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Chapter 1365 The Clouds of War

August 12, 1937, 9 a.m., Nanjing General Hospital. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

"Where are the ministries moving now?" With Feng Jieyun's support, An Yi walked into the war room that was temporarily renovated from the conference room of the General Hospital, and asked with a grimace.

Yang Fei, chief of staff of the group army, hurriedly stepped forward: "Commander, why did you get here?" You should rest now......"

"Rest a fart, now that you're on fire, who can sit down?" In the ridicule of Fang Zhanpeng, Liu Qing and other cadres, An Yi came to the large Songhu combat map, raised his crutches, pointed to the front line of Fushan, Changshu, Wuxian, Pingwang, Jiaxing, and Zhapu on the map, and asked:

"Are the 1st and 2nd Engineer Divisions stationed on the Wufu Line?"

Yang Fei followed An Yi to the map, looked at the long national defense line marked as a red arc gear line on it, and nodded: "I arrived at midnight last night, but the situation on the scene is terrifying......

"What's wrong?"

An Yi asked with some puzzlement: "Isn't the Wufu Line defense fortification group the same as the Xicheng Line and the national defense fortresses around Nanjing, praised by the media as an unbreakable steel jungle?" In particular, the Wufu line, because of its holding the Yangtze River estuary to Hangzhou Bay line, has attracted the attention of the chairman, designed by the General Staff Headquarters in the 22nd year of the Republic of China, and the Military Commission handed over to the local government to organize the construction, and also sent 36 divisions, 57 divisions, 87 divisions, 88 divisions, the 1st Engineer Regiment, the engineering school training team, and the military police regiment to assist in the construction, and finally completed the construction at the beginning of this year. After on-site interviews by European and American reporters, what is the problem with calling the Wufu Line the 'Maginot Line of the East'? ”

"Exaggeration!"

Yang Fei shook his head helplessly: "European and American reporters like to brag indiscriminately, that's right, the Wufu line and the Xicheng line have indeed been fully completed, but the quality of the project is really not flattering, many fortifications cut corners, or the construction is sloppy, and there are serious problems in quality." For example, most of the machine-gun positions were unusable, the permanent fortifications were built into isolated small bunkers, the drainage and ventilation systems were lacking, and there was no passage connecting the positions to each other, through which the rear troops could not send reinforcements. Now, under the heavy rain, most of the fortifications are soaked in water, and the water in some places is as deep as five or six meters, and there is also a partial collapse, which proves that the cement label is not up to standard, and it cannot withstand heavy artillery bombardment at all, and the situation is really terrible. ”

"This is dereliction of duty! Crime! ”

An Yi was furious: "The design of the defense fortifications of the Wufu line, I also participated in it at the beginning, after the city fortress team took out the sketch, I also modified many unreasonable places, and finally signed my name before the place, it is absolutely impossible to have such a ridiculous fallacy, there must be a problem in construction and supervision." ”

Speaking of this, An Yi laughed angrily: "Very good, these unscrupulous officials and profiteers even dare to reach out for this kind of money, and they slapped me An Yi in the face in front of the world, saying that I was born as an engineer and designed such a ridiculous national defense fortification." Immediately instructed the Fourth Department to investigate and give me an inventory of all the officials and businessmen involved in these projects, including the officials of the project supervision agency, and arrest all those involved, and shoot them on the spot after a public trial. ”

Yang Fei hesitated: "Some of them may involve high-ranking officials of the military and the central government, at this juncture, is it ......?"

"Do as I want! I have been formally appointed by the Chairman of the National People's Congress as Chief of Staff of the Third Theater of Operations, and I have the right to conduct a thorough investigation of unjudicial counsel that endangers national defense and security within the theater. At this critical juncture of the life and death of the country and the nation, there are still such people who are sick and crazy and make a fortune in the country, and it is not enough for the people to be angry if they don't kill. ”

Seeing that An Yi had made up his mind, Yang Fei nodded and turned to leave.

The reason why An Yi is so fearless is that he and Chiang Kai-shek once again reached an agreement, and in the current dangerous situation, Chiang Kai-shek simply cannot leave the support of the wealthy An Yi and the powerful An Jiajun behind him.

The National Defense Conference on 9 June voted and approved the "Outline of the Organization of the National General Mobilization," the chartering of German ships to evacuate overseas Chinese in Japan, the division of theaters throughout the country, and the reorganization of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi into the Eighth Route Army to go to the front line of resistance against Japan.

On this night, Chiang Kai-shek took Song Meiling and Song Ziwen to quietly visit An Yi, exchange views with An Yi on many issues and reach an agreement.

An Yi promised that the Southwest Bank would once again issue a loan of 50 million yuan to the Nationalist Government as a national anti-Japanese salvation fund, and the Xiangxi Arsenal would provide the central government with sophisticated weapons capable of arming 200,000 troops. At the same time, An Jiajun maintained a high degree of consistency with Chiang Kai-shek and the central government in terms of economy and maintained a series of policies and bills formulated by the central government. All Chiang Kai-shek needed to do was to allow southern Sichuan to be economically autonomous and not to overstep his command of the An Jiajun.

On the 10th, while the National Defense Conference continued to be held, the 51st meeting of the Central Committee was also urgently convened due to the proposal of the majority of deputies, and the meeting decided to set up a "Supreme Council for National Defense", cancel the "National Defense Conference" organized by the Second Plenary Session of the Fifth Central Executive Committee and the "National Defense Committee" of the Third Plenary Session of the Fifth Central Committee, and adopt the "Regulations on the Organization of the Supreme Council of National Defense," stipulating that the Supreme Council of National Defense is the highest decision-making organ for national defense, responsible to the Central Executive Committee and the Supreme Committee, and is nominated by Chiang Kai-shek. An Yi was elected as one of the 11 members of the Standing Committee by virtue of his meritorious service in the war against Japan.

On the 11th, that is, the executive meeting of the Central Executive Committee held yesterday, it was decided to elect Chiang Kai-shek as the generalissimo of the army, navy and air, with the Military Council as the supreme command. At the same time, the first meeting of the Supreme Council of National Defense was held, and it was decided not to declare war and break off diplomatic relations with Japan, and the government remained in the capital Nanjing, not to move the capital, and appointed Zhang Qun as secretary general of the Supreme Council of National Defense. The meeting also authorized Chiang Kai-shek to be the generalissimo of the army, navy, and air force, commanding the army, navy, and air force of the whole country to fight against Japan. Immediately after receiving the order, Chiang Kai-shek set about setting up 66 departments, as well as the National General Mobilization Design Committee, the Rear Service Department, and the Health Service Department.

Yesterday evening, at the Supreme Council of National Defense, Chiang Kai-shek, in his capacity as generalissimo of the three armed services, formally promulgated the battle sequence of the whole army throughout the country, dividing the country into five major theaters, of which the first, second, and third theaters remained unchanged, the fourth theater was commanded by He Yingqin, chief of staff, and was responsible for operations against Japan in Fujian and Guangdong, and the fifth theater was personally commanded by Chiang Kai-shek, who was responsible for operations against Japan in southern Shandong and northern Jiangsu. Liu Wenhui, commander of the Third Reserve Army, He Chengjun, commander of the Fourth Reserve Army, Chen Shaokuan, commander-in-chief of the Navy, Chiang Kai-shek, commander-in-chief of the Air Force, and Deputy Commander Zhou Zhirou acted as the air force affairs.

Chiang Kai-shek appointed General An Yi, Vice Minister of Staff, Chief of Staff of the Third Theater of Operations, and General Yin Jinan (with the rank of lieutenant general plus general) as Chief of Staff of the First Theater, and the Second Route Army officially joined the Third Theater sequence. At the same time, the First Group Army under the jurisdiction of the First Theater was temporarily cancelled due to the loss of more than half of the divisions, and the numbers of the First Division and the 40th Division were retained and reorganized in Syria. The rest of the Fifth Army Corps was disorganized and reorganized, with Lu Yixuan acting as the commander of the Corps, and the 17th Division was expanded into the 17th Army, with Yang Jiuxiao as the commander, and the three brigades under its jurisdiction were expanded into divisions; The original 68th Division and the 170th Division remained unchanged and were directly under the corps, and the shortages were replenished on the spot, so that the Fifth Army Corps would still maintain the size of five divisions.

In addition, the 53rd Army of Wan Fulin and the 40th Army of Pang Bingxun, located in the south of Tianjin, were too far away from the corps headquarters, so in order to facilitate the battle, the two armies separated from the Fifth Army Corps and reorganized into the Third Army Corps, with Wan Fulin as the commander of the corps and Pang Bingxun as the deputy commander.

In the past few days, the war in North China has been suspended, and the Chinese and Japanese high commands are carrying out-for-tat strategic arrangements.

On 9 August, Zhang Zhizhong, who was appointed commander of the Ninth Group Army by the Military Commission, complied with Chiang Kai-shek's secret order and transferred various units to attack Shanghai, striving to deploy all units in place before the 11th, of which the 1st Division of the 87th Division will advance to Wusong, the main force will advance to the city center, the 88th Division will advance to the north station and Jiangwan, the 1st Battalion of the 10th Artillery Regiment and the 8th Artillery Regiment will advance to Zhenru and Dachang, the 20th Brigade and the 1st Regiment stationed in Songjiang will advance to Nanxiang, and the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Artillery Regiment and the 56th Division will march to Shanghai from Nanjing and Jiaxing.

On the same day, An Yi issued an order to Gu Changfeng and Xia Jian, the 16th and 39th Divisions of the 24th Army to Changshu, and the 30th and 33rd Divisions of the 26th Army to Jiaxing, to respond to the actions of the Ninth Army at any time.

The Japanese army seemed to feel the movement of the squadron and significantly increased the alert level. At 5 o'clock in the afternoon, Lieutenant Yuo Oyama and soldier Saito Kaizo, a Marine Corps lieutenant, drove into Shanghai's Hongqiao Airport in full armor and carried out reconnaissance, but were shot dead by Chinese officers and soldiers disguised as security forces, detonating the tense air over Shanghai.

On the 10th, the typhoon gradually moved away from the sky over Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the wind and rain gradually stopped, the Southwest Air Force resumed the bombing of Taiwan, Ryukyu, North Korea and the mainland, Taiwan's Taipei, Taichung, and Tainan all airports were burned, and at the same time, due to a large number of propaganda leaflets thrown to Taiwan, Ryukyu, and North Korea, causing panic among the colonial governments, they declared a "state of emergency" in various places, implemented martial law in all areas, and prevented people from hiding leaflets without permission, and those who found them were strictly dealt with in accordance with the law. However, in the course of the second air raid on the mainland in the afternoon of the same day, due to the Japanese army dispatching more than 20 fighters to intercept it, the two high-altitude strategic bombers were hit after repeated thrilling evasions, dragging a long smoke to the ground. The pilots of the Southwest Air Force of our country showed fearless heroism and chose the heroic method of self-explosion to preserve the secrets of the advanced technology of the Southwest Air Force fighters and stained the sky with blood. Immediately, the Southwest Air Force Command canceled the bombing of the mainland, but intensified the attack on the airfields and military facilities in the colonies, and for a time, the major cities of Taiwan, North Korea, and the Ryukyus heard the sound of terrible air defense sirens from time to time.

On this day, China and Japan launched an investigation into the Hongqiao incident in Shanghai, and after learning the details of the incident, Shanghai Mayor Yu Hongjun held consultations with representatives of the Japanese army.

Yesterday, all units of the Ninth Group Army arrived in the suburbs of Shanghai. At the same time, under the escort of a large number of cruisers and battleships, the Japanese army sent 20 transport ships to Shanghai to increase its troops, and the Japanese army in Shanghai issued a mobilization order, 18,000 Japanese overseas Chinese formed a volunteer army, and began to build barbed wire and fortifications in the main streets of the city, and the atmosphere of war was further intensified.

In order to cope with China's air force superiority, after the Baoding air war, a large number of air defense weapons were ordered from the United States, Britain, France and other countries, and the anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns that were shipped in advance were all equipped with the Japanese army in Shanghai.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, the government issued a solemn warning: the Chinese side should bear full responsibility for the Hongqiao airport incident, and in order to avoid a war in Shanghai, the Chinese side should take the initiative to apologize and evacuate all troops. The Chinese side solemnly refuted the Japanese army's warning, saying that the Japanese army's large-scale increase in troops in Shanghai on the occasion of negotiations was a naked threat, and the Chinese side would never compromise.

In the early hours of this morning, all units of the Ninth Group Army occupied their predetermined positions in downtown Shanghai in accordance with the predetermined plan; the 88th and 87th Divisions completed their offensive arrangements in the area around the Zhabei Railway Station and from North Sichuan Road to Yangshupu; the 10th Artillery Regiment and the 8th Artillery Regiment also entered positions in Zhenru and Dachang.

An Yi watched as the staff officers marked the small red and black flags representing both the enemy and us on the map, looked at it carefully, understood the current situation in his chest, and asked strangely: "Why is there no small red flag representing Hutou and Xia Jian in Changshu and Jiaxing?" Where are they marching now? ”

Fang Pengxiang, chief of operations, explained: "Due to the heavy rain that washed away the railway bridge over the Jinhua River, the 26th Army carried a large number of heavy weapons, and there were many big rivers along the way, so we had no choice but to wait for the engineering unit of the headquarters to rush to repair the railway bridge, which is expected to be repaired before noon today, and then continue to take the train to Jiaxing." The 24th Army, on the other hand, had no choice but to lead its infantry army to Changshu because all the trains at Nanjing Station were hurrying to transport all units of the Ninth Army to Shanghai, and the headquarters had now advanced to Wuxi, and it was expected to arrive in Changshu in the evening. ”

"The march is too slow! If the war starts, such a turtle speed will be a bad thing......" An Yi frowned, as if he suddenly thought of something, raised his hand and said: "That's it, you can't blame Xia Jian and Hutou for this matter, who knows that God doesn't open his eyes, even after a few days of heavy rain, the roadbed has been soaked in water and softened, and the road is easy to walk." However, this also sounded the alarm bell for us, we must pay attention to the safety of railway bridges and make plans for various emergencies, so as to solve the problem as soon as possible, otherwise there is no chance to cry if something happens. ”

Liu Qing suggested: "The 1st Engineer Division and the 2nd Engineer Division are seizing the time to pump water, and after emptying the stagnant water in the fortifications, they will devote themselves to the repair and reconstruction of the national defense fortifications as soon as possible." Since the Wufu Line will not be able to use so many manpower for the time being, I think it is better for the two engineer divisions to transfer an engineer regiment to carry out along the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Railway and the Beijing-Shanghai Railway to protect the safety of the railway and relieve all kinds of crises at any time. ”

An Yi shook his head: "The 1st and 2nd Engineer Divisions are new-style boat and bridge troops, equipped with modern construction machinery, and they cannot be easily separated. In this case, you should immediately send a telegram to Major General Shi Lejun of the Engineer Headquarters, and ask them to transfer two brigades from the Fifth Engineer Division to Laochangchang and Nanjing, respectively, to take charge of the repair and defense of the Zhejiang-Jiangxi and Beijing-Shanghai highways and railways. ”

"Yes!"