Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 213 Taking Command of the Defeated Troops

"Yue Qianli? Does he have the organizational ability?

The Chinese in the city belong to more than a dozen divisions. Even if there are orders from the Chinese high-level officials, they will not listen to Yue Qianli. "

Colonel Shimono's doubts were not without reason. If these defeated soldiers were so well organized, they would not have been defeated in just a few days.
It is difficult to rally the troops once their morale has been broken. Even Tani Hisao does not believe in it. Now all they can do is wait and see. However, there is one thing they cannot hesitate on. He said to Colonel Shimotsuke:
"Shimoye-kun, we can no longer hide the abnormalities in Jinling City from His Royal Highness. If there is a huge loss, we will be held responsible.
Send a telegram to His Highness, asking for tactical guidance!"

Colonel Shimono did not expect that Tani Hisao was so single that he even asked for tactical guidance, which was equivalent to saying that he no longer cared about the reputation of the Kumamoto Division;

He originally wanted to persuade the division commander to think twice, but seeing that Tani Hisao was determined, he had to give up, bowed, and turned away.

Tani Hisao also knew that his request for help would definitely cause a huge uproar, and the commander would definitely scold him for being incompetent, but he had no other choice;

The Sixth Division's combat effectiveness has declined significantly since the 36th Brigade was crippled. Although he has managed to replenish the two main regiments with troops from all over the place, he has also drained the potential of the Kumamoto Division, and they will no longer have any reinforcements.

Now the four main regiments were all caught up in street fighting, with casualties continuing to rise. He did not even dare to count the casualties. The 4th Division, especially Yue Qianli's troops, were too difficult to deal with.
He now had a deep understanding of Yoshika Ryosuke's predicament and no longer mocked the 9th Division for its incompetence. Instead, he worried that they would repeat their mistakes.

Compared with the life and death of the Kumamoto Division, face means nothing!

At the East China Expeditionary Army Headquarters, Prince Asaka Naruhiko was furious after receiving Tani Hisao's call for help, just as he had expected. He greeted Tani Hisao's entire family with insults that only served to savagely insult them. Major General Iinuma Mamoru frowned as he thought a royal prince should not have such qualities.

He still had to show some respect to a lieutenant general, so he coughed and said:

"Your Highness—"

Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko shouted coldly:
“Please address your job title when you are working!”

Iinuma Mamoru had no choice but to bite the bullet and change his words:
"Commander, the battlefield environment changes rapidly, and this is not something that Tani Shoujun can control. The combat power of the Kumamoto Division is obvious to all in the Empire, and Tani Shoujun is even a good general of the Empire.

Being able to force him to ask the headquarters for tactical guidance shows that the situation has deteriorated to the point where you need to deal with it personally. It is commendable that Gu Shoujun dares to speak the truth, and he should be appropriately praised. "

After hearing what Iinuma Mamoru said, he realized that his foundation in the army was not very stable. Before this, his highest military rank was only Lieutenant General Division Commander, which was not even as good as Tani Hisao. Thinking of this, his face looked better and his tone became calmer. He said to Iinuma Mamoru:
"Mr. Iinuma, then take out three battalions from the newly delivered reinforcements to support the Kumamoto Division, and order the 3th Division to come under the unified command of Mr. Tani Hisahi, and make sure to completely annihilate the 114th Division within three days.
In addition, telegrams were sent to each division to inform them of the difficulties encountered by the Sixth Division, and to attach great importance to the spontaneous resistance organized by the defeated Chinese soldiers, mobilize heavy troops to encircle and suppress them, and steadily advance according to the strategy of first attacking south and then north.

I will give them another week to wipe out the remaining enemies. After a week, I will invite journalists from all over the world to come to Nanjing City to attend the grand event.
At that time, a grand entry ceremony and military parade will be held under the watchful eyes of the public, allowing those arrogant Westerners to see the majesty of the Imperial Army!
It is not their turn to interfere in Eastern affairs now! The Imperial Army is the ruler of the East and even the world."

After taking Jinling City, Prince Asaka Naruhiko had made no secret of his ambition to dominate the world, and Iinuma Mamoru excitedly took the order and left. The high-level officials of both sides had no secrets, and the intelligence personnel of CC and the Blue Shirt Society were not vegetarians either, and they quickly got the relevant intelligence;

After Dai Yunong verified the matter with Zheng Pingru, he could not wait to report it to the attendant's office, and the principal was so happy that his dentures almost fell off.

The top leaders of the National Government immediately convened an analysis meeting and concluded that the resistance in Nanjing City would be very beneficial to the National Government both militarily and politically. The new Chief of Staff, General Bai, spoke eloquently:
“What happened in Shanghai has proven that Yue Qianli and his guerrilla column are very good at street fighting;

There are at least 5 elite Nationalist troops stranded in Nanjing City, and the main force of the 88th Division is resisting in Nanjing City as a whole. If they can hold out for another ten days, half a month, or even a week, the passive situation of the Nationalist government in military and political aspects will be alleviated. "

After hearing this, everyone agreed. Chen Cixiu couldn't let General Bai take all the limelight. He also wanted to win over the rising star Yue Qianli. Strictly speaking, Yue Qianli's troops were also under his command for a short time. So he stood up and said:
"As long as there are still people in Jinling City who are fighting, it will not be considered a fall, and we can give an explanation to our allies and the people.

In order to unify the command, I suggest that we continue to use the banner of the Shanghai-Nanjing Guerrilla Column, and the Military Commission should issue a telegram ordering all the troops and individuals stranded in Nanjing to be under the control of the Guerrilla Column;

Yue Qianli is the head of the regiment, and the guerrilla column is still at the regiment level, so the Japanese cannot figure out the real situation. Even if they break out later, the losses cannot be determined, and it will not cause too much negative impact politically or militarily. "

Chen Cixiu was indeed a master at playing politics. He gave Yue Qianli a sword, which allowed him to control and command the fleeing soldiers in the city. This was a good thing for Yue Qianli.

At the same time, they were not given a formal organization. Even if they were annihilated by the 200,000 Japanese invaders, it would not have much impact on the National Government. They were just a ragtag group of ragtag groups, and the National Government could afford the loss.

The principal really agreed to this plan, and even wrote a personal letter to Yue Qianli, with sincere words, and the opening line was "Qianli is my brother", which made Yue Qianli very uncomfortable;

He remembered that when Zhang Lingfu was surrounded in Menglianggu, the handwritten letter was also addressed as "Lingfu, my brother", and during the Huaihai Campaign as "Guangting, my brother". Calling each other brothers meant that you were expected to be loyal to the national government, but the seniority was a bit confusing.

Of course, there was also something that made him very excited. It allowed him to control all the defeated soldiers in Jinling City. Now he could legitimately reorganize the defeated soldiers stranded at the docks and no longer have to be polite to them.

Brigade Commanders Zhu and Gao also received relevant telegrams, requiring the 264th Brigade and the 262nd Brigade to temporarily cooperate with the guerrilla column in combat, form a joint command with Yue Qianli, and return to their base after breaking through.

This was naturally a balance played by the government. They were not confident in handing over tens of thousands of defeated soldiers to Yue Qianli, so they formed a joint command headquarters under the direct leadership of the Military Commission, with Yue Qianli acting as the commander.
This way, Yue Qianli's monopoly can be avoided, and any credit for the military achievements will still go to the Military Commission. Even if all the soldiers are defeated, it will not affect the reputation of the Military Commission. The abacus beads are about to fall off people's faces. This is a typical case of letting the horse run without giving it grass to eat.

After receiving the telegram, Generals Zhu Chi and Gao Zhisong both stood up for Yue Qianli. Yue Qianli just shook his head and said:
"It would be good if the Military Commission had unified leadership. This way, we could legitimately recruit the defeated soldiers, and you and I brothers could work together to fight the Japanese."

Zhu and Gao stated on the spot that they would unconditionally carry out the orders of the Military Commission and fully cooperate with the guerrilla column to win this battle.

(End of this chapter)