A group of war horses galloped into Nanchang City, and Ouyang Jian entered the city under the escort of 30 special combat personnel. At this time, the city of Nanchang was in shambles, and the damage caused by the continuous bombing of the Japanese army showed a devastated scene. After the Japanese army ended the Battle of Jiangxi, the bombardment of Nanchang and Ruijin still did not stop, but only weakened in intensity. The focus of the Japanese air raids gradually shifted to water and land transportation lines. In front of the city hall, Mayor Chen Yi greeted him in front of the door when he heard the news, "Haha Brother Ouyang, congratulations on repelling the Japanese attack, I congratulate you!" As soon as they met, Chen Yi stepped forward and hugged Ouyang Jian warmly.

"Brother Chen, the victory of the defensive battle would not have been possible without your strong support. Your pressure is not small, and in the face of the indiscriminate bombing of the Japanese army, I am afraid that your life will be even more difficult in the future! "Yes! Although the casualties among the people were not large, the buildings in the city were badly damaged, and homeless people abounded. An international observation team is currently inspecting the city, and I would like to use the international media to condemn the atrocities of the Japanese army. "Brother Chen, don't count on the compassion of the international community, doing a good job in the aftermath is the most important thing."

"Report to Mayor Chen, Peng Dehuai, commander of the 2nd Corps, has arrived!" A garrison commander reports. In the evening of the same day, Mayor Chen Yi entertained the two with the friendship of landlords. After a few glasses of wine, Peng Dehuai said: "Mayor Chen, the buildings in the city are very badly damaged, and many people live in tents, so it is difficult for you to deal with the aftermath!" "The family has surplus food, and there is no panic in the disaster year. Before the war, we made full preparations, and we are now using underground air defense fortifications to resettle the people, so that we can guard against the long-term bombing of the Japanese army, and second, we can solve the problem of shelter. What is troubling me at the moment is the influx of refugees from the Japanese-occupied areas, and we have stockpiled a large amount of food in recent years, but we are still caught off guard by the influx of refugees. ”

"At present, China and Venezuela are going all out to solve the refugee problem and are dispersing refugees in various places. Brother Ouyang, in the past few years, you have purchased a large number of grain from abroad and other provinces and hoarded it, and now you have indeed solved the urgent need. At first, many people thought it was redundant, but now it seems that this measure is just a bit of a visionary measure. Peng Dehuai smiled: "I'm afraid you are also one of them!" "No denial!" Ouyang Jian said with a smile: "It's not a bad thing to have more people, as long as we get through the difficulties in front of us, Jiangxi will definitely become the most terrible fortress in the eyes of the enemy in the war, like a sharp knife stuck in the enemy's throat, Jiangxi will become the forefront of the counteroffensive in the future, so we should not be intimidated by temporary difficulties." ”

The next day, Ouyang Jian and Peng Dehuai Yima walked side by side. "Brother Ouyang, my 3rd Theater withstood the frantic attack of the Japanese army, and the Japanese army was hit head-on. I have heard that many comrades of the Central Military Commission believe that we should carry out a large-scale counterattack and take the initiative to launch an offensive against the enemy, but this does not bode well. "That's exactly what I went to Ruijin for. The President has asked me to address the enlarged meeting of the Central Committee. Although the Battle of Wuhan was imminent and the situation was favorable to our 3rd Theater of Operations, the Japanese army did not break its muscles and bones, and would definitely deploy heavy troops to take strict precautions against us. ”

"In the next step, the Japanese army will continue to use air strike tactics, and at the same time will use blockade tactics, and our situation is not very good!" "Brother Ouyang, are you not optimistic about the battle of Wuhan?" "Although Lao Chiang has concentrated 1.5 million troops in the Wuhan area, the Japanese army has increased by 300,000 troops on the northern front, and the Japanese army on the eastern front can at least draw 200,000 troops along the river to attack Wuhan. Ouyang Jian knew that in the original history, the total strength of the Japanese army in the Battle of Wuhan was 300,000, and the total strength of the national army was 1.1 million.

However, history shifted due to the fact that the losses of the Nationalist army in the Songhu battlefield were reduced by one-third, and the losses in the defense of Nanjing were reduced by half. However, the Japanese army in Jiangxi was successfully intercepted and did not achieve its strategic goals, which was all a positive side. However, the Japanese offensive force was 200,000 more than the original history, and the most important thing was the butterfly effect in Jiangxi, which prompted Lao Chiang not to let Huayuankou break, and the Japanese army quickly captured the strategic points of Zhengzhou and Xuzhou, and formed a trend of outflanking Wuhan on the northern front. Jiangxi's superiority had little impact on Wuhan's defensive operations.

"Are you worried about the combat effectiveness of the Central Army or about the military deployment, as far as I know, the defense plan formulated by the Ministry of Defense is still good." Ouyang Jian smiled bitterly and said, "No matter how flawless the plan is, it needs someone to execute it." What worries me the most is that Lao Chiang interferes with the front-line command and makes the front-line generals at a loss. The Battle of Songhu is the best example. Lao Chiang is now full of confidence, and the military strategists of the international community are also secretly cheering up, which makes Lao Chiang more confident. If Lao Jiang can make it, what I am most worried about is that he will be indecisive when the battle situation is unfavorable! ”

"Yes, Lao Jiang has always been like this. I think that the outer defense line of Wuhan is very difficult to hold, if we focus on the core defense line and make up our minds to use the urban area of Wuhan to fight street battles with the Japanese army, once the battle situation enters a state of scorching, there will be problems with the logistics supply of the Japanese army, at least there is no problem in dragging down the Japanese army. "Brother Peng, if you come to command the Battle of Wuhan. I'll give you full marks. If you want to stick to the core defense line of Wuhan, it is the wisest choice to fight street battles. But this kind of tactic of a strong man breaking his wrist will not be adopted by Lao Jiang. His military thinking has always been to keep the enemy out of the country. ”

"It seems that we are worrying about the sky for nothing! Let's do our own thing! Peng Dehuai shook his head helplessly. In the afternoon of the next day, Ouyang Jian, Peng Dehuai and his entourage rushed to Ruijin. At this time, Ruijin was full of smoke, and it was clear that the Japanese had just finished bombing. After Ouyang Jian settled down, he went to visit Runzhi that night. At present, Runzhi and the comrades of the Central Committee are concentrated in the war fortifications in the suburbs. Ouyang Jian knocked on the door, and when the door opened, He Zizhen's figure was revealed. "It's General Ouyang, Fang Cai Runzhi is still muttering about you, please come in!" Zizhen greeted with a smile.

"Sister-in-law, I came with a belly, I miss your spicy chicken!" Ouyang Jian is not used to outside. "I've been prepared for a long time, just waiting for you to come!" At this time, Runzhi's figure walked out of the study, "Say Cao Cao Cao will arrive, I heard that you arrived in Ruijin in the afternoon, so I asked Zizhen to buy a chicken." Brother Ouyang, I want to criticize you, your salary is not high, why send me money! I don't have high requirements, and I'm content to eat one meal of red braised pork a week! "Chairman, it's not a secret. That German friend gave me a strange sum of money in the United States. ”

"Chairman, let's first state that I didn't mean it, it was Mei Fang who sent someone to give it to my sister-in-law." Brother Ouyang, I'm not asking for guilt, everyone is living a hard life at the moment, and I can't be special. "Chairman! You are the backbone of everyone, and eating well is conducive to revolutionary work, and this is not a special activity! "Brother Ouyang, so far, I won't take it as an example!" "There will be no next time, my money has been poverty alleviation." When the two were teasing, Zizhen brought the wine and food. A few glasses of wine moisturized the way: "This defensive operation is very good, our pre-war prediction has been fulfilled, I won't say anything about flattery!" ”

"Chairman! In this defensive operation, we suffered heavy losses. After statistics, there were 35,000 casualties on the eastern and western fronts, of which more than 9,000 were killed! Ouyang Jian's face was grim. If you have to struggle, there will be sacrifices, and I believe that the blood of the soldiers will not be shed in vain. Paying the price, holding back the frantic attack of the Japanese army was victory. At present, the comrades in the party are very happy and think that we can launch a major attack on the Japanese army and advance into the enemy-occupied areas. This kind of thinking is very scary. I am ready to ask you to speak on the current situation at the enlarged meeting of the Central Committee. ”

Ouyang Jian nodded and said, "The defensive battle has been won, and it is normal for many comrades to have a fever in their heads. With the continuous depletion of our war reserves and the blockade of the enemy, we will soon enter difficult times. "Yes, there is a huge influx of refugees at the moment, and if this problem is not solved well, we will be very passive. I heard that you are not optimistic about the battle of Wuhan. "Yes! Wuhan did not have a defense-in-depth system, and it was difficult to resist the three-dimensional attack of the Japanese army. In the current state, we cannot divide our forces to support Wuhan. "No matter what kind of unfavorable situation arises, we must not waver in our determination to resist the war to the end, and we must establish the idea of a protracted war of resistance, and we must reach a consensus on this point!"

Two days later, the enlarged meeting of the Central Committee was held, and Ouyang Jian walked onto the podium ・・・・・・ warm applause. Ouyang Jian carefully analyzed the favorable and unfavorable factors on the battlefield of the whole country, especially the victory of Jiangxi's defensive operation, which could not change the decline of the overall defensive operation. Ouyang Jian carefully explained the situation of the Japanese army, and talked about the victory of the Jiangxi defensive operation, which had little impact on the overall attack of the Japanese army. In addition, Ouyang Jian stood at the height of the overall situation to predict the upcoming difficulties. In particular, the relationship between war and logistics, and the balance of offensive and defensive forces, strive to make everyone familiar with and keep a clear head.

In the end, Ouyang Jian answered everyone's questions, and finally Runzhi made a concluding speech, believing that no matter what the outcome of the Battle of Wuhan is, the next step of the War of Resistance will enter the stage of stalemate. Junzhi carefully analyzed the weaknesses of the Japanese army, especially from a political point of view, and analyzed the reasons why the Japanese army was unable to quickly achieve its strategic goals militarily. Junzhi affirmed that the military setback will inevitably affect the political changes of the Japanese government. Ouyang Jian had to praise in his heart, it seemed that the protracted war was about to be introduced.

After the enlarged meeting of the Central Committee and the CPC Central Committee, Ouyang Jian, Peng Dehuai, and Lin sat down together to discuss military topics, which has become a common practice. "Brother Ouyang, a classic defensive battle can be described as very happy. Through defensive operations, I have gained a deeper understanding of regular warfare. In particular, the characteristics of modern warfare, such as large-corps operations and three-dimensional offensive and defensive operations, have completely subverted traditional military theories. Powerful firepower, air-ground coordination, and large-depth defense are not available in textbooks. "Lin is rare to comment." Yes! I have the deepest experience of this defensive operation. ”

Peng Dehuai continued: "In the face of the Japanese army, our previous tactics did not work at all. In particular, the Japanese army's overwhelming attack, fierce artillery strikes, and fierce air strikes have taught us what modern warfare is. Frankly speaking, if we did not have a large-depth defense system, we would not be able to stop the Japanese offensive at all. Brother Ouyang, in the future large-scale offensive and defensive operations, air supremacy will be the key to success or failure. If air supremacy cannot be obtained, there is no way to talk about an offensive. ”

"I also think so, if there is no air supremacy, our support artillery will be attacked from the air at any time. If there is no artillery support for the attack, it is undoubtedly holding an egg against a stone. Brother Ouyang, when will our air team be able to compete with the Japanese army? Lin was a little helpless. Ouyang Jian smiled: "War makes you smarter, you will see that day, be patient." Now that the battle of Wuhan is imminent, Brother Lin, I want to hear your opinion? "I don't think Wuhan can hold it, and there are variables ・・・・・・ the northern line."