Sword: Heart of Iron

Chapter 93 Meeting with Li Zongren

Wang Feng frowned and tried hard to recall the war history he had read.

The so-called Guide Military Conference is not well-known in history, and can only be glimpsed in the memoirs of individual generals.

Zhao Fangyuan speculated in his heart: "Could it be that the chairman personally went to the front line to supervise the battle and boost the morale of the army?"

Wang Feng shook his head: "Boosting morale is just a superficial appearance. Judging from the current situation, it is very likely that Han Fuju will be tried."

"No matter what, I will first place the troops in the suburbs of Xuzhou, and you will follow me to Guide."

Zhao Fangyuan nodded: "Yes, sir!"

Song Wenjie led the 2nd and 3rd Mountain Tactical Corps to guard Changzhi. [Pocket Defense] Tactical instructors served as combat staff.

Zhao Fangyuan: "Sir, according to the time on the telegram, the meeting is urgent and there is only one day left. Should we leave now?"

Wang Feng: "Notify the guard company and prepare the vehicle to set off!"

The meeting time was indeed tight. I originally wanted to meet Li Zongren, but I guess he must have been in Guide by now.

Fortunately, Xuzhou is not far from Guide, and if you take a special train, it will take only one day to arrive there.

After temporarily handing over the troops to Sergei, the two set off immediately.

January 11th.

Return to virtue.

At dawn, the sky turned pale.

Wang Feng wrapped himself tightly in his fur-collared coat and was searched as soon as he got off the train.

Soldier at the station: "Sir, show your identity!"

Wang Feng did not respond. The captain of the guard company stepped forward and handed over the identification documents of several people.

After seeing the rank on the certificate, the soldier's body shook violently, and he stood at attention and saluted: "Hello, sir!"

"It's just routine, so I'm sorry."

Wang Feng nodded slightly: "No problem."

The Chairman came to Guide in person. Today the entire city is under martial law. Soldiers with guns are standing guard on the streets. Stations and other places are the key areas for search.

The area was cleared long ago.

If some Japanese spies sneak in, it will be a big problem.

After confirming the identity information, the soldiers exchanged their IDs: "Sir, please come this way, the contact personnel are waiting outside the station."

Chiang Kai-shek came by plane with only a small number of guards. The soldiers on duty at the stations and streets were all genuine Qingxu men.

As soon as I got out of the station, I met the contact person.

Seeing a group of officers coming out of the station, Xu Zuyi stepped forward to greet them and saluted, "Excuse me, are you Commander Wang?"

Wang Feng nodded and returned the gesture symbolically.

According to convention, the personal position and rank of the National Army troops were written on the chest label. However, due to the cold winter, most generals wore a coat over their original military uniforms.

"Excuse me, Your Excellency."

"Xu Zuyi, General Staff of the Fifth War Zone."

Wang Feng's brows relaxed: "It turns out to be Mr. Xu, I have heard of you for a long time."

Xu Zuyi smiled and said, "It's cold, and there are still three o'clock before the meeting starts. Officer Li has been waiting for a long time. Please get in the car first and then we can talk."

After saying that, he signaled to the soldier next to him with his eyes.

More than 80 officers above the division level attended the meeting, and Wang Feng was the first one to be personally greeted by the theater's general staff.

The soldier immediately understood, stepped forward, opened the car door, and made a "please" gesture.

Wang Feng and Zhao Fangyuan got into the car.

The guard company at the rear boarded the trucks that had been prepared in advance and drove forward together.

inside the car.

Xu Zuyi, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat, turned around and took the initiative to talk: "Commander Wang, I have heard that your troops are excellent at mountain warfare. If I have time in the future, I would like to ask for your advice."

Wang Feng was a little embarrassed by the compliment: "Colonel Xu, you are too kind. The land of Qingxu is fertile, and fighting in the mountains is probably useless."

Xu Zuyi: "Commander Wang just came from Changzhi, so he may not know much about the situation in Xuzhou. Currently, the Japanese army is advancing from the north to the south. Let's not talk about the situation in the north. The Mingguang area in the south is guarded by the 31st Army of our theater, and the bloody battle has lasted for nearly a month."

Wang Feng frowned.

Bright light?

Cities and towns under Chuzhou
When he was still in Changzhi, he studied the topography of the Huaihai area, and he still remembered a sentence from "The Pavilion of the Drunken Old Man" which he learned in middle school in his previous life.

"Mountains surround Chuzhou"

While he was thinking, the car slowly stopped.

The guard in the car behind immediately ran up and opened the door.

Xu Zuyi pointed to the courtyard in front of him and said, "Commander Wang, Commander Li is inside, please come in!"

Wang Feng adjusted his fur-collared coat and looked at the house in front of him.

The style is very ordinary and should be temporarily requisitioned.

Under the guidance of Xu Zuyi, Wang Feng was about to walk in when he heard the roar of an engine and several cars stopped on the opposite street.

The car door opened and a group of senior military officers stepped out.

Wang Feng turned his head and found that the person in the lead looked familiar.

Seeing that the officers were also walking towards the house, Wang Feng couldn't help but feel curious: "Who are they?"

Xu Zuyi looked in the direction of the voice: "It's Commander Zhang."

Wang Feng: "Commander Zhang?"

Xu Zuyi: "Zhang Zizhong, commander of the 59th Army."

Wang Feng raised his eyebrows: "Since we happened to meet, why not wait for Commander Zhang and go together."

Zhang Zizhong walked with a vigorous pace. In just two or three steps, he crossed the entire street and walked straight towards the two of them.

Wang Feng raised his eyes and looked Zhang Zizhong up and down.

The rumors were indeed true. He was tall and handsome, with a calm and resolute demeanor. Just from his temperament and aura, one could tell that he was a general commanding an army.

Zhang Zizhong noticed the two of them and said, "Colonel Xu, what a coincidence!"

Xu Zuyi smiled and said, "Commander Zhang, are you going to meet Commander Li?"

Zhang Zizhong nodded and said, "Thanks to Chief Li's help, I have the opportunity today. I will definitely go and pay him a visit."

Wang Feng listened to the conversation between the two and had a vague idea of what was going on.

Zhang Zizhong is not very famous now, and even bears the stigma of being a "traitor".

In April and May last year, he went to Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and other places in Japan, and issued a statement saying that he was inspecting industry, but domestic public opinion did not believe it. Since then, Zhang Zizhong has been regarded as a pro-Japanese, even a traitor.

In addition, during the "July 7 Incident", Song Zheyuan and Zhang Zizhong attempted to resolve the crisis by peaceful means, but they underestimated the Japanese's wolfish ambitions and were exploited by them, resulting in the fall of Peiping and Tianjin.

As a result, he gained the reputation of "Zhang is a traitor".

After that, he left the front-line battlefield and returned to Nanjing to serve as the lieutenant general of the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs.

It's like being buried in the snow.
In the end, it was Li Zongren who stepped forward and, in the name of the commander-in-chief of the Fifth War Zone, applied to Chang Kai to reinstate Zhang Zizhong. Only then was this famous historical general able to return to the front line.

Xu Zuyi: "It just so happens that this is Commander Wang from the North China Battle Group, and he is also going to meet Commander Li."

After saying that, he made way.

Hearing Wang Feng's name, Zhang Zizhong took the initiative to step forward and greet him: "It turns out to be Commander Wang. I have heard of your name when I was working in the Military and Political Department. I didn't expect to meet you in front of Commander Li today."

Zhang Zizhong was not well-known at that time. Although he had won several battles in the Central Plains War and the local war of resistance, he was nothing compared to Wang Feng. His record of capturing a Japanese lieutenant general alive was too dazzling.

Kunisaki Noboru's body has arrived in Wuhan, and it is estimated that he will be paraded through the streets soon to be despised by the people. Only then will his personal reputation reach its peak.

Seeing Zhang Zizhong being so polite, Wang Feng could not put on airs: "Since we both want to meet Commander Li, why don't you and I go together?"

Zhang Zizhong: "That's great!"

The two followed Xu Zuyi and came to the temporary combat center of the entire Fifth War Zone.

"Commander Li is inside, please!"

The guard pushed the door open, and Wang Feng and his companion walked in.

Inside the house, Li Zongren was hunched over his desk, on the red wooden table was a pile of telegrams several fingers thick.

Hearing the door open, he raised his head and looked at the two figures at the door.

Zhang Zizhong stepped forward, stood at attention and saluted: "Sir!"

Li Zongren nodded: "Xu Chen is here, please sit down! Don't be so polite."

After Zhang Zizhong left, Li Zongren turned his attention to Wang Feng. Before the other party could say anything, he stood up and took the initiative to step forward: "Are you Wang Feng?"

After looking him up and down, he couldn't help but exclaimed: "It's true that heroes have always emerged from youth!"

Wang Feng pressed his heels together and saluted with force: "Sir, it's me!"

Compared with his high-profile military achievements, he is a much more low-key person and has never attended a media interview. In addition, his military achievements are so dazzling that his promotion is like riding a rocket.

The Nanjing government has no photos of him at all, and if it weren't for the label on his chest, most people wouldn't be able to recognize him.

Although few people know what Wang Feng looks like, other information has been circulated.

The most eye-catching one among them is the age of 27.

You have to know that Li Zongren has experienced ups and downs in his life. Now at the age of 47, he tells everyone he is in his prime and full of energy. Even Chiang Kai-shek thinks so.

Among all the war zone commanders, Li Zongren was relatively young.

Yan Laoxi, Cheng Qian, Feng Yuxiang and others were all over fifty years old.

Even Zhang Zizhong, who served as the army commander, is the same age as Li Zongren this year, and is 47 years old.

Li Zongren was about to sigh, as if he saw the shadow of his youth in Wang Feng, but he suddenly recalled that when he was 27 years old, he seemed to be just a company commander.

No comparison, no comparison
"sit!"

Li Zongren was extremely enthusiastic and didn't look like the commander-in-chief of the war zone at all.

After Wang Feng sat down, he looked around the room. There was only a mahogany table and a few chairs, and a map nailed to the wall.

The environment was pretty good, having been mostly cleaned, but there were still some debris in the corners, and the air was filled with a pungent smell of dust.

People in the military don't have such strict requirements on the environment.

There were still two hours before the meeting started. Li Zongren said briefly, "What do you think of the situation on the Jinpu Line?"

At present, all the troops in the Fifth War Zone are so-called ragtag armies, and the situation is even more complicated than that in the Second War Zone.

The Shanxi-Suiyuan Army under Yan Laoxi was said to have '300,000 troops', and Wei Lihuang's Central Army was also stationed on the side.

Under Li Zongren, the only army that could be considered as the direct line of the Gui army was the 31st Army.

Most of the officers above the squad level were old soldiers from before and after the Northern Expedition, and they had considerable combat experience, but most of the soldiers were newly enlisted farmers who had short training time and lacked combat experience.

The only thing that can be considered an advantage is that he comes from a direct lineage and is adept at commanding.

As for the other units, including the two Northeastern armies, although they were well-equipped, their combat capabilities were questionable.

There is another force, which was reorganized from the JS Provincial Security Team. It is an irregular army with the worst combat effectiveness.

There is also Pang Bingxun’s Third Corps, formerly the Northwest Army.

The strength of the corps consisted of only five infantry regiments, and its combat capability was limited.

Chiang Kai-shek has promised that the troops withdrawing to Jiangbei from the Beijing-Shanghai line will be under his control, but this has not been implemented yet.

After all the calculations, only Wang Feng’s North China Battle Group can be of great use at the moment.

Zhang Zizhong frowned and said, "Commander Li, now that Beijing and Shanghai have been lost, the Japanese troops in the southern section of the Jinpu Road will definitely move north. If they cross the Huai River, Xuzhou will have no defenses."

Li Zongren nodded, "Indeed, since mid-December, Japanese commander Yan Junliu has led eight divisions to cross the river from Zhenjiang, Nanjing, and Wuhu and march northward. The enemy on the Jinpu Road alone has about three divisions, marching in a brigade-like manner and heading straight for Bengbu, but was intercepted by our 31st Army south of Mingguang."

Wang Feng stroked his chin. Xu Zuyi had already told him these words on the way here, but not in such detail.

Li Zongren: "Wang Feng, what do you think of the war situation?"

Hearing his name being called, Wang Feng stood up and took over the baton: "Since ancient times, Xuzhou has been a place of war. If you want to defend such an important town, you must control both the north and south ends."

"Compared with Huaibei, Huainan is more mountainous, and the Japanese mechanized forces cannot be deployed on a large scale. If the interspersed tactics are used properly, and supplemented by the troops withdrawn from Beijing and Shanghai, it will not be a problem to block the Japanese army south of the Huai River."

"The most urgent task is to deal with Huaibei."

"Now that Tai'an and Jining have fallen one after another, the northern gate of the Jinpu Line is wide open, and the Japanese army can move south at any time."

"With the fall of Shandong, Qingdao has become an isolated point strategically. It is not worth defending. The garrison here should be transferred to the north bank of the Huai River and hold on to the strategic location."

"But if we want to hold back the Japanese army for a long time, we must inflict pain on them. Passive defense alone is not a long-term solution. My idea is to wait for an opportunity to lure the enemy deep into our territory, then surround and annihilate them!"

Wang Feng knew a lot about the Battle of Xuzhou and spoke for a long time.

Zhang Zizhong frowned, looking thoughtful.

At present, Zhang Zizhong is just a division commander, and his personal abilities are developed bit by bit. He is not yet the future group army commander.

If Li Zongren had been in charge of this battle ten years ago, he would have been defeated.
Wang Feng put down his baton and sat back in his seat.

After hearing this, Li Zongren couldn't help but nodded.

From a macro-strategic perspective, Wang Feng's ideas coincided with his. As for the encirclement and annihilation strategy in the second half, the battlefield was changing rapidly and everyone was taking one step at a time. No one knew how the battle would turn out.

It is too early to draw a conclusion now.

Wang Feng then added: "But based on my experience in the anti-Japanese war in Shanxi, the Japanese army must take such an important place as the Jinpu Line. Huaibei has already lost its position. Xuzhou is easy to attack but difficult to defend. Forgive me for being frank, but the Qingxu area cannot be defended at all and can only be delayed."

Wang Fengtan was outspoken when talking about strategy.

There is a saying that goes, hold a big meeting for small matters and a small meeting for big matters.

The three of them talked behind closed doors without fear of their conversation being leaked.

Once a war begins, it will no longer be subject to human will. Just like Taiyuan, if the Japanese army fails to capture Xuzhou for a long time, they will only sink deeper and deeper into the quagmire of war.

If you want to pull it out with all your might, you can only keep adding chips on the table. When you finally reach a certain amount, you can push the entire Xuzhou.

If China were to mobilize all its national strength and engage in large-scale military operations right now, it would be no match at all.

Japan is a crazy country. It might really come up with something similar to the "One Hundred Million Suicide Plan".

Li Zongren nodded, his eyes full of appreciation: "That makes sense. The situation is urgent. If we can hold the enemy back on the Jinpu Line for a few months, Wuhan will have enough time to redeploy and engage in a protracted war with the enemy. We can use space to buy time and wait for the international situation to change. Only in this way can we have a chance of survival in the war of resistance."

"If our army's defense on the Jinpu Line quickly collapses, the Japanese invaders will take Wuhan in one fell swoop and encompass the entire Central Plains, and the war of resistance will have no chance to breathe."

Wang Feng nodded.

After the fall of Beijing and Shanghai, the capitulation faction within the Nationalist government became particularly rampant.

If the Japanese army had captured Xuzhou and Wuhan in a short period of time, there would have been no need for subsequent military deployments, and the Nationalist government would have collapsed.

Li Zongren began to boost morale: "In the current international situation, the growing strength of Western fascist aggression has attracted the attention of Britain, France, and the United States, and increased Japan's courage to invade China."

"The world is one, and will inevitably influence each other. Now that Japan has succeeded, all countries in the world will unite, and the rest of the world will surely follow suit."

Li Zongren said a lot. He highly valued the two officers in front of him. It was no exaggeration to say that they were the backbone of the early anti-Japanese war in Jinpu, and they must not be discouraged.

He had also said these words to Han Fuju, who agreed to them on the surface but completely forgot about them afterwards.

While the three were talking, Xu Zuyi shouted from outside the door:
"Captain Li, there is still an hour before the meeting starts. It's time to leave."

(End of this chapter)