Chapter 21 Chapter 21 Which Station (1)

At the end of 1938, Chiang Kai-shek hosted a banquet for Tan Kah Kee at his official residence in Huangshan, Chongqing. In front of this overseas Chinese god of wealth, he was straightforward: due to the loss of Pingjin and Shanghai, and the absence of tariffs, the Kuomintang’s finances have actually gone bankrupt, and now prices have risen so high that even a lieutenant colonel can’t afford to support his family, and has to rely on stealing vegetables to survive. Chen Jiageng couldn't help but be moved. Chiang Kai-shek also said, you donated a lot of money, I am very grateful to you, but it is not enough, can you donate to us on time in the future?

When Chen Lao heard this, he even shed tears. When the dignified head of state said such words, the situation was almost like a beggar. But the tears were not dry yet, Chen Kah Kee was suddenly furious. The reason is that when Chiang Kai-shek entertained him, he served a lot of dishes. Why is the government so wasteful when it is already so poor? Chiang Kai-shek admitted his mistake to him on the spot and apologized. The so-called "Lieutenant Colonel Stealing Vegetable Leaves" is indeed true, so that in the later development, there are still people who steal leftovers. The Ministry of Military and Political Affairs has a special cafeteria, and of course meals are free, but the guards find that an officer will secretly collect the leftovers in the cafeteria after get off work and take them away, which is not allowed according to regulations.

Seeing that the guard wanted to confiscate his leftovers, the man suddenly burst into tears.He said that his wife and children were hungry and waiting for the leftovers. If they were not allowed to bring them, they would have to go to the street to beg. The person who stole the leftovers turned out to be a senior member of the military and political department with the rank of major general! After the "September 18th", the army paid a national disaster salary, and even major generals had to get a 40% discount on their salary.Originally, the 40% discount was more than enough to support a family, but after retreating to Chongqing, the price of goods rose sharply, and the value of the French currency was greatly depreciated. Some families have many children and no savings, so they have no way to live.

At that time, not to mention middle and lower rank officers, even Jiang Gongzi Weiguo couldn't survive. In order to take care of his adoptive mother Yao Zhicheng, he had to borrow money from Chen Liguo to survive. Of course, in such days, there are also advantages. The important thing is to hold on In February 1939, China and the United States finally reached the first loan agreement during the Anti-Japanese War, which was the "tung oil loan".The way of cooperation is that the Chinese will sell tung oil to the United States, and the United States will lend China 25 million U.S. dollars, which will be mainly used to buy cars and improve transportation on the Burma Road.

There is no doubt that relying on these tens of millions of dollars, the Chongqing government can pass the time for a while, and its significance is not limited to this. Before that, the way the United States aided was to buy your silver and exchange money for money.This time, we will lend money directly to you, which is the first case of loan assistance. Once the limitation of the neutrality law is broken, it is self-evident what this means in the United States, which respects the law like a god. In addition to borrowing money, there is also solidarity. In his statement to China, Konoe boldly proposed to establish a "new order in East Asia" - in the future, we, Japan, will be the hegemon in East Asia.

You're crazy, get a big guy to fix you. After the shuttle movement by Hu Shi, the ambassador to the United States, and others, the U.S. Foreign Ministry could not sit still, and immediately sent a strongly worded note to Japan: the Washington system established at the beginning of this century must be maintained, "equal opportunities, open doors", today's East Asia , but you Japanese can't be the boss. A loan and a note lifted the spirits of the people of the country, and the face that was grayed by Wang Jingwei's defection also became a little happy. These changes, seemingly accidental, are not accidental, and are the result of a little bit of promotion.

Just before the "tung oil loan" was signed, Japan occupied Hainan Island again. This should have touched the UK the most, but Chiang Kai-shek also intentionally led it to the Americans. At the beginning, everyone thought that the British would show their power when Guangzhou was captured by the Japanese army. Unexpectedly, the old "sun never sets" was so useless that he didn't dare to speak up at all. Instead, the boss of the United States stood up and shouted a few times. The British are now completely silver pewter heads.Half a year later, it signed the "Arita-Kreich Agreement" with Japan, acknowledging Japan's "special requirements" in the occupied areas and subduing it in every possible way. It was called the "Oriental Munich Agreement."

The world is so big, there are only Yankees among the macho men. Chiang Kai-shek repackaged the occupation of Hainan Island, emphasizing that this is "September 18 in the Pacific", and then he kept blowing the wind to the United States, hoping that it would take the British, French and other younger brothers (including China, of course) to take resistance in the Far East Unified action in Japan. The United States is a pure democratic country, and everything has to be put into the program step by step. It is still too early for it to come out and use knives and guns immediately. Before that, it has to support itself first.

On November 25, 1938, Chiang Kai-shek presided over a military meeting in Hengyang, Hunan, known as the first Nanyue military meeting in history. The meeting divided the Anti-Japanese War into two phases, from the "July 7th Incident" to the fall of Wuhan, which is the first phase.In this issue, Chiang Kai-shek took the lead in admitting his mistakes, admitting that he had made mistakes in the tactics he used in the defense of Nanjing, "I am really sorry for the country." Nanjing is over, review Wuhan. Chen Tiaoyuan, executive director of military law, proposed the case of impeachment. Jiangbei "bombed" Wang Yanxu's group army (the actual commander was Xu Shaozong), and Jiangnan "bombed" Wang Lingji's group army. Wang Lingji in the audience came to a direct roll call.

Xu Shaozong and Wang Lingji were extremely panicked for a moment, as if they were sitting on pins and needles, and the atmosphere of the venue became chilled. At the end of the meeting that day, everyone found that the toilets and aisles were covered with slogans, saying: The Sichuan army returned to Sichuan to defend Greater Sichuan. Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Cheng immediately realized that they had gone too far. It is true that the Sichuan army did not perform well in the Wuhan battle, but they have already brought out the last bit of strength, including the security team, wearing straw sandals and carrying broken guns, and went out to "defend Wuhan", what else?

Since you are not easy to serve, then we have no choice but to return to Sichuan to "defend Greater Sichuan". The next day, the tone of the meeting changed suddenly, and Chen Cheng went up to make a self-criticism, taking most of the responsibility for the fall of Wuhan.Chiang Kai-shek not only did not punish Wang Lingji, but also praised him verbally. In the evening, Chen Tiaoyuan, who proposed the impeachment case, was the guest of the big banquet, and he shocked everyone, and the turmoil ended. The review is anticlimactic and hastily passed, the important thing is what to do in the future. Chiang Kai-shek told everyone that the future will be regarded as the second phase of the War of Resistance, and it is our turn to "turn defense into offense, turn defeat into victory". From now on, the army will be reorganized, and one million new recruits will be recruited, and the old and new troops will be reorganized. It is scheduled to be a training cycle every four months, so that they can enter a new war. The Nanyue Conference was a declaration that China's high command will not only not turn back, but will become tougher on the road of continuing the war of resistance. At this time, if you want to say that China can win the war against Japan entirely by China's own strength, I am afraid that Chiang Kai-shek does not have such confidence in private. One bite" point of view. Only Chinese or Eastern people understand this stuff, and Western foreigners cannot understand it. Stilwell, who was a military attache in China at the time, thought it was nonsense at first. If you can't fight, you lose, and you bite the opponent, isn't it cool? right. Because the purpose is not to completely defeat the opponent, but to hold back the opponent. Stilwell was the most disdainful of the fighting power of the Chinese native army, but with the development of the war, he had a deeper understanding of the brave and tenacious spirit of the Chinese people. When in Jiangxi, Stilwell once saw an infantry regiment with only four light machine guns.This seemed unbelievable to him, because Lao Mei believed that a regiment leader should have a hundred machine guns. Chinese soldiers undergoing military training Just such a small amount of weapons, such a small amount of bullets, will be used up in a few minutes. What should I do if I run out? When Stilwell visited this infantry regiment, half of the regiment had been knocked out, and there were not many bullets left, but the remaining half were still launching night attacks on the Japanese army—using bayonets, while charging at the Japanese army. At the front is the head of the regiment. the last hit Just when the Chinese High Command was planning to "turn from defense to offense," the "Central China Dispatch Army" also issued an order to the Eleventh Army: In the spring of the coming year, capture Nanchang. As early as during the Battle of Wuhan, the Sino-Soviet Air Force used Nanchang Airport as a base to frequently launch surprise attacks on Japanese naval warships on the Yangtze River. In the combat mission given to Okamura, there was also a "capture of Nanchang" at the beginning. However, because the two newly formed divisions of the 11th Army did not live up to expectations, in order not to delay the time to march into Wuhan, both Hata Shunroku and Okamura had to put the original plan aside. Now it's all right, let's get ready for battle. After the "July 7th Incident", in addition to the military battle with real guns and live ammunition between China and Japan, the intelligence war between you and me has never stopped. Therefore, the Japanese army's attempt to capture Nanchang was quickly detected by the Chinese command. On March 8, 1939, Chiang Kai-shek called Xue Yue: In order to ensure Nanchang, pre-emptive strikes are required. Now I order you to complete the attack preparations before March 10, and launch an attack on the Japanese army from March 15. Because of his outstanding achievements in the Battle of Wuhan, especially in the Wanjialing victory, Xue Yue became famous and was appointed as the acting commander of the Ninth War Zone. Although the commander is still Chen Cheng in name, he is actually in charge of it. Xue Yue was not in Nanchang at the time, but in Changsha. He was sent to Nanchang by Luo Zhuoying, the former commander-in-chief of the enemy, who thought it was too late to prepare. According to the deployment of the Nanyue Military Conference, the first phase of training began at the end of November 1938 and would not end until the end of March 1939. At this time, the troops on the front line in Nanchang were still in the process of training, and only two days were given, which was indeed too hasty. Xue Yue has always been very assertive in wars and rarely listens to others, but it is different for Luo Zhuoying. Luo Zhuoying is Chen Cheng's subordinate, and Xue Yue is recommended and promoted by Chen Cheng, so Xue Yue loves the house and Wu, and Luo Zhuoying almost obeys what Luo Zhuoying says. Among the senior generals of the Kuomintang, Xue Yue was one of the few who dared to say "no" to Chiang Kai-shek.The telegrams or telegrams signed by Chiang Kai-shek were feared by others and treated like gods. If you can compete with you, that's a good attitude. Sometimes Tiger Boy simply adopts a more labor-saving, and of course, more "disrespectful" method. He directly writes "deposit" and "to-do" on the telegram—— The so-called "save" means storing it in a drawer and putting it on the shelf; the so-called "to-do" actually means never doing it. On March 9, Xue Yue called Chiang Kai-shek: The troops are still undergoing training, supplies are difficult, and preparations are insufficient. The active attack must be postponed until March 24. Seeing that Chiang Kai-shek ignored it, Xue Yue sent another telegram the next day, with the same content. Seeing this situation, Chiang Kai-shek had no choice but to call back: delay as long as it is delayed, but in any case it cannot be postponed until after March 24. Xue Yue and Luo Zhuoying didn't expect that, with a gap of nine days, the initiative immediately became passive, and the other party took the initiative instead. On March 20, the Eleventh Army forcibly crossed the Xiushui River, and the Battle of Nanchang began. What is deeply surprising is that the main offensive force sent by Okamura this time is not the old divisions such as Kumamoto and Kanazawa, but two "weak and weak combinations" - the 106th and 101st divisions group. Okamura is such a general, not out of any profound military strategy, his purpose is only one: to save face. Occupying Wuhan, although he has harvested a lot of flowers and praises, Okamura is not very happy.Especially the Wanjialing victory, which was originally intended to be a surprise victory, did not expect to fall into Xue Yue's hands, and almost all the divisions were sent to the opponent's mouth. The so-called layman watches the excitement and the insider watches the way. It's not that Okamura is the commander of the 11th Army. If you change another one, Wuhan may not be able to take it down. As the "No. 1 general in Japan", wouldn't it be a joke to just make a fool of himself. Two "weak and weak" might not be worth one "strong". Okamura also understands this, but if you send a "strong combination" like Kumamoto and Kanazawa to attack Nanchang, even if you win, so what? Others will take it for granted. Therefore, if Okamura wants to shine, he must use "weak and weak". During the preparation period, everyone was shocked when they heard that these two live treasures were going to be sent to attack Nanchang. After Okamura's previous efforts to bury it, the 106th Division has become a bad smell in Japan.Many supplementary soldiers heard that they joined the "weakest division in Japan", and they all looked ashen and cried bitterly, as if a foot had stepped into the coffin board ahead of time. The 101st Division is better, but not much better. Compared with the "Weakest Division", the "Trader's Division" is only fifty or a hundred steps away. After Okamura's battle plan spread to Japan, even the chief of staff, Prince Zai In, was quite surprised. Fighting a war is no joke, Okamura kid, don’t be fooled by my nonsense, he can get things done with two bottoms, thinking he is a god? He sent a senior officer to the Eleventh Army as the deputy chief of staff, with the intention of dissuading Okamura and looking for opportunities to transfer the two bad guys to the back to serve as guards. But after this chief came to office, the two divisions were already training to cross the river, and he couldn't even get his mouth in. Luo Zhuoying has a soft spot for ancient poetry Okamura's group is "weak and weak", but Luo Zhuoying's combination of repairing the water defense line is at least "strong and weak". Luo Zhuoying, a native of Dapu, Guangdong, graduated from the eighth phase of Baoding Military Academy. His position in the "Civil Engineering Department" is second only to Chen Cheng. Since the Republic of China was not far from the end of the Qing Dynasty, the ancient customs still exist. Many people have a deep foundation in Chinese studies, and there are not a few Confucian generals in the army who can "get on the horse to fight the madman, and get off the horse to draft the military letter".For example, Huang Shaohong is good at writing lyrics, and according to the judgment of experts, he has reached a considerable level.When the old reporter Cao Juren was interviewing the Battle of Songhu, he once met a chief of staff who talked about the Neo Confucianism of the Song and Ming Dynasties with eloquence. Mao Lai. Luo Zhuoying liked to read ancient prose since she was a child, and specialized in ancient poetry.Even in the days when he was fighting on the battlefield, he couldn't let go of the book, and while listening to the sound of the shells falling to the ground, he could recite quatrains such as "the horse's hoof is light where the battle dust is flying". Luo Zhuoying and Chen Cheng are not only classmates at the same time in Baoding, but also close friends. What's more interesting is that their personalities can complement each other.Chen Cheng is strict and subjective. Many things are decided by himself, and others have no way to comment. He is a good "judgment" person.Luo Zhuoying is generous and refined, and likes to chat with his subordinates, and is also willing to listen to other people's opinions. He is a person who is good at "planning". Therefore, he can often help Chen Cheng to act as a bridge for communication between the upper and lower levels. In the "civil engineering department" In other words, the relationship between Chen and Luo is almost "the public never leaves the wife, and the weight never leaves the mound". Sometimes, however, a person's strengths are often his weaknesses.Luo Zhuoying is resourceful, but a bit indecisive. Hearing this opinion is right, listening to that suggestion is also reasonable, and he will often waver in his determination.He told Xue Yue that he was not prepared enough to attack immediately, but he actually listened to the opinions of the troops below. As a grassroots unit, if you say two days of preparation, he may think it will take at least two weeks, and if you say two weeks of preparation, he may ask for two months, because the responsibilities are different, and the thinking of the decision-making layer cannot be completely consistent. And the battlefield situation is changing rapidly. To a certain extent, seizing the opportunity is equivalent to seizing the victory. This is why some generals seem harsh, but they often succeed. Luo Zhuoying's disadvantage is that he is too democratic. This conclusion may surprise him, but it is a fact. If there is no time to attack, then there is only defense.Okamura used the weak divisions as the main force, but the Kumamoto Sixth Division, the 116th Division and other troops did not sit still. They also continued to support and feign attacks from both sides, so it was impossible for Luo Zhuoying to send heavy troops All of them are gathered at the front of Xiushui South Bank. The so-called strong and weak combination is one left and one right, the left is Li Jue's 70th Army, and the right is Liu Duoquan's 49th Army. But after arranging this combination, Luo Zhuoying hesitated again. Li Jue's Hunan Army has withstood the test at Jinguanqiao, and it is able to stand it.The most likely to be unable to survive is Liu Duoquan's Northeast Army. The latter's weapons are okay, but its fighting will has always been weak. Compared with the Hunan Army, it is exactly the opposite. What if it collapses? After thinking about it, Luo Zhuoying decided to transfer Xia Chuzhong's 79th Army as the follow-up mobile corps.The Seventy-ninth Army is a strong "civil engineering" force that participated in the Battle of Songhu, and Yao Ziqing, who defended Baoshan to the death, was under his command. After Xia Chuzhong arrived in Xiushui, he was placed on the right side of Liu Duoquan. In this way, the "two strong" and one "weak" formed a defensive triangle, thus strengthening Xiushui's defense line.