Anti-Japanese War: From Becoming Chu Yunfei to Rising

Chang Ruiyuan leaned back in his chair.

He had just ended a less-than-pleasant meeting with Stilwell, but at least managed to temporarily calm down his hot-tempered ally.

Just now.

Chief Attendant Zhu Peiji strode in, holding a telegram in his hand.

“Chairman,” he said with a strange expression, “a secret telegram from Chief Advisor Chu of the Hubei-North Front Command.”

"Oh?" Chang Ruiyuan became interested. "What is it about?"

He had thought that Chu Yunfei would take advantage of the great victory to make some bold suggestions on the war zone deployment or even national policy.

However, when he took the telegram and unfolded it, his expression was quite strange.

The telegram did not contain any major military or national affairs or tactical analysis; instead, it was a letter of recommendation.

A letter of recommendation from Chu Yunfei to Lin Maohua, the commander of the Provisional 51st Division, requesting commendation.

Lin Maohua

Chang Ruiyuan chewed on the unfamiliar name, his eyes filled with inquiry. "Who is this person? I don't seem to recognize him."

He handed the telegram to Zhang Zhizhong, who was standing next to him.

"Wenbai, take a look."

"He's not one to praise people easily."

"This is the first time he has ever praised a commander he had no prior dealings with so highly in front of me."

Zhang Zhizhong took the telegram, read it carefully, and a thoughtful expression appeared on his usually serious face.

"Decisive in action, undaunted by difficulties, and deeply embodying the 'attack' spirit of our army, such a valiant general and strategist should be entrusted with important responsibilities." He read aloud slowly, then looked up at Chang Ruiyuan, "Chairman, this telegram is probably not as simple as it seems."

Zhu Peiji cautiously interjected, "Chairman, I dare to guess that Chief Advisor Chu's actions are probably not what they seem."

"Go on," Chang Ruiyuan nodded slightly, signaling him to continue.

"Your Excellency, what do you wish to say?"

Zhu Peiji walked to the huge battle map and pointed to the pursuit route south of Xinyang. "The great victory at Xinyang has caused the Japanese Third Division to collapse and flee south. It is the best time to strike a fallen enemy."

"General Advisor Chu is a man of swift and decisive military tactics; he would never let such a golden opportunity slip by."

"He would definitely advise the main force of the Guangxi clique to pursue the enemy across the board."

He paused, then changed the subject: "But now, he is only praising the commander of this provisional division, without mentioning the other main forces of the Guangxi clique, such as Zhang Gan of the 7th Army and Liu Heding of the 39th Army."

Zhang Zhizhong instantly understood the key point, and a glint of light flashed in his eyes!
"Not mentioning a single word speaks volumes!" he continued, his voice steady. "This shows that during the pursuit operation, only Lin Maohua resolutely carried out the orders of the General Headquarters!"

"And others"

Zhang Zhizhong sneered: "I'm afraid they're all just paying lip service while secretly resisting, cowering and refusing to move forward!"

Zhu Peiji immediately added, "Chairman, this makes sense."

"After the Guangxi clique troops won the battle of Xinyang, they thought about preserving their strength and were no longer willing to consider the overall situation of our country."

"Chief Consultant Chu is angry, so he took the opportunity of rewarding Lin Maohua to complain to you!"

"That's enough, that's enough." Chang Ruiyuan waved his hand wearily. "These people from the Guangxi clique are ultimately hopeless."

Chang Ruiyuan paused, seemingly unwilling to discuss this troubling topic any further, and instead asked, "What about western Hubei?"

"Any good news over there?"

"Yes! Chairman!"

Zhu Peiji quickly presented another battle report, his voice becoming more invigorated, "We just received an urgent telegram from the Sixth War Zone!"

"Our counter-offensive is progressing smoothly!"

"The Japanese 13th Division and part of the 17th Mixed Brigade have been successfully encircled by our 74th and 30th Armies in the area east of Yuyang Pass!"

"Good!" Chang Ruiyuan slammed his hand on the armrest, stood up again, and his face regained its radiance. "How is the battle going?"

"Our troops are in high spirits!" Zhu Peiji's voice was filled with joy. "According to Commander-in-Chief Sun's telegram, our troops have divided and surrounded the enemy and are gradually compressing their living space. If the Japanese do not retaliate, it is expected that this stubborn enemy force will be completely annihilated within three days! The situation is excellent!"

"Okay! Okay!"

A flame of hope was rekindled in Chang Ruiyuan's eyes.

If western Hubei can win a decisive battle, then this campaign, which has lasted for more than two months, will be successful.

Ultimately, it ended in victory for the National Revolutionary Army.

Just then, Zhang Wenbai spoke up again, reminding him, "Chairman, what about northern Hubei?"

Chang Ruiyuan was unwilling to deal with the mess in northern Hubei anymore.

"Sending a few telegrams to reprimand them is enough; after all, Xinyang has indeed been liberated, and the results of this battle have far exceeded expectations."

obviously.

Chang Ruiyuan only intended to express his stance and did not want to delve any deeper.

Upon hearing Chang Ruiyuan's words, Zhang Wenbai was immediately rendered speechless.

I had a guess in my mind.

Chang Ruiyuan most likely wants Li Pinxian and Chu Yunfei to face off directly.

And he, on the other hand, continued to be the high and mighty arbiter.

This kind of ingrained thinking is destined to offend both sides completely.
-
The battlefield in western Hubei.

Wangjiazui front line.

On the muddy path, soldiers of the 17th Independent Mixed Brigade were marching swiftly through the heavy dampness.

They had already evacuated to the police station.

However, after receiving orders to support the 13th Division, they immediately turned towards Wangjiazui to try to block the encircling 74th Army.

just.

What the 17th Mixed Brigade's search squadron didn't expect was that an unexpected encounter awaited them ahead.

Deep in the mountains, Chen Dali, the company commander of the 4th Company of the 2nd Battalion of a certain unit of the 74th Army, was crouching behind a thick pine tree with a tense face, carefully observing the situation ahead through binoculars.

Through the binoculars, the figures of Japanese soldiers could be seen scattering and advancing.

Clearly, this was the Japanese army's vanguard reconnaissance unit.

"Damn it, they came so fast!" Chen Dali cursed under his breath, a fine layer of sweat beading on his forehead.

His company, as the spearhead of the attacking force, had just seized this high ground and was preparing to deploy machine gun positions to cover the main force of the battalion's follow-up attack.

Unexpectedly, they ran right into the Japanese army ahead of schedule.

"First rank, immediately seize the high ground on the left!"

"Second platoon, spread out and build a defensive line using the woods!" Chen Dali put down his binoculars, his voice low and urgent: "Third platoon, grenade launchers, prepare fire!"

The order was relayed instantly.

These soldiers of the 74th Army, worthy of being a "campaign attack force" directly under the General Headquarters, moved cleanly and quickly, dispersing rapidly.

They quickly searched for cover among the pine forests and rocks, setting up heavy machine guns on concealed high points and salients that could cover the Japanese advance route.

The Japanese army clearly also noticed the abnormality.

A sharp whistle suddenly rang out in the valley, and their formation instantly shifted into an offensive one.

The vanguard quickly spread to both sides of the hillside, attempting to seize advantageous terrain.

"Grenade launcher! Prepare to fire!" Chen Dali shouted again.

The three rows of grenade launcher operators were already prepared.

They crouched in concealed craters, quickly adjusted the firing angle, and loaded the ammunition into the cold muzzle.

"put!"

At a command, several grenades, trailing a slight hiss, sliced ​​through the air and landed precisely in the direction of the Japanese troops!

"Boom! Boom!"

The Japanese soldiers at the forefront were thrown into the air by the shockwave or torn apart by shrapnel before they even had time to scream!
Grenade launchers continuously bombarded the direction of the Japanese troops.

The Japanese search squadron reacted extremely quickly, instantly deploying into an attack formation.

"Heavy machine guns, provide suppressive fire!"

Chen Dali roared and howled into the microphone.

“Da da da da—!”

Several Maxim heavy machine guns deployed on the high ground on the left emitted a dull and deadly roar!

The dense barrage of bullets instantly pinned the Japanese vanguard troops down in the valley, preventing them from raising their heads!
The Japanese commanders were also experienced, and they quickly organized a counterattack. Grenade launchers and light machine guns spewed fire fiercely from both sides of the valley, attempting to suppress Chen Dali's firing positions!

"Be careful!"

"Grenade launcher, mark out the Japanese firing positions!"

Chen Dali was pressed close to the tree trunk when a stray bullet whizzed past his helmet, making his ears ring!

The firepower of both sides instantly intertwined, turning this mountain forest into a veritable meat grinder!
The Japanese search squadron was not large in number, but they reacted extremely quickly after being ambushed.

Using the mountainous terrain, they attempted to disperse and encircle the enemy, bypassing their firing points to infiltrate.

However, the soldiers of the 74th Army were also well-trained and had powerful firepower.

In a typical skirmish, this tactic would be enough to crush the opponent.

nowadays.

The Japanese army's adjustments only brought them even stronger firepower suppression. Having played too many easy matches, the Japanese army found it difficult to adapt to this level of combat intensity.

"Third squad, to the right front, there are infiltrating Japanese soldiers. Let them in and fire. Use grenades to deal with them."

"Sixth Platoon, flank them from the side! Don't let these dozen or so Japanese soldiers escape. I reckon they're a squad. Try to wipe them out!"

The company and platoon commanders calmly directed their respective troops.

With their relative familiarity with the terrain and the infantry tactics promoted by the North China Joint Command, they were able to achieve this.

Like a spider web, it tightly stuck to and separated the infiltrated Japanese troops!
Every brief engagement, every intense close-quarters battle, means that lives are lost in an instant.

Chen Dali gritted his teeth as he watched his squad leader beside him being hit by a grenade launcher and fall into a pool of blood.

He didn't even have time to feel sad before he threw himself back into observing and commanding the battlefield!

Bang, da da da!

Boom~!

Led by the communications officer, the platoon leader of the second platoon of the fourth company approached Chen Dali: "Company Commander Chen, we have come to provide support on the orders of the battalion commander!"

"Alright, you go and reinforce the platoon on the left high ground. The Japanese army has just launched several attacks, and they have suffered considerable casualties. As long as we hold our high ground, the Japanese devils won't be able to break through."

"Yes!"

"Kill these damn Japanese devils!"

"Kill them!"

Half an hour later.

"Retreat! Retreat!"

Finally, the roars of the defeated Japanese troops echoed through the valley.

The Japanese search squadron suffered more than half its casualties, and reinforcements from the National Revolutionary Army had already arrived.

This forced them to retreat.

A full-strength search squadron quickly retreated after leaving behind dozens of corpses.

Chen Dali was panting heavily, his whole body already soaked in sweat and gunpowder smoke.

He looked at the smoke-filled valley and at his brothers who were equally exhausted but filled with the joy of victory, but he felt no relief.

He knew this was just the beginning.

Even fiercer battles were yet to come.
They were still nearly 100 miles away from the target public security line—Songzi—as designated by the war zone command.

There will be no shortage of such battles along the way.

Lengshuipu, military headquarters.

News of the fierce fighting in the Wangjiazui direction arrived on Wang Yaowu's desk in less than an hour and a half, like the most urgent military intelligence.

He glanced at the brief battle report and then abruptly stood up from his chair.

"Counterattack?" Wang Yaowu walked to the huge battle map, his eyes fixed like a hawk on the red arrow representing "turning back" of the 17th Independent Mixed Brigade: "No! This is not a counterattack. Immediately order the 58th Division to advance towards Nuanshui Street and Wangjiachang to support the 51st Division's battle."

His keen sense of smell, honed by years of battle, allowed him to instantly discern the true intentions of the Japanese army.

"Commander," Liao Lingqi, commander of the 58th Division, stood to the side, his expression equally grave, "The Japanese are trying to relieve the 13th Division that we have surrounded!"

"That's right!"

Wang Yaowu nodded heavily, a ruthless glint in his eyes. "They want to tear a hole in our encirclement and pull people out. We can't do that."

"Make sure to instruct all units at the front to ignore any flanking attacks."

"Increase the attack! Continue the assault on the police direction!"

"Keep the 17th Brigade firmly in place and do not allow them to advance an inch!"

"Yes!"

At the same time the order was issued, a telegram reporting the enemy situation was also sent to the headquarters of the Sixth War Zone.

After doing all this, Wang Yaowu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He sat back down in his chair, waiting for Sun Lianzhong's call back. In his view, his response was perfect.

However, he did not receive any commendation from Sun Lianzhong.

But what he received was a military order from the Hubei-North Front Command that left him speechless.

The confidential staff officer handed over the translated telegram, his expression extremely strange.

Wang Yaowu took the telegram and unfolded it.

"Your unit is hereby ordered to immediately abandon the encirclement and annihilation of the enemy in front of you. The 51st Division is to block the 17th Independent Mixed Brigade, while the 57th and 58th Divisions are to advance past the enemy in two steps and make a high-speed incursion towards Xizhai and Xinhe to block the retreat route of the 13th Division."

He read the telegram three times, and he could read every single word clearly.

"Bypassing the enemy?"

"Attack Xizhai and Xinhe?" he muttered to himself, then suddenly looked up at the equally shocked chief of staff, his voice trembling, "What is the General Headquarters trying to do?!"

"Is this a plan to let the 17th Mixed Brigade escape so they can focus on wiping out the 13th Division?"

Liao Lingqi gasped, his voice filled with disbelief: "The General Headquarters' appetite is far too big!"

Wang Yaowu didn't speak, but stared intently at the map, his brain working at a rapid pace.

This order from the headquarters can no longer be described as "bold".

This is absolutely insane!
They treated the entire 74th Army, this vital national asset, as a scalpel, intending to perform a fatal and almost impossible piercing through the gaps in the dense Japanese defenses!
"Commander-in-Chief."

"The risk is too great. If our infiltration fails, or we get bogged down by the Japanese, then our 74th Army will be surrounded and annihilated!"

Wang Yaowu remained silent.

His finger slowly slid across the map, taking in the entire battlefield situation.

"How many troops do we have?" he suddenly asked.

"Commander, in the area surrounding Yichang, including the river defense forces, the 30th Army, and ourselves, our army has more than 80,000 combat-ready troops!"

Where are the Japanese?

"After a series of bloody battles and retreats, the total strength of the 13th Division, the 39th Division, and the Field Detachment was less than 25,000 men."

"Even including the 17th Mixed Brigade that is currently returning to reinforce, their forces have been completely divided and surrounded by us!"

"Meanwhile, our 128th Division of the 44th Army is also advancing towards the Wangjiachang area on our flank."

A look of understanding instantly appeared in Wang Yaowu's eyes.

He got it!

What a lunatic!

"What they want is not simply to wipe out the 13th Division!"

Wang Yaowu suddenly picked up a red and blue pencil and drew a red line on the map along the designated route!
That red line will be like a sharp blade, crossing the 17th Mixed Brigade and cutting the entire battlefield in two along the Songzi River!

Wang Yaowu's voice trembled slightly with extreme excitement, "He's going to surround the main force of the entire Japanese Eleventh Army!"

Once the 74th Army had penetrated into position, it cut off the Japanese army's retreat.

Then, the main force of the Guangxi clique, which was attacking Xinyang from the south, could march westward without any scruples!

At that time, the main forces of the Japanese 13th and 39th Divisions will be completely surrounded in the narrow triangular area of ​​Yichang, Yidu, and Shipai!

That will be an unprecedented war of annihilation!

Genius or madman?

Wang Yaowu muttered to himself, feeling his blood boiling.
"Commander, are we following orders, or..."

"This is an excellent opportunity. If we can truly cripple the main force of the Japanese 11th Army, the Japanese invaders will never again be able to run rampant on our land." (End of Chapter)