Anti-Japanese War: From Becoming Chu Yunfei to Rising

Fifth War Zone, Laohekou Command Headquarters.

Li Pinxian, who had just taken over as acting commander-in-chief, stood in front of a huge battle map, his brows furrowed.

The telegram in his hand was Wang Jingzai's "righteous and awe-inspiring" "Declaration of Eastward Advancement".

"Nonsense! What a nonsense!"

Li Pinxian slammed the telegram on the table, her tone filled with annoyance.

After the Battle of Wuhan and the fall of Xinyang, the entire Fifth War Zone's defense line was forcibly split in two by the Japanese army along the Pinghan Railway.

After the Battle of Suizao, the main forces of the Fifth War Zone were also dispersed and deployed in the mountainous areas of northern Hubei and the Dabie Mountains on both sides of the railway, unable to support each other.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to support the Sixth War Zone in repelling the Japanese offensive, Li Pinxian and the General Staff devised a rather bold plan: to advance from the east and west with the main force of the Guangxi Clique, attempting to wipe out the Japanese strongholds along the Xinyang, Huang'an, Anlu, and Yingshan line in one fell swoop and re-establish communication between the east and west flanks.

This plan is crucial to the strategic lifeline of the entire Fifth War Zone and cannot be allowed to fail.

But now.

Wang Jinzai not only didn't help, but he even wanted to make things worse.

He actually decided to lead his remaining ten thousand soldiers eastward, regardless of the consequences, and plunge into the Dabie Mountains to cause trouble.

Isn't that just nonsense?
"What does he take our Fifth War Zone's defense area for?"

"His backyard?"

"Come when you want and leave when you want?"

Pointing to the map, Li Pinxian angrily addressed his generals, "If the Japanese army adjusts its deployment because of this, wouldn't that completely disrupt our army's plans?"

Zhang Yichun, who had just been promoted to acting commander-in-chief of the 21st Army Group, stepped forward and said, "Commander-in-Chief, please calm down."

"Commander, in my opinion, Wang Jinzai's actions are probably not so simple," he said in a deep voice. "His so-called 'attack on the Japanese invaders to the east' is nothing but a pretext!"

“What I’m worried about,” Zhang Yichun said, his tone becoming even more serious, “is that his real purpose is to take advantage of the fact that our main force is heading south and is engaged in fierce fighting with the main force of the Japanese 11th Army, leaving our rear forces vulnerable, to seize our territory!”

"Wang Jingzai is an unruly and ambitious man."

"He is now a stray dog, eager to find a new place to stay."

"Our defense zone in the Dabie Mountains is characterized by high mountains and dense forests, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. Moreover, it is far from the direct control of mountain cities, making it a perfect territory for him!"

This statement immediately received the support of everyone present.

Liu Heding, commander of the 39th Army and deputy commander-in-chief of the 21st Army Group, echoed, "Brother Jingbai is absolutely right!"

"This Wang Jingzai is an ungrateful wretch. Commander Li tried to win him over before, but what was the result?"

"We can't afford to be careless!"

“If he truly wants to defect to our Fifth War Zone, then defecting to Commander Li is no problem.” A ruthless glint flashed in Liu Heding’s eyes: “But he must obey our orders and arrangements!”

"Instead of doing what we're doing now, talking to ourselves and attacking wherever we want!"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Since the General Headquarters and the North China Command have already decided to send them to Nanyang for reorganization and training, they have disobeyed orders and instead advanced eastward without authorization. This in itself is a blatant disregard for military discipline!"

"Commander-in-Chief, why don't we issue an order to test him as well?" Zhang Yichun suggested. "Order his troops, after crossing the Xiang River (Han River), not to continue eastward, but to immediately turn north and launch an attack on the Japanese troops in the Jingshan and Zhongxiang areas!"

“Jingshan, Zhongxiang?” A glint flashed in Li Pinxian’s eyes.

He instantly understood Zhang Yichun's intention.

The Jingshan and Zhongxiang area was an important stronghold of the Japanese army on the east bank of the Han River, and also a key node connecting their Jianghan Plain with the Xinyang defense zone.

Sending Wang Jinzai to fight there has three advantages:

Firstly, it can verify whether Wang Jinzai truly intended to "resist Japan" and whether he was willing to obey the command of the Fifth War Zone.

Secondly, regardless of victory or defeat, it can greatly deplete Wang Jinzai's strength, turning this "fierce tiger" into a "sick cat" that is easier to control. Even if half of Wang Jinzai's troops are wiped out, as long as the unit number is still there, the Guangxi Clique can rebuild it.

Thirdly, and most importantly, Wang Jinzai's northward attack could combine with the main force of the Guangxi clique's offensive in the Sui-Zao corridor, forming a pincer movement from the north and south, providing the most direct support for the counter-offensive plan underway in the Fifth War Zone!
This is a brilliant three-birds-with-one-stone strategy!
"it is good!"

Li Pinxian pondered for a moment, then slammed his hand on the table: "That's how it'll be done!"

He gave the order to the staff officer beside him: "Immediately draft a telegram in the name of the Fifth War Zone Command Headquarters!"

"First of all, we highly commend Division Commander Wang Jinzai and his troops for their courageous fighting and perseverance in resisting the Japanese invasion behind enemy lines!"

"Secondly, tell him that our Fifth War Zone welcomes all friendly anti-Japanese forces to come and join us!"

"However, in order to coordinate operations and unify command, his troops are hereby ordered to turn north immediately after crossing the Han River and attack the enemy in Jingshan and Zhongxiang, in order to support the offensive of our main force on the northern front!"

After the telegram was drafted, Li Pinxian read it over again and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

He wanted to see how Wang Jingzai, this unruly "Tiger Wang," would react after receiving this telegram.
Japanese 11th Army, Puqi Forward Command Post.

Commander Yokoyama Isamu paced rapidly in front of the enormous battle map, muttering irritating curses under his breath: "Damn it! Wang Jinzai! What the hell is that bastard trying to do?!"

Half a day earlier, he was still engrossed in his plan to encircle and annihilate the Seventh Army of the Guangxi Clique.

Now, an urgent telegram from the front lines has completely disrupted all his plans.

Wang Jinzai, the unit he thought had fled north and disengaged from the battle.

Without warning, it turned east halfway through the journey, heading straight for the weakest point in his entire encirclement—the waist and abdomen!

This isn't right.

Wang Jinzai's troops should have gone to the rear to reorganize and replenish, so why did they suddenly attack eastward?
"Commander!" Chief of Staff Shimano Takeji's face was equally grim. "Wang Jinzai's troops are advancing in the direction that connects our army's Suixian to Anlu line! There are only two battalions on guard duty there, and not even a single reserve!"

There was nothing wrong with this deployment.

In the original plan, that area was a safe rear area where it was impossible for a large number of Chinese troops to be present.

Their battlefield should be in the Jiangbei area, but now, Wang Jinzai's tens of thousands of remnant troops are rushing there.

With the 128th Division's combat strength, even without heavy weapons cover, it was only a matter of time before they broke through the defensive line consisting of only two battalions.

"This is impossible!" Yokoyama Yuichi stopped abruptly, slamming his fist on the map, his eyes bloodshot. "This kind of insight, this ability to pinpoint the most fatal weakness in our defenses in the ever-changing battlefield, couldn't possibly be something a foolish warlord could do."

A name popped into Yokoyama Isamu's mind.

"Chu Yunfei!"

He practically forced those three words out through gritted teeth.

Wang Jinzai's extremely unusual maneuver aroused a terrible suspicion in Yokoyama Isamu's mind.

This was not Wang Jinzai's doing at all; there must be a deeper strategic consideration behind it.

Otherwise, how could Wang Jinzai have easily escaped the encirclement he had laid out?
How could they possibly strike his most fatal weakness with a single, precise strike?
"Your Excellency Commander"

Shimano Takeji also thought of this, and his face grew even paler. "If Chu Yunfei is indeed commanding this battle in Jiangbei, then our opponents are not just the Sixth War Zone and the Fifth War Zone."

Yokoyama Isamu's heart sank.

He looked at the map and fell into a fierce internal struggle.

West of Xinyang lies the main force of the Guangxi Clique, the Seventh Army under Zhang Gan, which is the number one enemy in this extended operation.

He was confident that he could defeat the main force of the Guangxi Army again in a short time, just like in the "Lihuang Campaign" two months ago.

After all, during the previous retaliatory sweep in the Dabie Mountains, Zhang Gan's troops' cowardice and avoidance of battle, as well as their efforts to preserve their strength, had already given him a clear understanding of the true nature of this so-called "steel army."

But now.

Wang Jinzai's isolated eastward-bound army became a thorn in his side, making him restless and uneasy.

Let it go?

Once he breaks through the defenses and penetrates into the Dabie Mountains to join other Guangxi troops, the entire battle situation will be completely ruined, plunging into an endless mountain guerrilla war, with no chance of eliminating him.

Should we divide our forces and encircle them?

How could he be sure this wasn't another trap set by Chu Yunfei to lure away his main force and create an opportunity for the Guangxi Army to launch a frontal counterattack?
After much deliberation, Yokoyama Isamu finally made up his mind: "First, eliminate this isolated army advancing eastward!"

His voice was filled with anger and ruthlessness at being mocked: "Pass on my order! The main force shall temporarily halt its offensive against the 7th Army of the Guangxi Army! Immediately turn around and encircle Wang Jinzai!"

A resolute glint flashed in Yokoyama Isamu's eyes: "If any unidentified combat force with overwhelming firepower appears on the battlefield, the entire army shall immediately retreat and construct a defensive line along the Yichang-Qianjiang-Yingcheng and Xinyang-Xiaogan lines, shifting to a defensive posture and preparing for a long-term standoff with the Fifth and Sixth War Zones!"

Clearly, Yokoyama Isamu, that old Japanese devil, preferred to abandon this long-planned annihilation campaign.

We must not allow the 11th Army to fall into Chu Yunfei's trap.

A telegram outlining the latest decision was urgently sent to the headquarters of the China Expeditionary Army in Nanjing. At the end of the telegram, Yokoyama Isamu also requested that the intelligence department find out the movements of the main Nationalist forces in North China, whether there had been a rotation of troops or a southward advance, and most importantly, to find out Chu Yunfei's whereabouts.

……

Hata Shunroku was equally perplexed as he looked at the telegram from the 11th Army.

"Kawabe-kun," he handed the telegram to Kawabe Shozo beside him, "what do you think?"

"Is Wang Jinzai's action truly, as Yokoyama-kun judged, the work of Chu Yunfei?"

After carefully reading the telegram, Kawabe Masazo pondered for a moment, but then offered a different perspective: "Commander, I think things might not be so complicated."

“The factional struggles within the National Revolutionary Army were intense, so it was understandable that Wang Jinzai was unwilling to continue north to a completely unfamiliar environment and live under someone else’s roof.”

"After all, intelligence indicates that his relationship with the mountain city has always been extremely poor, even to the point of resorting to violence."

"and."

Kawabe Masazo took out a new intelligence file from the folder, which was the confession of the defector brigade commander Gu Dingxin: "According to Gu Dingxin's confession, Wang Jinzai himself is a violent and suspicious person by nature."

Gu Dingxin said that he had a very good relationship with Wang Jinzai before, and that when the Chongqing authorities asked him to monitor Wang Jinzai, he immediately reported to Wang Jinzai.

Even so, Wang Jinzai still issued an order to secretly execute him not long ago.

If the messenger hadn't mistakenly delivered the secret order to his brigade headquarters, Gu Dingxin wouldn't even have known that his division commander wanted to kill him.

"It was precisely because of Wang Jinzai's tyranny and distrust that Gu Dingxin was ultimately driven to betray his country."

This statement provides a seemingly more logical explanation for Wang Jinzai's behavior.

Hata Shunroku listened, but his brows remained furrowed.

Can a person's tyrannical personality really explain such bizarre military operations?

It's hard to say, since there are quite a few precedents here.

Just like when the Japanese army in North China attacked southward, no one expected Han Fuqu to run away.

However, Chu Yunfei may very well intervene in this battle.

The more reasonable something seems, the more suspicious it is!

Wang Jinzai's stubbornness only made Hata Shunroku more suspicious that Chu Yunfei was deliberately creating a false impression using the information they already had.

Chu Yunfei likely anticipated how they would analyze Wang Jinzai's personality, and thus turned the tables on him, turning Wang Jinzai into a most unexpected and surprising force!
Hata Shunroku's fear of Chu Yunfei had penetrated to the bone. He stood up, walked to the map, and made his final decision in an unquestionable tone: "I agree with Yokoyama-kun's judgment!"

Reply! The deployment adjustment of the 11th Army is approved!

They were ordered to annihilate this Chinese army advancing eastward with overwhelming force; we could not afford to give them any chance, and we could not afford any defeat.

"In addition, order the air corps to go to the heart of North China to conduct reconnaissance to see if there is any large-scale troop movement. At the same time, have the intelligence department verify everything that Yokoyama Army has said and try to dispel his concerns as much as possible."

"Hai!"

At the same time, on the other side.

Chu Yunfei, in the 7th Army's front-line command post, was observing the Japanese army's deployment on a three-dimensional combat map.

Starting that afternoon, the Japanese army frequently adjusted its deployment, not only slowing down its offensive against the 7th Army's defensive line, but also shifting its overall strategic focus eastward.

The Japanese army did not seem to want to defeat the 7th Army that had launched the attack. They seemed to have accepted the loss of Zhongxiang and the surrounding area and instead focused on re-establishing the existence of the occupied area.

This aggressive yet cowardly fighting style was consistent with Chu Yunfei's previous assessment of the Japanese army.

Nowadays, the Japanese are no longer able to conscript soldiers on a large scale from within the country, and can only deploy large forces in certain areas. However, from the perspective of the overall war, their military strength is becoming increasingly thin.

In early 43, in order to increase its involvement in the Pacific War, the Japanese transferred five Class A field infantry divisions from the battlefield inside China.

That is, the fifteenth, twenty-seventh, thirty-sixth, and thirty-second periods.

Apart from the 27th Division being incorporated into the Kwantung Army.

The remaining four divisions will all be deployed to the Pacific theater.

The disastrous consequences of the troop shortage made the General Headquarters acutely aware that they were in a state of extreme troop shortage.

"Continental Order No. 757" clearly defined the occupied areas that must be maintained on the Chinese battlefield, while strictly ordering the China Expeditionary Army to refrain from large-scale offensive operations as much as possible.

Chu Yunfei was quite aware of this, and even suspected that the Japanese army had already issued similar orders.

This unconventional approach made him quite optimistic about the outcome of the upcoming battle.

"Report, we just received a message from the 39th Army that they have engaged in firefight with the 34th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Division stationed in the Yingshan area."

Chu Yunfei nodded, then focused his consciousness on the battlefield.

[Japanese 3rd Division - 34th Infantry Regiment (minus 3rd Infantry Battalion)]

Current organization level: 88%

Current combat strength: 3158 (4890)

[Currently the main light weapon in service: Type 99 rifle.]

[Currently mainly equipped machine gun models: Type 99 light machine gun, Type 92 heavy machine gun]

[Currently, the main supporting weapon models are: 50mm grenade launcher, 37mm direct-fire cannon, 90mm indirect-fire infantry gun (mortar), and Type 92 infantry gun.]

[Current primary equipment: Heavy weapons: None]

Current equipment status: Moderate

Current logistical support status: Good

[Current training level of this unit: Well-trained]

On the Japanese side, it was clearly a standard Class A division operational formation.

The equipment is also very good; it has everything you need.

As for the combat troops that launched the attack at this time.

He was a central military division under the command of the Guangxi clique.

[The 51st Provisional Division of the 39th Army of the National Revolutionary Army (Lin Maohua)]

Current organization level: 75%

Current combat strength: 6321 (7300)

Note: In 1942, the army underwent a reorganization in 1942. The division was organized with a strength of 7300 men. In addition to the three infantry regiments under its command, it had only one company each of cavalry, engineers, supply, and special service directly under its command.

Even a reinforced division would only have one more tank defense company, and the supply company would be reduced in size.

Although the Provisional 51st Division was a Central Army unit under the command of the Guangxi Clique, it was neither an reinforced division nor a Class A or Class B combat unit reorganized in North China.

[Currently the main light weapons in service: Hanyang Type 88 rifle, Zhongzheng Type 24 rifle]

[Currently, the main machine gun models in service are: Czech light machine gun, Qilai light machine gun, and Type 24 heavy machine gun.]

[Currently, the main equipment support weapons are: 50mm grenade launchers, 60mm mortars, 82mm mortars, and 37mm mortars.]

[Current primary equipment: Heavy weapons: None]

Current equipment status: Poor

Current logistical support status: Moderate

[Current training level of this unit: Initial training completed]

Chu Yunfei raised an eyebrow, racking his brains but still couldn't remember who Lin Maohua was.

In his memory, even after reading countless war histories, he had only ever seen this name once.

As for any other impressions, he had none at all.

"Pengcheng, do you have any information on Commander Lin?"

"Commander Lin was from Sichuan. He came from a military background and later studied at the Army University for a period of time. In 1933, he served as the chief of staff of the 92nd Division of the Army. The Provisional 51st Division could be considered a central army unit, but in reality, it was under the command of the Guangxi clique."

Currently, it comprises the First, Second, and Third Regiments, as well as a supplementary regiment and other directly subordinate units. The unit lacks heavy weapons and has limited offensive capabilities.

PS: There isn't much information about this person in 4V (presumably referring to a specific organization or organization), except that he served as chief of staff, commander of the Provisional 51st Division, and was later promoted to major general around 1948.
(From left to right: the attack directions of Zhang Gan's 7th Army, the 51st Provisional Division of the 39th Army, and the 56th Division of the 39th Army, commanded by Kong Haikun) (End of Chapter)