"0 secret, Commander-in-Chief Xu, since yesterday, more than 5,000 Japanese invaders, with more than 20 cannons, have launched several fierce attacks on our army, one by one by our army, our army has killed more than 1,000 enemies, captured more than 100 enemies, and now our army is still sticking to the first line of Caijialong Lion Rock..."

This telegram was sent by Li Yutang, and Xu Ming did not believe the number of enemies killed and captured, but one thing was certain, the 8th Army did hold the position in front of it, which was too precious for the current crumbling situation.

"Report to the commander-in-chief, Li Jue, commander of the 70th Army, to call and report that a brigade of the Japanese army was completely annihilated at the northern foot of Lushan Mountain, killing more than 500 enemies." A communications soldier excitedly trotted to the command room, and when he saw Xu Ming, he gave a military salute and then reported loudly.

"Okay", Xu Ming also slapped the table excitedly, even if there was water in the whole annihilation, there would generally be some dry goods, he immediately grabbed the telegram and read the specific content.

It turned out that after the full retreat of the squadron, the 70th Division of the 19th Army was in charge of the palace, and the Japanese army took advantage of the situation to attack, and a Japanese army pursued along the mountain road. After Li Jue found out, he seized the fighter plane, concentrated all the mortars and infantry heavy weapons, and annihilated them, killing this group of careless devils in less than one hour, and many of them were captured.

"Call back to Commander Li and tell him that this encirclement and annihilation battle commanded by Division Commander Gu Jiaqi has greatly increased the prestige of our army and destroyed the arrogance of the Japanese army, and I will ask for credit from the Military Committee on his behalf."

The adjutant next to him was stunned, but soon reflected and secretly admired Xu Ming's handling.

The Military Commission replied quickly, rewarding Li Jue and Gu Jiaqi with 5,000 yuan in cash each, and giving Li Jue a credit.

Li Jue received a telegram from Xu Ming and the Military Commission and forwarded it to Gu Jiaqi next to him, Gu Jiaqi was already in tears, this was a telegram that saved his military career.

On the front line of Jiujiang, 100,000 troops, the whole line was lost in just 5 days, except for Zhang Fakui, who was dismissed in disguise, others were also unlucky. Zhao Dingchang's pre-11th division, because the defense line was broken through first, I was removed from my post and investigated, and the number was also canceled! Gu Jiaqi's 128th Division, in the decisive battle of the key Yaque Mountain and Puquan Mountain, was the first to rout, and what awaited Gu Jiaqi was very likely to be the same fate as Zhao Dingchang.

It is also Gu Jiaqi's bad luck, his 128th Division turned out to have good combat strength, but in the Battle of Songhu, more than 7,000 troops lost more than 5,000! The entire division was almost wiped out, and the current 128th Division was to enrich the bandits that had been recruited, and they were put into the battlefield without time to sort out, and he was facing the most elite 9th Division of the Japanese army, and the outcome can be imagined.

But there is no reason for fighting, defeat is defeat, and he has no one in the family, including Li Jue, so he has to passively wait for the military order of punishment.

Li Jue looked at Gu Jiaqi who was out of shape, and comforted: "Xiuzhi, the matter is over, the loss of Puquan Mountain is not your reason at all, now take care of your troops, we still have a future, you go to the Mahuiling Headquarters first, and thank Commander-in-Chief Xu for the reason of reporting the battle situation." ”

The 8th Army and the 70th Army all sent telegrams, the 25th Army had rushed to the Mahuiling line, and the 64th Army was too out of contact with the Japanese army, getting rid of the pursuit of the Japanese army, and the battle situation finally appeared for a short period of stability.

This is exactly what Xu Ming hopes for the most, the war situation once fell into collapse, a large number of troops retreating from the front, no supplies, scattered formation, crowded together on the narrow road, fortunately Chennault's air force force, the Japanese air force bites tightly, covering the retreat of the troops, but if the Japanese army concentrates its forces and attacks on a large scale, Xu Ming does not say that it is called a small white rise, that is, it is really a white rise, and I am afraid that it will inevitably be defeated.

Why didn't the Japanese army pursue, the Japanese devils changed to vegetarianism, of course not, they are now more than willing and not enough.

The Battle of Jiujiang, although it was only 5 days, but the losses of the Japanese army were really not small, the Botian detachment and the 9th Division, the casualties reached more than 5,000 people, and the number of sick people was not 10,000! With the scorching heat of 40 degrees Celsius, continuous attacks day and night, harsh battlefields and natural environments, and extremely inadequate supplies, the Japanese offensive momentum could no longer be maintained. The Japanese troops on the front line relied on one rice ball mixed with grass every day, which further increased the degree of illness.

After the capture of Jiujiang, the illness of the Japanese army came to a big outbreak, and a large number of cholera appeared in the troops on the front line, and now the most headache of the senior generals of the Japanese army is not how to destroy the enemy, but to cure the disease.

The 9th Division, known as the elite of the Japanese army, performed not as well as the Hakuda Detachment with brigade formations, and this is also the reason. The division commander Yoshizumi Ryosuke carefully organized a surprise operation, with the 35th Infantry Wing and a mountain artillery brigade to form the Teragaki Detachment, inserted into the flank of the Chinese defenders, and then cooperated with the frontal attack, encircling and annihilating the 70th Army of the squadron in one fell swoop.

This combat plan itself is blameless, and it is also in line with the operational characteristics of the Japanese army, and the wing commander Tadao Teragaki led the detachment to set off with a majestic spirit, and the next day, he crawled back with a gray face! The entire infantry and artillery mixed army of more than 3,000 people, forced a one-day march, more than 2,000 people fell ill, and dozens died on the spot.

Tadao Teragaki burst into tears: "Your Excellency the division commander, Your Excellency the brigade commander, this battle cannot be fought like this!" The temperature was as high as 106 degrees Fahrenheit (41 degrees Celsius), the surface temperature was even higher, and the soldiers carried heavy equipment over the mountains, and the imperial army continued to fall along the way, and some died of heat stroke on the spot.

Under the depiction of Tadao Teragaki Tadao, this is a roundabout sneak attack, it is simply going to hell!

Yoshizumi Ryosuke was completely out of temper, and the cost of a forced march was even greater than a fierce battle, so he had to order the troops on the front line to suspend the attack, and demanded that the rear must transfer a considerable amount of food and medicine, even if the ammunition was not enough.

For two days in a row, the Japanese army did not launch a large-scale attack, Xu Ming was greatly relieved, and the squadron was also greatly relieved.

"Report, Zhang Shaofang, chief of staff of the 26th Army, Xie Jinyuan, commander of the 107th Division, and Hu Lian, commander of the 108th Division, ask to see you!"

Xu Ming was sitting on a stool, using a telegram as a fan, and there was a big pile in front of him, and he was looking at it helplessly. After listening to the report from the guards, the stuffiness brought by the scorching heat disappeared immediately, he shook the telegram in his hand, and ran out with a snort.

"Zhizhu Zhongmin Boyu Xiusheng Lieping..."Xu Ming greeted excitedly and hugged them one by one. In front of everyone's eyes, Xu Ming was as happy as a child.

The others, except for Hu Lian, are used to seeing this person, and know that even if he becomes a big official, he doesn't pay attention to any majesty.

Xu Ming led them into the command room, waved them back left and right, and said, "How many of our people have come, and where are they now?" And why didn't Deputy Commander Wan come. ”

Xu Ming's deputy commander Wan is Wan Quance, he is the first phase of Huangpu, Mr. Zhongshan participated in the Great Revolution during the Eastern Crusade, served as the chief of staff of the major general of the teaching corps in 1937, and died in the battle during the breakthrough in the defense of Nanjing. However, in this time and space, with Xu Ming's retreat from Nanjing, he was only seriously injured. After Chiang Kai-shek recovered from his injuries, half a month ago, he gave him the post of deputy commander of the 26th Army. Of course, Xu Ming also knew that for an elite unit like the 26th Army, Lao Jiang must arrange some personnel to go in.

Xie Jinyuan replied: "Commander-in-chief, except for the baggage troops and howitzer battalions, the rest have already arrived in Ruichang, and now it is estimated that they have reached the Great Tianshan Mountain or even Mopan Mountain, and they can reach this vicinity in about 4 hours, Deputy Commander Wan, and the last baggage troops will arrive in about 5 days." ”

"Great, you came in time, Nanchang to Jiujiang 1000 miles, you arrived in 5 days, you worked hard!"

Zhao Ren smiled: "Actually, it's nothing, 800 miles out of 1000 miles are railways, it's hard work, but it's hard work in the car, fuck, in order to mobilize concealment, the train windows are covered." With that, everyone laughed.

Hu Lian said: "Congratulations on the promotion of the military seat to commander-in-chief, in our Republic of China, in half a year, from the commander of the regiment to the commander of the corps, it is both unprecedented and unprecedented." ”

Xu Ming smiled self-deprecatingly, "What is the commander-in-chief, now he is just an agent, you are not here, I am not even as good as a battalion commander, and there are still hundreds of people under the battalion commander." A few days ago, when I was still the deputy commander, the chairman of the committee called me to scold me, and a lieutenant colonel staff officer dared to laugh at me in public. ”

Xie Jinyuan said angrily: "This staff officer should be dragged out and shot!" ”

Xu Ming sighed: "What's the use? Liwei can't rely on killing, I just sent him to the troops below, and in the future, he will accept his fate. ”

"Commander-in-Chief, what's the situation now?"

"The situation is a mess, and the troops on the front line have finally withdrawn, but the morale of the troops has been greatly damaged. Fortunately, the devil did not pursue, otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable. ”

Hu Lian thought for a moment and said, "I estimate that the Japanese casualties are not small, and the climate is so hot, there are many sick people, they should not have the strength to chase anymore." ”

Xu Ming nodded in agreement, "What Boyu said is right, but this is just speculation, it may also be that after the Japanese army occupied Jiujiang, they felt that they had occupied a big city and achieved their combat goals, and it was unknown that they would temporarily turn to rest and recuperate." The biggest problem now is that we don't know the specific deployment of Japanese troops and casualties. ”

Xie Jinyuan said: "After fighting for 1 week, why don't you even know the deployment of the Japanese army?" ”

Xu Ming smiled bitterly, "Zhongmin, we have lost the battle, the reports of the retreat of the front line are all messy, the squadron of a company is said to be 1 brigade, and several infantry guns are said to be a reinforced artillery wing, exaggerations and inaccuracies abound, so that I can't tell where is true and where is false." ”

Everyone was silent, Xu Ming said that it was a very stubborn drawback, many Chinese troops, the battle report is extremely false, the reason may be the lack of discernment and shirking responsibility, but the result is very serious, that is, the higher command department can not accurately grasp the battle situation on the front line.

It was Hu Lian who broke the deadlock and said: "Only the battle report of our 26th Army is completely true, but -- commander-in-chief, we don't know the enemy's situation, and if the Japanese army knows our situation, I'm afraid this battle will not be easy to fight." ”

Hu Lian's words reminded Xu Ming, and he asked, "Boyu, this time you came, is the itinerary secret?" ”

"Yes, from the build-up to the departure, to the march on foot, it is all a confidential state, and now the officers below the regiment commander do not know the destination."

Xu Ming slapped his thigh and shouted, "Okay! Ordinary soldiers don't know, even I don't know you're coming, and the Japanese won't know either! ”

He simply stood up and said the idea he had just come up with on a whim