I am Jiang Weiguo in World War II

Jiang Weiguo was meeting a military scientist at this time. His name was Zhu Jiaren, deputy director of the Machinery Department of the Chongqing Aircraft Factory, with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was an outstanding aeronautical engineer and aircraft designer.

"Mr. Zhu, I want to entrust you to set up a helicopter research institute and jointly develop helicopters with the Germans!" Jiang Weiguo cut to the chase.

Zhu Jiaren's eyes lit up immediately: "Helicopter?"

Jiang Weiguo nodded: "Well, a new type of aircraft that does not need a runway and can take off and land vertically is a completely different concept from the current fixed-wing aircraft!" He took out a stack of documents, "Almost all major powers have The development of this aircraft, Germany started a little late, but now it is at the forefront.

Aeronautical scientists such as Anton Fleitner, Heinrich Falk, Georg Wolff, and R. Schmidt in Germany have all made major breakthroughs in this area, fortunately..." Jiang Weiguo suddenly showed a sly smile "The German military's response to helicopters is very cold, so I plan to establish a helicopter research institute in Chongqing and invite German helicopter scientists to come to Chongqing. Mr. Zhu, as our scientific research representative in China, you will jointly develop with German experts. Zhu Sir, your task is to develop helicopters on the one hand, and on the other hand, use this cooperation to train more helicopter experts for us in China!" He said with a swipe of a pen and signed a check, "Here is 300 million U.S. dollars , give it to you as the first batch of funds, and come to me if you need anything in the future!"

Zhu Jiaren took the check and was very excited: "Okay, I will definitely complete the task!" He thought for a while and asked, "Is our helicopter developed for the military?"

Jiang Weiguo smiled and said, "Of course, right now our country is number one in war and the front line, and helicopters must be the same.

Mr. Zhu, although helicopters also have broad prospects for civilian use, they are currently being developed as military weapons.

You also know that there is a huge gap between our national and military strength and that of Japan. We can only make up for it by developing asymmetric weapons, and helicopters are one of the important projects.

Also, Mr. Zhu, helicopters should focus on the development of transport aircraft first, and don’t expect to develop armed combat helicopters!” Jiang Weiguo knew very well that although helicopters had been invented during World War II, they were limited by the technical level and their performance was not high. It is possible to launch an overwhelming low-altitude attack on the enemy's ground personnel and tanks like the Black Hawk and Apache of later generations. Helicopters in World War II are very fragile and can be shot down with anti-aircraft machine guns. The level cannot develop light and strong bulletproof alloy armor for helicopters, so Jiang Weiguo intends to focus on the development of transport helicopters.

Zhu Jiaren stood at attention solemnly and saluted: "Leave it to me!"

Jiang Weiguo replied with a smile and said, "Do it well!"

Zhu Jiaren is the "father of Chinese helicopters" in history. He began to officially develop Chinese helicopters in 1944, and it took only one year to develop China's first "Hummingbird" helicopter in the autumn of 1945. A world first, surpassing the best American helicopters of the time.

As for the helicopter development situation at this time, Germany is the number one in the world, and countries such as the United States, Britain, and France are making slow progress. As for the attitude of the German military, the German Air Force is basically not interested in helicopters, because the helicopters at this time are still in their original state. There are a lot of them, and there is no prospect of development. The German Navy was originally very interested in helicopters, because the German Navy originally planned to develop aircraft carriers and naval aviation units, and the commander-in-chief of the German Air Force, Goering, declared that "everything that can fly in the whole of Germany belongs to me." However, when Jiang Weiguo was sent to Germany as an envoy, he "guided the maze" for the German navy. Now the German navy has no idea about the aircraft carrier. I lost interest, and turned all my interest and energy to submarines and missiles (rockets/missiles), and naturally lost interest in helicopters.

Jiang Weiguo can just "take advantage of the situation" and come to use Chu Caijin, so that German helicopter experts can "bloom the fragrance of China in Germany".

After sending away the smug Zhu Jiaren, Jiang Weiguo went to Zijin Mountain to inspect the 918th regiment that had just returned from the Pingjin front.

After the Battle of Pingjin, the national army suffered a crushing defeat on the battlefield in Hebei Province. Hundreds of thousands of troops were chased and beaten by the Japanese army.

Among the more than 50 national troops that participated in the Battle of Pingjin, more than 15 people were killed or injured. After retreating to southern Hebei, the troops belonging to the Great Northwest Army, the Small Northwest Army, and the Northeast Army rested on the spot to build a "Yellow River Defense Line" to prevent the Japanese army from advancing. Further southward invasion on the North China battlefield, the Jinsui army retreated to Shanxi Province and built the "Taihang Mountain Line of Defense" to prevent the Japanese army from Hebei Province from invading Shanxi Province to the west, while the Central Army troops retreated southward and returned to Nanjing.

The withdrawn Central Army units included Xue Yue's 19th Group Army, Tang Enbo's 13th Army, and Jiang Weiguo's 918th Regiment and 10th Artillery Regiment.

——The "Yellow River Defense Line" uses the Yellow River as a natural barrier. The troops on the north bank of the Yellow River are composed of the Great Northwest Army, the Small Northwest Army, and the Northeast Army. The troops on the south bank of the Yellow River are Han Fuju's Shandong Province Lu Army. The purpose of the defense line is to prevent the Japanese army from crossing the Yellow River and invading Shandong Province, Henan Province and other places. Provinces and other places are fully in charge of the second theater.

"Why are there so many horses?" Although he was mentally prepared, Jiang Weiguo was still heartbroken when he saw the miserable appearance of his carefully built troops, but he was also very curious, because the 918th regiment brought back thousands of horses .

Du Yuming smiled and replied: "Do you remember the 29th Cavalry Division of the 9th Army? Jian Hao, you are very accurate. The division commander Zheng Dazhang is indeed a traitor. After a certain loss, he became a little half-hearted. First, he was obedient and disobedient, passively avoiding the battle, and then directly turned into disobedience and disrespect, and fled the battle. Tong Junzuo scolded him 'running really fast on four legs', in order to prevent this guy's thousands of horses from collapsing. Being the black sheep, we intercepted and disarmed him in another unauthorized retreat, devouring his cavalry division!"

Jiang Weiguo smiled: "Well done.

Was it Song Junzuo's order to you? "

Du Yuming laughed again: "No, we made our own decisions, but Song Zheyuan had nothing to say, after all, it is a fact that Zheng Dazhang retreated without authorization.

The armored soldiers chased and killed the cavalry, needless to say the result, Zheng Dazhang wanted to resist stubbornly, but was beaten to death by us, and his subordinates surrendered one after another, with a total of more than 3000 cavalry.

We screened them out, and according to the principle of voluntariness, there were 3000 or [-] cavalrymen who expressed that they would follow us in the future, and we returned all the other cavalrymen to Song Zheyuan. The extra war horses were brought by us to carry supplies, which enhanced our transportation capacity.

After the chairman learned about this, he rewarded us and revoked the designation of the 9th Cavalry Division!"

Liao Yaoxiang interjected next to him: "During the Great War in the Central Plains, this guy Zheng Dazhang led a cavalry raid on the airfield of the Central Army in Guide (Shangqiu), burned more than ten planes of the Central Army, and almost captured the principal who was supervising the battle in Guide, the principal It's time to clean him up now!"

"We can set up a cavalry regiment!" Sun Liren said, "The extra horses will be added to the supply camp!"

"Okay, this matter is on me!" Jiang Weiguo followed suit.

Asking Chiang Kai-shek for the number of a cavalry regiment was a no-brainer for Jiang Weiguo. In addition, Jiang Weiguo knew that the cavalry began to fall behind as early as during the last world war, but the cavalry was still very much in line with China's current "war of resistance" , the firepower of the Japanese army is incomparable with that of the US and German troops, and the Chinese army also lacks mobile strike force (the best mobile strike force is the tank force, but there are not so many tanks at all), and the cavalry is struggling in the mountains, forests, swamps, rivers and other tanks. The environment still has great advantages and cannot be discarded across the board.

第918团共有1.7万余名官兵前往平津参战（有二3000人是第128团支援的或后续赶去补充的），累计伤亡了近1.4万人，其中阵亡者超过6000人，重伤致残者超过4000人。

"Oh! It really became a regiment!" Jiang Weiguo was very sad. The original size of the 918th regiment was equivalent to a reinforced division. At this time, it truly became a regiment.

"There are still more than 3100 brothers in the regiment!" Liao Yaoxiang said, "More than 4000 of the injured brothers are disabled, with broken hands and feet, blind and deaf. Going to the battlefield, there are still more than 3000 brothers who can recover and return to the battlefield. After two months, when these brothers recover from their injuries, the whole regiment can recover to more than 6000 troops!"

"We also lost heavy weapons!" Qi Xueqi said, "We lost two-thirds of our tanks, and Peng Mengji's heavy artillery regiment also lost nearly half of their artillery!"

The more Jiang Weiguo listened, the more heartbroken he became.

"Don't be too sad!" Sun Liren comforted Jiang Weiguo, "After this fierce battle, the brothers who are still alive have accepted the baptism and test of blood and fire, and have become true veterans of hundreds of battles.

This army has both soul and bones, and it has been sublimated compared to before!"

"Ying Zuo, there is no one who survives a war!" Zhao Zhihua, the deputy battalion commander of the First Armored Battalion named by Jiang Weiguo, said with a smile, "As long as you die well, it will be worth it! At least 1 Japanese troops were killed by us. The Japanese army lost 4 people on the Pingjin battlefield, a quarter of which were killed by our regiment.

If it weren't for the night attack that fell short, our losses would have been much smaller, and the results would have been much greater!"

"Oh?" Jiang Weiguo asked curiously, "What night raid?"

Yi Shuihan, deputy chief of staff of the First Battalion, sighed and said: "On August 38, the Japanese army captured Tianjin. General Zhang Zizhong's 2000th Division was almost exhausted. When the whole division left Tianjin, there were only more than 11 people left. Immediately after the Japanese captured Tianjin, they dispatched elite troops to the south of Beiping overnight, trying to outflank our army's rear and cut off our army's retreat. Because the Japanese army's front line was very long, General Xue keenly discovered that the Japanese independent [-]th mixed brigade was in the Bazhou area. It was located at a protruding point on three sides, so we hurriedly dispatched our regiment to intersect the rear of the Japanese brigade, firstly to relieve the Japanese threat to the rear of Beiping, and secondly to create a fighter plane that could completely wipe out the Japanese brigade.

Our regiment set off immediately, but at Sanshengkou in the northeast of Bazhou, it was ambushed by the Japanese army. At least three artillery divisions launched a violent shelling on our regiment that seemed to have been planned for a long time, which caused our regiment to suffer very heavy losses. The entire regiment was almost caught in the front and back attack of a mixed brigade and a main division of the Japanese army, and even was completely surrounded. At the critical moment, Du Tuanzuo ordered our regiment to abandon the breakout on the flat ground and turn around and rush towards the Japanese independent 11th mixed The brigade, instead of fighting at night, forced the Japanese artillery group to be unable to continue shelling.

In the middle of the night in the scuffle, our regiment lost a total of six or seven thousand brothers, but also killed at least four thousand Japanese soldiers. The bloody battle lasted until dawn. With the reinforcements of the air force planes and the full rescue of General Xue, our regiment was able to break through without the entire army being wiped out. However, the Japanese army's outflanking operation to the rear of Peiping also failed. Peiping was soon surrounded by the Japanese army on three sides. After struggling for twelve days, Peiping had to be abandoned, otherwise our 10,000+ main force would be surrounded in Peiping up!"

Jiang Weiguo nodded: "You are all doing well.

Next, take a good rest in Nanjing!When you recover your vitality, the defense of Nanjing will probably begin!"

Du Yuming and other officers nodded solemnly.

In early September, the Japanese army began the first large-scale increase of troops to the Songhu battlefield.

When the Battle of Songhu broke out, only the 3rd and 11th Divisions and some affiliated troops participated in the battle. On September 9, the 13th Division arrived in Shanghai to participate in the battle. Five days later, the 6th Division arrived in Shanghai to participate in the battle. The 16th and 12th Divisions, which were planned to be transferred to the North China Dispatch Army, received an order to go to Shanghai to participate in the war on the same day. At the same time, the Japanese Army officially launched the fifth military expansion after the establishment of the Japanese modernized army in order to "full-scale the war between Japan and China." , the 13th, 15th, 17th, and 18th Divisions that were dismantled in the "Ugaki Disarmament" 1 years ago were ordered to rebuild. The 8st, 9th, 14th, and 101th Divisions were successively established on the basis of the reserve soldiers of the divisions, and the independent 108th Mixed Brigade, which had "worked hard" on the Pingjin battlefield, was expanded and formed into the 109th Division.

Before the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese Army had a total of 17 divisions. At this time, it increased to 26 divisions. According to the plan of the high-level Japanese army: 2 divisions in Japan, 1 division in the Japanese-occupied Korean Peninsula, and the remaining 23 divisions. Regiments can be put into the Chinese battlefield.

It is worth mentioning that the Japanese army also had more than [-] puppet Manchukuo troops, nearly [-] Japanese Taiwanese troops, and tens of thousands of Japanese Korean troops to assist in the battle (the puppet Manchukuo troops participated in the war in the name of an independent army, and the Japanese Taiwanese troops and Japanese The Korean army is part of the Japanese army, because Taiwanese and North Koreans/Koreans are now nominally Japanese with Japanese nationality.

).

Due to the tenacious resistance of the Chinese army and targeted and efficient tactics, although the 3rd and 11th Divisions of the Japanese Army gained a firm foothold at Wusongkou, they still struggled to advance inland. General Matsui had to give up his initial "" Taking Wusongkou as a hotspot, luring a large number of Chinese troops to Wusongkou, and then sending the next batch of landing Japanese troops to land at Chuanshakou and quickly outflank the rear of the Chinese army at Wusongkou, so as to realize a large-scale mass annihilation battle", and then quite Reluctantly, the 9th and 13th Divisions, which arrived in Shanghai for the second time, landed at Chuanshakou, with the purpose of expanding the Japanese army's foothold in Shanghai.

Since most of the elite Chinese troops in Shanghai were at Wusongkou or were supplemented to Wusongkou, Chuanshakou’s defensive strength was somewhat insufficient. Therefore, the landing operations of the Japanese 9th and 13th Divisions were relatively smooth. Yuepu Town, Baoshan Town, Both Luodian Town and Lion Grove were involved in fierce fighting.

Tokyo, the official residence of the Minister of War.

In the reception room, the Minister of War, Gen. Sugiyama, looked at the visiting major general in front of him with displeasure and anticipation.

This person is not very popular in the Japanese military circles, because he is proud of his talent and speaks freely, so he offended many people, but the reason why he is proud of his talent is the direct reason for his brilliant talent and wisdom.

This major general is Wanji Ishihara, the "No. [-] strategist in the Japanese military" after Nagata Tieshan, the "No. [-] brain in the Japanese military."

Before the July [-]th Incident, Ishihara Wanji was the head of the First Department (Operation Department) of the Japanese Army Staff Headquarters. After the July [-]th Incident broke out, he strongly advocated the "non-expansion policy" and opposed "all-out war against China". The overall general trend of the war was against the general trend, so he was dismissed from his position as a minister, and then received an order to be transferred to Northeast China to serve as the deputy chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, which meant that he was kicked out of the Japanese military's high-level command center and sent away Sit on the bench in remote areas.

After receiving this order, Ishihara Waner was silent for a whole day, and then came to visit General Sugiyama Gen.

"Ishihara-kun..." General Sugiyama Moto said calmly, "Why do you need me? I'm busy!"

Ishihara narrowed his eyes and looked at Moto Sugiyama: "Your Excellency is very busy, I understand very well, because this is not what I expected.

The imperial army is in a dilemma on the front line in Shanghai, and has repeatedly lost soldiers and lost generals. I am afraid that your Excellency has not slept peacefully for several days, right? "

General Sugiyama Moto immediately changed his face, because Ishihara Waner's words were indeed ugly, and there was a hint of irony in his words.

"What's the matter?" General Sugiyama Moto said coldly.

Ishihara Wan'er's expression suddenly became very serious, and his tone and attitude became respectful: "Your Excellency, I don't want to go to Manchuria to serve as the deputy chief of staff of the Kwantung Army. I want to go to the front line in Shanghai. Please approve!"

"Oh?" General Sugiyama Moto was suddenly surprised. Ishihara Wanji was firmly opposed to a full-scale war between China and Japan, but now he took the initiative to ask to go to the Chinese battlefield, which is surprising.

"General Matsui is an expert in tackling tough battles. His Shanghai Dispatch Army has been fighting for more than half a month. Although it can be regarded as a small achievement, it has always been at a disadvantage and passive in terms of the overall battle situation and strategy.

In just over half a month, the Imperial Army has lost [-] soldiers in Shanghai, occupying an area of ​​only tens of square kilometers, not even getting close to the city center of Shanghai!" Ishihara Waner stared closely at General Sugiyama Moto, "Minister Your Excellency, it is not impossible for the imperial army to conquer Shanghai with such a desperate fight, but how much time will it take and how much will it cost?Will the Imperial Army's Shanghai offensive ultimately outweigh the gains?Shanghai is playing so hard and slowly, let alone Nanjing?As far as I know, when General Matsui left the empire, he made bold promises to fight in Nanjing!"

General Sugiyama Gen was silent for a while, although he was eager for success, he would not be fooled by profit.

"Ishihara-kun, what's your opinion?" After acquiescing to Ishihara Waner's prediction, General Sugiyama Moto showed a rare attitude of not being ashamed to ask questions and listening attentively.

"Admiral Matsui can barely be regarded as a tactician, but he is by no means a strategist. His strategic vision is too narrow, and his eyes have been fixed on Shanghai. However, Your Excellency, the Battle of Shanghai is by no means a simple city offensive and defensive battle. A strategic battle!" Ishihara Waner hit the nail on the head, "The Imperial Army is indeed a bit petty in Shanghai, and has no strategic boldness!"

"Ishihara-kun, are you trying to persuade me to give up the Shanghai Raiders?" General Sugiyama Moto seemed to have heard something harsh.

Shi Yuan smiled and shook his head: "Of course not.

Your Excellency, please forgive me, the Imperial Army’s strategy in Shanghai is already a done deal, or it’s... a tiger, it’s hard to get off, it’s not worth the loss if you give up now, on the contrary, you can only push forward with all your strength, but you have to change your tactics!”

General Sugiyama Moto's heart moved: "Ishihara-kun, do you have any good ways to break the deadlock in Shanghai?"

"It's better than fighting hard now!" Ishihara nodded with a smile.

General Sugiyama Moto pondered for a while: "I can let you replace Major General Iinuma Mori as the chief of staff of the Shanghai Dispatch Army.

Ishihara-kun, I hope you will live up to expectations!"

"Your Excellency, Minister..." Ishihara Wan'er did not show joy, but his expression became more dignified, and even worried, "Since ancient times, military generals have been fighting to the death, and civil servants have been fighting to the death. I know that my theory on China is not in line with it." Your opinion, but today, I still want to risk your anger, and even risk the world, to speak out to you again.

Your Excellency, the imperial army should be satisfied with taking Shanghai, not to mention the full annexation of China, and even Nanjing should not be coveted.

The empire is like a gambler at this time. If you lose, you want to make money, and if you win, you want to win again.

Restraining the greed in the heart is not only a mature manifestation of a person's self-cultivation, but also a mission of a person to fulfill his greatest responsibility for his country.

Your Excellency, after taking Shanghai, the imperial army must stop! "

General Sugiyama Moto looked at Ishihara Wanji, and he understood what Ishihara Wanji meant. From Ishihara Wanji's point of view, Ishihara Wanji was actually doing his best to prevent Japan from completely falling into the quagmire of war or even embarking on the path of defeat. s hard work.

Suppressing the anger and disgust in his heart, General Sugiyama Moto said indifferently and indifferently: "Okay, Ishihara-kun, I know what you want to say. The next step after the imperial army takes Shanghai is to The decision should be made based on the overall situation after the war in Shanghai.

As for whether the imperial army can take Shanghai, it needs your best efforts, I will wait and see.

Everything will be discussed after the imperial army takes Shanghai!" After speaking, General Sugiyama Moto waved his hand impatiently and issued an order to expel the guests.

Ishihara Wanji bowed to General Sugiyama Moto, and then left the Minister of War's residence with a heavy heart.

Chapter 186 Tragedy Controversy

Facing the increase of Japanese troops, the national army also dispatched troops correspondingly. Chiang Kai-shek himself served as the commander-in-chief of the third war zone, and divided the hundreds of thousands of national troops on the Songhu battlefield into three armies. The troops were commanded by Lieutenant General Zhang Fakui and were in charge of operations in southern Shanghai (currently only for defense, because the Japanese army had not yet launched an attack on Hunan). The central troops were commanded by Lieutenant General Zhu Shaoliang and were in charge of operations in Shanghai. Command, in charge of operations in the northern Shanghai area where the current war broke out.

The Japanese army increased its troops, and the national army also increased its troops. In addition to the 9th, 5th, 8th, 10th, 15th, and 21st armies that had participated in the battle or were about to arrive on the battlefield in the original plan, Xue Yue's troops who had withdrawn from the Pingjin battlefield The 19th Group Army and Tang Enbo's 13th Army were also transferred to the Shanghai battlefield (these two central armies did not suffer great losses in the Battle of Pingjin, because although Xue and Tang also attacked the Japanese army, they certainly would not spare as much as Jiang Weiguo did. On the Pingjin front line, it is not passively avoiding war and preserving strength, but implementing Chiang Kai-shek's instruction to "use the local army to block bullets in front of the Central Army"). In addition, the six divisions of the Sichuan Army and the three divisions of the Yunnan Army are also rushing to the In Shanghai, at the same time, the reserve army and reserve army in the two provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang received orders to march to Shanghai. More than [-] reserve troops and reserve troops were behind the regular army and were ready to supplement the regular army at any time.

Due to the end of the Battle of Pingjin, the situation in North China fell into calm, while the army in Shanghai continued to gather. China and Japan had the momentum of "decisive battle in Shanghai" for a while.

After Wusongkou and Chuanshakou were successively captured by the Japanese army, the combat mode completely evolved from landing and anti-landing warfare to offensive and defensive warfare, positional warfare, and tug-of-war. Beginning in mid-September, Baoshan Town, Yuepu Town, Luodian Town, All the important towns on the inland defense line of the national army, such as Shizilin, turned into flesh and blood mills where the two armies fought desperately.