Wuhan, War Room of the General Staff.

In the telecommunications room next door, the sound of a telegraph sounded loudly, and from time to time, a communications staff officer hurriedly walked into the war room with a telegram in his hand, and as time went by, the red line on the map was constantly moving southward, but the four blue arrows were becoming more and more dazzling.

Amid the sound of hurried footsteps, Chairman Chiang walked in surrounded by more than a dozen high-ranking generals.

Although the Baoshan Division recovered Shimen and Zhengding and successfully cut off the Pinghan Line, this was indeed a major victory, and it also greatly encouraged the front-line soldiers and the soldiers and civilians in the rear, but the situation of the Battle of Wuhan did not undergo any reversal because of this!

The offensive of the army is still fierce, [***] is still retreating, retreating, retreating!

Soon, Chairman Chiang and a dozen high-ranking generals stood in front of the large map hanging on the wall.

A senior staff officer with the rank of colonel immediately picked up the command pole and explained to the map: "Commission, according to the latest battle report from the front, the twelve divisions of the main force of the army are besieging the Xue Yue Corps along the Dengfeng and Xinmi lines, and the six divisions of the southward cluster have advanced to the areas of Laohekou, Zaoyang, Suixian and Xinxian respectively. ”

"What? It's only been a day, and the army has hit Suixian and Xinxian? ”

As soon as these words came out, Chairman Jiang couldn't help but change his complexion, and more than a dozen high-ranking generals also changed their colors.

At this point, in addition to the stubborn resistance of Xue Yue's corps along the Dengfeng and Xinmi lines, almost the entire territory of Henan has fallen, and the army has finally advanced the front to Hubei Province, and the forward troops are less than 200 kilometers away from Wuhan, that is to say, the battle of Wuhan has entered the final decisive stage.

After a long time, Chairman Jiang asked General He with a gloomy expression: "How many days can Xue Yue's corps hold out?" ”

Xue Yue's corps has fallen into a heavy encirclement, there is no way to break through, there is no way to save it, and the annihilation of the whole army seems to be inevitable, and Chairman Chiang's only hope now is that Xue Yue's corps can hold out for a few more days.

If Xue Yue's corps is quickly defeated, then the twelve field divisions and regiments used by the army to encircle and annihilate Xue Yue's corps will be able to quickly free up their hands and move south, in that case, Wuhan will definitely not be able to hold it.

Fifteen days! It only takes fifteen days!

If Xue Yue's corps can hold out for fifteen days, then even if the army reopens the Pinghan line, the garrison troops in the Wuhan theater and the more than 100 divisions that have retreated from the Henan battlefield can reorganize their defenses, and the battle of Wuhan can still continue, and it is still unknown who will die in the end!

It's just that Xue Yue's corps can survive fifteen days?

Admiral He sighed and replied with a lonely expression: "I'm afraid it will be difficult to survive ten days." ”

…………

Zhengzhou, the front-line headquarters of the Central China Front Army.

Lieutenant General Tada Jun, chief of staff of the Central China Front, pointed to the map with the command pole in his hand, and said to the commander of the Central China Front, General Shunroku Hata: "Ten days, at most, the main force cluster can completely annihilate the stubborn Xue Yue Corps, and after the Xue Yue Corps is annihilated, the main force cluster can quickly move south, and cooperate with the southward cluster to encircle and annihilate the main force near Wuhan, and in a maximum of 20 days, the imperial army will win the final victory in the Battle of Wuhan." ”

Shunroku Hata nodded, and then changed the conversation and continued: "But Tada-kun, as a commander, have you fully considered the worst-case scenario? ”

"Worst-case scenario?" Tada Jun was stunned, he really hadn't thought about it.

Toshiroku Hata said expressionlessly: "The worst case scenario is that the main force cluster will not be able to completely annihilate the Xue Yue Corps within half a month, and the 6th and 13th divisions going north will not be able to open the Pinghan Line. ”

"It can't be." Tada said categorically, "No way. ”

"Tada-kun!?" Shunroku Hata said coldly, "As the most noble samurai of the Great Imperial Empire, as the senior commander of the Imperial Army, you must always remain calm enough, and never let any external factors disturb your judgment, although this possibility is very small, it is objective!" ”

"Hello." Tada Jun bowed his head abruptly and said, "I understand." ”

Hata Junroku waved his hand and said solemnly: "In order to reduce this possibility as much as possible, I order you to immediately set up a command post for the front army to go north, and unify the command of the 6th, 13th, and 20th divisions to attack Shimen, and within fifteen days, you must reoccupy Shimen and Zhengding County, and reopen the Pinghan Railway!" ”

"Hello." Tada Jun bowed his head suddenly, and immediately took the order away.

Seeing Tada Jun's figure go away, Shunroku Hata muttered again: "Fifteen days, as long as the northbound cluster can reopen the Pinghan line within fifteen days, then the military supplies in the rear will be continuously transported to the front line in Wuhan, even if the main force cluster cannot completely annihilate the Xue Yue Corps within fifteen days, the final victory will inevitably belong to the Imperial Army." ”

The old devil of Hata Junroku is very sober, he knows that he will completely annihilate the Xue Yue Corps within fifteen days, and he is really not very sure, but the northbound cluster will defeat the Baoshan Division within fifteen days and reopen the Pinghan line, as long as the Pinghan line is reopened, the military supplies in the rear can be received, and there will be basically no suspense in the battle of Wuhan.

…………

Xinmi County, the headquarters of the Xue Yue Corps.

The so-called Xue Yue Corps is actually a corps directly under the Central Military Commission.

The troops under the jurisdiction of Xue Yue's corps are: the 13th Army, commander Tang Enbo; 52nd Army, Commander Guan Linzheng; 85th Army, commander Wang Zhonglian; 8th Army, Commander Zhang Fakui; The 26th Group Army, commander Xu Yuanquan, a total of 15 infantry divisions of about 200,000 people, are all descendants of Chairman Chiang.

Near noon, the men of the headquarters served General Xue Yue four dishes and one soup.

Seeing the four dishes and one soup with meat and vegetables, color and flavor, General Xue Yue's brows tightened suddenly, and a realistic problem suddenly appeared in his mind, Xue Yue's corps has now become a lone army, and only the two small counties of Dengfeng and Xinmi will definitely not be able to support the 200,000 army for too long, it seems that this ration must be reduced!

"Pass my orders." General Xue Yue immediately got up and instructed the chief of staff, "From now on, the rations of the whole army will be halved, and all the generals and privates will be treated equally!" With that, General Xue Yue filled a small half bowl of rice, poured some vegetable soup, and then asked the man to withdraw the rest of the meal.

The senior staff officers in the headquarters all looked at each other, but none of them dared to raise objections.

General Xue Yue finished eating a small half bowl of rice like a wind, still feeling hungry in his stomach, so he strode to the room, scooped up a large scoop of cold water and poured it into his stomach, and the hundreds of officers and soldiers who were squatting outside the room to eat immediately stopped their chopsticks, and looked at General Xue Yue with inexplicable eyes one by one, and a few veterans who were still shouting for rice just now immediately closed their mouths.

General Xue Yue, who was drinking from the cow, seemed to realize something, and put down the water scoop at the moment and slowly turned his head.

When General Xue Yue saw that there was only a thin half bowl of porridge in the bowls of the officers and soldiers, and only a small half of the nest in his hands, his eyes couldn't help but surge with a burst of dampness, the soldiers fought on the front line without regrets, were bleeding, and were sacrificing, but as a commander, he couldn't even meet them with the most basic food and clothing, he felt ashamed!

But soon, General Xue Yue hardened his heart again.

Xue Yue's corps has become a lone army, and if it doesn't reduce its rations, it won't last ten days at all!

As long as Xue Yue's corps can survive 15 days, then the troops in the Wuhan garrison theater and the main force that has retreated from the Henan battlefield will be able to reorganize their defenses near Wuhan, and if the Baoshan Division can also hold out at Shimen for 15 days, the army will completely lose the ability to attack in an all-round way.

Of course, fifteen days later, Xue Yue's corps was afraid that it would still be difficult to avoid the end of the entire army.

However, as long as the country can survive, as long as the nation can survive, why would he Xue Yue die? Why did the 200,000 soldiers of Xue Yue's corps die?

…………

Shimen, Baoshan Division.

At dusk, when the lights were on, Zhao Xinyi had already rushed to contact the comrades of the underground party in southern Hebei, and the commanders of all brigades and regiments were also busy selecting troops, distributing weapons, and reorganizing the troops after the meeting.

The reorganization of the Baoshan Division will soon be completed, and the mobilization of the people can also be handed over to [***].

Screening the Han annihilation in Shimen and Zhengding, and the seizure of fake assets are also done by the special service group.

The only thing Yue Weihan needs to think about now is how to repel the three field divisions of the Yue army that are advancing east and north!

According to the information provided by the intelligence department, the 6th and 13th divisions of the Yue Army that went north along the Pinghan Line were still in Zhengzhou, more than 400 kilometers away from Shimen, but the army could take a train from Zhengzhou to Anyang, and the marching time would not exceed six hours.

Lu Xiufeng, who had just been promoted to deputy commander of the Baoshan Division, patted the map and sneered: "Hmph, this little devil actually mobilized three field divisions to attack Shimen, but in Luzhong, Lunan Mountains and the Sulu border, but took a defensive position against the Sun Lianzhong Group and the Yu Xuezhong Group, do you really think that our Baoshan Division is a soft persimmon?" ”

"The army really doesn't necessarily think that our Baoshan division is a soft persimmon." Liu Yi shook his head and said disapprerovingly, "It's just that compared with the Jinpu Railway and the Longhai Railway, the Pinghan Railway is more convenient, and it is of greater strategic significance to the army in the Wuhan battlefield, so of course opening up the Pinghan Railway has become their first choice!" ”

"Preferred?" Lu Xiufeng said fiercely, "There will be times when little devils regret it in the future." ”

Liu Yi sighed, and said to Yue Weihan worriedly: "Military seat, according to the ration of food and ammunition for the field troops of the army, we need to hold Shimen for at least half a month, and the main force of the army in the Wuhan battlefield will fall into the predicament of running out of ammunition and food, but in the face of the attack of the three major field divisions, it is not easy to hold Shimen for half a month." ”

(To be continued)