"You want to guard Xuzhou?" Chairman Jiang's eyes suddenly froze.

Chairman Chiang's military ability may be lacking, but his ability in other aspects is quite outstanding, especially in figuring out his thoughts, otherwise he would not have been valued by the former prime minister and entrusted with the important task of the principal of the Whampoa Military Academy, so as soon as Yue Weihan said that he wanted to guard Xuzhou, Chairman Chiang knew what he wanted to do.

Yue Weihan was obviously not optimistic about the prospect of the Battle of Xuzhou, and was willing to stay in Xuzhou to break the rear for the large army!

If the Battle of Xuzhou was really defeated as Yue Weihan expected, then the Baoshan Brigade that stayed in Xuzhou would have no luck.

For a while, Chairman Jiang was moved and angry in his heart, and he was moved that Yue Weihan had truly reached the realm of daring to give up his ego for the country and the nation, at least this courage and this affection were worthy of respect, but what made Chairman Jiang extremely angry was that Yue Weihan was always pessimistic about the prospects of the Battle of Xuzhou.

Chairman Jiang said: "Zhongshu, do you really think that the battle of Xuzhou will not be won?" ”

Yue Weihan said without hesitation: "There is absolutely no possibility of winning, there is no doubt that we will lose!" ”

Chairman Jiang said expressionlessly: "If the battle of Xuzhou is really lost, have you thought about the consequences?" ”

"I've thought about it." Yue Weihan said very seriously, "The Baoshan Brigade will definitely be surrounded by the heavy army group, and it is likely to be the end of the annihilation of the entire army!" ”

Chairman Jiang said again: "You still insist on guarding Xuzhou? ”

"Yes." Yue Weihan said solemnly, "The important task of guarding Xuzhou is none other than the Baoshan Brigade!" ”

Chairman Jiang looked at Yue Weihan coldly and was silent for a long time, but Yue Weihan looked calm.

Guarding Xuzhou is indeed a life of nine deaths, but Yue Weihan did not hesitate to do so, from a large point of view, this is a battle for the future and destiny of the entire country and the whole nation, and from a young age, this is a battle for tens of millions of innocent people in more than 40 counties in the Huanghuai region, no matter from which aspect, this battle Baoshan Brigade must be fought!

There are a lot of troops in the Fifth War Zone, but who can shoulder the heavy responsibility of guarding Xuzhou?

Once the Battle of Xuzhou is lost, the situation will suddenly become tense, if you want to withdraw millions of troops and a large number of baggage, plus the deployment time of the subsequent Battle of Wuhan, Xuzhou will have to hold on for at least half a month!

Holding Xuzhou for half a month, apart from the Baoshan Brigade, which other unit can do it?

Speaking from the heart, even Yue Weihan himself did not have enough confidence to be able to hold Xuzhou for half a month under the siege of dozens of divisions and regiments of the Yue Army! But he's willing to gamble, to gamble with his life! Win or lose, win or lose, at least tens of millions of innocent people in the Huanghuai region can be saved, at least the bloodline of the Chinese nation can continue, that's it, death is worth it!

Chairman Jiang's expression finally softened, and he turned back to Wang Shihe outside the door and said, "Shihe, please invite Commander-in-Chief Li to come in." ”

Wang Shihe took the order and left, and soon, Admiral Li entered the small conference room.

Chairman Jiang first looked at Yue Weihan, and then immediately said to General Li: "Delin, the Battle of Xuzhou is about to begin, Xuzhou, as the strategic support for the entire battle, has a major stake, and it is also the center of personnel and material transfer, and there is no room for any mistakes, and it should be guarded with elite troops." ”

Admiral Li has been the leader of the Gui family for so many years, how shrewd is he? At once, he understood Chairman Jiang's thoughts, and immediately pushed the boat down the river and said: "As the committee said, the geographical location of Xuzhou is not trivial, and it is also the center of the Fifth War Zone, so there can really be no mistakes, and I think that the non-Baoshan Brigade is not enough to guard Xuzhou." ”

"Hmm." Chairman Jiang bowed his head lightly and said, "You can watch and handle this matter." ”

Admiral Li immediately said to Yue Weihan: "Zhongshu, do you have the confidence to defend Xuzhou?" ”

"Yes!" Yue Weihan stood upright and said loudly, "As long as I still have a breath of air, Xuzhou will never lose it!" ”

"Good!" Admiral Li applauded happily and said, "With the words of loyalty and forgiveness, I can rest assured, and I can rest easy." ”

Yue Weihan immediately raised his hand to salute Commissar Jiang and General Li, and said, "Commission, Chief, if there are no other orders, I think I will go back to deploy the defense of Xuzhou." ”

"Go ahead." Chairman Jiang waved his hand, and Yue Weihan immediately turned around and walked away.

Seeing Yue Weihan's figure disappear outside the door of the small conference room, Admiral Li suddenly said faintly: "Zhongshu is a rare tiger general, and the Baoshan Brigade is an iron-cast elite soldier, are you really willing to take a seat?" ”

Chairman Jiang frowned and said, "Delin, even you are not optimistic about the Battle of Xuzhou?" ”

"At least there is no hope of winning." Admiral Li shook his head and said, "But then again, it is indeed unreasonable to abandon Xuzhou if you don't fight a battle, but it seems a pity to leave the Baoshan Brigade to defend Xuzhou. ”

Chairman Jiang was actually very unhappy in his heart, but his face still didn't show it, and said: "You can rest assured that this German neighbor, since I dare to leave the Baoshan Brigade to guard Xuzhou, there is naturally a way to let them retreat, such a tiger general, such an elite, how can I easily sacrifice?" ”

………… Suburbs of Xuzhou, Baoshan Brigade Department.

Yue Weihan strode into the war room, threw his general's hat on the table, and immediately said to Liu Yi: "Chief of Staff, immediately notify the commanders of all regiments and directly subordinate battalions to come to the brigade headquarters for a meeting, immediately!" ”

Liu Yi hurriedly ordered the staff officers of the General Staff to make separate phone calls to convey the order.

In less than a meal, all the regiments and the commanders of the battalions directly under them came to the brigade headquarters.

In the conference room, Yue Weihan stood up suddenly, and the commanders of the regiments and the battalions directly under him immediately followed suit, and everyone's eyes turned to Yue Weihan in unison.

Yue Weihan said: "I just received an order from the Commander's Department that the contemptible person will serve as the commander of the Xuzhou garrison, and the Baoshan Brigade will serve as the Xuzhou garrison brigade!" ”

"What? Xuzhou Garrison Brigade? ”

"How did our Baoshan Brigade become a garrison brigade?"

"yes, isn't the garrison brigade a local unit? We're a regular army! ”

"What the fuck is going on? Chairman Jiang and the Chief's Department just buried our Baoshan Brigade? ”

Yue Weihan's voice fell, and several regiment commanders and battalion commanders immediately exploded, obviously greatly dissatisfied with the title of "Xuzhou Garrison Brigade".

"What are you yelling about?" Yue Weihan said coldly, "Isn't it just a troop number?" ”

Yue Weihan coldly swept around several regiment commanders and battalion commanders, and said: "There is no shortage of your military salary, let alone your ammunition supply, what is there to fight for?" ”

Several regiment commanders and battalion commanders immediately fell silent.

This has gradually become a habit at the military meeting of the Baoshan Brigade, no matter how big the matter, before Yue Weihan speaks, although everyone can blow vigorously and fight vigorously, as long as Yue Weihan speaks, all the different voices must disappear immediately, and they must disappear willingly and unconditionally!

Yue Weihan asked Liu Yi again, "Chief of Staff, have the casualties been counted?" ”

"It's been counted." Liu Yi hurriedly said, "The brigade suffered a total of more than 1,000 casualties, including more than 600 killed!" ”

"More than six hundred killed?" Yue Weihan was so distressed when he heard this, these are all veterans of a hundred battles who rushed out of the blood, if one dies, there will be one less, and there will be no place to replenish! But then again, the Baoshan Brigade suffered only more than 1,000 casualties after the main force of the Isogu Division was completely annihilated, which is quite remarkable!

You must know that when the Baoshan Brigade launched a general offensive, the Isogu Division could still have more than 3,000 field infantry and more than 2,000 communications teams, health teams, artillery and other directly subordinate troops.

"Now I command." Yue Weihan didn't have time to be sad, and quickly put the casualty figures behind him, and ordered, "The 1st Regiment guards the East Gate, the 2nd Regiment guards the North Gate, the 3rd Regiment guards the South Gate, and the Reading Battalion and the Bayonet Battalion guard the West Gate and the railway station. ”

"Repairs?" Cao Xinglong was stunned and said, "Brigade seat, it seems that our army is on the offensive now. ”

"That's not something you should be concerned about." Yue Weihan said, "You just have to carry out the order." ”

"Yes!" Cao Xinglong quickly straightened up, since Yue Weihan said so, then he had nothing to say.

"As for the fortification......s," Yue Weihan said, "we must collect as much ash as possible, build the strongest reinforced concrete fortifications as much as possible, and build strong enough anti-artillery holes and tunnels under the fortifications, especially tunnels, and we must build a complete tunnel network outside Xuzhou City!" ”

"His grandmother's." Chi Chengfeng said unhappily: "Why do you have to dig tunnels again?" Digging up the brethren again is really a groundhog. ”

"What happened to the marmot?" Yue Weihan snorted and said, "Groundhogs at least have holes to hide, if you don't want to be a groundhog, you can do it, when the devil's plane and heavy artillery bombard your position indiscriminately, where do I see you hiding?" When the time comes, you and your officers and men of the 2nd Regiment will all become dead rats, don't blame me for not reminding you. ”

Chi Chengfeng didn't dare to say anything at the moment, he was actually just talking about it.

As a matter of fact, after experiencing the battles of Sixing Warehouse, Jiangpu, and Hanzhuang, the officers and men of the entire Baoshan Brigade have profoundly realized the power of tunnel operations, and at this stage, under the premise of lacking air force cover and heavy fire support, they can only expand the battlefield underground, and only in this way can they offset the lethality of the army's aviation and artillery.

Yue Weihan sighed lightly again, and said: "You must make it clear to the brothers when you go back, so that everyone is not afraid of tiredness, let alone hardship, and must take out desperate strength to dig tunnels and tunnels, at this time, sweat more, dig more tunnels, and when the devil hits the door, we will be able to shed less blood and die less!" ”

"Yes!" The commanders of the six battalions stood upright and agreed with a bang.

"By the way, what about the two war correspondents?" Yue Weihan finally remembered the familiar female reporter again.

Liu Yi hurriedly said: "The man has already left, but the female reporter is still there, and she is helping in the field hospital right now." ”

"Who asked the man?" Yue Weihan said angrily, "That's the woman, that reporter Zhao is very good at mobilizing the masses, in this way, the chief of staff, you go and discuss with her, and let her find a way to mobilize the fathers and villagers in Xuzhou and the villages and towns outside the city, it is best to help [***] dig tunnels voluntarily, and it is really not okay to give a small amount of wages." ”

"Okay." Liu Yi nodded and said, "I'll go find her after a while." ”

(To be continued)