Chapter 69: Total War Mobilization (Part 1)

  "...We are soldiers! Soldiers must stand up when the country is in danger! Now, everyone knows the situation in Shanghai, who dares to guarantee that the Japanese will not cross the border and kill?! Pudong, Nanshi have tens of millions of people living in fear, they are waiting for China's army; waiting for their own army; waiting for you!!!...Now, we must set out, we must go defend our compatriots! We must go defend our territory! We must go defend the dignity of our soldiers!!..." This is General Wang Wanling of the 4th Division making a mobilization speech to the whole army.

  Except for the 4th Division, all units participating in the mobilization training started their general mobilization early this morning!

  This time, the troops participating in the training, except for the originally excellent teaching team, most of the troops have not reached the standard requirements for training. However, the combat effectiveness of these troops has made a qualitative leap: compared to the main forces of the National Army in history, the original division had less than 10,000 people, while now each division has 22,000 people; originally, a division had only about 4-8 guns, and now each division can reach more than 50 guns, including mortars and anti-aircraft guns; originally, each division had only 60-200 light and heavy machine guns, and now each division has more than 1,000 machine guns; originally, the National Army troops used to count the bullets in their bullet belts, but now the ammunition is supplied openly; originally, the army had only bullets, long-handled hand grenades, and explosive packs, while now there are various types of hand grenades, including offensive, defensive, anti-tank, high-explosive, incendiary, smoke, and strong light grenades, as well as various landmines of different sizes and purposes.

  What's more important is tactics! The original National Army's tactics were backward, now the National Army has adjusted its training focus based on the actual situation of the old soldiers in the troops, taking tactical training as the main focus, supplemented by new weapon usage training. As a result, the National Army's individual soldier tactics, small unit coordination tactics, and battalion-level tactics have all made tremendous progress! It can be said without exaggeration that the current National Army, if facing off against the Japanese army without air force or naval support, any one of these twenty divisions has the capability to single-handedly resist a Japanese Type A division!

  Psychologically, the current National Army has been influenced by a large amount of anti-Japanese propaganda and training, taking the Japanese army as a reference object. Not only is there no fear of the enemy, but many troops have a strong desire to fight against Japan; in recent days, many units above the regimental level, even at the division level, have requested to go to war through their commanders! After receiving notification of impending military action, morale among the troops was extremely high, with everyone's face filled with enthusiasm and fighting spirit.

  Starting from today, Tan Xiao's work for the next three days is to inspect and mobilize various departments. A large number of entourage also participated in the inspection, including those Wall Street Jewish financial giants from the United States and foreign friends such as "M" and De Gaulle. They will also participate in the garrison inspection in Lingling.

  "I think the Chinese army is really strong, at least not inferior to Japan... The Chinese people have no need to be afraid of going to war with Japan..." De Gaulle couldn't help but find an entry point to steer the conversation towards China's alliance with the great powers; this morning, a shocking massacre occurred in the concession area, pushing all the great powers to the brink of total war. Of course, they were still unaware of the fate of the consulate...

  "Is that all you're relying on?" Tan Xiao heard De Gaulle's praise but didn't seem very proud: "They can win one battle, hmm, even many battles, I don't doubt it. But can they win the war? My answer is no, if we go to war with Japan, it's a war, we can't roll up China's land and take it away on a warship..."

  It's clear that Tan Xiao is determined to take the bamboo stick all the way!

  "As an ally, of course we will do our best to provide support to China, but Tan, don't you think you're asking for too much?" "M" said, he knew that the great powers would have to pay a price, a very big price; however, he hoped it could be smaller.

  "I think that as those who have participated in the last big war in Europe, you should be very clear about the consumption of a war; what we see now may not exist after a battle...... Japan has hundreds of millions of people, do you think they will engage in how many battles with us with tens of millions of people?...... My point is, if we really go to war." Tan Xiao cited the example of the European War, which makes it irrefutable - how many countries with billions of people fought against each other in the European War?

  "Tan, regarding your terms, I have already sent them back to our country. I think you don't need to worry that we will make peace with the Japanese halfway through. You know, this great war must have one side surrender..." "M" continued.

  "Yes, one side has surrendered... for example Japan, but they have set conditions for surrender; it's also possible that they've proposed conditions that you can accept but China cannot! So I still can't persuade the government to go to war. On the contrary, I will let the government put some pressure on the Japanese, let those bastards know our existence, but China should not go to war!" Tan Xiao's attitude is clear: towards Japan, China is resentful and will use this opportunity to extort them, but will not go to war; unless the great powers can give China enough confidence and guarantees that they won't abandon the Chinese people. What kind of guarantees do the Chinese need? Now "M" and De Gaulle are having a headache.

  Yes, according to Tan Xiao's theory of the decisive battle, even if all the conditions for military aid proposed by Tan Xiao are met, it would only be possible for China to support two more battles. As for the mortgage conditions he mentioned? This is not something they can decide on their own, and must be approved by Congress.

  "By the way, I heard that your country plans to invite the German High Seas Fleet to maintain peace on the waters north of Taiwan?" "M" suddenly asked. He had received a report from a British spy in Nanjing today, and the Nanjing government had made five notifications to Japan, including this one. At first, he was very dissatisfied when he heard it, feeling that China and Germany were getting too close! However, after repeated consideration, he found that this might not be a bad thing after all. Once the German High Seas Fleet leaves, the British Parliament may send more troops to the Far East!

  "Oh, this matter!...... We were a bit too optimistic, you know, we did this mainly for the sake of those German aid that could be smoothly imported...... Now the import in Qinhuangdao can only be described as smuggling, and the situation in Shanghai is too chaotic...... The Germans won't agree, they're only focused on Europe. I communicated with their people yesterday about the long voyage of the High Seas Fleet, which requires a huge expense, China can't afford it......" Tan Xiao suddenly had an idea when "M" raised this question: If the German High Seas Fleet is going to Shanghai, why would only he and the Germans hope for it? Wouldn't the British and French also want it? Maybe there's still room to make some profit here!

  Actually, the German High Seas Fleet was still very weak at this time and as a naval force, it would not have any impact on Britain; but it's an attitude, representing Germany's military direction! If the Germans send the High Seas Fleet to Shanghai, that would be a signal of lifting the European alert. The British can afford to bear the expenses of such a small fleet. "Tan, I personally think it's very wise for your country to invite the German fleet to Shanghai; the German troops have good discipline, at least they won't harm civilians... Maybe, if we bear all the fuel and other necessary supplies on its way here, that would be a way to facilitate this long voyage..." "M" followed up.

  Someone has sent money to the door! ...... Three days later, Germany will announce that it will dispatch its high seas fleet, including both pocket battleships "Deutschland" and "Admiral Graf Spee", as well as four new light cruisers: one "Leipzig"-class and three "K?nigsberg"-class cruisers, a total of sixteen various warships to Shanghai to perform peacekeeping tasks!

  Apart from persuading Germany's fleet to sail to Shanghai, the two powers' representatives finally did something that made Tan Xiao feel satisfied: once the German fleet sets sail, Britain will charter a fleet of merchant ships under the German flag and load all kinds of German aid equipment and materials still stranded in Germany onto the German fleet for transportation to China!

  Tan Xiaoxin had been suppressing a matter in his heart, and finally it has come to an end. The things on the contract are just empty words if they have not been fulfilled! Now, Qinhuangdao Bay is even more important - once the war starts, who can guarantee that the Japanese won't intercept the weak German fleet and seize those war materials and construction supplies for their own use? It's better not to transport them to Shanghai, but to unload at Qinhuangdao Bay or Guangzhou instead. Sweeping away the warlords of the two Guangs is now a must!

  "Could the old Chiang really have the guts to declare all-out war on Japan?!" Bai Chongxi and Li Zongren were discussing, today they also received news: all troops had been mobilized, fully prepared to set out!

  "According to intelligence, all departments have set up advance stations on the evacuation route, with half of them located in the north. Meanwhile, troops stationed along the line from Hubei to Hebei have been ordered to stockpile supplies and prepare to receive reinforcements. It seems that Old Chiang is not just going to make a move in Shanghai! Li Zongren analyzed the intelligence: "It appears that Old Chiang has great confidence in his troops, and it's likely that he has reached some new aid agreement with the major powers. This time, the Central Government really intends to declare war on Japan!"

  Like He Yingqin, Bai Chongxi can also be classified as a member of the "fear Japan" faction, but with some differences: He Yingqin was afraid of Japan to the extreme, to the point of being timid in battle; while Bai Chongxi still had the desire to challenge Japan at all times.

  "If that's the case, I think Guangxi is not in danger... Otherwise, this trip to Nanjing, I'll go too..." Bai Chongxi surprisingly showed enthusiasm: "Anyway, Tan Xiao is going to Nanjing, and Ye Jianying's army won't make a move..."

  "Do you want to go too? Didn't they say that both of us can't go?" Li Zongren teased Bai Chongxi, but he himself also believed that if Chiang Kai-shek was going to take action against Japan, it would be estimated that within three to five years, there would be no ability to turn south, and the Guangxi clique would be safe. At the same time, they were also warlords who shouted anti-Japanese slogans very loudly, and at this time, if they didn't make a good show of their attitude on the issue of resisting Japan, Chiang Kai-shek would snatch all the credit.

  "I think Old Chiang doesn't have the energy to bother with us!" Bai Chongxi said: "I think it's better if we support Old Chiang in resisting Japan, and we'll give him an army, but it must be a newly organized one. This way, we can also expand our military power..."

  After some discussion, all the big men of the Guangxi clique decided to go to Nanjing!

  Tan Xiao's mobilization inspection team arrived at Lingling Wilderness Airport after lunch and began inspecting the air force.

  The air force has now become very large, with over 600 pilots alone, but this army is not as good as saying it's a flying school student. These confident guys, Tan Xiao dare to guarantee that if they encounter Japanese pilots, they will be shot down in less than two encounters! Yes, they can now fly because of the large number of trainers and the guidance of British old pilots, but they are just pilots, far from being an air force! Except for three who came back from Nanyang and other air force troops, these people will not be able to truly join the battle for at least half a year, which is still possible in the Wild One Army with its crazy training tradition and rich materials; it's not possible in other troops.

  This group of guys who just learned to fly and even need a coach to accompany them, knew about the arrival of the mobilization inspection team and actually put up banners asking for battle!

  What a bunch of ignorant rookies! This was Tan Xiao's inner ridicule after seeing their declaration banner! Of course, Tan Xiao didn't come to the air force base today to see the rookies declare their determination. Today, a batch of planes transported from the UK have been assembled.

  Mitchell proposed to Zhao Junmai that in order to complete the design of the new aircraft as soon as possible and to test Rolls-Royce's new engine, he wanted to buy back the 26 prototype "Firebird" aircraft already delivered to the Royal Air Force, the British Type 224 fighter. Tan Xiang agreed to calm down Mitchell and let him work in China with peace of mind.

  For this batch of old fighters that were slow and had very unstable engines, the British Royal Air Force had long wanted to get rid of them, so they handed them over at a low price. When they arrived in China, due to current international circumstances, the British government generously exempted these fighters from fees - as a gift to win over Yan Xishan.

  The fighters have now stopped on the apron.

  "I thought, in order to differentiate between the Chinese and British versions of this fighter, I should give them some distinct shapes. So I made some adjustments..." Mitchell unfolded his drawings, and the changes were obvious - the wings were no longer those very noticeable curved shapes but straight: "Considering that the manufacturing process for curved wings is quite complex and requires high equipment and personnel requirements, I think it's better to make the Chinese version of the fighter like this..."

  For his own design, Mitchell was very proud, but he was still a British man and intended to reserve the best for Britain. Tan Xiao didn't know what Mitchell was thinking, but he thought Mitchell's reason was valid, and although he didn't understand aviation, he indeed hadn't seen any aircraft with circular wings flying in the sky later on, so he agreed: "Okay, but I'd like to make a suggestion. Why not design the wing like this?" He took out his pen and started drawing on paper.

  Tan Xiao was ignorant of modern air forces, but that didn't mean he had no idea what an airplane looked like. Even the civilian planes he'd seen in later generations all shared one characteristic: their wings gradually narrowed and thinned from front to back!

  "I think this wing design and your aircraft head design are consistent, they should be more reasonable in aerodynamics......" Tan Xiao looked at Rong Hui beside him with a somewhat embarrassed expression - a guy who had flown a few laps in the sky and couldn't stand still was actually discussing fighter design and aerodynamics in front of the chief designer of the original Supermarine!

  Mitchell suddenly seemed to grasp something after Tan Xiao finished drawing and explaining... the wing of the airplane was about to appear!

  "Also, in terms of fire control, I think we can roughly arrange it in these few places... Please don't mind me, although I'm not very familiar with airplanes, but I've done some research on firepower." Tan Xiao marked out the positions of the machine guns on the plane based on his memory of the photos he saw at the Aviation Museum. There were nine of them! He continued: "Also, I think we can install three 12.7mm large-caliber machine guns derived from the American M2HB in the most ideal position for mounting heavy loads, rather than our domestically produced MG24... In addition, I want to concentrate their firing point to 230 meters..."

  For the previous suggestion, he remembered that the commentator said during the visit that this aircraft was equipped with two machine guns, but these machine guns often jammed; so he considered replacing them with more stable large-caliber machine guns - after all, Japanese planes are known for their thin skin! As for the latter suggestion, it is a very memorable number, 365; this number was originally the concentrated shooting distance of this fighter, and later found that shortening by one-third had the best effect!

  Mitchell, who was not good at fire control shooting, agreed, but he intended to follow his own design throughout in the British version...

  Tan Xiao and Mitchell didn't know that due to these coincidences, the "Firebird" they would eventually get would be infinitely close to the ultimate version of the original timeline's 50s-60s "Firebird"! Of course, the heart of the current "Firebird", the "Moling" engine, hasn't been made yet; but it won't take long: in the original timeline, this excellent engine was designed by its designer who secretly persisted in designing it. Now, he is working under the full support and urging of Rolls-Royce and even the British government; and when Mitchell came to China, the design of this engine had already been basically completed, only lacking the conditions to make it and conduct experiments; now, all the conditions are met.

  In the evening, the inspection team arrived at the military supply production base, and they will have dinner tonight with the products of the military food processing plant in the base.

  "...In the American West War, six out of ten US soldiers who fell and lost their combat effectiveness were caused by that 'Spam' canned meat. I absolutely do not allow such a situation to occur in the Chinese army!" Tan Xiaodao said: "So my military food factory is a loss-making but constantly expanding enterprise. I don't care about its losses, I want soldiers to get real nutritional supplements..."

  In fact, the factory was not losing money; it's just that the profit was too small to allow for expansion. And every time there was an expansion, Tan Xiao had to put in more money, so he felt like it was a loss. The large cans of animal oil produced by the factory, such as chicken and duck oil, lard, mutton tallow, and beef tallow, were still very popular in the market; even its canned fish began to gain recognition in the market.

  After this afternoon's inspection tour, the Chinese military equipment has left a deep impression on the British, French and Jewish people: The Chinese are indeed preparing for war, very seriously and comprehensively preparing for war; preparing for war at a high level rather than just battles!

  This is absolutely an ally worth forming! The Chinese have prepared for the Sino-Japanese War beyond the imagination of all foreigners! However, even so, Tan Xiao still disagrees with declaring war on Japan. One reason is that they are not ready; more importantly, these great powers have seen that the Chinese will not move unless they want to thoroughly trample the Japanese under their feet! Therefore, Tan Xiao would be very worried about not being prepared when forming an alliance with the great powers and worried that the great powers might withdraw midway in such a situation.

  What can be given to Tan Xiang to give him confidence and let him influence the Nanjing government to fully cooperate with the powers? Perhaps his tenth condition is the most cost-effective - after all, the Allied forces will definitely thoroughly defeat Japan, and those concessions, leased territories, and Boxer indemnities will not be lost at all. Why not? It seems that we need to persuade the National Congress...... "M" was thinking.

  "Tan, I personally think that China's military strength is not as weak as you said. Even if it were a brutal battle and all the current equipment was destroyed, I think you could recover quickly......" Dai Gao Le is just that kind of person who wants others to make an effort but doesn't want to spend money himself.

  "If we had sufficient reserves, well, you're right." Tan Xiao still habitually shrugged his shoulders: "But our copper-clad steel ammunition production line has just entered trial production, and the raw materials are still largely dependent on imports. Our domestic output only accounts for one percent of demand, and other military industrial production is even worse... If we had two to three years, maybe we could independently cope with a war. But now, obviously not, we can only rely on imports, so I require that we must have the military aid I proposed, otherwise, we cannot win the war..."

  Their topic quickly returned to the cooperation conditions that Tan Xiao had previously proposed to Lie Qiang, and both sides began to haggle; to be precise, Tan Xiao was being stubborn while Lie Qiang was in a hurry!

  At this time, a staff officer rushed over and handed Tang Xiao a telegram. After reading it, Tang Xiao's face changed greatly. Then, after some consideration, he directly handed the telegram to "M".

  The Japanese Navy and the 9th and 14th Divisions of the Army massacred in Shanghai last night, nearly all foreigners except about 10,000 who escaped to the concessions were killed - including all twenty consular officials from various countries.

  Tan Xiao's drastic change in expression was put on for the sake of the powerful; "M"'s calmness was also put on, for everyone to see. Now "M" is ecstatic inside!

  No politician truly cares about the people, and what's happening in Shanghai now is too beneficial for those who advocate for "M"'s political views! They are the faction that advocates for sending troops to the Far East! Apparently, their political views this time will win the support of the masses!

  "Oh God! You're too great, thank you for creating these Japanese devils!" M's mind was screaming!

  I spent half the night researching and only wrote half a chapter. Although I had some memories of historical events, it's not easy to put them all together in chronological order with the protagonist's development... My QQ number is 1729211619, I'll be online around noon or late at night. If there are friends who can manage a QQ group, that would be great, and I'll join... Thanks to everyone's support, the various voting metrics are still doing well, but I'm not clear on the website's requirements... so I'll just keep asking for recommendations and collections, thank you all!