The Republic of Heroes

Time entered March of the 19th year of the Republic of China, and the land of China's Shenzhou had been torn apart. After the Japanese occupied the entire North China, they did not take advantage of the victory and went south to the Yellow River. Instead, they confronted the Shandong Army across the Yellow River for nearly two months, until the frozen Yellow River opened.People at the time analyzed that perhaps out of fear of Wu Xiaoliang from Shandong, the Japanese had not made up their minds to use Shandong as a breakthrough point to approach the Central Plains.This made Yan Xishan in Shanxi suffer. Yan Laoxi relied on the dangerous terrain of the Taihang Mountains to deal with the Japanese with difficulty. In just one month, he asked the Nanjing government and his neighbor Wu Xiaoliang several times for help.

On the surface, the situation has gradually stabilized, but Wu Xiaoliang, who is in Jinan, has a premonition that the storm is about to come.For this reason, he specially recruited several generals under his command to the theater headquarters to explain the strategic deployment after the war between China and Japan.

Regarding the Japanese army's southward march, Li Zejun's attitude is relatively relaxed, because whether he was in the Suidong Army or after joining the ranks of the Nanjing National Government for more than ten years, he has always won more victories than lost when fighting against Japan, so he has no heart burden, and does not have the fear of the sun that is common in other domestic warlords.Moreover, the 57th Division he led was the most elite combat force under Wu Xiaoliang's command. Even in the entire Nanjing Nationalist Government's battle sequence, the 57th Division's combat effectiveness was second to none.Especially after returning to Jinan after the Songhu War, the 57th Division went through two reorganizations, expanded its army, and replaced it with the most advanced German-made equipment. The combat effectiveness has been greatly developed compared to before.

The 57th Division was not placed in the main fortifications on the south bank of the Yellow River as Li Zejun wished, and it didn't even have a role in the reserve troops of the Yellow River defense line.Although he is dissatisfied, Li Zejun has been in the army for more than ten years. The reason why the commander arranged him in Gaomi and Anqiu must have his plan. Whether it is to preserve his strength or have other plans, he has enough patience to wait. Facts to solve the doubts in my heart.But he still has to fight for it. After all, a good knife must be used at the key point, and even the sharpest blade will rust after a long time.

"Commander, let's go to war against Japan. The 57th Division will take the lead. It's not a long-term solution to keep shrinking behind the Yellow River."

Wu Xiaoliang frowned noncommittally, and asked instead: "It's just right, how can you tell me how to play?"

"Commander, let's see..."

Li Zejun got up and came to the landing map on the east wall, and swayed his right hand along the lower reaches of the Yellow River, "The entire Yellow River defense line is well-arranged by our army, while the Japanese army is completely on the contrary. The posture of crossing the river. This is precisely their loophole. Our army only needs to find a place where the radiation of the Japanese army is the weakest as a breakthrough, and look for an opportunity to cross the river to catch them by surprise. According to reports, the Japanese army in North China is composed of two divisions, one from the The Kwantung Army in the Northeast has about [-] people. The second is the North China Garrison Army, which also has [-] people."

After speaking in one breath, Li Zejun paused for a while and looked around the meeting room. Seeing that many people nodded slightly, he continued: "So the comparison of the strength of the enemy and us in North China is that we are outnumbered. There is no need to be a coward, as long as Our army will fight across the Yellow River in a dignified manner, and the recovery of North China is just around the corner."

After speaking, there was a lot of noise in the meeting place. More than half of the generals agreed with Li Zejun's opinion. The Shandong Army was the latest to be established among the domestic warlords, but it was the army with the strongest self-confidence and the sense of war.

Wu Xiaoliang coughed lightly, then turned to ask Yang Xiaoou beside him.

"What do you think?"

Yang Xiaoou has been following Wu Xiaoliang since he defected to the Shandong Army, and he has already felt his temper clearly.Usually this kind of interest relationship has been clearly stated, and if he has not expressed support for it for a long time, it means that he is opposed to it. It's just that Wu Xiaoliang is unwilling to directly refute his subordinate's proposal through his own mouth, so someone needs to represent him. to speak.

"I don't agree. Except for the Henan direction, there may be our enemies in the other three directions in Shandong's fourth battle. If we attack rashly in such a complicated situation, if something happens, the consequences will be disastrous."

It was Dong Haibin who spoke. He usually keeps a low profile and seldom speaks at meetings, but today he was uncharacteristically speaking. He not only spoke, but also raised a clear-cut objection. This is too unreasonable.

"Brother Dong's words are not a bit alarmist? Shandong faces the sea in the east, and it is difficult to connect Jiangsu, which is controlled by the Nanjing National Government. How much change can happen, and the consequences can be unimaginable?"

Li Youting was tit-for-tat, the two had never met before, and it seemed that they were going to confront each other today.There was a sound of agreement when the conference room was neutral.Li Zejun didn't care, and retorted straightforwardly: "The east of Shandong is the sea, and the Japanese army can be used everywhere. Don't forget that the Japanese navy is developed and even surpassed the European powers. As long as you land at any point on the long coastline and quickly expand the results, we will The military situation will become precarious. According to my judgment, the Japanese army will definitely launch a pincer attack on our army here."

Dong Haibin pointed at the map and tapped it twice.Everyone looked closely, and it turned out to be the location of Qingdao.Before Li Zejun made this proposal, of course he thought about the possibility of the Japanese army landing from Shandong and how to deal with it.The final conclusion is that if the Japanese army chooses to land in Qingdao and continue to penetrate into the hinterland of Shandong, what awaits them will be a thunderous blow from our army.

Soon, the entire venue was divided into two factions. One group supported Li Zejun's desire to start the war against Japan as soon as possible, while the other group suggested to proceed with caution and not to rush forward lightly.The discussion turned into a debate, and the debate almost turned into a scolding war in the end.Wu Xiaoliang finally couldn't bear it anymore and slammed the table hard.

"Calm down, let's see what this is!"

After finishing speaking, Wu Xiaoliang threw the stack of telegrams on the table.

Yang Xiaoou was the closest to the letter, so he copied the envelope in his hand, opened it, and after reading just one line, his brows were frowned.

"This... this... where did this news come from...?"

Wu Xiaoliang added coldly: "The source is absolutely reliable, let's all think of ways to deal with it!"

Originally, the few people were full of ideas, and they copied each other with great joy, but suddenly they made such a move, and everyone lost their voices involuntarily.Li Zejun saw that several people who had read the telegram and still supported his opinion just now bowed their heads and stopped expressing their attitude towards his opinion.He realized that the biggest problem he faced was probably the telegram that Wu Xiaoliang threw on the table.

Li Zejun wanted to take a look at it, but withdrew his hand again. He still wanted to see Wu Xiaoliang's last statement. In this kind of argument like a quarrel before, no matter whether he won or lost, Wu Xiaoliang's face had a cold expression.

"It's also like reading to them, so that they can be sober, and they can all recognize the position of the Shandong Army."

"A large number of transport ships appeared in the port of Tokyo, and a large number of Japanese troops transferred from reserve to active duty entered the port one after another. The same is true in Osaka and other places except Tokyo. All the local standing troops are no longer stationed in the local area, and they may have boarded the ship secretly."

The meeting room was immediately quiet, followed by a burst of humming, which soon disappeared, and the entire meeting room was so quiet that even a sewing needle could be heard falling on the ground.This news was so shocking that it was difficult for everyone to accept for a while. If the content of this telegram is true, then the Japanese government has indeed completed or is implementing its plan to invade China.

The Japanese army has seventeen standing divisions, and most of the troops are due to the development of the navy, which has caused the army's financial constraints. A large number of veteran soldiers with combat experience have to be taken out of the battle order and continue to serve in the barracks as reserves.This not only responds to international public opinion, but also reduces the financial burden.

The generals at the meeting didn't care about the system of the Japanese reserve service. They were more concerned about the current positions of all the standing divisions that left Japan.Yang Xiaoou got up and planted small red flags on the map, each one representing the whereabouts of a standing division of the Japanese army.In the end, it was discovered that nine standing divisions were missing. Where are these divisions?

North China or Shanghai?Yang Xiaoou muttered in his heart, but in the end he didn't come up with an answer.

Li Zejun stopped talking at all. If the Shandong Army really marched into North China hastily according to his previous plan, then they are likely to hit the iron plate with their heads, and their heads will be bloody.This telegram came too timely.

Just as the meeting was about to end, the adjutant hurriedly opened the door and entered the meeting room, placed a telegram in front of Wu Xiaoliang's desk, whispered a few words in his ear, and then turned and left.

Yang Xiaoou was close and could hear the adjutant's words clearly.

When the Japanese army landed in Shanghai, Zhang Zhizhong couldn't stand it anymore.

Wu Xiaoliang let out a sigh of relief, now even he can't protect himself, how can he have the extra energy to rescue Shanghai, it seems that the fall of Shanghai is inevitable.

It seems that before the situation is clear, it is indeed inappropriate to take any further actions, so Wu Xiaoliang ordered:

"Until the situation is clear, the Shandong army is not allowed to take a step beyond the thunder pond." Everyone knows what the thunder pond is, and no one would do such a stupid thing.

"When will it be a head..."

Someone complained involuntarily, and then there was a burst of echoing voices.Wu Xiaoliang shook his head and smiled wryly. These mid-level and lower-level military officers are used to being supervised, and it is difficult for them to generate independent ideas and desires. Therefore, at this time, the only thing they can do in most cases is to follow others.

It seems that what the ancients said is true, major events do not depend on the conspiracy of the crowd, but on the arbitrary.Wu Xiaoliang was a little depressed. Was it right or wrong for him to attract these mid-level and lower-level officers? .

Out of the corner of Wu Xiaoliang's eyes, as he moved away from Yang Xiaoou, he inadvertently scanned the location of Qingdao on the map, and broke out in a cold sweat instantly.

Could it be that the next landing site for the Japanese army is in Qingdao?

The more Wu Xiaoliang thought about it, the more he felt that the Japanese army would definitely land there, and it was only in the last few days.