I am Jiang Weiguo in World War II

Since the Japanese want to fight, we will fight to the end.

In fact, we can fight the Japanese army in this battle while retaining some strength.

Father, please tell me, how many elite troops of the national army are there now? "

Chiang Kai-shek replied: "About fifty divisions, 60 people!"

It has been more than eight months since the outbreak of the Battle of Nanjing. Chen Cheng, who was in charge of reorganizing the army, continued the army reorganization affairs that had not been completed before the war, and achieved great results.

In more than eight months, it is more than enough to train millions of young and middle-aged recruits. The biggest problem is weapons and equipment. Fortunately, the rear arsenal of the national army was strengthened a lot by Jiang Weiguo before the war, so the output is higher than in the original history. Much bigger.

According to Jiang Weiguo's "elite soldier" standard, an infantryman is equipped with at least one medium-sized rifle (or captured 98-type rifle or purchased 60k rifle) and fifty rounds of ammunition, and trains for half a year. There are about [-] in Rio, which are his lifeblood, and he is reluctant to use them for fear of losing them all.

"You should send at least [-] divisions to join the battle!" Jiang Weiguo was not polite, "Besides, these [-] divisions secretly dispatched [-] veterans to stay in Wuhan before they came to Xuzhou!"

Chiang Kai-shek was very surprised: "Why?"

Jiang Weiguo replied: "The Japanese will only see that father you transferred forty elite divisions to join the war, and see a large number of designations, but they don't know that these divisions have left part of their strength in the rear.

Whether a division has 1 people or 7000 people, can the Japanese still investigate one by one?They only saw forty elite divisions of the national army coming to Xuzhou to fight, and that was enough!"

Chiang Kai-shek was moved by Jiang Weiguo.

When the 10th Division of the Japanese Army captured Taierzhuang, the [-]th War Zone of the National Army ushered in a mighty and continuous large number of reinforcements, and all of them were direct troops of the Central Army. The dense numbers made the Japanese who collected intelligence dazzled. up.

就以集团军为单位，国军共有30个集团军，其中：第1、第3、第11、第21、第22、第23、第27集团军已经在徐州前线，第2、第4集团军在豫北，第5、第8、第24集团军在浙江，第6、第7、第13、第14集团军在晋南，第12集团军在广东，第16集团军在广西，第17集团军在青甘宁，第25集团军在福建，第26、第28、第29、第30集团军在川渝两湖江西。

正在向徐州开拔的中央军共有五个集团军，分别是第9、第10、第15、第19、第20集团军，这五个集团军总计38个师、8个旅，满员总兵力超过50万。

The news that "China's army is increasing its troops to Xuzhou on a large scale" and "almost all of them are from the Central Army of Chiang Kai-shek's lineage" made the generals in the temple and other high-level Japanese army overjoyed.

"Great! Chiang Kai-shek was fooled!" "The Battle of Taierzhuang completely paralyzed him! He started to have delusions!" "He is going to have a decisive battle with the imperial army in Xuzhou!" This is a great opportunity for the main force of Chiang Kai-shek's Central Army!" The top Japanese army officers were excitedly celebrating.

The fish caught in the net, but the fish was too fat and too big, which made the general in the temple feel uneasy in addition to joy. The Japanese fishing net is so big, since a whale got in, it must not be able to eat it.

Knowing that more than 50 Chinese Central Army had rushed to Xuzhou to join the war, the general in the temple was both happy and worried. He hurriedly asked the Tokyo headquarters for "at least three more divisions."

The request of the general in the temple made the Tokyo headquarters deeply embarrassed. Three divisions and 8 to [-] people are not too many. The state of the division is over, and some people have no money, so naturally they can't fight.

Although the Tokyo base camp really wanted to reject the request of the general in the temple, he couldn't help the attractive prospect after the success of the "Xuzhou siege" and "Xuzhou mass annihilation battle": the main force of the Chinese army's central army was basically destroyed, and then the Japanese army could easily Occupy Henan Province, Anhui Province and even Hubei Province, eat up the vast territory of two or three provinces in China in a very short period of only two months, and even threaten Wuhan. Suppression, the imperial government only needs to give up half of the provincial territory to make the Chinese government surrender, and can completely turn China into a slave state of the empire in the next "Germany, Japan and China Triple Alliance", if you continue to fight, "China The government's temporary capital, Wuhan, is already in front of the imperial army, and the imperial army can fight if it wants to, completely controlling the initiative of the war." If it continues to be consumed, "two out of three of the elite lands of the Chinese government are occupied by the imperial army. , the empire is confident enough that China will be exhausted, and in just one year, the imperial army in China will be able to "support war with war", and it will also feed back the empire's local economy and promote the rapid growth of the empire's local economy."

Lieutenant General Yoshijiro Umezu, Minister of the Army, went to find the Minister of Finance (Minister of Finance) and Minister of Commerce and Industry Ikeda Chengbin, and demanded "immediately increase the military expenditure of no less than one billion yen for the Army." The lion of the unreasonable robber opens his mouth to blackmail."

Although Chengbin Ikeda actively supported Japan's external expansion and worked hard to develop Japan's military industry, he had to refuse the army's request from the Arabian Nights.

"Your Excellency, even if you put your saber around my neck, I can't afford so much military expenses!" Ikeda Chengbin spread his hands helplessly.

"Your Excellency, Minister! This is your duty! Please be sure to provide enough military expenses!" Lieutenant General Meizu's tone was gentle, but his attitude was tough, and he did not allow Ikeda Chengbin to bargain.

Ikeda Chengbin was at a loss what to do. Being forced to have nowhere to go by the military, he scratched his head anxiously. He was almost desperate to find ways to "get money". On the one hand, he asked the big chaebols and big companies in Japan On the other hand, he borrowed money at high interest rates, and extended loans to foreign powers.

It's a pity that Japan has few friends in the world, and the Japanese government's poor and arrogant face of "taking advantage of it and relying on it" is well known, so almost no country is willing to lend to Japan, only one country Extended the "Hand of Friendship A Friendship Sees the Truth in Adversity" to Japan.

This country is the Soviet Union that just gave China a helping hand not long ago.

In addition to China, Japan and Germany, the fourth country that attaches great importance to the Sino-Japanese War and the Xuzhou Battle is the Soviet Union, because the results of the Sino-Japanese War and the Xuzhou Battle will have a major impact that is temporarily not obvious but has a profound impact on the Soviet Union. Stalin was convinced of this.

Stalin seemed to have nothing to do with the Sino-Japanese War and seemed to stay out of it, but in fact he had been quietly intervening in various aspects from the outside.

After the victory in Taierzhuang, Chiang Kai-shek decided to increase his troops to Xuzhou and start a strategic decisive battle with the Japanese army in Xuzhou. This important information was sent to Stalin's desk at the first time. Stalin immediately called Beria, and the two had the following conversation:

"Comrade Beria, it seems that China's actual strength is beyond our expectations!"

"Comrade Stalin, you are right, Chiang Kai-shek was actually hiding his strength, he didn't actually go all out to fight the Japanese because he wanted to preserve his strength.

Before the Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese annexed Northeast China, but Chiang Kai-shek kept forbearing and did not immediately go to war with the Japanese. On the one hand, he was not fully prepared, and on the other hand, he was more intoxicated than dealing with the Japanese. To eliminate the CCP forces.

It can be believed that Chiang Kai-shek was still the same at this time. He saw that under the mediation of Germany, China and Japan were likely to cease fighting, so he didn't want to fight anymore, and didn't want to spend his real capital. He didn't put the main force into the Xuzhou battlefield. Instead, patiently wait for the peace talks, and then deal with the CCP!" (This mentality of Chiang Kai-shek can be referred to the last one or two years of the War of Resistance in the original history. Take the ride of the United States, let the United States defeat Japan, and become the victorious country that defeated Japan with the United States, no longer fight hard with the Japanese army, so as to preserve its strength, and wait for the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party to break out after Japan surrenders.

）

"Yes, in addition, Chiang Kai-shek may also be worried that Germany will not be able to complete the Sino-Japanese peace talks, and the Sino-Japanese war will continue to be fought, so he must preserve his strength for a long-term resistance against Japan in the future.

However, the Chinese army in Xuzhou won the battle of Taierzhuang, which made Chiang Kai-shek very excited and encouraged, and his confidence was greatly increased, so he was ready to start a decisive battle with the Japanese in Xuzhou!" (This mentality of Chiang Kai-shek can refer to the original history In the Xuzhou battle at the beginning, Chiang Kai-shek did not expect Li Zongren to win the battle. As a result, Li Zongren used the local miscellaneous army to win the Taierzhuang victory. The confident Chiang Kai-shek immediately mobilized the main force of the central army to Xuzhou, planning to fight the Japanese army in Xuzhou.

）

"Yes, as you say, Comrade Stalin!"

"It seems that things have miscalculated for us.

China's defeat of Japan, and Japan's defeat of China are not in our interests. We need both China and Japan to lose.

The Japanese are very short of funds now, maybe we can help them!"

"Comrade Stalin, you mean..."

"Loans to the Japanese, however, must be measured.

We make the Chinese army stronger, and at the same time make the Japanese army stronger, so that they are evenly matched, so that they will fight with more losses.

Both China and Japan have been seriously injured, and they will not be able to recover within a few years, which is in our best interest.

To use a metaphor, if the Chinese and the Japanese fight, if they only have wooden sticks in their hands, then no matter how they fight, the final loss will not be great, but if we replace the wooden sticks in their hands with kitchen knives or even What about pistols? "

"I see, Comrade Stalin, your analogy is so apt!"

So, unexpectedly on the Japanese side, the Soviet Union sent a special envoy to ask for a loan to Japan, but not for free, but asked Japan to repay the debt with industrial resources and crops such as coal, iron ore, soybeans, and cotton in Northeast China. And it was three times the amount. For this, the Japanese high-level officials naturally couldn't ask for it. Anyway, the coal, iron ore, soybeans, and cotton were all snatched from China.

The secret loan from the Soviet Union to Japan was about 3000 million U.S. dollars, which is not particularly huge, but it did solve the urgent military expenditure of the Japanese army at this time. However, the loan from the Soviet Union was not completed in one step, but divided into three installments. .

Stalin did this in order to "control the scale". If the Japanese army was suppressed and beaten by the Chinese army on the battlefield after receiving the first batch of loans, then Stalin would give the second batch of loans. If the Japanese army received the second batch of loans on the battlefield If it is a tie with the Chinese army or a counterattack against the Chinese army, then Stalin will stop giving the third batch of loans.

Stalin did not want China to win, nor did he want Japan to win. He only wanted China and Japan to draw in a draw, in which the national strength and military strength of the two countries would be consumed together.

If China is weak and Japan is strong, Stalin will aid China; if China is strong and Japan is weak, Stalin will aid Japan.

After receiving the loan funds aided by the Soviet Union, the speed of the Japanese army's additional troops was greatly accelerated, and the 2nd, 5th, and 6th divisions were quickly formed in the country with reserve soldiers from the 102nd, 105th, and 106th divisions. Each division has more than [-] troops, and the total strength of the three divisions is about [-], which are ready to be deployed on the Xuzhou battlefield.

As both Chinese and Japanese armies increased their troops to Xuzhou on a large scale, the Battle of Xuzhou officially ushered in its climax.

Chapter 357 The Decisive Battle in Xuzhou (2)

Vigorousness, this word has three meanings, one is the spirit of going forward bravely, the other is vigorous momentum, and the third is strong momentum.

Whether it is a person, a nation, an army, or a country, vigor is very important. With vigor, you will be brave enough to fight without fear of powerful enemies. Lack of confidence, timidity and cringe. Napoleon said that "a group of sheep led by a lion can defeat a group of lions led by a sheep".

In this summer of 1938, the spirit of the Chinese army was full, strong, and vigorous.

The spirit of the Chinese army was brought by Jiang Weiguo.

What does an army need if it wants to have vigor?What is needed is confidence and what is needed is victory.

If an army is defeated repeatedly, even if it is armed to the teeth, it will lose its vigor. Conversely, if an army wins repeated battles, even if it is only millet and rifles, it will be as vigorous as a rainbow.

In the eight-year war of resistance in the original history, the Chinese army did not go well at the beginning. Song Zheyuan retreated without a fight, causing the two cities of Pingjin and Hebei Province to lose without a fight. Han Fuju feared the enemy like a tiger, and made Shandong Province easily captured by the Japanese army In the battle of Songhu, which was fought fiercely for three months, the Chinese army suffered heavy losses but the results were mediocre. Subsequently, the capital Nanjing was quickly captured by the Japanese army. A Taierzhuang victory, but then abandoned Xuzhou, Taiyuan battle for three months, still lost ground, four and a half months of fighting in Wuhan, or ended in failure.

The main force of the Chinese army must be the Central Army. It is not difficult to see that firstly, in the Battle of Songhu, the Central Army suffered heavy losses and its vitality was severely injured. Then in the Battle of Wuhan, the Central Army, which had finally regained some of its vitality, suffered heavy losses again. After the Battle of Wuhan In the two or three months from the end of 1939 to the beginning of 1940, the Chinese army launched a "winter offensive", which is also known as the "55-year winter counter-offensive". , more than [-] troops, fought hard for two or three months, although they also achieved certain results (the national army claimed to have wiped out tens of thousands of enemies, and the Japanese army admitted that they had wiped out thousands), but basically failed to regain an inch of the country, and brought There are three major evil consequences. One is that a large amount of national and military resources, financial resources, material resources and manpower have been consumed. The second is that part of the vitality of the national army that has finally recovered after the Battle of Wuhan has been wiped out. The third evil consequence is the most serious. The national army completely lost the courage and confidence to launch a large-scale counterattack against the Japanese army. As a result, in the last year or two of the Anti-Japanese War, the national army clearly had the strength to counterattack the Japanese army on a large scale, but it was still passively beaten, saving its strength and preparing for the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party This is one main reason, and the other main reason is that the national army has been scared by the Japanese army. Even if the national army is already stronger than the Japanese army, the national army does not have the courage and confidence to fight back against the Japanese army.

The Sino-Japanese War and the Soviet-German War were very similar at the beginning. The Chinese army was completely defeated by the Japanese army, and the Soviet army was also defeated by the German army. During the war, the Vietnam War became more and more "lazy", and finally became an incompetent army with the idea that it would be better to die than to live, waiting to hitch a ride in the United States and become the victorious country.

Why?Just because of the loss of vigor.

But now, because of Jiang Weiguo, everything is different.

The Battle of Pingjin, the Battle of Songhu, the Battle of Taiyuan, and the Battle of Nanjing. In these four battles, the national army performed well and achieved fruitful results. Especially in the Battle of Nanjing, the isolated city of Nanjing and the lone army of Nanjing Army faced the fierce attack of hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops. Yili has persisted so far and has not fallen, killing 30 Japanese troops, and the results are so brilliant that it can be called a miracle. These not only greatly destroyed the strength of the Japanese army, but also greatly boosted the morale, hearts, beliefs, and confidence of the Chinese soldiers and civilians. The Chinese soldiers and civilians are not afraid of the bravery of the Japanese.

Therefore, the battle of Xuzhou and even the decisive battle of Xuzhou with the Japanese army is currently underway. The morale and vigor of the Chinese troops participating in the battle are high, especially the Taierzhuang victory before this battle, which further gave the Chinese army participating in the battle a shot in the arm. "We must win! We must win!" The Chinese roar resounded on the Xuzhou battlefield.

The Japanese army directly invested in the Xuzhou battle with a total of 6 divisions, and these 6 divisions were all strengthened, with a total force of about 20; the Chinese army directly invested more than 80 divisions in the Xuzhou battle (half were local troops, Half of them are the Central Army), with a total strength of about 80 (the actual total strength is about 70), and hundreds of thousands of migrant workers assist the army in combat.

As for the battle area, the battle of Xuzhou included northern Jiangsu, southern Shandong, eastern Henan, and northern Anhui, with a total area of ​​[-] square kilometers.

Great powers such as Germany, the Soviet Union, the United States, Britain, France, and Italy all turned their attention to Xuzhou, because this is a "decisive battle in which the Chinese and Japanese armies have invested a total of 100 million troops to participate in the war." It directly determines the final outcome of the Sino-Japanese War." "This war will inevitably have a major impact on the East Asian pattern and even the world pattern." "Whether Japan will decline because of this war, and whether China will rise because of this war, everything will be revealed soon." , newspapers from various countries invariably used the Sino-Japanese Xuzhou battle as the serial headlines for a series of reports.

The Battle of Xuzhou has surpassed the Battle of Songhu in scale and significance, and has become the "first battle" since the Anti-Japanese War.

If arranged according to the number of troops participating in the battle, the order of the five battles from largest to smallest is: the Battle of Xuzhou, the Battle of Songhu, the Battle of Pingjin, the Battle of Taiyuan, and the Battle of Nanjing.

In fact, the Battle of Xuzhou was not just a battle, but an out-and-out decisive battle. Since it was a military decisive battle between the Chinese and Japanese armies, it was also a political decisive battle between China and Japan (but it cannot be said to be a strategic decisive battle, because the high-level officials of the two countries They didn't intend to completely defeat the opponent through this battle.

).

"Damn! I remember that there was no such a 'decisive battle in Xuzhou' in history!" Jiang Weiguo looked at the main force of the Central Army that was coming to Xuzhou from all over Central China, and thought to himself, "I remember, In history, after the great victory in Taierzhuang, the national army quickly abandoned Xuzhou and did not start a decisive battle with the Japanese army in Xuzhou, because Xuzhou was the place where the four wars took place, and the national army with a low degree of mechanization fought against the Japanese army with a high degree of mechanization The decisive battle here is out-and-out 'use your own weaknesses to attack the enemy's strengths'.

Mr. Baili also said that when China started the War of Resistance, the plains of North China and East China would definitely fall. The national army would not be able to defend it if they wanted to, so they had to retreat to Central and South China, relying on mountains, rivers and rivers for protracted wars, tug-of-wars, and wars of attrition. .

However, because of Lao Tzu's change, everything is different!It's really a fucking decisive battle in Xuzhou! "Jiang Weiguo knew very well in his heart that if after the victory of Taierzhuang, the national army would withdraw and abandon Xuzhou as soon as it was good, although the important town of Xuzhou fell, it would also keep the main force of the national army. After the Japanese army took Xuzhou, they would basically be unable to invade Henan, Anhui, and Hubei. In other places, from the perspective of the German military, the Xuzhou battle was a tie between China and Japan. Since it was a tie, it would have little impact on both sides at the negotiating table. So, if China and Japan really negotiate a peace and armistice, China can regain Jiangsu and Zhejiang. In the occupied areas of the province (excluding Shanghai, because the Japanese did not plan to abandon Shanghai, it is estimated that they will not come back, and at this time, three-quarters of Jiangsu Province is occupied, and about one-quarter of Zhejiang Province is occupied at this time). Recovering Shandong Province, but too little! Jiang Weiguo intends to "play bigger" and achieve more results in the Xuzhou battle, forcing the Japanese to give up Shanghai and Shanxi Province at the very least, and even forcing the Japanese to restore to The situation before the July [-]th Incident spit out the two cities of Pingjin, Hebei Province, Chahar Province, and Suiyuan Province.

Although Jiang Weiguo was very unwilling to be unable to regain the four northeastern provinces and Taiwan for the time being, he knew that haste made waste, and he should not rush. National strength and military strength limited Jiang Weiguo's ideals.

Jiang Weiguo's ideal is wonderful, but he is not strong enough to realize his ideal at this time.

"Never mind him! Thinking too much is mediocrity! Just hit him hard!" Jiang Weiguo made up his mind, "I really don't believe that I can't kill these bastard little Japanese!"

Xuzhou is surrounded by a flood of troops. Countless sun flags and blue sky and white sun flags are flying around. Both the Japanese army and the national army are racing against time to increase troops to Xuzhou. In this matter, the speed of the Japanese army is much faster than that of the national army. Because the mechanization level and shipping capacity of the Japanese army surpassed that of the national army, and the Japanese army only needed to transport a few hundred thousand horses, the national army needed to transport tens of thousands of horses, so all the troops could not be in place in a very short time.

After the 10th Division of the Japanese Army captured Taierzhuang and crossed the Grand Canal, the whole division was eager for revenge and rushed all the way to Xuzhou. It arrived at Jiawang Town in the northeast of Xuzhou on July 7, where Jiang Weiguo was stationed. The Nanjing Army of the Ministry of Defense immediately fought with the 20th Division, and the small Jiawang Town was quickly reduced to rubble under continuous artillery fire.

Li Zongren had no choice at this time. Although he did not dare to use Jiang Weiguo's troops lightly, he had to use them, because after the Battle of Taierzhuang in the fifth theater, the original troops were incomplete and unable to stop the 10th Division, which was in full swing. The main force of the army is still on the way, so he can only use Jiang Weiguo's troops to block the 10th Division and gain precious time.

Fortunately, Jiang Weiguo's troops are not in vain, 2 people (half of the Nanjing Army veterans, half of the Nanjing Army militia, and the Majia Army cavalry have not yet fully arrived), abruptly withstood the 10 people of the 6000th Division, and more than that Tang Enbo, who originally "only listened to the tune but not the announcement" to Li Zongren, learned that the second son was fighting the Japanese army in Jiawang Town, and immediately led the 20th Army to "rescue him" without Li Zongren's urging. On the battlefield, he can ignore Li Zongren, but he certainly can't just ignore Jiang Weiguo. His teacher-student relationship with Chiang Kai-shek is definitely not as good as Jiang Weiguo's father-son relationship with Chiang Kai-shek. At this time, the 20th Army still has 4 to 10 horses, and its combat effectiveness is not weak. In addition, Jiang Weiguo's [-] Nanjing Army, after the combination of the two forces, the battle situation was effectively stabilized, and the [-]th Division was firmly blocked in Xuzhou. The area around Jiawang Town on the outskirts of the city.

When Li Zongren rushed to Jiawang Town to watch the battle, Jiang Weiguo made several "small requests" to Li Zongren, and Li Zongren readily agreed.

Later, Jiang Weiguo sent a plane to bring Li Zongren's wife, Ms. Guo Dejie, from Guilin, Guangxi, to Xuzhou. Now, the housing prices in Xuzhou must have plummeted all the way at this time), pretending to be planning to settle down in Xuzhou.

After the news came out, the officers and soldiers of the national army on the Xuzhou battlefield were instantly calmed down and their morale was boosted, because "Mr. Li brought his wife to Xuzhou and bought a house in Xuzhou, which shows that Mr. Li has no intention of giving up Xuzhou, and have the confidence to keep Xuzhou, what are we afraid of?" In addition, Li Zongren's long-time partner and close friend who is in the "counselor center" in Wuhan, and the deputy chief of staff of the national army, Bai Chongxi, also burst into blood after learning about this incident He came to Xuzhou by plane with great enthusiasm and courage, and established the Xuzhou camp (equivalent to the branch of the Military Commission in Xuzhou) after consulting Chiang Kai-shek. He served as the director of the Xuzhou camp, as if fighting side by side with Li Zongren in Xuzhou.

These measures conceived by Jiang Weiguo really stimulated the fighting spirit of the national army officers and soldiers in the fifth theater, which was not inferior to the Japanese army at all.

The battle was raging on the land of Xuzhou, and the sky of Xuzhou was also full of blood and fire. Hundreds or even thousands of planes of the Chinese and Japanese armies were engaged in fierce air battles of life and death.

The Japanese army was completely desperate, investing more than 1500 aircraft from the Army, Navy and Air Force to participate in the battle, and the national army and air force also mobilized, investing more than 700 aircraft to participate in the battle.

The flying eagles of the two sides fought in the sky over Xuzhou, and the stars and clouds scattered. Military observers from various countries were amazed by "the air battle of such a scale and intensity has never been seen before" (the scale of the air battle between China and Japan is definitely not comparable to that of the Western powers. However, the Western powers have not yet fought a big fight at this time, so the air battle before the Sino-Japanese air battle was during the First World War. The scale, level and intensity of the air battle at that time must not be comparable to that of China and Japan air combat).

In the bloody sky for a month, the Chinese Air Force self-destructed more than 400 aircraft (most of which were fighter jets), and shot down and destroyed more than 1000 Japanese aircraft (two-thirds were fighter jets and one third were bombers). Indemnified, it dealt a heavy blow to the air power of the Japanese army and won the victory of the "Xuzhou Air Battle".