Sword: Heart of Iron

Chapter 227 Numerous Challenges
7 month 8 day.

Central China Garrison Command.

Wang Feng rubbed his eyes: "I'm really tired!"

In previous battles, all I needed to do was command my own troops. It was best if the other friendly forces were willing to cooperate, but if they were passive and avoided battle, I could still hold my own.

With professional advisors like Zhao Fangyuan assisting him, the actual amount of work he actually had to do was not much.

Upon arriving in Wuhan, the situation immediately reversed.

The number of troops under his command increased nearly tenfold. And that's not all; among these millions of Nationalist troops were the Central Army, the Guangxi Army, the Northwest Army, the Sichuan Army, the Guangdong Army, and the Yunnan Army.
The situation is chaotic, and sometimes, when arranging troops, it is even more necessary to consider the relationships between factions.

It is common knowledge that the Central Army likes to use local armies as artillery.

In this situation, local troops have both a spirit of sacrifice and a selfish desire to preserve their strength.

As for the operational staff of the Central China Command, their competence varied greatly.

They weren't trained from the start, and their command thinking is very different from mine, making them difficult to use.

Although he has only been in office for two days, he has been working almost non-stop. Even at night, he has not slept for more than an hour and a half in total.

There was a knock on the door.

An operations staff officer walked in.

"Sir, this is the latest deployment plan. Please take a look."

Wang Feng took the file book and glanced at it: "What is written here?"
"Why go such a long detour from the Dabie Mountains to the south bank of the Yangtze River?"

The operations staff stammered, "We have a limited number of ships, and most of our troops can only reach the designated area by land."

Wang Feng frowned: "Not enough ships?"
Why not solicit submissions from the general public?

Operations staff officer: "Recruitment has already begun, but there's no definite news yet."

Wang Feng: "No definite news?"

Operations staff officer: "The requisitioning work is still ongoing. We don't know exactly how many ships have been requisitioned; we can only formulate a relocation plan based on the current situation."

Wang Feng threw the file book on the table: "Don't know?"

"What exactly are you all doing? What did you learn at military academy?"

In this situation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the General Staff jointly handle the matter, summarizing the information every half hour.

There might be delays, but it will never be like this, where the conscription team has been sent out for so long and the General Staff hasn't received a single word.

The operations staff officer was startled and stood there, his legs trembling.

Wang Feng stood up, suppressing his anger.

This situation was all too common within the National Revolutionary Army; superiors and subordinates each did their own thing, with absolutely no coordination whatsoever.

The blame cannot be entirely placed on the staff officer in front of him, Wang Feng glanced at his military rank.

Lieutenant Colonel.

This rank would qualify him as a regimental commander in a frontline unit, but within this headquarters building, he'd just be a low-level officer, at best doing errands.

It's likely that the senior operational staff knew things hadn't gone well and didn't dare to personally deliver the relocation plan, so they chose this "scapegoat."

"You can go back now. I'll give you one last half hour. If you don't know the news, go down and ask!"

"And logistics coordination!"

The lieutenant colonel staff officer nodded, then quickly turned and left.

Wang Feng looked at the map hanging high on the wall.

"They've been preparing for this battle for so long, what exactly have they prepared?" He grew angrier the more he thought about it. He remembered that Cheng Qian had repeatedly advised him to give up on the plan to stop the breaching of the Yellow River dike, using the excuse that it was to make enough time to prepare for the Battle of Wuhan.

But so much time has passed, and they still haven't managed to gather enough boats for the most basic river crossing.
Absolutely ridiculous!

--------

noon.

Zhao Fangyuan strode into the headquarters building, followed by a group of garrison staff officers who had come from afar.

"This building is impressive!"

"It's much better than our cramped prefab house in Changzhi!"

"Stop looking! We just don't have time to build it, it's not like we can't afford it!"

"."

Zhao Fangyuan glanced back and said, "You all go to the staff command room and wait. I'll go see my superior."

The staff officer behind him immediately responded, "Yes, sir!"

--------

There was a knock on the door.

Wang Feng, looking exhausted, called out towards the door:
"Enter!"

After saying that, he stood up and picked up a logistics list that had been sent to the General Staff not long ago.

Zhao Fangyuan pushed open the door:
"Sir, Zhao Fangyuan is reporting for duty!"

Wang Fenggang was about to raise his hand to throw the document over, but after seeing who it was, he immediately lowered his hand:
"Fang Yuan, you've finally arrived!"

Zhao Fangyuan: "Sir, what's wrong with you? It's only been a few days, how come you've become like this?"

Compared to his memory, Wang Feng now looked much thinner, with a haggard face and a heavy sense of fatigue. He even swayed slightly when he stood up.

He smiled and straightened his disheveled military uniform: "Is there?"
"Let's not talk about that now. How many people did you bring with you to Wuhan this time?"

Zhao Fangyuan: "All the staff officers from our field headquarters have come!"

Wang Fengxi was overjoyed: "Great! Great!"

As he spoke, he took out a stack of appointment certificates from the table: "Fill this out first!"

Zhao Fangyuan was somewhat puzzled. After receiving the appointment letters, he glanced at them one by one. They were all documents appointing staff officers of the Central China Garrison Command, and they had already been stamped with the official seal. Only the name column was blank.

this.
Can a letter of appointment be used to issue a bad check?

Wang Feng hurriedly said, "Go and compile a list of the staff officers who came with you, fill in their names, and replace those good-for-nothings!" Zhao Fangyuan looked a little confused, but still nodded, "Yes, I'll do it right away!"

Wang Feng: "Any new developments in Changzhi recently?"

Zhao Fangyuan: "Sir, after you left, the Japanese army in Shanxi has been very quiet. The new commander of the First Army has taken office, and the Ministry of the Interior has already investigated the specific situation."

The commander who replaced Kiyoshi Katsuki was named Yoshijiro Umezu, and he was likely transferred from within Japan.

Wang Feng: "Yoshijiro Umezu?"

"What moves have you made since taking office?"

Zhao Fangyuan: "Yes! But they were all aimed at the Eighth Route Army."

Wang Feng: "Okay, after you go out in a bit, send a telegram to Song Wenjie and tell him to pay attention to the situation in Shanxi. If necessary, we can lend a helping hand to our allies."

Zhao Fangyuan: "Okay, sir, there's one more thing."

"Before I set off, the first fighter jet produced by our aircraft manufacturing plant successfully completed its test flight. After receiving the news, the Field Commander wanted to tell you immediately."

"But considering communication security, after discussion, it was decided that I would personally bring this good news over!"

Wang Feng was somewhat surprised: "The test flight was a success?"

How is the performance of the new aircraft?

Zhao Fangyuan: "The engineers at the aircraft manufacturing plant said that the new aircraft has reached the qualified level, but there is still room for improvement. Currently, the aircraft has been taken to the flight academy to be used as a training aircraft for the students."

Wang Feng nodded: "Okay, after the test flight, don't rush into production. Focus on optimizing the design as much as possible. In the short term, we can't possibly outnumber the Japanese in terms of fighter jets. Performance and quality are extremely important. How's the pilot training going?"

Zhao Fangyuan: "It will probably take some time before the first batch of trainees can participate in actual combat."

Wang Feng: "Don't rush this. Have the troops been mobilized yet? Take advantage of the fact that the Japanese army has not yet blocked the Pinghan Railway and advance south as soon as possible."

Zhao Fangyuan: "Chu Yunfei's Second Field Army is ready, while the First Field Army is still being reorganized. The departure time is estimated to be about a week later."

Wang Feng looked at the chart on the wall: "Take Zhengzhou first, then advance on Xinyang. Two field armies and five columns are enough to give the Japanese a hard time."

"Time is of the essence. Go to the General Staff immediately and take over the work of those incompetent fools. This campaign is of great significance; we cannot afford to fail again!"

Zhao Fangyuan saluted: "Yes!"

------

7 month 10 day.

The garrison command building was in a flurry of activity, with staff officers moving back and forth between rooms. No one was talking, and most of the time, all that could be heard was the sound of hurried footsteps and the piercing ringing of telephones.

"The latest battle report from the front!"

"Give it to me, I'll take it to the officer!"

"Wait a minute, there's another one here!"

"."

After the staff officer of the garrison's field headquarters took over the work, the efficiency doubled. Most of the original staff officers were relegated to the sidelines, and even doing errands was considered slow.

"Do they have that much energy?"

"I haven't slept for days."

"This battle report is indeed well written; no wonder they can always win battles!"

Several colonels stood aside, watching the busy garrison staff officers, secretly marveling at their work.

"Hey you guys over there, come here quickly!"

"Send this to the communications room!"

"They're here!" Several Nationalist Army staff officers reacted and quickly ran over.

------

In the command room.

Wang Feng looked down at the sand table in front of him: "How is the construction of the Anqing defense line going?"

Zhao Fangyuan: "It's not good. The telegram from the 27th Group Army says that the continuous rain in recent days has seriously delayed the construction progress."

Wang Feng: "Rain?"
"The Japanese army is more mechanized than ours, and they are more afraid of rain. Right now, my biggest concern is the Japanese navy."

Zhao Fangyuan frowned: "Navy?"

As a native of Shanxi and a member of the Jin-Sui Army, the word "naval" seems somewhat distant to me.

Wang Feng: "I have investigated the hydrological data of the Yangtze River in the Anqing area. The high water season has arrived, and there should be no problem for thousand-ton inland gunboats to pass through. If possible, the Japanese may send their fleet flagship to the outskirts of Anqing!"

Zhao Fangyuan realized the seriousness of the problem.

Although he had never seen the sea, let alone a large warship, he had some understanding of this subject due to Wang Feng's influence.

Ocean-going warships sailing on the sea often have guns with a caliber of 200 mm or more, and even smaller river gunboats have guns with a caliber of at least 150 mm.

This thing, stationary on the river, is essentially a mobile artillery position.

Far from land, it is extremely safe, and infantry cannot get close. Apart from exchanging fire with land artillery, the only option is to bombard it with aircraft.

Wang Feng: "The Madang Fortress has a large number of mines. Perhaps we can only contain the Japanese navy by retreating here."

Zhao Fangyuan looked troubled: "Sir, the garrison at the fortress sent a telegram half an hour ago, claiming that the construction of the bunker complex is not even halfway complete, and at the same time they want to apply for a defense grant."

Wang Feng was furious: "What?"
"The fortifications are not yet completed?"

"Since the Battle of Xuzhou, the Wuhan area has been preparing for the War of Resistance. The Madang Fortress was built even before the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. Now the Japanese invaders are pointing their troops directly at Central China and are about to besiege the city. Why are the fortifications still not finished? What are these people doing?!"

Zhao Fangyuan: "Sir, please calm down. I'll go and mediate right away!"

Wang Feng waved his hand: "No need! I'll go to Madang myself!"
"The headquarters for the first phase of the War of Resistance was located at Madang Fortress before the war!"

The events of the past two days have truly frightened him. It's certainly safe to sit in the rear and strategize, but who knows what kind of trouble might arise on the front lines.

The 124 divisions of the National Revolutionary Army each had their own ideas and selfish motives, and even within each division, several factions had emerged.

Remote command and dispatch presents numerous challenges.

Zhao Fangyuan: "Yes!"

(End of this chapter)