Sword: Heart of Iron

Chapter 110 One general succeeds and thousands of bones wither
Changzhi direction.

After Wang Feng left, Song Wenjie took charge of all military affairs and had to take into account the development of the industrial zone. The heavy burden made him feel a little breathless for a while.

Military affairs are easy to handle, as Liu Zhijian and Kong Zhiyong can help share the responsibilities.

He is the only one who can handle all the trivial matters in the industrial zone.

A clerk came over and handed over a finger-thick report: "Sir, this is the detailed electricity bill for last month. Please take a look."

Song Wenjie was busy with other things and couldn't spare any time for the moment. He flipped through two pages at random, and his head suddenly hurt after reading the dense text: "Read it to me!"

"Read it in summary, don't read it all!"

The clerk was familiar with the process and picked up the report: "Total electricity consumption and electricity generation last month. Difference between income and expenditure."

"Among them. The largest electricity user."

"."

Song Wenjie understood.

There’s a power shortage!
"The commander-in-chief sent a telegram not long ago, ordering a batch of thermal power generation equipment from a foreign country, and asked us to build the factory in advance."

“How is the implementation of the project going?”

Clerk: "Sir, we don't have much money left in the account. We are running out of money."

Song Wenjie stood up and raised his voice a few decibels: "How can you be out of money?"

"The 14th Army was given a sum of money to support its army. Has it been spent so quickly?"

"Where's the accountant? Go get him for me!"

Song Wenjie really didn't realize this problem. Although the industrial zone was under military control, according to the prior agreement, Huang Shaohong's administrative office shared a large amount of the expenses.

Not much is actually spent by the military.

The clerk turned and left the room.

A few minutes later, a slightly fat accountant wearing glasses came over.

He was also holding a huge stack of account books.

Song Wenjie put his hands on his hips and shouted sternly: "Check the accounts! I want to check the accounts!"

Although he is now in charge of logistics, it does not mean that he has a high level of education or a good temper.

On the contrary, it has been the iron-fisted politics and violent suppression by the military that have maintained the administrative system of the industrial zone and enabled it to operate efficiently.

Among the original members of the 414th Regiment, only Zhao Fangyuan attended school for a few days.

The fat accountant's forehead was covered with sweat. The more anxious he became, the more chaotic his hands' movements became.

These clerks were all hired from outside, and although they went through several rounds of screening, there was still a mix of good and bad people.

If Song Wenjie hadn't been so strong, the situation would have been in chaos.

"Are you done yet? I asked you to do some work, but you're always dilly-dallying!"

With a loud shout, the fat accountant trembled all over: "Check it right away, check it right away"

"Allow January military pay to be paid. Depreciation of fixed assets and purchase of raw materials."

“January Administrative Office funding.”

Song Wenjie stared coldly from the side, and the fat accountant trembled in his heart, fearing that there would be a mistake.

Half an hour later, the fat accountant wiped his sweat and said, "Sir, everything is here."

After saying that, I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Working in the army is different from working in a company. Although the salary is higher, you have to be careful in everything.

Song Wenjie frowned.

He understood.

The finances of the entire army have long been in a situation where there is only outflow and no income.

In theory, the Administrative Office would bear the financial burden of the army. The entire Changzhi area, with a population of two to three million, was more than enough to support an army of tens of thousands of people.

That being said.

But the administrative office cannot come up with the money now.

Huang Shaohong had just been in office for more than three months. Before that, Changzhi was divided into two special districts, and the internal administrative system had long been corroded and rotten by termites.

No matter how strong Huang Shaohong's personal governing ability was, it was already a great achievement for him to achieve a balance between the financial revenue and expenditure of the Administrative Office in a short period of time.

I want to use the extra money to build the army.

We'll have to wait at least a few more months.

Song Wenjie leaned back in his chair, feeling heavy-hearted.

We have to find a way to get some money to subsidize the army.

As he thought about this, his hand unconsciously reached for the pistol bag at his waist.

But this scared the fat accountant next to him.

"Signalman! Signalman!" Song Wenjie stood up and shouted towards the door.

A soldier ran in: "Sir!"

Song Wenjie waved his hand: "Send a message to the commander."

The soldier took out a pen and paper and wrote it down quickly.

Xuzhou.

Headquarters of the Fifth War Zone.

Li Zongren convened a small military meeting.

Only a few important officials from the Fifth War Zone attended the meeting, and the topic of discussion was the battle report submitted by Wang.

Xu Zuyi looked at the map on the wall and said, "Lure the Japanese army to cross the Huai River and use the terrain to encircle and annihilate them."

"Captain Li, isn't this a bit risky?"

"If the plan fails, the Japanese army is only a hundred kilometers away from Xuzhou. Without the natural barrier of the Huai River, it will be difficult to stop them again."

Li Zongren sat in the first seat without saying a word.

The officers below had different opinions.

Some people support it, and some people oppose it.

The reason for opposition is simple, just as Xu Zuyi said.

Too risky
There were fewer people who supported it, but their attitude was very tough. A staff officer stood up and said fiercely: "Sir, now that the elite troops of this war zone have gathered in Huaihe River, it is a godsend opportunity to encircle and annihilate the Japanese army!"

"If we can achieve a major victory on the southern front before the Battle of Xuzhou, it will be of great help in inspiring the Chinese people's anti-Japanese sentiment!"

"Perhaps, we can attract the chairman's attention and allocate more troops and ammunition to us. The Isogai and Sendai divisions on the northern front will also be cautious and delay their march south, giving us more breathing room!"

"We dare not fight this, we dare not fight that! Defend! Defend! In addition to defending, is there nothing else we can do?"

Li Zongren was moved by the staff officer's words.

There is chaos and disorder in Xuzhou city right now.

Most of the people had fled, and the city was almost deserted.

In order to stabilize the people's hearts, he, as the commander-in-chief of the theater, held various mobilization meetings.

He has to ride a horse on the streets every day. Although he feels heavy-hearted, he still pretends to be leisurely so that ordinary people will mistakenly believe that the war zone is stable.

In fact, the situation has become critical.

Seeing that Li Zongren was somewhat shaken, the "hardliners" immediately stood up and said, "Sir, after the news of the great victory at Chihe came in, the people in Xuzhou were very excited. Students took to the streets to march and take the lead in fundraising!"

"If we can have another greater victory, Xuzhou City will definitely be the grave of Isogai Lianjie and Okamura Ningji!"

As soon as this was said, someone immediately echoed: "That's right! Looking at the history of previous wars, this North China battle group is the best at flanking and interweaving, and can always go straight to the vital points of the Japanese army. If this brigade is allowed to take the lead in the attack, it will definitely achieve a great victory!"

Seeing the "hardliners" doing this, the "conservatives" had nothing to say and just slammed the table and said, "Nonsense!"

"Commander Li hasn't issued the combat order yet, so there's no room for your nonsense!"

"If the battle fails, and the Japanese army advances north and south into Xuzhou, what should we do? Will you personally lead the troops to stop the Japanese army?"

"Do you think everyone is like your Northeast Army? They don't even dare to fight the Japanese!"

"Fuck! Say it again! Our troops were all inside the pass at that time. What could we use to fight?"

For a while, there was a fierce noise in the meeting room.

The Fifth War Zone is a hodgepodge.

The main combat force is composed of a ragtag group of troops from all over the country.

The same is true for the headquarters, where staff officers belong to different factions and most of them did not know each other before.

After working together for a short time, once there is a dispute, the arguments can escalate to the point where the different factions slander each other.

Li Zongren cleared his throat. His voice was not loud, but it instantly suppressed the noise in the conference room: "Enough!"

"I understand your opinions."

"There are pros and cons to fighting this war or not." Li Zongren stood up and paced back and forth in the room.

Xu Zuyi felt something was wrong: "If we actively attract the Japanese army into the encirclement, and the Isogai and Sendai divisions accelerate their advance southward, how should we deal with it?"

"The northern and southern battlefields are originally one. If we only focus on one side, we will definitely fall into the dilemma of the Battle of Taiyuan!"

Currently, the northern front is only supported by Pang Bingxun's Third Corps and Shen Honglie's Marine Corps.

Once contact comes with the Japanese army, the defense line will be broken in an instant.

Li Zongren nodded, and his mentality began to waver.

Xu Zuyi was the chief of staff of the theater appointed by him. He had outstanding strategic vision. Many officers entered the Japanese Army Academy to study there.

But those who can enter the Army University are extremely rare.

The "hardliner" was unwilling to give up and continued, "If we let the Third Army deploy along both sides of the railway line, the Marines and the 89th Army will ambush and harass us from the rear."

"The Sendai Division is still far away. This deployment of troops is enough to resist the Isogai Division for a week."

"Destroy the main force of the Japanese army on the southern front, and send the four armies back to the northern front to support them. Then we can fight another battle in the same way, and Xuzhou can rest assured!"

"Yes, our military strength is already scarce, and we can't support a two-front war at all. We should concentrate our strength on solving one front first."

Seeing that both sides were about to argue, Li Zongren knocked on the table and asked, "Any other areas, any other battle reports?"

The officer in charge of intelligence stood up.

Just now he did not join in the quarrel among the crowd, but was calmly analyzing the information in his hands.

"Sir, news has come from Beijing and Shanghai that the Japanese General Staff has issued an order to disband the Central China Front Army, the Shanghai Expeditionary Army, and the Tenth Army. All units are on standby and their headquarters officers are returning to their homeland."

"It is very likely that they will form a new strategic unit and launch a new round of aggressive attacks."

Li Zongren frowned when he heard this.

The troops will remain where they are and should be incorporated into the newly formed strategic unit.

Focus on the headquarters
The original headquarters' main task was to attack Beijing and Shanghai.

Matsui Iwane had served as a military attaché in Shanghai and was a "China expert", so it was perfect for him to be the commander.

Now that everything has changed, it means that the strategic intention is likely to change.

There is no doubt that they will launch a full-scale war of aggression in central China.

It is very likely to affect the Fifth War Zone.

Are the Japanese troops going to increase their troops on the southern front?

A thought flashed through Li Zongren's mind.

"When did the news come? What is the current situation of the Japanese army?"

Intelligence officer: "I just received the telegram this morning. The details are unknown."

Li Zongren forced himself to calm down and carefully examined the current battle situation.

One will be a million bones.

As a theater commander, a single deviation in one's thoughts may cause the war situation to slide into an unexpected stage.

It is no exaggeration to say that the survival of the Chinese nation depends on one person.

"Yan Mou, can you go to the front line and supervise the battle for the Third Army?" Li Zongren looked at Xu Zuyi, his mind already made up.

It will take at least a week in Linyi!

Xu Zuyi understood what Li Zongren meant, and seeing that Li Zongren was determined, he said nothing more: "As a general, you should die on the battlefield. It's nothing wrong for me to personally supervise the battle!"

After hearing this, Li Zongren felt much more at ease.

"Send a telegram to the southern front and approve the encirclement and annihilation plan!"

"In addition, I appoint Wang Feng as the commander of the front line. In case of emergency, he can make decisions on many important matters on his own!"

(End of this chapter)