The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 492 A two-pronged approach
"After your advance detachment is formed, it will immediately move to Guangxi. The 200th Division of the Fifth Army has a total strength of more than troops, your advance detachment, and a tank battalion equipped with dozens of large and small tanks under the Fifth Army's direct tank regiment. The strength of this advance detachment is actually quite large, with a total strength of nearly . In addition, the strength of the advance detachment may increase. The Fifth Army's headquarters and the Fifth Army's direct troops are also stationed in Quanzhou. The Military Affairs Office and the Military Commission have already sent a secret telegram to the Fifth Army's Commander Du about the formation of the advance detachment. At that time, the Fifth Army will fully cooperate with your actions."

"When your advance detachment is formed, Commander Du may add some reinforcements to it. Haha, the Fifth Army has a huge number of troops and equipment. Its direct subordinate units are more than a division. There are more than a hundred tanks of various types, nearly two thousand military trucks, and a lot of special equipment. So you don't have to worry about the lack of troops."

Huang Gaocan spoke again.

He Wei thought for a moment and asked again, "Sir, what is the internal command system of our advance detachment, and who will command and control our advance detachment after it arrives at the Guangxi clique's territory?"

Seeing He Wei's expectant eyes, Huang Gaocan smiled and shook his head: "The commander of this advance detachment is of course the commander of the 200th Division of the Fifth Army. Although you have made many military achievements, you are only a colonel after all. The commander of the 200th Division is a general. You can't surpass him no matter what you say."

He Wei felt disappointed when he heard that he could not serve as the commander of the advance detachment. However, he thought that what Huang Gaocan said was right. This advance detachment had a division commander, and he was the commander of a direct division of the Central Army, such as the 200th Division of the Fifth Army. There was no reason for him to bypass him and step on his head.

Huang Gaocan patted He Wei on the shoulder and said, "But don't worry. When the advance detachment is formed, the temporary capital will appoint you as the deputy commander of the advance detachment and require that all military operations of the advance detachment should refer to your opinions as much as possible. Besides, you have the secret order of the chairman, which can also increase your voice in the advance detachment."

And don't worry, haha, I also know the commander of the 200th Division, Dai Anlan, a graduate of the third term of the Whampoa Military Academy, very easy to talk to, he was originally the brigade commander of the 200th Division of the 200nd Army, fought in the Battle of Baoding and the Victory of Taierzhuang, and was later transferred to the th Division as deputy commander. At the beginning of this year, the Fifth Army expanded greatly, and the th Division was changed from a mechanized division to an ordinary infantry division, and he was promoted to the th Division as the commander. "

"Commander Dai is a man of integrity and honesty. He is very kind to his subordinates and colleagues. He is not stubborn or arbitrary. You will know this after you have interacted with him. You are also a combat hero who has won many great victories. I believe you will have a pleasant time working together."

Hearing the name of the commander of the 200th Division, He Wei was a little stunned. He was not unfamiliar with this name. He was a famous hero of the War of Resistance against Japan before he traveled through time. He died heroically in the first overseas expedition of the Expeditionary Force to fight against Japan in Burma. His death was extremely tragic. He Wei felt relieved when he thought that his superior in the advance detachment was such a heroic figure.

"Sir, who will command the advance detachment in Guangxi?"

Senior Counselor Huang shook his head, pointed at Chief Cai, and said, "The internal command relationship of the advance detachment is a military issue, but who will command and control the advance detachment after it arrives in Guangxi is no longer a military issue. This is not my forte, so let Chief Cai talk about it."

Section Chief Cai smiled knowingly, took over Senior Counselor Huang's words, and said slowly: "Then let me talk about it. However, before discussing the external command relationship of the advance detachment, let's first talk about the situation in Guangxi and the command relationship of military institutions at all levels. In fact, as early as after the fall of Wuhan, the Chairman had the idea of ​​​​defense in Guangdong and Guangxi. Captain He is a Huangpu student, and you should be very clear about the history of Guangdong and Guangxi. Therefore, the Chairman really has to guard against them. The Chairman has also thought of many plans, but has been indecisive. It was not until recently that the military command system in Guangdong and Guangxi was officially finalized."

"According to the current deployment, the secondary capital is our wartime command center, and naturally it is the temporary capital of our country. The northwest and southwest are the two wings. In order to consolidate the core of the temporary capital, the Military Commission is preparing to set up the Guilin Camp to manage the fourth, third, and ninth major war zones."

Section Chief Cai spent a full half hour giving He Wei a long and eloquent lecture. After Section Chief Cai finished his somewhat brain-burning lecture, He Wei finally had a basic understanding of the situation in Guangdong and Guangxi.

It turned out that the Standing Committee Chairman had set up a Guilin Headquarters in Guilin to unify the command and management of the Third, Fourth, and Ninth War Zones, and appointed the leader of the Guangxi clique, Bai Chongxi, as the director of the Guilin Headquarters.

On the surface, it seems that the Standing Committee Chairman has entrusted Little Zhuge with an important task and has great trust in Little Zhuge, but the fact is not so.

Third, the Ninth and Second War Zones were far away from the emperor, and Little Zhuge had no roots there, so he could not actually control anything. Even in the Fourth War Zone, which was in charge of the operations in Guangdong and Guangxi, Little Zhuge had no say.

Because the commander-in-chief of the Fourth War Zone was Zhang Fakui, a general from the Guangdong faction, who was not the same kind of person as Little Zhuge Liang at all. Moreover, in terms of the division of powers, the Fourth War Zone only needed to submit reports to the Guilin Headquarters, and did not need the Guilin Headquarters to consult or approve anything. On military and personnel issues, the Fourth War Zone only accepted the guidance of the Guilin Headquarters, not its command.

The chief of staff of the Guilin Camp was the confidant of Chairman Chang, the Deputy Chief of the Military Affairs Department Lin Wei. All these arrangements were actually restricting the power of Little Zhuge. Little Zhuge, the director of the Guilin Camp who seemed to be in a very powerful position, actually had very limited power.

He Wei was really overwhelmed after hearing this, and kept complaining in his mind, why the hell is this so messy!
According to what Chief Cai conveyed, the advance detachment where He Wei was located was nominally under the command of the Guilin Headquarters after entering Guangxi, but in actual implementation, it did not have to obey the Guilin Headquarters in everything.

Or, to be more precise, he did not have to completely obey the orders of Xiao Zhuge, the director of the Guilin Camp, but could listen more to the orders of Lin Wei, the chief of staff of the Guilin Camp. After all, he was the chairman's direct subordinate.

When necessary, the advance detachment can also make its own decisions on combat operations. To put it bluntly, it can pretend to obey the orders of Xiao Zhuge, the director of the Guilin Camp, and selectively execute them. As for the orders of Lin Wei, who is the chief of staff of the Guilin Camp and a direct subordinate of the Chairman, they must execute them as much as possible.

At critical moments, the advance detachment can also make its own decisions, which can be said to give the advance detachment considerable freedom.

By the time Chief Cai finished his political class, He Wei had a general understanding of the situation in Guangxi. However, He's expression was extremely ugly. As I said before, this was really confusing!

Although He Wei had already prepared to lead his troops to Guangxi to deal with the Japanese on one hand and factional disputes on the other, He Wei could also understand Chairman Chang Kai's checks and balances on the Guangxi clique leader Xiao Zhuge.

After all, before the Anti-Japanese War, the Guangxi clique was an iron-clad rebel and openly opposed the Standing Committee Chairman many times. This was the Standing Committee Chairman's biggest fear.

But after listening to Chief Cai's story, he still had to say, "It's a mess! It's really a mess!" Chief Cai was obviously a veteran who had been in the power and officialdom for a long time. Looking at He Wei with a frown on his face, he said, "Captain He, what I just told you can be regarded as the Chairman's checks and balances on Chief Bai through the arrangement of positions and personnel. In fact, the Chairman is dealing with the Guangxi clique, and the Guangxi clique is also dealing with the Chairman. You just heard from Senior Counselor Huang that this time the Central Committee has made preparations to send the Fifth Army, the Ninety-ninth Army and the Thirty-sixth Army to reinforce if the Japanese invaders attack Guangxi and the war situation changes. But at present, they dare not act rashly. They only sent your advance detachment, in fact, to avoid angering Chief Bai (Little Zhuge). Although the Chairman is eager to send troops into the territory of the Guangxi clique, Chief Bai is also extremely vigilant about the central army entering his territory. Haha, it was the Chairman's repeated attempts to persuade Chief Bai to let go after your advance detachment entered Guangxi."

"Then the chairman has taken a lot of trouble. Both sides are wary of each other and are so aggressive. It is really not easy for our troops to reach Guangxi."

He Wei sighed.

Section Chief Cai continued, "Hehe, in fact, the reason why Commander Bai was able to relax is because there are not enough troops in Guangxi at present. The main elite troops of the Guangxi Army are mostly in Dabie Mountains and Anhui. There are only two armies and local militia troops left in the local area. Moreover, the combat effectiveness of these two Guangxi armies is also relatively weak. It is really not easy for the Chairman. He tried his best to persuade Commander Bai and explained the danger of the situation from a strategic perspective. In addition, the unit number under this advance detachment is only one infantry division and your corps, which does not look eye-catching. It is not a large-scale number such as an army or a group army. Commander Bai reluctantly relaxed."

"That's it, that's it."

After He Wei finished speaking, Section Chief Cai stared at He Wei with a very subtle look and said, "Captain He, this time you are going to Guangxi, you are not only going to carry out the military defense against the Japanese army, you also have to take on other tasks. Let's put it this way, before the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, in order to unite the whole country and fight the war together, the agreement reached between the Chairman and the Guangxi clique mainly contained two points. The first point was that in terms of military, Guangxi agreed to send out the main force to fight the war, but the Central Army troops must not enter Guangxi without the consent of Guangxi."

"Secondly, the economic issues of the Guangxi clique cannot be interfered with. In terms of economy, the Guangxi clique's territory will continue to use the Guangxi currency instead of the legal currency. The Guangxi clique proposed these two main points naturally to maintain the localization of Guangxi. However, sooner or later, the government of our country will realize the true unification of military orders and political orders. The chairman has made many preparations before, but has never really implemented them. However, after reading the strategic proposal you submitted, the chairman greatly appreciated it and believed that your entry into Guangxi this time is the time to break the gap between Guangxi and the central government, or the deadlock."

Looking at Section Chief Cai, whose eyes were shining, He Wei said in a deep voice: "Section Chief Cai, just tell me what you need me to do."

Section Chief Cai clapped his hands, shouted "good", and replied: "After your advance detachment enters Guangxi, the first priority is naturally to defend against the Japanese army. With a powerful enemy at hand, this is absolutely the first priority that cannot be shaken. If Guangxi is conquered by the Japanese, centralization is doomed to fail. Second, under the premise of defending against the Japanese army, you must advance as far as possible to the hinterland, big cities, or strategic points of Guangxi, and increase the influence of our central army in Guangxi as much as possible. At the same time, you must ensure military discipline. Not to mention ensuring food and drink, at least you must ensure that no one is harmed, and leave a good impression on the people of Guangxi."

"Third, before you set out, the central government will give you 500,000 yuan in cash issued by the central bank. After you arrive in Guangxi, you will use this money to purchase food and hire laborers. The exchange rate will be set at two yuan of Guangxi currency to one yuan of legal currency. Of course, you will be flexible in the specific implementation. In short, the central government's troops and currency must enter Guangxi to comprehensively increase the central government's influence in Guangxi."

He Wei thought about what Chief Cai had said and quickly understood the general idea of ​​the Standing Committee Chairman.

Now it seems that his ideas when writing the strategic proposal were still a bit naive. At that time, He Wei thought that the top leaders of the Nationalist government had not noticed the shortage of troops in Guangxi, and had not noticed the strategic intention of the Japanese army to attack Guangxi. However, this really underestimated the top leaders of the Nationalist government.

Judging from the establishment of the Guilin Headquarters, both the Standing Committee Chairman and the senior officials of the National Government had already noticed the Japanese army's strategic intentions towards Guangxi.

With the dual motivations of strengthening the military forces in Guangxi to resist the Japanese army and taking the opportunity to send the Central Army into Guangxi to enhance the central government's influence in Guangxi, the Standing Committee Chairman should have been prepared to send the Central Army into Guangxi, or to extend the central government's hand into Guangxi.

However, Little Zhuge Bai Chongxi, the big boss of the Guangxi clique, was not given up for nothing. He must have seen through the Chairman's intentions. The Standing Chairman's goal was to extend his hand into Guangxi and completely control Guangxi, and Little Zhuge would naturally engage in tit-for-tat competition with him to prevent the central army from entering Guangxi.

And in this confrontation, it was obvious that Little Zhuge had the upper hand. Therefore, up to now, the troops of the Central Army have at most been fighting in the border areas of Guangxi and Hunan. Strictly speaking, there has not been a single soldier who has actually entered the hinterland of Guangxi.

Just when the two sides were in this stalemate, the strategic proposal submitted by He Weicheng obviously awakened the Chairman of the Standing Committee. After reading this strategic proposal, the Chairman of the Standing Committee also realized that in the context of the end of the Battle of Wuhan and the loss of the international transportation line from Guangzhou to Hong Kong Island last year, the probability of the Japanese army invading Guangxi was the greatest.

At the same time, He Wei's explicit suggestion in the strategic proposal that they could take advantage of the opportunity to attack the Guangxi clique and allow the central army to enter Guangxi also made the Chairman of the Standing Committee realize that the current situation was not only a critical juncture in Guangxi where reinforcements were urgently needed for defense, but also a good opportunity for the central government to enter Guangxi.

The contents in He Wei's strategic proposal that argued that the Japanese army would invade Guangxi undoubtedly became the best argument for the Standing Committee Chairman to change his strategy and to persuade Bai Chongxi to agree to the Central Army's entry into Guangxi.

Judging from the current formation of the advance detachment and its permission to enter Guangxi, as well as the praise of the Chairman of the Standing Committee just conveyed by Chief Cai, He Wei is certain that the Chairman of the Standing Committee must have used the contents of his strategic proposal to persuade, or in other words, overwhelmed the Little Zhuge Bai Chongxi to let the Central Army send more troops to Guangxi.

And his suggestion of taking advantage of the opportunity to attack the Guangxi clique must have been very much to the liking of the Chairman of the Standing Committee. Guangxi has always been a major concern for the Chairman of the Standing Committee, and it can be said that it was a huge rock weighing on the Chairman. At this critical juncture, He Wei reminded the Chairman of the Standing Committee in time and offered him a strategy. Of course, the Chairman of the Standing Committee would praise He Wei highly.

The order given to him by the Standing Committee Chairman, or rather, the order given to this advance detachment, was to increase the influence of the National Government in Guangxi by taking a two-pronged approach from both military and political perspectives after entering Guangxi. To put it bluntly, it was to focus their main energy on dealing with and guarding against the Japanese army, while at the same time making plans for the Guangxi clique behind the scenes.

After He Wei figured out the key points, he asked again, "Chief Cai, I wonder if you have informed the Fifth Army of what you just told me?"

"The secret code we sent to the Fifth Army only informed them of the formation of an advance detachment and the order to enter Guangxi. As for what I just said, it was confidential, so we did not tell them. But don't worry, the Chairman and I gave you instructions on this matter, and I conveyed it to you. The Chairman's meaning is very clear. After your advance detachment enters Guangxi, you will lead a series of actions to increase the central government's influence in Guangxi. Before you set off, the Chairman will issue you another warrant, which you can show when you act in the future. With this warrant, both the Fifth Army and the advance detachment will fully cooperate with your actions."

He Wei's face brightened, and he nodded, "I understand. I will do my best to complete the important task entrusted by the Chairman, and I will definitely live up to the Chairman's expectations!"

(End of this chapter)