After Wu Ming returned to Changshan, he immediately convened a meeting of his confidants and generals, at which Wu Ming explained the current international and domestic situation and explained the necessity and urgency of his visit to the Songhu area.

“…… In the eyes of others, we have a master-slave relationship with Yu Shizuo, who is stationed in Yueyang, Hunan, and once Yu Shizuo's 58th Division is expanded into an army, we will very well be transferred into it, and in the future Sino-Japanese war in the Shanghai area, we say that we may not necessarily be taken to the front line by Chief Yu to fight hard."

"I've never liked to fight uncertain battles, and I don't joke with the lives of my brothers. As far as I know, the groundwater level in Shanghai and its surrounding areas is generally very low, and if the underground soil layer is more than one meter deep is dug at most, water will seep out, and the officers and men can only step on the water during the battle, and they will not be able to hold out for long at all, and such a shallow groundwater level makes it impossible to dig anti-artillery holes at all, let alone the huge cost of reinforced concrete fortifications, and the central government does not have the budget to ...... it."

"Therefore, I must personally go to the vicinity of Shanghai to conduct an on-the-spot survey and formulate an operational plan according to the actual situation, otherwise I will never be at ease

As soon as Wu Ming's words fell, Dai Ziran, the chief of the operations section, took over the conversation:

"In my opinion, if the Sino-Japanese war really breaks out, there is no need for the central government to hold on to the long coastline around Shanghai and Shanghai, and Japan has the third largest navy in the world, and it can cover and shoot at the defensive positions near our coast at any time with strong ships and sharp guns."

"The main guns of many warships of the Japanese Navy are more than 200 millimeters, take the Japanese Navy's Third Fleet, which is stationed in the Yangtze River valley and the southeast coast of China, as an example, its flagship 'Izumo, cruiser and the cruiser Myoko, the ninth squadron stationed in Hangzhou Bay, have a main gun of 3 millimeters. If a high-explosive bomb fired by a naval gun falls, within a radius of 50 meters from the point of impact, any living thing will be torn to pieces, even if it is hiding in a strong fortification, as long as the error does not exceed 10 meters, it will be doomed."

"Instead of confronting the superior Japanese navy in the coastal areas, it is better to lure the snake out of the hole, let the Japanese army in, expand its combat depth and supply lines, make full use of the dense terrain of the lakes and river networks in the south of the Yangtze River to engage with the Japanese army, and we will concentrate our superior forces to find opportunities to fight a few battles of annihilation, as long as we can destroy a few divisions and regiments of the Japanese army, Shanghai will naturally be able to turn the corner from danger to safety."

"Shanghai still has to be defended"

Wu Ming shook his head: "We look at the problem purely from a military point of view, while the central government and Chairman Jiang must consider the overall situation, which is different."

Dai Ziran was thoughtful, Tian Zhenggang, like most of the brothers, was still unclear, so Yu Crisp asked, "What's the difference?" If all the troops are exhausted in Shanghai, what will be used to defend the homeland and the country? ”

Wu Ming did not answer directly, but patiently analyzed first: "From the perspective of political significance, since the Nationalist Government formulated the national defense operation plan the year before last, it has always regarded the defense of the capital and the Yangtze River as the established principle of the Songhu operation, and for this purpose, it has built a fortification system with fortifications and machine gun strongholds such as the Songhu Line, Wufu Line, Xicheng Line, and Zhajia Line, and has also built encirclement and attack positions in Longhua, Xujiahui, Jiangwan, Dachang and other places in Shanghai. How to demonstrate the determination and courage of the central government to fight to the death?

"From a diplomatic point of view, the central government is trying to use Shanghai as a war stage to gain the sympathy of the international community. It is important to know that Shanghai was the center of British interests in China, and if the Nationalist government was defeated in Shanghai, Japan would control the entire Chinese market, so China was actually fighting not only for itself, but also for Britain. ”

"In the eyes of the big men in the temple, many elite troops on the Shanghai front are doomed to be lost, but the question is whether it is better to use these troops rationally to hold on to Shanghai, so as to have a psychological effect on the international community, or to retreat to a remote corner to fight, a place that is not known to anyone, and no one cares, but the losses are the same"

"The whole world knows where Shanghai is and what we are fighting for. Shanghai concentrates the best interests of Western countries, and Westerners will carefully read the newspaper reports on the war situation and immediately draw a more intuitive impression. Therefore, the battle of Shanghai is actually to be fought for foreigners......"

After everyone digested these things, Wu Ming continued:

"From the operational point of view, the war may initially break out in North China, especially Pingjin, where the interests of North China are located, because of its proximity to the northeast and Rehe regions where the Japanese army is entrenched, coupled with the convenient sea transportation, it is very likely to become the source of this war In terms of terrain, if the battle is fought in the Yellow River valley of Pingchuan, the Japanese army can gradually put its troops into the Chinese battlefield, advance step by step, make full use of its advantages in the quality of soldiers and equipment, or go south along the Pinghan Road and drive directly to Wuhan, or repeat the old path of the Mongol invasion of the Southern Song Dynasty, From Shaanxi to Sichuan, and then down the river, it will be a situation of collapse. Rather than this, the central government should expand the war in Shanghai to contain it. ”

Luo Yuming, the commander of the first brigade, suddenly realized, nodded and said: "The Songhu operation is indeed reasonable for the Nationalist Government, first, it is convenient to command, second, because the railway and highway network is dense, it is easy to concentrate troops, third, it is more convenient to supply, fourth, the many rivers, canals and lakes south of the Yangtze River are not conducive to the enemy, and fifth, it is easy to move the senses of the great powers to fight here, and perhaps they will get foreign aid. With these benefits, those senior officials of the central government will inevitably find ways to fight a big battle in Shanghai."

Wu Ming is very pleased with Luo Yuming's growth: "What Yuming said is very reasonable, and I dare to assert that Chairman Jiang must think the same way, so everyone must give up all illusions and prepare to fight an honest battle in Shanghai, of course, the situation may not be as bad as we imagined, and it may not be that those bigwigs in the central government will find out with their conscience and leave us to guard the front line of Hangzhou Bay, and we don't have to go to the flesh mill in Shanghai."

"However, the necessary preparations are still needed, and I have other things to do when I go to Shanghai this time...... War is coming, and if you don't hurry up and make a good profit, you won't have a chance again, during my absence, Deputy Division Commander Long will coordinate the overall situation, and the three-month training + planning will continue as usual, and the staff team sent by the division headquarters must track and supervise the training of all brigades and regiments throughout the process, if there is any slackness, don't blame me for not being merciful."

"Don't worry"

Long Shaogang immediately stated: "A large-scale confrontation exercise will be conducted in three months, and everyone knows very well that the military discipline, spiritual outlook, political ideology, cultural education, and so on of officers and men will become the basis for the promotion or demotion of officers at all levels, together with the results of the confrontation exercise. And I'm going to keep an eye on it, and I won't make a mistake."

Wu Ming was completely relieved and began to arrange his entourage.

Zhang Dongning, chief of staff in charge of intelligence work, Du Pingzhang, who was in charge of communications, and Steve, who provided medical support, would follow Wu Ming to Shanghai, and the security work would be handled by Wu Ming's 36-man guard team and Lei Biao's spy company (Yu San's company), and Wu Ming's adjutant Lieutenant Sun Chengyuan would be in the center to coordinate.

After the meeting was dismissed, Wu Ming secretly ordered that all the three Japanese class students of the Kaihua Yuping Base be reorganized into the Fifth Company of the Guard Battalion directly under the Kaihua Yuping Base, and the company commander was personally appointed by Ye Zhuhan, the chief of the intelligence section and director of the Kaihua Yuping Base, and the internal number was called the Special Operations Company. The officers and men of the Fifth Company will carry out the first task of the formation, led by Lu Kuiyuan, commander of the guard battalion directly under him, and Ye Zhuhan, commander of the Fifth Company, to secretly sneak to Shanghai in batches by water in the name of the Gandong Chamber of Commerce to wait for Wu Ming's action order at any time.

In addition, the three daughters of Zhao Zhiyu, Zhou Bingyue and Shen Huiyan, who are outstanding, together with the outstanding students of the third phase, were secretly sent by the intelligence department to the Shanghai Public Concession to hide.