A remote town in western Zhejiang, the headquarters of the third theater of the national army.

Huang Baitao walked into Gu Zhutong's office and saluted Gu Zhutong: "General seat." ”

Gu Zhutong rubbed his temples that were a little swollen, got up and asked, "What's the matter?" ”

Gu Zhutong thought that it was the group army below that asked him for military salaries, so he was a little unhappy

"There's a new situation." Huang Baitao handed over the telegram in his hand and said, "The Longkou Independent Regiment has just sent back a telegram detailing the situation of the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army in southern Anhui. ”

"Longkou Independent Regiment? The Anti-Japanese Salvation Army in Southern Anhui? Gu Zhutong was stunned for a moment when he heard this, in the past two days, he had been so busy with food and salary that he had forgotten about it, but he immediately remembered it again and said, "Oh, you're talking about Li Zihan's troops, he has arrived at Longkou?" Has the incorporation of the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army in southern Anhui been completed? ”

Huang Baitao shook his head with a smile and motioned for Gu Zhutong to read the telegram first.

Gu Zhutong stopped talking, lowered his head and looked at the telegram carefully.

The situation mentioned in the telegram is very different from Gu Zhutong's expectations, Li Zihan's independent regiment has not completed the incorporation of the anti-Japanese salvation army in southern Anhui at all, and the nature of the anti-Japanese salvation army in southern Anhui is very different from the previous judgment, this is not a bandit force at all, but was formed by a group of veterans of the national army.

Moreover, this group of veterans of the National Army still left the 74th Army of the Central Army.

Especially the captain of the 19th detachment of the so-called Southern Anhui Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army, Gu Zhutong is a little familiar, it seems that he has seen or heard of this name somewhere, but Gu Zhutong can't remember it all of a sudden, and immediately asked Huang Baitao: "This Xu 19, may he find his resume?" ”

Huang Baitao had already prepared, and immediately handed over the folder in his hand.

opened the folder, what was placed in it was Xu Shijiu's resume, Gu Zhutong glanced at Huang Baitao with satisfaction, Gu Zhutong was still quite satisfied with this cautious and capable chief of staff, and he was even thinking about whether to solemnly recommend Huang Baitao to the old man, and Huang Baitao would be the commander of the first army.

Xu Shijiu's resume is not much, only a few thin sheets of paper, but the weight is not light.

From the Northern Expedition to the Battle of Wuchang, until last year's Battle of De'an, this Xu 19 participated in more than a dozen battles, especially in the face of small Japan, the record is really good, whether it is the 128th Shanghai Anti-Japanese War led the dead soldiers to detour behind the enemy, whether it is the Songhu Battle to defend Luodian, or the Nanjing Defense Battle to defend Niushou Mountain, and then to the Lanfeng Battle to attack Fengxian County, Xiaozhuzhuang, and then to the De'an Battle to defend Niu Shidun, the performance is remarkable.

Such a general, if he was born in Huangpu, would have risen to prominence a long time ago.

However, it is a pity that Xu 19 was born in the 19th Route Army, so he has only been in the army for many years to be a major, after the victory of Wanjialing last year, all the other grassroots officers of the 74th Army have been promoted, but this person was swept away by Chen Shizheng, the new commander of the 58th Division, and it can't help but make people sigh.

It is precisely because of this that Xu Shijiu will leave the national army with a few veterans.

After reading Xu Shijiu's resume and then looking at the telegram sent by Li Zihan, Gu Zhutong found that Li Zihan was very cautious in his wording, and the word "incorporation" did not appear in the telegram.

Gu Zhutong pondered for a moment and asked Huang Baitao, "Chief of Staff, what do you think?" ”

"General seat, judging from the resume, this Xu Shijiu is not ordinary, whether he leads the troops or fights, he is a first-class good player, and he is not good at it, many people who graduated from Baoding Military Academy are far from being like this." Huang Baitao first objectively evaluated Xu Shijiu, and then said, "Li Zihan's independent regiment actually only has two companies, and if you really want to make a move, you may not be able to win the battle." ”

Gu Zhutong knew that what Huang Baitao said had some reservations, in fact, with Xu Nineteen's ability performance, not to mention the cadets of the Baoding Military Academy, as far as the cadets of the first five phases of the Huangpu Military Academy, there are few who can match such a character, it is not an exaggeration to say that he is arrogant for a while, Li Zihan wants to break his wrist with Xu Nineteen, it is not a question of whether he can win safely, but a situation of steady loss, he really brought a main force regiment to go, and the result is just afraid that it will be the same

It should be noted that both Gu Zhutong and Huang Baitao lack a clear idea of the specific strength of the 19th Detachment of the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army in Southern Anhui.

If Gu Zhutong and Huang Baitao knew that the 19th Detachment actually had less than half of the strength of the regiment, and the strength of this half of the regiment was still patchwork, purely in terms of combat effectiveness, Li Zihan's independent regiment was far stronger than the 19th detachment, even if it was more than the strength of the troops, the 19th detachment did not have much more people than the independent regiment.

It is precisely this kind of basic misjudgment, and Li Zihan did not figure out the specific strength of the 19th Detachment and reported it to the Third Theater Commander's Department for knowing, so Gu Zhutong and Huang Baitao came to the conclusion that Li Zihan's independent regiment could not incorporate the 19th Detachment of the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army in Southern Anhui.

At that moment, Gu Zhutong asked again: "Then Chief of Staff, what do you mean......?"

Huang Baitao said: "If you have to incorporate Xu Shixun's troops, it is not impossible, you can transfer a few divisions from Tang Shizun's group army, Longkou County is not particularly far from the defense area of the first group army, but what I am worried about is that if we are persecuted too much here, will Xu Shijiu fall to that side?" ”

"Over there?" Gu Zhutong frowned and said, "You mean...... New fourth army? ”

The New Fourth Army should be subordinate to Gu Zhutong's Third Theater in accordance with the battle sequence, but in fact, the New Fourth Army has never obeyed Gu Zhutong's orders, and Gu Zhutong has never imagined that the New Fourth Army can be mobilized; in the first year of the establishment of the New Fourth Army, the two sides were able to live at peace with each other, but since the end of last year, the two sides have begun to have frequent frictions.

By the summer of this year, there was a bit of tension between the New Fourth Army and the National Army.

The reason for the matter was actually very simple: the Communist Party carried out a struggle behind enemy lines, and they scattered the bones of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army on the veterans like seeds, and the Nationalist Government and Chairman Chiang originally thought that the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army would soon be gnawed away by the armed forces and bandits of the Little Japan and the Japanese-occupied areas.

However, the evolution of the facts caught the Nationalist Government and Chairman Chiang somewhat unexpected.

Far from being wiped out by the enemy, the bones of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army were scattered by the veterans, but on the contrary they took root and grew vigorously, and base areas behind enemy lines sprung up like mushrooms after a rain in the Japanese theater; according to the intelligence of the military command, the total number of large and small base areas established by the Communist Party has reached several dozen, and the regular army alone has grown to several hundred thousand

On the other hand, the Nationalist Government also sent a large number of Nationalist troops to enemy-occupied areas, and the size of its troops was dozens of times that of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, but the performance of the Nationalist Army was much inferior to that of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army.

Chairman Chiang saw that it would not be possible to continue like this, and that he would continue to let this situation continue, and that one day when the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was won, little Japan would be driven away, and China's richest areas of North China, Central Plains, East China, and Central China would all become the territory of the Communist Party.

Chairman Chiang's strategy was very simple: first, to send officials to the territory of the Communist Party to take over the exercise of political power, and second, to send people to recruit the militia in the base areas and fight for the fruits of the Communist Party. As a result, contradictions and frictions inevitably occurred, and the relationship between the two sides has become extremely tense until now.

Gu Zhutong has even instructed the General Staff to formulate a plan to exterminate the New Fourth Army.

At this juncture, Gu Zhutong of course didn't want to see Xu 19 and the Southern Anhui Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army fall to the New Fourth Army, especially Xu 19 is still such an officer who can fight, this person is really going to join the Communist Party, wouldn't the New Fourth Army be even more powerful? In the future, if a conflict breaks out between the two sides, it will be even more difficult for the national army to exterminate the New Fourth Army

Huang Baitao said in a low voice: "Boss, although this situation may not occur, it cannot be guarded against." ”

Gu Zhutong frowned and said, "Then what do you mean to withdraw Li Zihan's independent regiment from Longkou?" ”

"Is the military order child's play, since the Longkou Independent Regiment has been formed, there is absolutely no reason to withdraw from the defense area." Huang Baitao shook his head, and then said, "General, it is better to ask the Military Commission for a number for the Southern Anhui Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army, and include them in the sequence of the third war zone, and then integrate the Longkou Independent Regiment into the Southern Anhui Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army. ”

Gu Zhutong said: "This method is good, so it's decided." ”