After Stilwell finished the conversation with Wang Xuexin, he reviewed Wang Xuexin's suggestions from beginning to end and found that this seemed to be the most reasonable plan with the least risk.
Just when Stilwell ordered the communications team to put away the radio and prepare to continue on their way, a jeep stopped in front of him. Alexander jumped out of the car and shouted: "Joe, I was looking for you!"
As he spoke, Alexander took a document from his assistant and handed it to Stilwell.
"This is the next stage of the battle plan!" Alexander said: "I am going to organize a line of defense in the north. As long as we can block the enemy's attack, we will have a chance to counterattack..."
"No, Harold!" Stilwell was not even interested in taking the plan. He interrupted Alexander: "There is no plan anymore. Let's continue to retreat!"
Alexander was stunned and said with a somewhat surprised expression: "But we have not lost, we still have a chance!"
This is true, the coalition forces do still have a chance at this time.
The reason is that China's external highway is only in the central region, and there is still a large area of land in the north that can be defended. At the same time, the coalition forces can also continuously obtain equipment and supplies from Asana.
Therefore, Alexander is right. As long as the coalition forces establish a line of defense to block the enemy's offensive momentum, the coalition forces will soon have an advantage in supplies and ammunition, and the balance of victory will tilt in the direction of the coalition forces.
But at this time, Stilwell had long seen through Alexander's tricks. He knew that Alexander and even the entire Sun Never Sets army had no intention of fighting. They had long made up their minds to abandon this place. Alexander's so-called plan... was just to make the Chinese army
Stop the retreat and slow down the enemy's pursuit, so that the Sun Never Sets army can completely escape back to the Asan realm.
Stilwell said it very directly. He looked at Alexander coldly and said: "Don't treat me as a fool, Harold, I know what you are thinking!"
With that said, he took his men into the jeep and left without looking back.
Alexander still pretended to be innocent. He shouted from behind the car: "I don't know what you are talking about, Joe! We can't just give up! You will regret it..."
At this moment, Stilwell had an impulse. He wanted to report to his superiors and replace Alexander. He couldn't stand the face of the fleeing general.
But thinking deeply, Stilwell thought that this would not be useful.
Because this was obviously not Alexander's idea, but rather the secret instruction of the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets.
Therefore, what disgusted him was not Alexander, but the empire that thought it was centered on its own interests and ignored the overall situation.
In this respect Stilwell was right.
At this time, the Empire on which the sun never sets was still the most powerful country in the world. Although it declined, it was unwilling to give up its position as the "first powerful country".
Therefore, even Eagle Sauce is its competitor.
Because from the current point of view, Eagle Sauce is the country most likely to take over the position of "number one in the world".
The difficulty of the sun never setting is that at this time, the fight with Hans is inseparable and requires Yingjiang's help. He cannot openly fall out with Yingjiang and can only stumble secretly.
Therefore, on the battlefield, Barton was suppressed and depressed... The Eagle Army was about to win, but was strictly ordered to stop attacking and let the army go up to harvest the fruits.
(Although the commander of the coalition forces was Eisenhower, he only coordinated the relationship between the two countries and had no command authority. It was actually Montgomery who commanded the operations)
It's just that the army on which the sun never sets really failed to live up to expectations. Even if it cheated, it suffered repeated defeats, allowing Patton to steal the limelight.
Of course, Stilwell, who was a diplomat, knew the subtle relationship between Yingjiang and the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets at this time, not to mention that entering the Asan Realm in the future would require cooperation with the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets, so he tried not to have an attack.
He just looked at the frustrated Alexander behind the car through the rear mirror, and said to himself: "If you still want to fight, then let the 'heroic' army that never sets on you show it once! I'm optimistic about you.
!”
Then, Stilwell no longer wasted time, thinking about how to persuade the senior leaders of Eagle Sauce so that they would not be seduced by the sun-never-set diplomacy and have unrealistic illusions about this war.
Stilwell's method is very simple, which is to directly analyze the strategic intentions of the Sun Never Sets with the top management.
He said: "Although I don't want to believe this, judging from all the current battlefield performances, what I said has become reality one by one. We, including the Chinese army, are falling into the elaborate trap of the empire on which the sun never sets.
Weaving traps, they are trying to use the enemy to consume our strength and achieve the purpose of preserving themselves! Therefore, we have only one way to go, and that is to abandon this place and retreat to the Asan realm!"
Then he sent a telegram to Chongqing to discuss the feasibility of withdrawing Chinese troops to the Asan border.
It took a few days for Wang Xuexin to receive news from Stilwell.
Stilwell didn't say much because this was a military secret. As the commander, he shouldn't reveal too much information. He only said a few words: "Everything went well!"
Seeing these words, Wang Xuexin knew that the matter was close to ten.
Wang Xuexin couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If the Chinese Expeditionary Army had not gone to Savage Mountain, the tragedy in history would not have happened again!
In addition, once the expeditionary force withdraws to Asana, the size of the troops in Asana is already quite large, which will put considerable pressure on the Japanese. It is also possible that they will be able to form combat power again in a shorter period of time to launch a counterattack.
Therefore, Wang Xuexin felt that he had made the right move, which would have a positive impact on the entire Chinese war situation.
After this matter came to an end, Wang Xuexin turned his attention to Yuncheng again.
The inclusion of Yuncheng into the territory of the Eighth Route Army was a qualitative leap for the Eighth Route Army.
The reason is not only the strategic significance of Yuncheng, but more importantly, the Eighth Route Army could only fight the Japs in the Luliang Mountains in the past... With the Eighth Route Army's previous strength, it was difficult to compete head-on with the Japs in the plains, even if it took the initiative to win the battle in the plains.
It is also impossible to defend for a long time, because there is no danger to defend in the plain area, and the logistics supply line can easily be cut off by the Japanese.
Therefore, even if there was a Hundred Regiment War or even Wang Xuexin captured Yucun, etc., it was basically necessary to retreat after capturing the supplies and destroying the Japanese facilities.
This creates a problem, that is, most of the Eighth Route Army base areas are in mountainous areas with constant traffic.
It is difficult to carry out large-scale industrialization to improve economic strength in these mountainous areas.
It's different with Yuncheng.
To the west of Yuncheng all the way to the Yellow River is a plain, which cuts off Luliang Mountain and Zhongtiao Mountain like a knife.
Wang Xuexin believes that this plain is the basis for the industrialization of the Eighth Route Army.