My Apprenticeship to Uncle Jiu: I Was a Warlord in the Republic of China

But now, in just a few days, there are only two severely damaged warships left, and there are less than a thousand soldiers on board. It really makes the navy's heart bleed!

After fully understanding the information of this battle, the naval commander Hase Kiyokawa immediately made up his mind that he would only play a supporting role in this battle.

Just help the army blockade the sea and prevent the weapons and equipment of the Western powers from being delivered to Jiang Li, and they will never come ashore again.

After receiving the report, Jiang Li burst into laughter: "In ancient times, Zhou Yu burned down the Red Cliff. Now, Wang Zhi burned down the Pearl River. Killing 30,000 Japanese pirates with one fire is truly a great achievement!"

Jiang Li was so happy not only because Wang Zhi burned 30,000 people to death with one fire, but also because this fire directly burned the enemy and fulfilled his delusion of a sneak attack from behind.

In this way, their rear will be stable and they can produce a steady supply of weapons and ammunition to support the fighting on the front line.

However, he also thought that according to the subsequent developments, since the Japanese pirate navy has joined the war, they will not just wait there, but will definitely take action.

But now that they cannot go up the river to reach the rear hinterland, they can only blockade the sea and prevent themselves from obtaining weapons assistance from the West.

But now, only one-fifth of the new order has been delivered, and the remaining half is still floating at sea.

If the enemy really blocks the sea, it will inevitably lead to him being unable to obtain enough heavy weapons from the Western powers, and he will have a much harder time facing the Japanese pirates next time.

But now that things have come to this, there is nothing he can do but take it one step at a time.

As for Muto Yoshinobu, he became furious again after learning that the navy's sneak attack had failed.

"These idiots in the navy actually walked into the enemy's ambush and killed 20,000 of my elite soldiers. They are just idiots!"

But when he became angry, a feeling of powerlessness surged from the bottom of his heart.

He was the supreme commander of the Kwantung Army of the Great Japanese Empire and the most outstanding general of the Muto family. However, even though he had absolute firepower advantage, he was so helpless facing the Chinese.

In his opinion, with a large number of planes and tanks, an army of 300,000 and the help of the navy, it would be easy for Song Jin Shigen to win against such a million poorly equipped enemies.

But that incompetent guy was almost wiped out, and he personally led an army of millions and had a large number of heavy weapons to fight the enemy. He should be able to crush the enemy with ease and sweep across China.

However, he was forced to divide his forces and was unable to capture the city after a long siege. The battle, which should have been an unstoppable victory, was blocked by the holes dug by those Chinese rats.

Now we have been in a stalemate with the enemy for more than three months. Not only have we consumed a large amount of weapons, ammunition, aircraft and tanks, but we have also lost more than 100,000 elite soldiers.

To the extent that he had to ask for help from his homeland, how could a man like him who was born in Rome and had such high aspirations accept this calmly?

Now he wished Jiang Li was right in front of him so that he could chop him into pieces. Only in this way could he dispel the hatred in his heart and wash away the shame on his body.

However, what he didn't know was that if Jiang Li really came in front of him, not to mention one Muto Yoshinobu, even ten or a hundred Muto Yoshinobu tied together would not be Jiang Li's match.

However, the news has not been all bad recently. Just two days ago, Muto Yoshinobu received news that reinforcements from the mainland had arrived.

He was originally still considering where to arrange these people, but after this failed operation, he immediately had an idea.

Since the enemy in front now has the advantage of geographical location and cannot be broken through, we might as well change the strategy and let the 800,000-strong army push forward from another direction.

At that time, the enemy will either have to divide its forces to defend, or can only watch helplessly as our army rampages through its heartland.

When the time comes, we can kill the people, confuse their minds, and provide them with enough food. Then we can find a breakthrough in one fell swoop and get the war back on track.

So he immediately ordered the 800,000 reinforcements, who had not yet adapted for a few days, to march towards Hebei and Shanxi and try to go south from another route.

Jiang Li quickly got news of such a big move from the intelligence department.

So he immediately mobilized 400,000 troops from the rear, led by Wang Zhi, and gathered local anti-Japanese forces. A total of 700,000 troops were organized. They deployed troops near Wuhan, taking advantage of the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, in order to stop the advance of the Japanese pirates.

But Jiang Li knew that the only reason China could fight against the Japanese pirates was because of their numerical advantage. The number of defenders in Wuhan was not only inferior to that of the enemy in terms of weapons and equipment, but also inferior to that of the Japanese pirates in terms of the number of troops. Therefore, this battle would be very dangerous.

So he immediately sent a telegram to the rear, asking them to speed up the training of the troops and distribute weapons and equipment as soon as possible, so that the newly recruited million-strong army could be formed as soon as possible to support the front-line operations.

However, when the Japanese pirates arrived in Wuhan from the north via Hebei and Shanxi in a hurry, they were immediately dumbfounded.

It turned out that they discovered that the enemy had already arrived on the other side of the Yangtze River and had been waiting for a long time, so they, the reserve soldiers who had never seen China's defensive battles, immediately launched a fierce attack.

However, the result was inevitable. Their army rushed forward headfirst, and then it was like hitting a rock, unable to advance even a single step.

In this way, the originally ambitious Japanese pirates were engaged in a protracted war with the Anmin Army in the Yangtze River region.

When Muto Yoshinobu learned the news, he was so angry that he vomited blood and fell ill immediately.

How could he not know that the 800,000-strong army was now in the same situation as himself, locked in a protracted war with the enemy.

Moreover, the enemy army occupies the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, and our soldiers are still reserve forces. Both in terms of weapons and equipment and personnel quality, they are three points weaker than the main force. This battle is bound to be an endless consumption.

The situation was exactly as he expected. They fought in Wuhan for a month, but the troops not only failed to advance any further, but instead suffered heavy losses and enormous consumption.

This made Muto Yoshinobu, who was already anxious, even more furious. His condition had just improved but it worsened again. Finally, he passed away on a stormy night.

After Mutō Yoshinobu died of illness, Japanese Army General Hishikari Ryu took over as the supreme commander of the Kwantung Army.

Speaking of Hishikari Ryu, he was an army general from Kagoshima, Japan.

In his early years, he served as a staff officer of the 1st Army in the Russo-Japanese War and also briefly served as the commander of the Kwantung Army. Later, due to some reasons that could not be told to outsiders, he was squeezed out of his high position.

Now that Mutō Yoshinobu had died of illness, it was natural for Hishikari Ryu to once again serve as the commander of the Kwantung Army. He immediately adjusted the strategy after taking office.