"Before May 1, not only Zhengzhou, but also Xinzheng, Weishi, Yanling, Mixian, Changge and other places will be lost." Although Sun Yumin's tone of words was flat, it caused a great shock to Xue Yue.

"It won't be that fast, will it? The First War Zone had hundreds of thousands of troops from eight group armies, and Tang Enbo commanded all the elite Central Army. Xue Yue didn't say it thoroughly, in his thoughts, even if it was hundreds of thousands of pigs, it would take some effort for the Japanese army to catch and kill them all, how could it be that half of Henan would be lost in more than ten days.

"Chief Xue, these things are beyond the scope of our consideration, I think it's better not to worry about this, you and I have to think about how to deal with the threat of the Japanese army in Wuhan." Sun Yumin was reluctant to talk about the war in central Henan because he knew that Jiang Dingwen, commander of the First Theater of Operations, and Tang Enbo, deputy commander of the First Theater of Operations, were in harmony on the surface, but in fact they did not buy each other. Jiang Dingwen is one of the "Five Tiger Generals" known as Lao Chiang, who followed the father of the nation in his early years, participated in the Eastern Expedition to Guangdong, Chen Jiongming, and succeeded Wei Lihuang as the commander of the First Theater in January 1942. As a descendant of Lao Chiang, Tang Enbo led his troops to participate in the Battle of Taierzhuang and the Battle of Wuhan, and in 1942, he served as the deputy commander of the First Theater and the commander-in-chief of the national army in the Lusu-Anhui-Henan border region. Jiang Dingwen believed that he was a revolutionary veteran and commanded Tang Enbo, while Tang Enbo claimed to be the descendant of Lao Jiang, and the 13th Army under his command was an elite Central Army unit, and he often disobeyed Jiang Dingwen's orders. The two of them, Jiang Dingwen's commander's headquarters is located in Luoyang, directly commanding the four group armies in western Henan, and Tang Enbo's deputy commander's headquarters is stationed in Ye County, under the jurisdiction of the four group armies in central and southern Henan. Therefore, Sun Yumin didn't mention the war in Yuzhong at all, and if it weren't for Xue Yue's repeated inquiries, he wouldn't even want to say a word.

"Yumin, you can't say that, once Henan falls, then our Ninth Theater will lose a barrier, do you think we are still struggling to face the Japanese Eleventh Army in Wuhan alone, if the Japanese army in North China falls down again, then how long can we carry it?" The bottom line is that you are in a different position, and you have a different perspective on the problem. Sun Yumin was thinking about how to inflict heavy losses on the Japanese army and protect his own troops, but Xue Yue was thinking about the outcome of the entire battle and how to ensure the safety of the Ninth War Zone.

"Chief Xue, the war in central Henan is a foregone conclusion, you and I can't change it, and there are many other reasons for it, so Yumin still advises Chief Xue not to worry about it." Sun Yumin was able to speak to him like this, it was really because Xue Yue had helped him and wanted to repay him for this affection, so he gave two sentences of advice, he couldn't speak too clearly, and he couldn't tell all the facts he knew, so he could only dissuade him secretly. Just imagine, less than half a month after the start of the war, Jiang Dingwen, who was the commander of the theater of operations, fled in panic with the commander's department, not only putting all the more than 200,000 troops of the national army under the guns of the Japanese army, but also completely exposing Tang Enbo's eastern front. It is a pity that General Li Jiayu himself was martyred, this is the highest-ranking general of the Sichuan army to die on the battlefield of resistance against Japan, and he and General Zhang Zizhong are both generals of the national army who died as commander-in-chief of the group army. It was only late April, and there were still some days before the troops of the Eighth Theater were defeated and retreated, and Sun Yumin naturally couldn't explain to Xue Yue the outcome of the war in central Henan, so he could only respond like this.

"Yumin, with your wisdom and judgment of the battle situation, is there any room for recovery in the war in Henan? Tell me what to do, and I'll call the commissioner in my name......"

"Chief Xue, when the Yellow River defense line was breached, the outcome of this battle was already doomed, so don't do this senseless futile effort." Sun Yumin's voice was much louder than the whispers just now, which can be regarded as a sign that he doesn't want to dwell on this topic anymore, he and Xue Yue are both soldiers, who doesn't understand, relying on the Yellow River and still can't stop the pace of the Japanese army, what else can the troops in the Eighth Theater do, not to mention that they have a "bastard" commander. Jiang Dingwen is one of Lao Jiang's "Five Tiger Generals", and one of the "Four King Kongs" under He Yingqin, like his master, all he thinks about is how to accumulate wealth and promote officials and suppress side lines, as for the war, he may have been okay twenty years ago, but now it can only be said that it is a mess.

"Alas!" Xue Yue sighed deeply, then fell silent and stopped talking, and the whole person fell into a state of disappointment.

"Chief Xue, you don't have to blame yourself, it's not your fault." Sun Yumin is really not very good at persuading, and this sentence seems so pale and weak.

Xue Yue didn't speak again, just got up and walked to his desk, picked up the military map that he had put down earlier, and looked at it silently. Sun Yumin was also silent, he looked at the thin war report in his hand over and over again, he wanted to find out the clues of the Japanese army's movements, and he also wanted to see from it where the elite 27th Division of the Japanese army, which he was most concerned about from the Kwantung Army, was now.

Neither of them spoke, making the room so quiet that the adjutant who had come to deliver the tea was uncomfortable, hurrying back and forth.

"Yumin, tomorrow Wang Lingji, Yang Sen and Wang Yaowu will come over, as well as Ou Zhen, Li Yutang and the commanders of various armies will also come." After pondering for a long time, Xue Yue finally spoke, and he said to Sun Yumin: "I informed them to come, as soon as the war in central Henan begins, it is inevitable that the ninth theater will fight, fortunately, since the last battle of Changsha, the troops of our ninth theater have recuperated for a long time, so no matter what the situation in central Henan is, I believe that the Japanese invaders in Hunan will be hit hard by us." ”

Sun Yumin didn't speak, just squeezed out a smile and nodded his head.

"What? I think Yumin, you don't seem to have enough confidence? Xue Yue walked over with the map that he had been looking at for a long time.

"Chief Xue...... I'm afraid that this battle is not optimistic." Sun Yumin paused, he didn't want to show too much pessimism, but after thinking about it, he must not convey the wrong signal to him.

"Yumin, haven't you come out of the shadow of the dismissal? Cowardice before fighting, this is not your style of 'God of War of the National Army'. Xue Yue's words had a bit of a flavor of agitation.

"Chief Xue, Yumin has never done anything like 'growing the morale of others to destroy his own prestige', but this time the situation is different, I am afraid that even if all the troops of our Ninth Theater are put in, it may not be able to stop the strategic goal of the Japanese army." Sun Yumin shook his head, he really didn't want to show a decadent appearance before the war, but if he didn't do this, he would definitely not let Xue Yue raise his vigilance to the peak, if he was as careless as he was in the Second Battle of Changsha, then this time the war that Hunan was about to face would probably end up in a defeated situation like the Battle of Yuzhong.

"A failure? Is it possible? I have excellent soldiers in the Ninth Theater, and I also have two ace troops of your 12th Army and the 74th Army of Shi Zhongcheng, even if the Japanese army adds two more divisions, I will not be afraid. Sure enough, from Xue Yue's words, he heard the idea of being proud and contemptuous of the enemy, which was exactly what he was worried about, and Sun Yumin's brows immediately furrowed.

No one knows the cruelty of the upcoming war better than him, no one knows better than him the determination of the Japanese army and the troops invested in it this time, Sun Yumin was already worried that the defense policy of the Ninth War Zone would take care of one or the other, and now Xue Yue's words cast a shadow on his heart.

He guessed that Xue Yue would once again use the "Heavenly Furnace Tactics" and implement the "Clear the Field of the Strong Wall", and then use the newly configured American mechanics and the heavy artillery on Yuelu Mountain to make the Japanese attack return in vain again, but Sun Yumin knew that Yokoyama Yong, who was born in civil engineering, did not launch an offensive directly from Yueyang in northern Hunan like Sonobe Kazuichiro and Anan Yuji, but adopted new tactics and used almost all the main forces of the Eleventh Army. Take part in this Armageddon.

Sun Yumin was very worried, the enemy was so strong, and his own side not only did not redouble his caution, but also despised it, this battle seemed to be doomed before it was fought. Historically, when Shunroku Hahata and Isamu Yokoyama launched the Battle of Hunan, the Japanese 11th Army in the Wuhan area had 8 divisions plus 1 brigade: Mitsuo Yamamoto's 3rd Division (under the jurisdiction of the 6th, 34th, and 68th Infantry Wings, and the 3rd Wing of Cavalry, Field Artillery, Engineers, and Heavy Troops); The 13th Division of Chiluli (under the jurisdiction of the 65th, 104th, and 116th Infantry Wings, the 19th Mountain Artillery, the 13th Engineer Corps, and the 13th Baggage Corps); The 34th Division of Ban Jianxiong (under the jurisdiction of the 216th, 217th, and 218th Infantry Wings, the 34th Search Group, the 15th Field Artillery Wing, the 34th Engineer Wing, and the 34th Heavy Infantry Wing); No's 37th Division (under the jurisdiction of the 225th, 226th, and 227th Infantry Wings, and the 37th Wing of Mountain Artillery, Engineers, and Heavy Troops); Aoki Seiichi's 40th Division (under the jurisdiction of the 234th, 235th, and 236th Infantry Wings, the 40th Mountain Artillery Wing, the 40th Engineer Wing, the 40th Cavalry Wing, and the 40th Baggage Regiment); The 58th Division of Maori Suhiro (under the jurisdiction of the 51st Infantry Brigade, the brigade commander Nosa Shikihiko, with the 92nd, 93rd, 94th, and 95th Independent Infantry Brigades; The 52nd Infantry Brigade, the brigade commander Ryutaro Koga, whose division includes the 96th, 106th, 107th, and 108th Independent Infantry Brigades; There are also the 14th Field Artillery Wing, the 14th Engineer Wing, and the 14th Baggage Wing); The 68th Division of Mitsukio Tsutsumi (under the jurisdiction of the 57th Infantry Brigade, the brigade commander Shima Genyoshi, the 62nd, 63rd, and 64th Independent Infantry Brigades; The 58th Infantry Brigade, the brigade commander Ota Sadamasa, has the 115th, 116th, and 117th Independent Infantry Brigades; In addition, there is the 5th Wing of the Independent Mountain Artillery, as well as the Engineer Corps and the Baggage Corps); Iwanaga Wang's 116th Division (under the jurisdiction of the 109th, 120th, and 133rd Infantry Wings, the 122nd Field Artillery Wing, the 116th Engineer Wing, and the 116th Baggage Wing) and the 17th Brigade of Independent Mixed Brigades. In order to draw enough troops for the Hunan operation, which opened up the lifeline of communication on the mainland, Toshiroku Hata transferred the 27th Division of Yoshiharu Takeshita (under the jurisdiction of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Infantry Wings of the Chinese Garrison, the 27th Wing of Mountain Artillery, Engineers, and Heavy Soldiers), the 3rd Tank Wing, and the 4th Artillery Brigade from the 13th Army, and transferred the 64th Division from the 13th Army. In addition, in order to fill the gaps after the main divisions and regiments were transferred, Shunroku Hata also transferred some troops from various places, such as the 5th, 7th, 11th, and 12th Independent Infantry Brigades, to take over the garrison tasks of each division and regiment, and established the 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 10th Field Supplementary Brigades to replenish the combat divisions and regiments in a timely manner during the war. At the same time, Shunroku Hahata formed the Wuhan Defense Force and appointed Tadayoshi Sano as the commander of the Defense Army, responsible for commanding all the newly replenished garrison units after the 11th Army left the Wuhan area, and he himself concentrated on organizing and directing this lifeline operation.

This is only on the strength of troops, and strategically the Japanese army has also given up the previous single tactic of directly taking northern Hunan and changed to a three-way approach. Historically, Yokoyama took 5 divisions as the first line of corps, and attacked Changsha and Hengyang along both sides of the Xiangjiang River in 3 routes. 2 divisions on the middle route, along the Yueyang-Hengyang railway and the area east of it, marched south; 2 divisions on the East Road carried out a left-wing detour in Pingjiang, Liuyang, Pingxiang, and Chaling Mountains; The 1st Division of the West Road crossed the Dongting Lake from Nanxian County and advanced south at Yuanjiang, Yiyang, Ningxiang, and Xiangxiang to the west of the Xiangjiang River, making a right-wing detour. When these five divisions have completed their strategic objectives, the remaining divisions will join the fighting.

Sun Yumin was familiar with this period of history, but he couldn't explain it to Xue Yue, nor could he influence other people's thoughts, so he had to rely on his own thinking and incorruptible tongue to communicate with Xue Yue.

"Chief Xue, don't think that the Japanese army can only use five divisions at most, and the old devil Yokoyama is not so easy to deal with. If the troops of our Ninth Theater are all American-style weapons and equipment, then I believe that the Japanese army will not be able to break through our Ninth Theater. You also know that the 12th Army and the 74th Army are strong, but their fists are still no match for their four legs! Sun Yumin couldn't find the right words, so he could only persuade him bitterly.

"Yumin, you said that the Eleventh Army used more than five divisions, then I want to fight with you, unless Hengshan Yong gives up western Hubei and northern Hubei and gives up Wuhan, otherwise the troops he can use will definitely not exceed five divisions."

What Xue Yue said was actually very reasonable, it was impossible for any commander to throw out the city that he originally occupied, and instead go all out to attack Hunan, which was heavily guarded. He thought that as long as the Japanese army could not be captured and supplied smoothly, he would naturally retreat without a fight, but he did not expect that this time the Japanese army could be described as a battle, not only did each division have a separate baggage wing, but even Shunroku Hata also sent a special escort unit, and it was almost impossible to succeed in another attack.

If Sun Yumin didn't know the history and didn't know that Shunroku Hata had specially formed some new brigades and regiments for this battle, and had also specially set up the Wuhan Defense Headquarters, then he would definitely have the same idea as Xue Yue, but now that he knew all this, Sun Yumin must not allow Xue Yue to make wrong and arrogant judgments.

Search for Book Banner () to see the fastest updated book!