Chapter 14 6. Thoughts on the Nanyue Military Conference

At 5:30 a.m. on October 16, 1941, on the streets of the mountain city of Chongqing, a light convoy passed quickly and headed straight for the suburban airport. At Chongqing Airport, which is heavily guarded, the lights and signal lights on the apron and runway are wide open.A plane waiting at the end of the runway, a few minutes after the convoy arrived, started the motor rumblingly, rushed forward slowly and quickly, gradually left the ground, turned its head in mid-air, and plunged straight into the twilight east skyrim. Chiang Kai-shek leaned on the sofa seat in the cabin, looking tired.

On October 9, the Xiangbei troops resumed their pre-war positions, and the second Changsha battle ended. Although the Ninth War Zone has not yet reported the results and losses of the battle, Chiang Kai-shek is already full of anger. In the middle of the night on the 9th, the Political Department called to ask whether to add content celebrating the victory in northern Hunan to the "Double Ten" promotional slogan.Chiang Kai-shek really didn't want to call this battle a victory, but he still instructed to celebrate the "Second Great Victory in North Hunan" in conjunction with festival propaganda.At that time, the siege of Yichang was in full swing, and the key was to see if the city could be captured before the Japanese army returned to aid. One day on the 10th, Chiang Kai-shek put on a smiley face and was tired of coping with the official National Day activities, but he was always thinking about Yichang and Yichang in his heart. He didn't order the withdrawal of troops until late at night, seeing that there was finally no hope.

There are two battlefields, one is a disastrous defeat that even the most elite 74th Army and 10th Army lost, and the other is a long battle without success and heavy casualties.The so-called "victory" means that only one Japanese army retreated to Yueyang, which was barely acceptable to the common people, and our army resumed its position. The rest was all for political propaganda and to boost the morale of the people. On October 10th, starting early in the morning, the radio station broadcast news of the "Second Great Victory in North Hunan" and articles commemorating the National Day in turn.The major newspapers and periodicals rushed to publish their issues in a serious manner. The headlines were written in walnut-sized characters on the front page. There is a "great victory" scenery.Chiang Kai-shek flipped through the newspaper, and he was really convinced by the pens of Chen Bulei, Wu Tiecheng, and Wu Dingchang. They magically produced so many articles overnight!

Since it was a "victory", the Nationalist Government, the National Assembly, the Military Commission, and various mass organizations had to send congratulatory telegrams as usual.When Lin Wei, deputy director of the attendant's office, asked whether to send a congratulatory message in the chairman's personal name, Chiang Kai-shek had already made up his mind, and replied: No, please arrange it, and I will go to the door to congratulate. Regarding the "victory" in northern Hunan, Sun Ke, Premier of the Nationalist Government, said in an interview with a reporter from Hong Kong News:

"The Chinese army has taken the initiative, and it is expected that there will be astonishing military developments within half a year. ... The victory of the Chinese army in northern Hunan has laid the foundation for the counterattack of the Japanese army and the recovery of Hankou and Guangzhou..." and so on. At a mass gathering to commemorate the National Day and celebrate the "Second Great Victory in Northern Hunan" in Guilin, Guangxi, General Bai Chongxi, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Military Commission, delivered a speech: "The Second Great Victory in Northern Hunan is the pivot for me to turn defeat into victory."

Chiang Kai-shek noticed that in the commemorative venues and main streets of Chongqing, the number of large-character slogans celebrating the victory and the National Day was basically equal, while in the parades of government agencies and schools, the number of slogans and small flags celebrating the victory was more than that celebrating the National Day. During the 4 years of the War of Resistance, no matter whether the international situation was favorable or not, the national power was exhausted and the people were suffering. The people psychologically needed the tonic of "victory", otherwise why would they continue to struggle?On the way back from participating in the "Double Ten" event in Chongqing, Chiang Kai-shek sighed in his heart.

But I'm afraid that the generals in the ninth war zone will also take this "victory" needed in the propaganda as their own victory.Chiang Kai-shek thought about it in the next few days, and he also thought about it on the way to Hunan by plane. When the sound of the plane's motor came faintly from the clouds in the western sky, Xue Yue led the main generals of the Ninth War Zone out of the temporary waiting lounge on the side of Nanyue Airport. After the end of the Xiangbei battle, the scene of celebrating the victory two years ago was repeated.Flowers, applause, flashing spotlights, and snowflakes of congratulatory texts are still there, but Xue Yue's heart is heavy, not just because he has not received congratulations from Chiang Kai-shek.

On October 12, the Japanese National Broadcasting Station in Tokyo and the radio stations of the Japanese army in the occupied areas of China simultaneously released the news that the imperial army had wiped out more than 100,000 main forces of the five combat armies of the Chongqing government army in the area north of Changsha.Grand celebrations were also held throughout Japan and in several major cities in the Chinese-occupied areas.The emperor issued a decree to reward the generals of the imperial army who participated in this battle. The contradictory propaganda and unanimous celebrations of both sides in the battle greatly aroused the curiosity of journalists from all over the world. On October 13, a group of 22 journalists, composed of journalists from Britain, the United States, France, the Netherlands, Portugal and other countries, as well as Hong Kong and several major Chinese newspapers, was led by officials from the Information Bureau of the Nationalist Government and flew from Chongqing to Changsha. Conduct field interviews.Wu Yizhi, chief of staff of the Ninth War Zone, gave reporters a "battle report" carefully prepared by him, Zhao Zili and others.The reporters visited several battlefields and browsed the piles of spoils. More than a dozen officers and soldiers who participated in the war and local people introduced the real situation of the battlefield and the tragic defeat of the Japanese army to reporters from different angles.The reporters were all satisfied that the Chinese propaganda was true and credible.Then, the lying party can only be Japan.

Give away loot.The reporters happily got command knives, binoculars, watches, military blankets, radios and other items.The most notable one was an American reporter with a beard who got a Japanese military flag after his earnest request.Amid the warm applause of the people, the reporter said that he wanted to let the whole world see this flag and let the whole world know the story of the Chinese army's heroic resistance. The press corps stayed in Changsha for 3 days, and on the 15th, Xue Yue hosted a farewell banquet.After sending the reporter away, Xue Yue knew that it was time for a deep introspection without having to weave a "victory" story.

The plane stopped on the runway, and Chiang Kai-shek walked down the gangway wearing a cloak.Xue Yue saw that the chairman's face, which was already very thin, had lost a little color, and his smile seemed very forced, and he felt a little ashamed in his heart.The people who came and those who were picked up exchanged simple greetings, then got into a row of cars that had been waiting for a long time, and drove out of the airport in a hurry. Chiang Kai-shek and Xue Yue were in the same car, and they had nothing to say all the way, but they were talking in their hearts, and both of them knew what the other was thinking at the moment.When the car drove into a large military camp at the foot of Hengshan Mountain, it was already dawn, and groups of soldiers on the large playground had already started their day's exercises.Chiang Kai-shek then said in his heart in the car just now: "Punish those who treat military law like a joke, and investigate the responsibility for the failure of the battle is a trivial matter. Boling, I think it is necessary to seriously review it."

The Nanyue Military Conference was held on October 17, the day after Chiang's arrival.The first agenda of the meeting was to announce the decision on rewards and punishments, and the second agenda was to deploy all participating troops in the Ninth War Zone to conduct military review activities in response to the heavy losses in the Second Changsha Battle while resting. The meeting announced: According to the military law in wartime, Liao Lingqi, commander of the 58th Division of the 74th Army, who did not organize the troops to retreat when the battle was defeated, left the battlefield privately and went home to visit relatives. Li Yutang, the commander of the 10th Army who suffered heavy casualties, was dismissed; Fang Xianjue, the commander of the Pre-10th Division of the 10th Army who panicked and fled first when the battle was defeated, was dismissed.An order was issued to commend the 6th Division of the 79th Army Zhao Jiping, who was not afraid of strong enemies, crossed the Xiangjiang River and invaded Changsha, and regained the city's record after a fierce battle; Division Commander Lai Chuanxiang; issued an order to commend Major Cao Keren, commander of the 1st Battalion of the 295th Regiment of the 99th Division of the 99th Army, for his bravery in defending Xiangyin, tenaciously fighting against an enemy several times his own, until the whole battalion was martyred for the country. There was no sound at the venue.He Yingqin, Minister of Military and Political Affairs who came to Nanyue with Jiang, read out the above decision. Jiang sat in the chairman's seat and looked around at the generals who were sitting upright. The general whose name was mentioned stood up from his seat, either hanging his head in shame or puffing up his chest. Liao Lingqi, the commander of the 58th Division, was detained by the Military Law Supervision Department after returning to the army. Frustrated by the defeat in the early stage of the battle, Xue Yue shifted the responsibility to the generals of the troops in public and private occasions, and reported to Chongqing several times that he would hold the commanders of the 26th Army and the 37th Army accountable for their poor command.However, Chiang Kai-shek understood the situation in detail through various channels. This time he punished Li Yutang, the commander of the 10th Army, and Fang Xianjue, the commander of the Pre-10th Division, and sentenced a division commander among the aces of his lineage to death. It is even more necessary to find out the reasons for the failure from yourself.Among the awards, most people already knew about Zhao Jiping's recovery of Changsha and the death of the 190th deputy division commander, but they did not know why a battalion commander was awarded in the name of the Military Commission in this high-level military meeting.During the battle, how few regiment and battalion commanders were injured and killed on the front line? A few days later, the Political Department of the Military Commission distributed a document about the deeds of the Cao Ke battalion commander to the entire army, and the generals all sighed and nodded after reading it. The Nanyue Military Conference lasted for 5 days and ended on the 21st.After the meeting, each unit conducted the most in-depth and most effective "military review" after the important battle against Japan in military history. Ninth Theater Review: 1. Misjudged the changes in the enemy's 11th Army's combat plan after Anan Weiji took office. 2. The combat plan of the theater basically followed the old case of the last battle, without corresponding changes due to the enemy's situation, and lost consecutively until the early stage of the battle. 3. The dispersed use of forces results in the enemy's powerful force groups being defeated respectively, resulting in heavy losses. Fourth, the selection of the decisive battle zone is subjective and arbitrary.With the goal of protecting Changsha, the decisive battle zone was repeatedly pushed northward, but not only could not form the conditions for a decisive battle, even Changsha was later occupied by the enemy. 5. Corruption of communications.In the early stage, it lost the initiative on the battlefield. Later, it was discovered that there was no backup code for breaking the secret code, and it could only be used for a few days like plain language. 6. In the early days of the battle, the battle of Dayun Mountain was taken advantage of by the enemy, leaving the frontal forces in northern Hunan empty, and the enemy broke through the front line within hours of the battle. 7. Disruption of military discipline.Some of the division commanders fled before the battle, some of them perfunctory ordered and failed to fight, some of them were greedy for false rewards, flinched, did not take the initiative to cooperate, abandoned the wounded and martyrs, were captured and defected, and even robbed the people and raped the women. Yang Sen's review of the 27th Army is detailed in each operational stage: A. The prelude period on the north bank of the Xinqiang River 1. Judging the enemy's situation seems subjective. Second, friendly forces do not trust each other, resulting in a lack of coordination. B. The battle period from the south bank of the Xinqiang River to the north bank of the Liuyang River 3. The general movement of troops is slow. Fourth, the commanding ability of commanders at all levels is weak. 5. The discipline of officers and soldiers of each unit is too bad. Sixth, following orders is not thorough, and even circumvents the tasks assigned to them by tricks. ... Chiang Kai-shek had already returned to Chongqing when he looked at the review reports submitted by various troops on his desk.The report reflects a large number of problems in the army's combat command, daily training, superiors and subordinates, friendly and neighborly relations, military law and discipline, and military infrastructure.The seriousness of the problem made him very annoyed and worried, but this time he was able to speak truthfully and not conceal mistakes, which made him feel relieved. The misty autumn rain drifted down, bringing everything left to the sky and the earth by a great war into the depths of the soil bit by bit.The second battle of Changsha lasted 35 days from September 7, 1941 to October 12 of the same year.In the northern Hunan battlefield, including the border areas of Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi, the Chinese army invested 378,000 troops; the Japanese army put in 115,000 troops. According to Chinese historical records, during the service, the Chinese casualties totaled 69,917 officers and soldiers; the Japanese casualties were 48,372. According to the Japanese history, there were 54,000 Chinese corpses and 4,300 prisoners; the Japanese losses were: 1,670 dead, 5,184 injured, and 2,260 horses.