"Old Mao, I'm afraid this won't be easy, right?" Boss Zhu frowned and retorted, "The main force of the Eighth Route Army is scattered in North China, the main force of the New Fourth Army is scattered in nine provinces in East and South China, and the expeditionary force is far away in Nanyang. The three major strategic groups are far apart.
More than ten thousand miles? It is extremely difficult to achieve large-scale assembly. How easy is it to achieve tactical linkage between each other? This requires the commanding art of the commander and the tactical execution ability of the participating units!"
Chairman Mao nodded and solemnly said: "In launching this campaign, the commander's commanding art and the tactical execution capabilities of the participating units are indeed very important. However, as the commander-in-chief, my duty is to issue my strategic decisions to the troops on the front line. As for
How to implement it specifically is something that frontline commanders and fighters should consider."
Mr. Zhu said: "Old Mao, do you already have a candidate in mind for the battle commander?"
"Boss, I'm afraid you already have a candidate in mind, right?" Chairman Mao said this, and then he and Boss Zhu said in unison, "Yue Weihan!"
Kuala Lumpur, Expeditionary Force Headquarters.
Mr. Zuo hurriedly walked into the war room with a piece of telegram and said to Yue Weihan: "Mr. Yue, urgent call from Yan'an!"
Yue Weihan reached out and took the telegram. After reading it in a hurry, his expression suddenly changed slightly. He then handed the telegram to Mr. Deng next to him. After reading it, Mr. Deng's expression suddenly became solemn, and then he handed the telegram to Mr. Deng again.
Wei Lihuang, and finally passed it to Huang Jie through Wei Lihuang's hands.
"This is impossible!" Huang Jie shouted immediately after reading it.
Wei Lihuang also said solemnly: "Zhongshu, I also believe that the conditions for launching a strategic decisive battle are not met at this stage. Although the Eighth Route Army in North China has a large force, and the New Fourth Army in Central China also has more than 500,000 troops, these two armies
They are too far apart from the expeditionary force, and their tactical literacy is uneven, so it is impossible to achieve coordinated operations!"
Deng Gong pondered for a moment and then said: "The Chairman is far away in Yan'an and is not familiar with the situation on the front line. I think we should call the central government and explain clearly that there are no conditions for mobilizing the three major strategic groups of our party to carry out strategic encirclement and annihilation of the Japanese army in Central China."
Mature, at least at present the conditions are not yet mature, and among other things, we do not understand the current situation of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army."
"The key is still the lack of intelligence." Huang Jie spread his hands and said vigorously, "The focus of our expeditionary force has always been the Japanese Army in Nanyang, and the key target of intelligence reconnaissance has always been the Southern Army. Now we are suddenly asked to implement a strategic encirclement and annihilation of the Japanese Army in Central China.
, where can you get information about the Japanese army in such a hurry? If there is no precise information to support it, how can you fight this battle? You can't fight it blindly, right?"
As expected by General Zuo, the top brass of the expeditionary force expressed their opposition to the instructions of the Party Central Committee and Chairman Mao. Only Yue Weihan was still deep in thought and did not express his opinion immediately.
At that moment, Mr. Zuo asked in a low voice: "Boss, please tell me, how can I reply to Yan'an?"
Yue Weihan composed himself and solemnly said: "Fight!"
Deng Gong, Wei Lihuang and Huang Jie suddenly changed their expressions when they heard this.
Deng Gong said anxiously: "Zhongshu, we don't know much about the current situation of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army. How many troops do these two armies currently have and what are their equipment? How is the training? How much combat effectiveness is there? What is the command style of the chief officers of each department? Short
How many mobile forces can be mobilized within a certain period of time? We don’t know these things!”
"These are not problems." Yue Weihan waved his hand and said calmly, "We can completely transfer comrades from the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army who are familiar with intelligence to the campaign headquarters to serve as deputy commander-in-chief or combat staff. In this way, we can not pass these
Comrade, do you understand the situation of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army?"
In fact, Yue Weihan already has two candidates for deputy commander-in-chief.
The first one is Mr. Li. At this time, Mr. Li was only the commander of the 1st Division of the New Fourth Army and had no actual combat experience in commanding a large corps. However, Mr. Li's military talent was innate and he learned it in the war.
His ability in warfare is unparalleled. At this time, his commanding art has not reached its peak, but it is already quite impressive.
The other is General Xu. As one of the few senior generals from Huangpu in our party and army, General Xu’s military attainments and tactical command capabilities are actually higher than those of General Li and General Lin.
As early as the 22nd year of the Republic of China (1933), Mr. Xu defeated the "six-way siege" of 200,000 Sichuan troops in the Sichuan-Shaanxi Soviet Area with less than 20,000 Red Army troops. At that time, Mr. Lin was only a regiment commander, and Mr. Li was not well-known.
, only due to historical reasons, Mr. Xu missed the opportunity to lead the three major battles, so he was not ranked high among the top ten marshals.
Mr. Li and Mr. Xu, one from the New Fourth Army and the other from the Eighth Route Army. With the help of these two people, Yue Weihan had enough understanding of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, and had the most basic basis for formulating the battle plan. From Sun Tzu's Art of War
In other words, the problem of "confidant" has been basically solved.
However, the problem of knowing oneself has been solved, but knowing the enemy is still a big problem.
As soon as Yue Weihan finished speaking, Huang Jie argued: "Understanding the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army can be achieved by raising the senior commanders of these two armies, but what about the understanding of the Japanese Army in Central China?"
After saying this, Huang Jie added: "The New Fourth Army's intelligence network in central China is not complete, and communications can only rely on underground traffic officers. Even the radio stations are not ready yet. Whether they can spy on the Japanese military intelligence is not yet mentioned.
Even if the intelligence is spied on, how can we deliver it to the campaign headquarters in a timely and prepared manner?"
"I have thought about this problem just now. Come with me."
After saying that, Yue Weihan strode to the huge map posted on the wall. Deng Gong, Wei Lihuang, Huang Jie, Mr. Zuo and others did not know why, but instinctively followed Yue Weihan to the map.
Yue Weihan patted the map on the wall and said thoughtfully: "The Art of War says that before the army moves, food and grass go first. This refers to the ancient cold weapon war. As for modern war, it should be that the army does not move and intelligence goes first.
, without sufficient intelligence to support it, it is just wishful thinking to defeat a powerful enemy!"
"Just as Dayun (Huang Jiezi) is worried, the penetration target of our military intelligence network is the Japanese army in Nanyang, and the New Fourth Army's intelligence network in central China is not complete. It is difficult to effectively grasp the deployment and mobilization of the Japanese army.
It is impossible to carry out strategic encirclement and suppression of the Japanese troops in Central China without knowing the deployment of the Japanese troops in Central China."
"I have an idea. If we can seize one or two airports in central China and establish an air force base, we can use these air bases as support to conduct comprehensive aerial reconnaissance on the deployment and mobilization of Japanese troops in central China.
Supplemented by the underground intelligence network of the New Fourth Army, every move of the Japanese army in Central China will be under control!"
"Hmm? Capture several airports in central China? Is this possible?"
"The idea is good, but it may be difficult to implement it, right?"
Wei Lihuang and Huang Jie immediately began to whisper, while Mr. Deng and Mr. Zuo fell into deep thought.
With the current strength of the New Fourth Army and the empty Japanese defenses in Central China, it is not difficult to seize several airports. The key is how to keep the airports after they are captured. The New Fourth Army can handle attacks from the ground, but attacks from the air cannot be handled by the New Fourth Army.
La, you can't really throw grenades into the sky to blow up planes, right?
"Things are not that complicated." Yue Weihan seemed to have guessed what everyone was thinking, and then continued, "We can first establish an airport as an advance base in the southwest hinterland of Myanmar, and after we have stabilized our position, we can then look for opportunities to fight with the Japanese troops in Central China.
The aviation force will conduct a decisive air battle and wait until a decisive victory is achieved before penetrating into the hinterland of central China!"
"Build an airport in the hinterland of the southwest first as an advance base?" Deng Gong's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard this, and he said happily, "This is a good idea, but where exactly should this airport be built?"
"Right here, Baise, Guangxi!" Yue Weihan took a picture of the map and said.
"Baise?" Deng Gong frowned and said, "Now this is the territory of the Gui army. Can Li Bai agree to it?"
Long before the Japanese army in central China launched the Great Southwest Campaign, Li Bai and his two men had returned to Guangxi from Chongqing. After the fall of Chongqing and the death of Chairman Chiang, the various factions of the national army were actually divided. Although the Guangxi army still persisted in the war of resistance, it could
However, the purpose of the Anti-Japanese War has evolved from defending the country to protecting Guangxi.
Yue Weihan said calmly: "Bai Chongqi has a lot of opinions about me now, and I guess he will firmly oppose it, but Li Zongren knows the justice of the nation, so I think he will agree."
Baise, Guangxi, Guijun headquarters.
"I don't agree!" Bai Chongqi slammed the telegram in his hand on the table with a stern voice.
For some unknown reason, Chief Bai has always been hostile to the CCP. Ever since Yue Weihan revealed his identity as a member of the CCP, Bai Chongqi has classified him as a "rebellious" in his heart. Therefore, he has no idea what Yue Weihan is about to do in the CCP.
Bai Chongqi rejected Baise's request to build an airport almost without hesitation.
"Jiansheng, don't act out of emotion." Chief Li frowned and said, "Put national justice first."
"Gong De!" Commander Bai said with emphasis, "Yue Weihan wants to build an airport in Baise, nominally to carry out aerial reconnaissance of the Japanese army in Central China, but who knows what his real intention is?"
After saying this, Chief Bai said again: "I heard that Zhu Mao in Yan'an has already roped in several democratic parties such as the Democratic League, the Democratic League, and the Jiusan Society. They are about to hold a political consultative conference in Yan'an to discuss the election of some temporary
How does the government know that Yue Weihan will not use the airport to transport troops to force us to submit?"
Chief Li remained silent. The current situation in China was exactly what he was worried about.
However, Chief Li is not as narrow-minded as Chief Bai. He has no objection to the Communist Party. As long as the CCP is sincere in resisting Japan and can lead the country's compatriots to victory, Chief Li does not mind accepting the leadership of the CCP and is sincerely willing to fight under Zhu Mao's command.
Japanese invaders, he is just worried...can the CCP gain the legal status to lead the national war of resistance?
Yan Xishan in the World War II Zone, Hu Zongnan in Zhongtiao Mountain, Jiang Dingwen in the 10th War Zone, and Wang Longyun of Yunnan, but all of them had heavy troops. When Chairman Chiang was still alive, they did not buy much from the central government. Now that Chairman Chiang is no longer there
, these local warlords, Caotou Wang, can still obey the instructions of the CCP and the Yan'an Border Region?
The so-called democratic parties are just a group of idle scholars with no power or soldiers. Even if the CCP is recognized by them, what can it do?
The only thing that can make Chief Li feel at ease is that the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force Yue Weihan has disclosed his identity as a member of the Communist Party of China and made it clear that at this stage only the Yan'an Border Region Government can lead the national anti-Japanese struggle. With Yue Weihan's outstanding military exploits, local warlords
Even if you feel dissatisfied, you probably don’t dare to disagree in person.
After a long while, Chief Li said calmly: "Jiansheng, where do you think China should go?"
"This..." Chief Bai was stunned when he heard the words, and then said after a while, "I really haven't thought about this problem."
"Jiansheng, we are from Guangxi, but we are Chinese." Chief Li said with profound meaning, "I know you have feelings for the CCP, but at this stage, the only one qualified to lead the country's war of resistance is the CCP.
Not to mention anything else, in terms of military strength alone, the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army plus one have exceeded 3 million! This does not include Yue Weihan’s expeditionary force and Myanmar’s industrial base. If the CCP is not qualified, who else is?
What about this qualification?”
Chief Bai was silent for a long time before he said: "I just can't stand Yue Weihan's character of eating everything inside and outside!"
"It's not like eating the inside and outside." Chief Li shook his head and said with a sigh, "Although the Chinese Communist Party originated from Soviet Russia, it also believes in the Three People's Principles of the founding father Sun Yat-sen. Fundamentally speaking, there is no difference between the Chinese Communist Party and the Yan'an Communist Party.
The border region government is indeed much cleaner than the National Government in Chongqing, and some of Yue Weihan's decisions are reasonable."
Chief Bai sighed: "That being said, how can we not have any grudges in our hearts?"
Chief Li shook his head and said: "Personal grievances are trivial, but national justice is more important than Mount Tai."
"I understand, Mr. De." Chief Bai was finally convinced and said immediately, "I will gather the civilians right away and build an airport as soon as possible according to Yue Weihan's request!"
"Don't forget to send a telegram to Yan'an to express our attitude." Chief Li specially warned, "We can't participate in the Political Consultative Conference in Yan'an, but our attitude must be expressed to Yan Xishan in Shanxi.
King Long Yun of Yunlong, Hu Zongnan of Zhongtiao Mountain, and Jiang Dingwen of Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia should set an example."
"I know." Chief Bai paused when he heard this, and then walked away.
Wuhan, Japanese Army Headquarters.
Chief of Staff of the Central China Front, Hiroshi Nemoto, strode into Okamura Neiji's office. He immediately put his feet back and stood at attention and said: "Your Excellency, General, Tekko has just received top-secret information. Yue Weihan, Commander-in-Chief of the China Expeditionary Force, has publicly admitted that he is a member of the Communist Party of China this morning.
, and stated that only the Chinese Communist Party can lead the national resistance struggle at this stage!"
"What!?" Okamura Neji suddenly stood up and said in disbelief, "This is impossible!"
Even though Okamura Neiji has excellent strategic vision, he really made a mistake this time.
Okamura Neiji never thought that Yue Weihan would not only live under others, but also secretly join the Chinese Communist Party. To Okamura Neiji, this was simply unbelievable. A man with millions of soldiers, great military exploits, and unparalleled reputation
How could a senior general of the national army, who had access to Myanmar’s industrial base, secretly defect to the CCP trapped in Yan’an?