Zhengzhou, frontline command post of the Japanese Central China Front.
While Yue Weihan was busy reorganizing the New Sixth Army, the Japanese army also made major adjustments in its offensive focus.
General Hata Shunroku put down the folder in his hand. After pondering for a moment, he turned his gaze to Major General Tomo Tetsuda next to him and asked: "Tetsuda-kun, is this the battle plan you have drawn up?"
"Hai." Teng Tianzhi suddenly put his feet back and stood at attention, then bowed his head heavily.
Shunroku Hata stood up immediately, put his hands behind his back and began to pace back and forth in the office. As he paced, he whispered to himself: "Abandon the heavy siege of the Xue Yue Corps, and instead concentrate all our efforts on attacking the Jianghan defense line of the China Army. At the same time, urgently assemble in Shanghai."
, Jiangsu’s 3rd, 104th, and 108th divisions, with the cooperation of the navy, will go up the Yangtze River and attack Wuhan?"
"Hai." Teng Tianzhi lowered his head again and said, "I think this is the most appropriate countermeasure at the moment."
"But..." Shunroku Hata mused, "If we concentrate all our efforts on attacking the Jianghan defense line, the Xue Yue Corps will probably take the opportunity to break out of the encirclement. This is the elite of the China Army. If they are allowed to successfully break out of the encirclement and retreat to Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou,
It will pose a serious threat to the imperial army’s next plan!”
Chidao Tengtian: "Your Majesty General, frankly speaking, after the 20th Division was severely damaged at Niangzi Pass, the opportunity to completely annihilate the Xue Yue Corps has been lost. If the imperial army continues to concentrate on besieging the Xue Yue Corps, the result can only be
Both ends failed, and in the end it was impossible to annihilate the Xue Yue Corps, nor to destroy the Jianghan Defense Line of the China Army."
Hata Shunroku was silent. He had to admit that the Xue Yue Corps was indeed a hard bone. It was almost impossible to break this hard bone within ten days. And after ten days, the eighteen divisions of the Central China Front Army would be trapped in
In the desperate situation of running out of ammunition and food, if the food is gone, the troops can still be looted, but if the ammunition is gone, we can't let the soldiers fight with the Chinese with bayonets, right?
Teng Tianzhi added: "Your Majesty General, in my opinion, occupying as much of China's territory as possible and compressing the living space of the Chinese people as much as possible has far greater strategic significance than annihilating one or two Chinese corps and the population of China."
There are so many, even if the imperial army annihilates fifty divisions, it can reorganize hundreds of divisions in the blink of an eye!"
"But..." Tengtian Zhiyu changed his direction and continued, "If the imperial army can occupy China's territory as much as possible and compress the living space of the Chinese people as much as possible, then the tax sources and military resources of the China government will be greatly reduced, and its military resources will be greatly reduced.
The government's ability to sustain resistance and its military's ability to recover will also be greatly weakened!"
"Furthermore, the national strength and industrial base of the Great Japanese Empire are far superior to those of the China government. In less than two years, the empire will regain its strength and will regain the ability to launch large-scale attacks, while the territory of the China government has been severely damaged.
After being greatly reduced, they may not be able to recover within two years. By then, the imperial army will be able to completely defeat them without any effort."
"But..." Shunroku Hata said with some worry, "There is no possibility of reopening the Pinghan Line, Jinpu Line and Longhai Line in a short time. If the main force of our front army goes deep into the two lakes, how will the logistics supply be solved? If ammunition cannot be provided,
, will the Chinese army make dumplings in turn?"
"So..." Teng Tianzhi said solemnly, "We still need to urgently deploy the 3rd, 104th, and 108th divisions stationed in Shanghai. Jiangsu's 3rd, 104th, and 108th divisions are going up the Yangtze River. At present, the focus of the China Army's operations is on the Jianghan defense line. According to the special high
According to the class report, the defenses on both sides of the Yangtze River are extremely empty, and the Jiujiang Fortress guarding the natural dangers of the Yangtze River even has only one battalion of garrison troops!"
"As long as the 3rd, 104th, and 108th Divisions can quickly open up the Yangtze River waterway, the main force of the front army will no longer have to worry about logistical support issues, let alone worry about being turned around by the China Army." Teng Tianzhi said this.
, and added, "In this way, the imperial army can quickly occupy the Huguang granary, greatly weakening the China government's ability to resist the war for a long time."
"Order." Shunroku Hata made up his mind and said in a deep voice, "The 5th, 9th, and 10th divisions will continue to exert pressure on the Xue Yue Corps. The remaining nine divisions will immediately take the train south and join the southward group to attack the China Jianghan defense line.
In addition, the 3rd, 104th, and 108th Divisions will immediately move west along the Yangtze River and will attack Wuhan!"
"Hai." Tengtianzhi suddenly lowered his head and immediately took the order and left.
At noon the next day, Wuhan.
With the great victory at Niangziguan, it was impossible for the Japanese army to break through the Pinghan Line in a short time. Seeing that the Battle of Wuhan was about to be won, and the situation of the war of resistance across the country was also very good, Chairman Chiang was really happy for several hours, but it was a good time.
It is always so short, only a dozen hours have passed, and the battle situation on the front line has already taken a turn for the worse!
When Chairman Chiang arrived, the air in the war room was so oppressive that it was almost suffocating.
"What's going on?" Chairman Chiang asked with a livid face as soon as he entered the war room, "Didn't Luo Zhuoying say last night that the 19th Army Group Army's defense line was impregnable? How come it only took more than ten hours for the Japanese army to let them go?"
Breaking through the defense line? Who can tell me what is going on? Are the tens of thousands of officers and soldiers of the 19th Army all straw puppets?"
General He sighed and said helplessly: "Committee, the Japanese army on the opposite side has suddenly increased its troops!"
"More troops?" Chairman Chiang suddenly widened his eyes and said in disbelief, "Hasn't the Japanese army's military strength been used to its limit? Twelve divisions besieged Xue Yue, six divisions went south to attack Wuhan, and the remaining two
The divisions are moving north. In addition to these twenty divisions, did the little *** transfer other troops from the rear?"
General He said with a grimace: "The details have to be verified by the Military Statistics Bureau, but the Japanese army in front of Xiaogan has indeed increased its troops, and the increased troops are not small, at least five divisions or more! Originally, there were only two Japanese troops in the direction of Xiaogan.
The 19th Group Army was still able to support the divisions, but now it has suddenly increased its troops by more than five divisions, so..."
"What? Increase the number of troops by five or more divisions?" Chairman Chiang was shocked when he heard this.
What is the concept of five field divisions? This is a despairingly powerful force!
Thinking back to the second stage of the Battle of Songhu, the Japanese army relied on five field divisions to fight a stalemate with more than 50 Japanese divisions. Moreover, the more than 50 Japanese divisions at that time were all well-equipped.
There are more than a dozen German weapon divisions in the Central Army! The *** troops gathered on the Wuhan battlefield now are simply incomparable to the troops at that time!
"Dai Li! Where is Dai Li!?" Chairman Chiang was shocked and was covered in white hair. He turned around and roared, "What does the Bureau of Military Statistics do? The Japanese army secretly dispatched more than five divisions from the rear, and there was no news in advance.
None! What’s the use of raising so many idle people when the National Government spends so much money every year? Why don’t everyone get a branch and go to the front line!"
General Li couldn't stand it anymore, so he stepped forward and said: "Commissioner, I'm afraid these five divisions are not newly transferred from the rear, but should be drawn from the troops that besieged Xue Yue Corps. Obviously, the Japanese army
We have changed our strategy and no longer pursue the effective force of killing our troops in large numbers. Instead, we are trying to break through the Jianghan defense line and seize the two lakes."
"Can't you?" Chen Cheng said disapprovingly, "The Japanese army is still trying to seize the two lakes? At present, the Pinghan Line has been cut off by the Baoshan Division, and there is no possibility of opening up the Jinpu Line and the Longhai Line in a short time. The Japanese army really dares to go deep into the Two Lakes area? They just
If you are not afraid of running out of ammunition and food and falling into a desperate situation, are you not afraid that our army will make dumplings for you?"
General Li strode to the large map hanging on the wall and said: "Everyone, although the three strategic communication lines of Pinghan Line, Jinpu Line and Longhai Line have been cut off, there are still logistical support lines for the Japanese army to choose from.
But it’s not just these three. I’m afraid everyone doesn’t know that the Japanese army actually has a more convenient logistics support channel.”
"Yangtze River Waterway!" Vice President Bai glanced at Chairman Chiang and said coldly.
Chairman Jiang's face suddenly became extremely embarrassed, and the cruel reality slapped him hard in the face again!
In fact, as early as the beginning of the Battle of Wuhan, General Li proposed to strengthen the defense of the Yangtze River to prevent the Japanese army from launching surprise troops to open up the Yangtze River waterway and attack Wuhan. However, Chairman Chiang arbitrarily believed that the four major Japanese army groups had gathered on the battlefield in Henan.
Then all the main forces on both sides of the Yangtze River were mobilized to the Wuhan battlefield.
In fact, this is also Chairman Chiang's consistent command style.
To put it bluntly, Chairman Chiang's style is that of a charlatan who treats headaches in the head and feet in pain.
When the Japanese army attacked the east, Chairman Chiang threw all his troops into the east. As a result, halfway through the battle, the Japanese suddenly sent out a small force to detour back to the west. Well, Chairman Chiang now had no troops to move, so his flanks were exposed.
The rear route was in danger of being cut off by the Japanese army, so they quickly ordered the entire line to be retracted. The result was a complete rout.
During the Battle of Songhu and the Battle of Xuzhou, Chairman Chiang Kai-shek made such low-level mistakes.
Unexpectedly, Chairman Chiang has made the same mistake again now!
During the Battle of Songhu, due to Chairman Chiang's "excellent command", what was supposed to be a protracted offensive turned into a rout for the Japanese army! During the Battle of Xuzhou, more than 100 of the main Japanese divisions were almost defeated by the Japanese army.
Fortunately, Yue Weihan was still able to speak in front of Chairman Chiang Kai-shek, and he suddenly turned the tables.
But now, Yue Weihan is far away in southern Hebei and cannot help Chairman Chiang.
Then again, even if Yue Weihan is in Wuhan now, Chairman Chiang may not be able to listen to his advice anymore, because in Chairman Chiang's heart, Yue Weihan has become as dangerous a person as Feng Yuxiang, Li Zongren, Yan Xishan and others.
, and they are much younger and more dangerous than the above people!
"No, this is impossible." Chairman Chiang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said coldly, "The focus of the Japanese army's operations is Wuhan. It is impossible for them to divide their forces to attack the areas on both sides of the Yangtze River. Moreover, the Yangtze River is patrolled by five fleets of the navy.**
The large-tonnage warships of the * Navy cannot enter the Yangtze River waterway, and it is simply impossible for the *** army to go up the river. "
Admiral Li remained silent. Although the navy still had dozens of ships, without the cover of the air force, how long could these dozens of ships survive the attacks of the Japanese bombers?