Chapter 1 The Commanders Are All Sad

The three brigades of the Xuzhou Task Force, even before they had a proper fight with the Lunan Detachment, had already lost nearly ten thousand elite infantrymen. This reality saddened all the commanders of the Xuzhou Task Force.

Especially when only two brigade commanders from the entire task force could attend the military conference.

After being discharged from the hospital, Commander Yamabao immediately went to the command post of Saito Daixiong's brigade, where he held his first military conference since arriving in Xuzhou.

Chief of Staff Suzuki Goro attended this military conference on behalf of Inoue Munetake's brigade.

The attendees of the military conference convened by Commander Yamabao Jiro were still limited to the brigade commander level.

Wan Lesheng, the commander of the puppet 37th Army, attended such a meeting again, reminding himself once more: Absolutely do not open his mouth!

Opening his mouth would only result in being slapped in the face. Although he was already a puppet soldier without any face, Wan Lesheng still cherished his reputation very much.

That's just how people are; the more they lack something, the more desperately they want to prove to the outside world that they have it!

Brigade Commander Mada Yuto once again introduced the situation in Xuzhou, repeating the same clichés he had said countless times.

These Japanese devils who came to Xuzhou to help suppress the Lunan Detachment hadn't accomplished a single thing, but the number of meetings they held was considerable.

Brigade Commander Mada Yuto was intentionally or unintentionally reminding everyone that his brigade was already struggling to defend Xuzhou and would not have the spare capacity to send troops to assist the Xuzhou Task Force.

At the same time, he also reminded the Xuzhou Task Force that before they arrived, the ground in Xuzhou was very safe. Since their arrival, people had been reporting sightings of the National Army guerrillas in the suburbs of Xuzhou.

Due to a lack of troops, Brigade Commander Mada Yuto, upon receiving such reports, never sent out troops to investigate.

He knew very well in his heart: Wasn't it perfectly normal for guerrillas to appear in the suburbs of Xuzhou? Since occupying Xuzhou, there had been too many teams outside the city flying the banner of guerrillas.

There were teams left behind by the National Army to fight guerrilla warfare, bandits with ideals from various places, and scattered small teams of the National Army who had been defeated. They all called themselves guerrillas.

These people called themselves guerrillas in order to conveniently collect some grain from the civilians outside the city.

For Brigade Commander Mada Yuto, as long as the farmers outside the city could pay the taxes he had assigned, that was all that mattered. As for how many times they had to hand over grain, that was none of his concern.

He was an invader, not the local official of this land. Brigade Commander Mada Yuto never had any real feelings for these people on this land.

Even if it was to cooperate with reporters for a show, sending out a small team to help an old person in the city or sweep the streets, it was only posing for a few minutes in front of the photographer.

It was impossible for the Japanese to keep up their act for even ten minutes.

This feeling was actually the common mentality of all invaders: Why should the weak be respected?

Commander Yamabao had originally worked as a staff officer, and he had risen to such a high position through the ranks of staff officers. Of course, he could hear the true meaning in Brigade Commander Mada Yuto's report.

Today, listening to Brigade Commander Mada Yuto's introduction of the difficulties faced by the Mada Brigade stationed in Xuzhou, he understood.

He was completely lost in the fog regarding the key information about the guerrillas appearing in the suburbs of Xuzhou and the Lunan Detachment occupying more than twenty county towns, and he didn't understand it at all.

The independent mixed infantry brigade stationed in Xuzhou had already been annihilated in its entirety.

Brigade Commander Mada Yuto still knew very little about the situation of the Lunan Detachment. They only knew that the Lunan Detachment had heavy artillery, airplanes, and a base area.

Beyond that, they knew nothing! As for the leaders of the Lunan Detachment, they only knew their names. They didn't even have an estimated number for the Lunan Detachment's strength.

This made Commander Yamabao Jiro feel very helpless. He didn't know what he should do or what he should be doing.

According to the order of Commander-in-Chief Terauchi Hisaichi, the first task of the Xuzhou Task Force was to rescue the Fukagawa Taishi Battalion.

After paying the price of two infantry regiments, the Fukagawa Taishi Battalion could no longer be contacted. This task seemed to be completed.

The second task of the Xuzhou Task Force was to clear the area around Xuzhou and the base area of the Lunan Detachment. This had to be done.

Currently, he could only do this. As for Chief of Staff Suzuki Goro's suggestion at the meeting that the task force should immediately set off in the direction of Lilou to meet the Asao Regiment and the Nakajima Regiment, he was still clinging to a glimmer of hope.

Commander Yamabao ruthlessly rejected it: The Asao Regiment, the Nakajima Regiment, and the Fukagawa Battalion had all been wiped out. There was no need to harbor any illusions.

A brigade that no longer had an infantry regiment was completely useless to Commander Yamabao.

Moreover, Chief of Staff Suzuki was not Brigade Commander Inoue Munetake, so he could not gain the respect of any of the Japanese devils in the meeting room.

His demands did not receive any response, so he lost the desire to continue speaking. Only Brigade Commander Saito Daixiong and Brigade Commander Hyakudai Soemon of the 4th Cavalry Brigade were performing in the meeting room.

Although Brigade Commander Hyakudai Soemon led the cavalry, a force that required courage and speed, he was a brigade commander who liked to be very cautious.

Therefore, this military conference ultimately followed the rhythm of Brigade Commander Saito Daixiong: All officers and soldiers of the Saito Brigade would rest in Xuzhou for another two days.

During these two days, more cavalry reconnaissance squads would be sent out, and the Mada Brigade would also inquire more about the situation of the Lunan Detachment.

To prepare intelligence support for the upcoming large-scale operation, the entire Xuzhou Task Force would still depart from the north of the city two days later and advance towards Tashan Town.

They would strive to establish a new stronghold in Tashan Town and then continue to penetrate deep into the Lunan base area.

His plan was already very conservative. Commander Yamabao Jiro was very satisfied, and Brigade Commander Hyakudai Soemon had no objections.

As for Brigade Commander Mada Yuto and Chief of Staff Suzuki Goro, they were simply unwilling to participate. And Wan Lesheng, who only brought his ears and didn't say a word today, these three guys had no interest in Brigade Commander Saito Daixiong's operational plan and had no objections.

This made Brigade Commander Saito Daixiong very excited. This time, he had shown his face. The Xuzhou Task Force led by Commander Yamabao Jiro had accepted the reality that the Inoue Munetake Brigade had lost its combat effectiveness.

Commander Terauchi Hisaichi could not accept it. The strength of the North China Area Army in his hands was decreasing day by day, and he really couldn't send out any more troops.

The 2nd Army still needed the Xuzhou Task Force to go and rescue them. The three brigades that were formed had only been around for a few days and were already finished. They hadn't even accomplished anything.

No matter how unwilling Commander Terauchi Hisaichi was, there was nothing he could do at this time. He could only watch from afar and wait for Yamabao Jiro to send him a surprise.

The six regular regiments and two security regiments of the Lunan Detachment, which had been resting in Lilou for a day, received the order to continue resting today.

Lin Fan knew from the information he received that in the past two days, dozens of military trains had run on the railway, and the final destination of these military trains was Xuzhou.

From this news, he deduced that the newly formed Xuzhou Task Force of the North China Area Army should have all arrived.

So many Japanese devils had arrived in Xuzhou, they wouldn't just come here for fun and then leave. However, after the Japanese devils entered Xuzhou, they were as if they were dead, not moving for two consecutive days.

If the enemy doesn't move! I don't move!

The eleven regiments of the Lunan Detachment temporarily stopped their activities, and the four regiments led by Gu Xiuming also quietly retreated twenty *li* from the outskirts of Xuzhou.

They were lurking in the mountains fifty *li* away from Xuzhou. The entire Lunan Detachment was now waiting for the Japanese devils to leave the city.

The troops of the Jiangbei Detachment of the Special Operations Brigade had stabilized in recent days, without attacks from the main force of the Japanese devils from the direction of Xuzhou.

Chen Sichuan was leading the main regiment along the railway line, slowly attacking and advancing towards Xuzhou. The Special Operations Brigade's method of operation was different from that of the Japanese devils.

The Japanese devils first occupied towns and main roads, while Chen Sichuan was leading the team to sweep across the area, occupy the towns. It didn't take much time, but organizing the villages in the countryside was what really took time and effort.

Moreover, a large village might have thousands of people, while a small one might only have one or two hundred, and the effort spent was about the same. It was a very laborious and thankless task.

The people of the Special Operations Brigade were doing these things, uniting the villages they passed by as they moved forward.

Chen Sichuan was good at fighting, and now he was also very good at ideological work. In fact, he only sent working groups to each village.

Now was the time after the autumn harvest, the time for paying rent and taxes in various places. The Special Operations Brigade launched a policy of reducing rent and taxes in a timely manner.

This immediately benefited the ordinary people in the villages and immediately won the support of these people.

The team of the Special Operations Brigade had the strong economic strength of the Jurong base area. They brought money and traded with the villagers wherever they went.

The various vegetables grown by the villagers, and the poultry and livestock they raised, the people of the Special Operations Brigade never robbed them. They only needed to ask people to buy them with a smile on their faces.

If one family was unwilling to sell, they would look for the next one. With so many villages and so many people, there would always be someone willing to trade.

More importantly, following behind the Special Operations Brigade were some flexible peddlers and small merchants.

The villagers could immediately use the money they had just exchanged for vegetables to buy the supplies they needed from these peddlers.

There was no need to worry about the money received becoming a piece of waste paper.

This made the villagers' acceptance of the Jiangbei Detachment far greater than their acceptance of other teams.

Even when the National Army was fighting here a few months ago, it was not as popular with the people as the current Jiangbei Detachment.

Lin Fan had requirements for the development of the base area. He came from later generations and knew what was most important for a country and a nation.

It was knowledge! It was literacy!

Therefore, the working groups sent out by the Jiangbei Detachment established schools in villages with more than 300 people, teaching children during the day and teaching adults to read at night.

In villages with less than 300 people, several villages jointly ran a school, and the teaching materials were the same.

In order to attract children to come to study, the school provided a free lunch. After such conditions were announced, some young people who were already married were forced by their parents to say that they were only twelve years old and go to school.

The purpose was to get a free lunch at school. The people in the working group were not serious, and they really treated these lads, who were as tall as themselves and probably older than them, as children, teaching them to read.

They invited them to lunch, told them about the current domestic situation, and talked about the crimes committed by the Japanese devils.

When these working groups talked about the crimes of the Japanese devils, they started with the most recent places. They had the channel of the Special Operations Brigade, and the things they told were all true, with clear village names and people's names, which could be completely verified.

At the same time, the working group also told these children and villagers about the glorious achievements of the Special Operations Brigade.

These people all had personal experience on the battlefield, and they also had the latest battle reports. Every night when they told the achievements of the Special Operations Brigade, it was told on the playground outside the school.

Adults and children from the entire village and even nearby villages all came. They felt that these things were told better than storytellers.

As the working groups stayed in the villages longer and longer, the villagers were more and more influenced.

Like a gentle breeze and rain, the ordinary villagers in these villages were gradually and increasingly trusting of the people in the working groups.

The self-defense forces in the villages were established, and they were trained every few days. When the rifles were distributed, the entire village was boiling.

As for the landlords and gentry in the villages, as long as they did not deliberately oppress the villagers, the people in the working groups would not deliberately target them.

Even if some villagers encountered unfair things and asked the people in the working group to judge, the working group would not favor any side.

And they also actively suggested to the gentry: Please go to Jurong to see. Organize them to go to Jurong to study.

According to Lin Fan's idea, for these gentry who occupied a large amount of land, as long as they supported the War of Resistance, they were comrades of the Special Operations Brigade, and everything they had needed to be protected.

Even though the people in the base area needed land, the Special Operations Brigade did not forcibly confiscate their land, but only guided them to look outward and actively transfer the land to the Special Operations Brigade.

It was precisely because of such meticulous work that the Jiangbei Detachment was truly rooted in the base area. In the entire base area, as long as a stranger entered each village, someone would immediately notify the working group to come.

This made the special agents and spies sent by the Japanese devils to inquire about information, no matter how many came, they would all fall.

Commander of the Central China Expeditionary Army, Yan Liu, had really been furious these days: The progress of the Battle of Wuhan was not going according to plan at all.

In Jiangbei, the 2nd Army Corps sent by the Central China Area Army was trapped in the mountains and was still struggling to persevere.

The Jiangbei Detachment of the Special Operations Brigade blocked Liuan and Huoshan in these two places. Prince Higashikuninomiya Naruhiko's 2nd Army Corps had no way to turn back and cut off its logistics supply.

These days, Prince Higashikuninomiya Naruhiko's 2nd Army had been trying its best to break through the Dabie Mountains, but it encountered strong resistance.

Some time ago, it was blocked by Song Xilian's 36th Division on Fugui Mountain and had not been able to break through.

Later, it changed direction, but it encountered Sun Lianzhong's 2nd Army Corps, which had fought hard in Taierzhuang. Both sides were the 2nd Army Corps.

This time, Sun Lianzhong's team fought even harder than in Taierzhuang. These hardships were worth it. Prince Higashikuninomiya Naruhiko's 2nd Army Corps had been fighting for half a month and was still standing still.

Fortunately, Inaba Shiro's 6th Division had already occupied Tianjiazhen at this time, and obliquely opened up a supply and transportation line for the 2nd Army Corps, which allowed them to temporarily avoid collapsing.

If it weren't for this lifeline supply line, Prince Higashikuninomiya Naruhiko's 2nd Army Corps would have been completely wiped out by the National Army without supplies.

The Japanese devils were having a hard time, and the National Army defending Wuhan was having just as hard of a time.

The entire Wuhan Command was also very sad these days. Things on the battlefield were always a matter of pressing one gourd and floating up another. While Jiangbei was besieging Prince Higashikuninomiya Naruhiko's 2nd Army Corps and fighting comfortably,

Inaba Shiro's 6th Division actually occupied the last fortress on the Yangtze River to Wuhan.

The loss of Tianjiazhen meant that the Japanese devils' warships could swaggeringly sail directly to the Wuhan wharf to unload goods.

Although the National Army team defending Tianjiazhen also crippled Inaba Shiro's 6th Division, making it almost unable to hold Tianjiazhen.

But the Japanese devils had taken a big step forward after all, and they had also opened up a lifeline supply line for Prince Higashikuninomiya Naruhiko's 2nd Army Corps, which was the most headache-inducing thing for the National Army commanders in the 5th War Zone.

In the current situation, among the various teams in the 5th War Zone, except for the Special Operations Brigade, which could face Inaba Shiro's 6th Division head-on without losing ground, there was no second team that could face the 6th Division.

However, the Special Operations Brigade was currently using the strength of one brigade to guard the back door of Prince Higashikuninomiya Naruhiko's 2nd Army Corps, and it was impossible to find a team to replace them.

Liuan and Huoshan were not just guarding these two county towns. Hefei and Chaohu all the way to the east of them also needed to be controlled.

Thinking of this, the commanders of the 5th War Zone felt a headache.

The situation in Jiangnan was the same as in Jiangbei, with joys and sorrows everywhere. Overall, the situation was controllable.

Although the Japanese devils had occupied Jiujiang for a not short period of time, the offensive of the Japanese devils' 11th Army also had joys and sorrows. The 9th Division was unstoppable all the way, causing Zhang Fakui's team to retreat again and again.

There were also those who were beaten to the point where they could not move an inch, like the 106th Division, which was unfavorable no matter where it was sent to fight.

Under such circumstances, Commander Okamura Neji's plans for large encirclements and small encirclements could not be realized.

Not only could his plans not be realized, but he did not know how much longer it would take to attack Wuhan.

At this time, the Japanese devils finally resorted to their old trick again. They began to gather forces at sea again, preparing to open up a new battlefield: attacking Guangzhou.

On the entire battlefield, Guangzhou was now the last and largest port for the National Army to receive international aid.

The inlets from Qingdao to Shanghai had all been occupied by the Japanese devils. Had the Japanese devils not discovered the strategic importance of Guangzhou?

Of course not!

All international politicians and military strategists knew what Guangzhou meant to the National Army now: Guangzhou was the lifeline of the National Army.

However, after the Battle of Wuhan began, the National Army continuously transferred troops from Guangzhou.

This was certainly not because there was an Iron Army from the Northern Expedition in the Guangzhou army, but because Guangzhou was close to Hong Kong, and Britain had huge interests here.

The upper echelons of the National Army believed that the Japanese devils would not dare to attack Guangzhou in order to avoid friction with Britain, the world's number one power.

Britain was a tiger skin, or a ferocious tiger in the eyes of the National Army's high command, which could be used to gain momentum. This was a common idea among many weak people.

They always imagined some illusory things as their own strength.

At first, the Japanese devils did not really think about attacking Guangzhou, although this battle was actually very easy to fight.

However, the international situation was difficult to judge: What if Britain and the United States took this opportunity to really send troops to participate, wouldn't all the Japanese devils' plans be finished?

If the Japanese devils had any other way to break the deadlock now, they would not have touched the idea of Guangzhou.

However, the Japanese devils' cabinet had to take a gamble now: The war, which was originally planned for three months, had been fought for more than a year now.

In the past year, the Japanese devils had occupied a lot of territory, but they had not made the National Army submit.

What frightened the Japanese devils the most was that in the past year, the National Army had suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties in every battle, and its weapons and equipment had suffered heavy losses.

However, the National Army had become stronger and stronger, and the army had become larger and larger, as if they had some magic: they became stronger when injured!

On the other hand, the Japanese devils were different. They had occupied many territories in the past year, and their troops had become larger and larger, but their combat effectiveness had become weaker and weaker.

They had occupied so many territories, robbed so much wealth, and countless minerals, but the Japanese devils' domestic economy had been completely ruined.

The entire country's foreign exchange reserves had been zeroed, and the gold reserves in the country had been used up.

Now they couldn't care about anything. Even if they knew that attacking Guangzhou would provoke Britain's dissatisfaction, the Japanese devils decided to occupy Guangzhou and give the National Army a coup de grâce.

By the time the National Army really believed that the Japanese devils were going to attack Guangzhou, it was too late.

The Iron Army of the Northern Expedition had long been softened by the gentle township of Guangzhou in recent years.

Just as the Japanese devils were ready, the emergency phone call from the 4th War Zone Command stationed in Guangzhou was not made to the various commanders below, but to the various cinemas in Guangzhou City, asking the cinema owners to put up subtitles: All officers and soldiers of the troops, return to the camp as soon as possible.

In the end, the Japanese devils' actions did not provoke the direct intervention of foreign forces, which disappointed the high command of the National Army.

They still did not understand that there was a saying: If you lean on the mountain, the mountain will collapse; if you lean on people, people will run away.

Binding the safety of a country or region to another force was completely a gamble.

The National Army had been taught such lessons more than once, but their memory seemed to be like that of a goldfish, only seven seconds long.

When the Japanese devils invaded the Northeast, the National Army placed its hope on the then League of Nations, and the result was that the Northeast was occupied by the Japanese devils.

During the Battle of Shanghai, the National Army placed its hope on the intervention of the British and American powers and the mediation of Germany, but it still disappointed them.

This time it was the same. They placed their hope on foreigners, which was itself a fantasy of a drowning person grabbing a straw and wanting to turn over.

Unfortunately, such fantasies were not only had by the National Army, but also had by many people, and would never disappear.

No profit, no early rise, was the universal law in the entire international community!