Quartermasters can also fight the devils

When Zhang Wenwu was in the city, commanding the officers and soldiers to get the tanks, a signalman found him and said that Chief of Staff Ouyang Heng wanted to see him, so Zhang Wenwu returned to the division headquarters. As soon as he entered the gate, Zhang Wenwu happily asked loudly: "Brother Ouyang, is there any good news?"

Ouyang Heng looked at Zhang Wenwu, who was sweating profusely, and handed him a glass of water with a smile. Then he said, "Division Commander, the officers and soldiers who were clearing the ruins at Yonghe Gate just now found the body of a Japanese colonel. However, the colonel's face was smashed by rocks. Staff Officer Hao has already rushed over. Let's see if we can find any text on the corpse's uniform to confirm the colonel's identity."

When Zhang Wenwu heard that another Japanese colonel's body had been found, he immediately said happily: "Haha, Brother Ouyang, now we have another Japanese colonel added to our division's record. This is a Japanese regiment commander-level officer. We have finally made a fortune in the battle of Hongcheng."

"That's right. In terms of combat performance and military exploits, our new 22nd Army is definitely number one. We will definitely be given priority for post-war replenishment. In addition, we have already investigated clearly that a squad leader named Hong Dazhi from the 3rd Company of the Special Service Battalion once led his men to the Hue Gate and fired a gun when the suicide squad attacked the 9th Division headquarters. According to their description, that person should be the commander of the 9th Division, Yoshizumi Ryosuke, haha." Ouyang Heng was also happy to tell Zhang Wenwu another good news.

When Zhang Wenwu heard that it was really his special forces who did this, he immediately became more excited: "Brother Ouyang, the war zone sent a telegram saying that a senior Japanese officer died in the hospital in De'an. Now, Ito Masayoshi and Yoshizumi Ryosuke can have a companion on the road, haha."

The victory of the Chinese army on the Nanxun Line was also spread crazily by the government's propaganda agencies. Now the defense line on the north bank of the Yangtze River was on the verge of collapse, and the government was facing enormous accusations and pressure from all sides. At this time, a great victory on the Nanxun Line really gave the government a sigh of relief, and also set off a wave of donations in the country to resist Japanese aggression.

The New 22nd Army was highly praised by the government in newspapers, so much so that many newspapers later labeled the New 22nd Army as the First Garrison Army of China.

Commander Chen has also taken advantage of the New 22nd Army. Everyone knows that now Commander Chen talks about my New 22nd Army all the time. It seems as if he is afraid that others don't know that the New 22nd Army is a unit in his system.

The top government officials were also very satisfied with the operations on the Nanxun Line. Although the Japanese 106th Division was not completely destroyed, two Japanese division commanders were killed, a brigade commander was captured, and five regiment commanders were killed. This prevented the Japanese army from launching an offensive on the south bank of the Yangtze River in a short period of time.

This time, not only did they defend Hongcheng, but they also shattered the Japanese army's original strategic plan to attack westwards and cut off the Guangdong-Hankou Railway. In this way, the Three Towns Campaign launched by the Japanese army only completed half of the plan they had made before the war. In the current difficult war, this was already a very successful defensive result.

Inside the headquarters of the new 22nd Army, Commander Huang and Chief of Staff Zhao Dong were looking at the list of casualties of the troops. As the leading officers of the new 22nd Army, after celebrating the victory for a while after the war, they quickly devoted themselves to the replenishment and rest of the troops.

"Commander, the current casualties of the troops have been sorted out. The new 101th Division that was sent to pursue the Japanese 210st Division is also on its way back to Hongcheng. Although our new nd Army is now well-known throughout the country, the losses of the troops in this battle are also considerable." After taking a sip of tea on the table, Chief of Staff Zhao Dong handed the casualty table in his hand to Commander Huang.

"Brother Zhao, being famous is a good thing, but it's not a good thing either. We still have to understand the principle that the tallest tree in the forest will be destroyed by the wind." Commander Huang also took the casualty list and started reading it. He understood what Chief of Staff Zhao Dong meant.

Now it seems that the New 22nd Army is in its heyday and famous throughout the country, but there are still many hidden risks behind it. The New 22nd Army has thoroughly made its reputation this time, so the responsibilities and pressures it will bear in other battles in the future will be even greater. Didn’t you see that your troops only defended Taierzhuang before, and then were ordered by Commander Xue of the First Corps to go to Hongcheng, a desperate place.

The war between China and Japan is getting bigger and bigger. Our troops may be sent to perform more dangerous tasks in the future. You know, there are fewer and fewer experienced veterans. The combat effectiveness of the troops may decrease instead of increase. If our troops fail once, the public opinion they face will be completely different.

"Commander, I've taken a look. The losses of the new 210th Division and the new 211th Division are still acceptable. The two divisions currently have about half of their pre-war personnel. After this battle, the original recruits in the two divisions have grown into veterans. As long as they are replenished with personnel and equipment, their combat effectiveness can be quickly restored." Chief of Staff Zhao Dong continued his report.

"However, the situation of the New 100th Division, which is responsible for the defense of the urban area, is not optimistic. If the troops of the former New 210th Division and the New 211th Division that were previously reinforced to the urban area return to their units, the New 100th Division will basically become an empty shell. The total number of personnel in the entire division will be only 100, less than a fraction of the total number of the New 100th Division before the war. It can be said that it has been severely damaged." Chief of Staff Zhao Dong couldn't help but sigh after talking about the current losses of the New th Division.

After hearing what Chief of Staff Zhao Dong said, Commander Huang stopped looking through the list of troop losses in his hand. He lit a cigarette and took a few puffs before saying to Chief of Staff Zhao Dong, "Brother Zhao, I think we need to send a telegram to Commander Chen of the theater and Commander Xue of the First Corps immediately, asking them to send troops to take over our defense position as soon as possible. We need to withdraw to the rear immediately to replenish and rest."

Commander Huang was also worried that Commander Xue of the First Corps would come up with some new combat plan. At that time, his new 22nd Army would definitely be pushed to the most dangerous place, or the new 22nd Army would be asked to attack important areas of the Japanese army.

However, if we analyze rationally based on the current tired officers and soldiers of the New 22nd Army, they will not be able to successfully complete both tasks.

After receiving the telegram from the New 22nd Army, Commander Chen of the War Zone understood what Commander Huang was worried about. As a direct subordinate of the Army that had brought him great honor, Commander Chen sent a telegram directly to Commander Xue of the First Corps. He asked Commander Xue to quickly send troops to take over the flood control city and let the New 22nd Army withdraw as a whole for replenishment and rest. He also needed the New 22nd Army to bring him more honors in future battles.

As a member of Commander Chen's system, Commander Xue would definitely obey Commander Chen's orders perfectly. Moreover, the New 22nd Army did need to withdraw for rest and replenishment. They had held out in Hongcheng for almost twenty days, and the losses of the troops were considerable.

As a result, Commander Huang soon received a telegram from Commander Xue, ordering the new 22nd Army to march west to Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province, for rest and replenishment after completing the handover with the replacement troops. This made Commander Huang and Chief of Staff Zhao Dong very happy.

It is obvious that his new 22nd Army will not have any combat missions in the near future. Didn't you see that his troops were sent to Changsha in the rear for rest and replenishment? If Commander Xue of the First Corps withdraws his troops to nearby places for rest, it means that his new 22nd Army may have other combat missions soon.

That evening, Commander Huang summoned several division-level commanders to the military headquarters. He first praised these commanders highly, especially Zhang Wenwu and Ouyang Heng separately. Then, amid everyone's laughter, he announced the order that the troops would withdraw to Changsha City, which made the division-level commanders feel greatly relieved.

They are also afraid that the big guys in the war zone will get hot-headed and ask them to launch a counterattack. If that happens, they will have no place to cry. Not to mention how serious the losses of personnel and equipment of the troops are, the physical and mental strength of the officers and soldiers of the troops are not up to the requirements to continue fighting.

After the meeting, Zhang Wenwu also found Commander Huang and Chief of Staff Zhao Dong. He asked the superiors to send some personnel who can drive and repair tanks. He had already taken out many tanks that fell into traps, but the embarrassing thing was that there was no one who could drive and repair tanks in the new 100th Division, which made Zhang Wenwu very depressed.

Commander Huang and Chief of Staff Zhao Dong just stared at each other in confusion about Zhang Wenwu's request, but they were reluctant to give up the Japanese tanks. So Commander Huang sent another telegram to Commander Chen in the war zone. As for the tank soldiers, only Commander Chen could get them.

In response to the new 22nd Army's request, Commander Chen immediately reported the need for tank soldiers and repair personnel to the Military Commission. This was something that would make him famous. I have seized so many tanks from the Japanese army. I want you to send some people to repair the tanks and drive them back. Is that a problem?

After the Military Commission learned about this, it was even happier than Commander Chen. The reason was simple. China's tank troops had been destroyed long ago, and there were no teaching aids available even for training tank soldiers. If the new 22nd Army could piece together a few of these captured tanks, it would be of great help in training tank soldiers.

The Military Commission's action this time was very swift. On the same day, they sent all the unemployed personnel who knew how to drive and repair tanks to Hongcheng, and asked Commander Chen to telegraph the new 22nd Army to cooperate with these people's actions.

When Commander Chen received the telegram from the Military Commission, he immediately knew that the Military Commission was preparing to take away all the tanks. This would not work. How could the tanks that his New 22nd Army had captured with great difficulty be taken away for nothing? So he went directly to the highest level of the government to report the matter. His purpose was very clear, that is, the tanks can be given to you, but you have to exchange them for something, otherwise the morale of the troops below will be affected.

(Thanks to the gift support from the indestructible weird, Master Yuanzhen, KING child, Chen who loves Tremella and purple potato soup, user, user, Lei Shi who loves beauty porridge, the unique Manabe, Dongdong, and Uncle Wu! Thank you all for your support and encouragement!)