Chapter 1351 The army destined to become abandoned sons
In the next two days, Liu Lang was with the independent group during the day, and at night he accompanied his wife who came here on the order of her mother-in-law to plant babies, even if she had two big black eyes that Xiong Si stopped to look at curiously.
.
The two women probably knew Ji Yanxue's purpose of coming, and they didn't come to fight the landlord that night. They just looked at the big dark circles on Lang Tuanzuo's face, and they didn't look good. Liu Lang also happened to be clean.
He has long ago thrown everything he has into the air. A wife who is already asking for too much and is a little crazy is about to turn him into a "bear five"...
Under Liu Tuanzuo's order, the entire independent regiment, which had not received the transfer order, worked hard to reinforce all the trucks captured from the Japanese army and brought to Nanjing with steel plates purchased by themselves and approved by the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs.
In addition to the ten tons of steel plates approved by the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs, Zhang Ruhao used all his connections and used a large amount of cash to open roads. After all, he also gained a lot. He spent ten times the usual money to purchase more than fifty tons of steel plates, a total of six
Of the ten tons of steel plates, more than half were used to transform this almost ugly truck.
No attention was paid to the appearance. The engine position was welded with steel plates that could at least withstand 7.7mm heavy machine gun fire. The front windshield was also completely removed and replaced with steel plates, leaving only tank-like observation holes, even on both sides.
They were all firmly sealed with steel plates. Including the rear bucket, from the tires to the top, the steel plates erected on three sides and the thick sandbags built behind were enough to withstand the Japanese 7.7mm Type 92 heavy machine gun fire.
Each truck consumes more than one ton of steel plates, and with sandbags and other items included, the truck itself weighs up to three tons even without cargo. Naturally, the speed is reduced a lot, but the protection is greatly increased.
Rather than saying that these modified trucks are transport vehicles, it is better to say that they are crude versions of armored vehicles. After testing, even if two MG42s are fired at these trucks, as long as they do not hit the tires very accurately, they will basically hit the inside of the vehicle.
There will be no major damage to the combatants in the cab and the vehicle body. Even if it is a grenade, it may be able to kill and injure the people in the vehicle body after a precise hit, but it will not cause much damage to the vehicle, unless the Japanese army uses infantry
Cannons can destroy this modified monster.
Of course, the premise is that the infantry artillery can hit this guy who can move on the battlefield at a speed of at least 20 yards, which also requires a certain level of artillery fire.
After each vehicle is modified and tested, it will be covered with a tarpaulin. Obviously, Liu Lang will not show this kind of truck to others easily before there is a fight.
The Independent Regiment was very busy here, and the battle situation on the Songhu battlefield also experienced new changes.
Nanjing Military Commission.
.......
Admiral Bai, who had just been appointed deputy chief of staff of the Military Commission, entered the study room with a serious expression under the guidance of the Chief of Guard Wang Shihe. The bald man who was resting with his eyes closed opened his eyes when he heard the sound and saw Admiral Bai.
A rare smile suddenly appeared on his face, and he immediately stood up and greeted him affectionately: "Jiansheng, are you here?"
General Bai is the second-in-command of the Guangxi warlords and a very famous military strategist in the Kuomintang. He earned the reputation of Xiao Zhuge from the battlefield, and it is by no means a wasted reputation! For this general
, it can be said that the bald principal loves and hates him at the same time. He loves his talents, but also hates that he cannot be used for his own purposes. Only the bald principal himself knows how complicated this feeling is.
"Commission!" Admiral Bai stood at attention and saluted the bald principal, and then said solemnly, "According to the interception of the Technical Section of the Shanghai Branch of the Investigation Bureau of the Military Commission, there has been a sudden increase in the number of messages exchanged between the headquarters of the Japanese Army's Shanghai Condemnation Force and the local base camp recently.
, I am worried that the Japanese army is likely to increase its troops in a large scale. At present, our army can barely support the Songhu battlefield. Once the Japanese army continues to increase its troops, the situation will be critical."
Yes, Liu Lang was not the only one to predict the defeat of the Chinese army in the Songhu Battle. The military general in charge of the national war strategy against Japan finally gave up after the 60,000 elite Guangxi troops under his command failed to counterattack and were almost completely lost a few days ago.
Tears made this strategic prediction.
Although he was very reluctant, this senior general, who is rarely ranked among the top five among contemporary Chinese soldiers, still had to admit that if the war continued, the hundreds of thousands of elites gathered in China would die in a single battle in Shanghai.
That would be even more terrifying than losing Shanghai.
"I know, I know this. At the meeting of the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs two days ago, Zhang Zizhong from Hebei Province also mentioned that the Japanese army will definitely move troops south from North China, and the target must be Songhu, southeast of me." The bald principal's face was also serious,
He nodded slightly and said, "Although Zhang Zizhong brought an unjust reputation for Song Zheyuan during the North China Incident, he not only has a good character, but also has some military ability. He spent a lot of money on me in the Central Plains War.
It took hard work to defeat him."
"Yes! This person is available." Admiral Bai nodded in agreement.
"We'll talk about it later, the key is now." The bald man paced back and forth and looked at Admiral Bai, "I wonder if Jian Sheng has a good way to deal with it?"
Admiral Bai sighed and said sadly: "Commissioner, there have been heavy rains in the Songhu area in the past few days. Our army's frontline positions are all soaked in water. The frontline soldiers are miserable. I think our army should completely abandon Suzhou and Hebei."
In the urban area on the other side of the river, we will shrink our troops to the west of the Jinpu Railway and the south bank of the Suzhou River to confront the Japanese troops across the river. The war situation may still be able to be sustained."
The words were very tactful, but the meaning behind them was that his intention to retreat was already exposed. Obviously, this young Zhuge was still concerned about the face of the commander-in-chief of a country and did not speak so straightforwardly.
However, this person who is already considered the most influential person in the headquarters dared to say this. If it were someone else, even General Zhang, whom Liu Lang visited first, if he said that hundreds of thousands of troops on the front line should be withdrawn,
If you say anything, you will definitely be reprimanded.
This was a big scene created by the bald man with all his heart and soul. Although the situation was not advantageous, it still kept the Japanese army in Songhu for more than two months. Who dares to say that the man could not command the march?
really......
"Abandon the urban area on the north bank of the Suzhou River?" The bald principal's face was filled with anger. He paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back and stopped talking.
Knowing that his temperament was like that of a king, cold sweat broke out on his forehead, which was a symbol of the anger level of a big boss. But Admiral Bai stood upright, content and unafraid.
As one of the top decision-makers of the headquarters, after crying bitterly that the 40,000 men of the Gui Army under his command were stained with blood on the battlefield, he could no longer bear the needless consumption of more elites in the range of the Japanese naval guns, so he had no choice but to withdraw to the south bank of the Suzhou River.
, to avoid all this.
After a long time, the bald principal stopped and frowned, "Can you leave an army behind?"
"Leave an army behind?" Admiral Bai asked puzzledly before the big brother Lei Lei was furious. "The words of the commission are puzzling."
Of course Admiral Bai couldn't understand. In his opinion, hundreds of thousands of troops couldn't withstand the Japanese offensive, so what was the use of leaving a single force behind?
To be honest, this man can kill the big boss in front of him more than a dozen times in a matter of seconds, and can be called one of China's three major military strategists. It proves that he is not bad at strategy, at least he can understand it clearly.
The direction of the war in Songhu. However, in politics, he would be killed dozens of streets by the bald man. He is not a person of equivalent level at all. Not to mention him, he is another political line from the Guangxi clique.
Mr. Li didn't look good enough in front of the commander-in-chief.
At this time, the boss is not looking at military gains and losses.
The bald man did not look at the confused Deputy Chief of Staff, but turned his back and looked out the window at the bleak winter scenery. He said in a quiet voice: "Jiansheng, the United Nations General Assembly is about to convene. It is reported that the Sino-Japanese War will be included in the General Assembly.
On the topic, if our army can leave a force in the urban area on the north bank of the Suzhou River, it can also show our determination to fight to the end and never compromise. This may be more beneficial to our government when the UN General Assembly makes a resolution."
In fact, the bald man didn't say anything. The Japanese base camp already has intentions of peace talks. The two sides are communicating secretly. This war must be fought no matter what. Otherwise, the UN General Assembly will not pay attention to small China, and the Japanese may also
No more peace talks.
Yes, to this day, China's number one leader still has illusions. He imagines that just like the 128 Songhu Anti-Japanese War five years ago, the two sides will fight to the bitter end, and then everyone will sit down at the negotiating table.
Talk about the conditions, and then bring in the Western countries. At most, China will suffer some losses and give in, and stabilize the situation first. After a few more years, all the German mechanics in his dream have been redressed, then
Then you can challenge the Japanese.
The wish is beautiful, but the reality is cruel. The Chinese leader who is determined to "replace talks with war" does not know that the Japanese can't wait this time. Not only will the Japanese Army Staff Headquarters, which adheres to the "non-expansionism", fight
Minister Kanji Ishihara was transferred, and he had already formulated a plan to destroy all of China.
"That's all we have to do." Although Admiral Bai disagreed with this suggestion in his heart, the big bosses had already agreed to the big strategy, so this face must be given.
"Then it's up to you, Jiansheng, to arrange this matter. We must select an elite unit from each group army. The size of the force must be at least one division!" the bald man continued.
"Understood, I'll make arrangements right away." Admiral Bai saluted the bald man with a military salute, then turned and left.
From this moment on, one Chinese army is destined to become an outcast and make sacrifices for the needs of upper-level politics.
Yes, if Liu Lang heard the conversation between these two big figures from the Military Commission, he would definitely know that the once-famous defense battle of the Four Elements Warehouse in time and space was about to come.
.......
Songhu front line.
As the war progressed, the originally sufficient supply of materials for the hundreds of thousands of troops also quietly became tense, especially the ammunition supply and food standards were repeatedly lowered. Not only was the government running out of money when the cannon went off, but gold was also used.
But as the Chinese Air Force repeatedly lost its wings, air superiority was gradually controlled by the Japanese army. It was difficult for trains to enter the material transfer area during the day, and they could only use the cover of night for transportation.
But this is not the most annoying thing. The lack of ammunition can be used sparingly, and the food can be made do with. The most unbearable thing is the rain and snow in winter. It has been pouring rain for several days. There is no shortage of water in the southeast region.
, once the trenches are dug deep, the bottom will be filled with water. This is good. The Songhu area is low-lying. The trenches dug by the officers and soldiers with great difficulty are like small ponds filled with water. If fish are raised, at least
Can live for ten days and a half.
The hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the national army who were on the front line were all soaked in the cold turbid water. If it was summer, it might be better, but this is late autumn, so you can imagine the misery. If this weather continues for a long time,
In three to five days, there will be no need for the little devils to attack, and you will collapse.
Now even the most uncultured and unstrategic leading soldiers have seen clearly that the battle north of the Suzhou River is no longer possible. Now there is only one way left, which is to retreat to the Suzhou River.
To the south, we relied on the solid reinforced concrete buildings in Shanghai to fight street battles with the Japs.
Of course, there are some things that these big-headed soldiers don't know. Most of Shanghai's urban area is actually a concession of various countries. Those foreign devils will never allow the national army to fight street fights with the little devils in the concession. The bald man still hopes
If these foreign devils can intervene in this war by convening the United Nations General Assembly, it is even less likely that they will take the initiative to offend the Western powers. Even if they want to withdraw, they will withdraw to the countryside and fight with the Japanese army in the field.
In other words, once the area north of the Suzhou River is abandoned, it means that Shanghai, the Oriental Pearl, has been de facto lost. To put it more seriously, China has been de facto defeated in the Battle of Songhu until now.
, the remaining question is how to end this war as decently as possible.
However, at this time, the Chinese high command still stubbornly chose a strategy that was different from the expectations of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the front line.
Retreat without retreating. Hundreds of thousands of frontline soldiers withdrew from the urban area on the north bank of the Suzhou River and re-established positions on the outskirts of Shanghai to confront the Japanese army. The troops who were destined to become abandoned sons and destined to be sacrificed were also selected by General Bai.