Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 499 Whoever Wants to Be It Can Be It (Bonus Chapter, Requesting Monthly Tickets)

Gu Mosan went to great lengths to put Bai Jiansheng in charge of the war in the Central Plains.

After discussing it with He Jingzhi, Gu Mosan decided to send Guo Gui, the director of the Operations Department of the Ministry of National Defense, to persuade Chang Ruiyuan.

After finding Guo Gui, Gu Mosan instructed, "When you report to the Chairman, just say that letting Bai Jiansheng command the troops is only a temporary measure."

"After the battle, the two major suppression headquarters will still be separated, and the Pengcheng suppression headquarters will still be handed over to Liu Jingfu."

Gu Mosan knew that Chang Ruiyuan was very wary of the Guangxi clique's control of military power.

"Don't worry, Chief of Staff, I know what to say." Guo Gui nodded.

However, although Guo Gui spoke with absolute certainty, he estimated that Chang Ruiyuan would never agree.

The Guangxi clique forced Chang Ruiyuan to step down three times, making him his biggest political enemy within the party, while Bai Jiansheng was the number two figure in the Guangxi clique.

After meeting with Chang Ruiyuan and presenting him with two defensive plans, Chang Ruiyuan was caught in a dilemma.

After thinking for a long time, he still couldn't make up his mind.

Chang Ruiyuan always felt that giving up Pengcheng would be somewhat self-deprecating, which was something he was unwilling to do, especially since the Northeast had just suffered a defeat.

This was not unexpected for Guo Gui.

If he could make decisive decisions in a crisis, he wouldn't be Chang Ruiyuan.

Looking at Chang Ruiyuan, who was holding the battle plan and remaining silent, Guo Gui spoke up:

"Chairman, the battle plan is not urgent, but what about the overall command of these hundreds of thousands of troops?"

"What suggestions does the Ministry of National Defense have?" Chang Ruiyuan put down the two operational plans and rubbed his forehead.

"Chairman, back when the Pengcheng Suppression Headquarters was established, Commander Bai suggested that there should not be two suppression headquarters in the Central Plains, but the troops from the two major battlefields of Central China and Pengcheng should be combined into one."

"How about we temporarily merge the two major suppression headquarters and put them under the unified command of Commander Bai?"

"After the battle is over, shall we return the Pengcheng Suppression Headquarters to Commander Liu?"

To Guo Gui's surprise, Chang Ruiyuan readily agreed to Bai Jiansheng's request for unified command.

"With the two major generals in Huazhong and Pengcheng under one command, it is advantageous to the situation. I think we don't need to separate them anymore. Let Bai Jiansheng take unified command."

Chang Ruiyuan's decisiveness surprised Guo Gui; this was completely unlike Chang Ruiyuan's character.

However, now that Chang Ruiyuan has agreed, Guo Gui can't say anything more.

After it was confirmed that Bai Jiansheng would be in unified command, Chang Ruiyuan seemed relieved and immediately added:
"Immediately request Bai Jiansheng to come to Nanjing."

"Immediately establish the Ministry of National Defense Command Post, with Bai Jiansheng as its director, responsible for commanding the entire Central Plains war situation!"

Chang Ruiyuan has tentatively set out an offensive and defensive battle plan, but he intends to leave the specific implementation to Bai Jiansheng.

On the 30th, Bai Jiansheng arrived in Nanjing from Hankou to attend a military conference of the Ministry of National Defense chaired by Chang Ruiyuan.

At the meeting, Bai Jiansheng readily agreed to take command of the Central China Suppression Headquarters and the Pengcheng Suppression Headquarters, totaling 950,000 troops, to wage a decisive battle against the G Army in the Central Plains.

After a long day of work, Bai Jiansheng returned home exhausted in the evening.

However, he didn't have time to rest and instead had someone bring over the strategic deployment map overnight.

When Bai Jiansheng saw the long, winding road lined up on Huaihai Road, he felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head.

"It's over, it's over!" Bai Jiansheng's hands trembled slightly as he read the documents.

Liu Jingfu's plan was completely wrong, and now there's no way to save them even if we wanted to!

Bai Jiansheng had fought many battles in Pengcheng and was very familiar with the terrain of the area.

To defend the Yangtze River, we must first defend the Huai River. Therefore, the army should not be assembled in Pengcheng, but in Zhucheng.

Pengcheng is a strategically important location, situated on a plain that is easy to attack but difficult to defend.

However, in terms of time, he simply did not have time to redeploy.

It would take at least ten to fifteen days just to withdraw the equipment and supplies of the 600,000-strong army back to Pengcheng for redeployment.

The G army has already spread a wide net on both sides of the Jinpu and Huaihai railways. At this time, a chaotic retreat would make them extremely vulnerable to attack, which would cause even greater chaos.

"We've fallen for Chang Ruiyuan's trick. We absolutely cannot take this position as commander-in-chief; if we do, we'll just become scapegoats."

After realizing that there was no chance of winning the battle, Bai Jiansheng decisively chose to abandon his post and run away.

After rushing back to Hankou overnight, Bai Jiansheng immediately made corresponding adjustments to the troops under the Central China Suppression Headquarters.

The next morning, before Chang Ruiyuan was about to continue the meeting to discuss the specific evacuation plan, He Jingzhi and Gu Mosan arrived at the Presidential Mansion ahead of time.

"Chairman, Chief Commander Bai called to say there's an urgent matter in Hankou. He has returned overnight, and I'm afraid he won't be able to carry out the task of setting up the general headquarters." He Jingzhi's tone was full of helplessness.

“Bai Jiansheng had clearly agreed to unify command of the Central China and Pengcheng Suppression Headquarters, but suddenly he changed his mind. No matter how we tried to persuade him, he just wouldn’t do it.”

“Matters of national importance are treated like child’s play!” Gu Mosan added from the side.

Upon hearing that Bai Jiansheng had run back to Hankou, Chang Ruiyuan's expression changed: "Damn it, Xiping! She's trying to make me look foolish!"

Chang Ruiyuan had received a report from the Bureau of Secrecy long before.

The US government has privately communicated with Li Delin, and if he can replace Chang Ruiyuan in power, he will receive strong support and military aid from the United States.

The fact that this is happening now must mean that the Guangxi clique is planning to use the Huaihai Campaign to force him out of office again.

"Shortsighted! Extremely shortsighted!"

"When the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact! If the Xuzhou-Bengbu Campaign collapses, Li Delin and Bai Jiansheng will not have an easy time either!" However, Chang Rui was still in high spirits, but he was not too nervous.

At this moment, Chang Ruiyuan was unaware that the decisive battle was about to begin.

Everyone in Guo Jun believed that since the G army had just finished attacking Quancheng, the troops would definitely need a period of replenishment and rest.

Even if local battles occur in some areas at this time, they will not trigger a decisive battle in the Central Plains.

After sitting on the sofa and thinking for a while, Chang Ruiyuan said, "Mo San, I won't go to Pengcheng. You can convene the meeting on the battle plan in my stead."

"Jingzhi, send a telegram to Guangting, instructing him to return to Pengcheng and take full command of the military operations of the Xuzhou-Bengbu Campaign."

"yes!".
While sending a telegram to Du Guangting, He Jingzhi also sent the offensive and defensive plans formulated by the Ministry of National Defense.

When the plan was delivered to Du Guangting, who was directing the troop retreat in Huludao, he could hardly believe his eyes.

"How did the senior advisors at the Ministry of National Defense come up with such an extraordinary plan?"

"Abandon the defense lines along the east and west sides of the Longhai Railway, and once again set up a long, straight line along the nearly 200-kilometer railway line from Pengcheng to Zhucheng?"

"Never before in the history of warfare has there been such a foolish stratagem!"

They abandoned the permanent fortifications of Pengcheng and left the city undefended, instead placing their various corps on a long strip of land on both sides of the railway with no established positions.

This will inevitably lead to a situation where things start small but end badly, and the company is vulnerable to attack from all sides.

Du Guangting was already worried that if he returned to the Central Plains battlefield too early, Chang Ruiyuan would pin the responsibility for the loss of Pengcheng on him.

Now that I've seen this plan, I'm even less inclined to go back.

At this moment in Pengcheng, Guo Gui was explaining his battle plan.

"In short, our army is currently in a straight line along the Longhai Railway, which is very unfavorable to our army."

"We must abandon secondary cities and concentrate our main forces on both sides of the Jinpu Railway to launch an offensive and defensive campaign."

"This way, we can secure the Jianghuai region, protect Nanjing, and have a strong mobile force of five army corps and three pacification zones, ready to seek a decisive battle when the opportunity arises!"

After Guo Gui finished her introduction, Gu Mosan waved his hand, gesturing for Guo Gui to sit down, and then said:

"Director Guo has conveyed the Ministry of National Defense's plan. You may ask any questions or express your opinions."

Qiu Feng wasn't afraid of offending anyone, and said directly, "Chief Gu, let me be frank."

"Even if the Ministry of National Defense decides to retreat to Huainan now, it will be too late. I think we can only rely on Pengcheng to fight it out."

Gu Mo came three times to convey the battle plan, but he didn't mention when it would be implemented.

“Hey, Officer Qiu, why are you so pessimistic?” Liu Jingfu laughed. “The deployment for this campaign is indeed like a snake in Changshan.”

"Strike its head, and its tail will come; strike its tail, and its head will come; strike its middle, and both head and tail will come."

Seeing Liu Jingfu's optimism, Qiu Feng just sneered and didn't say anything, afraid of lowering his own IQ.

Seeing the somewhat tense atmosphere of the meeting, Gu Mosan said, "I'd like to add something."

"The Ninth Sui District was abolished, Haizhou was abandoned, and the 44th Army and the 100th Army were placed under the command of the Seventh Army Corps."

Hearing that he had been assigned two more military posts, Huang Huanran readily accepted, but he still had some concerns:
"Commander-in-Chief, our 7th Army Corps is positioned too prominently around Xin'an Town. Is that alright?"

Li Bingwen interrupted Huang Huanran directly: "You already have five armies under your command, and you're still complaining to the Chief of Staff? What are we supposed to do then?"

Li Bingwen's 13th Army Corps consisted of only two armies, and in terms of troop strength alone, it was less than half the size of Huang Huanran's 7th Army Corps.

He's now green with envy; in the KMT, having soldiers means having power.

Feng Zhitai, the clerk of the Third Pacification District, also stood up with envy and said:
"Chief of Staff, according to intelligence, the G Army has assembled seven or eight columns in the north. Once they move south, our Third Pacification Zone will be the first to be hit."

Feng Zhitai's meaning was simple: give him some more men, since he only had two ragtag troops, and they were severely understaffed.

Gu Mosan could naturally understand what Feng Zhitai meant, but he completely ignored his thoughts.

"If that's the case, you must do everything in your power to stop the G army, ensure the safe withdrawal of the 7th Army Corps, and complete the operational deployment."

Are you kidding me? Are you one of their own? People are already being kind by not separating themselves from you.

Upon hearing Gu Mosan's words, Feng Zhitai became anxious and immediately looked at Liu Jingfu, hoping he could say a few words for him.

However, Liu Jingfu simply waved his hand, signaling him to stop talking.

Helpless, Feng Zhitai could only sit back down, cursing under his breath.

Throughout the Liaoshen Campaign, Chang Ruiyuan flew back and forth between Northeast and North China, and even in his busy schedule, he flew to Shanghai and slapped his son.

After working overtime continuously at high intensity and personally delivering all the troops in Northeast China, Chang Ruiyuan could no longer hold on and vomited blood.

With Chang Ruiyuan in poor health, the generals at all levels of the Guo army began to bicker and delay the original battle plan.

On November 5th, the Ministry of National Defense in Nanjing finally officially issued the plan for the Xuzhou-Bengbu Campaign.

Each army corps was ordered to withdraw to the Jinpu Railway line between Pengcheng and Zhucheng to conduct offensive and defensive operations.

Huang Huanran breathed a sigh of relief upon finally receiving the order to retreat.

After rushing back to his corps overnight, Huang Huanran immediately began arranging for the troops to retreat urgently, preparing to escape back to Pengcheng before the G army arrived.

However, just as Huang Huanran was making preparations, Liu Jingfu called.

[On the first day of July, won't you cast your guaranteed monthly votes, fellow Silings?]

(End of this chapter)