Blood-Red Front

He was initially promoted to the General Headquarters of the Binxi Army.

"Commander-in-Chief, the 101st Division headquarters has suffered a devastating blow, and Lieutenant General Masaru Ishii has been killed in action!"

Upon hearing the staff officer's report, newly promoted General Matsui jumped to his feet. "How is this possible?!"

"Commander-in-Chief, it's very likely the same weapon used to strike the Marine Corps in the concession area," said Major General Watanabe, the chief of staff standing beside him.

Although the newly formed army has not yet determined what weapon the Xia army used to carry out the attack, they are very clear that the Xia army possesses a super-powerful weapon capable of long-range attacks.

"The 101st Division's headquarters isn't a fixed Marine Corps headquarters. How did Xia Jun know their location?"

"A spy! He must be a spy!" Matsui roared. "The Hama-Nishi Expeditionary Army must be thoroughly purged, from top to bottom. Everyone who might know the location of the 101st Division must be carefully investigated!"

"Commander-in-Chief, this issue can be discussed later. The most important thing now is to immediately restore the command system of the 101st Division," Watanabe said. "Otherwise, the Xia Army's 8th Corps and 18th Army Group may take the opportunity to counterattack."

Hearing Watanabe's words, Matsui calmed down and nodded: "You're right."

"Chief of Staff Watanabe, I need you to go to the 101st Division immediately to take charge of the overall situation. I will draw personnel from various divisions to restore command."

"I have only one request," Matsui said solemnly, "Hold the line."

In order to advance to the Wenhe line, Chu Shengjun suffered more than 15000 casualties. If the position were lost, even he, as a general, could not bear the responsibility.

"Yes, sir!" Watanabe stood at attention.

Watanabe knew very well that this was a major opportunity for him to improve.

However, when Watanabe arrived at Kawaguchi, he found that the situation was far worse than he had imagined.

The 101st Division had already suffered heavy casualties and was only holding on by its last breath. When the units below learned that the division had been razed to the ground, war-weariness began to emerge.

Watanabe spent most of the day re-establishing the chain of command, and after discovering that the 101st Division was no longer viable, he immediately returned to headquarters.

"Commander-in-Chief, the 101st Division is probably no longer able to fight."

Why?

"The casualties are too high." Watanabe's face was very serious: "The casualties of each infantry regiment of the 101st Division have exceeded half, especially the junior officers. They have been almost wiped out."

In newly established nations, an infantry regiment is considered severely damaged when its casualties exceed 30%; when the casualties exceed 50%, it is considered to have suffered a devastating blow and must retreat to the rear for rest and reorganization.

Meanwhile, the casualty rate of all four infantry regiments of the 101st Division had exceeded 4%.

The 23rd Regiment, in particular, had 3800 men when it first landed, but only 2556 men when it replaced the 68th Regiment in the battle.

However, after only two days of fighting in Wenhe, 450 men were killed and 905 wounded, with a total casualty rate of 68%. The casualty rate among squad leaders was as high as 90%, and almost all the junior commanders were replaced.

The 101st Division was a reserve division, relying entirely on its junior officers to boost morale. With the deaths of junior commanders, the initiative of the soldiers below them became somewhat lacking.

"Baka..."

Matsui gritted his teeth and said, "Thirty years ago, our army defeated the Vanguard Army as easily as cutting melons and vegetables. I never expected that they would become so troublesome in just 30 years."

"Commander-in-Chief, with our current troop strength, it would be extremely difficult to defeat the Xia army, wouldn't you say...?"

Watanabe stopped halfway through his sentence, but Matsui understood what he meant.

"The empire is having a tough time right now," Matsui sighed.

Before the war, the newly formed National Revolutionary Army had a total of 17 standing divisions. After the start of the war, an additional reserve division, the 101st Division, was urgently reorganized.

Of these 18 divisions, 5 were stationed in Manchuria, 1 was stationed in the Korean Peninsula, 6 were fighting in North China, and 4 were fighting in Binxi.

At this point, the newly established homeland only had two Imperial Guard divisions and two newly formed reserve divisions undergoing training.

The initial rank of the army was thought to be enough to defeat the Binxi Xia army, but the two sides ended up fighting a bloody battle.

Watanabe remained silent. He knew, of course, that the empire was in dire straits, but he was merely a chief of staff; this was not his concern.

Matsui stood at the window, gazing at the still-raging battlefield in the distance, and pondered for a moment.

"Order the 13th Division of the General Reserve to take over the positions of the 101st Division. The 101st Division shall withdraw and rest, awaiting the replenishment of new recruits."

"In addition, draft a telegram and send it back to headquarters."

"Hi!"

……

The cessation of the initial flank attack by the Rising Army gave the Xia Army a rare respite.

Inside the Xia Army's Binxi General Headquarters in Wu County, Chen Xiu, the Xia Army's forward commander, was overjoyed as he looked at the intelligence in his hand.

"The general reserve force of the newly promoted army has finally been mobilized, and the situation is now beginning to tilt in our favor."

The newly promoted army no longer has a general reserve force, while Chen Xiu still has a main force. This means that he can reinforce the reserve force in any direction at any time to create a local battlefield advantage.

"Commander, the purpose of the newly promoted army in mobilizing the general reserve force at this time is probably to stabilize the front line. I'm afraid they'll be bombing heavily again next," the chief of staff said.

"How much steel and cement has arrived?" Chen Xiu asked.

"The fortifications along the defense line have been basically completed, and most of the cement from Jiangnan Cement Plant has been transported to Binxi."

"The large factory will be the focus of the battle between the two sides, and all the reinforced concrete transported from the rear will be used here."

"I will personally oversee this," the chief of staff said. "There are also several commendation documents here that require the commander's signature."

Chen Xiu took the document, didn't even look at it, and signed his name directly. "It has to be done quickly, even if it's not that precise, it doesn't matter."

"Understood." The chief of staff nodded.

After handing the documents to a staff officer standing nearby, the chief of staff whispered, "Commander, the people from the Jiangnan Consortium are here again today. What do you think about what Minister Chang said…?"

Chen Xiu raised his hand, somewhat helplessly, "This is difficult."

"With the fighting so intense, where am I supposed to find hundreds of trucks to transport their supplies?"

The supply of materials to the Binxi battlefield was already insufficient. If he dared to allocate trucks to transport private property for the Jiangnan Consortium, the political department would probably be knocking on his door tomorrow.

"Commander, we can't disobey Minister Chang's orders. If all else fails, how about we allocate a train to them?"

"What about the wounded?" Chen Xiu asked. "One train carries 500 seriously wounded! A total of 500 lives. I dare not sign this document, do you?"

The chief of staff fell silent.

After a moment of silence, Chen Xiu sighed, "But you're not wrong. Minister Chang's orders can't be disobeyed. So, let them add more wagons."

Chen Xiu is a member of the conservative faction, and the biggest financial backers of the conservative faction are these Jiangnan conglomerates, so Chen Xiu cannot completely ignore them.

"Trains? From where?" the chief of staff asked.

In order to transport supplies, the railway bureau has already brought out all the trains that are operational.

"Let them figure it out themselves," Chen Xiu said. "There are definitely still railcars left in Wu County."

"Let them attach cars to the trains that are moving backward, but not too many, two or three cars at most each time."

This was the best solution Chen Xiu could think of at the moment, and it also killed two birds with one stone.

On the return journey, the train could transport the conglomerate's assets, and when transporting them to the front lines, their wagons could also be used to transport supplies to the troops.

"Then I'll go tell them." The chief of staff nodded and walked out of the command post.

……