Chapter Thirteen: The Choice (Part Two)
Nanjing, Presidential Palace.
After listening to Wang Shihe's oral account, Principal Jiang suddenly stood up, and in his anxiety, his thick Ningbo accent came out again: "Nong gang suo xi (what did you say)?"
Beside him, Mrs. Chiang also couldn't believe it and exclaimed in a low voice: "Unbelievable! That Yue Weihan actually dared to disobey orders?"
"Wang Shihe smiled wryly and said: 'Your Excellency, Gu Zhuotong's telegram indeed says so, but as for the truth of the matter...' "
Principal Chiang's face changed color again and again, and it was a long time before he finally let out a sigh and said: "Alright, I know. You can go now."
After Wang Shihe left, Madame Chiang said: "Dalang, this Yue Weihan is really too ignorant of the situation. He dares to disobey the leader's military orders. If he were to become the commander of the 7th Regiment of the Central Military Academy and even the Major General Commander of the 7th Division in the future, wouldn't that be a disaster?"
Principal Chiang was speechless, and even Mrs. Chiang didn't know what he was thinking in his heart at this moment?
In fact, Chiang Kai-shek was not very angry in his heart, because at that time, the phenomenon of disobeying orders from superiors among the high-ranking generals of the Central Army was quite serious. Or, to put it another way, the one who started all this was actually Chiang Kai-shek himself, because he almost obsessively believed that generals who did not dare to disobey or defy orders were definitely useless.
Of course, there is also a degree of this, some military orders cannot be disobeyed at all!
However, Yue Weihan did not come to Nanjing for reorganization as ordered, but he was obviously not in this category. Others disobeyed orders to protect themselves, while Yue Weihan disobeyed orders to fight the devils to the death. Can they be compared?
So thinking, Principal Chiang not only didn't get angry with Yue Weihan's disobedience, but even had some secret delight in his heart. Good, good, this little Yue Weihan has some real spirit! With spirit is good, with spirit is a true military man! Our Zhejiang, our Fenghua should also produce a decent general!
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Songhu Frontline, 583rd Regiment of the 98th Division "Baoshan Camp" garrison.
What is called "Bao Shan Camp" is actually the 3rd camp, it's just that now it has been officially named "Bao Shan Camp" by Principal Jiang.
Yue Weihan has also been officially appointed as the middle school captain of "Baoshan Camp" by Xia Zhongyu, but under the pressure of General Cheng Cheng, the commander-in-chief of the Left Wing Army, Xia Zhongyu did not dare to supplement troops for "Baoshan Camp". Therefore, although "Baoshan Camp" is nominally a first-class camp, it actually still has only those few people, with a total of 43 soldiers and officers.
"Sorry, old brother," Huang Mei Wu patted Yue Weihan's shoulder and said with some remorse, "If you went to Nanjing, in the blink of an eye you could become a colonel and commander of a fully-staffed elite regiment. But in our 98th Division, we can only give you a lieutenant-colonel position as battalion commander, and that's for the undermanned Baoshan Battalion... sigh, it's just not comparable."
"Yue Weihan smiled and said calmly,"With Yue's ability, being a regimental commander is already barely manageable."
"Hehe, little brother is too modest." Huang Mei Wu said, "However, if there's any difficulty, just speak up, as long as it's something that Huang can do, I'll definitely help you get it done."
"We have no other requests," said Yue Weihan. "We only hope that the commander and the participants will not put our Baoshan camp in the back, and even more so, do not let us go to the battlefield just because our Baoshan camp lacks soldiers and generals!"
Huang Mei Wu was shocked by his words, and at this moment, he really admired Yue Weihan!
The Colonel Commander of the Central Army School's Instruction Corps did not want to stay, but insisted on staying in the 98th Division as a Regimental Commander. This can be seen as seeking fame and fortune. However, given the current situation of the Baoshan Regiment, Yue Weihan not only had no complaints, but was still eager to go to the front line to fight the enemy. In this case, it is absolutely impossible to describe him as "seeking fame and fortune".
What is magnanimity? This is true magnanimity! This young man is not simple!
"Alright, little brother, I won't say anything else." Huang Mei Wu couldn't help but give Yue Weihan a thumbs up and sighed, "You are a true soldier, a true soldier who has the country at heart and is willing to shed blood for the people!"
Having said that, Huang Mei Wu shook hands with Yue Weihan again and then turned around and left quickly.
See off Huang Mei Wu with a sentimental expression, but Yue Weihan is confused. He really doesn't know why Huang Mei Wu suddenly became so emotional. To be honest, his motivation for rushing to the front line was not that simple. Killing little devils was necessary, but Yue Weihan's real purpose in rushing to the front line was to gather scattered soldiers and expand his "Bao Shan Camp".
Cheng Cheng didn't refuse Xia Zhongyu's reinforcements, did he? No matter, Yue Weihan can reinforce himself!
On this Shanghai battlefield, there is a shortage of ammunition, supplies, and medicine, but there is no shortage of National Army soldiers. Every day, tens of thousands of National Army soldiers are wounded or killed by the Japanese devils on the front lines. As long as they hold out, within ten days to half a month, Yue Weihan can replenish his "Baoshan Regiment" with escaped soldiers and make it a full-strength regiment again.
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When Bao Shan Camp was reorganizing, the Battle of Shanghai was in full swing.
In late September 1937, the Japanese General Headquarters found that the 3rd and 11th divisions, which had been committed to the Battle of Shanghai earlier, were no longer capable of launching large-scale offensives. The Japanese then transferred the 9th, 13th and 101st Divisions from the North China front, as well as the Chuteng Brigade (a reinforced regiment) from Taiwan, and successively committed them to the battle in Shanghai.
By then, the Japanese military strength in the Songhu battlefield had exceeded 200,000 people.
At the same time, Chiang Kai-shek was also desperately dispatching reinforcements to the Songhu Battlefront. In addition to the original 8th, 9th and 15th Army Groups, he successively deployed Xue Yue's 19th Army Group, Liu Jianxu's 10th Army Group, and Liao Lei's 21st Army Group! With the arrival of five more Sichuan army divisions, the total number of Nationalist troops gathered on the Songhu Battlefront had reached as many as 70 divisions with over 700,000 men.
Starting from September 20, the Japanese army's 3rd, 9th and 13th divisions launched a fierce attack on the Chinese National Army's Central Route 9th Group Army stationed at the south bank of Biyangdang Lake and the left wing 15th Group Army. The battle was extremely brutal, under the absolute superiority of the Japanese artillery and naval air bombing, the Chinese army suffered heavy casualties.
In early October, a Sichuan army division had just arrived in Shanghai and immediately joined the battle, but was exhausted in less than half a day!
The fierce battle lasted until October 7, when the Japanese 3rd Division's 68th Brigade successfully crossed the Bian River and established a position on the south bank. The National Army organized several counterattacks, but they were all repelled by the Japanese.
By October 21, the Guilin 48th Army, which had just arrived at the Songhu Battlefront, launched a major counterattack against the Japanese 68th Brigade on the south bank of Wusongkou under the command of General Wei Yunsheng.
The 48th Division of the Guangxi clique, due to its unfamiliarity with Japanese military tactics, still employed the human wave tactics used during the warlord era. They organized dare-to-die squads in dense formations and charged at the Japanese army, only to be slaughtered by Japanese aircraft, artillery, and machine gun fire. Over 10,000 soldiers were killed or wounded, and the subsequent advance of over 30,000 troops collapsed instantly.
The fierce battle lasted for days, and the 48th Army of the Guangxi clique, known for its bravery in fighting, was defeated. The defeat was so severe that Bai Chongxi, the second-in-command of the Guangxi warlord and nicknamed "Little Zhuge", could not eat for several days. As a result, the situation on the Songhu battlefront took a sharp turn for the worse, and the loss of the central town of Dachangzhen was imminent. The large-scale retreat of the Nationalist army became unavoidable.
