Rise From Eight Hundred

 Chapter 1477 The Last Effort (Part 1)

On April 21, 1943, Fang Xianjue, who was transferred to the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs as a counselor, took a transport plane back to the mountain city.

The 9th Theater Command issued a military order to transfer Fang Riying, deputy commander of the 86th Army, to the position of lieutenant general in the 10th Army.

On April 22, 1943, Fang Riying was about to leave for Hengyang, but the 9th Theater Command received two lieutenant general commanders from the 3rd Division of the 10th Army and the 10th Reserve Division, as well as all brigade commanders, regimental commanders, and The battalion commanders signed a letter boycotting the appointment of the new military commander.

General Xue was furious, but felt powerless. This letter meant that if he forced Fang Riying to take office, the result would be the complete disintegration of the 'Taishan Army' of the 10th Army.

Even if he is the commander of the 9th Theater Command and has won that person's trust in the past two years, he will definitely be reprimanded by that person for this matter.

Especially at this time when the Japanese army's front was still unclear, General Xue, who had always been headstrong and arrogant, had no choice but to endure this tone and ordered Fang Riying to postpone taking office and stay in Tanzhou to wait for the opportunity.

The 10th Army once again became an army without a commander, and its 190th Division was also ordered not to return to the Hengyang area.

In the entire Hengyang area, the only troops available for combat are the 3rd Division of the 10th Army, the 10th Reserve Division, and the highly decorated engineering regiment at the foot of Hengshan Mountain.

On April 24, senior officials of the Ministry of Military Affairs noticed that the Japanese army seemed to be intending to invade Hunan Province. They called General Xue of the 9th Theater Command and told him, "There is a lot of intelligence about direct attacks on Zhuzhou and Hengyang from northern Jiangxi. Wu Xi must pay special attention and actively Construct stronghold fortifications and complete them within a time limit, just in case. ’

However, General Xue didn't take it seriously, thinking, "The number of enemies on the defense line has not increased, so what's the danger?" ’, ‘What a profound lesson the frightened bird has learned! ’

Even though as time went by, intelligence stations in various places in the military command reported that "there are signs of large-scale mobilization of Japanese troops." However, General Xue, who had successfully defended the territory in the three Tanzhou battles, was almost stubborn and did not pay any attention to the war zone this time. The information sent by the intelligence agencies was shelved and ignored.

Until April 28, the Ministry of Military Affairs sent another urgent message: "A large number of Japanese troops have gathered in southern Hubei. They are showing signs of moving south and will attack Tanzhou at any time!"

Only then did General Xue realize that the Japanese army was really going to attack Tanzhou.

However, General Xue was still not too nervous at this time. After the victory in the third Tanzhou Battle at the end of 1942, the 9th Theater had been without war for more than a year. The people of Tanzhou had lived a peaceful life. He believed that this time he would There will still be victory, and the Japanese army will still fail.

In the dictionary of General Xue, arrogance does not exist. His self-confidence comes from Wanjialing and the three Tanzhou battles. No matter Anan Weiji or Hengshan Yong, they are just defeated by him.

On April 30, the Japanese 5th Army Air Force advanced its headquarters to Jiangxia!

On May 1st, Hengshan Yong arrived in southern Hubei and established the Hunan Province Combat Command!

On May 2, Yokoyama issued a Hunan-Guangxi combat order to the 11th Army!

On May 3, Tian Junliu, commander-in-chief of the Chinese Expeditionary Forces, moved the frontline headquarters to Jiangxia, and the 11th Army Commander Hengshan Yong led his troops to assemble near Yueyang.

On May 4, the day before the Hunan-Guangxi operation was launched, someone asked Japanese Chief of Staff Tojo Koki about the preparations of the Chinese army. Tojo said: "Although the Chinese army estimates that the Japanese army will attack Tanzhou, Changde, and In the Zhejiang and Jiangxi areas, they tried to strengthen various positions, but their forces were scattered and they were not taken seriously. China did not see the situation of concentrating its forces from other aspects in response to the empire's upcoming all-out attack. Although the Chinese army was also worried about the possible development of imperial operations. for larger-scale operations, but overall, they have not yet been able to make a clear and accurate judgment on the empire’s operational vision.”

The Japanese were very clear about the pre-war preparations in the 9th Theater, not to mention very clear.

However, General Xue did not know that in order to launch "Operation No. 1", the Japanese base camp carried out emergency military expansion in the country at the end of 1943, organized 14 independent infantry brigades and transferred them to the Chinese theater, and also established 8 field supplementary units. The troops fight with the army and can replenish the casualties of the troops at any time.

In addition, the 3rd and 13th Divisions that were originally planned to be transferred to the Southeast Asian battlefield still remain in the Chinese battlefield. The Japanese army directly used more than 250,000 troops for the Hunan-Guangxi battle this time, which is almost the total number of troops invested in the Songhu Battle in 1937. , although many of them are new recruits recruited for domestic military expansion, and their combat effectiveness is far inferior to that of the past, they are by no means something that the same number of Chinese troops can withstand.

Since the beginning of the war, in every large-scale battle, China's military strength must be at least twice that of China's in order to have the possibility of a fierce battle for several months. For example, in the Battle of Xuzhou, Japan invested 200,000 troops, but China invested 600,000; and in the Battle of Jiangxia, Japan invested 180,000 troops, while China mobilized national troops and invested more than 500,000 troops.

But this time, General Xue didn't know the enemy or himself!

In early 1942, in order to open up the Yunnan-Burma Highway, China established an expeditionary force. The Ministry of Military Affairs transferred the 15th and 19th main group armies from the 9th Theater to Yunnan Province. By the beginning of 1944, seven more armies were transferred to the India-Burma battlefield. , the 9th Theater has dropped from 400,000 at its peak to less than 300,000.

Even if we include the special infantry regiment such as the Four Lines Regiment, which was put aside under that strict order, the number of combatable troops in the 9th Theater will only be 300,000.

300,000 vs. 250,000, this should be regarded as the closest military strength between China and Japan in a large battle.

But even so, there is still a chance in the 9th theater!

Although Tang Dao has already based on the current war zone deployment, he knows that the Fourth Battle of Tanzhou will inevitably fail, and he also knows that there will definitely be a battle in Hengyang, but thinking of the hundreds of thousands of people in Tanzhou City, he still wants to make a final effort, in At the end of April, I called a friend of mine in Tanzhou and once again explained my judgment on the current war situation.

Not Xie Jinyuan, nor Comrade Lao Guo. Although these two have been promoted due to their military exploits in recent years, due to their involvement with Tang Dao, they have been excluded from the core circle of the 9th War Zone, let alone giving advice to Commander Xue. After all, even his face is rarely seen.

That was a friend Tang Dao had known for less than a year. They were not much different in age, but they had very similar spirits.

Tang Dao once took his wife and children to Tanzhou in his spare time. After his old boss Xie Jinyuan heard about it, he specially received him and specially invited his friend Zhao Zili in the 9th War Zone to introduce him to Tang Dao.

People who can become good friends with people like Xie Jinyuan are naturally not ordinary people.

Zhao Zili, a native of Henan Province, was born in 1908. He was only 35 years old when he met Tang Dao, but he already had a general star like Xie Jinyuan.

Moreover, this young major general has no family background. He joined the Northwest Army at the age of 18 and was admitted to the Whampoa Military Academy at the age of 19. He has followed famous generals such as Hao Mengling and Guan Linzheng. From Chief of Staff to Chief of Staff to Major General, it can be said that they are constantly being reused.

The biggest reason why Tang Dao had a good conversation with him was not because he would be promoted to the chief of staff of the theater at the end of 1943, nor was it because he was one of the important contributors to the 'Tianlu Warfare', nor was it entirely He will be the most sober person in the 9th theater to analyze the battle situation before the battle of Hunan and Guangxi. However, through conversations, we found that he is very independent and never follows what others say.

Tang Dao came to this era, of course, hoping to change something in this era with his clear understanding of the historical context. If it weren't for him, the ending of many people would have been doomed.

But Tang Dao is a normal person. In this world, regardless of friendship and love, people are actually just seeking common ground and looking for people who have the same interests as themselves among thousands of people.

For example, General Zhang is heroic, passionate and has the purest military temperament. This is very similar to Tang Dao's former captain. Therefore, Tang Dao and him became friends and brothers not just because of his fame that is destined to go down in history. .

Tang Dao also admired some of the qualities of this young general named Zhao Zili. The age difference between the two was only 7 years. In terms of age, they were from the same era, and they talked happily. The look made Xie Jinyuan, the host of the treat, a little jealous, and said with a smile: "Young people can still talk together, and I, an old man, can hardly get a word in."

In fact, Xie Jinyuan was only 38 years old at this time, only 10 years older than Tang Dao. He was mostly a deputy in the army, and he was trapped in the concession for 2 years. His once free and easy spirit was tempered and stabilized. If you are experienced, you will naturally speak less.

Tang Dao and Zhao Zili also talked about the changes in the world war situation. Tang Dao consciously emphasized the Japanese defeat in the Pacific battlefield. If they still want to hold on to the precious resources in Southeast Asia, opening up the mainland's communication lines is their only option. As for the other Tang Swordsmen, he also believed that with his ability to control the battle situation, he would be able to make accurate judgments before the battle in Yu Province ended.

Although in the past time and space, the young lieutenant general chief of staff was ignored by the commander surnamed Xue because of his advice, this is already the worst result. In this time and space, perhaps something different will happen with the addition of Tang Dao. Woolen cloth?

Even if Tanzhou gets an extra day because of the increase in troops, and buys Hengyang one more day, it can dig an extra trench and evacuate more people.

Sure enough, just as Tang Dao expected, the young Lieutenant General Chief of Staff had been extremely concerned about the movements of the Japanese army from the beginning of the Yu Province War because of Tang Dao's reminder in the middle of last year. When the Yu Province War was about to end, the Japanese 11th The Japanese army began to assemble troops, and he suddenly realized that this Japanese attack on Hunan Province might not be what the commander thought, but would be similar in scale to the previous three. There was a 90% chance that it would launch an unprecedented war.

If this is the case, the current strength of the 9th Theater is far from enough, and the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs must be asked to increase its troops.

Zhao Zili was a resolute and decisive person, and he immediately set off for the theater headquarters located at the foot of Yuelu Mountain. Although it is early summer, the temperature in Tanzhou has already reached over 30 degrees. Under the century-old locust tree in the 9th Theater Command Headquarters compound, General Xue is still wearing a military uniform and has a neat military appearance.

But today, this person seems to be in a good mood. His discipline buckle has been untied, and he is sitting on a bamboo chair with a relaxed look on his face, listening to the report of the director of the Nanyue Administration Bureau on the 'Nanyue Overview'.

General Xue is not only the commander-in-chief of the 9th War Zone. Because of the glory of the Battle of Wanjialing, he has also served as the first chief executive of Hunan Province since 1939. With military power and political power integrated into one, he is a well-deserved leader of Hunan Province. Provincial king.

While he was busy with the war, he also founded three colleges of industry, commerce and agriculture in Nanyue, and invested huge sums of money in Hengshan to build facilities such as the Martyrs' Shrine and sanatorium. This so-called "Nanyue List" is exactly what he said about the five Hunan Province’s promotional materials on investment in people’s livelihood construction in recent years.

To put it bluntly, this is the political achievement of Commander Xue. It proves that he can fight wars when he mounts his horse, and he can govern the country when he dismounts. This is to pave some way for his future.

From this perspective, as the Allied forces began to launch a counterattack, Japan was already declining, and the war would end within two or three years. History has proven countless times that the end of the war means that famous generals will withdraw from the stage of history.

Those who are unwilling to quit will only have one word waiting for them!

From this perspective, General Xue is definitely a person with sufficient political wisdom.

"Report!" Zhao Zili immediately saluted with a military salute after entering.

"Zi Li is here, just in time. Please help me see if this sentence in this manuscript is appropriate." General Xue, who was in a good mood, asked his chief of staff to sit down.

"Okay! However, I still have some emergencies to report to you!"

Seeing Zhao Zili's furious look, General Xue couldn't help but feel disappointed. He waved several administrative officials to leave, and he took Zhao Zili to the war room.

"Sir, I think the scale of the Japanese army's upcoming attack on our 9th Theater is far greater than before."

"Oh? Why do you see that?" General Xue frowned slightly.

What annoys him the most these days is that someone mentioned in front of him that the Japanese army is about to attack. A week ago, he said at a military meeting that the Japanese were unable to launch an attack on Hunan Province. As a result, the intelligence this week has slapped him in the face. .

As a result, the lieutenant general chief of staff whom he personally promoted actually believed that the scale of the Japanese attack was greater than before. This was not a slap in the face, but a step on his face.

That is to say, this man knew the temperament of his chief of staff, knew that he was addicted to war, and rarely worked hard to get into the camp. Even when he was promoted to chief of staff of the war zone, he was shocked on the spot.

"Intelligence came from the military command that the Japanese troops were extremely busy on the Ping-Han Railway and the Guangdong-Han Railway, and there were signs of large-scale troop mobilization. In addition, they arrested a large number of husbands in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The Japanese troops in northern Hunan were under martial law everywhere and no Chinese were allowed to pass. According to past experience, once the Japanese army imposes martial law near the train station, frequent railway transportation, and arrests a large number of people, they have plans to launch a large-scale attack." Zhao Zili took out the notebook he carried with him and read the intelligence from Jiangxia, Yueyang and other areas one by one. out.

"Moreover, a large number of sealed military columns entered Jiangxia from Yu Province. I have reason to suspect that the strength of the Japanese army assembled this time will exceed our imagination."

"Zi Li, you are really a bit arrogant. The Japanese are no longer what they used to be. The battle in Yu Province is not over yet. How can they gather a large number of troops? Tell me, where do the soldiers come from? Is it possible to adjust those troops? Are they shabby puppet troops? If that's the case, I can confidently say that even if there are millions of puppet troops, our 9th Theater can defeat them with one force!" General Xue looked at himself very disapprovingly. A cigarette.

"My personal judgment is that the Japanese army has probably increased its troops from within the country. You see, this is the intelligence sent by the military commander. From March to the end of April, the number of Japanese troops transported upstream from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River reached 120,000. The number of troops is 50,000 or 60,000. If you add or subtract the two, the additional troops in Jiangxia are already 50,000 or 60,000. These 50,000 or 60,000 troops must have a special purpose to mobilize to Jiangxia." Zhao Zili shook his head stubbornly.

"Even if the Japanese attack, they will only be able to attack Tanzhou four times at most. They failed in defeat the first three times. What can they do this time?"

"If the Japanese army's goal is just Tanzhou, that's fine, but in my opinion, Xiangzhuang's sword dance, I'm afraid the Japanese army's intention is not just Tanzhou."

"Where could that be?" General Xue puffed out a puff of blue smoke.

"I think the Japanese army has a big appetite this time."

Zhao Zili introduced in detail the global war situation that he and Tang Dao had discussed in one breath.

General Xue frowned fiercely.

It's not that Zhao Zili said it was unreasonable, but that it was too unreasonable. He didn't think of many factors or ignored them.

What's even more terrible is that Zhao Zili was afraid that his commander still didn't believe him, so he added a special sentence at the end: "This is a war chess deduction I did when we had a chat with Commander Tang of the Four Elements Regiment in September last year. At that time, Commander Tang said that if the Japanese army suffered a total defeat on the Pacific battlefield, they would definitely find a way to open up the mainland's communication lines, otherwise hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops on the Southeast Asian battlefield would be doomed.

Now it seems that all his speculations were correct. The Japanese indeed attacked Henan Province first, and then directed their troops towards Hunan and Guangxi Provinces. "

If Tang Dao knew that this person was so upright and wanted to talk about him, he would definitely warn him in advance not to mention his name.

The reason is simple. Admiral Xue admired him before and was even willing to support him, but things are completely different now.

It was that person that Tang Dao offended, and General Xue was no longer seeking the position of theater commander. If he wanted to climb to a higher position after the war, he must get that person's support.

He had been trying his best to distance himself from Tang Dao. In the year and a half since Tang Dao led the Four Elements Regiment to the 9th War Zone, this man had not even met Tang Dao once.

The result was good, he stayed far away from Tang Dao, but his chief of staff got involved with Tang Dao, and even looked like he admired Tang Dao. How do you think this person is feeling now?

However, these words can only be said under the stage and not on the stage.

"Okay! I guess your analysis is good. The Japanese army is going to attack our Hunan Province on a large scale. How do you think we should respond?" General Xue put his hands behind his back and looked out the window.

"I believe that first of all, we should request the Military Commission to add more troops to the theater as soon as possible, and secondly, reconsider the location of the decisive battle."

"What, do you think Tanzhou cannot be defended? Or, where do you think the decisive battle should be chosen?" General Xue's voice was extremely low.

Like a feline growling deep in the throat.