You were tasked with guarding the Sihang Warehouse, and you brought out a Tiger tank?

Lin Feng was taken aback.

You got promoted?

Lieutenant General Commander?

Although the word "provisional" was added before it, making it sound like he was being treated like an unwanted stepchild, he was still a proper army commander, holding the rank of lieutenant general.

In that era, this would have made him a high-ranking military officer.

"To share the burdens of the superiors and the leader!" Lin Feng immediately declared, saying nice things for free.

But then he abruptly changed the subject: "Commander, what about the troops under our command? What about their manpower, equipment, and pay?"

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the radio, followed by Commander Zhu's somewhat awkward laughter:

"Brother Lin, the country is in crisis right now, and supplies are scarce."

The above means that the Provisional 8th Army consisted of two divisions and one brigade.

These are the Provisional 50th Division, the Provisional 51st Division, and your old, honorary 1st Brigade.

"As for the soldiers and officers... there are deserters everywhere now, and you've already gathered some back, haven't you..."

"???"

Lin Feng held the microphone, his lips twitching wildly.

Good guy.

There was absolutely no interference from above in this new military-level organization, no attempt to send any political training director or chief of staff to seize power.

This is good news.

The bad news is that Lin Feng is the biggest grain of sand.

Commander Zhu's implication was already quite clear.

Within the National Revolutionary Army, there was a saying: "Huang, Zhejiang, and Lu are the most important." Lin Feng was a graduate of both Huangpu Military Academy and Zhejiang Province, making him a semi-director of the direct line.

Now, during the great retreat, the ground is littered with scattered Northeast Army, Sichuan Army, Guangxi Army, and Hunan Army troops.

These are the elite forces of local warlords, and normally, even if the higher authorities wanted to annex them, they wouldn't have had the chance.

Now that's great, Lin Feng, you have guns and supplies, and with a blank letter of appointment, go ahead and collect as much as you like!

Take as much as you can, and weaken these local armies as much as you can.

"Brother Lin, are you listening?"

Unbeknownst to him, Lin Feng had already completed a three-level leap from Major General Lin to Lieutenant General Lin and then to Brother Lin.

"I'm listening, Commander, please continue." Lin Feng took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to curse.

"Next is the combat mission, which concerns the life and death of our friendly forces." Commander Zhu's tone became extremely serious. "The Japanese Shanghai Expeditionary Army is now targeting the Wufu Line as its main offensive objective."

Its main force is located north of the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway and is advancing rapidly towards Changshu along the highway.

"Since you're in Changshu, that's perfect. You'll also be in charge of coordinating and commanding the 40th Division of the river defense forces currently stationed in Changshu."

"Commander Lin, your mission is to hold Changshu and cover the retreat of the main forces of the 15th and 21st Group Armies."

Before their main force safely reaches Changshu, the Provisional 8th Army is not allowed to retreat a single step.

"Sizzle... sizzle..."

Before Lin Feng could even negotiate, the radio signal was abruptly cut off.

Lin Feng took off his headphones, threw them on the table, and scratched his head in frustration.

Should I be happy?

Should.

It's like someone just delivered a pillow when you're about to fall asleep.

He has been frantically gathering the defeated soldiers these past few days, and the total number has long since exceeded 13,000.

Previously, we were worried about how to legitimately assimilate these Sichuan Army, Hunan Army, and Northeast Army. Now, with the imperial sword in hand, who dares to say no?

But the problem is, this task is really tricky.

His original plan was to rely on the bunker complex here to bleed out the vanguard of the Japanese troops and rack up some merit points.

Once the main Japanese divisions arrived, he immediately made a hasty retreat and continued to withdraw towards Jiangyin.

That won't work now; we've been ordered to stay in Changshu.

The 15th and 21st Group Armies, which consist of hundreds of thousands of troops, retreated on muddy roads at a pace barely faster than a snail.

This means that he has to hold off the main force of the Japanese army here.

Lin Feng walked to the map and stared intently at his location.

"It's not easy..."

Anyone familiar with military history knows how dangerous the task of holding back the encirclement of friendly forces and acting as a "rear guard" was during World War II.

This is practically dancing on the edge of a knife, repeatedly leaping across the Book of Life and Death of the King of Hell.

Commanders and their troops who were able to do this have all made a name for themselves in history.

Several names flashed through Lin Feng's mind.

For example, General Molini in 40.

At the critical moment of the Dunkirk evacuation, he led 40,000 men of the First Gallic Army and held off seven Hans divisions in Lille for four whole days.

Although they eventually ran out of ammunition and supplies and were forced to surrender, they bought valuable time for hundreds of thousands of Allied troops to evacuate to John's Island.

Even the Hans had to pay homage to this, and even allowed them to keep their weapons and march out of the city.

Lin Feng muttered to himself, but then his eyes turned cold:

"As for those who can't do it... or those who were let down by bad orders from their superiors..."

"Then it wouldn't just be a silent, unnoticed sacrifice; it would be a legacy of infamy, a tragedy of mountains of corpses and seas of blood."

For example, the Battle of Kiev in 41.

General Kirponos, commander of the Southwestern Front of the Soviet Union, commanded an army of 66.

Because they failed to open an evacuation route, they were surrounded by Guderian's armored group. 66 men—a whole army of 66—were penned up like pigs and sheep in the giant cage of Kiev and annihilated.

He silently calculated the comparison of the enemy's and his own combat strength in his mind.

A single Japanese regiment has three or four thousand men?

He is not afraid.

If given even a little time, he could use his armored forces to completely wipe out the enemy, leaving not even a bone fragment.

A tour group of seven or eight thousand people?

With strong fortifications, plus his heavy artillery and numerous machine guns, defense is not a problem; the only issue is higher ammunition consumption.

How about a division?

That's more than 20,000 Japanese soldiers, usually with additional heavy artillery and tanks.

He narrowed the defensive perimeter in Changshu, relying on the city's defenses and waterways, and managed to hold out, but the casualties would certainly be significant.

If two divisions come...

Lin Feng shook his head.

With fifty or sixty thousand Japanese soldiers, their sheer numbers alone could have surrounded him three or four times over.

Without air superiority, this kind of battle is extremely disadvantageous.

"Hopefully, our retreating allies will outrun the pursuing Japanese."

Lin Feng sighed, then his eyes sharpened.

When soldiers come, we'll block them; when water comes, we'll dam it. I have the system, armored vehicles, and heavy artillery. Even if the Heavenly King himself comes, I'll knock a couple of his teeth out!

"Jade Book".

"Here." Zhao Yushu ran in from outside.

"Go and fetch Zhang Wenzhong and Li Dadao. Tell them there's great news."

……

Ten minutes later.

Zhang Wenzhong and Li Dadao jogged into the command post.

The two men were covered in mud and water, clearly having just come down from the front lines.

"Commander, you were looking for us?" Zhang Wenzhong saluted.

Lin Feng sat in the chair, looking at them with a half-smile.

"Congratulations to you both, you are now division commanders!"