Chapter 681 Basket Weaver
The Battle of Wuhan was the last leap of the Japanese invaders when they were at the end of their strength. Since the Battle of Wuhan, they have completely started to spend more than they earn.

In fact, the real purpose of the Battle of Wuhan was not to fight, but to stop the war.

The Japanese’s top-level idea was to completely destroy the main force of the Kuomintang army through the Battle of Wuhan, annihilate all its manpower, and at the same time completely stop all wars in China, take over all of China’s interests, and start to recuperate while defending against the Russian bear in the north and looking at the world.

But there is one thing they did not expect, that is, since the September 18th Incident seven years ago, that broken island has fallen into a vicious circle, where it is a honor to stir up trouble and create wars, and a shame to quell wars. The vicious circle has been circulating all the time.

On that small, broken island filled with radicals, even if someone proposed that “the Battle of Xuzhou should be the last battle”, it was ultimately rejected by all, and there were even faint voices of curses from the public.

On September 18, the person who created the friction was promoted;
At Shanhaiguan, the people who created friction were promoted;
The Battle of Rehe resulted in numerous promotions;

In the defense of the Great Wall, countless people were promoted;
During the July 7 Incident and the SH Campaign, almost all those who participated in the war were promoted. Now you don’t allow us to fight?
Can the people below listen?
They saw a path to climb up, and they didn’t care about the price they had to pay for each war. They wanted to continue fighting desperately. Who doesn’t want to turn their small family into a family? Who doesn’t want to change their soldier uniform into an officer’s uniform and fight with a command knife?

Therefore, the Japanese at this time cannot be stopped at all, just like a gambler in a casino who has lost his temper. If you persuade him to stop, he will turn around and scold you.

After Xu Chaoyang finished speaking, he used the other end of the sweet pole in his hand to draw an arc in the general shape of the Yangtze River, and said to Yang Jingyu: “Here is the Yangtze River… Here is the Dabie Mountains… Behind the Dabie Mountains is Wuhan…”

“Since the Japanese did not annihilate the main force of the Nationalist army in the Battle of Xuzhou, in the rush to destroy all the Nationalist forces, the Japanese ordered Hata Shunroku of the Central China Expeditionary Army to lead ten divisions to march into Wuhan in two routes.”

“On one route, we advanced westward along the Yangtze River, while the main force advanced westward along the south of the Longhai Railway to the Huaihe River Basin, and then along Ping’an County to Xinyang and Xiaogan to capture Wuhan. Military supplies and food along this route were all supplied by Zhengzhou. However, due to the breach of the Huayuankou dike, transportation on the Pinghan Line was inconvenient, and the entire march plan was completely delayed. The 11th Army, which was supposed to be an auxiliary force, advanced westward along both sides of the Yangtze River and became the main force to capture Wuhan.”

“This unit started from Anhui, bypassed the Dabie Mountains and headed westward. However, this unit was only organized into an army in July 1938. Even though the commander was our old rival Okamura Yasuji, it had five and a half divisions under its command. They and the four and a half divisions commanded by Prince Higashikuni marched into Wuhan from the Dabie Mountains in northern Anhui in two parts, one going through Xinyang and the other going straight to the Dabie Mountains… Don’t we know how effective that newly formed corps is?” They had just finished training the new recruits of the New Second Regiment, and they knew this very well.

When talking about Dabie Mountain, Xu Chaoyang was actually laughing, which made Yang Jingyu anxious: “What are you laughing at? Keep talking!”

Xu Chaoyang shook his head: “It’s okay, I remembered a bamboo basket weaver, he is a handsome young man in the area.” After saying that, he laughed again.

Yang Jingyu looked at him suspiciously: “Are you sick?”

Xu Chaoyang quickly changed the subject: “Let’s continue, let’s continue.”

“The 11th and 2nd Armies also have two heavy artillery brigades, two tank regiments, three aviation regiments with more than 3 aircraft of various types, and more than 120 naval ships of various types for fire support.”

“Sending such a large-scale force, are they going to attack Wuhan?”

“This is a bigger battle than the one we fought against SH, right? The total number of troops is at least 300,000!”

Yang Jingyu finally realized what was wrong and quickly waved his hand and said, “Come on, where can the Japanese get so many people?”

“Where can we get so many people? You’ll be so angry that you’ll die if I tell you!”

Xu Chaoyang didn’t go into details, but he was already gritting his teeth at this moment.

“At this time, the five divisions directly under the Central China Expeditionary Army were responsible for the defense of SH, Jinling, Hangzhou and other areas. This time they have completely emptied their resources.” Xu Chaoyang was not talking nonsense. After the war, according to the Japanese documents found, the devils had devoted all their efforts to the battle in Hankou, and invested all the interests of SH and other places in this battle. They had no preparation for contingency plans at all. They were determined to fight to the death with the Kuomintang government.

In other words, Xu Chaoyang only had a broken and incomplete Fifth Division left in front of him. He only needed to deal with this half of the division after the autumn harvest. When he turned around, he saw the vast North China Plain. He could march forward for thousands of miles!

What is war about? In addition to strength, it also depends on vision!
Xu Chaoyang was conserving his energy and didn’t even participate in the Battle of Xuzhou. What was he waiting for?
What he was waiting for was that even the only remaining guard division of the Japanese in the mainland would be on standby to reinforce Wuhan at any time. Otherwise, how could he be held tightly in the hands of Deng Xihou of the Sichuan Army?

At this time, Wuhan, as a gathering place for many materials and the de facto second capital of the Nationalist government, also became an important target of defense by the Nationalist government. From June to early July 1938, the Wuhan Defense Plan had been formulated and improved. Its specific combat strategy was to deploy the main force outside Wuhan and use the favorable terrain of Poyang Lake, Dabie Mountains, and hills and lakes on both sides of the Yangtze River to fight.

To put it bluntly, the Wuhan Battle must be fought, but it cannot be fought in Wuhan. The focus of operations must be placed on the outer lines and flanks, and freedom of action must be strived for. It is expected that the battle with the enemy will last four to six months.

This is straightforward enough, just short of saying: “The pots and pans in Wuhan are precious. We can’t bring the war here before we finish dealing with them here.”

Of course, on the surface, we also have to say: “Before the Japanese invaders attack Wuhan, we must inflict maximum losses on the Japanese army along the way and destroy their combat capability to continue the attack.”

The great victories in Shanxi and Taierzhuang gave the Nationalist army the courage to fight the devils again. Their morale was boosted while their strength was preserved. What’s more, there were famous generals such as Bai Chongxi and Xue Lao Hu in Wuhan, which gave Brother Diary confidence.

However, under such circumstances, the great victory at Wanjialing was achieved only because of Xue Lao Hu’s “disobedience to orders”.

The corresponding deployment of the Wuhan Battle was: “Chen Cheng became the commander-in-chief and organized the Ninth War Zone to have 27 armies to block the enemy from going up the river at key points such as the Yangtze River coast, Madang Fortress, Jiujiang, Lushan, and Wanjialing;”

“The Fifth War Zone troops retreating from Xuzhou, plus the additional reinforcements, totaling 23 armies, continue to be commanded by Li Zongren, and are respectively on the north bank of the Yangtze River and the eastern and northern foothills of the Dabie Mountains to block the enemy’s advance…”

Hearing this, Yang Jingyu immediately stopped him and asked, “Chaoyang?”

Xu Chaoyang was drawing with his head down. He raised his head and glanced at Yang Jingyu in the sunlight and said, “Hmm?”

“I don’t know if what I said is right…” Yang Jingyu was also attending such a high-level discussion for the first time, and he spoke timidly: “Then Li Zongren fought so well in Xuzhou, why didn’t he transfer him back to continue to serve as the commander-in-chief of the Ninth War Zone, but used Chen Cheng instead?”

“For now, with a great victory in Taierzhuang, Li Zongren will be able to surpass all the ministers and become the best in the government, right?”

Xu Chaoyang looked at Yang Jingyu and smiled. He never expected that there would come a day when he would face the high-ranking officials of the National Government and give instructions on state affairs. What he never expected was that so many heroes of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression who came out of the Dabie Mountains would now salute him when they saw him.

The Battle of Wuhan was a battle of wits and courage in which the Nationalist government invested nearly one million troops to fight the Japanese invaders. From then on, the Japanese invaders completely declined, like a dilapidated dynasty lying on its sickbed but trying to hold on, and were eventually forced into the dead end of the Pacific Ocean by the strategic depth.

But Xu Chaoyang would never let this happen!
You guys want to die at the hands of two kids?

Grandma!

I’ve been gearing up for a year in Xinzhou. Do you think I’m just resting and recuperating by holding down the fierce tiger of the Sichuan Army?
Japs, it’s time to end the war!

(End of this chapter)