Chapter 32 Chapter Thirty-Second Start Over (2)

The Political Department was established during the "Great Wuhan" period. It was one of the four major departments under the Military Commission at that time. With some achievements, its complexity and difficulty of operation are not lower than those of the Ministry of Military Affairs or the Ministry of Military Command. When Chen Cheng became the first minister of the Political Department, many people were not convinced. Some people even laughed at Chen Cheng as a "party and government guerrilla"-in the party and government, you, Chen, are just a low-level guerrilla. , not even the regular army.

Indeed, although Chen Cheng had already commanded super-large-scale battles such as the Songhu Battle and the Wuhan Battle, he could only be considered a junior in the officialdom, and the officialdom was no better than the battlefield, so he couldn't directly record military merits. It is almost impossible not to attract envy, jealousy and hatred. On the one hand, there are countless rumors and slander, on the other hand, the early prosperity of the Political Department. When Chen Cheng was in charge, the Political Department was the department with the most harmonious cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and the most concentrated force.

It should be said that Chen Cheng has certain abilities in both military and political aspects, and he has a strong personality and is very able to endure hardships. A standard workaholic, which is quite similar to Chiang Kai-shek. But in the case of the same advantages, the shortcomings of the two are also surprisingly the same, that is, "will" is good, but they both lack a little bit of "hong" cultivation and skills. They can't even remember. Due to their relatively low qualifications, many high-ranking government officials were Chen Cheng's seniors or old leaders. When Chen Cheng met them in public, he was very respectful. Mo Gong (Gu Zhutong with the word Mo San).

However, respect should be respected. When it comes to actually doing things, Chen Cheng's relatives don't recognize him. He opposes whoever he should object to. Kong Xiangxi has always regarded Chen Cheng as his younger brother and admired him very much. He once used his status as the head of the Executive Yuan to strongly recommend Chen Cheng to be the Deputy Minister of Military and Political Affairs in front of He Yingqin.Chen Cheng also respected Kong Xiangxi very much, not only calling him "Kong Yonggong" (Kong Xiangxi's word Yongzhi) in person, but also humbly calling him "Late Chen Cheng".

Originally, the two should have a good personal relationship, but what Kong Xiangxi never expected was that after Chen Cheng became an official in the court, there was almost no time when Chen Cheng did not fire at him, which made him very passive. The reason is that Chen Cheng believes that the Ministry of Finance in charge of Kong Xiangxi is full of corrupt officials, and what Chen Cheng hates most in his life is corruption and bribery. Under Chen Cheng's repeated impeachments, Kong Xiangxi was in a panic. Some acquaintances couldn't see it, so they wanted to get rid of it, so they said to Chen Cheng: It's not good for you, you offend too many people and make too many enemies, it's not a good thing.

Chen Cheng immediately replied: You have friendship with Kong Xiangxi, and I also have friendship with him, but we can't abolish the public with personal interests, and you can't shield him! "Kong Yonggong" was helpless by Chen Cheng, so he had to go to the door in person and explain to Chen Cheng, saying that you don't understand the internal situation and operating procedures of our Ministry of Finance, and things are not as you imagined. Chen Cheng was still unmoved: It's not like that, so what do you think it is? Kong Xiangxi completely collapsed, and in desperation, he came up with a helpless method, suggesting that the other party send people from the Political Department to work in the Finance Department.

This is equivalent to setting up surveillance cameras in your own office.Kong Xiangxi thought that Chen Cheng should be embarrassed to push him too far when he retreated to this point. Wrong, in this regard, Chen Cheng had no embarrassment at all, he really sent someone to the Ministry of Finance. This is a civil servant, and Chen Cheng is also not polite to the seniors in the army. He Yingqin holds the positions of Chief of Staff and Minister of Military and Political Affairs all by himself, so he has a high position and authority, but he and Chen Cheng are very different in character and style.

"Grandma He" has an elegant demeanor, and is especially gentle with others. Even if her subordinates make mistakes or are abrupt, they seldom reprimand them loudly in public. Before the "Tanggu Armistice Agreement" was signed, the hot-tempered Liu Kan once slapped him on the table and called him a traitor. One of your teachers, how do you feel when I treat you with this attitude? After that, He Yingqin didn't pursue it any further, let alone retaliate and wear small shoes. If He Yingqin is a "Confucian scholar" and Chen Cheng is a "King Kong", both of them can't understand each other. As long as He Yingqin has a handle and Chen Cheng catches him, the latter can still scold him.

After going around like this, Chen Cheng almost didn't offend anyone who was dishonest, honest, long-sleeved, or in military uniform. When Yichang fell, an emotion that had been accumulated for a long time suddenly vented like a flood bursting a dike. In fact, everyone knows that the fall of Yichang has nothing to do with Chen Cheng himself. To find out who is responsible, Chiang Kai-shek and Li Zongren are even more responsible. To put it bluntly, this is an excuse. Don't you usually like to "impeach" you and "impeach" him? Well, today we all come to impeach you.

The fall of Yichang was just a vine, and along this vine, Chen Cheng's background was turned upside down. Let’s not talk about the distant ones, just look at the nearest ones and count backwards: Zaoyi battle, lost, Yichang lost; Nanchang battle, defeated, Nanchang lost; Wuhan battle, defeated, Wuhan lost. This buddy has never fought any victories at all, he dared to lose all battles, what "four generals" are clearly "three generals"! In the Battle of Nanchang, Chen Cheng was only named as the commander-in-chief of the Ninth War Zone, and that battle had nothing to do with him. There really was no worst injustice, only more injustice. The injustice was a mess and boundless.

In this case, it is no longer a question of whether you refute or not, but that the slop basin is on your head, making you unable to hide even if you want to. As a civilian leader, Kong Xiangxi seldom asked specific questions about the frontline military. At this time, he also ran out angrily and shouted: Yichang is such an important city, if you don’t kill a few generals, what’s the matter? In private, Lao Kong told the truth: I have always helped Chen Cheng, but he was so arrogant that he would bite me after he became successful, which is simply inexplicable.As for the matter of Yichang, since he likes to pick up the burden, let him pick it up to the end. After a few rounds, Chen Cheng was sweating profusely, and several generals of the 18th Army were punished. Although no one fell to the ground as Kong Xiangxi yelled, the "civil engineering department" was already disgraced. two puzzles Chen Cheng thought it was over, but unexpectedly, when the end was over, the vine had just been pulled, and another vine popped out again. Some people stood up and said that the work of the Political Department is also very poor now, so there is no achievement to speak of. The following immediately responded to the harmony. In an instant, Chen Cheng fell from "party and government guerrilla" to "party and government malaria", from a layman to a sick man. At this point, he really tasted what it's like to be bullied by the people and the tiger in Pingyang. Soon he was forced to submit his resignation to Chiang Kai-shek and asked to resign from the post of Minister of the Political Department. Chiang Kai-shek agreed, and on the day the decision was announced, he personally went to the Political Department to give a speech, specifically mentioning that "the Political Department has no achievements", it is not Chen Cheng's responsibility, but other people in the Department can only be blamed for not doing a good job. There is something in his words: I heard that you are always having friction with others... When it was Chen Cheng's turn to speak, everyone in the audience was surprised—I disagreed with what the "chairman" said. There are achievements in the work of the Political Department, but this achievement is not mine, it is the colleagues of the Political Department, all of you.Chen Cheng, who doesn't rub the sand in his eyes, has never been willing to admit defeat Chen Cheng said: We didn't quarrel with others, but we cannot forbid others not to quarrel with us! Someone peeped worriedly at Chiang Kai-shek, but unexpectedly the latter did not show any anger at all, but instead had a smile on his face. He was well aware of this subordinate's personality, and with Chen Cheng's degree of loyalty, he definitely did not want to sing against him in public, but to show his attitude, an attitude that would never admit defeat. With the Japanese army occupying Yichang for a long time, Chongqing is under direct threat. At this time, an experienced general is needed to defend Chongqing. This person must be able to pick up and put it down, and can get up again if he falls. In addition, he must be absolutely reliable. The "loyal minister". Looking around, Chen Cheng is none other than Chen Cheng, so sometimes being stubborn is not a bad thing, but a good thing. The same is true for Chen Cheng, only by returning to his old profession and demonstrating his value on the battlefield can he find a ladder to continue climbing. The lessons learned from the fall of Yichang showed that Li Zongren's fifth war zone could hardly take into account the Jiangan battlefield. To defend Chongqing, it was necessary to establish a new war zone between Yichang and Chongqing. Yichang originally had a sixth war zone, but this war zone was established in conjunction with Xue Yue's ninth war zone, and its purpose was not to defend Yichang, but to secure western Hunan.After that, because the Guinan Battle exposed the problem of too many institutions, including the Guilin Camp and the Sixth War Zone, they were cancelled. On July 1, 1940, the Chinese High Command decided to reset the sixth theater west of Yichang, and appointed Chen Cheng as the commander of the sixth theater and chairman of Hubei Province. At that time, with the deepening of the war of resistance, more and more problems were accumulated in each theater. Although the sixth theater was a new theater, it was nothing more than a patchwork of seven or eight troops, so there were also some things that should be there. Chen Cheng put all the problems on the table, and found that there were two most difficult ones. One, shortfall.Every unit is short, and the shortage is shocking. Looking at an army, it is actually not as good as a division, and looking at a division, it is actually not as good as a brigade. If you don't know the actual situation of the army, it will be very problematic to command and fight.For example, according to the "Brigade Law" of the Japanese, when you attack him, you have to send at least three infantry divisions in the front of the Japanese army brigade, but in the end, these three infantry divisions can only be called three infantry brigades, and at most one Teacher, how to attack? Second, lack of food.Due to the difficulty of transportation, the military food in the rear is not enough, resulting in frequent food shortages in the army.Under such circumstances, soldiers can't even eat enough to eat, so there is no way they can talk about winning battles. In the past, Zhang Zizhong had no idea about this, so that he could only take the risk himself as the commander-in-chief of a corps or group army to boost morale. But not everyone is as upright as Zhang Zizhong, who used the shortage of troops and food to eat up the vacancies, and there were not a few people who became corrupt from it. Chen Cheng hated this deeply. If there is a shortage, then check it out one by one, and report it according to the facts. The lack of food, on the surface, seems to be a lack of transportation capacity, but after Chen Cheng investigated, there are still many unknown inside stories. The Chongqing government is in financial difficulties, and the remuneration for the grain transport ships is very low.Boatmen on the Yangtze River also need to eat and support their families, and they cannot be dismissed simply by being patriotic and anti-Japanese.Some boatmen are unbearable and dare not take the work. They often work hard when transporting. It can be transported in one day, but it can't arrive in three or four days. What's more, they deliberately sink the grain ship. . Chen Cheng made a rule that I will pay you how much rice you transport, and no IOUs will be issued. In this way, not only did the shipwreck never happen again, but the enthusiasm of the boatmen to transport grain immediately increased. The shipping fee was too high, and the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs refused to reimburse him, so Chen Cheng went to He Yingqin directly with the account book. "He Jinggong" couldn't stand being pestered by him, so he had to authorize the Sixth War Zone to reimburse him. However, the Minister of Military and Political Affairs is not responsible for just one war zone. If you want to be special, he wants to be special. How can you bear it?This is also the direct cause of the later intensification of the conflict between the two. Chen Cheng can't care too much about the so-called non-seeking of politics while not in his position. He only knows that the problem in the sixth war zone has been initially resolved, and he has the ability and confidence to fight a good battle again. just one step away In mid-September 1941, the Japanese Eleventh Army attacked Changsha again, which triggered the second Changsha battle.The Chinese High Command asked other theaters to take the initiative to attack, and relieve the pressure on Xue Yue's ninth theater to the greatest extent, so as to prevent all theaters from being defeated by the Japanese army one by one. The only one that really responded was Chen Cheng's Sixth War Zone. Needless to say, the target of the counterattack was Yichang. The 13th Division is still stationed in Yichang.At that time, most of the divisions of the Japanese army were reduced in size, from a system of two brigades and four regiments to a regiment of three regiments. However, due to the special status of Yichang, the 13th Division did not shrink but expanded, and became a single regiment. Super scale master group. The 4th Division transferred from outside the customs has not fought any battles, and it is a full-strength force, but it cannot be compared with the 13th Division. People, and military horses are close to ten thousand. If there are no other factors, it would be great for Chen Cheng to be able to honestly guard the gate of Chongqing, not to mention counterattacking Yichang. However, the second battle in Changsha brought Chen Cheng an opportunity - the Thirteenth Division lost 30% of its strength, leaving only three regiments. Beginning on September 27, Chen Cheng mobilized five armies to launch a counterattack against Yichang. Due to the absolute superiority in numbers, Chen Cheng used division tactics to quickly encircle each regiment of the 13th Division on the periphery, and its vanguard troops had already arrived at the city of Yichang. On October 2, Chiang Kai-shek called Chen Cheng: Regardless of everything, take back Yichang within three days. Chen Cheng transferred the anti-war artillery, and this time he developed another wonderful use of special weapons: instead of hitting tanks, he fired directly at the Japanese strongholds, using armor-piercing shells and explosive bombs together, and knocking down the fortifications of the strongholds. At that time, there happened to be a Tokyo condolence group performing for the wounded and sick in the hospital. They learned that Yichang was surrounded, and these people did not need to apply white powder on their faces, and their faces became pale. I got up and danced even if I was not allowed to dance. After a while, the director of the hospital said, you don’t need to perform here, change the venue, because all the wounded and sick went to the front line with guns. When I arrived at the new venue, I saw that the dead and wounded were lying on the ground, all of them had just been lifted. Seeing this tragic scene, the actors did not have the courage and interest to perform, and one by one they found excuses and slipped out of the hospital. On October 6, Chen Cheng successfully completed the destruction of the periphery. None of the roads leading to other places in Yichang was intact. The 39th Division wanted to recruit temporarily and decided to use planes to transport people.However, a plane can take up to eight to ten people at a time, and it can't carry too many people. On the third round trip, Chen Cheng discovered that the anti-aircraft guns in the sixth war zone passed by, and the plane was destroyed. Neither the division nor the air force dared to use this stupid method anymore. On October 8, Chen Cheng sent troops to attack Yichang with mortars on the Yangtze River in civilian ships, and blocked its waterway traffic after the land route. At this time, the Thirteenth Division has been beaten into a mess, you can't save me, I can't save you among the various regiments, and Yichang is surrounded by groups. In the early morning of October 10, Chen Cheng concentrated 140 artillery pieces and launched the final general attack on Yichang. All of a sudden, the Japanese army defending the city was in a panic. The commander of the division, Lieutenant General Uchiyama Eitaro, believed that the situation could not be reversed, so he ordered the burning of the regimental flag and confidential documents. Starting from him, all senior officials must be prepared to commit suicide. His chief of staff had even drafted a farewell telegram, which specifically mentioned that the Tokyo condolence group would also have to suffer bad luck this time, but there was really no way. Uchiyama took a look at the telegram and felt that he missed the point. You tiger, the fall of Yichang should be held accountable, not to mention that the Tokyo condolence group has fallen in, if it doesn't look like that, even if you commit suicide, you won't be able to get it right. So he "scrubbed Added: We were martyred, and we were martyred in the cry of "Long Live Your Majesty." After understanding the meaning of the division commander, the chief of staff specially called the adjutant and asked him to form a death squad to find a way to break out of the encirclement before the telegram was sent, so that he could report the "tragic scene" at the division headquarters to the command headquarters. Uchiyama's fate was good, but his good intentions were useless in the end.Because under the strict order of the Eleventh Army Command that day, the 39th Division finally desperately broke through the barriers and arrived near Yichang. In addition, the Japanese attacking Changsha had also been forced to retreat. Prepare to turn around and rescue Yichang. On the night of October 10th, the sixth theater was ordered to withdraw from the Yichang battlefield. According to Japanese statistics, the casualties of the Japanese army were close to 7,000, and the 13th Division was the most severely damaged. However, Chen Cheng was still depressed: It was only one step away, why couldn't he enter the city? At this time, the second Changsha battle had ended, and the newspapers were cheering. As usual, it was another "Changsha victory", which silenced the Yichang counterattack. Chen Cheng felt very uncomfortable. He said to his staff: Brother Boling (Xue Yue) The word Boling) can repel the enemy, but I can't attack Yichang, it's really useless. Chen Cheng (left) has a very strong personality, and Xue Yue (right), who has a good relationship with him, also "compares" the record The staff comforted him: We were originally to support the battle of Changsha. Isn't the victory of Changsha our victory?Your strategy and tactics are correct. The reason why you failed to conquer Yichang in the end is mainly due to the lack of combat effectiveness of the troops. You just need to continue to strengthen training in the future. Chen Cheng nodded in front of everyone, but actually forced a smile on his face, and couldn't let it go for a long time. Chiang Kai-shek is very considerate of Chen Cheng.He went to Changsha to attend the victory celebration held in the Ninth War Zone. He said at the beginning that no one dared to take the initiative to fight back against the Japanese invaders, except for Chief Chen in the Sixth War Zone.Although Yichang was not conquered, the sixth war zone contained the Japanese army and won the battle of Changsha. After Chen Cheng heard it, he felt better, and buried his head to continue strengthening the army training to prepare for the next battle. In fact, the second Changsha battle that Chen Cheng envied was not outstanding in terms of record.Before that, there had been an excellent battle, and that battle was called the most exciting battle since the War of Resistance. Please look forward to the fifth part of "One Inch of Rivers and Mountains, One Inch of Blood" History is not dead...