In six days from October 9th to October 15th, the Ming army concentrated its superior forces to annihilate the 500,000 Qing army in the encirclement. The Ming army had 800,000 troops against the 500,000 Qing army, plus it had comprehensive advantages from the air to the ground.
, by the 15th, all the Qing troops south of the Huaihe River were annihilated. Now every road is lined with endless queues of prisoners.
These 500,000 Qing troops, plus the 300,000 or so Qing troops who were annihilated by the Ming army during the two-day all-out attack on the 4th and 5th and surrendered to the Ming army, by the 15th, the Ming army had annihilated 800,000 Qing troops.
And this only took 11 days.
This lightning-fast war launched by the Nanming Empire really stunned the whole world. Whether it was the United Kingdom, the United States, France and other Western countries, Ming's strategic partner Germany, or the Soviet Union, which had complicated feelings about the Southern Ming Northern Expedition.
, or Japan, who is watching the fire from afar, no matter what their emotions are, they all have a common feeling: it is like watching a magic trick. And it is the kind of magic that can transform a living person.
Shocked. Unbelievable. Jaw dropped.
All countries could hardly believe that in their eyes, Nanming, which had always been trembling under the power of the Northern Qing Dynasty and only seeking to protect itself, could suddenly show such amazing martial arts this time.
Without any warning, a full-scale attack was launched at dawn, as fast as lightning. Within a few days, they advanced straight in with overwhelming force. Aircraft and tanks swept across Beiqing, annihilating 800,000 Qing troops in 11 days.
It's almost like a myth.
The question that the whole world wants to ask the most is: What happened to these two countries? Did the Northern Qing suddenly become weaker, or did the Southern Ming suddenly become stronger?
Germany had the fastest response. On the 5th, the second day of the war, when the whole world was still in shock and unsure of what was going on, Hitler gave a speech in the Reichstag. Although Hitler was quite shocked, he also
He was worried that Nanming might fall into a large-scale war and be unable to continue to intervene in Spain with him, but this news was mainly good for him.
Because Hitler planned to form a long-term alliance with Nanming, and in his mind, the unshakable goal was to eliminate the Soviet Union, the Bolsheviks, and even the Slavs. And the best thing would be to be able to
There is another powerful country with him
Attack the Soviet Union from a flank. This was something that Hitler never dared to think about in the past. Because even if Nan Ming had this intention, there was still a Northern Qing in the middle. But things are different now. It seems that Nan Ming has officially started to kill the Northern Qing. Can it be done?
It's hard to say whether it will succeed, but it opens up the possibility after all.
When Xiang Xiaoqiang visited Germany, he and Hitler vaguely understood this meaning. At that time, Hitler regarded him as a young man who did not know the heights of the world and talked nonsense. Not to mention that the Ming Dynasty was far away from the Soviet border, and even Germany was connected to the Soviet border.
, there is still a long way to go in the middle. (Of course, Hitler himself was very confident in himself)
But now it seems that Ming Dynasty has "taken the first step". Ming Dynasty has not promised Hitler that after unifying China, he will have the opportunity to attack the Soviet Union with him in the future. However, regardless of whether Nan Ming is willing to attack the Soviet Union with Germany in the future, at least
This huge possibility has opened the door. Even if the Ming Dynasty does not want to provoke the Soviet Union in the future, then the Soviet Union will have to face a unified big country in the Far East. The powerful country will have to turn its attention to the Far East. And Germany's actions in Europe will
Much freer.
Germany and the Ming Dynasty are separated from each other at opposite ends of the world. Even in the very distant future, there is basically no possibility of geopolitical hegemony. Therefore, Hitler hopes that the Ming Dynasty will be as powerful as possible. It is best to be able to be aggressive and warlike.
countries and become Germany's staunch "comrades-in-arms" in the future. This is a "win-win", and it is obvious that one plus one is greater than two.
Compared with these, the bad things in Spain are simply negligible.
In his speech, Hitler praised this as a "great war" and deliberately strengthened the national nature of this war, saying that it was "a general reckoning of three hundred years of oppression by a superior nation against an inferior nation."
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Hitler was obviously extremely excited and applauded Ming's victory vigorously.
In the Congress hall, under the huge bright red banner with the word "swastika", he stamped his feet and waved his hands, making violent gestures more than a dozen times a minute, roaring, the muscles on his face were almost shaking with excitement, almost every time he shouted,
All the "Congressmen" in uniforms throughout the hall stamped their feet, raised their arms, and shouted "Long Live Victory" in unison, with the sound almost breaking the roof.
Hitler, on the other hand, stretched out his right arm wearing a "swastika" armband and greeted the left and right proudly, but his face was always stern.
The speech conveyed a message to the German people: since the Han nation, which had been oppressed by the inferior Tatar nation for three hundred years, could work hard and fight back, then why couldn't the German nation, which was much better than the Han nation in the East, not quickly
What about breaking the enslavement of the Treaty of Versailles?
Of course, in the last paragraph of his speech, Hitler, as always, stated that he loved peace and how much he loved peace... Germany was the country that felt the pain of war the most in the European War, so naturally it also hated war the most and cherished peace the most...
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However, the Soviet Union's reaction was very complicated. While newspapers from various countries reported it in large sections immediately, Soviet newspapers were silent, as if nothing happened. It was only delayed until the second day of the war.
Izvestia just published an article on its side page. It is not the kind of clear-cut political language, but is just a biased report.
Stalin is waiting and watching. Stalin is much more rational and prudent than Hitler. He is not sure how far this attack will go. Although Nan Ming clearly stated in the note to various countries that the purpose of the war is to recover all the territory, but that
After all, it is a political, declaration-like thing and cannot be regarded as Nan Ming's real war plan.
Stalin's attitude towards this war was exactly the opposite of Hitler's. There is no doubt that for the Soviet Union, Nanming's unification of China was definitely a bad thing and absolutely unacceptable. If it really got to that point, even if the Soviet Union gave up intervening in Spain, it would still use all its strength.
Support the Northern Qing Dynasty and keep China divided.
But now, the situation is still unclear, and Stalin still needs to observe. What Stalin does not want to see is just a unified China. Under the premise that reunification cannot be achieved, it would be a good thing for both sides to fight a war and hurt both sides. And in his tradition
It seems that the Northern Qing Dynasty is too strong and the Southern Ming Dynasty is too weak. In addition, the Soviet Union is bordering the Northern Qing Dynasty. It is definitely not a good thing for the Northern Qing Dynasty to be too strong. At this time, it would be best for the Southern Ming Dynasty to attack the Northern Qing Dynasty to balance the power of the two sides.
On the contrary, if Nan Ming suffered a huge defeat and was chased all the way south by the Northern Qing Dynasty, and was in danger of being unified by the Northern Qing Dynasty, Stalin would consider sending more troops to the Soviet-Qing border to put pressure on the Northern Qing Dynasty and pull Nan Ming away.
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Therefore, the wily Stalin just let such a lukewarm article be published as a token of appreciation and to demonstrate the Soviet Union's consistent position of "opposing war and loving peace."
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The media in Germany and the Soviet Union are strictly controlled, so there is only one voice, which is just the opposite. In countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, and France, where the media is open, the media can compete with a hundred schools of thought and have anything to say. Although Japan is in 2 this year
After -26, the army began to become more and more extreme
Nationalism, but the media has not yet been controlled at this time. Japanese people are also very concerned about politics and believe that they are "everyone has a responsibility." And because both sides of the war are on the border of Japan, what happens in the East Asian continent
, Japan is paying twice as much attention as Western countries.
Western newspapers talk about this war to a large extent from the perspective of "good and evil", especially in the American media. Many people have said that Americans are like a group of naive children.
I always imagine that the world is composed of dragons and knights, and I am on the side of the knights. And I grew up in suffering.
, different from the already troubled Eurasian countries, the young United States is still very accustomed to dividing countries in the world into "good countries" and "bad countries". At this time, the Southern Ming Dynasty and the Northern Qing Dynasty were obviously "good countries" and "bad countries"
". Most newspapers in the United States also reported and commented enthusiastically, and published cartoons one after another.
The tone of Japanese newspapers is exactly the opposite. The citizens of the Imperial Kingdom, who grew up drinking wolf's milk, do not consider the factors of good and evil at all when looking at problems. They look at problems entirely from the perspective of "the weak and the strong" and the "law of the jungle". There are many articles in the newspapers.
The debate is whether this is a crisis or a crisis for Japan.
Is it an opportunity? If Nan Ming really has the ability to unify China, then should we just watch them unify like this? What can we, Japan, get from this war? If we intervene, how should we intervene? Nan Ming controls the Strait of Malacca and holds the Great Ocean in its hands
What should we do about Japan’s throat?...
There are even many "angry" articles that directly propose Japan's plan to attack the East Asian continent: Who should Japan attack first and then whom?
After seeing it, he presented it to His Majesty the Emperor on behalf of 100 million people.
In short, the entire Japanese patriotic enthusiasm was vented in this war. From the middle and lower-level military officers to middle school students, everyone was jealous and gearing up, wishing that the Imperial Japanese Army would immediately attack the East Asian continent and join this round of competition for the future of the empire.
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Zhengzhou, like Xuzhou, is another major garrison area in the Central Plains. Zhengzhou is the intersection of the Qinqi Railway (Xi'an to Weihai) and the Beijing-Southern Railway (Beijing to Nanyang). To the west is Luoyang, and further to the west is Hangu Pass.
It can be said,
As a military important place, Zhengzhou's status is no less than that of Xuzhou. The Qing army has 20 regular garrison divisions from Hangu Pass to Luoyang, Zhengzhou, and Xinxiang. They have been connected with the Xuzhou Corps in the east, forming a strong military force.
defensive belt.
Although Zhengzhou's military strength is still relatively weak compared to Xuzhou's, there is a reason for its weakness. The terrain here is not as good as the North China Plain in the east. Instead, it has the Taihang Mountains in the north, the Qinling Mountains in the south, and a long and narrow trumpet-mouth plain in the middle.
It gets narrower and narrower, and finally shrinks into passes like Hangu Pass and Tongguan. It cannot accommodate large corps like Xuzhou.
, Secondly, it is also a terrain where "one man can guard the pass, and ten thousand men cannot open it", and the north of Zhengzhou is the natural danger of the Yellow River. Guangwu still has considerable confidence in this place. He believes that if the Ming army attacks next, they will definitely concentrate their forces.
The east, that is, the Xuzhou and Shangqiu areas are attacking. In that area, nearly a million troops have been assembled and are digging a defense line day and night.
In addition, the Ming army has the possibility of landing in Shandong, and the eastern part will be even more burdened. More troops are still being assembled in Xuzhou. Guangwu's idea is that no matter what, first gather as many troops as possible here.
Besides, if the Ming army's attack on Shandong is imminent, they can mobilize troops from Xuzhou to the Shandong Peninsula.
In the Zhangjiakou Arsenal, the largest tank factory in the Northern Qing Dynasty, new tanks coming off the production line are loaded onto flatbed trains every day, traveling south from the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway and Jinpu Railway, and sent to the Xuzhou Corps.
Next, if the Ming army wants to attack northward, whether from the east (Xuzhou) or the west (Zhengzhou), they will face a tough battle. It seems that the smooth battle of the first ten days will no longer happen.
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On the 15th, the eleventh day of the war, the Ming Army's left army group suddenly turned around, turned from the north of the Dabie Mountains to the northwest, and headed straight for Xuchang. At noon on the 15th, Xuchang was captured. The troops advanced towards Zhengzhou in the north. Obviously, for the next step
The Ming army had already made a choice as to the main direction of attack.