Chapter 607: Preparations for War (Part I)

The war against Japan had to be launched before the outbreak of the First World War. Even if the US government is unwilling to take a clear stand, this upcoming local war in Northeast Asia must be fought, and this is undoubtedly Zhaobei's strategic choice.

According to his historical experience, the First World War will begin in the summer of 1914, and the symbol is the Austro-Hungarian Crown Prince Franz. Ferdinand was assassinated.

And now, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary has officially decided to conduct a review of the Austro-Hungarian troops stationed in Sarajevo, accompanied by a "visit" to the Balkan city conquered in 1908, which is a show of force by the great powers against the weaker countries, but at the same time, it will also 'provoke' the revolt of the vanquished. It was in Sarajevo that Ferdinand was assassinated, and the assassination officially became the direct trigger for the First World War.

Since the beginning of this year, Zhao Bei has been paying close attention to the development of the world situation, especially the situation in Europe, and in order to meet the imminent Sino-Japanese war, he has not only carried out a series of military deployments, but also paid close attention to every move of Europe's foreign 'exchange' circles, and it was through the German minister to China. He has an accurate grasp of the recent foreign 'diplomacy' of Austria-Hungary, and it is clear that if he does not interfere with this, the crown prince of Austria-Hungary will still be assassinated, even if the so-called "butterfly effect" is taken into account, His Royal Highness the crown prince of Austria-Hungary will not be assassinated, and this will not affect the course of history in the slightest, and the European powers will eventually break out, and the European powers have been preparing for this European war for a long time, especially Germany, Germany, with its high ambitions, will never let the great opportunity for world hegemony be missed, and no matter what the fuse is, it will not change the course of history.

As far as Europe is concerned, the First World War will certainly change the political pattern of the whole of Europe, and for China, the First World War will be a very rare strategic opportunity, as long as it seizes this strategic opportunity, China will be able to get rid of the current strategic disadvantage to a great extent, reverse the national fortunes, and lay a solid strategic foundation for future development.

But there is an obstacle to this, that is, Japan, as long as the Japanese forces do not withdraw from China, then China's development path will not be smooth, and it is precisely for this reason that Zhao Bei resolutely chose war.

For this war against Japan, Zhao Bei prepared for at least four years. He was confident that he would win this war, and no matter what the cost, he decided to settle the Japanese forces in China once and for all, at least to expel the Japanese forces from the three eastern provinces and Fujian, and as for the Taiwan issue, it must also be preliminarily resolved through the victory of this war.

War is only one aspect, and more importantly, it is a matter of foreign relations, which can not make the Entente countries think that China's war against Japan is to take the Allies into the fire, nor can the Allies think that China's war against Japan is a surrender to the Allies, so this reason for going to war is very important.

The culprit that led China and Japan to war can only be Japan, there is no doubt about this, the reason why Zhao Bei made a big fuss about the assassination of Yang Du is precisely for this purpose, but the assassination of Yang Du will not become the direct fuse of the war between China and Japan, this assassination can only be a match to light the fuse, and once the fuse is ignited, then, China's war machine will immediately run at full speed, even if the development of the situation is not as smooth as Zhao Bei expected, this war must continue. Until China emerges victorious.

After all, this is a situation created by Zhao Bei, and there is no historical experience to learn from, he can only ensure that the entire strategic plan is planned more thoroughly, and the preparation for the war is more sufficient, and the rest depends on the soldiers of this country.

Once the war begins, this is a real "general war", from the national economy to military mobilization, from public opinion planning to foreign 'diplomacy' actions, everything in state affairs will revolve around the war, in fact, just yesterday, Zhao Bei has secretly ordered the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Heavy Industry to enter the pre-war mobilization to transfer the national economy to the wartime track, and today, he met with Zhan Tianyou, in addition to listening to the report on the construction of the Northwest Railway, another very important purpose is to inform Zhan Tianyou that from today, the national railway transportation began to be transferred to" quasi-wartime track", providing reliable logistical support for a "military exercise".

This "military exercise" will be carried out in the Zhangde area in northern Henan, and it is precisely for this reason that it is called the "Zhangde Exercise", but in fact, this is just a pretext, and under the pretext of "military exercise", the troops stationed in China's southeast, northwest, and northwest will carry out a jaw-dropping strategic movement. They will stay in Changde for a short time, and in the end, the destination of most of the troops will be the three eastern provinces, and these troops will be deployed in the northeast battlefield as the main force in the war against Japan, and their performance will be directly related to the future of the country.

It is precisely for this reason that the code name of this war against Japan is "Operation Zhangde Exercise".

Against the backdrop of the overall war, China's press circles had already 'revealed' the news of the "Zhangde Exercise" to the outside world as early as the end of last year, and in addition to a series of strategic deception actions, Zhao Bei believed that as long as the Chinese army acted quickly, it would be able to achieve a thunderous momentum, and after the foreign powers reacted, perhaps the good news of victory had already come from the front line.

In fact, so far, only a dozen high-ranking officers have known the truth about the "Zhangde Exercise," and the other high-ranking officers only know that the center has a plan for operations against Japan, but they do not know that the war is about to begin, and as for the work of keeping secrets from the outside world. Even though Zhao Bei needed a clear position on the U.S. government, he decided to keep the U.S. minister to China a secret for the time being until the war began, when the U.S. might be the first great power to know of China's determination to go to war.

Although he believed that China was likely to break with Japan, he really did not expect that a war between China and Japan would be so imminent, and that it would be this "Far East madman" who would provoke the war.

However, Stade completed his task with ease, first, he informed Zhao Bei of the United States' position on the Sino-German alliance, and secondly. Obviously, this Mr. President is not opposed to monopolizing power, Congress is indeed just an ornament for him, and he believes more in the power and the army in his hands, so the US government can begin to adjust its China policy, and in the past, the focus of US public opinion in Sino-US relations has always been the "similarity" of the two countries in terms of national system. But for now, perhaps the US public opinion should focus on the increasingly close trade ties between China and the United States, and those politicians in the United States should also rationally stand on the side of Mr. Secretary of State, put aside the issue of the state and the political system, and pay full attention to the trade issue.

Si Dai left the Commander-in-Command Hall satisfied, Zhao Bei very politely personally sent him out of the Presidential Palace, and then, hurriedly returned to the Commander-in-Command, a few phone calls were shaken out, and after a short time, several heavyweight military and political officials rushed to the Commander-in-Command Hall to listen to the president's dispatch.

Lan Tianwei, Jiang Fangzhen, Zhang Xiaozhun, Zhang 'Ji' Yang, Cai Yi, Tang Xiangming...... These high-ranking officers all know the truth about the "Zhangde Exercise," and they are very clear about their tasks when they come to the war room of the Commander's Hall this time.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this meeting is convened to further clarify the respective tasks. I have decided that no matter what the position of the US government holds, the central government will never waver in its determination to go to war against Japan, and once the war begins, no matter how difficult it is, it must persevere to the end! The sacrifice of soldiers is exchanged for the strength of the country, and the sacrifice of soldiers is exchanged for the happiness of the people. I have stressed many times that the center spent four years developing its military strength, not for internal repression, but for external wars. Right now. Chief of General Staff Lan would like to give a detailed introduction to the current strategic situation of our army. ”

Zhao Bei's not gorgeous speech made everyone present a little 'excited', the soldiers are not war maniacs, but if there is no great revival war, this country will never go to rejuvenation, throughout human history, the rise of any country is premised on the victory of a great war, for this country, they are willing to give everything, even if it is their own lives.

Lan Tianwei stood up, saluted, then opened a notebook, coughed, and cleared his throat.

"Ladies and gentlemen, at present, all units of our army have received an official order. Therefore, the central center believes that the date of the war should be within 10 to 15 days, and in view of the fact that the armored troops stationed in the northwest have a lot of logistical baggage, the General Staff believes that the mobilization of armored units should be given priority over other units, and because the construction of the branch line of the Longhai Railway is smooth, the armored units are expected to arrive at the assembly area within five days, and at that time, the troops will set off in advance and rush to the outside of the Guan。

Also, regarding the naval side, due to the 'Red Eyebrow' and ' According to the telegram sent back this morning, the two warships have completed their replenishment, and they officially set off for their return home at noon today, because of the long distance, it is impossible for the two warships to return to China before the outbreak of war, and once the war breaks out, the two ships will not be able to resupply in the ports of neutral countries, therefore, the center has officially decided that from now on, the two ships will enter a state of combat readiness, and in consideration of the lack of range, the supply ships must ensure the supply of the two ships at sea, and when the two ships leave the United States, they will take the two supply ships with them, although the coal can guarantee the need for returnHowever, it was necessary to take into account the sudden situation in the war, so the central center had ordered the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to requisition some large civilian ships, equipped with radio stations, and load coal, fresh water and military supplies, and immediately set off for Xia Weiyi, striving to arrive at a neutral port before the war.

With regard to the railway artillery unit, it has not yet received an official order to go north, but yesterday the War Department had sent a telegram ordering it to prepare artillery shells, and once the central telegraph ordered it to be transferred to the north, the unit could immediately be put into operation.

In this battle, the 'elite' troops of the Wehrmacht will be used as the main force, and a small number of ** guards will work together to achieve the suddenness of the war. The issuance of the national mobilization order will be after the outbreak of war, at that time, all the standby units of the Wehrmacht will immediately carry out the first expansion, and strive to complete the combat readiness work within half a month, if the initial stage of the war is going smoothly on our side, the standby troops can carry out a second expansion, if the initial stage of the war is unfavorable for our side, the standby troops will immediately enter the battlefield to strive for the maximum superiority in strength, at the same time, the local troops will begin to expand the army, and the first guard will take over the local defense and assist the militia in maintaining local order.

……

In view of the present situation in the country, the General Staff believes that once the war has begun, it will be necessary for the President to declare a state of war in the whole country, to put an end to all political activities, to temporarily suspend the preparations for the general election, and to restore a state of peace after the war has ended. ”

Lan Tianwei's report was very detailed, and everyone was very satisfied, and now that everything was ready, there was just an excuse to start a war.