In last year's victory in Jiangyin, the Chinese Navy detained 30,000 Japanese nationals and 1,000 Japanese naval prisoners of war, and in this battle of Jiujiang, more than 1,000 Japanese soldiers who had stomach aches and did not escape.

Xu Ming hesitated for a while, although he was Japanese, he was not willing to treat them bloodily, the planned fortifications were very large, even if they were built by Chinese soldiers, it would be very difficult, not to mention the use of enemy labor, and this matter could not be leaked out, after the fact, it would be killed.

Xu Ming finally listened to Zhang Fakui's advice, Ci is not in charge of the army, not to mention, the unlucky ones are not Chinese. He called several close officers into the secret room and discussed it all night, and finally Xu Ming fiercely advised: "This matter must not be leaked out, the surrounding area of the fortification is strictly sealed on the grounds of military secrets, and no written materials should be left on this matter, and afterwards, the corpse will be destroyed!" ”

Watching these ragged, yellow-skinned Japanese laborers working hard under the scorching sun, they were severely beaten and killed by Chinese soldiers at the slightest hesitation.

Next to the fortifications, there are human heads hanging with bamboo poles, the weather is hot at that time, the smell is fishy, and there are nests of flies flying around, which is terrifying.

Xu Ming felt a little unbearable, he turned his back and closed his eyes.

This was the controversial "Jiujiang Incident", known to the Japanese side as the "Jiujiang Atrocity", where 12,000 Japanese laborers died, most of them from starvation and disease, and the last survivors were massacred en masse to destroy the evidence. Decades later, some of the Chinese parties involved reminisced and unraveled all the details of the "Jiujiang Incident". The Japanese set up a monument on the top of Mopan Mountain, and Xu Ming also pretended to run to attend the ceremony, and knelt down in front of the monument to repent.

However, at present, the progress of the project with the lives of more than 10,000 laborers is still rapid, only 7 days, a large number of obstacle fortifications, trenches, bunkers and tunnels have been basically established, and the mountain has also been transformed, the construction standard of the fortifications is similar to Jixian Pass, but it is slightly different from Jixian Pass, Jixian Pass is to use the mountain to configure the fortifications, and the Jiujiang side uses the surrounding lakes and marshes, especially in the east, the terrain is low, and the river water is flooded, turning it into ponds and marshes and mud land.

"Qianli, with you on the defensive, we are all relieved." The person who spoke was Luo Zhuoying, an old acquaintance of Xu Ming, commander-in-chief of the 19th Group Army and deputy director of the Military Command Department, who was now on the military order of Lao Jiang to inspect the defense of Jiujiang.

"Hey, Chief Luo, in fact, I don't have much confidence, after the defeat of the Japanese army last time, they didn't attack immediately, but ran to prepare, and now my heart has no bottom."

"But I see that you are well prepared, the defense system has been basically established, and now the devil has encountered an iron plate again. Qianli, the chairman of the committee attaches great importance to this defensive battle, and if you have any requirements, approve them all! ”

Speaking of Lao Jiang's importance, Xu Ming was bitter. On the second day of the victory in the battle of Yaque Mountain, Lao Chiang held a conversation in Wuhan with all strata of the country, the content of which was, of course, that China's War of Resistance was about to turn into a counteroffensive, and the victory of our army was just around the corner. Speaking of the war situation, Lao Jiang bragged about the defense of Jiujiang here, claiming that a "thousand-mile defense line" had been established, which could be held for 3 months!

Xu Ming didn't want to stick to Jiujiang, and the reason why tens of thousands of Japanese laborers were brought in for construction was, to a certain extent, forced by Chiang Kai-shek.

Xu Ming shook his head and said, "Chief Luo, I don't have any requirements, I have already said the request, just two." First, ensure that my logistics, food, ammunition and medicine are absolutely indispensable; Second, to give me support in civil affairs, every soldier who died in battle must hold a memorial service in his hometown, and those who have made meritorious contributions and are disabled should be given adequate care in their hometowns in terms of taxation, education, and condolences, and I ask Chairman Zhang (Hunan Provincial Chairman Zhang Zhizhong) to arrange for the people in their hometowns to work for the army. Besides, I don't ask for anything. ”

Luo Zhuoying said puzzledly: "There is nothing else?" Qianli, why don't you call more troops, the chairman has already given permission, you can give whatever troops you want, even if you transfer the 18th Army, there is no problem. ”

Xu Ming said with a smile, "Han Xin is the more troops the better, I don't have this ability, as soon as there are more people, I can't command effectively." After making a joke, he continued, "The density of troops here is enough, there are 30,000 people, Jiujiang is a place, although there are few mountains, but there is a lot of water, if you make full use of it, it will be difficult for the Japanese army to attack, the key to victory in this battle is not the troops, but logistics and morale." ”

Luo Zhuoying also smiled, "Others are eager to have as many defenders as possible, but you are different from others, but I completely agree with what you said, it is better not to come to the war." ”

While talking and chatting, the two walked to Mopan Mountain, surrounded by numerous fortifications and bunkers, where technical sergeants were measuring firing data in various places, signal troops were debugging wartime communication networks, and artillery units and infantry were conducting artillery and fire coordination exercises.

There is also a unit dressed as a Japanese army to do an attack exercise, Luo Zhuoying took a closer look, this unit has a lot of real Japanese troops, which are composed of the devils who were captured last time and the former Fujita squadron, imitating the attacking Japanese army.

Walking into the fortifications, all the tunnels were interconnected, and at intervals, hidden vents and exits were set up, and the largest of the underground tunnels, a room of several hundred square meters, was stocked with cannonballs. Xu Ming took Luo Zhuoying and a group of other people to cross underground, and suddenly saw a clean and tidy semi-underground space, the outside is the foot of the mountain, extending obliquely to the underground, the underground space is divided into dozens of departments, the internal environment is quite tidy, and even some houses are placed with green plants and beautiful wallpaper.

"This is the field hospital of the future, if it is not safe to be located in Jiujiang and on the ground, and it is too difficult to transport the wounded in the rear, so it is built here."

"Qianli, so many fortifications, they were repaired in 7 days?" Luo Zhuoying asked in surprise.

Xu Ming replied with a smile: "Sir Luo, not yet, according to the construction plan, less than one-third of the project has been completed, and the rest will be built while fighting." Then he whispered next to Luo Zhuoying: "Commander-in-Chief Luo, this is mainly done by those Japanese laborers, but this can't be said to be unacceptable." ”

Luo Zhuoying had heard a little about this matter, but it was impossible for him to fight for these Japanese, and said in a low voice: "This matter can't be leaked out, let the devil know that there will be revenge, and the international impact is also very bad." ”

Xu Ming made a gesture to indicate that everything was done.

After inspecting all the defensive facilities of the three main positions, Luo Zhuoying had a basic understanding of the defense of Jiujiang. Before leaving, he told Xu Ming: "Qianli, the chairman said that he would hold on for 3 months, but it was just propaganda, but in any case, he must hold on for 1 month, otherwise, the chairman will not be able to explain to the outside world." ”

Xu Ming said, "Success is uncertain, but Chengren is determined." ”

Luo Zhuoying took a plane to Wuhan, and as soon as he got off the plane, he didn't eat, and after tidying up his appearance, he immediately met Chiang Kai-shek.

"You Qing, you haven't eaten yet, how about going to Jiujiang this time, can Xu Ming stay in it, why don't you give him soldiers?" Seeing Luo Zhuoying's tired face, Lao Jiang knew his habits and ordered someone to prepare some pastries.

Luo Zhuoying carefully picked up a piece of horseshoe cake with two fingers, gently put it in his mouth, and replied, "Chairman of the committee, Xu Ming has always believed in the principle of elite soldiers, he should not increase the troops, he should be afraid that there are too many soldiers, it may not be useful, and the logistical pressure will increase." I inspected the fortifications of Mopan Mountain in Miaozhi Town, Jiujiang City in detail, and they were quite good, and they were better than the fortifications in Jixianguan. ”

"Oh, how the hell is set up, you can tell me about the situation there." Lao Jiang was very excited after hearing this, the fortifications of Jixian Pass have been listed as a model of ** fortifications, and now I heard that Xu Ming has surpassed it, Lao Jiang said a few days ago that the "thousand-mile defense line" can support 3 months, maybe there is really a lie to him.

Luo Zhuoying took the fortification layout map given to him by Xu Ming, and introduced various fortifications and firepower points, "... The characteristic of Xu Ming's defense is that it is an offensive defense, which does not rely entirely on fortifications, but uses hidden facilities such as tunnels to deploy mobile forces in various sections to counterattack at any time, which is similar to Jixian Pass. However, compared with Jixianguan, Xu Ming's troops were better in coordination, had more fortifications, the terrain was more thoroughly transformed, the configuration of firepower points was more reasonable, and the morale of officers and men was extremely high. ”

After listening to the introduction, Lao Jiang slapped the table excitedly, "Our fortifications should be built like this, I have long said that the War of Resistance should be used both materially and spiritually." All materials and materials, whether they are people or things, mountains and rivers, land, and even grass and trees, as long as we see and hear, can be at our disposal and for us to use, we must give full play to our wisdom and find ways to use them; All spiritual will, with our inherent martial virtues, to restrain the enemy's bushido, with the civilized Three People's Principles, to resist their imperialism. Xu Ming has done a good job of this, You Qing, I will ask Ci Xiu (Chen Cheng) to come over in a while, and a few of you will study it, combine these material and spiritual points with the defensive measures of Jiujiang, make a model, send it to various war zones, and then arrange for people to inspect it. In addition, under your arrangement, in the vicinity of Wuhan, according to the standards of Jiujiang and Jixian Pass, two model fortifications will be built, and officers of various systems will be organized to study. ”

Xu Ming naturally didn't know that he had now become a model in the eyes of Lao Jiang, at this moment, in the command headquarters, compared with the sand table and fortification map, recalled the details of the Battle of Changde and the Battle of Hengyang in the later generations, imagining how the Japanese army would attack