In the suburbs of Xuzhou, Baoshan Brigade Headquarters.
As soon as Yue Weihan jumped out of the jeep, Liu Yi and more than a dozen battalion commanders came to greet him like a swarm. News of Chairman Chiang's personal visit to Xuzhou had already spread among the officers and soldiers of the Baoshan Brigade. Everyone knew about Chairman Chiang.
After this long trip, a commendation order must have been issued. The Baoshan Brigade is the first to make a contribution, so it will definitely receive a heavy award.
"The hotel seat..." Liu Yi greeted Yue Weihan. When he was about to speak, Yue Weihan walked directly past him.
From beginning to end, Yue Weihan didn't even squint his eyes, as if Liu Yi and the dozen or so battalion commanders didn't exist at all. Only then did Liu Yi notice that Yue Weihan's face was terrifyingly gloomy, and he turned around to ask Chu Zhongtian and
When Tang Dashan was watching, both of them gave Liu Yi helpless smiles. They didn't know what was going on?
More than a dozen regimental and battalion chiefs, headed by Cao Xinglong and Chi Chengfeng, also looked at each other in confusion.
Niu Dagen originally prepared a set of firecrackers, but seeing Yue Weihan's expression, he would never dare to set off firecrackers. Although the host is usually very easy-going to everyone, it would be bad luck if he really got into trouble.
.
More than a dozen people watched Yue Weihan walk into the war room with a gloomy face, but no one dared to follow him.
Liu Yi quickly signaled everyone to disperse, and then followed him into the war room. He saw Yue Weihan standing in front of the map, holding a compass and drawing a circle on the map. Liu Yi stepped forward and saw that Yue Weihan had already drawn a circle on the map.
Two large circles were drawn, one with Wabao as the center, and the other with Xuzhou as the center.
"Tour seat." Liu Yi asked cautiously, "I see you are seated."
"Yes." Yue Weihan nodded expressionlessly and said, "I see."
"Then..." Seeing that Yue Weihan had no intention of getting angry, Liu Yi asked again, "The award and commendation order has been issued?"
"Yeah." Yue Weihan said absentmindedly, "The entire war zone won five million yuan, and our Baoshan brigade won half a million yuan!"
Liu Yi suddenly became excited. Five hundred thousand is not a small sum. You must know that the military salary of the more than 8,000 officers and soldiers of the Baoshan Brigade, plus the miscellaneous expenses of 7,788 or 88, is only more than 200,000 yuan a year. This time
One guy was awarded half a million yuan. Almost every officer and soldier received fifty yuan, especially officers!
If this news is released, the entire brigade officers and soldiers will not be happy?
However, when Liu Yi saw that Yue Weihan had no joy at all on his face, he resisted and did not dare to show it.
Let's talk about Yue Weihan. After drawing on the map for a long time, he finally let out a long sigh and said angrily: "Head fever, this is a typical brain fever. This is taking the lives of ninety-eight divisions and more than one million soldiers of the country at risk."
It’s child’s play! It’s even more child’s play with the future and destiny of the entire Republic of China and the entire Chinese nation!”
"Travel seat, what happened?" Liu Yi looked solemn, ninety-eight divisions!?
Yue Weihan shook his head and did not answer Liu Yi. In fact, Yue Weihan was not in the mood to answer now.
Until now, Yue Weihan's ears still echoed with Chairman Chiang's impassioned tone: "I am determined to expand the scale of the Xuzhou Battle and continue to increase troops to the Xuzhou battlefield. In addition to the original sixty-two divisions, I will also deploy troops from various theaters.
Thirty-six divisions, it is planned to use the strength of 98 divisions to engage in a strategic decisive battle with the main force of the Japanese army!"
Disaster, this is simply a disaster, and it is a greater disaster than the Battle of Xuzhou in history!
Historically, because Chairman Chiang Kai-shek and the top brass of the war zone misjudged the national power of China and Japan as well as the military power of the Chinese and Japanese armies, they were equally ambitious to fight the Japanese army to the death on the Xuzhou battlefield. However, in the end, the main force of the national army was still
The Xuzhou battlefield was successfully evacuated, but the price was the Huayuankou embankment bursting.
When the Yellow River overflowed, millions of people died directly in more than 40 counties in the Huanghuai region, and tens of millions were displaced and became homeless refugees. These refugees died on the way to Shaanxi, Gansu, and Sichuan.
Along the way, an unprecedented and tragic picture of starvation for thousands of miles was formed!
Now, the situation that the Xuzhou battlefield is about to face is likely to be worse than in history!
Due to the great victory in Lunan and the annihilation of the Japanese 5th and 10th Divisions, the self-confidence of Chairman Chiang and the top brass of the war zone was more inflated than in history, and the misjudgment of the national power of China and Japan became even more outrageous, so that Commissar Chiang
The commander is ambitious to mobilize a huge force of ninety-eight divisions to fight a strategic decisive battle of unprecedented scale with the Japanese army on the Xuzhou battlefield!
Obviously, Chairman Chiang hopes to accomplish all his achievements in one battle, knocking out Japan's all-round offensive capabilities and bringing the entire war of resistance into a strategic stalemate. The top brass of the Fifth Theater Zone seem to agree with Chairman Chiang's idea, at least General Li
Deputy Commander He Bai had no objection, and Chief of Staff Xu Zuyi and Deputy Commander-in-Chief Li Pinxian were even more excited.
It is understandable that General Li and other high-level officials in the war zone have such thoughts. After all, being born as a soldier, what an honor it would be to be able to command millions of troops to engage in a strategic duel with the Japanese invaders? How many generals in the world are there?
Can they have this honor? What's more, if the Battle of Xuzhou is won, then as senior leaders of the war zone, their names will forever be recorded in history!
However, Yue Weihan knew that it was impossible for the national army to win this strategic decisive battle of unprecedented scale!
At this time, Japan's total national economy was seven times that of the National Government, and its total industrial output value was dozens of times that of the National Government. Taking iron production as an example, the National Government's annual output was only 100,000 tons, while Japan's was as high as 3 million tons.
tons, and the difference in steel production is even greater. The National Government's annual steel production is less than 1,000 tons, but Japan's annual steel production is as high as 6 million tons!
Moreover, Japan has a complete defense industry system that can continuously produce aircraft, cannons, warships, warships and other weapons. However, the National Government does not have a complete defense industry system at all, let alone tanks, aircraft, warships and other large-scale weapons.
Equipment, even artillery with a slightly larger caliber cannot be made, and there is no steel.
More importantly, the militaries of China and Japan are not at the same level at all.
After the North China Offensive and the Central China Offensive, especially after the Battle of Nanjing, the veterans of the several permanent divisions that the Japanese army put into the Chinese battlefield were indeed consumed a lot. The subsequent replacements were either local soldiers from the reserve force, or recruits from the reserve service and supplementary service.
, the overall combat effectiveness has dropped significantly.
However, the decline in the combat effectiveness of the national army is even more obvious!
Although the veterans of several permanent divisions of the Japanese army were greatly depleted, the main force still existed, while the elite troops of the National Army were almost exhausted. Especially in the Nanjing Defense War, the most elite dozen divisions were all wiped out. Since then,
The national army formed is almost all new recruits, with very few veterans and extremely poor equipment. How much combat effectiveness can such an army have?
Not all national army troops are as well-trained, brave and good at fighting as the Baoshan Brigade!
Especially those new divisions that have just been formed, the Japanese army only needs one round of artillery bombardment to completely defeat them!
Chairman Chiang Kai-shek wants to mobilize ninety-eight divisions. At first glance, it seems to be a huge move, but the real combat effectiveness of these ninety-eight divisions is very questionable. On the Lunan battlefield, the fifth theater mobilized more than fifty divisions.
, in Taierzhuang, Hanzhuang took turns to attack, and they failed to annihilate the Sakagaki Division and the Isoya Division after two months of fierce attacks. This is the most powerful proof!
Therefore, if Chairman Chiang really wants to transfer 98 divisions to the Xuzhou battlefield, the situation will only get worse!
In addition to the original 62 divisions in the fifth theater, where will the remaining 36 divisions be transferred from? They can only be transferred from the Pinghan Line, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Hubei and other strategic directions. This will inevitably lead to empty troops in the other theaters.
Once the Battle of Xuzhou is defeated and the national army cannot retreat in time as it did in history, the consequences will be disastrous!
Anhui Province, Gan Province, Hubei Province, Hunan Province and other vast areas may be taken by the Japanese army. In this way, it will be difficult to say whether the Nationalist Government can survive in Sichuan Province, even if Chairman Chiang Kai-shek is determined to resist the war.
In the end, it is difficult to say whether local warlords such as Yan Xishan, Long Yun, and Chen Jitang are still willing to fight to the death.
Thinking of this, Yue Weihan couldn't help but become more irritable than ever before.
Yue Weihan does not want to contribute to the demise of the Republic of China because of his own efforts, then he will really become the eternal sinner of the Chinese nation!
…
Xuzhou, War Room of the Fifth War Zone Commander's Headquarters.
Vice President Bai was holding a command pole and pointing at the map and talking: "If nothing else happens, the Japanese army's reinforcements in Xuzhou will be divided into two groups, one will attack Xuzhou from north to south, and the other will attack Bengbu from south to north. The Japanese army's
The operational goal is to encircle and annihilate the main force of our army near Xuzhou, and thereby force the Nationalist Government to surrender."
"According to the information provided by the Bureau of Military Statistics, the Japanese base camp has been mobilized to form twenty reserve divisions. At least fifteen of them will be deployed on the Xuzhou battlefield. I estimate that the final Japanese troops deployed on the Xuzhou battlefield will be in the twenty-first century.
Between one and twenty-five divisions, the total strength will exceed 500,000!"
The war room suddenly erupted in whispers.
Half a million Japanese troops, this is not a small number. You must know that the Japanese army only invested 300,000 troops in the Songhu Battle, but they defeated more than 70 elite divisions of the national army! This time in the Xuzhou battlefield, although the national army will mobilize nine
There are eighteen divisions, but the vast majority of these ninety-eight divisions are newly rebuilt new divisions!
"There is no need to panic," Chairman Chiang said calmly. "Even if the total strength of the Japanese army is 500,000, the vast majority of them are long-retired soldiers in the countryside, or they are untrained recruits, real veterans.
There are very few such troops. Their combat effectiveness is very questionable, and they are not much better than the national army."
"It is indeed true." Vice President Bai nodded and said, "The Battle of Songhu and the Battle of Nanjing have consumed a large number of Japanese veterans, especially the Battle of Nanjing. At least 60,000 Japanese soldiers were killed in the battle.
Counting injuries and disabilities, the Japanese army's combat effectiveness has undoubtedly declined significantly compared to the beginning of the war."
After saying this, Deputy Commander Bai added: "In short, our army has an absolute advantage in terms of military strength. The ratio of military strength is about two to one. The quality of the soldiers is not much different from that of the Japanese army. The only disadvantage is that the equipment is not as good as the Japanese army."
, However, we are defending our own land and resisting the war. The location is favorable and the people and people are on our side. Therefore, I think that as long as we plan properly, the officers and soldiers of all departments can fight the enemy bravely and win the Xuzhou Battle."