he never knows how others fight."
"You..." Chen Cheng said angrily, "Bai Chongqi, what do you mean by this?"
Vice President Bai was too lazy to pay attention to Chen Cheng and went to the side with General Li to drink tea.
Just when Chen Cheng was about to catch up and argue, a colonel staff officer walked into the war room with an excited look, saluted General He with a military salute, and almost roared: "General, good news ahead, Baoshan Division
We achieved an unprecedented victory at Niangziguan, severely damaging the Japanese 20th Division, killing and wounding more than 20,000 Japanese invaders, and capturing nearly 10,000 people!"
Dead silence, the entire war room suddenly became dead silent, so quiet that you could hear a needle drop.
After a long while, the senior generals present came to their senses and scrambled to read the telegram.
Wuhan garrison commander Chen Cheng was left out in the cold. At this moment, General Chen's face was as embarrassed as he could be. He had just said that the Baoshan Division would not survive for three days. As a result, the Baoshan Division was captured at Niangziguan.
It was an unprecedented victory, and the one that suffered the most was the Japanese 20th Division. This was a complete permanent division!
Master Baoshan's slap was so hard that Chen Cheng was completely humiliated.
Not far away, Vice President Bai and General Li were holding teacups for a long time and could not come to their senses.
Vice Commander Bai thought he had high regard for Yue Weihan and the Baoshan Division, but he never thought that the Baoshan Division could achieve such a brilliant record. This guy killed and wounded more than 20,000 Japanese invaders and captured nearly 10,000 people!
The entire 20th Division only had more than 36,000 people, right? They were almost completely wiped out now!
"Bang!" General He punched him hard, then turned around and walked away.
Of course, General He had to report such a major victory to Chairman Chiang as soon as possible!
Northern suburb of Zhengzhou, south bank of the Yellow River.
Although it is already late at night, the lights on both sides of the Yellow River are still bright!
Two large pontoon bridges have connected the north and south banks. The tanks, armored vehicles, heavy-duty trucks, infantry, field artillery and other large equipment of the Japanese 6th and 13th Divisions are rumbling toward the north bank along the narrow bridge deck.
On the river beach not far away, Lieutenant General Shun Tada stood with a gloomy expression.
Tada Shun is in a very bad mood now. Because the Yellow River is too wide, it was thought that the pontoon bridge could be erected in three days. Instead, it actually took six days to erect it, and another whole day to assemble the infantrymen of the two divisions.
Transport them all to the north bank, and when all the heavy equipment has crossed the river, it will probably be dark tomorrow!
It’s been seven days, seven full days have passed since the fifteen-day deadline!
If we want to seize Shimen and Zhengding and re-open the Pinghan Line within the remaining eight days, the 6th and 13th Divisions will definitely not be able to count on it. Tada Shun can only place his hope on the 20th Division now.
!Before dark, Bunzaburo Kawagishi just sent a telegram that the 20th Division encountered the Hoyama Division, but I don’t know what is happening now?
Just as Tada Shun was thinking, Major Staff Officer hurriedly came to him. He suddenly put his feet back and stood at attention and said: "General, the North China Front Army has just forwarded an urgent battle report. The 20th Division was severely damaged by the China Army at Niangzi Pass. The 39th Infantry Brigade,
Nearly 30,000 people in the headquarters of the 20th Division were collectively crushed, and the 40th Infantry Brigade broke through the encirclement!"