Sword of Light: I Can Summon the Fourth Disaster

"Mr. Huang, it's only July now. Why are you preparing cotton-padded clothes?" The player from the south was confused.

Huang Zherang glanced at him and said unhappily, "It's possible that it will snow in several northern provinces next month. What do you think you're doing with cotton-padded clothes?"

The officer responded somewhat awkwardly and quickly lowered his head.

Looking at the officers and soldiers who remained silent, Huang Zherang sighed.

These people are good at small fights, and they are invincible on the battlefield. They use all kinds of ingenious ideas to make the Japanese unable to raise their heads.

However, they still could not put forward any constructive suggestions for the liberation of Northeast China, a battle that concerned the overall strategic situation.

Huang Zherang looked at the map hanging high up, pondered for a moment, and then slowly asked, "Okay, the meeting has been going on for so long, you guys tell us your ideas."

Seeing that no one spoke, the commander of the 10th Brigade, Baby Sponge, stood up and said, "Since none of my colleagues are speaking, I might as well throw out some ideas to stimulate discussion."

"We can first take Jinzhou and destroy the Japanese command system in western Liaoning. Then we can divide our troops into three groups. One group will destroy the Japanese garrison in eastern Liaoning, and the other two groups will head north."

"One route will attack Xidu, and the other will attack Fengtian. After the second route captures these two major cities, one route will go north to capture Bingcheng, and the other route will quickly advance to the Yalu River to block the enemy's retreat. When the time comes, we will close the door for the enemy to retreat northward, and we will fight the enemy!"

Upon hearing this, the other commanders and fighters performed some simulations on the sand table and felt that if they continued to fight in his way, it would really be possible.

However, Huang Zherang was very dissatisfied with this method and asked the sponge baby, "According to your idea, after controlling the Yalu River, do you leave one or two brigades there to block the enemy's reinforcements from Goryeo, and then the rest of the troops turn around and clean up the enemy in the Northeast?"

Baby Sponge nodded and said, "That's right."

"Stupid!" Huang Zherang slammed the table and said in a low voice, "Let's not talk about the Japanese troops waiting for you to attack them while our troops were moving. Just say that the Japanese troops were guarding against the Bear Federation turning back and attacking the troops stationed at the Yalu River from the front and back with the Korean Japanese troops. Do you think they can wait until we rescue them?"

"Besides, is the Japanese only retreat on land? If we don't capture a few coastal cities, the Japanese reinforcements will continue to come to the Northeast by ship. Didn't your Fourth Division see the Japanese shipping capabilities when they attacked Qindao?"

"When the Japanese use human lives to slow down our advance, our supply lines will be stretched out, which will give the Japanese more opportunities, right?"

"Besides, after you take over Xidu and Fengtian, it will snow in Bingcheng, which will be a test for supplies. How can they easily take over Bingcheng when two corps are alone and deep in the territory and are short of supplies?"

Listening to Huang Zherang belittling his plan, Baby Sponge lowered his head and said, "Mr. Huang, I didn't think it through."

Huang Zherang gave him a look of disappointment and said, "It's not that you didn't think carefully, but that you didn't use your brain at all. You are used to fighting with Bo Guangbai when the wind is favorable. Your brain is like rusty and you don't consider the overall situation at all."

After reprimanding the sponge baby, Huang Zherang looked at the thoughtful officers and soldiers and said straight to the point: "I know that when we were studying in northern Shaanxi this year, you led your troops to fight many beautiful battles."

"In the past six months, you have trained yourselves and made yourselves stronger, but you have also become a little arrogant! The Japanese have been cultivating the Northeast for more than ten years, and their army numbers and support capabilities are not comparable to those in the interior."

"When you led troops in the interior, you often faced enemy battalion-level and regiment-level units. You rarely faced head-on confrontations with enemy brigade-level units."

"However, you may face a joint encirclement and suppression by several divisions of the Japanese outside the Great Wall. The troops you cannot use up inside the Great Wall may become insufficient outside the Great Wall."

"Moreover, the Japanese have an air force school outside the Great Wall. Our air force only prevents the Japanese from having enough planes to take off temporarily, but the Japanese base will also continuously transport planes to the Kwantung Army. Therefore, the battles inside and outside the Great Wall are different. The battles outside the Great Wall will become more brutal."

"You have also read the telegram that Division Commander Ye brought to the officers' division just now. An officer group was defeated after holding out on the battlefield for more than half a day. Have you ever seen such a situation in the interior of the country?"

After saying that, Huang Zherang slammed the table and left with Qiu Lixing and others, leaving only the officers and soldiers of each brigade sitting in the command center to think.

Several people followed the angry Huang Zherang to Qiu Lixing's office. Looking at the map hanging on the wall of the office, Huang Zherang sighed lightly, then sat on the sofa without saying a word.

Seeing this, Qiu Lixing also knew what Huang Zherang was worried about, so he poured Huang Zherang a glass of water and said, "Mr. Huang, what happened in the conference room just now was not like you!"

Huang Zherang looked at his old subordinates and smiled bitterly: "You know, before the meeting, we received a telegram from Li Tianxia. After General Xiao arrived in Beijing, he knew that the 1st Division was heading to the northeast, and even his own special train gave way to the military vehicles."

"This Northeastern strategy was decided by President Xiao a long time ago. I can't let President Xiao down!"

Looking at his slightly distressed old partner, Qiu Lixing sighed and said, "You can't push yourself like this. We all know that the Northeast is a hornet's nest. The meaning of the Field Command is that we should take steady steps and gradually push the devils out of Longguo."

"But what about Mr. Xiao's strategy?" Huang Zherang asked in return.

Qiu Lixing was also stunned. The orders from the two parties could be said to be diametrically opposed. Logically, the order of the field commander should take precedence.

But judging from Huang Zherang's intention, he wanted to cut the Gordian knot and capture a few cities before the head of the Field Command arrived in the Northeast.

"Mr. Huang, it's only July now. We still have four or five months. That should be enough time... right?" Qiu Lixing wanted to persuade Huang Zherang, but there was no confidence in his voice.

"Sufficient? The Northeast is a powder keg right now, and it could explode at any time. We already have two main brigades in place, and Jinzhou is right in front of us. Why can't I make a decision?"

"When I was in northern Shaanxi, I did several simulations and was confident that I could take over Northeast China before the New Year. But after I actually arrived in Northeast China, I found that the situation was not as optimistic as I thought."

"Let's not talk about the Japanese being like a frightened bird, madly expanding their troops. Even our neighbor to the north is not someone to be trifled with."

"I am afraid that if we move, the Japanese will be on guard against the evacuation of our neighbor's divisions. Our neighbor who lets loose is not a gentleman."