Cross the Songhu battlefield and rise to become the most powerful warlord

682 Differences of Interest

"Lao Luo, you are not authentic.

What is our relationship? Why are you hiding something from me?

Do you think you can hide it?

If I want to know later, I will go to the 86th Army and find out everything.

You might as well just tell me now.

I am not your direct supervisor now. I just understand the situation and I can't do anything to you.

What are you afraid of?

You're afraid that I'll remove you from your position as the expeditionary force commander."

Ye Qingshan said half-jokingly.

"That's great! I wish the headquarters would remove me."

Luo Zhuoying muttered softly, like a bullied wife.

When Ye Qingshan saw Luo Zhuoying's aggrieved look, he knew that the headquarters must have put a lot of pressure on Luo Zhuoying.

"What's wrong? Is someone at the headquarters trying to make things difficult for you?

Where is Commander Chen?

Didn’t Commander Chen support you?

You tell me, I'll make the decision for you."

Ye Qingshan and Luo Zhuoying have always gotten along very well.

Among the senior generals of the National Army at this time, few could tolerate Ye Qingshan's strong and bad temper.

In addition, Ye Qingshan’s special situation.

This resulted in Ye Qingshan's popularity being very poor within the national army.

Not many senior generals of the National Army are willing to get close to Ye Qingshan.

Most of the Kuomintang generals who cooperated with Ye Qingshan were forced to do so, or received direct orders from the headquarters.

Only Chen Cheng and Luo Zhuoying are the two senior generals of the National Army who get along best with Ye Qingshan.

This is also related to Luo Zhuoying's gentle personality.

This made Ye Qingshan cherish his friendship with Luo Zhuoying very much, and naturally he did not want to see the other party being wronged.

Hearing Ye Qingshan say this, Luo Zhuoying was a little moved.

This time, Luo Zhuoying no longer hid the secret from Ye Qingshan.

"Old Ye, let me tell you the truth.

In the later stages of the campaign, I did receive a secret message from the High Command.

Let our expeditionary force stop pursuing the Japanese 25th Army and let the Japanese withdraw smoothly.

In fact, it’s not just us.

Even the British army did the same.

Despite General Stilwell's orders, we continued to pursue the Japs and tried to keep the Japs' 25th Army behind us.

But without the cooperation of both us and the British army, his orders could not be carried out.

So, that’s how it was after this battle.”

After Luo Zhuoying finished speaking, Ye Qingshan showed an expression of "as expected".

Moreover, Ye Qingshan soon figured it out.

Why does this happen.

"Neither the High Command nor the British Army want to continue fighting?"

Ye Qingshan said.

"Ah."

Luo Zhuoying nodded.

"From the British army's perspective, if this battle could drive the Japanese out of Burma, their goal would have been achieved.

In addition, they had suffered heavy losses in the two previous counterattacks by the Japanese.

The British army's grassroots soldiers are very war-weary and their combat effectiveness is even lower than before.

How can we fight then?

So our headquarters has similar ideas.

The original purpose of our expeditionary force was to ensure the smooth operation of the Burma Road.

Now, we have actually accomplished our mission brilliantly.

They continued to attack southwards, even entering Siam and engaging in a desperate battle with the elite 25th Army of the Japanese.

From the perspective of the High Command, this was completely unnecessary.

It will only result in the loss of our soldiers.

Moreover, according to the information given to me by Commander Chen.

In the country, General Xue was commanding hundreds of thousands of people and fighting the Japanese in the third battle in Changsha. The battle was very fierce.

The High Command is considering transferring the main force of our expeditionary force back to China to participate in the war."

At this time, Luo Zhuoying finally told Ye Qingshan the truth.

After listening to Luo Zhuoying's words, Ye Qingshan also fell silent.

This is the real reason why this battle started off well but ended badly.

Otherwise, according to Stilwell's original idea, he wanted to defeat the Japanese 25th Army and then invade Siam.

It would even be best if we could fight all the way to Singapore and take back most of Southeast Asia from the Japanese.

This is what Stilwell really thought.

But unfortunately, Stilwell's goal was destined to be impossible to achieve.

the reason is simple.

At this time, the main troops under his command consisted of two parts, the expeditionary force and the British army.

As a result, both the Nationalist Command and the British high-ranking officials were completely contrary to what Stilwell thought.

Whether it was the British Army or the National Army Command, all they wanted was to drive the Japanese out of Burma.

In this way, their goal was achieved.

In this way, the British army can preserve the Indian colony and hold the barrier of Burma.

The expeditionary force also achieved the goal of ensuring the smooth operation of the Burma Road.

Now that the goal has been achieved, why should we suffer more casualties and continue to attack the Japanese in other parts of Southeast Asia?

That wouldn't do them any good.

Ye Qingshan didn't know what to say. Should he say that the command was wrong? Short-sighted?

Not suitable.

Because the headquarters' approach at this time was indeed based on actual conditions and was not wrong.

As a result, the three parties' goals are diametrically opposed, their interests diverge, and they naturally cannot work together.

Therefore, in Ye Qingshan's opinion, it is very likely that the headquarters will transfer the main force of the expeditionary force back to the country to participate in the war.

After all, in the eyes of the headquarters, it would be a waste to leave these 200,000 or 300,000 elite troops of the expeditionary force unused.

This is also something Ye Qingshan cannot change.

However, Ye Qingshan did not intend to transfer his 86th Army back to the country.

On the Myanmar side, the good situation we have achieved with great difficulty must not be lost.

If the main force of the expeditionary force really returns to the country, a part of it must be left behind to defend Myanmar.

Otherwise, the Japanese will come back again.

"In this case, will my 86th Army really be the only one here to fight the Japanese alone in the future?"

Ye Qingshan frowned.

Ye Qingshan did not expect this situation to occur.

At this moment, Luo Zhuoying continued, “Old Ye, it’s great that you’re back.

You should quickly take over as the commander of the expeditionary force. I've had enough of that.

Now, I have to deal with General Stilwell and the headquarters every day."

Ye Qingshan was so angry that he laughed: "What's the matter, are you thinking of giving up?"

"What do you mean I give up?

I think I'm not suitable for this position.

If you work with General Stilwell, you would be more suitable than me.

Old Ye, I am speaking from the heart."

Luo Zhuoying looked at Ye Qingshan sincerely and said.

Because only Ye Qingshan is qualified to bargain with the headquarters, and Luo Zhuoying cannot do that.

He, Luo Zhuoying, could only passively accept the orders from the headquarters.

This forced him to disobey General Stilwell's orders, which was very tormenting for him.

Perhaps letting Ye Qingshan return to this position could find a better way out for the expeditionary force.

We can also achieve better cooperation with General Stilwell.

He, Luo Zhuoying, couldn't do these things.

Therefore, he wanted to take the initiative to give up his position.

This is also the reason why Luo Zhuoying took the initiative to show Ye Qingshan the post-war report.

(Brothers, Happy New Year to everyone!

I wish you all good luck and prosperity in 2025! )