The military meeting was held very quickly. The heads of several corps and divisions who had won successive victories wanted to try the steel fire of the Central Army again, so they unanimously agreed to the corps commander's proposal. Because everyone has ambushed the enemy many times, and they have experience, they each put forward their own suggestions. Li Jiansheng synthesized the suggestions of various leaders, and finally formed a unified plan in his mind, and decided to annihilate the two divisions of Xue Yuezhi's Central Army, namely the 59th Division and the 93rd Division, which were in the forerunner.

Seeing that everyone agreed, Luo Ronghuan also supported, but still expressed his worries: first, the opponent was not someone else, but Xue Yue, who was shrewd, brave, and undefeated; Second, its troops are one of the most elite of the Central Army, and its firepower is not comparable to other Central Army; Third, our purpose this time is to destroy the enemy's two divisions in one fell swoop, which is very difficult, and our army has not eaten two enemy divisions at one time before; Fourth, the enemy has a total of six divisions and another division-level detachment this time, and if he touches his hands and does not have time to break away, it will bring passivity to the whole army.

As soon as Li Jiansheng heard what the political commissar said, he thought about it again, and felt that the political commissar was very reasonable, so he nodded immediately.

For Xue Yue, Li Jiansheng from later generations knows too well!

In the official history, after the large-scale invasion of China by the Japanese army, the communist troops attacked China in three ways. One way is the eastern front, mainly along Shandong, Zhejiang, Shanghai, and Fujian, where a series of major battles broke out, such as the Battle of Songhu; One way is the middle line, that is, the enemy army through Beiping, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang south, through Hefei, Nanjing to Changsha, Guangzhou, this line broke out the bloody battle of Taierzhuang, Nanjing Massacre, three Changsha battles and other historical events; The other line was the Western Front, where the Japanese army mainly attacked Henan, Shanxi and other places. The victory at Pingxingguan is a well-known example of the battle that broke out on this front.

I have to say that of the three fronts, the worst performance is the middle line. There are two reasons: first, the Nanjing Massacre broke out, and the Japanese slaughtered more than 300,000 ordinary residents of Nanjing; Second, except for a few major battles on this front, such as the victory of Taierzhuang and the three battles of Changsha, the performance of the Kuomintang troops was indeed poor at the rest of the time. Because the Japanese army once wanted to open up the Hunan and Guizhou front to dock with Burma, that is, the mainland communication line war, but because of the rout of the Kuomintang troops all the way, the Japanese army was easily able to succeed*. Even the Japanese Supreme Commander in North China was a little surprised, and at one time thought that their subordinates had lied about the war*, but when it was finally confirmed, they still called it "impossible".

But on this front, there are indeed several battles that are remarkable. One is the bloody battle of Taierzhuang commanded by Li Zongren, and the other is the first three Changsha battles commanded by Xue Yue.

The Battle of Changsha lasted from September 1939 to January 1942. During this period, the Chinese army and the invading Japanese army fought three battles in the Changsha area of Hunan. After the Japanese army invaded and occupied Wuhan and Nanchang, in order to consolidate and expand its occupied areas, it attempted to annihilate the main forces of China's Ninth Theater in northern Hunan and northern Jiangxi. In September 1939, the Japanese army mobilized 100,000 men and occupied the southeast area of Yueyang in northern Hunan Province, the Nantong Chengcheng area in northern Hunan, and the Fengxin and Jing'an areas in northern Jiangxi. Xue Yue, acting commander of the Ninth Theater of Operations, commanded 16 divisions of about 200,000 men to block the Japanese troops occupying northern Jiangxi and southern Hubei in the area of Xianzhong and Xiushui. The Japanese troops who entered the front line of Jinjing and Qiaotouyi in the northeast of Changsha were resisted by the defenders, attacked by the people, and were forced to retreat north to restore the pre-war situation. It is known as the "First Battle of Changsha" in history. At the beginning of September 1941, the Japanese army mobilized about 120,000 people to occupy the areas of Yueyang and Linxiang, in an attempt to defeat the main force of the Ninth Theater in northern Hunan. Xue Yue, commander of the Ninth Theater, commanded 170,000 men to take advantage of the favorable terrain in northern Hunan to adopt the policy of blocking one after another, luring the enemy to the area near Changsha on both sides of the Laodao River to encircle and annihilate them, annihilating all the enemies who had broken through into the urban area of Changsha and advancing to Zhuzhou, and counterattacked by victory. The Japanese were forced to retreat north, retreating to the area north of the Xinqiang River. It is known as the "Second Battle of Changsha" in history. In mid-December 1941, the Japanese army mobilized about 100,000 troops to attack Changsha in two directions. Xue Yue commanded 13 divisions, about 170,000 troops, to organize defense. The Third Battle of Changsha broke out. The Japanese attack was frustrated and suffered heavy casualties, and they withdrew to the area north of the Xinqiang River, and the Japanese troops advancing west from northern Jiangxi were also repulsed. The battle is over.

In the first two battles of Changsha, both sides claimed to have won. From a tactical point of view, the two sides did not distinguish between victory and defeat, and the losses of the Chinese army were greater; However, strategically, it prevented the strategic purpose of the Japanese army, which can be regarded as a victory in the War of Resistance. The Third Battle of Changsha was a typical victory.

The three battles of Changsha were all commanded by Xue Yue. It can be said that Xue Yue's military achievements in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression were inseparable from the vigorous support of the people of Hunan and Jiangxi; for example, in addition to organizing guerrilla units and self-defense units to actively carry out guerrilla warfare and cooperating with the main forces of the Kuomintang to sabotage roads and strike at the enemy, various localities also set up many temporary stretcher teams, ambulance teams, and transportation teams to support Xue Yue's troops in their operations. On the one hand, this situation was achieved thanks to the formation of the anti-Japanese national united front, which made the anti-Japanese enthusiasm of the people of the two provinces unprecedentedly high, and on the other hand, it was also the result of Xue Yue's effective measures to deal with it. During his tenure as chairman of Hunan Province, Xue Yue put forward the policy of "security, convenience, and sufficiency." The so-called "peace" means to reassure the people so that the people can live and work in peace and contentment; "Convenience", even if the people, the country, and the war; "Foot", that is, sufficient food, foot soldiers, and sufficient wisdom. And according to this, the "government of the six people" was formulated, that is, to live the people, to support the people, to teach the people, to defend the people, to manage the people, and to use the people. These measures enabled Hunan's wartime economy to develop considerably, and to continuously reap bumper grain harvests, and at the same time, they also greatly mobilized the people's enthusiasm and initiative to participate in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

Among the Kuomintang generals, Xue Yue was known for his ability to fight, to fight hard, and to be good at fighting. From the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War to the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Xue Yue fought for many years, and was known as the general who destroyed the most enemies, and annihilated more than 100,000 Japanese troops in only four battles of Changsha. However, the main thing that made him famous and ranked high was the victory of Wanjialing, and the total annihilation of a division of the Japanese army in this battle was unique in the eight years of the Anti-Japanese War. Ye Ting once praised Xue Yue's Wanjialing victory as "saving the flood capital from dying, as the guarantee of Jianghan, and standing with Pingxingguan and Taierzhuang, and the fame should be immortal." Zhang Zhizhong praised him as a "general of a hundred battles". Some people also call Xue Yue the first general of China's resistance against Japan, and in terms of quantity, Xue Yue is well-deserved.

However, this person is a ** general who has been fighting with *** troops for many years. During the Red Army's Long March, Xue Yueqin led the eight divisions of the Kuomintang Central Army to chase after him, posing a great threat to the Red Army. once humorously said, "There is Brother Lao Boling sent away". During the Liberation War, Xue Yue sat in Xuzhou and fought with Chen Yi and Su Yu's troops in East China. At the beginning of the liberation of New China, Xue Yue built the "Boling Defense Line" in Hainan, and Mao Weiren sent a message to the front-line generals who liberated Hainan Island, "You must be serious when you encounter Xue Boling", which shows the importance attached to his people.

However, the current Li Jiansheng is not afraid of him. He not only knew General Xue Yue's outstanding achievements and great battles* in the War of Resistance Against Japan, but also understood his Achilles' heel. First of all, Xue Yue is arrogant, and every time he encounters a big victory, he will have the idea of underestimating the enemy. Secondly, Xue Yue was arrogant and offended many people, and his troops sometimes did not sell his battles, which laid the groundwork for failure. Think about it, since Xue Yue's unit pursued the Red Army, it has been in a state of victory, and now 1,000 percent have the idea of underestimating the enemy. Secondly, he would never have thought that our Red Army would give his 7 division-level troops a bite back! Because, when ordinary people encounter such a strong army, it is too late to hide, how can they think about anything else?

Thinking of this, Li Jiansheng patiently explained. Hearing some anecdotes about Xue Yue introduced by the corps commander, these senior generals of the Red Seventh Legion all laughed, although it was a little strange how the corps commander knew so much about Xue Yue, but these people were all soldiers, and they had always known the ancient motto of "knowing the enemy and not being defeated in a hundred battles", so they only thought that the corps commander usually knew enough and was so familiar now, and they didn't know that the corps commander in front of him was reborn from the top students of the history department in the future. Because the anti-missile commander thought that the regiment commander was so familiar with the enemy and obviously had been prepared for it, several people secretly felt appreciation, admiration, and guilt in their hearts. The so-called appreciation is the feeling that if you fight with such a regimental commander who has already planned and known the enemy, how can there be any reason not to win? The so-called admiration means that these senior commanders could not have imagined that the corps commander would be so far-sighted and prepared for a rainy day, and that the battle had not yet been fought, and that they had already had a clear understanding of the enemy. The so-called guilt refers to the fact that everyone sighs that the commander of the corps has every opportunity, and he has to think so far and prepare so carefully, but he has done what should have been done by his subordinates and deputies, which shows that his subordinates and deputies are not up to standard, but they are a little ashamed, it seems that they will have to take the initiative in the future work, but this kind of thing can not happen again!

Li Jiansheng didn't know that the political commissars, deputy corps commanders, and division commanders around him would give birth to so many Taoists because of his explanations, but he still introduced some information in order to dispel everyone's strangeness to Xue Yue. Seeing that everyone nodded frequently, they all fully supported themselves to fight this battle, and their hearts became more and more confident!

Seeing that everyone's opinions were unified, Li Jiansheng nodded, and then said: "Now it seems that everyone has no opinions!" That's good. Speaking of this, Li Jiansheng glanced at everyone and said: "Everyone is familiar with this terrain, so I won't say much, I just ask that when they return to the army later, they must do their work carefully." First, as the political commissar said, Xue Yue's Central Army is the elite of the elite, and its firepower is not comparable to the enemies we have encountered before, so it is necessary to prevent the enemy from counterattacking when he is about to change; On the other hand, the enemy's strength is relatively strong, with a total of 7 division-level units, and our target this time is two divisions in front of the enemy, which is a scale that our department has never encountered before; Third, once the Central Army is ambushed, there will definitely be planes to help, so I demand that the bunkers and trenches of the headquarters must be dug deep and done well, so that there can be no large-scale damage due to air raids, and all units must allocate sufficient forces for air defense! Fourth, Xue Yue's department is very mobile. When our troops completely annihilate the enemy's leading troops, we should not care about bullets and shells, but only want to end the war quickly, so we can smash them hard. I mean, solve the battle in five hours. After this time, Xue Yue's main force may catch up, and our army will be completely limited to passivity. Everyone should pay attention to the fact that after the enemy is completely annihilated, all units must quickly clean up the battlefield and withdraw as soon as possible. After the battle, the artillery regiment was immediately transferred, the special service regiment and the guard regiment served as guards, and all the rest of the fighters participated in cleaning up the battlefield! Did you hear me clearly? ”

Seeing that everyone nodded loudly and replied, Li Jiansheng said solemnly: "Now, I will make a combat deployment!" ”