The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 527 Please (Bonus chapter for QBZ191, the leader)

Overall, the five novices who participated in this journey were all of good quality.

Aside from Dali's gun phobia, which is somewhat ridiculous, the other four are likely to be quite useful.

Even so, Dali was still an excellent laborer, and it wasn't that he was completely useless.

After learning about the newcomers' situation, all 18 veterans smiled with satisfaction, and then the meeting moved on to the key topics.

He took an iron kettle from the small fire pit in front of him, poured some local tea into a ceramic bowl, and then...

Hu Biao spoke up again: "I've found out. Today is the 11th day of the eighth lunar month in the 30th year of the Republic of China, which is September 2nd, 1941 in the Gregorian calendar."

If I remember correctly, the second Battle of C Sands is scheduled to officially begin in 5 days.

So the purpose of that mysterious place that teleported us here must be to get us involved in this battle and cause some trouble.

So let's all share our thoughts on how to achieve a better outcome in this battle.

After hearing this, everyone else couldn't help but frown.

Based on the history they had frantically learned in the modern world, they knew that the Battle of C-Sand was fought four times.

The first battle ended in a victory for the National Revolutionary Army; the Japanese suffered more than 30,000 casualties. They captured C-Sha within a week, thus completely thwarting their arrogant plan to continue their attack on Shuangqing.

However, during this process, a massive fire destroyed the 2500-year-old C-Sha Ancient City, killing more than 20,000 people.

As a result, when Hu Biao and other natives of Hunan Province went to C-Sand in the modern world, they couldn't find many real historical sites.

In the second battle, both sides announced that they had won.

However, according to the mainstream evaluation in later generations, the National Revolutionary Army suffered a crushing defeat; because the National Revolutionary Army even lost C Shacheng, and the 9th War Zone Command retreated to Xiangtan.

The equipment losses were severe, and the number of casualties reached more than 5.

The key issue was that the 74th Army, which was an absolute main force of the National Revolutionary Army, suffered huge losses and took a long time to recover; in addition, the 10th Army, which was also a main force of the Central Army, also suffered considerable losses.

The Japanese side, on the other hand, was worried that going too deep into enemy territory would lead to the cutting off of their supply lines.

They then voluntarily abandoned C Sand City and retreated back to the starting area.

They suffered minimal losses in personnel and equipment, enabling them to launch another offensive just over two months later, which led to the start of the Third Battle of C-Sha.

The Third Battle was undoubtedly the most successful one for the National Revolutionary Army.

After gaining experience from the previous two battles, Xue Boling, the commander of the 9th War Zone, finally summarized the famous "Heavenly Furnace Strategy".

The Japanese suffered nearly 6 casualties and lost a large amount of weapons and equipment.

It was after this battle that China and Japan entered a strategic stalemate. Before the Battle of Henan-Hunan-Guangxi, the Japanese did not launch any large-scale offensive against China.

This battle marked the first major victory for the Allied forces since the outbreak of the Pacific War.

Thanks to this great victory, China secured a $5 million loan from Uncle Sam; and Principal Bald even gained the position of Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in the China-India-Burma Theater thanks to this victory.

The Fourth Battle – let's not even talk about that.

After the Ninth War Zone achieved a great victory, everyone became a bit complacent. Within just three days of the start of the war, C Sand City fell into the hands of the Japanese...

*****
For Hu Biao and others, the first major battle had already been fought two years earlier.

The devastating Wenxi fire in Shacheng, which brought immense grief to all people in Hunan Province, could not be undone.

Therefore, their main concern now is to prevent the Nationalist army from suffering such heavy losses in the second battle that has just begun.

After some thought, Xiao Henan pushed up his glasses, which now had a prescription more than 100 degrees lower and could only be considered low to moderate myopia, and began to express his opinion:
"I think this matter is actually quite simple."

There are two key reasons why the Second Battle of C-Sha was fought in this way.

First, the Japanese established a special electronic warfare unit that intercepted and deciphered the telegrams of the 9th War Zone, allowing them to fully grasp the 9th War Zone's operational plans and make many targeted deployments.

Even the defeat of the 74th Army was due to this reason.

They were discovered by the Japanese the day after they set off from Jiangxi Province, and then suffered heavy bombing from aircraft along the way, incurring huge losses before the battle even began. Secondly, Xue Boling's command of the operation, especially the command of the defense along the Laodao River, was a terrible mistake.

Unfortunately, his chief of staff and many others pointed out at the time that this battle plan was unreliable, but Xue Boling simply did not adopt it.

Therefore, a telegram was sent to the bald-headed principal in Hu's name to remind him of the two points mentioned above.

Given Sipujie's reputation and influence with Principal Baldy, he will likely personally intervene and remind relevant personnel, which should help avoid the two biggest loopholes mentioned above.

I figured that as long as we fought normally, with the 9th War Zone's army of over 300,000, we could win.

Some of them were elite troops from the Central Army; they shouldn't have been reduced to this state.

To be honest, the way the key factors leading to the Nationalist army's defeat in the Second Battle of Champa was presented and analyzed so meticulously shows that Xiao Henan really put a lot of effort into brushing up on his history knowledge.

Even so, it's still not enough.

As soon as Xiao Henan finished speaking, Annie, the chief of staff, objected: "It's no use."

After everyone looked on in surprise, Annie picked up Hu Biao's bowl of dark, unpalatable tea, took a sip, and then explained her reason:

"You still don't quite understand Xue Boling, or his personality."

What can be said about him? The fact that he led his troops to kill 100,000 Japanese soldiers in his lifetime is a meritorious deed that deserves the utmost respect from future generations of Chinese.

However, he is very stubborn and arrogant. The key is that he tends to get carried away after winning a battle and refuses to listen to other people's opinions.

Even if we send him a warning through the bald principal, he won't listen and will still stick to his plan; given how much the bald principal values ​​him, the battle will continue to develop in the original direction.

On the contrary, given the Nationalist government's impenetrable secrecy, our presence in Hunan would be exposed, thus losing our most valuable element of surprise.

"Then what do you say, Chief of Staff An? We'll all listen to you," Old Ma said with a grin.

Instead of answering this question directly, Annie turned to Hu Biao beside her and asked:
"Boss Hu! If we send troops from Xinning, how long will it take to reach Chunhua Mountain, east of C Shacheng, the place where the 74th Army suffered a great loss?"

Upon hearing this, Hu Biao pondered silently in his heart.
The answer was given several minutes later: "Xinning is located at the junction of Hunan and Guangxi. Even in modern times, it would be 350 to 360 kilometers to get to C Shacheng by highway."

When I was a child, my grandfather told me that during the Republic of China era, there wasn't even a road in the county that cars could drive on, let alone a railway.

Therefore, the fastest way would be to first take a boat to Baoqing City, and then march from there; a forced march would take at least seven or eight days.

Upon hearing this, Annie silently calculated for a moment before offering her own answer:

"Instead of relying on other troops, we should gather our own forces and strike out at the crucial moment; we can seize the most critical point in this battle and thus change the course of the war."

The 74th Army engaged in a series of fierce battles with the Japanese at Chunhua Mountain on the 26th of this month; after holding out for two days against the siege, they were defeated, and rescuers had to arrive on the 26th.

Excluding today, there are still 8 days left on the road.

This means we need to build at least one reinforced regiment within 15 days.

And it's uncertain whether it's even possible to complete the basic organization, arming, and training of this unit while maintaining maximum secrecy.
If possible, I might be able to pull off a good heist; if not, I don't have any better ideas.

"Hey boss lady, don't ask us this question! You'll just drive that damn Hu Tuanzuo crazy! This is his home turf!" Huang Adi shouted, his tone clearly tinged with sarcasm.

After all, who wouldn't want to travel back to their team's hometown and show off their power?

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Hu Biao seemed somewhat lacking in confidence, mainly because half a month was too short a time; but thinking of those behind him, he finally gritted his teeth and roared:
"Sure! No problem."

After saying that, he stood up abruptly, gave a solemn military salute to everyone, and said, "After traveling for so long, this is the first time I, Old Hu, have fought in my hometown of Hunan."

If we don't win this battle, I'm afraid I won't have the face to pay respects to the ancestors of the Hu family in the future.

So, I, Hu Biao, will handle the personnel, supplies, and equipment; but the subsequent training and combat will be entirely in the hands of you brothers and sisters.”

"Don't worry, you damn fool. No matter where we fight the Japanese, it's all on our Chinese soil. We will do our best." AT stood up to return the greeting and made a solemn promise.

He had just finished speaking when he abruptly changed the subject:
"But since we've come all the way to your hometown, we'll be working like slaves for you tomorrow, even risking our lives against the Japanese. So hurry up and prepare some good food and wine from Xinning, and make sure everyone eats and drinks well."

"Absolutely, I'm an expert in this area," Hu Biao agreed confidently...

(End of this chapter)