Songhu: Never Give Up

Kaifeng City, Guerrilla Column Headquarters
The battle reports flew over like snow. Yue Qianli frowned. He hadn't closed his eyes for three consecutive days.
Tian Yuanxi handed him a bowl of noodles with two eggs on top. It was wartime now and this thing was hard to get.

Yue Qianli just took a look and motioned him to put it down and continue staring at the map.

The guerrilla column, which was responsible for the rearguard mission, had to fight against the 14th and 16th Class A divisions in three directions. The pressure can be imagined.

Tian Yuanxi picked up the bowl of noodles again and stuffed it into his hands without saying anything, then said dissatisfiedly:
"Old Yue, you haven't eaten for two days and two nights. You have to eat this meal even if you don't want to. Look at the brothers walking lightly. This atmosphere is not good.
You are the commander, and your mentality determines the mental state of your brothers."

Yue Qianli was stunned at first, then he realized that he had indeed conveyed some negative mental states to the troops. His brothers were fighting hard, and he, as a commander, should be more optimistic.

Thinking of this, he said as if begging for mercy:
"Isn't it okay for me to eat? I was so busy looking at the map that I would have forgotten I was hungry if you hadn't reminded me.

Wow, there are two more eggs!"

Yue Qianli picked up the big bowl and ate the whole bowl of noodles with great joy, not even leaving any soup. After finishing, he even showed the bowl.
Everyone couldn't help laughing, and the staff officers walked much more cheerfully. Commander Yue was not anxious at all, he was just so engrossed in looking at the map that he forgot to eat.

Soldiers are the courage of the general, and the general is the soul of the soldiers. The mental state of the commander determines the mental outlook of the entire army.
Now that Commander Yue, with a confident look on his face, is back, the soldiers are confident that they can follow Commander Yue to defeat the three groups of Japanese invaders.

"Brothers, the reinforcement detachment on the Longhai Line has blocked the Sakai detachment at the Da Niujiaoling line, and has killed more than 3 demons!

The defense lines in the other two directions were also stabilized, so there was no problem in blocking the Japanese for half a month.

To celebrate the victory at the front, I decided to have an extra meal in the evening: pork stewed with cabbage and some canned beef;
Eat as much as you want, all you can eat! "

There was a cheer in the headquarters, and morale was boosted. The guerrilla column always ate meat only after winning a battle.

Commander Yue invites everyone to eat meat, which means we have won the battle, so let's be happy!
Tian Yuanxi gave him a thumbs up unnoticeably, and Yue Qianli responded with a grateful smile.

He had fallen into a vicious circle these days. As a time traveler, he always wanted to forcibly change some historical events. He was a little obsessed and ignored the feelings of the soldiers.
As the saying goes, if it rains, it will rain and if it gets married, it will get married. He is just an ordinary person of this era and cannot take the responsibility of changing his fate. All he has to do is try his best.

What he should do most now is to preserve the guerrilla column, this iron-blooded force, as much as possible, persist in the war of resistance according to his own development ideas, and grow stronger?
The strategic stalemate phase is the most difficult. Think about the Eighth Route Army’s most difficult period when a rifle could penetrate the base area.
300 million national troops became puppet troops. In the test of time, if you don’t have a will of steel, you won’t be able to survive the great counterattack.

A smile also appeared on Tian Yuanxi's face, because he felt that the confident and tenacious Yue Qianli was back.

"Old Chen, report the victory to the Military Commission and tell them that after several days of fierce fighting, our troops have successfully blocked the three armies of the Japanese at the Kaifeng-Zhongmu-Weishi line;
After dozens of battles, we annihilated more than 6 enemies. We suffered heavy casualties, but we are confident that we can hold on to eastern Henan for 15 days and will not allow the 14th and 16th divisions to move south along the Pinghan Road to ensure the Central Plains strategy.

Yue Qianli was still making his final effort. He was waiting for the reply from the Military Commission. As long as the Military Commission gave them more support, such as letting them hold out for another ten days or half a month, it would mean that they had given up the plan of using water instead of soldiers and chose to trust the guerrilla column.

He calculated the date and thought that the Japanese would launch an attack on Wuhan. He was looking forward to the battle in Wuhan as soon as possible.

The result of the Battle of Xuzhou did not satisfy Yu Ren. What made him even more dissatisfied was that different voices emerged in the country. Some of them demanded that the battle line be stopped east of Xuzhou, withdraw from Lanfeng City, and show goodwill to China not to continue attacking the Longhai Line, and then achieve the goal of defeating the enemy without fighting through peace talks on the grounds that the national treasury had been exhausted.

These arguments that were not in line with the will of the Holy Spirit naturally attracted the wrath of Yu Ren:
"Bakayaloo, are their heads filled with shit?

The idea of ​​conquering the enemy without fighting is held by the Chinese people and has long been outdated!
What you cannot gain on the battlefield you will certainly not gain at the negotiating table.

Since the Chinese have retreated to Wuhan, we will launch a Wuhan attack, and the base camp will not be affected by them;

Regarding the strategy for Wuhan, I want to hear about the deployment of the base camp.”

Konoe Fumimaro was well prepared for the Wuhan attack. They had already formulated a plan to attack Wuhan. When Yu Ren asked about it, he reported it in detail, and Yu Ren nodded repeatedly:
“I basically agree with the base camp’s plan, but the troops involved are too few and the situation is not open;

Not only must the 6th, 9th, 10th, 13th, and 16th divisions assembled in eastern Henan and northern Anhui after the Battle of Xuzhou be deployed in the attack on Wuhan, but sufficient troops must also be transferred from North China and the country.

I plan to assemble 14 army divisions, about 120 ships of various types from the Navy's Third Fleet, and about 300 aircraft of various types from the Air Force to participate in the war.

The Central China Expeditionary Army was commanded by General Shunroku Hata, and the battle was divided into two battlefields, north and south, with the Yangtze River as the boundary. The commander of the northern bank was Lieutenant General Toshihiko Higashikuni, commander of the Second Army.
The southern bank was commanded by General Okamura Yasuji, commander of the 11th Army."

Seeing that Yu Ren was micromanaging again and even smuggling some private goods, Konoe Fumimaro had no choice but to bite the bullet and persuade him:
"Your Majesty, the battlefield is dangerous and fierce. I think it is better for Your Highness not to go to the front line to command. Your Highness Asaka-kun's lesson should still be learned."

It would be fine if Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko was not mentioned, but once Yuhito was mentioned, he felt very upset. An uncle is like a father, and the revenge has not been avenged yet. He immediately said with a sullen face:

"Konei-kun, I heard that Yue Qianli's guerrilla column is still in eastern Henan blocking the 14th and 16th divisions from advancing southward, and Doihara Kenji has suffered heavy casualties;
Could it be that a small captain has left the empire's elites helpless?
This is a shame for the empire!

If you can't even destroy the guerrilla column, how can you talk about dominating the world?"

Konoe Fumimaro regretted it so much that he really wanted to slap himself twice, which was obviously to express his dissatisfaction with his meddling in the affairs of the royal family;
The royal family needed military merits, and Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko died on the battlefield. The royal family made a big fuss about it, exaggerating him to be a peerless war god who only appears once in three thousand years and who dedicated himself to the empire's eternal cause.

Now an uncle of the emperor is being asked to lead the army. His desire for benevolence is known to everyone. The imperial power and the prime minister's power have been fighting overtly and covertly.

Seeing that he had brought up Yue Qianli and the guerrilla column, Konoe Fumimaro was afraid that he would cause trouble again and affect the Wuhan strategy, so he had to agree to Yu Ren's proposal and appoint His Royal Highness the Prince as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Army.

This time Yuren did not act willfully, and Konoe Fumimaro finally relaxed, and bowed down to him and left. (End of this chapter)