Even if I'm a useless bum at Whampoa Military Academy, I'll be invincible in the War of Re

In Zhao Yunwen's view, neither the pessimistic "theory of national subjugation" nor the optimistic "theory of quick victory" is acceptable. A protracted war is the most suitable strategy for the country's situation. Considering political factors, he could not put forward "On Protracted War", so he could only argue from a purely tactical level that now is still a time to be happy.

He first used the threat of an army of thirty thousand to intimidate the crowd, and then proceeded to explain in detail:

"After suffering a major defeat at Taierzhuang, the Japanese high command quickly adjusted its strategy, abandoning the original localized assault tactics and mobilizing the main forces of the North China and Central China Front Armies to carry out a deep encirclement from multiple directions, attempting to annihilate the hundreds of thousands of main forces of the Fifth War Zone concentrated in the Pengcheng area and open up the entire Jinpu Railway."

The forces were divided into two major groups, one in the north and one in the south, and launched a multi-pronged attack:

The main force on the northern route was the North China Area Army, commanded by General Terauchi Hisaichi, and comprised the 2nd Army under the command of Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko. This included the 5th and 10th Divisions, which were about to be replenished, as well as the 16th and 114th Divisions, an independent mixed brigade, and a large number of cavalry units. The specific deployment was for the main force to advance south along the northern section of the Jinpu Railway, while a part of it would bypass Shandong from western and southern Shandong to attack the north and northwest sides of Pengcheng.

The southern route was the Central China Expeditionary Army, which drew elite troops from the 6th, 9th, and 13th Divisions and marched north along the southern section of the Jinpu Railway, advancing northward from Bengbu and Fengyang, directly threatening the south side of Pengcheng.

The Eastern Route Flanking Force, with a portion of its troops advancing westward from Lianyungang and Haizhou, will encircle Pengcheng's eastern side along the eastern section of the Longhai Railway, cutting off the retreat route of our government troops eastward.

"The Japanese army's specific operational deployment on the northern front was as follows: the 10th and 16th Divisions would launch the main attack on the line of Lincheng, Yixian, and Zaozhuang to suppress the defenders of Taierzhuang; the 5th Division would advance towards Linyi and Tancheng to cover the right flank of the main force. On the southern front, the 13th Division and other units would force a crossing of the Huai River and attack Suxian and Guzhen to the north, approaching the southern gate of Pengcheng."

This time, the Japanese will learn from the lesson of underestimating the enemy and advancing rashly at Taierzhuang, resulting in the annihilation of a portion of their forces. They will adopt a steady and methodical approach, gradually encircling the enemy to avoid being partially annihilated. They will advance on multiple fronts to compress the encirclement and will not rush to launch a full-scale attack on Pengcheng.

After hearing this, everyone was no longer calm. Previously, just two detachments from the 5th and 10th Divisions had already caused chaos and almost exhausted the entire 29 divisions. Now, there were the 16th and 114th Divisions, as well as independent mixed brigades and other units. On the southern front, there were the 6th, 9th, and 13th Divisions, six first-class divisions plus a special division and an independent mixed brigade. The troop strength had already exceeded that of the Shanghai-Nanjing area.

Regiment Commander Sui Youlan of the 646th Regiment couldn't help but say:

"Commander, the 5th and 10th Divisions have just suffered heavy losses. Can they recover their combat strength so quickly?"

Everyone else looked at Zhao Yunwen. This would be almost impossible in China. Just like those main force divisions of the Central Army that were decimated in the Battle of Shanghai, they barely recovered their strength by the time of the Battle of Nanjing. They were replenished with new recruits, many of whom were forcibly conscripted.

In response to Sui Youlan's questions, Zhao Yunwen not only did not get angry, but also patiently explained:

"Brothers, this brings us to the difference in mobilization mechanisms between the two countries. The Japanese have long established a comprehensive reserve system, which is divided into reserves, standby forces, first supplementary troops, and second supplementary troops."

The reserves are mainly composed of retired active-duty soldiers who have received complete military training, and their total number is approximately 73.8.

The reserves are those who have completed their reserve service and have also received systematic military training. The total number of reserves is approximately 87.9. Together with these two groups, the total is 161 million. All it takes is a mobilization order and a gun to get them to the battlefield.

As everyone knows, the Japanese divisions were named after regions, and their regiments were almost always recruited from a single county, which was very efficient.

They had already taken into account the losses of the 5th and 10th Divisions, and had conscripted and transported a large number of reserves in advance to directly replenish the troops. The efficiency was much faster than we had imagined.

In addition, there are 157.9 million first-time conscripts who have received basic training, and approximately 90 second-time conscripts who have passed the initial screening and received minimum military training. These four types of reserves total 410 million, not including the 38 active-duty soldiers. Furthermore, they can recruit soldiers from Goryeo and Yiju. If needed, they could potentially arm an army of 500 million, with a maximum of 700 million!

This explains how ridiculous the argument that a swift victory was achieved with over two million Nationalist troops is.

Let alone 700 million, even a million Japanese soldiers would be enough for China to fight with all its might; a quick victory is out of the question.

Qin Qingwu, the commander of the 647th Regiment, said with deep concern:

"Commander, wouldn't that make it very difficult to win this national war?"

The crowd was disheartened after hearing the news. Five million troops was indeed a heavy number, and the Japanese could certainly arm them with their industrial strength and mobilization capabilities.

In the Battle of Shanghai, the entire nation had already exhausted its strength to fight 30 Japanese soldiers; the thought of 500 million is terrifying.

Zhao Yunwen said these things only to prevent the idea of ​​a quick victory from becoming mainstream in the army, but he also didn't want to dampen the soldiers' enthusiasm for the war of resistance. So he confidently said:

"This is just the Japanese's advantage. They also have a fatal weakness: as the battle lines are stretched out, the supply lines become so long that the Japanese can't keep up."

It wasn't difficult for the Japanese to transport massive amounts of supplies to the coastline, but transporting them inland was at least ten or a hundred times more difficult, and the longer the supply line, the greater the difficulty.

China has a vast territory and 500 million compatriots. As long as we persist in fighting, the Japanese will not be able to withstand the pressure.

They could arm 500 million troops, but they couldn't sustain long-range operations with such troops. As the battle lines stretched out, the Japanese offensive would become unsustainable, and our side would be unable to organize enough forces to launch a counterattack. The two sides would then enter a strategic stalemate.

That day is not far away!

Victory or defeat, as long as we persevere and never give up, victory will ultimately belong to China!

Thunderous applause erupted. The crowd was no longer confused by the fear of national subjugation, nor were they impatient for a quick victory. Perseverance was victory.

Through a single meeting, Zhao Yunwen not only unified the thinking but also clarified the Japanese army's next strategic deployment for the main officers, ensuring that everyone was well-informed.

Finally, Zhao Yunwen announced a new rest and recuperation plan:

"Brothers, the Japanese devils will take at least half a month to reach Yixian. Our troops have been fighting for more than a month and urgently need to rest and recuperate to restore our fighting strength."

之前都是分开作战，323旅、324旅建制被打乱，644团、646团、648团三个主战团伤亡很大；

Before the battle, Commander Li replenished our unit with 5 new recruits. During the battle, we lost more than 4 men, including 1781 killed in action and non-combat deaths, 2550 seriously wounded, and 352 missing.

The seriously wounded brothers were retained in their positions and returned to the unit after recovery. In order not to affect combat effectiveness, their positions were temporarily filled by new recruits.

Because we captured 12 105mm mountain guns, I decided to form a heavy artillery battalion and transfer all the extra 75mm guns to the regiment.

After adjustments, the heavy artillery regiment will be equipped with 12 heavy artillery pieces, 24 75mm mountain guns, 16 Type 92 infantry guns, and 12 anti-aircraft guns.

Each infantry regiment has a quota of 2580 men, and each infantry battalion has 720 men, for a total strength of over 23800 men in the division, plus several hundred extra personnel and more than 1700 mules and horses.

Everyone couldn't help but applaud. Before this, they didn't know the true strength of the entire division. They all thought that after the losses in the Battle of Taierzhuang, it would be good if the entire division still had 20,000 men left. They didn't expect that not only did they not lose any men, but they also gained 2,000 or 3,000 men. This was mainly due to the command providing 5,000 new recruits.

Of course, among these 23,000 people, there were more than 2500 wounded and more than 1000 lightly wounded who had not yet recovered. This was also the reason why Zhao Yunwen wanted to organize a rest and recuperation. Leading more than 3,000 wounded people was quite a burden.

As soon as Zhao Yunwen adjourned the meeting, the communications officer rushed in and loudly reported:

"Commander, urgent telegram from headquarters!"