Nanjing, High Command.

In less than two hours, the two lines of defense on the periphery of Kunshan were all lost, and the Kunshan railway station and bus station were also lost.

Although Kunshan has not yet fallen for the time being, and the situation still has certain variables, everyone understands that the loss of Kunshan is a matter of time, and it is better to count on Xue Yue to create a miracle than to count on the Sichuan army that has just arrived in Wuhu, however, can Liu Xiang's 23rd Army and Deng Xihou's 22nd Army really create a miracle?

Not to mention Chairman Chiang, even none of the military and political officials present had confidence in the Sichuan army, because the equipment of the Sichuan army was too poor, and when the Central Army was already equipped with all the Chinese formal rifles, the main equipment of the Sichuan army was still made in Lao Sichuan, and even Lao Sichuan could not open up the supply, and many soldiers could only use large swords and shuttles as weapons.

The Sichuan army is so poorly equipped, how can the military and political officials have confidence in them?

The loss of Kunshan is a foregone conclusion, and as long as the Japanese army in Taicang advances west along the Taikun Highway to join the Japanese army in Kunshan, the encirclement will become tightly sealed, and at that time, not to mention the main force, even dozens or hundreds of scattered routs will not be able to get out, and there will be no way to escape from the more than 80 divisions and more than 500,000 national troops on the Songhu battlefield!

After the loss of these 85 divisions, the vitality of the entire China and the entire Chinese nation will be greatly damaged.

Chairman Jiang leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and was silent for a long time, as if he was planning for the difficult situation after the Battle of Songhu, and he should also make plans in advance, so as not to be caught off guard when the time comes, and none of the military and political officials present dared to speak, they all held their breath, and the entire command hall was so depressed that it was simply suffocating.

At this moment, a major staff officer hurriedly walked in and stood upright: "Report!" ”

The dead silence of the command hall was suddenly alarmed by this sudden sound, and the military and political officials turned their heads one after another, and Liu Fei said impatiently: "Speak." ”

The major replied: "Commander-in-Chief Xue of Kunshan sent an urgent telegram that the Japanese army had suddenly retreated, and the motive was unknown. ”

"Huh?"

"What?"

"The Japanese withdrew?"

"What's going on?"

"No, how could the Japanese army retreat at this time?"

"Yes, the loss of Kunshan is a foregone conclusion, but the Japanese army has withdrawn, this is not logical, little Japan is willing to spit out the fat in its mouth?"

The entire command hall exploded in an instant, and even Chairman Jiang stood up suddenly.

Liu Fei took the telegram from the major and hurriedly read it, then turned to Chairman Jiang and said, "Commission, although the motive of the Japanese army has not yet been clarified, the Japanese army has indeed withdrawn. ”

"Good, good, haode, haode, good (very good)."

When Chairman Jiang took over the porridge bowl from Wang Shihe's hand, he suddenly lost his weight and almost threw the porridge bowl to the ground, and the careful Wang Shihe found that Chairman Jiang's palms were all covered with sweat and cold sweat.

##########

In Qingpu, the 19th Brigade is stepping up the construction of fortifications.

Although he knew that there was a big fish on Sheshan, it was a pity that the Japanese troops on the mountain had already taken precautions, and the 19th Brigade was seriously short of heavy weapons, and although the artillery company had six small-caliber mortars, there were few shells left, and it was difficult to play a decisive role at all.

Now if the conditions are like this, Xu Shijiu can only let go of this big fish.

This is because the 19th Brigade still has to retain the only troops and defend Qingpu.

Xu 19 took matters into his own hands, and was leading the guard platoon to the dug highway to plant mines modified from Bufus shells, and these mines converted from artillery shells were specially sent by Xu 19 to send a guard platoon from Baihe Port to transport all 500 mines on the road and in the fields on both sides of the highway in one go.

Wires and batteries captured from the Japanese were barely enough.

The wiring work was nearing the end, Li Zihan bowed the rain on his face, and instructed the sappers around him: "You go and check again to see if there is any wrong wire, especially the bus must not be broken." ”

A few sappers agreed, and went separately to check, Li Zihan connected the positive and negative poles to the detonator alone, and after connecting the wires, he carefully buried the detonator that had been installed with batteries into the hole dug in advance, and Zuihou put a wooden board on the top of the hole, covered it with soil, and then made a mark after stepping on it.

Everything was done, and at the end of the day, Ergua couldn't help but ask: "Captain, didn't you say that Little Japan will definitely transfer back the main force of the division that was transferred to Kunshan, in this case, Little Japan should come from the northwest, why don't we bury the mines outside the West Gate, but bury them outside the East Gate?" Isn't that impossible to blow them up? ”

Xu Jiu smiled: "You'll know when the time comes." ”

"Captain, how can you be sure that the main force of the 6th Division that went to Kunshan will come back?" Gao Shenxing also had his own confusion, and then said, "If I were the division commander of the 6th Division of the Japanese Army, I would rather transfer troops from other directions over than withdraw the main force of the division that attacked Kunshan." ”

Ergua also said: "Yes, this doesn't seem to be very reasonable." ”

"Unreasonable?" Xu Shijiu shook his finger and said with a smile, "No, this is in line with common sense." ”

After a pause, Xu Shijiu patiently explained: "Be cautious, Ergua, you must always remember that if you want to be an excellent commander, in addition to being able to fight, you must be able to lead troops, you must also be able to think about people, especially your opponent!" Even if you only have access to very little information, analyze it as much as possible to look for weaknesses that you can exploit. ”

Gao Shenxing was thoughtful, but Ergua asked: "Captain, do you know the commander of the division of Little Japan?" ”

"I don't know." Xu Shijiu shook his head very dryly, and said, "But I know that the division commander and the supreme commander of the Japanese army in the Shanghai theater are two different things, if he is replaced by the supreme commander of the Japanese army in Shanghai, he will never transfer the Japanese army in Kunshan back, but if he is replaced by the division commander of the 6th Division, the situation is completely different."

The Supreme Commander of the Japanese Army in Shanghai wanted to win the Battle of Songhu in order to force the Nationalist Government to surrender, so the result he needed was to completely annihilate the Nationalist army on the Songhu battlefield, but the division commander of the 6th Division was not, as the division commander, he did not need to consider the overall strategic situation, he only needed to fight for more honor for his division and for himself.

Even if the 6th Division captured Kunshan in time and completely annihilated the Nationalist troops withdrawn from the Songhu battlefield, it was also the merit of Matsui Shigen, an old devil, who had nothing to do with the division commander of the 6th Division, but if the 6th Division could occupy the city government of Nanshi before Shanghai sent a resal, then the honor of capturing Shanghai would belong to the 6th Division.

The Japanese army that landed from Jinshanwei had at least three divisions, and if these three divisions and regiments marched northward in a big way, the 80-odd divisions of the Nationalist Army would probably have only one way out of breaking into pieces and breaking through the encirclement separately.

But only the 6th Division went north to Songjiang? Could it be that the commander of the Japanese army on the southern front and the commanders of several divisions under his command could not see the current situation clearly? Obviously not, but they have already set their sights on our capital Nanjing, which is obviously more attractive to the commanders of the Japanese forces on the southern front, as well as the commanders of divisions.

It may be difficult for you to understand that the commanders and division commanders of the Japanese army on the southern front would do this, but there are actually deep-seated historical reasons for this, the Japanese have always had an ultimate dream since the time of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, that is, to leave the islands, go ashore, and conquer the eastern continent, and little Japan has dreamed of conquering China.

The capture of Nanjing, in the eyes of little Japan, was undoubtedly the conquest of China!

Therefore, the Japanese army on the southern front only sent the 6th Division north to Songjiang to cooperate with the Shanghai Command Army to encircle the Nationalist Army, while the other divisions did not hesitate to go out of Jiaxing and Pingwang and go straight to Nanjing, which was hundreds of kilometers away.

Therefore, when Qingpu had already been recovered, when Songjiang was also in danger of being regained by our army, and when the Shanghai-Hangzhou Railway and Shanghai-Hangzhou Highway were in danger of being reopened, the division commander of the 6th Division of the Japanese Army would rather transfer back the main force of the division in Kunshan than the detachment that was advancing towards Nanshi. ”

Ergua pursed his lips and said with some disdain: "Speaking of which, Little Japan doesn't have a big picture, right?" ”

Gao Shenxing was obviously not convinced, and said, "Is the captain too subjective? Even if the commanders of the divisions of the Japanese army attach more importance to the honor and exploits of their divisions, I am afraid that they will not let go of their mouths and let the more than 80 divisions and more than 500,000 troops of the national army on the Songhu battlefield break out of the encirclement, right? ”

"Eyes let go?" Xu Shijiu said, "Little Japan doesn't think so. ”

While speaking, the three of them had already returned to the headquarters, Xu Shijiu pointed to the map and explained: "Be careful, you also know that the Japanese army that landed from Jinshanwei has at least three divisions, and I just said that the other two divisions are afraid that they have already left Pingwang and Jiaxing, and went to Nanjing, which is hundreds of kilometers away, you see......"

As he spoke, Xu Shijiu drew two long arrows with a pencil to Jinshanwei as the starting point, one arrow passed through Jinshan County and went straight to the west of Dianshan Lake, and the other arrow passed through Jiashan and Nanxun to the west of Taihu Lake, and then, Xu Shijiu drew two arrows from the Yangtze River in the north, and echoed these two arrows in the south, forming two blockade lines.

Gao Shenxing's color changed slightly, and he said in a deep voice: "Captain, are you saying that while these two divisions are advancing, they will also divide their troops to the west of Dianshan Lake and the west of Taihu Lake, and cooperate with Shanghai in the north to send a retribution army to complete the encirclement of our army?" Even though the main force of the national army on the Songhu battlefield passed through Kunshan, it was still facing the danger of being encircled? ”

Xu Shijiu nodded and sighed, "The crisis has just begun. ”