Age of Rebirth

Liu Cuigang took a sip of his wine and said encouragingly to He Zhijun, "Chief of Staff He, what is your conclusion?"

He Zhijun glanced at Le Yiqin, who was still in deep thought, and said with affirmative tone: "Commander Liu, based on this judgment, within the next week, the Japanese army will not be able to deal with the situation in Incheon, which I am repairing. Air strikes at the airport, and similarly, there will be no Japanese fleets on the Mokpo battlefield!"

Liu Cuigang pondered for a while, and said: "Chief of Staff He, don't jump to conclusions, the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, and anything can happen!"

At this time, Le Yiqin took over the topic, "Cuigang, I have seriously considered your words just now, and it is possible, but it will not appear in the short term. Fleet carrier-based aircraft are a great opportunity for the Japanese aviation forces." deterrence!"

Liu Cuigang raised his glass, touched Le Yiqin lightly, and said: "Yiqin, Chief of Staff He, let's not discuss this topic anymore, I will proceed according to the original plan, come, drink, tonight, even if it is for the old man who is about to Drive to Incheon Airport to practice, do it!"

At about ten o'clock that night, the telegram from the Southeast Mobile Corps arrived in the hands of Lieutenant General Tang Qiuquan, the commander-in-chief of the Crossing the Sea Campaign Headquarters. Qiuquan read Ma Chaoyang's telegram carefully several times. After putting down the telegram, he fell into deep thought. among.

Judging from the content of the telegram, Ma Chaoyang's plan is very bold and novel. He uses Mokpo as a huge magnetic field to continuously attract Japanese troops from Busan and Gwangju to come for reinforcements, and even attract Japanese troops from Japan. reinforcements to achieve the purpose of consuming the vital forces of the Japanese army.

But what Tang Qiuquan considered was that in this way, the Battle of Mokpo would be delayed for a long time, which in turn would affect the progress of the entire Korean Peninsula campaign and cause a war of attrition.It didn’t happen overnight, and it required 10,000+ troops from the Southeast Mobile Corps to spend a long time in the direction of Mokpo. This conflicted with the overall thinking of the division commander’s northern campaign. The original plan was to quickly annihilate the Japanese troops on the Korean Peninsula and occupy Busan, Gwangju, On the front line of Mokpo, blocking the Japanese reinforcements from Japan.

"This Ma Chaoyang has a lot of appetite. Give me a problem!" Tang Qiuquan said to himself, "Chief of Staff, what do you think of Ma Chaoyang's new plan?" He turned his head and asked the Chief of Staff Major General Xin Xiguo said.

Xin Xiguo said cautiously: "Commander. The biggest highlight of Commander Ma's new campaign plan is its follow-up effect. As far as the existing Japanese troops on the Korean Peninsula are concerned, it is not worth investing such a long time in consumption. The Southeast Mobile Corps currently has The strength of the ten brigades is equivalent to the strength of the Japanese Hedgehogs gathered at the southernmost tip of the Korean Peninsula. With the help of absolute air supremacy and the fire support of the fleet and naval guns, Mokpo was conquered. It will not take long, and it will not take long, plus it will go south from the mountains. The three brigades will attack Gwangju, Busan and other places within a month. The war on the Korean peninsula will be settled!"

"However, I have carefully analyzed that the biggest highlight of this new battle plan is the follow-up effect. If the Japanese reinforcements from the mainland of Japan become a war of attrition at the Mokpo battlefield, it will inevitably affect the military support of the Japanese base camp to the Northeast battlefield. , and even weakening the defense force of the Japanese mainland in the end is another form of encirclement and reinforcements. This follow-up effect is bold enough, and I personally appreciate the courage of Commander Ma very much!"

"But there is one thing. We must expect that the three brigades of the landing troops of the Southeast Mobile Corps in the direction of Incheon will go north to attack. In this way, the battlefield on the Korean Peninsula will be divided into two parts, the north and the south. The troops in the direction of Mokpo will have no follow-up. Once the Japanese base camp is determined to retake the Korean peninsula, repel or severely injure our army, it is necessary to increase the input of troops, and if the Japanese army invests more troops than Commander Ma is currently commanding, it will not be consumed so much Easy!"

Tang Qiuquan looked at Xin Xiguo with piercing eyes, and asked, "Chief of Staff, what's your opinion?"

Xin Xiguo replied succinctly: "This battle is feasible, but there must be enough follow-up reinforcements. Once the Japanese army puts more troops on the Mokpo battlefield than the Southeast Mobile Corps, we will quickly increase our troops!"

After a pause, Xin Xiguo said worriedly again: "Commander, as far as I know, all the troops participating in the Northern Campaign have their own clear combat objectives. Compared with the Kwantung Army, their strength is superior, but the disparity is not great. The exposed corps is the killer prepared by the division commander for Nanjiro and Zairen, it is impossible to be transferred to the battlefield on the Korean peninsula, the so-called one radish and one hole, this is my opinion!"

Tang Qiuquan understands that Xin Xiguo agrees with Ma Chaoyang's new battle plan, but there is a prerequisite. There must be a reserve force to reinforce the Southeast Mobile Corps at any time. The guarantee of the battle plan, perhaps, the Mokpo battlefield will affect a considerable part of the reserve troops in Japan. The battlefield is in Mokpo, but it will affect Japan.

Tang Qiuquan was very satisfied with having a chief of staff like Xin Xiguo. He grasped the key point of the problem in a few words, and said with a smile: "Chief of staff, let me sort out your comments just now, try to be as concise as possible, and explain Our attitude, as the opinion of the cross-sea campaign headquarters, will be reported to the division commander!"

Xin Xiguo agreed, turned around and was about to go out, but was stopped by Tang Qiuquan, "Wait a minute, Chief of Staff!"

Xin Xiguo turned around, "Commander, do you have any orders?" He asked.

Tang Qiuquan said: "Among the telegrams directed to the division and the suggestion of our cross-sea campaign headquarters, there is currently no fighting in the Indochina Peninsula. The campaign headquarters asked the division to ask whether it can be considered to transfer Li Honggang's No.20 Ninth Corps to the north to serve as the general reserve team for the campaign on the Korean Peninsula battlefield!"

"In addition, the entire command of the cross-sea campaign will leave Qingdao and head to Mokpo on the Korean Peninsula starting tomorrow to coordinate the combat operations of the army, navy and aviation units. Please give instructions to the division commander!"

The telegrams from Ma Chaoyang and Tang Qiuquan reached Tang Qiuli, who is in Kailu County, Mengdong, one after another, more than an hour later. First of all, it was Ma Chaoyang's telegram.

Tang Qiuli’s plan for the war on the Korean peninsula was based on the actual situation. General Tanaka Shinichi, the commander of Japan’s Korean garrison army, abandoned about 18 troops north of Incheon, accounting for more than one-third of the total force, and retreated. The line from Busan to Mokpo has suffered a great loss in strength, while the Southeast Mobile Corps has twelve brigades, plus three brigades of the Marine Corps, the fifteen brigades have a strength of more than [-] people.

Moreover, having mastered absolute air supremacy, the aviation fleet can provide powerful air fire support for the ground troops, and with the cooperation of the naval fleet, it is possible to quickly gather and annihilate the Japanese and Korean troops stationed on the line from Busan to Mokpo. The strength of two to three brigades took a defensive position on the lines of Busan, Gwangju, and Mokpo to block the reinforcements from the Japanese mainland.

Ma Chaoyang's new plan for the Mokpo campaign completely violated himself in terms of substance. According to Tang Qiuli's vision, the plan for the northern campaign was formulated. Come, cross the border between China and North Korea, go straight to North Manchuria, block the Japanese Far East dispatched army, and retreat back to the northeast. Even if you can't use all the troops, you must at least reach the strength of more than eight brigades.

The reason why Tang Qiuli planned this was because he considered that once the directly subordinate corps went northward, and joined forces with the Outer Mongolian Field Corps to attack the Kwantung Army's border guards and wipe out this part of the Kwantung Army's troops, there would be no suspense, no matter in terms of strength or equipment. , all occupy an overwhelming advantage, the only uncertain factor is whether Prince Zairen, who commanded the Japanese Far East Expeditionary Army, will realize the danger of being cut off when the border guards of the Kwantung Army are attacked?

According to what he knows about Zai Ren, he will definitely realize that Zai Ren is a cunning and experienced senior commander of the Japanese army. He has a keen sense of smell. , Even if it is to lose the pawns and save the car, most of the troops must be withdrawn to the northeast. Now, the reason why they are fighting with the East Finger troops in the Far East is because there are no factors that threaten their retreat.

Therefore, from the perspective of the overall plan of the northern campaign, Ma Chaoyang's new Mokpo battle plan is not good enough. However, what attracts Tang Qiuli the most about this new battle plan is that Ma Chaoyang's proposal can continue to attract the Japanese army. Joining the local forces in the Mokpo battlefield on the Korean peninsula is tantamount to clearing the obstacles in advance for the future attack on the Japanese mainland. It can be said that Ma Chaoyang's idea captured Tang Qiuli's heart.

Putting down Ma Chaoyang's telegram, Tang Qiuli rubbed his temples, and said to himself: "This Ma Chaoyang, it seems to be a problem for me!" After speaking, he stood up, paced back and forth in the room, frowning Thinking hard, one inadvertent move, even if all dissatisfaction is lost, will bring uncertainties to the northern campaign. At least, most of the troops dispatched by the Japanese Far East should have the opportunity to withdraw to the Northeast. This is what he does not want to see Therefore, the pros and cons must be carefully weighed.

There was no one else in the room, Mei Ting, Mei Xue, and Liu Xinlan, the three of them divided the labor and stayed by his side in turn. Tonight, it happened that Liu Xinlan stayed behind. After sorting out a lot of documents, Liu Xinlan raised her head and looked at herself with concern Seeing him shaking his head, nodding again, frowning, and looking hesitant, he couldn't help but feel worried. To be honest, Liu Xinlan rarely saw Tang Qiuli in such a difficult situation.

Liu Xinlan's big black eyes moved a few times flexibly, after thinking for a while, she poured out the herbal tea in the cup, replaced it with a cup of hot tea, and brought it to Tang Qiuli, just as she was about to say, "Bang bang bang!" Knock lightly.

(to be continued) (to be continued...)