The unusual mobilization of Japanese troops in Central China soon attracted the close attention of the intelligence agencies of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.
Then, news spread like wildfire that the Japanese Tenth Division was surrounded by an independent group in Damei Mountain.
This news even alarmed Chairman Chiang, but at this time, Chairman Chiang was not in a good mood.
Three Japanese armies are approaching from three directions, and the atmosphere in the three towns of Wuhan is becoming unprecedentedly tense. The Hankou Pier, which used to be crowded with people and bustling with people, is now much deserted. Only a few British ships with tall chimneys and huge bodies are still there.
They parked quietly on the pier, not taking the Japanese troops who were about to invade Wuhan seriously.
After listening to reports all day at the camp, Chairman Chiang returned to his official residence on Jianghan Road exhausted.
During the recent period, the news that has appeared on Chairman Chiang Kai-shek's desk is not all good. One piece after another, it is all upsetting news.
The summer grain harvest in Henan Province has failed, hundreds of thousands of victims have starved to death, and there is an urgent need to allocate grain for disaster relief; Yu Hanmou's 12th Army Group lost consecutive battles, Guangzhou was completely lost, and China lost its last port to communicate with the outside world; Wang Jingwei often appeared in public
The statement of surrender seriously shook the determination of all military and civilians to resist the war.
The League of Nations, for which Chairman Chiang had placed high hopes, once again issued an announcement expressing regret for Japan's invasion of China, and then nothing happened again. However, even so, Chairman Chiang was still obsessed with the United States, Britain, France and other Western powers.
Although the war was still going on, Chairman Chiang Kai-shek was still waiting for the Western powers to come forward to mediate. For this reason, Chairman Chiang even gave up declaring war on Japan in extreme humiliation.
The grievance and humiliation caused by the delay in declaring war on Japan was probably only known to Chairman Chiang Kai-shek himself.
However, compared with the situation of the Wuhan Battle, these troubles immediately seemed less important.
Chairman Chiang had high hopes for the Battle of Wuhan, because before the Battle of Wuhan started, Chairman Chiang had received huge amounts of military aid from the Soviet Union at the cost of acknowledging foreign independence, including more than a thousand fighter jets.
, more than 5,000 ground staff were dispatched. This was the Soviet Air Force to aid China.
In addition to aircraft, the Soviet Union also provided assistance to China with nearly a hundred tanks, more than a thousand artillery pieces, more than 50,000 machine guns, and more than a thousand cars. Of course, these aids were not free aid, but loans provided by the Soviet Union.
Then use this loan to purchase weapons and equipment from the Soviet Union, which will have to be repaid in the end.
Speaking of which, I have to say a little digression.
During the thirty-eight years from the overthrow of the Manchu Qing Dynasty to the founding of New China in 1949, the land of China was plunged into continuous warlord melee. In order to maintain the war, various warlords rushed to borrow money from the West. The Zhili clique, the Anhui clique, and the Fengcian clique
Even the Northwest Army borrowed large amounts of foreign debt from Western countries, and Chairman Chiang Kai-shek's Central Army was no exception.
In order to make profits from it, the Western powers did not care about the life and death of the Chinese people and only cared about making war fortune.
After the formal unification of the National Government, Chairman Chiang recognized the foreign debt borrowed by the Beiyang warlords. This foreign debt totaled approximately 700 million yuan in national currency. This was silver dollars, not legal currency that was later degraded to a complete mess. According to the annual income of the Republic of China,
, at that time, 400 million people in China had to go without food or drink for ten years to pay off the debt.
Then the Sino-Japanese War broke out, and then the three-year civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party followed. The Nationalist Government borrowed a large amount of foreign debt from the Soviet Union and Western countries. By the time it retreated to Taiwan in 1949, the Nationalist Government's total foreign debt had accumulated to 3 billion.
These three billion yuan are not silver dollars, let alone illegal currency, but US dollars, which is equivalent to about 12 billion oceans!
This is even worse. The people of the whole country will not be able to repay it for ten lifetimes without eating or drinking.
Then, when New China was founded, the Americans said they could help China formally unify, but the prerequisite was that New China must recognize all the foreign debts of the Nationalist Government. The next thing they did was write an article saying goodbye to Leighton Stuart, and Leighton Stuart walked away in despair.
The New China will not recognize all the unequal treaties and foreign debts imposed on the Chinese people by the Western powers. The Chinese people have been relieved of huge foreign debts that they will not be able to repay in ten lifetimes!
Closer to home, with the aid of aircraft, artillery and tanks from the Soviet Union, the National Army not only rebuilt its air force, reorganized more than a dozen elite group armies, and even organized the first tank regiment since the formation of the National Army. With these assets, Chiang Kai-shek
The Chairman now has the confidence to fight a large-scale battle with Little Japan.
It's just a pity that the ideal is very full, but the reality is very skinny.
Due to a series of wrong decisions after the victory at Wanjialing, the originally good situation took a turn for the worse. After Xue Yue took office again, he failed to reverse the decline, but only did not make the war situation become more corrupt. To be honest, Xue Yue is now doing
My job is to be a tinker, plugging up wherever there are loopholes.
The entire war situation is like this. Even the most optimistic strategists cannot see the possibility of winning the Battle of Wuhan. The only thing the National Army can do now is to delay the Battle of Wuhan as long as possible, and at the same time try to
It is possible that the losses of the Japanese army will be even greater. If this is the reality, do you think Chairman Chiang can feel better?
After returning to his study room and lying down on the rocking chair, he heard soft footsteps behind him.
As soon as he heard the footsteps, Chairman Chiang knew that it was Wang Shihe, his chief of bodyguards and a fellow Fenghua fellow, who had entered.
"Shihe, what's the bad news?" Chairman Jiang rubbed his sore temples and said to Wang Shihe in a thick Ningbo accent, "You really won't let it stop for a moment."
Wang Shihe walked in and said softly: "Commission, this time it's good news."
"Really?" Chairman Chiang was surprised, "The sun is rising in the west this time?"
After a pause, Chairman Chiang asked with interest: "What's the good news?"
Wang Shihe said with a smile: "Do you still remember Xu Rui, the instructor of the Brandenburg Special Forces Training Camp?"
"Xu Rui? Why don't I remember." Commissioner Jiang curled his lips and said, neither happy nor angry, "Isn't it the last time that more than a hundred heavy artillery were exchanged from me for all the equipment and technical workers of the Jinling Arsenal?
That guy? By the way, he also defrauded a regiment of young students from the Young Students Fighting to Death Corps."
Regarding Xu Rui, Chairman Chiang's mood is undoubtedly very complicated.
At this stage, since it is the honeymoon period of the second cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, a few more heroes like Xu Rui will undoubtedly be a major benefit to the entire China's war of resistance. However, in the long run, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party will eventually have a war.
, then the more heroes like Xu Rui, the greater the harm to the party-state.
Wang Shihe nodded and said: "The Fuxing Society has just intercepted a piece of top-secret information. It is said that the 10th Division of the Japanese Army in Central China has been surrounded by the Independent Regiment in Damei Mountain. In order to rescue the 10th Division, General Hata Shunroku, commander of the Condemnation Army, was sent to Central China.
The 18th Division originally scheduled to be sent to the Hunan battlefield was transferred to the Wanzhong battlefield."
"Really, this is indeed good news." Chairman Jiang said, "Xue Yue can breathe a sigh of relief."
After a pause, Chairman Jiang came to his senses. He turned around and asked Wang Shihe: "What did you just say? The Japanese Tenth Division was surrounded by Xu Rui's independent regiment in Damei Mountain?"
"Yes, the Japanese Tenth Division was surrounded by independent regiments."
"How is that possible?" Chairman Jiang felt that his mind was a little confused, and said in a hurry, "How many people are there in Xu Rui's independent regiment? Even after the expansion of the army, there are only five or six thousand people, but one of the Japanese army
There are more than 20,000 people in the permanent division. How can five to six thousand people surround more than 20,000 people?"
Wang Shihe said: "This is indeed a bit incredible, but this news was intercepted by the Fuxing Society Technology Department from the Japanese military's messages, so there is no problem with its reliability."
Chairman Chiang suddenly stood up and scolded three Niang Xipis in succession.
Anyone else would probably not know what Chairman Chiang meant by this move and would think it was just an ordinary venting of emotions. However, Wang Shihe, who had followed Chairman Chiang for many years, heard the underlying meaning.
The first Niang Xipi that Chairman Jiang scolded was lamenting how Xu Rui fought this battle. The second Niang Xipi said, why did he follow such a strong general? The third Niang Xipi said
Are you worried about the future? How will you deal with Xu Rui in the future when Little Japan is driven away and the Kuomintang and the Communist Party engage in civil war?
Wang Shihe guessed what Chairman Chiang was thinking, and said in a low voice: "Commissioner, the threat is in the future, but the number one enemy of the National Government at the moment is Little Japan. If nothing else, Xu Rui's independent group is surrounded in Damei Mountain."
The Tenth Division has relieved the pressure of a division on the Hunan battlefield."
Chairman Jiang waved his hand, frowned and said, "I know what you're saying, but this Xu Rui is really capable of fighting. If we don't make plans early, I'm afraid it will be too late when things come to a head in the future."
After a pause, he continued, "Go and call Dai Li right away. I have something to discuss with him."
Wang Shihe agreed and bowed out of Chairman Chiang's study.
Not long after, Dai Li, director of the Intelligence Department of the Fuxing Society, walked into Chairman Chiang's study.
"Committee." Dai Li stood respectfully in front of Chairman Jiang and asked cautiously, "Are you looking for me?"
Chairman Jiang nodded, frowned and said, "Last time I asked you to check Xu Rui's identity, have you checked it?"
"Checked." Dai Li whispered, "According to the feedback from the German side, Xu Rui is indeed a Chinese from Germany. There was indeed a Chinese instructor in the Brandenburg Special Forces training camp, but this Chinese instructor has been missing for half a year.
There are too many, and I think this Chinese instructor must be Xu Rui."
"It's no wonder, no wonder this Xu Rui is so good at fighting." Chairman Jiang said, "Since he was born in Wuxi, how many battles has this guy won? Just one Japanese general fell into his hands.
It’s a long list, right? He has made so many military exploits, but he was only given the title of regimental commander. Can you send someone over to contact him and say that as long as he is willing to believe in the Three People’s Principles, I can make him a division commander immediately? Oh no.