Nanjing, Presidential Palace.

In the office, Chiang Kai-shek was looking at the battle reports from the front with a serious face.

Qian Dajun, the attendant, walked in from the door and said, "Bench, everyone has arrived." ”

Chiang Kai-shek put down the telegram, sighed slightly, got up and walked with Qian Dajun to the war conference room on the side of the official residence.

As soon as he arrived at the door, Qian Dajun shouted: "The commission is here!" ”

In the room, a group of high-ranking officers and generals who were sitting around the conference table and chatting immediately stood up. Present at the meeting were: Minister of Military Affairs He Yingqin, Minister of Finance Song Ziwen, and then Commander of the First War Zone (Pinghan Road) Cheng Qian; Wei Lihuang, deputy commander of the Second Theater and former commander-in-chief of the enemy; Gu Zhutong, commander-in-chief of the Ninth Army and commander of the Third Theater; Xue Yue, commander of the 19th Group Army, known as Tiger Boy; Bai Chongxi, who was the deputy chief of staff of the General Staff Headquarters of the Military Commission and the head of the Military Training Department, was known as Xiao Zhuge at the time; Li Zongren, commander of the Fifth Theater of Operations; and Chen Cheng, the former commander-in-chief of the enemy in Shanghai, the political secretary of the Ministry of Military Affairs, and the deputy director of the Wuhan camp, who had just returned from the front line.

Chiang Kai-shek walked to the top seat, stretched out his hand and pressed down, and after everyone sat down, Chiang Kai-shek went straight to the point and said: "Everyone, the main purpose of calling everyone here today is to talk about the war in Shanghai, whether the war is to stop or not, and to come up with a decision today." ”

After a pause, Chiang Kai-shek said again: "The war situation is urgent, let's hurry up." Mo 3: Rhetoric, you talk about it first. ”

Gu Zhutong glanced at Chen Cheng and saw that he didn't move, so he had to stand up by himself, cough and say, "Bench, I think it's time for us to withdraw our troops." At present, the situation in Shanghai has taken a sharp turn for the worse, especially after the successful landing of the Japanese army from Jinshan, the strategic intention is very obvious, and now the Japanese army is storming Jiashan when it has landed at Jinshan, and the Shanghai-Hangzhou railway and highway communication lines are in danger. ”

Chiang Kai-shek's brows furrowed, and his face was cloudy. Chen Cheng watched for a long time and didn't understand what Chiang Kai-shek's attitude was, and now it was a matter of life and death for hundreds of thousands of soldiers, Chen Cheng couldn't care about anything else, so he took Gu Zhutong's words and said: "Commission, I agree with Commander Gu's opinion." ”

Chen Cheng looked at Chiang Kai-shek's face again and found that there were no other changes, so he continued: "Since the beginning of the war in August, we have successively invested more than 700,000 troops in Shanghai, and it has been nearly three months now. Even in the international arena, the sacrificial spirit and fighting ability of our Chinese athletes have been highly praised by military observers in various countries, allowing the world to clearly see our firm anti-Japanese stance. My subordinates thought that the Battle of Shanghai had reached our pre-planned strategic goal by fighting so far, so I agreed with Commander Gu's proposal to withdraw troops. ”

Chiang Kai-shek sighed lightly, what Gu Zhutong and Chen Cheng said, why didn't he know? In fact, as early as the end of October, he wanted to discuss the withdrawal of troops, but at that time, Soong Meiling came with news from abroad that as long as he could hold Shanghai for more than ten days, China would win the same period as the League of Nations, and the League of Nations would help China mediate the Sino-Japanese war. At that time, Chiang Kai-shek still had illusions about the international community, and he was convinced of this, saying: "Shanghai must hold on at any cost." However, within a few days, the Japanese army had successfully landed in Jinshan, and the situation in Shanghai took a sharp turn for the worse. Seeing that the "mediation" of the international community was far away, Chiang Kai-shek regretted his original decision and wanted to announce the withdrawal of troops, but he felt that this would be a bit of a backsliding and would affect the prestige of his leader, so he hurriedly summoned a group of high-ranking generals to come out to "vote."

Chiang Kai-shek Xu felt that the decision made by only two people to express their opinions was a bit "hasty", so he said to Xue Yue and Bai Chongxi: "Jiansheng, Boling, you can also express your opinions." ”

When Xue Yue saw that he was asked, he stood up honestly and unceremoniously and said: "Since the beginning of the war in Shanghai, although we have eliminated many Japanese troops, our own losses are not small, and the casualties have reached more than 200,000. I also agree with both of them that the situation is now dangerous, and if we continue to delay, our losses will be even greater. ”

Xue Yue's Nineteenth Army had many bloody battles in Shanghai, and the losses were not small, so he didn't want to fight for a long time.

Bai Chongxi glanced at Chiang Kai-shek, and still had some understanding of this "lord" who had been invited by the "three visits to the thatched house" to serve as the chief of staff, and knew some of his thoughts. So he said: "The battle for Shanghai has shifted the focus of the Japanese army's strategic attack southward along the Pinghan Railway to the southeast coast, which has made a good start for our strategic direction of exchanging space for time. ”

Li Zongren said on the side: "I agree with Jiansheng's opinion, and I hope that the chairman will make a decision as soon as possible!" "The Gui army also suffered a lot of sacrifices in Shanghai, and since everyone agreed to withdraw the troops, the sooner the better, so as not to increase the casualties.

Chiang Kai-shek took a sip of boiled water on the table, and asked He Yingqin, Song Ziwen, Cheng Qian, Wei Lihuang and others, "Do you have different opinions?" ”

Several people expressed no opinion and were in favor of withdrawing troops as soon as possible.

Chiang Kai-shek said: "Since everyone has no opinion, okay! I have decided to withdraw my troops from Shanghai starting at twelve o'clock tonight! Ci Xiu, Mo San, and Boling, you must make corresponding arrangements and preparations to make sure that the officers and men of our army can withdraw from Shanghai in a safe and orderly manner! ”

"Yes!" Chen Cheng, Gu Zhutong, and Xue Yue immediately stood up, straightened their waists and said.

After the meeting, Chen Cheng and the three of them got together with Bai Chongxi and Li Zongren to discuss, and finally came to the conclusion that if they want to withdraw from Shanghai in a safe and orderly manner, it will take at least 3-5 days. However, in these few days, who is responsible for the break has become a difficult problem.

On this issue, several people have never reached an agreement.

Chen Cheng made a difficulty, and in the end he had no choice but to consult Chiang Kai-shek.

When Chiang Kai-shek heard this, he immediately became angry and scolded: "Niang Xipi, at a critical time, they only think about preserving their strength, they are just bastards!" ”

Chen Cheng stood aside and was silent, not daring to speak. Chiang Kai-shek scolded a few words, and then said: "The Jiatai line in the urban area let the 74th Army, 36th Division, 87th Division, 88th Division and Luo Zhuoying's 18th Army be cut off. Elsewhere, you go to them and see what else they have to say. ”

As soon as Chen Cheng heard this, he already knew that Chiang Kai-shek had moved the real fire, and the troops arranged by the broken rear were basically the descendants of the Central Army.

Chiang Kai-shek suddenly said again: "Who is stationed on the Songjiang front now?" ”

Chen Cheng replied: "Anti-Japanese Protector Army." ”

"Oh? Did you send it? ”

Chen Cheng shook his head: "I originally planned to send the Protector Army, but I learned from the phone that as soon as the news of the Japanese landing came out, they had already rushed to Songjiang to garrison it." ”

When Chiang Kai-shek heard this, he sighed again, praising the Protector Army for taking the overall situation into account, and so on, and said a lot of praise.

Chen Cheng said: "In addition, I also coordinated Guo Rudong's 43rd Army (I wrote it wrong, Guo Rudong is the 43rd Army, not the 40th Army, and friends who read books can know it.) and Wu Keren's 67th Army went to reinforce the defense, but the news of their arrival had not yet been received. ”

Chiang Kai-shek said: "Let them arrive as soon as possible, I am afraid that only one regiment of the Protector Army will not be able to hold there, if it is lost, it will directly affect the retreat of our army, and it should not be underestimated." ”

Chen Cheng nodded hurriedly, he saw that Chiang Kai-shek was very interested in the Protector Army, so he said: "Commission, I just received news from the Protector Army before the meeting, saying that they have fought with the attacking Japanese army on the Huangpu River south of the Songjiang River. ”

"Oh? How's the battle going? Chiang Kai-shek was really interested and hurriedly asked.

Chen Cheng said: "The telegram said that there were about 8,000 people in a detachment of the Japanese army, and half of their troops had been wiped out. The Japanese army suffered a loss and could not cross the river smoothly, so they postponed the attack, and now the two sides are facing each other across the river. ”

"Good! Well played! Chiang Kai-shek immediately became excited.

After being happy for a moment, he suddenly asked, "Ci Xiu, what do you think of Bai Fei?" ”

Chen Cheng pursed his lips and thought about it, then said truthfully: "On the issue of war against Japan, as he himself said, it is his duty to take the lead. And he did. And much better than others! ”

Chiang Kai-shek thought for a while, and said to Chen Cheng: "You go and tell Bai Fei that if he can hold Songjiang for a few more days and buy more time for the main force to retreat, I will personally ask for credit for him after the matter is completed!" ”