Liu Hai followed the reception staff into the conference room in a military uniform. This conference room is a large conference room in the Huangshan official residence, which was prepared by Chiang Kai-shek's special commission to convene a large-scale meeting. After Liu Hai came in today, he saw a lot of senior generals of the national army, among which Liu Hai knew Wang Yaowu, Liao Yaoxiang and others, and a large number of senior generals of the national army that Liu Hai didn't know! Judging from the scale and level of the meeting, this is a meeting of senior officers headed by the chairman, and Liu Hai has never participated in such a high-level meeting! Since he hadn't had time to receive the lieutenant general's uniform, Liu Hai was still wearing his major general's uniform, and the U.S. army had a set of lieutenant general's uniform, but Liu Hai was still unwilling to wear it, and in the face of this large number of senior generals, Liu Hai took the initiative to sit at the end! When the participants arrived, Chiang Kai-shek slowly walked out.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the reason why so many people have been summoned here today is because there is an important matter to discuss with you!" Chiang Kai-shek did not sit down, but walked to the large military map behind him! "Recently, the world situation has taken a big turn, the Soviet Red Army has begun a strategic counteroffensive, the German and Italian fascist forces in the North African theater have surrendered to the Allied forces, Mussolini has stepped down, the Italian government has surrendered, and the Japanese army in the Pacific theater has switched to strategic defense; The local counteroffensive of the army in the Chinese theater behind enemy lines, and the victory in the Battle of Changde on the frontal battlefield, one victory after another indicates that the Japanese fascists are facing the fate of complete annihilation! After saying this, Chiang Kai-shek changed his words: "However, in order to change the unfavorable situation in the Pacific theater and save the fate of defeat, the Japanese army wants to end the war against China as soon as possible and devote its forces to the Pacific theater." The Japanese army launched a large-scale campaign codenamed "Operation No. 1," and after the Battle of Central Henan, the Battle of Hunan, and the Battle of Guiliu, it successively captured parts of Henan, Hunan, Guangxi, and Guangdong, and destroyed seven Sino-US air bases and 36 airfields in Hengyang, Lingling, Baoqing, Guilin, Liuzhou, Danzhu, and Nanning. In the battle to defend the Hengyang airfield, the Chinese and US air forces stationed in Zhijiang flew 1,600 warhawks, shot down 66 Japanese planes, and killed more than 3,000 enemies. Recently, especially the US airfield at Laohekou in northern Hubei has been occupied by Japanese troops. The Zhijiang airfield, the only forward airfield of the US Strategic Air Force in China, which is large in scale and has a large number of fighters, has become a great threat to the strategic targets of the Japanese army. Zhijiang is the distribution center of military supplies and troop sources in various theaters in Xiangxi, and it is also the most important base for training troops and preparing for counteroffensives. If the Zhijiang River is lost, the Allied bombing of Japan will be greatly affected, and Chongqing will also be threatened. There are more than 2,000 combat personnel of the Chinese and US air forces stationed at the Zhijiang airfield, and the Chinese and American air forces taking off from the Zhijiang airfield on the side will inflict heavy casualties on the Japanese troops. In order to occupy the Zhijiang airport, maintain the communication between Hunan and Guangxi, Guangdong-Hanzhou, and the two railways, and establish a mainland fortress, the Japanese army concentrated four and a half divisions and a huge military force of more than 80,000 people, intending to capture the Zhijiang airport, and we decided to face the battle, which is the purpose of my call today! Chiang Kai-shek made the purpose of this meeting very clear!

"Chairman of the Committee, please give a combat order, and all the officers and men of our Fourth Front Army will do their best!" Wang Yaowu stood up and said. "Good! Very good! Chiang Kai-shek said, "But this time is different from before, the goal of the Japanese army is very clear, that is, to destroy the US airfield in Zhijiang, I just said, if Zhijiang is lost, the Allied bombing of Japan will be greatly affected, and Chongqing will also be threatened, so you can only succeed in this battle, not lose, because it is related to the survival of Sichuan, but also related to the safety of the capital, understand?" "Yes!" A group of officers shouted as if they had been beaten with blood. "Your mission is to defend the Zhijiang airfield and annihilate all the enemies who come to you!" Chiang Kai-shek said: "This time the combat establishment is very strong, and the army commander-in-chief He Yingqin personally commanded a major battle, all of which are the elite units of our National Revolutionary Army, and we just want to defeat the little devils hard!" Now I would like to introduce your commander-in-chief, Wang Yaowu, who has full command of the battle this time, and we have also strengthened the air force and artillery, the air force is naturally the fighter plane of the Allied forces, and in terms of artillery, I have called the famous Liu Shen Cannon in our national army, and he will cover for you! Bangs! ”

Liu Hai was listening intently at this time, for fear of missing a word, but what he didn't expect was that the chairman of the committee actually called his name. "The subordinates are here! I've seen you, sir! Bangs stood up straight and saluted! This battle is unprecedented in scale, and the 4th Independent Division of Division Commander Liu is our most elite artillery combat division, and it will provide you with the best fire support! Chiang Kai-shek said, looking at the bangs, very satisfied! The subordinates will fight hard and never disappoint the expectations of the chairman and the officers! Bangs said in an official dialect. Division Commander Liu cooperated with me during the Battle of Wuhan, and the name of the magic cannon is well deserved, and there is no problem with him in our artillery support! Wang Yaowu first said, "At that time, he was only a regiment commander, and now he is an independent division commander, and he deserves his name!" "Yes! I heard that Division Commander Liu sank a ship with one shot! Someone said. I also heard that Division Commander Liu's artillery killed the little devil's heavy artillery regiment at Kunlun Pass! For a while, the generals began to talk about it!

"This time, Division Commander Liu's troops are all under the direct jurisdiction of Commander Wang, and the reason why I want to introduce Division Commander Liu to you is to let everyone understand the determination of this battle, Division Commander Liu's artillery division is directly under the jurisdiction of the General Command, and all the armies of the Fourth Front Army are the trump cards of the national army, and it is because this battle determines the key to our counteroffensive. I hope that Master Liu can unite sincerely with all the generals and win this battle! Chiang Kai-shek said. If you don't succeed, you will be a benevolent! The generals said in unison. All right! I can't fight a war, I still have to rely on the generals, and the next thing is for your Commander Wang to tell you, Zuomin (Wang Yaowu), you can come and say! After Chiang Kai-shek finished speaking, he sat down! Everybody! Wang Yaowu stood up, walked to the military map, and began to announce his plan!

"This time, based on the information we have and the accumulation of information in peacetime, we have a general understanding of the Japanese army's plan: the Japanese army is commanded by Lieutenant General Ichiro Sakanishi Ichiro, commander of the 20th Army of the Japanese Army, to march to Zhijiang in three routes: the 34th Division of the South Road will attack Hongjiang from Xinning, Wugang, and Wuyang; The 116th Division and the 47th Division of the Middle Road advanced westward along the Shaoyu Highway from Shaoyang, surrounded and annihilated the Chinese troops at Dongkou, north of Wugang and east of Yuanshui, broke into the Anjiang River, and took the Zhijiang River directly; The 34th Division of the North Road attacked Xinhua, Chenxi, and Lipu; In addition, the 64th Division and the 68th Division made a feint attack on Ningxiang and Yiyang in order to contain the southward movement of China's northern Hunan army in an attempt to capture Zhijiang in one fell swoop. In view of the enemy situation of the Japanese army, my plan and deployment are as follows: With our Fourth Front Army as the main frontal force, the headquarters will be set up in Anjiang Town at the southern foot of Xuefeng Mountain, the 74th Army will build the main position of the decisive battle at the foot of Xuefeng Mountain, and the first part will build fortifications at Wugang, Shixiajiang, and Dongkou in the northeast of Xuefeng Mountain, and resist point by point; The 100th Army was equipped on the mountain pass and Longtan line at the eastern foot of Xuefeng Mountain; The 73rd Army was stationed in Xinhua and Anhua for defense; The 18th Army was stationed in Yuanling and Chenxi. Li Yutang's 27th Group Army of Tang Enbo's Third Front Army used a section to garrison the front line of Longsheng, Chengbu and Dong'an, blocking the Japanese army advancing north on Xianggui Road and Guisui Road. In addition, the 94th Army was stationed east of Wugang and the 10th Group Army in Changde Hanshou for defense, and Liao Yaoxiang's New Sixth Army was transported to Zhijiang to destroy the enemy in Wugang Xinhua to secure the Zhijiang Air Base. Our tactic is to defend first and then counterattack, first consume the enemy's sharp spirit with a resolute defense, and wait for the enemy's fatigue to counterattack on all fronts! The point of this plan is whether it can withstand the attack of the Japanese army! Wang Yaowu said his plan in one breath.

"I can stop it!" It was Lieutenant General Hu Lian who spoke, "The armies we participated in this campaign are all elite, one color of American-style equipment, plus the support of several air teams, there is no problem in blocking the Japanese army, not to mention the artillery support of Liu Shencannon, as far as I know, the Japanese are now not as elite as in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, many of them are half-grown children, and their combat effectiveness has been significantly reduced a lot, and they cannot be compared with us in terms of firepower, and it is absolutely no problem to block the Japanese attack!" "That's right, if you want to stop them now, there must be no problem!" "It's up to you to counterattack, as long as you move quickly, you can still fight a war of annihilation!" The generals began to speak their minds. Liu Hai listened to the words of these generals, and felt in his heart that Little Japan was indeed not good, he had never seen these people so proactive before, and he had never been so confident.

"If we can block their initial attack, then when counterattacking, my plan is for the Tenth Army to attack from the left flank, Liao Yaoxiang's Sixth Army from the right flank, and carry out a large-scale roundabout encirclement operation with Pulongtan as the goal. Wang Yaowu continued. "Okay, speaking of which, Commander Wang's plan is a process of defense and counterattack, the plan is clear and powerful, this time it will definitely be an unprecedented victory!" Towneburgh stood up and said. "Another point I want to say, when counterattacking, there will be a key point, that is, Wuyang, if Wuyang is lost, then the Japanese army may retreat eastward, and our counterattack will fall short, so a strong force is needed to garrison Wuyang!" Wang Yaowu pointed to a point on the map with his baton. "I have a candidate for Wuyang defense!" Hu Lian stood up and said.