When Xu 19 strode into the division headquarters, Feng Shengfa was discussing the battle situation in front of the sand table with the deputy division commander He Lingxiao, the chief of staff Yang Shaoren, and the two brigade commanders Fang Riying and Zhu Qi. ”

Yang Shaoren smiled at Xu Shijiu, and then said: "Division, I think that the commander-in-chief along the Nanxun Line and Ruiwu Road deployed this outer eight-character defense line is still very powerful, the small Japanese attack the left road, then the right road, the right road, the left road, the middle road is both left and right, it can be said that the head can not take care of the stomach, although I dare not say that the copper wall is ironclad, but it is not far behind." ”

Fang Riying and Zhu Qi nodded again and again, and Deputy Division Commander He Lingxiao suddenly looked at Xu Jiu and said, "Ah Jiu, your vision has always been vicious, what do you have this time?" ”

Xu Shijiu looked at Feng Shengfa with his eyes, and Feng Shengfa smiled and nodded.

Xu Shijiu didn't have a trace of politeness, and said loudly: "Commander-in-Chief Xue put down this outer eight characters, the left side is backed by the rear, the depth is broad, and the right side relies on the natural danger of Lushan, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. ”

Feng Shengfa, He Lingxiao, and Yang Shaoren didn't answer, these are what they have all seen, and they believe that Xu Shijiu will definitely have the following next.

"But ......" Sure enough, Xu Shijiu Yufeng turned around and continued, "Commander-in-Chief Xue's right side is still a little thin, Ou Zhen's 4th Army, Li Yutang's 8th Army, and Li Jue's 70th Army are arranged along the western foot of Lushan Mountain, which can indeed increase the depth of defense, but it lacks flank protection. ”

Yang Shaoren frowned and retorted: "Behind the right side is Lushan Mountain, is it possible that Little Japan can still climb over Lushan and sneak attack the 4th Army, the 8th Army and the 70th Army?" ”

The whole Lushan is northeast-southwest direction, the South (Chang) Xun Railway passes through the northwest foot of Lushan, from the map, the 4th Army, the 8th Army and the 70th Army along the Nanxun line echelon unfolded, behind the Lushan natural danger, so there is really no need to worry about the little Japan will cross the Lushan sneak attack behind them.

Xu 19 did not refute, only used a bamboo pole to draw an arc on the sand table, from Jiujiang to Poyang Lake, straight into Xingzi County in the north of Lushan, and then drew a big fork, Zuihou said in a deep voice: "Little Japan's consistent trick is that once the front is blocked, it will detour to the flank, and this time I am afraid it will not be an exception. ”

"Weishenme is Xingzi County? And not Dean? Yang Shaoren picked up the bamboo pole and drew another arc, from Jiujiang to Poyang Lake directly into De'an, and then said, "The Japanese army can go directly to the outside of De'an by taking the Poyang Lake waterway, and if you occupy De'an, you can directly cut off the Nanxun line. ”

Xu 19 said: "De'an is an important town to control the Nanxun line, and it is also the throat of my L Corps, so there will inevitably be heavy troops stationed, if the Japanese army directly flanks De'an, the war may fall into a stalemate, not only will it not be able to shake the national army in front of the Nanxun line, but the Japanese army attacking De'an may also be surrounded by the national army in De'an. ”

After a pause, Xu Shijiu continued: "And the flank attack on Xingzi County is different, Xingzi County is on the side of Lushan, once the Japanese army captures Xingzi, it can directly capture Mahuiling through Hot Spring Town, once Mahuiling is lost, the 41st, 8th and 40th armies on the front of the Nanxun line will definitely be shaken on the whole line." ”

"Makes sense." Feng Shengfa nodded and said, "Xingzi is indeed the weak point of my Lth Corps. ”

Yang Shaoren did not have a battle of will with Xu Shijiu, and immediately proposed to Feng Shengfa: "Master, it is better to immediately telegraph to Commander-in-Chief Xue and strengthen the defense of Xingzi County as soon as possible." ”

Xu 19 also continued: "Division, you'd better make another suggestion to Commander-in-Chief Xue, concentrate all the artillery of all armies and divisions under the L Corps, and deploy them on the commanding heights of all peaks of Lushan Mountain, as well as heavy machine guns, it is best to establish heavy machine gun positions on each hill that controls the Nanxun line, and with the help of the terrain, it will inevitably kill and injure a large number of Japanese troops." ”

Feng Shengfa thought for a while and said categorically: "I'll go to De'an and propose to Commander-in-Chief Xue in person." ”

In fact, without waiting for Feng Shengfa's proposal, Xue Yue had already discovered Xingzi's weak point in defense.

Although Xue Yue's L Corps had nearly 300,000 officers and men in more than 20 divisions of 10 armies, because Chairman Chiang adopted a one-sided resistance strategy and placed too much emphasis on not giving up an inch and fighting for every inch of land, this forced the Nationalist Army to fortify everywhere and divide troops everywhere.

Before the battle began, it was very difficult to judge when and in what direction the little Japan would attack, but there were certain laws to follow in the war, and with rich experience, Xue Yue still judged that the Japanese army would inevitably launch an attack on the other side of the lake after capturing the mouth of the lake.

The reason is very simple and sufficient, the area north of the Yangtze River to the south of the Dabie Mountains is too narrow, at most one division can be deployed, and the main army of small Japan cannot be deployed, and attacking Wuhan along this line will allow the national army to use the lofty mountains and mountains of the Dabie Mountains to launch endless attacks on the Japanese army's logistics supply lines, and the Japanese army will be exhausted.

Therefore, little Japan must have crossed Poyang Lake and continued to attack Wuhan along the south bank of the Yangtze River.

The back of Jiujiang is the Yangtze River, and the belly is the water surface of Poyang Lake, the Japanese army can quickly assemble and mobilize troops with the help of the navy, and has strong naval artillery fire support, so Jiujiang is categorically unable to hold, Xue Yue proposed to the Wuhan Command to abandon Jiujiang, and the Command finally acquiesced to Xue Yue's request.

After occupying Jiujiang, Little Japan will face two different choices: one is to continue to attack northwest along the south bank of the Yangtze River and penetrate directly into Wuhan; The second is to take Nanchang along the Nanxun line, and then go west out of Xinyu and Yichun, rush to Changsha, make a strategic detour, cut off the Guanghan Railway in one fell swoop, and cooperate with the Japanese army in Jiangbei to encircle the main force of the national army in Dahuguang.

As the commander-in-chief of the 1st Corps, Xue Yue did not need to worry about the first situation, because if the Japanese army continued to the west along the Yangtze River, it would enter the defense area of Zhang Fakui's Corps, and Xue Yue had to consider the second scenario, once the Japanese army moved south along the Nanxun line, how should his 1st Corps contain the offensive of small Japan.

Xue Yue is still confident in the frontal positions on the front line of Shahe, Jinguanqiao, and Huanglaomen, and the only thing he is worried about is the back of the L Corps, especially the Xingzi on the side of Lushan, which is the weak point of the entire defense system, Xue Yue is hesitating whether to transfer the 74th Army or the army to Xingzi to strengthen the defense.

"Report." The adjutant suddenly came in and reported, "The 58th Division Feng Shengchang asks to see him." ”

"Feng Shengfa? He came just in time. Xue Yue immediately made up his mind, Xingzi couldn't afford not to defend, and it seemed a bit extravagant to transfer the 74th Army up, and it was appropriate to transfer the 58th Division to go, so he immediately instructed the adjutant, "Please let him in." ”

In fact, Xue Yue still had a consideration when he wanted to transfer the 58th Division to guard Xingzi, and he wanted to take the opportunity to unify the military order.

There are many factions within the national army, the big ones are He Yingqin and Chen Cheng's civil engineering department, the small ones are Hu Zongnan and Tang Enbo's family, and the extinct ones are Zhang Zhizhong's guard department.

The memory left by the defeat in the Battle of Lanfeng was too unforgettable for Xue Yue, and he never wanted to repeat the mistakes of the past.

Therefore, before the war, the first thing Xue Yue had to solve was the issue of the unification of military orders, Xue Yue knew very well that his background and origin were always a problem, because he was a Cantonese native, and Chairman Jiang was famous for hating Guangdong generals, and Xue Yue was able to become the commander-in-chief of the 1st Corps because Chairman Jiang really couldn't find anyone else.

Xue Yue had reason to worry that there would be another Gui Yongqing in the Jiujiang-De'an battle.

Xue Yue knew better in his heart that several group army commanders, corps commanders, and more than a dozen corps commanders of the L Corps might not look at him squarely, and when the battle was fought to the point where the troops needed to block the guns and make sacrifices, these army commanders, corps commanders or commanders were likely to refuse to carry out the order, so Xue Yue wanted to kill a chicken first to show this group of monkeys.

The chicken selected by Xue Yue is Yu Jishi, this is a chicken that is more difficult than a monkey.

Xue Yue wanted to split the 74th Army and transfer Feng Shengfa's 58th Division to defend Xingzi, Yu Jishi, who had been promoted to the commander of the 36th Army Corps, was of course unhappy, the 58th Division was Yu Jishi's starting force, Yu Jishi had always regarded the 58th Division as his own territory, and how could Xue Yue be involved? But the 58th Division was nominally subordinate to the L Corps after all, and Yu Jishi did not dare to disobey his orders, so he went through the door of Chen Cheng, the commander-in-chief of the Ninth Theater of Operations, through his uncle Yu Feipeng, and asked Chen Cheng to put pressure on Xue Yue.

Chen Cheng knew that Yu Ji was an old Jiang Hongren, so he mentioned it to Xue Yue.

But Xue Yue was ruthless this time, and the evil consequences caused by the inconsistency of the military orders of the various departments of the Warring States Army of the Lanfeng Society taught him too profound, Xue Yue knew that if he wanted to win the battle of Little Japan, if he wanted to fight a turnaround battle in Jiujiang and De'an, the military orders of the L Corps must be unified, and examples like Gui Yongqing, Huang Jie, and Long Muhan must not be repeated, so when Chen Cheng euphemistically said that he could transfer Leng Xindi's division to Xingzi, Xue Yue categorically refused.