The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 312 Prelude to Battle
He Wei from the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs has been here many times and is considered familiar. This time he arrived at Minister He's office smoothly.

Only this time after coming to the Ministry of Military Affairs, He Wei felt a tense atmosphere that he had never experienced before.

Not only were there many more officers coming and going to handle business, but the atmosphere was more than a bit more tense than before, and this tense atmosphere was filled with the smell of gunpowder in preparation for war.

Because of this, He Wei couldn't help but secretly wonder if there was going to be another big war?
Could the continuous orders issued by the Military Commission recently received by the Assault Corps also be related to this?
Feeling the abnormal state of the Military and Political Department, He Wei couldn't help but start to think wildly. So, with full of doubts, He Wei met Minister He again.

"Hello, Minister!"

In the office of Minister He of the Ministry of Military Affairs, He Wei gave Minister He a military salute and said hello loudly. When Minister He saw it was He Wei, he stood up with a smile, still looking like a good old man and saying: "He is Wei, I originally planned to ask you to come to the Military and Political Department to discuss important matters in two days, but I didn’t expect you to come first. Come on, sit down quickly.”

After Minister He sat on the sofa, He Wei sat down and asked, "What do you want from me, Minister?"

"Of course I have something to do with you. Don't rush me. You came to see me today and you must have some military affairs to deal with. You should talk about your affairs first. Have you encountered any difficulties in the formation and training of the army?"

He Wei nodded and immediately informed Minister He of his personnel arrangements for the Assault Corps and the lack of officers.

When reporting on personnel arrangements, He Wei did not report in a positive tone on the personnel appointments and personnel arrangements of the Commando Corps. Instead, he reported to Minister He in a consultative tone.

He Wei's move certainly had his own intentions.

There are many factions in the national army, big and small. Anyone with ambitions must seize the troops. The first important thing to grasp the troops is to control the troops, and the key to mastering the troops lies in controlling the personnel appointments of a troop.

Although Minister He does not control the troops at all on the surface, He Wei actually relies on Minister He after all, and reports to Minister He in an attitude of seeking opinions and consent on the personnel appointments of the army. Instead of reporting with a final and decisive attitude, it can better show respect and "loyalty" to Minister He.

And He Wei's little trick was indeed useful. After listening to He Wei's report, Minister He laughed happily a few times, and then said: "He Wei, there is no need for personnel appointments within your army. You have reported to me. You have the final say on your troops. You have the final say on how to hire people. You can decide on the appointment of a group of battalion and company commanders. "

Although Minister He said he didn't care about He Wei's personnel appointment report, he showed a satisfied look.

Obviously, the attitude shown by He Wei also scratched Minister He's "itch."

Minister He added: "You can handle the personnel matters yourself and report them later. However, the shortage of cadres in your department is indeed a problem. If an army does not have enough qualified officers, it will definitely not work. There have not been a large number of military academy students graduating recently. , let's do this, you tell me the military departments and numbers that are short of officers, and I will call the Chengdu Military Academy. The instructors and team cadres there should be able to recruit a group of people, and the graduated students should also want to go. For those working in the frontline troops, it won’t be a problem to gather a group of people.”

"Now the Central Military Academy has opened branches in various places. I will ask someone to contact you and recruit some cadres."

He Wei was immediately overjoyed when he heard that Minister He wanted to help him recruit officers from the Central Military Academy in Chengdu and its branches in various places.

The Chengdu Military Academy mentioned by Minister He was actually the Jinling Central Military Academy before the war. It was also called the Whampoa Military Academy because it inherited the history and evolution of the Whampoa Military Academy.

After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the military academy was moved to Chengdu, Sichuan Province to continue its operations, so it was also called Chengdu Military Academy (its official name is the Central Military Academy Chengdu Main School.)
In order to supplement the frontline troops with officers, a large number of branches of the Central Military Academy have been opened in various places.

The original Luoyang branch was renamed the First Branch of the Central Military Academy, the original Wuhan branch was to be reorganized into the Second Branch, and the third branch was established in Ruijin. The former Guangzhou branch controlled by Chen Jitang was changed to the Fourth Branch of the Central Military Academy. The Longyun Yunnan Army's sphere of influence The Yunnan Military Academy was reorganized into the Fifth Branch of the Central Military Academy, and the original Nanning Branch in the Guijun system was reorganized into the Sixth Branch of the Central Military Academy.

With just one word from Minister He, he can help the Commando Corps to comprehensively recruit officers from military academies and branch campuses across the country. The problem of officers that was originally a big problem for He Wei will be solved, and the source of supplementary officers will be expanded to all military academies across the country. The scope of talent selection was increased, which really came as an unexpected surprise to He Wei.

He Wei stood up and stood at attention: "Thank you, Minister!"

Minister He waved his hand and motioned for He Wei to sit down. He looked at He Wei who was still unfinished and said, "If you have any other questions, please tell me and I will approve them all."

"Minister, I do still have something unclear, and I hope the minister can clarify it."

"Talk about it."

He Wei continued: "Minister, recently the Military Commission has issued many orders to our assault corps, requiring our unit to form an army as soon as possible, and to conduct a review of our unit after forming an army. I don't know this?"

He Wei was interrupted by Minister He before he finished speaking, and Minister He's expression instantly became serious.

"He Wei, what you are asking is exactly what I am going to tell you. Come on, come on, let's talk here."

Minister He stood up and walked to the large battle map in the office. He Wei followed closely behind him for no apparent reason. Minister He picked up the wooden baton, glanced at He Wei, pointed the baton at the battle map and said: "The Military Commission has urged your ministry many times, and I hope your ministry will form an army as soon as possible, because a war is about to begin. There’s a big fight.”

As the baton fell on the map where Xuzhou was located, Minister He continued: "The current situation of the Anti-Japanese War across the country is not optimistic. Although our army achieved a great victory at Taierzhuang near Xuzhou, the situation of the entire battle was not good for our army. It is very unfavorable. The Japanese army has concentrated more than 60 main troops in an attempt to completely annihilate the main troops of the Chinese army in the Xuzhou area. If our army continues to attack the Japanese army in the Xuzhou area, based on the comparison of the enemy's and our forces, not only Xuzhou will lose , the main force of our army near Xuzhou is also in danger of being outflanked and annihilated by the enemy."

"And if the Japanese capture Xuzhou, or even eat the main force of our army in the Xuzhou area, they will immediately go south to attack Henan and Hubei. Hunan will outflank the three towns of Wuhan, and the current movements of the Japanese army have also proved it. In order to realize their strategic intentions, one mechanized force of the Japanese army has already attempted to attack the Great Plains of eastern Henan, while another is marching westward along the Huaihe River in Anhui. The purpose is naturally to quickly capture HEN Province and prepare for a full-scale attack on Wuhan. Be prepared.”

Listening to what Minister He said about the current situation of the Anti-Japanese War, He Wei's expression became solemn. Recently, he had been fully devoted to the establishment and training of the commando corps and had no time to care about the situation of the Anti-Japanese War.

Now, after Minister He's brief introduction, he instantly regained his understanding of the overall critical situation of the war of resistance. After Minister He said these few words, the reason why the Military Commission had urged the formation of the assault force many times became clear.

Of course, because we have to fight, we have to fight a big war!

It's even more because we want to use the commando corps to fight!
He Wei said without thinking: "Then our army will definitely launch a large-scale offensive against the Japanese army in eastern Henan!"

Minister He was stunned for a moment, obviously shocked by He Wei's words.

As a time traveler, He Wei fully understands the direction of historical development.

According to the next situation, the Japanese army that broke into the eastern Henan area will divide into two groups and continue to attack the south. Its main force will capture Neihuang, Mazhuangzhai, and the Renheji line; the right column will advance to the vicinity of Yifeng and attempt to attack along the Longhai Road ( Baoji to Bianyungang) to advance westward, capture Lanfeng, and then quickly occupy the entire Henan.

According to this strategic concept of the Japanese army, once Henan is lost, they will inevitably launch the Battle of Wuhan quickly and move south to occupy Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Guangdong provinces. Once the Japanese army captures Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, and then lands in Guangdong, the entire China will be conquered by the Japanese army. Second, the hundreds of thousands of national troops still fighting along the coast will be annihilated if they lose supplies in the rear and are short of supplies.

The national army that retreated to Sichuan was also difficult to support under several sieges by the Japanese army. If the Japanese's wishful thinking was successfully implemented, then damn China would not be far away from national subjugation.

In response, the national government also adopted a corresponding blocking strategy. The Japanese army launched an attack on the eastern Henan region. The national army also organized a tit-for-tat force group of more than a dozen divisions to launch an attack on the Japanese army, which was the famous Battle of Lanfeng.

And according to He Wei's memory, it seems that the highest commander of the Japanese army in the Battle of Lanfeng was some kind of fat man.

Of course, this offensive attempt to encircle and annihilate the Japanese army's heavily armed group ended in failure due to the huge disparity in strength between the two sides. After the Battle of Lanfeng, in order to prevent the Japanese army from continuing to advance, the Nationalist Government had to dig up the Yellow River embankment. Trying to use water instead of troops to delay the Japanese attack, which is the famous garden water flooding the Seventh Army.

This historical knowledge has already been engraved in He Wei's mind, but Minister He didn't know that the person in front of him was a time traveler, so he was very surprised by He Wei's accurate judgment.

"He Wei, the matter is confidential. I can't say anything to you, but as you said, there will definitely be a big war in the eastern Henan area. But whether our army can eat or repel the attacking Japanese army in the eastern Henan area? It’s still an unknown, and all the Japanese’s current strategic actions are aimed at capturing Wuhan.”

Minister He said slowly, the baton in his hand turned in the direction of eastern Henan, and then pointed in the direction of Wuhan.

"Minister, even if the Japanese army cannot carry out a mechanized assault on the Great Plains in eastern Henan, they can still attack Wuhan. It is nothing more than changing the strategic attack direction to attack Wuhan along the Yangtze River from east to west in Anhui. If The Japanese army adopted this strategy to attack Wuhan, which was very beneficial to our army. The three provinces of Anhui, Hubei, and Jiangxi from east to west are not plains like Henan, but terrifying and complex terrain, with a large number of lakes and rivers. , mountains and jungles will greatly restrict the movement of heavy Japanese troops and vehicles, but they will be favorable conditions for our army to block the enemy. "

He Wei certainly knew that the Battle of Lanfeng in eastern Henan ended in failure. He also knew that the Japanese army was blocked by the tactics of flooding the Seventh Army at Huayuankou, and was unable to carry out the offensive strategy of going south to Wuhan from the vast Huangfan area. Instead, they adopted an attack strategy of going up the river.

Minister He said: "That's true. In other words, no matter what, Wuhan will fall into the flames of war sooner or later. He Wei, your judgment of the strategic situation is very accurate, but you may not know what the current situation of the main force of our army is. , As the Minister of Military and Political Affairs, I know this very well. The troops that were withdrawn from Jinling were all injured and have not yet recovered. In order to make up for the battle losses, our army had to establish a large number of new troops. These The combat effectiveness of the newly formed troops is even weaker. Facing the Japanese army's next big move, our army will have very few combat-effective troops at its disposal. "

"That's it for now. I think you should understand what the Military Commission means."

By this time, He Wei certainly understood the meaning of the Military Commission. The core of the next series of strategic deployments of the national army is to defend Wuhan, and defending Wuhan naturally requires heavy investment in troops. The current combat effectiveness of the national army, Minister He, also It is very clear that there are not many combat-effective troops, and although He Wei's assault team is small in number, its equipment, personnel quality and firepower are all excellent.

The Military Commission urged the formation of the army, and it must be preparing to put the assault force into the next stage of combat.

As for the next stage of the battle, He Wei estimated that it would be the Battle of Wuhan. As for which battlefield in the Battle of Wuhan he would be involved in, this was not something he could guess now.

"I understand my humble duty! It is the duty of soldiers to obey orders and protect their families and the country. It is our duty as a commando force!"

Minister He was already understanding when he saw He Wei. He sighed lightly, put his baton aside, and said to He Wei seriously: "He Wei, I was planning to call you here just to tell you about this matter. As a reminder, once the Japanese attack Wuhan and the war approaches Wuhan, your assault team will definitely be the first echelon of troops to go into battle. Now we don’t have many troops at our disposal, and the number of troops with strong combat effectiveness is even smaller. Your troops will It is inevitable that it will be focused on by the Military Commission and used intensively. Not to mention your assault force, even Shaozhou's 103rd Division will be put into the first echelon of operations near Wuhan. "

"Your assault force was originally a force directly under the Central Military Commission. It is also an experimental mobile fist force. The burden placed on you is very heavy. You must be prepared as soon as possible to speed up the formation and training of the force. Progress, when the war breaks out, your troops will fight a big battle and a tough battle."

(End of this chapter)