The headquarters received the news of the victory immediately, and the headquarters immediately burst into cheers.
The leader clenched his fist and praised: "Well done! With more than 200 aircraft, the stubborn army has not achieved such results in all these years. Look, they still say that we are Tubal Road who can't get on the stage!"
No wonder the chief said this.
The stubborn army has been promoting to the outside world that the Eighth Route Army has no navy, air force or even artillery. A force of this size is not an opponent of the Japanese at all. It is just a small fight, so it cannot be China's hope.
This kind of propaganda is mainly to compete for overseas aid.
At this time, China had been blockaded by the Japanese, and a considerable part of the funds for the Anti-Japanese War came from overseas patriotic Chinese.
So the stubborn army took advantage of the power of speech they had to promote themselves while belittling the Eighth Route Army, causing most of the overseas donations to go to the stubborn army.
In fact, only a small part of these donations were actually used for the Anti-Japanese War, and most of them went to the pockets of the chaebols for their own benefit.
This is true if we talk about the recalcitrant army's air combat results.
For example, during the Battle of Songhu, the Chinese Air Force made many sorties to engage in fierce battles with the Japanese Air Force.
The results of the battle at this time were not even too ugly. More than 300 aircraft were exchanged for more than 60 aircraft, which was about five to one.
However, most of the aircraft and pilots lost were elites with combat experience. After the loss of these elites, they basically lost their air superiority, so that they had a 99-0 battle record after that. It was not until the Flying Tigers were hired that things improved. (Note: Flying Tigers were hired.)
The Tigers were formed in July 1941)
Under this situation, the Eighth Route Army blew up nearly two hundred aircraft in Yuncheng, Beizhou and Xiangxi. More importantly, in addition to the aircraft, there were also pilots, ground staff, including mechanics. The results were comparable.
The stubborn army has accumulated a lot in the past few years.
The chief of staff agreed: "The chief is right. This is a good opportunity for our army to publicize. This battle will not only rectify the name of our army, but also achieve the previously planned goal, which is to smash the understanding signed between the stubborn army and the Japanese."
Conspiracy, send a blow to the stubborn army to surrender!"
The leader nodded and said meaningfully: "The propaganda war is not simple at all. Our army has always been at a disadvantage in this regard. It is obvious that our army has resolutely resisted the war and achieved great results, but it has been scorned by the stubborn army as being ineffective in the war!
We need to pay attention now. Only by fighting against the stubborn troops in this aspect can we better unite the anti-war forces across the country!"
After saying that, the commander no longer hesitated and ordered: "Report the battle report and even the details of the battle immediately!"
The chief of staff responded and issued an order for comprehensive publicity.
The Eighth Route Army had made preparations in this regard before, and all the major newspapers had contacted the manpower. After the order was given, the major newspapers immediately got the news.
So "Ta Kung Pao", "Dazhong Daily", "Anti-Japanese War", etc. all published the news that the Eighth Route Army blew up two Japanese airports, destroyed two hundred fighter planes of various types, and killed and injured thousands of Japanese soldiers.
At the same time, the specific contents of the "understanding case" were also announced.
In just one day, news spread throughout the streets and alleys of China that the stubborn army was passively resisting the war and intended to reach a treasonous armistice agreement with the Japanese. The situation was aroused and the patriotic students and the masses organized demonstrations to oppose the "understanding bill".
The reasons for objection are also very good.
First, the Eighth Route Army was able to defeat the Japanese and achieve such great results even though it had backward equipment, insufficient funds, and much fewer troops than the recalcitrant army. This fully demonstrated that it was not a lack of national strength, but that the recalcitrant army was not determined enough to fight, and its willpower was not resolute enough.
The organization is not tight enough.
Second, the victory of the Eighth Route Army gave a severe slap in the face to the so-called "curve to save the country" theory of the capitulationists... Facts have proved that even if the Chinese army is not as equipped as the enemy, it can still win, not as in the so-called "curve to save the country".
In the same way, first set a "must fail" conclusion and then work backwards.
At this time, the first theater of the stubborn army was engaged in a bitter battle with the Japanese.
The Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain started before dark.
However, because the passage between Zhongtiao Mountain and the Eighth Route Army had been cut off by the invading Japanese troops and there was no effective communication mechanism between the stubborn army and the Eighth Route Army, the Eighth Route Army knew nothing about it.
The Japanese attack was launched with several hours of bombing before dawn. The bombing targeted the Yellow River south of Zhongtiao Mountain.
Since the stubborn army was unprepared for this... in fact, if they were prepared, they didn't know how to prepare. The most they could do was deploy a few more anti-aircraft machine guns.
However, the stubborn army never expected that the Japanese would target Zhongtiao Mountain, and they also dreamed that the Japanese would cross the Yellow River west to attack Xi'an, so they transferred all their limited air defense firepower to Xi'an City.
As a result, the Japanese fighter planes and bombers were able to conduct unscrupulous low-altitude bombings in the southern Yellow River section. In just three hours, the bridges, ferries, and ferries on both sides of the river were blown into a sea of flames.
Chief of Staff Guo Baizhou immediately handed the telegram that the southern section of the Yellow River was bombed to the commander of the First Theater Command.
He didn't need to say anything. Now even a fool knew that the target of the Japanese attack was Zhongtiao Mountain, not Xi'an.
The commander's face was very ugly. He stared at the telegram for a long time without saying anything. It seemed that if he stared at it for a while longer, it would change.
Until Guo Baizhou reminded: "Commander, the front line is waiting for your order!"
Only then did the commander suddenly wake up.
Guo Baizhou thought that the commander would order the troops to withdraw to the mountainous area to use the terrain for defense, but the commander's order once again shocked him.
"Order the Fifth Army!" the commander ordered: "attack the enemy with all your strength!"
"Commander!" Guo Baizhou objected: "Although our army has more troops than the enemy, its combat effectiveness and morale are far from being ready for a counterattack. We can only attack at this time..."
"Chief of Staff Guo!" the commander interrupted Guo Baizhou: "At this point, the enemy must have a complete offensive strategy. They must have grasped all aspects of our army's situation and even predicted our army's next move. This is
At this time, if our army continues to press its troops
If we just retreat to the mountainous area and deal with the Japanese, we are probably caught in the Japanese plan and prepared. Therefore, our army should go in the opposite direction and launch a surprise counterattack to disrupt the enemy's battle plan. Only in this way can we
Be invincible."
"But Commander..." Guo Baizhou was a little anxious.
It's not that he doesn't know what the commander said, but it's that these are based on the counterattack being able to break through the enemy's defense line. Only in this way can the enemy's position and deployment be disrupted.
If the frontline troops just rush forward to die, it will be nothing more than scratching the surface for the Japanese, and they will gain nothing except increasing their own casualties and lowering morale.
But the commander interrupted Guo Baizhou's words as soon as he raised his hand: "No need to say more, the fighter plane will disappear in a flash, give me the order!"