Chapter 65: Raiding Greater Wuhan (6)
Wei hastily cleared his throat and said: "The Chairman is right, Wen Ge's troops are different from any other domestic troops. This troop's formation is based on the German military formation, with the Japanese military formation as its target. The Japanese army has 13 people per squad, equipped with 8 rifles and one machine gun. The security brigade has 16 people per squad, with the squad leader and deputy squad leader equipped with P18 pistols, 10 rifles, and a Czech light machine gun. One shooter, one deputy shooter, and two ammunition handlers are also equipped with handguns. Each infantry company has four squads, plus a three-person 60mm mortar team, for a total of 69 people. Each battalion has five companies, including four infantry companies and one artillery company. The artillery company is equipped with six 60mm mortars, four communication personnel, one medical team, and one cooking team, for a total of 322 people. Each regiment has four infantry battalions, one machine gun battalion, and one logistics battalion. The machine gun battalion is equipped with 12 82mm mortars and 12 Madsen heavy machine guns. The logistics battalion has 215 people. The security, reconnaissance, communication, and medical teams each have one company, plus the regiment's direct personnel, for a total of 1765 people. Each division has four infantry regiments, one artillery regiment, and one logistics regiment. The artillery regiment includes two artillery battalions with 12 75mm mountain guns each, and one 120mm heavy mortar battalion. The security, reconnaissance, communication, and medical teams each have one battalion. The entire division has a total of 7688 people. When I was at the source, his division only had three infantry regiments, mainly because he didn't have many people. According to him, in the future, each division would also be equipped with artillery, logistics, security, reconnaissance, communication, and other troops. But it's estimated that his current division only has three infantry regiments. His several divisions of three regiments each have 15,000 actual combat personnel. Logistics troops generally do not participate in battles, but they train similarly to combat troops during peacetime and can also participate in battles when necessary.
He Yingqin silently calculated in his heart and asked in surprise: "In other words, Song Zheyu's fourth route army, even if one division reaches Xiaogan, the infantry that can actually participate in the battle is at most 15,000." Seeing Lin Wei nodding, he continued to say: "The Seventh Army is a three-battalion brigade, with more than 7,000 people in a brigade. Even if Song Zheyu attacks Yang Tenghui's brigade with one division, the actual number of troops participating in the battle is only twice that of his own. This strength comparison is not very different. Moreover, Yang Tenghui's troops have defensive fortifications. In this situation, the attacking side has twice the strength of the defending side, which can be said to be evenly matched. But just a few hours later, Yang Tenghui's brigade was defeated. How did they fight?" Lin Wei didn't know the specific battle situation either, and he could only sigh and say: "When I was in Yuan, I saw his troops training and assessment, exercises... In my opinion, his troops' training level is very good, and it's not much worse than the Instructional Corps." After Lin Wei finished speaking, he regretted it a bit. After all, He Yingqin was still the Training Supervisor of the National Revolutionary Army, and if the troops were not well-trained, he would be responsible.
Take a look at He Yingqin, it's okay, He Yingqin is still in shock and hasn't thought about this aspect.
Chiang Kai-shek looked at He Yingqin and asked solemnly, "Jingzhi, in your opinion, how long would it take for our Central Army to annihilate Yang Tingbai's regiment with a single division of troops under the same circumstances?"
He Yingqin thought for a moment and said with some trepidation, "If this trip doesn't get support, there may be heavy casualties." Lin Wei continued He Yingqin's words, saying, "But from the telegram, the Fourth Route Army's casualties won't be too great. Otherwise, Yang Tenghui wouldn't be in such a hurry to send a telegram."
Chiang Kai-shek looked at the two of them, his face expressionless, and slowly began to pace again.
Seeing Chiang Kai-shek hesitating about whether to agree to Li Mingrui and Yang Tenghui's advance telegram, Yang Yongtai was somewhat anxious: "Chairman, if you are afraid that Li Mingrui and Yang Tenghui will telegram to overthrow Gui, and it will scare away the Gui faction troops in Wuhan, should we send a telegram to Song Zheyu to stop the attack?"
Chiang Kai-shek shook his head and said nothing. He Yinquan thought to himself, "This is truly a scholar's view." Frowning slightly, he said to Yang Yongtai, "The general attack order was given by the Chairman, how can we stop the attack for no reason?"
Yang Yongtai thought that if he didn't let Song Zhiwu attack Yang Tenghui at this time, it would be impossible. If he told Song Zhiwu the truth now, Song Zhiwu might suspect Chiang Kai-shek for not telling him the true situation beforehand; if he told Song Zhiwu that Yang Tenghui just wanted to send a telegram and hadn't sent it yet, it seemed inappropriate not to let him continue attacking, otherwise Song Zhiwu would still think that Chiang Kai-shek had some secret agreement with Yang Tenghui and was anxious for Yang Tenghui, confusing his mind.
Lin Wei saw Yang Yongtai somewhat embarrassed, and helped him to mediate: "If we tell the truth to Wen Ge, explain our difficulties in detail, I think he will not be unhappy. He is a broad-minded person, also very aware of the overall situation, and truly supports the Central Committee and the Chairman."
Chiang Kai-shek nodded, looking at the three men with a faint smile and said: "What Wei Wen said is right. Wen Ge is someone who knows how to prioritize and consider the bigger picture. At least for now, he seems to be loyal to the central government. I have never doubted this. But have you considered what would happen if Li Mingrui and Yang Tenghui were to issue a statement or tell Wen Ge the truth? The gates of Wuhan would be wide open for him. According to our intelligence, there is only one regular army unit from the Guangxi clique in the three towns of Wuhan, and that's just the constabulary and police. You could say that Wuhan is an empty city. What reason do we have to stop him from entering Wuhan? With his tens of thousands of troops, no one would be able to stop him, not even if Li Mingrui and Yang Tenghui were to join forces. If Li Mingrui and Yang Tenghui were to issue a statement, I guarantee that Feng Huanzhang would immediately follow suit and order Han Fu's army of 100,000 to march towards Wuhan. But would Han Fu obey me if I were to issue an order telling Wen Ge not to enter Wuhan? Would Feng Huanzhang?" Chiang Kai-shek paused for a moment before raising his voice and saying resolutely: "Wuhan is not only the heart of Central China, but also a crucial juncture connecting east, west, south, and north. It cannot fall into someone else's hands again. We must take control of it!"
It wasn't until then that the three of them understood why Chiang Kai-shek had hesitated to respond to Li Mingrui and Yang Tengxiao's telegram. If Wuhan fell into the hands of the Central Government, it would be possible to cut off the connections between the Guangxi Clique in the south, Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan in the north, and the Sichuan warlords led by Liu Xiang and Liu Wenxiu in the west.
The situation has changed, and all parties will immediately respond to each other and unite. The consequences of the war in Jiangnan are severe, and Wuhan is a crucial place where north and south, east and west meet. This is also one of the reasons why Chiang Kai-shek first attacked the Guangxi clique. Thinking of this, the three people couldn't help but deeply admire Chiang Kai-shek's meticulous thinking and far-reaching consideration!
"Does the Chairman mean to neither allow Li Mingrui and Yang Tenghui to send a telegram to overthrow Gui, nor tell Song Zhiwu the truth?" As soon as Yang Yongtai said this, he suddenly felt that he had misspoken and couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. He could be certain that Chiang Kai-shek was thinking of doing just that - wanting Yang Tenghui to not send a telegram and Song Zhiwu to be unaware of the truth, so they would engage in a bloody battle at Xiaogan, weakening both sides' strength and holding up Song's advance on Wuhan. However, this unscrupulous tactic could not be made public, it was something that could only be understood implicitly, but never explicitly stated. Yang Yongtai stole a glance at Chiang Kai-shek, seeing that he had no reaction, he finally felt slightly more at ease.
He Yingqin thought for a moment and said, "Chairman, I will immediately send a telegram to Jing Yu to march towards Wuhan overnight." Chiang Kai-shek nodded and turned to ask Lin Wei, "Did you send the telegram to Wen Ge?" Lin Wei nodded in response, "It was sent an hour ago." It turned out that Chiang Kai-shek was afraid that Song Zheyu would take the lead in entering Wuhan, so he deliberately let Lin Wei send a telegram in his own name to Song Zheyu, revealing Chiang's determination to take Wuhan and observe Song's attitude.
The Chief Guard, Yan Dao-gang, hastily walked in and handed Chiang Kai-shek a telegram: "Committee Member Yang Teng-hui sent a telegram supporting the Central Government and supporting the Chairman. This is the telegram that just arrived."
"Yang Tenghui has been executed!" Everyone in the house was stunned. Yang Yongtai hastily asked, "Was Li Mingrui executed together with him?" Yan Dao shook his head and said, "No." After finishing speaking, he took out a second telegram and handed it to Chiang Kai-shek, saying, "Chairman, here is another telegram just received from Song Zheyu, the commander-in-chief of the Fourth Route Army for suppressing the rebellion." As soon as they heard it was a telegram from Song Zheyu, everyone in the house lifted their spirits.
Chiang Kai-shek glanced at the crowd, then said to Yan Daogang: "Read it." After finishing speaking, he turned around and walked to the window with his hands behind his back, silently gazing out at the pitch-black night sky.
"Chairman Chiang, I respectfully report: As ordered by your esteemed self, at 8 o'clock on the morning of the 1st, I personally led the Fourth Route Army's First and Second Divisions, Cavalry Brigade, Guard Brigade, and Logistics Brigade, a total of over 70,000 troops, to depart from Wushengguan. The vanguard arrived at Xiaogan at around 11 o'clock, where they encountered the enemy's Seventh Army, Yang Tenghui's division, which had set up defensive positions about 20 li east of Xiaogan. At 12:30, our vanguard, the Second Division, launched an attack on the enemy, and after a fierce battle lasting over an hour, we annihilated one of their regiments. In the afternoon, I arrived at Xiaogan, and at 17 o'clock, we launched another attack, engaging in intense combat until 18:10, when we completely annihilated the entire division, killing over 3,500 enemy troops, including the division commander, and capturing over 4,000 soldiers, with not a single one escaping. Our forces have now surrounded Xiaogan, and Yang Tenghui's two divisions are entirely within our grasp. I plan to launch a general attack at dawn tomorrow and will certainly annihilate Yang Tenghui's forces and capture Xiaogan, thereby repaying the favor you have bestowed upon me!"
Furthermore, this time the Ministry of War dispatched troops to Hubei, only following the military orders of the Chairman of the Committee, without any ulterior motives. The Chairman's promise from the past is still remembered by me. Tomorrow, our ministry will defeat the enemy in Xiaogan, and the movement of the army depends on the instructions of the Chairman, which I will respectfully follow.
Position: Commander-in-Chief of the Fourth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army Song
The Republic of China 1841 day under Xiaogan City
Jiang Jieshi turned around and stood up straight, loudly commanding: "Jingzhi, you immediately telegram Zhu Yizhen and Liu Jingfu, ordering the two divisions to march day and night, and quickly arrive at their destinations. Zhu Yizhen's division must not arrive at the line of Yueyang, Changde, and Shimend before 3 am, to block the retreat of the Guangxi remnants. Liu Jingfu's division must not arrive in Wuhan before 2 pm, and will take over as the garrison commander of Wuhan. Telegram He Jian, agreeing to his immediate appointment as the commander of the pursuit army, pursuing the Guangxi army under Ye Qichang. Notify Li Mingshu that tonight he will telegram and withdraw his troops from their current positions, marching towards Xiaogan, where he will take over as the commander of the 7th Army, gathering the old forces of the 7th Army. Li Mingshu and Yang Tenghui will temporarily be under the command of Song Zhiwu, the commander of the 4th Route Army. Telegram Wen Wengu, ordering him to immediately dispatch a division to quickly march into Wuhan, clearing out the remnants of the Guangxi army that have been left behind, maintaining order, protecting the concessions, docks, airports, train stations, and important military and government organs, especially the Hanyang Arsenal, which must be carefully protected. Also, prevent the Guangxi troops that have retreated from Wuxue, Luotian, Huanggang, and Qingshan from entering Wuhan. He will personally lead his remaining troops to garrison Xiaogan, directing Li Mingshu and Yang Tenghui to construct defensive positions, strictly preventing non-Central Army forces from entering Wuhan."
At 20:30 today, I just received a notice from the editor that my work "1010" has been put on shelves. Upon receiving this news, I can say that I am both surprised and delighted: Surprised because this message came too suddenly, I thought it would be good to reach 300,000 words, but I didn't expect it to happen so quickly; Delighted because my work can be said to have been recognized, my efforts have paid off! Here, I sincerely thank the book friends who have supported me for a long time! Thank you Late Empty Starlight, Divine Stick, Thief Commander, Xing'anling, | >0802, PPASU Book Friend 081119, Crazy Song Guest
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Special mention must be made of Luò Dì Fèng Huáng and Dao Shuai, who gave me the greatest support when I was disheartened and depressed, giving me the courage to continue writing! Zhao Da Huài Dàn is my first fan! The passerby who votes once a day, Lù Rén Jiǎ, is my most loyal reader.
This book is still expecting your continued strong support, hoping that you will accompany me to complete this journey of rise.
Finally, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my two editors!
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