12dz Chapter 177 Wei Junru: Where are my soldiers?
Chapter 177 Wei Junru: Where are my soldiers?
As October approached, the situation for the Japanese became increasingly difficult.
The war in the Pacific became increasingly stalemate, and the defense lines of the islands were in jeopardy, forcing the headquarters to withdraw troops from the Qian Kingdom battlefield to reinforce the Pacific defense line.
Not only did the situation in the Pacific gradually deteriorate, but the strength of the invading forces in China was also constantly being depleted, with rivers of blood flowing and heavy losses.
Although the number of divisions under the various armies is still large, most of them are garrison divisions. The elite Type A divisions like those at the beginning of the war have long become "rare treasures" and are rarely seen.
Even many second-line divisions, because of their outstanding field combat capabilities, have become the darlings of various fronts and armies, and have become the "leading ladies" and "hot commodities" of various armies and fronts.
With such strength, let alone destroying the mountain city or wiping out the Eighth Route Army in North China, it is questionable whether they can completely eliminate the Loyal and Patriotic Army entrenched in Central China.
The headquarters of the invading army, which commanded millions of devils all over the land of Qian, finally realized a terrible fact - "straight into the mountain city and completely destroy China" was no longer possible in this war.
From the bold statement of "conquering China in three months" to the current "three years and another three years", it seems that complete victory is still a distant dream.
The Chief of Staff of the Expeditionary Force, Matsui Takehiro, had to admit that although Japan's ground fighting in Qian Country had never stopped, the "Locust Country" had actually been defeated on this land.
But Fuso had supported the invading army for so many years, spent so much money, and sent so many people, and Matsui Taikuro said: "We have lost, and withdrawing can reduce the losses."
His only fate was to be "punished by heaven as a traitor to the country" by the Showa young players and shot away with a few shots.
Therefore, Matsui Takeuchi had to think hard and formulate some battle plans to show the headquarters that the expeditionary force was still working.
When talking about the attack, the radical staff officers below proposed a series of unrealistic plans - "30 troops to encircle and wipe out the Eighth Route Army base", or "50 troops to advance westward along the Yangtze River and attack the mountain city directly", which gave Matsui Takeuchi a splitting headache.
He could almost imagine that these Showa young generals had their heads filled with fantasies and had no idea of the practical issues behind the strategy.
Matsui wanted to pry open these people's skulls and ask them harshly:
"Don't large armies need food and fodder when they're on the move? Don't they need ammunition and supplies during battle? How much food would a 50-man army consume in three months? Do you really think the enemy will bring these rations to your door? Are you going to let these troops eat grass? Or catch fish in the river?"
(Henan, Hunan, and Guangxi National Army: Oh, you are absolutely right. We not only sent food but also weapons.)
It happened that at this time Matsui Takeuchi received a telegram from Pegu.
At this time when Pegu was about to be attacked in an all-out manner, the commander of the Southern Army, Terauchi Hisaichi, asked Matsui Takeuchi to cooperate with Pegu to launch an offensive operation to contain the preserved fruit.
So Matsui Taikuro acted decisively and formulated a battle plan that pretended to advance westward into Sichuan and threaten the mountain city, but actually attacked Changde, Hunan Province along the Yangtze River.
(This was the only strategic-level cooperation between the Japanese troops in Qianguo and the Japanese troops in Nanyang in history. The subsequent Henan, Hunan and Guangxi were completely dominated by the Japanese troops in Qianguo showing off, the national army getting beaten, and the Japanese troops in Nanyang also getting beaten)
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As time slowly passed, the devils in central China quickly mobilized a large number of troops and eagerly prepared to launch an offensive to tie down the Yunnan Expeditionary Force before the end of the rainy season in Pegu, so as to prevent the national army troops in western Yunnan from launching a full-scale attack.
In the blink of an eye, by the end of October, as the time for the general offensive approached, Wei Junru's command post had moved forward to a place only 30 kilometers away from Tengchong, almost close to the front line.
The troops of the Yunnan-Western Expeditionary Force had now assembled across the board, ready to launch a fierce attack on the enemy at any time.
Before, after Zhao Zizhuo returned from Pegu, although he himself did not take Zhang Chi's reminder seriously, his duty as a soldier and as a liaison required him to relay Zhang Chi's words verbatim.
He had thought that General Wei, a veteran of the battlefield, would just laugh off the words of the young man Zhang Chi, but unexpectedly, Wei Junru nodded after listening and slowly uttered a meaningful sentence: "Great minds think alike..."
In fact, based on Zhang Chi's reminder from historical summaries, Wei Junru, as a veteran on the battlefield, had already thought of this.
It’s just that due to objective factors, there are many things that Wei Junru can’t do just because she wants to.
However, this time with Zhang Chi's assistance, the troops currently on the front line have urgently trained in the use of flamethrowers and blasting tubes, and have strengthened the armored bulldozers and bazookas supported by Zhang Chi in key attack directions.
Everything seems to be moving in the right direction.
Wei Junru had already started to think in her mind that as long as Zhang Chi's troops in western Yunnan could launch an offensive smoothly and cooperate with the 1st Army in the Xinpingyang direction to launch an attack, she would also be ready to launch a coordinated attack at any time.
By then, the Japanese in Pegu will be surrounded on all sides, facing attacks from multiple directions, with insufficient manpower and no support, and will inevitably fall into the quagmire of defeat.
However, just as the attack horn was about to be sounded, adjutant Zhao Zizhuo brought a piece of news that made Wei Junru's face change slightly.
"The 11th Army stationed in Jiangcheng, E Province, has recently begun to gather. Its main force, the 3rd Division, recently left its base and advanced westward. According to reliable intelligence, the 13th Army stationed in Shanghai has also dispatched brigade-level troops toward Jiangcheng. In addition..."
Zhao Zizhuo and his staff quickly drew a map on paper, densely marking the currently known Japanese numbers on the map of the Yangtze River on the west side of Jiangcheng.
卫俊茹看着这些番号，轻声念叨：“第 3 师团、第 13 师团、第 34 师团、第 39 师团、第 58 师团、第 68 师团、第 116 师团、第 17 混成旅团，光已经探明的番号就有7个师团1个旅团，山雨欲来啊。”
"Over 10 devils! Are they going to attack Xingcheng (the capital of Hunan Province) again?"
Zhao Zizhuo pointed at the map. "I can't rule this out. Of course, they could also attack the mountain city up the river. The Japs have prepared quite a few boats this time. I'm afraid they have other plans."
After hearing this, Wei Junru smiled contemptuously, her voice full of disdain: "Impossible, absolutely impossible."
He lightly traced his finger across the map. "From Jiangcheng to Shancheng, there are tens of thousands of miles between us. How could the Japs be so stupid? They'd have to be crazy to send their troops on such a long expedition."
He paused, his eyes still determined. "I guess their target this time is just a few cities around Dongting Lake. It's impossible for them to attack the mountain city directly."
However, Zhao Zizhuo frowned and said, "But now there's news that the Japanese may be moving up the Yangtze River and heading straight for the mountain city. This is intelligence from Wang Ni's secret agents, and it's very convincing."
Wei Junru's smile froze instantly, and a feeling of unease welled up in her heart.
He stared at Zhao Zizhuo closely, was silent for a moment, and suddenly felt a chill rising from his spine.
He suddenly realized a terrible fact: the people above were still in the mountain city. If he knew that the Japanese might be targeting the mountain city, then...
Just as he was lost in thought, hurried footsteps were heard outside and a messenger rushed into the command center in panic.
Wei Junru looked up and frowned, "What's going on?"
"Your Excellency, Your Excellency, this is bad. The two armies on the front line have suddenly withdrawn." The messenger said breathlessly, with obvious panic in his voice.
Zhao Zizhuo's face immediately turned cold, and he scolded, "How can you be so flustered? How can you be so flustered?"
Then he turned around and asked, "They retreated without orders. Do they want to be punished by military law?"
The messenger raised his head and answered anxiously, "They said they received a top-level order to immediately return to Chuncheng and head north to provide support. The brothers were unable to stop them. The order came so suddenly that no one could react..."
Wei Junru was stunned for a moment, her mouth slightly open, and she stood there as if she had been struck by lightning.
For a moment, he couldn't find the right words to express his anger and confusion.
He was clearly the commander of the expeditionary force, wasn't he? How come his troops were transferred away, and he, the commander, was kept in the dark?
What's the point of fighting this war?