The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 488: The Emperor's Boldness

After more than a month of large-scale adjustments and army building, motor vehicle units within the Assault Corps' direct units were established one after another, and additional cars, motorcycles, etc. were also added one after another. The overall construction of the troops also rose to a higher level. While some units of the Assault Corps completed the motorization transformation, He Wei also completed his strategic proposal on the possible attack of the Japanese army on Guangxi.

Relying on the advantage of being a time traveler with foresight, He Wei wrote tens of thousands of words in this strategic proposal. During this period, in order to obtain sufficient data and information as evidence, he went to the Military Affairs Department several times, using various military documents and related data from the Military Affairs Department to endorse his strategic proposal.

If He Wei was not a time traveler, there would still be many difficulties in writing this strategic proposal. For example, when would the Japanese army launch an attack on Guangxi? How would they launch the attack? Where would they choose to land? From a military perspective, these are all difficult questions that require repeated deductions and judgments to get a rough, most likely result.

But He Wei already knew the result, so he just needed to find relevant data to serve as a reason for this known result.

Therefore, although it took a long time to write this strategic proposal, the entire writing process was quite smooth.

The content of this strategic proposal can be simply divided into the following parts: First, it argues that at the same time as or after the Japanese invasion of Changsha, they will suddenly invade Guangxi with the purpose of cutting off the Guiyue Highway, an important international transportation line for China's War of Resistance.

Second, the Japanese army will imitate the tactics and methods used when attacking Guangzhou, and use the same old tricks again. They will still use a large-scale naval fleet to cover a large number of ground forces and launch a landing operation along the coast of Guangxi. It is very likely that the landing attack will be launched in November, and there is a high probability that the landing will be in Qinzhou Bay, Guangxi.

Third, based on the data on the distribution of the National Army's forces across the country from the General Staff, it was demonstrated that the National Army was short of troops in Guangxi and urgently needed to increase its forces, especially elite combat forces with strong combat effectiveness. Moreover, not only troops should be increased, but a large number of them should be increased.

The purpose of the first three parts is to demonstrate the urgency of the current situation in Guangxi. It is hoped that the National Government will not focus all its attention on Changsha, but will realize the danger of the situation in Guangxi as soon as possible and make good preparations for war as soon as possible.

As for the fourth part, He Wei went off topic a bit. He made an additional mention in the last part of the strategic proposal. In terms of the current situation, the appetite and strategic intentions of the Japanese army were much greater than the National Government had imagined. Therefore, they chose to continuously attack China's external international transportation lines. Under this situation, it was unlikely that the Japanese army would continue to implement any combat plan of using airborne troops to attack the temporary capital.

The reason why He Wei mentioned the irrelevant Japanese airborne operations in the strategic proposal about Guangxi and southern Guangxi was that he wanted to relieve the Assault Corps from its anti-airborne combat readiness mission near the temporary capital and then pull it to the Guangxi front as soon as possible. He had already planned to pull the Assault Corps to Guangxi as soon as possible and lay out the southern Guangxi battle in advance so that the southern Guangxi battle would develop in a direction more favorable to China. Now, of course, he had to lay the groundwork in advance. Only when the Assault Corps no longer carried out the anti-airborne combat readiness mission near the temporary capital would it be possible to transfer it to other war zones.

Of course, the most important part is the last part, which is also the fifth part. In this part, he did not use the situation and strength of the Chinese and Japanese armies to prove the movements of the Japanese army or what kind of defensive deployment the Chinese army should make.

In this part, he directly pointed out from the perspective of a Whampoa military officer that the elite troops of the Central Army should be dispatched to enter Guangxi as soon as possible in the name of consolidating the defense and preventing the Japanese army from invading Guangxi. This would not only be beneficial to the overall cause of the War of Resistance, but would also better consolidate Guangxi's defense.

More importantly, the central government of the Nationalist government could take this opportunity to allow the central army to enter the territory of the Guangxi clique, which nominally obeyed the central government but was actually an independent kingdom. This would be of great benefit to weakening the strength of the Guangxi clique and thus facilitating the central government's unification of the country in the future, devouring the local powerful groups, and completing the great cause of the War of Resistance against Japan and nation-building.

He Wei's wording in this part is extremely bold and explicit. If you ignore the previous parts he wrote and only read the last part, you can judge He Wei as an ambitious person who is extremely keen on internal fighting and civil war, and you will never associate him with an officer who has made many military achievements on the front line of the War of Resistance.

He Wei, despite the world's disapproval, blatantly engaged in internal strife against his own people in the strategic proposal. Of course, there was a deeper meaning behind this. He was actually not very interested in factional disputes or solving the problems of non-central forces in the country. However, just because he, He, was not very interested in this, it did not mean that the bigwigs above were not interested in it.

You know, in the original timeline, when the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan ended, the non-central local factions in the country, such as the Yunnan faction, Sichuan faction, Guizhou faction, Hunan faction, etc., were actually also devoured by the central government of the Nationalist Party.

Almost all the leaders of these factions lost their power, and most of their territories were occupied and controlled by the central government of the Nationalist Party. Most of the armies of these factions were also absorbed and centralized by the Whampoa Central Army of the central government of the Nationalist Party.

It can be seen that while the Nationalist government headed by President Chiang Kai-shek was fighting an all-out war of resistance, it was also slowly resolving, infiltrating, and eroding the non-central local factions in the country. This can be said to be a two-pronged approach, both internally and externally. The bald president He Wei was also well aware of this.

The Guangxi clique controlled by Li and Bai was one of the most powerful local factions. Before the start of the War of Resistance Against Japan, it could be said to be the number one enemy of the Nationalist government. In the original timeline of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Guangxi clique was not cannibalized and annexed by the Nationalist government like other factions. The troops within its faction and the territories it occupied were quite strong.

That is why He Wei was so blatant and openly wrote this extremely politically incorrect content into the strategic proposal, which seemed extremely politically incorrect in the face of the overall situation of the whole country's military and civilians united in the war of resistance.

He Wei's fundamental purpose was to use this seemingly two-pronged approach, which would consolidate defense against the Japanese army externally and allow central forces to enter Guangxi internally, to urge the central government of the Nationalist Party to adjust its strategic policy as soon as possible and send troops into Guangxi to prepare to fight the Japanese army.

All I can say is that He Wei's purpose was good, but his methods were indeed a bit dark.

But there was no other way. He Wei wanted the Nationalist government to realize as soon as possible that the Japanese army was going to attack Guangxi and to prepare for deployment in Guangxi as soon as possible. This was a strategic move, so he could only resort to this last resort and put some drastic measures in the strategic proposal. Of course, the premise of all this was that his strategic proposal could be seen by the high-level decision-makers of the Nationalist government.

This strategic proposal was asked to be written and submitted by Minister Xu of the General Staff Department, so it naturally had to be given to Minister Xu for review. However, if He Wei wanted to achieve his goal, it would not be enough to just let Minister Xu see this strategic proposal.

Although Minister Xu is the Minister of the Military Affairs Department, the power of the Military Affairs Department is actually more inclined to formulate more specific plans based on established strategic guidelines. However, many major strategic adjustments with far-reaching implications and changes in major strategic decisions still need to be decided at a higher level.

Above the Military General Staff are the top brass of the Military Commission. Among the top brass of the Military Commission, only the Military Commission or the Standing Committee Chairman, the number one figure in the National Government, can make adjustments to major strategic policies.

In other words, He Wei wanted to use his own strength to move the whole body and urge the National Government to increase its troops in Guangxi as soon as possible. This could only be achieved when his strategic proposal caught the attention of the Standing Committee Chairman, reached the ears of the emperor, and obtained the Chairman's approval.

Otherwise, it would be wishful thinking to think that he alone and a strategic proposal could prompt the central government to make strategic adjustments!

In the office of Minister Xu in the Military Affairs Department, He Wei sat upright and waited silently. Minister Xu slowly put down the strategic proposal he had just read, frowned slightly, and nodded gently. After a while, he said meaningfully: "He Wei, your strategic proposal is very certain. You gave the estimated answers for the time and landing location of the Japanese attack on Guangxi. Are you so sure that the Japanese army will launch a surprise landing in Guangxi? And it will definitely be launched according to the time and landing location you speculated?"

"Yes! Minister, in my opinion, the Japanese army will definitely launch a landing attack on Guangxi. As for the time and place of the attack, I cannot guarantee that it is 100% correct, but this is also the result of my judgment by myself and many colleagues in the General Staff of my Assault Corps using the information obtained from the Military Command Headquarters about our army's deployment in Guangxi and the occupation of the whole country. The situation in Guangxi is actually not optimistic. My reasons for the Japanese army's invasion of Guangxi, as well as the possible attack time and landing place of the enemy are all as stated in this strategic proposal. Although I am insignificant, I still hope that the senior officials of the Military Command Headquarters and the Military Commission will pay attention to the Guangxi direction."

After He Wei finished speaking, Minister Xu suddenly snorted and said, "You say that you are insignificant, but I think you are very courageous."

Hearing Minister Xu's sudden change of subject, from asking about the Japanese army's strategies and tactics just now to asking about whether he, He, was courageous or not, He Wei immediately understood that it must be because of the relevant content in his strategic proposal to deal with the Guangxi clique that Minister Xu suddenly behaved like this.

In fact, looking at Minister Xu's extremely strange expression, He Wei suspected that Minister Xu had not intended to ask him seriously when he asked him a lot of questions about why he was so sure that the Japanese army would attack Guangxi. He was probably thinking about the extremely bold part of his strategic proposal.

Indeed, Minister Xu was really shocked by the small part of shocking content written by He Wei. It was clearly written in black and white in the strategic proposal that sending troops into Guangxi was not only to defend against the Japanese army, but also to deal with and erode the Guangxi clique. This was really bold.

Minister Xu even felt that the young colonel in front of him was too successful at a young age, and had become too successful, or even lost his mind!
There is a saying that goes, some things can be done this way but not said that way, and some things can be said that way but not done that way.

The central government of the Nationalist Party has always adhered to the established policy of encroaching, annexing and resolving any problems that can be solved in dealing with the major local power groups in order to achieve all-round unification of the country from military orders to political orders. This is something that any discerning person can see, but no one would speak of this policy openly, let alone write it down in black and white like He Wei did.

He Wei stood up and said, "I dare not!"

Minister Xu acquiesced without saying anything, but in his heart he was worried for the young officer in front of him. He also felt that the strategic proposal in his hand was very hot. Apart from anything else, whose territory was Guangxi? It was the territory of the Guangxi clique bosses Li and Bai, both of whom were in high positions. If the explicit content in the strategic proposal written by He Wei was known by these two, Minister Xu really didn't know what the consequences would be for He Wei.

After a moment of silence, Minister Xu sighed again and said, "Young people should not be too arrogant. He Wei, you are from Huangpu and have made many military achievements. You are appreciated by Minister He, and the Chairman has also personally approved a commendation order for you. I am also very optimistic about you. You are knowledgeable, have a good background, and are capable. But this is not a reason for you to write nonsense on this strategic proposal. There are some things that people don't say, but they all understand in their hearts. But can these things be made clear?"

"Some things are not as heavy as a pound, but once they are weighed, they weigh thousands of pounds. To be honest, your proposal is very well written. After reading it, I also think your argument makes sense. The Japanese army is indeed very likely to send troops to Guangxi, but the private goods you smuggled in to take advantage of the opportunity to attack the Guangxi clique are really too much. Do you know how much trouble it will bring to you once the contents here are known to others?"

He Wei still said expressionlessly, "I only care about the country. Every word and sentence in the strategic proposal is for the country. Besides, this proposal was written by Minister Xu. I have always respected Minister Xu and I believe that Minister Xu will not do anything to me. Therefore, the strategic proposal is all from my heart. I wrote whatever I thought and wrote whatever I had. As for the rest, I didn't think much about it."

Minister Xu was so angry when he heard He Wei's answer and flattery. He chuckled a few times and said slowly, "Also, not only did you strongly propose in your strategic proposal to guard against the Japanese attack in the direction of Guangxi and to send more troops to Guangxi as soon as possible, but you also said that the Japanese army would not launch an airborne attack on the temporary capital. I'm afraid you have a deeper meaning when you mention this. Since you say you respect me, then just say whatever you want to do?"

Well, I can only say that it is a pleasure to deal with smart people and experienced people. Minister Xu easily saw the little tricks in He Wei's strategic proposal. In this case, He Wei did not laugh it off and said directly: "Sir, I would like to ask you to submit this strategic proposal to the chairman's aide-de-camp!"

(End of this chapter)