Chen Xiuping's words were already very clear, he no longer had any hope of recapturing Madang Fortress, and soon, he would give the military order to retreat and turn to battle.

As the commander of the theater, Chen Xiuping has already seen the battle situation of Madang Fortress very thoroughly, and it is wise to give up Madang to preserve his strength.

However, the high command took a fancy to the Madangjiang Defense Fortress, and Chen Xiuping listened very much to the words of the chairman, even if it was a wrong strategic decision to continue the counteroffensive, he would carry out the chairman's orders.

Comparing the strength of the national army and the Japanese army, the difference in strength between the two sides is too great. ，

Not only did the Japanese army have the cover of warplanes and naval guns, but the Japanese troops who were holding the fortress of Madang had already gained a firm foothold, and no matter how many troops were invested in the counterattack, it would be useless.

There is another reason, the Japanese army also attaches great importance to Madang Fortress, and the army and navy units of the devils are marching towards Madang Fortress.

If the troops of the national army cannot attack for a long time and the officers and men suffer heavy losses, then the devils will definitely seize the fighters to attack, and in the end, the two armies of the national army will fall into the encirclement of the devils.

Li Hong himself analyzed in his heart, he knew why Chen Xiuping had no confidence in this battle, because he was a person with a little brain, and he knew that there was no possibility of success in counterattacking Madang Fortress.

"Sir Chen, the Japanese air force is stronger than ours, and the navy is also very strong, but I am not pessimistic about the counterattack on Madang Fortress, I believe that the matter is man-made." Li Hong's tone was very flat, but he had a sense of confidence.

"Hehe......" Chen Xiuping smiled helplessly.

Li Hong didn't ask anything more, and then the two sides fell silent.

……

After about two hours of driving, Li Hong and the others arrived at the headquarters of the front line.

Chen Xiuping insisted on bringing Li Hong to the front-line headquarters, not entirely out of appreciation, he wanted to find out whether Li Hong really had real talent and outstanding military command ability.

Soon, the group entered the conference room.

There were already dozens of officers waiting in the conference room, and the officers stood on either side of the conference table with serious faces.

The officers and generals present were all senior officers of the 16th Army and the 49th Army.

"Commander Chen has arrived!" Chen Xiuping's secretary came in and shouted.

The officers and generals stood solemnly: "Commander Chen is good!! ”

Chen Xiuping strode to the main seat, and swept the subordinates on both sides of the conference table with a majestic face.

"Everyone, sit down!"

Under Chen Xiuping's signal, everyone sat down one after another.

"Head Li, you can also take a seat!"

"Thank you, Chief Chen!"

The guards brought a stool, and Li Hong sat aside.

The officers in the conference room were very puzzled when they saw Li Hong, a colonel, sitting down, because such a meeting of senior officers was not qualified to sit at the conference table with Li Hong's military rank, and could only sit on the sidelines to observe.

Everyone just felt strange about Chen Xiuping's arrangement, the officers focused their attention on the commander, and they didn't care too much about Li Hong, an inconspicuous colonel, so not many people recognized Li Hong.

Chen Xiuping put his hands on the conference table, and said in a cold voice: "Ladies and gentlemen, our army has been fighting fiercely with the Japanese invaders held by Madang for several days, and the front-line soldiers have shed blood and sacrificed a lot of casualties, although the officers and men of the 16th Army and the 49th Army fought bravely, but due to the huge difference in strength between the two sides, our army has organized many attacks and still cannot recapture Madang Fortress. ”

"The chairman and the general command are well aware of the importance of the defense of the Madang River, and the loss of Madang Fortress is equivalent to the opening of the door of the defense line, and the Japanese army can drive straight into Wuhan......

After Chen Xiuping's words, the main generals of the 16th Army and the 49th Army reported the casualties of each army.

"Report to Commander Chen, the officers and men of our 16th Army organized four attacks on the Japanese army on the Madang defensive line, with a total of more than 6,000 casualties in each department, and the formation of many combat regiments serving as the main attack was scattered."

"Report to Chief Chen, our 49th officers and soldiers organized three counteroffensives against the Japanese on the Madang defensive line, with a total of nearly 5,000 casualties among all units, Liang Guihua, deputy commander of the 105th Division, was killed, and Zhao Tiehan, commander of the 214th Brigade, was seriously injured......"

After listening to the casualty report of his subordinates, Chen Xiuping also felt a little sad about the officers and soldiers who sacrificed, after all, these soldiers who sacrificed were all officers and soldiers under his command.

As a matter of fact, in addition to coming to the front line to supervise the battle, he also had an important task, that is, to thoroughly investigate the reasons for the failure of the Madang River defense, punish those who failed to perform their duties in an unfavorable battle, and enforce military discipline.

Of course, in the face of the dereliction of duty of his subordinates, Chen Xiuping did not want to expand the situation, and just punished the derelict officers and generals with a small punishment, after all, these are his loyal subordinates, and many officers and generals are his descendants.

If these subordinates were severely punished, it would be equivalent to hurting his own arm, and he naturally didn't want to do such a stupid thing.

Chen Xiuping intended to shelter his subordinates, so he did not hold him accountable at the meeting and went on a killing spree.

At this time, Xue Renwei, commander of the 167th Division of the 16th Army, stood up.

"Chief Chen, although our 16th Army has counterattacked many times without success, our army destroyed two Japanese warships in Madangjiang Bay."

"Oh? You actually destroyed two Japanese warships? ”

Chen Xiuping had some doubts in his heart, and his eyes looked at Liu Wenhan, the commander of the 16th Army next to him.

Before the meeting, Liu Wenhan, the commander of the 16th Army, and Xue Renwei, the commander of the division, had already colluded to avoid being held accountable by the superiors, and falsely claimed that they were responsible for the destruction of the Japanese warship.

"Sir Chen, we did destroy two Japanese warships." Liu Wenhan's face did not change, and in front of everyone, he said matter-of-factly.

Liu Wenhan is a subordinate general of Chen Xiuping, and the two have always had a good relationship, and Liu Wenhan was able to serve as the commander of the Madang River Defense before, and it was also recommended by Chen Xiuping to the chairman of the NPC National Committee.

Therefore, when Liu Wenhan said this, Chen Xiuping still believed it a little.

Li Hong heard that the other party said out of nothing that the devil's warship was destroyed by the 16th Army, and they also exaggerated how to command their subordinates to fight bravely.

Of course, here is the other party's chassis, and he needs to restrain his words and deeds.

Li Hong showed a cold smile on his face, and sat on the side quietly listening to the other party's boastful talk, fabricating war exploits and pretending to be coerced.

In fact, the defense of the Madang River is impregnable, and the important responsibility for the loss lies with Liu Wenhan.

Liu Wenhan climbed to the position of army commander, but he is not a straw bag, he graduated from the second phase of Huangpu, is full of strategy, and has a certain military command talent.

However, this person has a lot of shortcomings, he is so happy, he talks exaggeratedly, he likes to do some brainless things that are not boundary, and to put it bluntly, he is a little floating when he wins a battle.

The Japanese army took Anqing and immediately attacked the Madangjiang defense fortress, Liu Wenhan misjudged the Japanese offensive, and the big battle was imminent, he actually summoned all the officers above the platoon level to have a conference dinner and give a speech.