Seeing Zhuang Jihua and Seckert fighting the bull, the senior generals present were a little surprised, and what surprised them even more was that Seckert was not angry at all, you must know that Seckert's current identity is amazing, he was recommended by Chiang Kai-shek as the chairman of the committee, and senior officials in Nanjing have to go to his door every day to listen to instructions, if he wants to say no, then it will definitely not work, you will go back as soon as possible, but now Zhuang Jihua is fighting him in public.

"During the Cultural Revolution, Nanjing was not undefended, and the construction of a national defense line from Wuxi to Jiangyin, with Taihu Lake in the south and the Yangtze River in the north, with many rivers and lakes, can effectively reduce the superiority of the army's mechanization and artillery fire, and effectively defend our army." Chen Cheng explained.

"What if this line can't stop the army?" Zhuang Jihua still insisted on asking, Chen Cheng was stunned for a moment, Zhuang Jihua explained: "The many rivers and lakes are an advantage, but the firepower of the army is strong, even the German armor division can not compete with the firepower of the army, not to mention, the advantage of the army is more prominent in the sea and air, the warship can go straight upstream, and the Jiangyin fortress can be bombed by aircraft, not to mention, there is no unbreakable defense line in this world, if this defense line is lost, Nanjing, is it war or abandonment?" ”

"Zhuang, what you are raising is another question," Seckert said, looking at Falkenhausen, "Your question is whether to hold Nanjing once the Jiangyin and Wuxi defense lines are breached." ”

Zhuang Jihua thought about it and nodded and admitted: "Yes, general, once this defense line is broken, should we defend Nanjing, the capital of the national political axe." ”

This question is a bit heavy, Chiang Kai-shek not only showed a thoughtful look, Zhu Peide simply kept silent, he, the chief of staff, is a listed chief of staff, basically has no real power, but Yang Jie said: "If this line of defense cannot be held, then Nanjing should be abandoned." Militarily speaking, Nanjing is a place that is easy to attack and difficult to defend, although there are many mountains around Nanjing, but these mountains are located outside the city of Nanjing, once lost, you can condescendingly bombard the city of Nanjing. So I don't think Nanjing can be defended. ”

"Nanjing to defend or not depends on political needs, if you decide to defend, then there is a problem of play, Yang Cichang said is to defend the city, defend the city is definitely not good, so the defense of Nanjing is mainly to defend the periphery of Nanjing, that is, Qixia Mountain, Niushou Mountain, Wulong Mountain, Yuhuatai, Fangshan, Xiangshan This series of mountains, although these mountains are not as tall and steep as the north, but also have geographical advantages, so Nanjing is not undefinable." Zhuang Jihua stood up, walked to the map, and pointed to a series of hills around Nanjing.

"Have you ever thought about how many troops are needed to defend such a large area? Once it is broken through a little, the army can outflank the defenders everywhere, and in addition, once the Wufu line cannot stop the army, then the army can divide its troops to outflank Nanjing and cut off the retreat of the Nanjing defenders from the west. Yang Jie continued.

You are very right, Zhuang Jihua shook his head regretfully in his heart, but unfortunately, history has already told me that Chiang Kai-shek wants to defend Nanjing, and I have to force my words.

"It is entirely possible, but it does not mean that Nanjing is a dead land, and moreover, Nanjing has a neutral mausoleum, the capital of the national political axe, and the world view, if it does not retreat without a fight, it will be a great blow to the prestige of the national political axe, and it is not desirable politically." Zhuang Jihua's tone changed and he turned the military issue into a political issue.

"Zhuang, you are wrong," Seckert immediately retorted: "Soldiers only think about military issues, and politics is the problem of politicians." ”

"But Clausewitz said that military subordination is to politics." Zhuang Jihua went up again, Chen Cheng felt a little strange, what happened to this Zhuang Jihua today, you have a good relationship with Seckert, but you can't be so forceful.

"Cultural Revolution, you sit down, from a military point of view, once the Wufu line is broken, Nanjing should be abandoned, Nanjing is indeed not a city conducive to defense," Chen Chengjiang was listening to him, but his eyes kept looking at Chiang Kai-shek, who was frowning, he suddenly understood, Zhuang Jihua must understand that Nanjing is undefendable, but if Chiang Kai-shek wants to defend it, think about this, Chen Cheng changed his words: "However, you are also right, Nanjing is the capital of the Republic of China after all, and easy abandonment of defense will have a great blow to the prestige of the national political axe, which is not conducive to the long-term war of resistance, so... There are both pros and cons, and whether to fight or abandon must be considered by the chairman of the committee in an all-round way. ”

Chen Cheng looked at Zhuang Jihua and swept his eyes with a hint of appreciation, but as soon as this appreciation left his body, it disappeared, and he sighed in his heart, this Zhuang Jihua can be regarded as having a thorough understanding of the chairman.

"If the Wufu line can't stop the Yue army, then Nanjing must give up," Falkenhausen finally spoke, he had been very focused on the audience's speech, in Germany he had no contact with Zhuang Jihua, but yesterday Seckert introduced to him, so he was very interested in this Chinese general who defeated Manstein, but today Zhuang Jihua's speech made him a little disappointed: "Military defeat will lead to greater political defeat, Zhuang, Clausewitz's words cannot be rigid." ”

Zhuang Jihua looked at him silently, he knew that he was now an absolute minority, but he had to persevere, until he got them to agree to build a fortress in the main defensive site on the outskirts of Nanjing.

"Modern warfare mainly fights two points, industry and finance, these two points we can't compare with the people, the only thing we can compare with them is morale and the people's will," Zhuang Jihua said slowly: "If we don't even have these two points, I don't know what we can rely on to defeat Yue himself, whether Nanjing is defended or not is related to morale, the people's will, and the two pillars that we persist in the end." ”

"I think we already understand what you mean," interjected Seckert, who stopped Falkenhausen from retorting and turned to Chiang Kai-shek: "Your Excellency, it is time for you to make a decision. ”

"Originally, I also thought that Nanjing should be abandoned if the Wufu line was lost, but now it seems that we must defend Nanjing, but it should not be regarded as a key point and put the battlefield on the periphery of Nanjing." Chiang Kai-shek said slowly, Zhuang Jihua's last sentence moved him, if you want to achieve victory in the War of Resistance, morale and people's will are indispensable, Nanjing abandoned without a fight, and the blow to morale and people's will can be imagined.

"In that case, General Falkenhausen, it seems that you must draw up another fortress map for the defensive battle on the periphery of Nanjing." Seckert smiled and said to Falkenhausen.

Zhuang Jihua's psychology finally fell a stone, God willing, I hope it can help.

The meeting then entered the discussion of which areas to build fortresses in the periphery of Nanjing, and then Zhu Peide became a little active, but Zhuang Jihua spoke less, Yuhuatai, Qixia Mountain, Wulong Mountain, these places are naturally indispensable, all the people sitting here are experts, and their tactical ability is no worse than him, and they can reach a consensus in a few words on how to attack Nanjing.

Near the end of the noon meeting, Chiang Kai-shek called Zhuang Jihua into his car, Zhuang Jihua took the briefcase containing the materials from the hands of the palace embroidery, and got into the car with Chiang Kai-shek.

Strictly speaking, Chiang Kai-shek's car is still relatively ordinary, an ordinary American Buick, and the two people sitting in the back seat are quite relaxed.

"What do you think of the next operational direction of the communist bandit Zhu Mao's department?" Chiang Kai-shek's first sentence was beyond Zhuang Jihua's expectations, he thought about himself, after all, he had just discussed the defense of Nanjing, thought about Sichuan, but never thought about the Red Army after the Battle of Xiangjiang.

"I don't know much about this," Zhuang Jihua hesitated for a moment and said, "Except for the news in the newspaper, I don't have any information about them at all, so I don't dare to make a judgment, so as not to interfere with the principal's decision-making." ”

"It's okay, you can say it." Chiang Kai-shek hummed, but he still wanted him to talk, in the face of Zhuang Jihua's shirk, he was still a little proud in his heart, Zhuang Jihua has always advocated a political solution to the [***] problem, but now the political problem has been solved by him by military means, and he won.

"It's hard to judge, they now have two roads, one is to go to Xiangxi to join Helong, and the other is to go west to Guizhou and flow to the hinterland of Guizhou." Zhuang Jihua said half-truthfully.

"And what do you think?" Chiang Kai-shek asked with great interest, and the judgment of the Nanchang camp unanimously agreed that the Zhu Mao Red Army would follow the old road of the Sixth Army Corps and join He Long in Xiangxi.

"I don't count," Zhuang Jihua said lightly: "If it's me, I'll go to Guizhou." The combat effectiveness of the Guizhou army was weak, and it won several battles and recovered its vitality. ”

Chiang Kai-shek smiled indifferently: "It's nothing to go to Guizhou, and by the way, Wang Jialie will be solved." ”

Zhuang Jihua smiled: "The principal is already in his chest, this is a test for me." ”

Chiang Kai-shek also smiled slightly: "In the southwest region, you have worked hard in Sichuan for two years and opened up the situation for the central government, but Guizhou and Yunnan are still outside the central government, and these two provinces must also be solved, and the province has to use troops specifically against the southwest." ”

Zhuang Jihua nodded, he agreed with Chiang Kai-shek's idea, time was already very tight, and it was too late to transform the local warlords step by step. However, he still reminded: "Guizhou is divided and it is relatively easy to solve, but Longyun, Yunnan, has strict internal control and remote places. ”

"Come one by one, it doesn't matter." Chiang Kai-shek felt that the cushion he sat down on seemed to be a little hard, and moved slightly, and then he asked cautiously: "You have a good understanding of the international situation, do you say that the time is right to negotiate with Soviet Russia now?" ”

Zhuang Jihua fell, and now negotiate with Soviet Russia? Chiang Kai-shek, is this about to turn? Seeing that he did not speak, Chiang Kai-shek continued: "It will take another year at most to suppress the bandits, and after a year we can begin to prepare for war in an all-round way, and then the support of Soviet Russia is very important." ”

"However, Soviet Russia must mention [***], is the principal planning to give up suppressing the Communist Party?" Zhuang Jihua asked cautiously.

"After the elimination of the [***] armament, we have a lot of leeway." Chiang Kai-shek said noncommittally. The situation in the north has always been unstable, and Chiang Kai-shek felt that he had endured enough, and after the elimination of [***], the main force of the Central Army could go north and concentrate on dealing with the Yue army.

Zhuang Jihua thought about it silently and said: "Soviet Russia will definitely raise the issue of [***], if this obstacle is solved, I don't think there is much of a problem, Soviet Russia is also worried about himself, and they also want to use us to drag Yue Ben." ”

"Those guns of yours, I heard that Liu Xiang and they shared a lot." Chiang Kai-shek turned his head to look at Zhuang Jihua and said, Zhuang Jihua's brain was running fast, he felt that he had done nothing wrong in this matter, but what did Chiang Kai-shek mean by this?

(To be continued)