Chapter 15 Chapter 15 Pre-war Trend 2

Besides Fang Xianjue who was burning with worry, there was another person who was restless.This person is Chiang Kai-shek.Scenes of tragedies and comedies since the Anti-Japanese War, especially since the fall of Wuhan, played out in his mind. As Chairman of the Chongqing Nationalist Central Government and Chairman of the Military Commission Jiang Zhongzheng, since the Battle of Changde, his main energy has been spent on fighting and training the new army.He ordered Chen Cheng to go to Yunnan and, together with Du Yuming, equip several armies with American weapons, and according to the order of the Central Military Commission, reorganize these armies into military-level divisions so that they can be equipped with organizational systems when receiving American aid.In order to improve the combat effectiveness of the troops, he ordered He Yingqin and others to train officers one by one to achieve the goal of being politically loyal to the government and militarily brave enough to fight tough battles.

On this day, when he called Yu Ji, the director of the attendant's office, he arranged to say, "Go and prepare immediately, and hold the fourth military meeting in Nanyue tomorrow afternoon." Yu Jishi didn't dare to delay, so he hurriedly informed the participants to attend the fourth Nanyue meeting. In October 1938, on the eve of the fall of Wuhan, Chairman Jiang held a military meeting of senior generals in Wuhan and invited Zhu De, Commander-in-Chief of the Eighteenth Army Group, to attend.After Zhu De arrived in Wuhan, Zhou Enlai and him agreed to ask Wu Xiru to draft a proposal in Zhu De's name, and Zhu De would propose to Chiang Kai-shek at the meeting that the KMT and the Communist Party hold guerrilla cadre training courses.Chiang Kai-shek accepted the suggestion and asked for a plan to be drawn up.Later, Zhou Enlai and You Ye Jianying researched and formulated the outline of the education plan for the guerrilla cadre training class, which Zhou Enlai submitted to Chiang Kai-shek.

After the fall of Wuhan, on November 25, 1938, Chiang Kai-shek held the first Nanyue Senior Military Conference in Hengshan, Nanyue, Hunan.Gu Zhutong, commander of the third war zone, Li Zongren, commander of the fifth war zone, Xue Yue, commander of the ninth war zone, and officers above the division commander of the three theaters attended the meeting.Zhou Enlai and Ye Jianying, representatives of the Communist Party, were invited to attend the meeting.More than two hundred and fifty people attended the meeting.The meeting reviewed the anti-Japanese work in the previous period, looked forward to the situation in the second period of the Anti-Japanese War, summed up the experience of the Wuhan battle, and found out the reasons for the failure.It was determined that from the beginning of the "July 7" Anti-Japanese War to the fall of Wuhan, it was the first phase of the Anti-Japanese War, which was dominated by regular warfare; then it was the second phase of the Anti-Japanese War, and the policy of "guerrilla warfare was more important than regular warfare" was proposed for the second phase of the Anti-Japanese War.

At the meeting, Generalissimo Jiang made a detailed analysis of the situation since the Sino-Japanese War, and pointed out that the tasks in the early stage of the War of Resistance have been successfully completed, and the current War of Resistance is the beginning of a transition from comprehensive defense to partial counter-offensive.Therefore, the meeting decided to reduce the level of command, organize military-level units below the group army, cancel the chairman's battalion in Guangzhou, Xi'an, and Chongqing, and set up the chairman's battalion in Guiyang and Tianshui.It was also decided at the meeting: In order to open up battlefields behind enemy lines and carry out guerrilla warfare extensively, a guerrilla cadre training class will be established in Nanyue to train a large number of military and political cadres in various theaters.Soon, the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government officially announced Tang Enbo as the director of the guerrilla cadre training class, and Ye Jianying as the deputy director.Later, Chiang Kai-shek served as the director of the training class, Bai Chongxi and Chen Cheng served as the deputy directors, Tang Enbo was the dean of education, and Ye Jianying was the deputy dean of education.Cultivated a large number of guerrilla cadres and effectively supported the battlefield behind enemy lines.

After the meeting, Gu Zhutong, Chen Cheng, Li Zongren, Yan Xishan and other theater commanders-in-chief commanded the soldiers in the theater to fight against the Japanese army.The soldiers of the national army fought bravely and tenaciously, severely hitting the Japanese invaders and stabilizing the frontal battlefield. A year later, Chairman Jiang convened the second Nanyue Military Conference based on the development of the battle situation and the situation of the enemy and ourselves after the second Changsha battle.This meeting was mainly to study war strategies and how to attack the enemy skillfully. At the meeting, Generalissimo Jiang emphasized that each theater should: "Turn defense into offense, turn static into action, and actively take offensive." Take advantage of the gap to attack the enemy".

After the outbreak of the Soviet-German War, Generalissimo Jiang held the third Nanyue Senior Military Conference, which was mainly attended by senior military officials from the Central Plains.Among them are Gu Zhutong, Tang Shengzhi, Yang Sen, Shang Zhen, Sun Lianzhong, Xue Yue, Luo Zhuoying and other theater commanders and deputy commanders.The main task of this meeting is to summarize the battles of the Central Plains and Changsha against the Japanese invaders.After the meeting, Xue Yue, a well-known general of the National Army, displayed his might and killed 54,000 Japanese soldiers in the third Changsha Battle.The great victory in Changsha was widely recited in all walks of life in China.

The Fourth Nanyue Senior Military Conference was held on February 10, 1943.Attending the meeting were Gu Zhutong, Commander of the Third Theater, Bai Chongxi, Commander of the Fourth Theater, Chen Cheng, Commander of the Sixth Theater, Yu Hanmou, Commander of the Seventh Theater, Xue Yue, Commander of the Ninth Theater, and the division-level and above commanders of the five theaters. member.The main content of the meeting was to summarize the experience of fighting against Japan some time ago, and the deployment of the strategic defense stage of the war of resistance has ended, and the preparation work that should be done for the national strategic offensive stage is about to enter.After analyzing the situation of the enemy and ourselves, Generalissimo Jiang pointed out: "The Chinese army must maintain its honor, and its combat effectiveness cannot lag behind foreign troops. Otherwise, the Chinese army will not be valued by foreigners. According to historical development, the Chinese are no better than foreigners in all aspects." Therefore, we must actively study advanced foreign technologies.” He particularly emphasized the scientific nature of strategy and tactics in the decisive battle stage, and mentioned the effective coordination of political offensives and military offensives.In the end, the chairman announced at the meeting: As long as our army actively fights against the enemy, there will be no difficulty in recovering Wuhan within a year.

After the meeting, the chairman and his wife went back to Chongqing.Because of his relationship with Xue Yue, Chen Cheng stayed in Hengshan.In the evening, Xue Yue drank and chatted with Chen Cheng.They haven't seen each other for several months, and the two are very affectionate.In the drinking room, he talked about the war of resistance and was full of confidence in the future.During the conversation, Chen Cheng told Xue Yue about his formation of a new army in Yunnan.At the end of the day, he was excited about the issues resolved at the Chairman's Fourth Nanyue Meeting.Just listen to him say to Xue Yue:

"Brother Boling, it's really not easy for you and me to come here. What do you think of the committee's participation in this Nanyue meeting?" Xue Yue said: "Brother Cixiu, the committee trusts you very much. I wonder how you feel about this matter?" Chen Cheng said: "This Nanyue meeting of the committee is more exciting than killing two birds with one stone to suppress the red. This is called double income in name." Xue Yue smiled and said, "How did you meet Brother Cixiu?" Chen Cheng said: "You and I have a group of miscellaneous troops who don't know how to fight, and are full of experts in violation of discipline and regulations. The equipment appointed to our two theaters this time can be described as generous. You see, the generals of those miscellaneous armies are on the move. I’m drooling. The practice of appointing a seat is called a priority, but it’s actually a long-term consideration.”

Xue Yue smiled and said, "Brother Cixiu, don't bully me." Chen Cheng said, "Brother Boling, what do you say?" Xue Yue said, "Brother, if you don't see anything wrong, Bo Ling should tell the truth." Chen Cheng said: "Brother Boling, what did you say? You and I have been friends for nearly twenty years. We have been fighting hand in hand for so many years, and we are always in harmony. I don't know where the word 'seeing strange' comes from? When did you and I separate?" Over each other? Brother has something to say, but it doesn’t matter.”

Xue Yue said: "I have such a feeling that the committee's analysis at the meeting was a bit optimistic. Mao Zedong of the Communist Party of China wrote a book "On Protracted War", and the committee asked me to study it repeatedly for practice. Mao's This article is quite accurate. So far, although our army is in the stage of strategic offensive, it is unrealistic to launch an offensive immediately. Because, first, in terms of the enemy’s situation, the enemy is strong and we are weak. There are generals who are afraid of death. There are also those who violate discipline and rules, and those who harm the common people. It is beneficial, but it is international, not domestic. The Japanese invaders occupied large areas of Northeast China, North China, and Central China, plundered a lot of our resources, and became a base for "nourishing China with China, nourishing war with war". Although the morale of the Japanese army was low, but After all, "frozen three feet is not a day's cold." Since ancient times, "a centipede is dead but not stiff." It is not easy to launch a counterattack overnight. Another point, I once suggested to the chairman that our army The Japanese combat initiative was not enough. When the Japanese army arrived, our army was not psychologically prepared. Every time the enemy army went to a place, they returned with a catastrophe. The enemy went to our side to pursue it. As a member of the common people, you and I, as generals of the Anti-Japanese War, feel guilty for this situation." After hearing what he said, Chen Cheng said: "Brother Boling's words are also reasonable. But the commissioner doesn't know what to do. The commissioner has his own reasons for doing this. We can only faithfully implement the resolution of the central government, not There should be other ideas. Brother Bo Ling, let’s act according to the arrangement of the commissioner.” Chen and Xue talked about the war, and the war came.Chen Cheng received a telegram from Chairman Jiang to return to Yu.The next day, after sending Chen Cheng away, Xue Yue also reorganized his army and horses, preparing to meet the enemy. It turned out that Japan and the United States fought another war in the Pacific region. In this war, the Japanese army was defeated and lost.The supremacy in the air and sea was once again taken away by the US military.The sea line of communication is also in danger of being cut off.At the same time, in order to rescue the Japanese army in the vast area east of the Pacific Ocean and prevent the entire division from being destroyed, the Japanese military department formulated the "No. 1 Operation Plan".This plan is to launch the "Battle of Henan, Hunan, Guizhou and Guangxi" in China.The purpose of the Japanese campaign was to open up the Ping-Han Railway and the Guangdong-Han Railway, and connect North Korea, China, and Southeast Asia by land by railway. Another purpose of this plan of the Japanese army is to destroy the airports built by the United States in China, so as to cut off the stay of various US military aircraft in China.In the past two years since the U.S. and Japan went to war, the Japanese army has realized the power of the U.S. military’s modern weapons, and now the U.S. military has completely seized the control of the sea and the air. The omen of failure has been sensed by the highest Japanese authorities.But Japan's top authorities are still not giving up. In their view: as long as China's dispatched troops still exist, they can make a last-ditch effort.Due to the ambition to occupy and destroy China for a long time, preparations for the battle were made at the beginning of the year.The Japanese army first rushed to repair the railway from Xinxiang to the north bank of the Yellow River.The Japanese base camp also ordered Neiji Okamura, commander-in-chief of the North China Dispatch Army, and Ten Junroku, commander-in-chief of the Central China Dispatch Army, to gather armies, under the personal command of Hideki Tojo, to implement his infamous "Operation Plan No. 1."