The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 430: Outrageous Rumors, Japanese Paratroopers

Instead of receiving the expected commendation for the great victory in Yangxin, they received a brief transfer order, and the content of the order was to have the assault corps move to the temporary capital.

When He Wei received the transfer order, he was completely confused. With the current war situation, He Wei felt that even if the top leaders of the Military Commission made some transfers to the Assault Corps, it would most likely be transferred to other battlefield directions to reinforce and provide assistance to some urgent and tight areas. But what did it mean to transfer the Assault Corps to the temporary capital?
What is even more puzzling to He Wei is that the telegram also mentioned that the temporary capital is in danger. Although the fighting is raging on the front line and the situation is urgent, the temporary capital is far away in Sichuan Province and is currently out of the reach of the Japanese army. It can be said that it is in a very safe state.

At least, the Japanese army can only attack the temporary capital through air bombing, and it is far from possible for ground forces to attack this far.

According to He Wei's memory, the most dangerous time for the temporary capital during the eight-year War of Resistance against Japan was in 1944. The Japanese army concentrated hundreds of thousands of troops and launched the Battle of Central Henan, the Battle of Changheng and the Battle of Guiliu. After opening up the Pinghan and Changheng lines and capturing Zhengzhou, Luoyang, Changsha and Hengyang, the Sixth Front Army of the Japanese Expeditionary Force in China, with 11 troops from 23 divisions and 8 brigades including the 2th Army led by Isamu Yokoyama and the 18rd Army led by Hisaichi Tanaka, divided its troops into three routes from Hunan and Guangdong in early September, launched an attack on Guilin and Liuzhou, and fought all the way to Dushan in Guizhou Province, directly endangering the temporary capital. This is known as the Qiannan Incident in history.

This was also the most critical moment for the temporary capital in the history of the War of Resistance. Of course, the National Government later urgently dispatched troops and drove out the Japanese army, thus resolving the crisis.

As for the current secondary capital, it is absolutely impossible for such a dangerous situation to occur there. However, the telegram from the Military Commission used the term "secondary capital emergency", which directly confused He Wei.

After He Wei reported the news to the main officers of the assault corps, everyone was extremely confused and didn't know what the Military Commission's intention was. Many officers also gave their own opinions. There were many different opinions and discussions.

Only Chief of Staff Wang Yuanling put forward a more reasonable guess that the assault corps was urgently ordered to enter Sichuan and head to the temporary capital, most likely not because of external enemies, but because of internal strife, or in other words, to deal with the local snake forces in Sichuan Province near the temporary capital who had disloyalty to the central government.

Although the secondary capital was the wartime capital, it was located in Sichuan Province after all, and belonged to the sphere of influence of the original Sichuan warlords. Although after a series of operations by the central government of the Nationalist Party, the local warlord forces in Sichuan Province had been greatly disintegrated and were no longer a force to be reckoned with, they had been entrenched in Sichuan Province for many years after all. Even though the central government of the Nationalist Party had already taken control of Sichuan Province, the remaining forces of the Sichuan warlords could not be underestimated.

Moreover, there are still a large number of Sichuan Army troops in Sichuan Province that have not left the province. Many of these troops have not moved closer to the central government, that is, they have not been centralized, and still maintain the status of independent kingdoms. It can be said that the rule of the National Government Central Government in Sichuan Province is still not as solid as a rock.

In fact, there are precedents for such incidents. Wang Yuanling told He Wei that he had heard from his classmates at Lu University that, in fact, a similar incident occurred as early as last year when the National Government had just moved its capital. It was said that at that time, some local warlord forces in Sichuan Province were dissatisfied with the central government of the National Government moving into Sichuan, and wanted to use force against the central government of the National Government that had just moved into the secondary capital. They vaguely intended to directly get rid of the central government of the National Government that had moved into the secondary capital, and then expel the central forces that had entered Sichuan Province.

This matter was soon discovered by the Nationalist government. Upon learning that this group of local tyrants were planning to attack them, the Nationalist government was horrified and immediately took countermeasures and began mobilizing troops to deal with possible armed mutiny.

However, the number of central army troops stationed in Sichuan Province was pitifully small at that time, and there was no central army soldier near the temporary capital. Finally, the central government of the Kuomintang, desperate, had to temporarily arm the Whampoa students of the Central Military Academy in Chengdu and rush to the temporary capital for emergency assistance.

Of course, what Wang Yuanling said did not actually become a reality in the end, and there was no conflict between the central government of the Nationalist Party and the local Sichuan clique leaders who might have taken action.

However, it can be seen from this that even though the full-scale war of resistance had already begun, the contradictions and struggles between the Nationalist government and local warlords still existed. This incident also shows that the Nationalist government's direct armed forces near the temporary capital were actually very insufficient.

Based on this incident, Wang Yuanling also believed that the Military Commission's emergency transfer of the Assault Corps to the temporary capital as a garrison force might lead to similar internal strife and fighting. The temporary capital was in urgent need of reinforcements from the central government's direct troops. At this juncture, the Assault Corps won a great victory in Yangxin, demonstrating extremely strong combat effectiveness. Therefore, it would be selected by the Military Commission to be urgently reinforced to the temporary capital to deal with possible dangerous situations.

On the whole, Wang Yuanling's speculation is the most reliable one at present. After all, the Chinese and Japanese armies are fighting fiercely on the front battlefield, and troops are urgently needed everywhere. But now the assault corps, a fresh force, is inexplicably transferred to the secondary capital in the rear. Something must have happened in the secondary capital.

After the troops arrived at the temporary capital, it was impossible for them to fight the non-existent Japanese army. If they did not fight the Japanese army, there was a great probability that they were coming to deal with their own people.

If we make a bolder assumption and transfer the Assault Corps, an elite force that is well-equipped, well-trained, and has just made military achievements and has a great reputation, from the extremely important Banbishan River Defense Front to the temporary capital, He Wei suspects that the central government may not only be doing this for self-protection, but may also use the Assault Corps as a sharp weapon to actively launch attacks, eliminate, and eliminate certain local warlord forces in Sichuan Province that have ulterior motives near the temporary capital.

Although He Wei was very reluctant, he had to agree with Wang Yuanling's opinion. However, the country was in crisis now, and He Wei was really unwilling to let him go to the rear to fight his own people.

However, military orders are as heavy as mountains, and as a commander of an elite unit of the Central Army who graduated from Huangpu Military Academy, he had to follow orders no matter how reluctant he was, so He Wei had no choice but to prepare for the troops' departure and relocation.

At the same time, in order to find out the inside story of this relocation, He Wei sent a very tactful inquiry telegram to the Military Commission.

Of course, He Wei was just trying things out and didn't expect the Military Commission to give him a positive response. After all, if the Assault Corps really had to go to the capital to fight the local tyrants in Sichuan Province, the combat would be much easier than fighting the Japanese army. However, this kind of action of attacking one's own people was somewhat embarrassing. Even if He Wei guessed it right, I'm afraid the Military Commission would not tell He Wei directly.

However, the Military Commission's reply was surprisingly quick. Just two days after He Wei sent the inquiry telegram, the Military Commission sent a reply, and the content of the reply surprised He Wei. "The previous telegram has informed your army that the capital is in danger. The situation is as follows. The main force of our army is besieging the enemy's 106th Division at Wanjialing in Jiangxi Province. There have been fierce battles for several days. The battle situation is extremely tragic. Our army has been fighting fiercely with the enemy's 106th Division for many days. The enemy is rampant and relies on its air superiority to drop ammunition, baggage and supplies for several days. The enemy relies on this continuous air replenishment to continue to resist. A few days ago, according to the report of our army near Wanjialing, the enemy planes dropped food and ammunition. In addition, a large number of personnel and paratroopers have been airdropped, which shows that the enemy already has the ability to airdrop troops. According to reports from our military intelligence department, the Japanese army is suspected of using airdrop troops to attack our temporary capital. The temporary capital is currently undermanned, and the existing field troops are mostly from the Sichuan Army, lacking the elite troops from the central government. Therefore, I order your troops to move to the temporary capital as soon as possible. In addition, all artillery units assigned to your troops will remain in Banbi Mountain, and your position will be taken over by the 82nd Division. Please hurry up."

It turns out that He Wei, Wang Yuanling and others' previous guesses were all random and useless. The Military Commission did not transfer the assault corps to deal with its own people, but to deal with the so-called "Japanese airborne troops".

According to the content of the telegram, He Wei roughly guessed the reasons and consequences of the Military Commission's urgent dispatch of the Assault Corps to garrison the temporary capital.

First, the National Army troops that were besieging the Japanese 106th Division on the Wanjialing line discovered that the Japanese planes not only dropped ammunition supplies to the besieged 106th Division, but also began to drop personnel. They quickly reported the situation to the Military Commission. After learning of this situation, the senior officials of the Military Commission naturally believed that the Japanese army had the ability to organize airborne troops to fight.

Coincidentally, at this critical juncture, the intelligence department of the National Government got news from somewhere that the Japanese army was going to use paratroopers and airborne troops to launch a surprise attack on the temporary capital. The combination of the two pieces of information probably aroused the vigilance of the senior officials of the National Government. In order to defend the temporary capital and deal with possible airborne raids by the Japanese army, the National Government would have to dispatch troops to reinforce the temporary capital which was short of manpower.

Under such circumstances, the assault corps, which had just won a great victory and demonstrated strong combat effectiveness, naturally became the best choice for the reinforcements needed by the National Government to defend the temporary capital.

After reading the telegram, He Wei was shocked and couldn't help but smile bitterly. As for the so-called Japanese airborne troops and the Japanese army's plan to use airborne troops to raid the temporary capital, He Wei can guarantee 100% that the Japanese army's use of airborne troops to attack the temporary capital is an absolutely outrageous rumor. As for the Japanese army's use of airplanes to airdrop personnel to Wanjialing, it is most likely a fabrication.

First of all, although the Japanese airborne troops have already taken shape and have certain airborne combat capabilities, He Wei, as a time traveler, can be very sure that the Japanese airborne troops are still in their infancy and do not have large-scale organized airborne combat capabilities.

Moreover, the Japanese airborne troops were in an awkward position in the Japanese military system. At the beginning of their establishment, they were divided into two parts, one part was given to the Army's aviation force, and the other part was given to the Marine Corps. They were not valued in the Japanese army.

Their training was also problematic. Within the Japanese army, the airborne troops were viewed as infantry with the ability to parachute through space. Their training was still that of infantry units, and the quality of their soldiers was at the bottom. They also lacked advanced airborne equipment, and their overall combat effectiveness was very poor.

It was not until 1940, when the German army took the lead in organizing large-scale successful airborne operations, that the Japanese airborne troops introduced advanced airborne tactical concepts and advanced airborne equipment from Germany, and their combat effectiveness was improved. As for now, the Japanese airborne troops can only be said to be a weak force.

Therefore, He Wei was very sure that the Japanese airborne troops at that time did not have the ability to carry out large-scale airborne operations. With the Japanese airdrop capabilities, they could at most organize small and medium-scale airborne operations. Moreover, the temporary capital was known as a mountain city, with rolling mountains, crisscrossing rivers, rugged terrain, and many steep slopes.

The Japanese army went to great lengths to send a small-scale airborne force to the secondary capital located in the heart of Sichuan Province, where the terrain was complex. He Wei felt that the Japanese must have been crazy to do such a thing.

Even in later times, organizing a large-scale airborne force to carry out airborne operations in complex terrain is a very difficult task, let alone the Japanese army at that time. Therefore, in He Wei's opinion, the Japanese army's use of airborne troops to attack the temporary capital was purely an outrageous rumor.

As for the news that the Japanese airdropped personnel and paratroopers at Wanjialing, it is mostly false. It is highly likely that the Nationalist troops on the front line of Wanjialing made a misjudgment. The area near Wanjialing is also mostly complex mountainous terrain, which is also not suitable for airdrop operations (there has always been a rumor that the Japanese airdropped a large number of officers to supplement the casualties in the Battle of Wanjialing, but it is actually a complete rumor. In the history of the Battle of Wanjialing, the Japanese air force kept a complete record of airdrops for the besieged 106th Division. All the airdrops were ammunition and supplies, no personnel.)
He Wei actually had some impression of the reaction of the high-level government officials in guarding against the Japanese airborne troops. He remembered that in the original history, the National Government did take precautions against the Japanese airborne troops attacking the temporary capital, and even specially concentrated a batch of armored vehicles and motorcycles imported from Germany to form a fast motorized force stationed near the temporary capital to prevent surprise attacks by the Japanese airborne troops.

However, He Wei remembered that it was something that happened after 1940. The reason was that the Nationalist government saw that the Germans had successfully carried out large-scale airborne raids, and thus was worried that the Japanese, who were in cahoots with the Germans, would also do the same to the Nationalist government, so they became very vigilant.

But it was only 1938, and the Germans had not yet launched any shocking large-scale airborne operations. He Wei once wondered if some things had quietly changed because of his time travel?

Anyway, the situation He Wei is facing now is that his troops are about to embark on a long-distance march and urgently transfer from Hubei Province to Sichuan Province because of a misjudgment, a false report, and an outrageous rumor.

He Wei felt helpless, speechless, and a little amused about this. It was all in vain.

However, the Military Commission and the top leaders of the National Government probably didn't even know 50% of what he knew about the Japanese airborne troops. He Wei felt that this redeployment was completely unnecessary, but his superiors were probably furious, so He Wei could only carry out the order with a pinch of his nose.

However, thinking from another angle, leading the troops to the temporary capital can be regarded as moving closer to the "Central Government", and there may be unexpected benefits. This is the only way He Wei can comfort himself.

With mixed feelings, He Wei quickly contacted the Military Commission and began to organize the finishing work before the assault corps' retreat, arranging shipping matters and communication with the troops coming to Banbi Mountain to relieve the defense. The entire assault corps also quickly switched from a state of rest and preparation to a state ready to set off.

(End of this chapter)