Su Tong of the Chahar 7th War Zone Headquarters was walking with Jiang Baili in the woods behind the headquarters. Su Tong was still wearing a military uniform and was very serious, but Jiang Baili was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and his casual look did not look like a chief of staff of a war zone.
"Jianming, Rehe has been restored and Peiping is in our hands. What are your next plans?" Jiang Baili's tone was very casual. At this time, he did not need to put on a serious look in front of Su Tong. After such
After getting along for a long time, the two have established a deep friendship. This friendship is more like the relationship between father and son, rather than the relationship between superiors and subordinates.
"What plan can I have? Now that we have gone through so many battles, the main forces are very tired and have suffered a lot of casualties. We should let them rest." Su Tong said helplessly.
"Yes." Jiang Baili nodded, "Our troops should take a rest. Just like Wang Dayong's fifth division, they didn't even take a good rest from Siberia to Rehe. The troops are already very tired."
Su Tong pondered for a moment and said: "I plan to transfer back the 10th Division, the 12th Division and the troops in Chengde in Peiping, and let the 34th, 35th, 39th and 40th Divisions stationed in Ningxia and Qinghai all
What do you think of being transferred back to station in Peiping and Rehe?"
Jiang Baili thought for a while and finally shook his head.
"No, if we let them all come back, what will happen to Ningxia and Qinghai? Should we let the 44th and 45th Divisions guard them?"
"Isn't it possible?" Su Tong asked.
"No, Jianming, if you want to train troops, you might as well send them to Rehe, where they will directly confront the Kwantung Army." Jiang Baili could see at a glance that he wanted to get his son-in-law cheaply.
Su Tong touched his nose and smiled sheepishly. It seemed that his cheap father-in-law understood his thoughts quite well.
After a pause, Jiang Baili asked slowly: "What do you think of what is happening in Shanghai now?"
Su Tong was startled. He was a little puzzled that Jiang Baili asked him so carefully. How could he ask in such a roundabout way? Why don't he just ask himself if he would help the chairman? This is not your chief of staff.
His surname
Then I thought about it again and realized that Jiang Baili was afraid that he was still angry with the Chairman. Last time, Chairman Jiang sent a telegram to reprimand him and ordered him not to send troops beyond the defense zone at will, for fear that he would take the opportunity to occupy Peiping.
.This incident made me very angry.
But now that Peiping has been occupied by me, what else is there to say? Besides, in the face of the great rights and wrongs of the country and the nation, I shouldn't be so confused.
Thinking of this, Su Tong smiled, "It turns out that my chief of staff also hides things from time to time. Although I, Mr. Su, dare not claim to be a loyal and righteous person, I still won't do it in the face of such issues that are related to the fate of the country and the nation."
You're so confused. I still say the same thing, as long as you are a Dazhai person, there is nothing else that I, Mr. Su, can't bear to part with."
"Oh, then tell me about the situation and views on the Battle of Shanghai." Jiang Baili raised his thick eyebrows and looked at Su Tong with bright eyes.
There is a Chinese saying that goes well, if you are not in your position, you will not be able to govern. In other words, whichever chair your butt sits on depends on which angle you look at the problem. You cannot expect a village chief to stand at the height of the country.
When considering the future of a country, the leader of a country will not specifically consider the affairs of a small place.
After being the commander-in-chief for so long, Su Tong's perspective on problems has improved a lot, and he can also look at problems from an overall perspective. After thinking about the current situation and combining it with the memories of future generations, Su Tong spoke slowly.
"Shanghai is Chairman Chiang's pocketbook and one of the main sources of tax revenue for the Nanjing government. The Chairman will not give up. And the Japanese have long coveted Shanghai, a prosperous place. It is inevitable that they will win it.
"One wants it and the other doesn't want it. What should I do? The two sides have to fight to decide the outcome. It's just"
Speaking of this, Su Tong couldn't help but think of the tragic Battle of Fanglu in later generations. Countless soldiers faced the Japanese army's continuous bombardment of large-caliber naval guns and died generously in the overwhelming artillery fire. Countless Sichuan soldiers wore straw sandals.
Holding the old-fashioned singles and sleeves that had to be tied with cloth strips to prevent them from falling apart, they fought fiercely with the Japanese army armed to the teeth. Tens of thousands of Bagui's children lined up in dense formations to face the Japanese army's heavy artillery.
The army's aircraft and heavy artillery bombardment launched a desperate attack, and in the end almost all of them were killed. In the Battle of Fulu, the number of casualties was as high as 500,000. Su Tong seemed to see countless brave Chinese soldiers falling one after another in front of the offensive road.
.
Maybe I don't have the strength to send a large number of troops to Shanghai, which is thousands of miles away. But since you are here, I have to give you some greeting gifts. Otherwise, wouldn't I be sorry for you coming all the way?
One trip?
Thinking of this, Su Tong couldn't help but reveal a sinister smile.
"Jianming, Jianming" Jiang Baili who was standing next to him couldn't help but shouted when he saw Su Tong's delay in answering.
"Well" Su Tong came back to his senses and smiled sheepishly: "Did the chairman of the committee come to see you for something else?"
"Haha, you are getting smarter and smarter now. Yesterday, Secretary-General Yang Yongtai sent me a personal letter from Chairman Chiang, saying that he hopes we can sell them a batch of aircraft. You
See if that’s the case”
Speaking of this, even Jiang Baili felt a little embarrassed. He had just scolded someone so badly a few days ago, but now he eagerly went up to the pole and begged someone to sell him an airplane. Anyone who mentioned this matter would get angry.
In the end, he had no choice but to take a sidestep and sue Jiang Baili, but Jiang Baili had no choice, because Su Tong seemed to be a very generous person, and he delegated power to his generals very much. In daily training, he seemed to be incompetent no matter how he fought.
Not to mention Jiang Baili, who was the chief of general staff of the war zone. Su Tong almost never refused Jiang Baili's requests on weekdays.
But as the person involved, Jiang Baili knew very well that his cheap son-in-law was always laughing and joking, and he was basically like a hands-off shopkeeper. But behind the indifference, there were several things and departments that he firmly grasped.
That includes finance, personnel and logistics.
Chahar's finances are now in the hands of Secretary-General Xi Hanqian, who was promoted by Su Tong and is very loyal to Su Tong. Su Tong is personally in charge of personnel matters, and as for logistics, Su Tong is from Chahar.
The Harr Militia has been in the hands of the Logistics Director Ma Jun since the beginning. Who is Ma Jun? He is known as one of Su Tong's two loyal dogs.
Don't look at the ammunition that Chahar's army uses like running water when they fight on weekdays, but everyone knows that without Su Tong's nod, no one can think of taking advantage of Ma Jun, who always has a poker face.
Even Jiang Baili, the chief of staff, could not pull out even one bullet.
Regarding this point, the generals in Chahar's army also have a clear mind, so no one dares to stab Su Tong in front of him. If anyone wants to have second thoughts, Su Tong does not have to do anything else, as long as he stops the troops' supplies,
The troops are guaranteed to disperse in less than half a month. No one would believe that any soldier who is accustomed to using automatic weapons and receiving generous military pay would rebel with his commander. Not to mention Chahar
In the past few years, patriotic education has gradually taken root in the hearts of the people. Those officers who declared their allegiance to Su Tong's portrait every day and graduated from the military academy have gradually spread to the grassroots level of the army.
The rebellion seems to be just a joke now. Now Jiang Baili is not sure about persuading Su Tong to sell the plane to the Nanjing government, so he had the temptation just now.
Unexpectedly, Su Tong didn't even think about it, so he just said, "No problem. What kind of aircraft does he want to buy and the quantity? Give me a list and I'll let Ma Jun do it."
"Jianming, I find that you are becoming more and more aware of the overall situation," Jiang Baili couldn't help but praise.
This sentence made Chief Su roll his eyes. Judging from what you said, my brother has always been the one who has the overall view of the situation. This time, who is going to say that he doesn't have the overall view of the situation?
In July and August of 1937, the land of China was hit by continuous artillery fire, leaving scars everywhere. In the air, the pungent smell of burning and the thick smell of blood permeated everywhere. In the dim sky, there were groups of people, one in "eight-eight style"
, "Type 94" and "Type 96" Japanese fighter planes, like devils feasting on the flesh and blood of Chinese people, fluttering their wings proudly, flying around in the sky like ghosts, blowing kisses of death to the ground.
The sharp and ear-piercing dive tore at the nerves of Chinese soldiers and civilians who had rarely seen airplanes. Tons of bombs flew towards the Chinese garrison positions, towards peaceful cities, and onto the road with frightening roars.
Crowds of people swarmed to flee.
The earth cracked open in the tremors, and the flying flesh and blood dyed the sky a bright red. The distorted faces and pairs of horrified eyes revealed the terror of this kind of war sword.
China fell behind again. When the world's air force theorist Douhet's "air force victory theory" was popular in the world, China's warlords and politicians were forcing their subordinates to fight for pieces of land, piles of money, and even a woman.
The soldiers are fighting to the death. The Chairman of the Generalissimo is also throwing a lot of white flowers into the ocean in order to stabilize the country and eliminate heretics. The Army is expanding abnormally. But the Air Force is recognized by the world's military circles as having the potential to dominate.
The Chairman of the Generalissimo did not even know much about the fate of the new military branch in future wars, and naturally he would not spend money on the Air Force. When the war suddenly came, the Chinese Air Force could only put into combat less than a hundred fighter planes. The war had not yet begun.
, China is already in danger of losing the sky and losing many chances of victory.
The Japanese Air Force is obviously aware of this. The proud Japanese Air Force flies advanced fighter planes over the treetops and rooftops. In their eyes, perhaps all it takes is some ultra-low-altitude flying and some sharp neighing.
People have already lost their souls.
They never seemed to think that there would be any danger. Flying and fighting in the Chinese sky was like walking on a sunny, refreshing green land. What does the Chinese Air Force mean? Do they have an air force? In Meng Lang's frivolous ridicule, "Japanese
The "Samurai" flew lower, exploded harder, and swept more ferociously. When performing bombing missions, the clumsy bombers did not even need escort aircraft. They even believed that the Nanjing government's air force was hiding in some wilderness in the rear at the moment.
Are you learning to fly?
The Japanese Air Force is also cruel. They never return with bombs. Anyway, there are bombs in the base. Of course, they will not throw away the bombs in vain. After bombing the Chinese garrison positions, piles of redundant bombs are among their laughter
Flying towards the city, flying towards the unarmed Chinese people. The screams and the flying flesh and blood turned into cruel jokes for the beasts. The Japanese Air Force was like holding a sharp sword stained with blood, and it would not stop.
The ground is waving above the heads of the Chinese people. They want to wield this sword to the fullest, and they want the Chinese people to collapse under this sword.
The sky of China suddenly became a stage for demons to display their sword skills. China lost its stability and tranquility in the rear. The Chinese defenders were also entangled in this fierce sword. The Chinese people were shocked, hated, and gritted their teeth.
There was a rattling sound. The Chairman was also frightened and remorseful, his head was full of fire. Gold medals were dropped one after another on the Chinese Air Force in various places; the Air Force wanted to join the war, attack, and take back the sky.
As soon as the battle with the Japanese army began, the disadvantage of the Chinese Air Force, which had only a small number of aircraft and could not continue to retreat, was clearly exposed. What particularly troubled the air force officers was that the messy imported old aircraft in their hands were more difficult to serve than anything else.
.Not to mention battle injuries, sometimes they are minor. The damage caused by just replacing a few parts can send the entire aircraft to the hangar like scrap. Is there any way to control the spare parts of some aircraft in the hands of other countries?
If they don't give it, even if you have money, you can only stare. Some people are even worse. The plane has long been obsolete, and you can't find the spare parts.
But at that time, most countries in the world were not willing to sell aircraft to China, and even if they were willing to sell them, the price would have skyrocketed, not to mention that water from afar could not quench the thirst for nearness.
What makes the Chairman even more troublesome is that this military shadow has in turn infected politics. Wang Jingwei, Dai Jitao and other peace factions have long been watching his excitement. The situation has become worse and worse in recent days, but this group
People frequently meet and gather, and their actions are secretive. He knows that this has something to do with him. At this time, if he can't play one or two trump cards, how can he shock this group of people and win the hearts and minds of the people? Anxious and trapped, he has to be patient
Old face, reaching out everywhere for help.
Under this background, the Chairman had no choice but to write this letter and ask Yang Yongtai to forward it to Jiang Baili, hoping that Jiang Baili could use his influence to persuade Su Tong to sell some fighter planes to him at a reasonable price.
Even Chairman Chiang did not expect that when he came to Chahar to buy sesame seeds, he actually bought a watermelon.
Chahar not only agreed to sell the aircraft to the Nanjing government, but also sold the German Messerschmitt ME109 fighter jet, which is currently the most advanced series in the world.
In addition, there is a kind of aircraft that no one has thought of, and that is the Japanese Type 97 heavy bomber. This aircraft is a new bomber that the Japanese Army just put into service this year. It has a bomb load of 1,000 kilograms and a range of 2,500 kilometers.
Kilometer, it is definitely one of the advanced bombers in the world.
The purpose of selling this aircraft to the Nanjing Government was also that Su Tong wanted to disgust the little Japanese and add some trouble to them. By the way, he was disgusted, so they ordered Niuben to stay at the moon base and urgently manufactured a batch of them and handed them over to the Nanjing Government.
Therefore, when both parties were happy, both parties paid and delivered the goods. On August 20, Chahar signed an agreement with the Nanjing Government and sold them eighty ME109 fighter jets and thirty
Five Type 97 heavy bombers.
At this time, when the first echelon of the Japanese Army's Third Division landed near Zhanghuabang, it was met with stubborn resistance by the Zhangzhi Central Police Corps. After the main force of the Third Division landed, the Police Corps was unable to support them and withdrew to the west bank of the Nansitang River.
Zhang Zhizhong organized reinforcements from the 87th and 36th Divisions to defeat the Japanese attack. The two sides faced off across the river on the 25th. The first echelon of the 11th Division of the Japanese Army fought at Chuanshakou on the 23rd.
After landing at Shidongkou, since the troops of the Fifteenth Army did not arrive at the designated position, the Japanese army quickly captured the Shizilin Fort, Yuepu and Luodian, and then attacked Liuhe and Baoshan respectively. In the afternoon, Chen Cheng's troops arrived one after another, and the Eighteenth Army
Cooperating with the 54th Army to launch a counterattack, they recaptured Luodian that night and Baoshan, Shizilin and Yuepu the next day. On the 25th, the two sides formed a confrontation from Shizilin, Yuepu, Xinzhen, Luodian to Liuhekou.
Nanjing Leader's Residence The chairman of the Generalissimo was in a good mood this morning when he got up early. The letter was very effective. Just yesterday, all the 115 aircraft promised by Chahar had arrived in the hands of []. Air Force Commander Zhou Zhirou reported
After the pilot's test flight, it was proved that the performance of those aircraft was very good.
However, although Chahar sold the aircraft to the central government, he also made a request. They asked to send a troop to Shanghai to participate in the war. The chairman pondered for a while and agreed. Now is the time to use troops. One more
The troops would be more powerful, but the chairman of the committee also made a request, that is, there should be no more than 30,000 troops. This is also to prevent Chahar from taking the opportunity to insert his hands into the pass. Unexpectedly, Su Tong also readily agreed.
Already.
Not only that, Su Tong also promised to send a flying group to assist in the battle, and together with the Nanjing government's air force, they would defend the skies in southern China.
Although Su Tong did some things that seemed stupid to some people, Su Tong himself did not think that resisting Japan and serving the country was doing stupid things. Su Tong sent out the 102nd Infantry Division, and the 102nd Infantry Division was Chaha
It is recognized as one of the infantry divisions with the strongest combat effectiveness. It has always been Su Tong's fist unit. The division commander Hu Lian is even known as being as cunning as a fox and as fierce as a tiger.
In addition, Su Tong also assigned the Fourth Artillery Division to Hu Lian. Anyway, Su Tong hoped to use these advanced weapons and artillery fire to cause more trouble and blows to the Japanese army.
In early September, a flying regiment sent by Chahar began to officially station at the Shanghai Airport. Hu Lian led the 102nd Infantry Division to Shanghai by train. They vowed to let the Japanese devils taste their power.