readx; Chen Cheng looked pitiful and replied: "I know that I have to fight far away in Wuhan, but my subordinates are too paralyzed, and I want to review it." Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ”

Chiang Kai-shek waved his hand and said: "Let the past pass, don't talk about it, the next step must be to defend Jiujiang, if Jiujiang is lost again, I will definitely ask you!" Chiang Kai-shek pointed to the map and said: "We have 60 divisions and 600,000 horses in the direction of Jiujiang, in terms of troops, how many times more than the enemy, Jiujiang can't hold it, you can't find any reason, what other opinions do you have?" ”

Chen Cheng assured: "Principal, if the students can't hold Jiujiang anymore, they won't come back to see the principal." ”

Chen Cheng left Wuhan by car and came to Lianhua Cave in Xingzi County, south of Jiujiang, where his command post was located. The next day, he convened an operational meeting, and all the officers of the ninth theater division and above came. At the beginning of the meeting, Chen Cheng said with a calm face: "Ladies and gentlemen, the chairman is very angry! He gave me a dismount yesterday, should I give you a dismount today? You are all soldiers who have been fighting horses for decades, what should you do if you lose the battle? Xue Weiying's execution, Li Yunheng's dismissal and investigation, are all your mirrors. Perhaps, all of you here will be someone else's mirror tomorrow. If you can't fight well, are you sad in your hearts? You may be thick-skinned and shameless, but I'm so sad that I haven't eaten twice. ”

He glanced at everyone, and saw several division commanders trembling like chaff in fright, knowing that the point was over, and it was not appropriate to reprimand again. Otherwise, it will affect everyone's fighting mood. As a result, his tone softened a lot, and he instructed Chief of Staff Liu Yunhan to convey the battle plan and the combat missions of each division.

When drawing up the battle plan for the defense of Jiujiang, Chen Cheng accepted the lessons of the Songhu Campaign and the Battle of Nanjing, and made full use of the characteristics of Jiujiang's water network area and mountainous areas to set up three lines of defense along the Jiujiang-De'an railway. Considering that the Lushan to the pass is a mountainous area and the shooting line of sight is poor, the focus of defense should be on the first and second lines of defense.

Liu Yunhan said that after the plan, Chen Cheng continued: "The reason why this plan has to set up three lines of defense is completely in line with the guiding ideology of the chairman. A few days ago, he said to me in a serious manner that this battle must not be fought like the Battle of Songhu. The intention of the army is to find our main force for a decisive battle and end the battle as soon as possible, with the aim of forcing me to surrender. If we defend Wuhan with 100 percent troops, we will be playing into the hands of the enemy. The enemy wants us to do that. Therefore, the battle to defend Wuhan can only use 60 percent of the troops, leaving 40 percent of the troops for a protracted war in the future. ”

Chen Cheng let out a long sigh, and then said: "This battle is very difficult to fight, not only to defend Wuhan and prevent the enemy from entering Wuhan, but also to take out all the troops, not to fight too fiercely, let alone grind foreign workers, passive defense, we must fight a high-level defense battle." He glanced at the officers, raised his hand, and said, "Please comment on the plan, and be sure to express your opinions." ”

"This plan is too conservative, figuratively speaking, it is a tofu scum plan, and it is vulnerable." The first to stand up was the commander-in-chief of the 31st Army, Tang Enbo. He shot at the head and continued: "Have you heard of the Battle of Xuzhou? The battle of Linyi in the Battle of Xuzhou, so it was fought beautifully, and the guiding ideology of the plan was to fight out, defend the city with a small force, and attack most of them. The two wings detoured behind the enemy's back and attacked the enemy on three sides. In my opinion, the plan to defend Jiujiang is purely passive defense, just like a football goalkeeper, waiting for others to attack, it is too boring and makes people fight boring. ”

Chen Cheng explained: "The battle to defend Linyi was indeed fought well, but in the end, wasn't Linyi occupied by the enemy? The battle to defend Linyi cannot be used as a model for us at all, let alone be copied and followed. ”

"It is true that Linyi was finally occupied by the enemy, but it achieved the purpose of destroying the enemy's main force and has military academic value. If Jiujiang was purely passive on the defensive, Jiujiang would have been lost in the end, and the enemy's main force would not have been consumed. "I don't think the Jiujiang defense plan will be successful, and once it is implemented, it will be a live target for the enemy," he said loudly to everyone, "You can also comment!" ”

Huo Yuzhang, commander of the 54th Army, continued: "I very much agree with Commander Tang's opinion that it is not advisable to set up three lines of defense, for the very simple reason that the enemy has aircraft and artillery, and before the war they bombed the three lines of defense indiscriminately, and the three lines of defense were smashed to pieces by them. He stopped, took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, put it on the table, and with a light touch of his fist, the cigarette fell, and he said metaphorically, "You see, this box of cigarettes is our line of defense, and with a light blow from the artillery of the aircraft, our three lines of defense will be finished." ”

The troops holding the three lines of defense were Zhang Fakui's Second Corps, so Chen Cheng politely said to Zhang Fakui: "Commander Zhang, you are the one who will sing the leading role this time, and you can talk about your views on this plan." ”

Zhang Fakui was ordered by him, slowly stood up, was held down by Chen Cheng, and said to him: "Commander Zhang is an old-timer and an old revolutionary, so let's sit and talk." Tell us about your high opinions! ”

"I feel the same way as Commander Tang and Commander Huo. Fighting a war is not like playing military chess, forming a line against the enemy. We must try to get the enemy into our pockets and fight a war of annihilation. Zhang Fakui is another opponent.

Chen Cheng did not give up his plan, and said: "It seems that I want to explain that these three lines of defense are not rigid lines of defense composed of three wooden people, which can alternately cover each other, and can maneuver to annihilate the enemy. ”

The meeting ended without any conclusions. Chen Cheng arrived in Wuhan in a jeep and reported the discussion to Chiang Kai-shek, He Yingqin, Bai Chongxi, and Li Zongren. Chiang Kai-shek made adjustments to the entire plan. The adjusted scheme is:

Taking advantage of the barriers between Poyang Lake and the Dabie Mountains, as well as the hills and lakes on the south bank of the Yangtze River, they carried out a strategic confrontation, planned to fight the Japanese army on the outskirts of Wuhan for four months, and organized the main forces of the Ninth Theater into the First and Second Corps, and the main forces of the Fifth Theater into the Third and Fourth Corps. Xue Yue, commander-in-chief of the First Corps, led 25 divisions to take charge of the defense of the Nanxun Line and the areas on both sides, taking advantage of the external line to flank the westward advancing army and barrier Nanchang; Zhang Fakui, commander-in-chief of the Second Corps, led 33 divisions to undertake the frontal defense between Ruichang and Wuchang; Sun Lianzhong, commander-in-chief of the Third Corps, led eight divisions to serve as the northern foot of Dabie Mountain and the frontal defense; Li Pinxian, commander-in-chief of the Fourth Corps, led 13 divisions to deploy between the Yangtze River and the Dabie Mountains to stop the westward advance of the Sixth Division.

After the deployment was adjusted, Chiang Kai-shek issued an order to the whole army, calling on the whole army to rise up to fight against the arrogance of the Japanese army and defend Wuhan.

Almost invariably, when the Chinese [***] team adjusted its deployment, the Yue army was also adjusting their deployment.

On 4 July, the base camp issued a battle sequence for the Central China Dispatch Army, and successively mobilized nine divisions and three brigades, one each of the Air Corps and the Marine Corps, with about 250,000 men, to form the 11th Army and the Second Army, under the command of Yan Junliu, commander of the Central China Dispatch Army, to jointly attack Wuhan along both sides of the Yangtze River and at the foot of the Dabie Mountains.

Okamura Ninji, commander of the 11th Army, is a demon in the minds of the Chinese. He is a complete "China expert". In 1907, he served as the captain of the Qingguo Overseas Students Brigade of the Yueben Army Non-commissioned Officer School. China's Sun Chuanfang, He Yingqin, Yan Xishan, and others, including many warlords and warlords who later became famous, were all students of Okamura Ninji. In 1915, in order to compile the operational history of the German War, the General Staff Headquarters of the Army sent Okamura Ninji, a staff officer of the War History Office, to Qingdao to collect materials. This was the first time Okamura had set foot on Chinese soil. Because of his ambition and keen sense of smell, he has a special interest in China. Soon after returning to China, he was transferred to the 14th Infantry Wing stationed in Xiaolun as the commander of the Shaozo Brigade.

Xiaolun is located in Kyushu, which is a small port leading to China and North Korea, where Chinese merchants often come and go, especially Chinese fishermen. Okamura went to chat with Chinese whenever he had time, and in less than half a year, he had completely learned to speak Chinese. In 1922, Okamura returned to work at the General Staff Headquarters and was assigned to the Chinese class of the Second Division. The main task is to go to China to collect political, economic, and military intelligence. The following year, he was transferred to Shanghai as a military attache for espionage. Two years later, Okamura was transferred back to Tokyo to serve as the commander of the 6th Wing of the 13th Division of the Army, and at the same time he was promoted to the rank of Osa.

In May 1928, Okamura Ninji led the wing to Qingdao with the division to fight against the [***] team. In July, he was transferred back to Tokyo as the head of the War History Section of the General Staff Headquarters. In February 1932, he was promoted to deputy chief of staff of the Shanghai Dispatch Army, and as a representative of the Chinese side, he came to Nanjing several times to negotiate with the Chinese Foreign Ministry. I met Chiang Kai-shek several times. In June of that year, he was transferred to the northeast to serve as deputy chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, and negotiated with He Yingqin to sign the "Tanggu Agreement". In 1934, he was transferred back to Tokyo and served as the director of the Second Department of the General Staff Headquarters, in charge of intelligence work, whose main task was to collect information about China's military and political situation, and to study and formulate policies toward China. Less than two months after taking office, he secretly went to China as a businessman, and under the pretext of travel, he wandered around Shenyang, Dalian, Lushun, and Yanjing, especially in Nanjing, for two months. The purpose is to learn about China's military intelligence by making friends with Chinese. When He Yingqin was studying, Okamura Ningji was his teacher and had a very close relationship. He lived in He Yingqin's house for a while, learned to cook Chinese food, and especially liked to eat braised pork with thousands of zhangjie. According to what he revealed in his memoirs, he could eat a pound of braised pork at a time. He then went to Canton and visited the Cantonese warlord Chen Jitang several times, and sometimes Li Zongren accompanied him to talk. When Okamura Ninji was in a good mood, he invited Chen and Li to a restaurant for a drink, and collected a lot of information about Chiang Kai-shek in the exchange of glasses and laughter. Due to his meritorious work in gathering intelligence, he was exceptionally promoted to the commander of the second division of lieutenant general. This position was extraordinary, as there were only 17 regular divisions in the entire army at that time.

In April 1937, he led the 2nd Division to fight in the Northeast. Suppression of local anti-Japanese forces. On June 30, 1938, he was promoted to commander of the 11th Army. On this day, he returned to Tokyo to pay homage to the emperor, received the imperial wine and bounty, and accepted the mission of attacking Wuhan.

On 12 July, Okamura Ninji led the personnel of the newly formed 11th Army Headquarters to land in Shanghai. On the 15th, he arrived in Nanjing and reported to Yan Junliu. Yan Junliu introduced to him the plan of the next operational attack on Wuhan of the Chinese army, the purpose of which was to continue to search for and destroy the main force of the [***] team, and there was another important political factor, that is, after the fall of Nanjing, the Nationalist Axe moved the capital to Yucheng, and Chiang Kai-shek was in Wuhan, the Military Commission was in Wuhan, and China's political, economic, and military center at that time was in Wuhan. He believed that as long as Wuhan was occupied, it would in fact destroy the national political axe. At least driving it to the southwestern corner and reducing it to the status of a "local political axe" is conducive to luring the pro-Japanese faction within the Kuomintang to cooperate with Yueben and re-establish a Chinese political axe that obeys its orders. At the end of this year, Wang Jingwei really escaped from Yucheng and threw himself into the arms of Yueben. In addition, Wuhan was chosen as the target for the next step of the operation because Wuhan is located on the Yangtze River, which is convenient for holding three-dimensional operations of the navy, land, and air forces, and can give full play to the might of the warships, and it is also convenient for carrying out logistical supply to large units along the waterway of the Yangtze River. In other words, the grain and ammunition were put on the ship in Nagasaki, and they could reach Wuhan directly in a few days.

Yan Junliu also briefed him that nearly 400,000 officers and men of the army, navy, and air force were involved in the Wuhan campaign, and at the same time, in order to cooperate with the Wuhan operation, the base camp had increased the number of troops to China by 400,000 and allocated an additional 3.25 billion yuan for the operation.

After Yan Junliu introduced the situation, he patted Okamura Ningji on the shoulder and said: "Attacking Wuhan is said to be two armies, the Second Army will attack Wuhan from Hefei through Dabie Mountain, and take a long detour, and will inevitably encounter the resistance of the [***] team on the way. The march along the Dabie Mountain is slow, I don't expect them to contribute much, my intention is to contain the Chinese's forces, the actual swordsman to attack Wuhan is you, I hope you live up to the emperor's trust in you. ”

Okamura Ninji spoke cautiously, did not pat his chest and promised, but shrugged his shoulders and said, "Let me try, if it doesn't work, please ask Gao Ming." ”

In fact, deep down in his heart, although he knew that the Chinese [***] team had 120 divisions and more than 1.1 million troops in Wuhan, which was equivalent to three times the strength of the army attacking Wuhan. Moreover, the terrain on the outskirts of Wuhan is harsh, and the weather is hot, so this battle is not easy to fight. However, he is invincible, he does not take the [***] team in his eyes at all, and he has the belief that he will win.

A few days later, Okamura Ninji came to Pengze, where he spent a week familiarizing himself with the situation and terrain on both sides, and then another week making a battle plan, and he was ready to use the Hatada detachment as a sharp knife force to attack Jiujiang.

The strength of the Hatada detachment is equivalent to a brigade of the Japanese army, but the detachment commander Hakuda Shigeichi has a military rank one level higher than the rank of major general of the general brigade commander, and he is the commander of the lieutenant general detachment. The members of the Hatada detachment were mostly Taiwanese. After the First Sino-Japanese War, China was defeated in the Battle of the Yellow Sea at the hands of Yue himself, the beautiful treasure island was ceded to Yue Ben, Taiwan became the "territory" of Yue Ben, and the Taiwanese also became the "subjects" of the emperor. Therefore, Okamura Ninji believed that choosing the Hatada detachment to attack Wuhan was the most ideal choice.

Okamura Ningji consulted with Habata and the others for three days and decided to take a sneak attack on Jiujiang.

On the evening of July 22, at about ** o'clock, the night was like ink, a slight breeze, and Zhang Fakui was playing chess with the landlord Wang Laohan at the headquarters of the Second Corps in Jiujiang City. After walking a few steps, Zhang Fakui heard the sound of rain outside the window, and he was irritable, he pushed away the chessboard, stood up and walked to the door, only to see that it was pitch black outside the door, and he couldn't see his five fingers, and he said to himself: "This ghost weather is really terrible, the devil just entered Jiujiang City, I'm afraid we don't know yet." Thinking of this, he was really not at ease, so he picked up the phone and talked to Huang Wei, the commander of the 18th Army. He was told to say, "The weather is bad tonight, so be vigilant and guard against the enemy's attack." In particular, the 11th Gutang Division must be on duty. Finally, he also emphasized, "Master Peng Shan can't go to bed tonight." ”

In the middle of the night, the wind was fierce, and the waves roared on the water surface of the Yangtze River and Poyang Lake, stirring the sea and turning the river. The sound of waves and wind drowned out the sound of motors of dozens of warships. The Potian detachment quickly landed in Gutang. When the defending sentries found out, they fired their guns to call the police, and when the troops got up, they said that the troops had rushed to the barracks. Zhang Fakui urgently ordered the 11th Division to counterattack, and at the same time ordered the 15th Division and the 118th Division to reinforce and drive the Botian detachment down the lake before dawn.

When it was dawn, Zhang Fakui thought that the army had been driven off the lake, but he picked up the binoculars and looked at it, but he was so frightened that he was stunned there. What caught his eye was the bombing of dozens of planes of the Chinese army in turn, the lake was full of warships of the Chinese army, and the two reinforced divisions were stopped in the middle of the road by artillery fire. The 11th Division fought alone and was scattered by the Potian detachment

Zhang Fakui hurriedly dispatched four divisions to reinforce him, but it was to no avail. On the 24th and 25th, the counterattack failed. On the night of the 25th, the Botian detachment and the 106th Division swarmed into Jiujiang City.

Chiang Kai-shek was very angry at the landing of the army in Jiujiang, and issued three orders in succession to Zhang Fakui to recapture Jiujiang. Zhang Fakui was difficult to make up his mind about advancing or retreating, and the Fourth Army, the reserve in his hand, was known as the "Iron Army" when he attacked Tingsi Bridge and Hesheng Bridge in the Northern Expedition. He estimated that the enemy's offensive was too fierce, and it would be difficult for the Fourth Army to turn things around. After thinking about it, he decided not to do anything that would go for nothing, if the troops were exhausted, how could they fight a protracted war in the future? After weighing and weighing, Zhang Fakui made a decision, he could not advance but retreat.

On the evening of the 26th, Zhang Fakui gave an order, and the Central [***] team moved to Niutoushan, Jinguanqiao, Shili and other places.

The fall of Jiujiang was a huge blow to Chiang Kai-shek. He didn't expect Jiujiang to fall into the hands of the enemy so quickly, and in many meetings in the future, as long as he had the opportunity, he scolded Zhang Fakui, and almost scolded his ancestors for eight generations. Then, he ordered Xue Yue, commander of the Second Corps, to take over Zhang Fakui's post and let Zhang Fakui stand aside.

Okamura Ninji took Jiujiang and did not continue the pursuit. The reason was that his troops were generally suffering from cholera, and Okamura Ninji became angry with the Chinese people and ordered the arrest of infected people in Jiujiang Castle. In accordance with his orders, all the sick people in Jiujiang were arrested and buried alive, and none of them were spared.

(To be continued)