Chapter 128

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

Chen Cheng stood up to give a battle report. Under current circumstances, our main forces on the Songhu Battlefield can be divided into three routes: the left route, the Fifteenth Group Army, defends the Liuhe to Wusongkou Line; the center route, the Ninth Group Army, holds Hongkou and Zhabei; the right wing, the Eighth Group Army, is stationed in the Pudong Area on the east bank of the Huangpu River.

"Fine!" Feng Yuxiang waved his hand. "Just follow this arrangement. According to the old rules, divide into left, center, and right wing armies. Gu Deputy Commander, the reinforcements coming later are all under your dispatch. Whichever of these three wings they are assigned to, this old Northwesterner of mine won't interfere."

Gu Zhutong hurriedly declined: "Commander Feng is joking. You are the War Zone Commander; how could I overstep? Besides, this War Zone Commander of yours was appointed by the President himself..."

Feng Yuxiang directly interrupted: "No need for formalities. Before I came, the President said the generals at the front are all too young—brave enough but lacking experience—and asked me to give them plenty of guidance. I agreed, and of course I will do my best to guide them. But as for how each of you specifically acts, I cannot demand it."

"After all, everyone present here is from the Central Army Direct Lineage. Plus, I'm not familiar with any of you. As for how to fight the battle, discuss it among yourselves. Gu Deputy Commander can be fully responsible."

Lv Muzhi frowned. Feng Yuxiang wanted to be a hands-off manager, after all. But it couldn't all be blamed on him. Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Army had long been reorganized into fragments, and now the President had finally remembered this general of high prestige and rich experience.

However, Lv Muzhi suddenly thought that Chen Cheng's Fifteenth Group Army was in a dilemma over whether to withdraw to avoid naval gunfire. With Zhang Zhizhong's precedent as a lesson, Chen Cheng worried that withdrawing would anger the President.

But Feng Yuxiang was now the War Zone Commander, the nominal supreme commander of the frontline. No matter what, if he were willing to issue an order, Chen Cheng might be able to take the opportunity and withdraw his troops to a place far from the beachhead.

Lv Muzhi stood up and said: "Commander Feng, since you are the supreme commander of the War Zone, I have a matter I need your guidance on."

Feng Yuxiang looked at Lv Muzhi and smiled: "I know you. During the Central Plains War, you spent money to hire Zhang Hanqing's Northeast Army to enter the pass to deal with me and Yan Laoxi. If it weren't for those 300,000 Northeast Army troops... who knows who would have won the Central Plains War..."

Realizing the topic had strayed, Feng Yuxiang hurriedly said: "Oh, I've digressed. What do you want to say?"

Lv Muzhi asked: "The Wang Jingwei Regime's naval guns are running rampant. Constrained by terrain conditions, our troops along the Liuhe to Wusongkou Line cannot build solid fortifications, and the soldiers have suffered many casualties. I request the Deputy Commander to provide tactical guidance."

Feng Yuxiang frowned: "Can't fight and can't retreat? The Japanese ships are sturdy and their guns are powerful. The soldiers can retreat a bit, but have they built a second-line defensive position?"

"Of course. Luodian to Dachang is the second line."

"Then why not avoid it?" Feng Yuxiang asked.

Lv Muzhi did not answer, but sat down instead.

Feng Yuxiang glanced at the map and said a few seconds later: "The main force of the Fifteenth Group Army is pressed along the Liuhe to Wusongkou Line on the Yangtze Estuary Coast. As far as I know, they have already dealt the Japanese Third and Eleventh Divisions a considerable blow, which can be considered completing the predetermined operational objective. They can retreat in echelons now."

"The frontline commanders don't retreat—could it be because they aren't afraid? Before I came, the President said the generals at the front are full of vigor and brave enough. Today I've seen it, and indeed it is so. Hahaha!"

Chen Cheng felt a bit embarrassed. It wasn't that he didn't want to retreat; it was that the President had pushed him forward.

Zhang Zhizhong had taken the Ninth Group Army away from the Huangpu River, but as a result, he was scolded bloody by a telegram and a phone call from the President. He simply didn't dare risk his future.

Feng Yuxiang had actually long heard of the President's orders. He was over fifty years old—how could he not know Chen Cheng's thoughts?

Having joked enough, Feng Yuxiang cleared his throat. Why were the President's Central Army generals so taciturn? Since no one was speaking, I'll say a few words.

"The Japanese ships are sturdy and their guns are powerful. The soldiers are raised by their parents; how can they withstand warship naval guns? The Fifteenth Group Army should retreat a bit to suffer less from the Japanese naval guns."

After hearing this, Chen Cheng was very moved. His Civil Engineering Clique was within the Fifteenth Group Army. How could he bear to let them be destroyed by Japanese naval guns on the frontline?

But Chen Cheng still looked toward the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the War Zone, Gu Zhutong: "Gu Deputy Commander? What do you say?"

Gu Zhutong at this moment kept his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart. Hearing Chen Cheng call him, he also knew Chen Cheng's difficulty. He looked at Feng Yuxiang: "Since it is so, this matter is of great importance. It should be ordered by War Zone Commander Commander Feng himself, so that the Fifteenth Group Army can execute it."

"Hehe! Fine, I'll sign it. You have your difficulties. I'm not afraid of offending anyone. In the name of the Commander-in-Chief of the Third War Zone, I order the Fifteenth Group Army to withdraw in an orderly manner to the Luodian area. The paper order will be signed after the meeting ends!"

Chen Cheng was overjoyed. He was finally free. If the President questioned him, he would have Commander Feng's superior order as a shield: "Luo Army Commander!"

Chen Cheng shouted directly at the meeting, calling Luo Zhuoying, the Eighteenth Army Commander who was sitting below, to stand up.

"Present!"

"Go deliver the order. Just say it's the order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Third War Zone: all frontline troops shall withdraw in an orderly manner to the Luodian area. You are responsible for the withdrawal matters. Leave now!"

"Yes!"

Eighteenth Army Commander Luo Zhuoying immediately strode out of the venue, rushing toward the position as fast as the wind. Every second counted.

Feng Yuxiang watched Chen Cheng and Luo Zhuoying's eager appearance from above and also found it interesting.

Deputy Commander-in-Chief Gu Zhutong stood up: "Since the urgent matter is resolved, I now announce a Presidential order:"

"Zhang Zhizhong is relieved of his post as Commander-in-Chief of the Ninth Group Army effective today. Lv Muzhi, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Ninth Group Army, shall serve concurrently, with the rank of Lieutenant General plus the title of General. Zhang Zhizhong is transferred to Deputy Commander-in-Chief. May all officers and soldiers at the front fight bravely, unite their will, and cooperate sincerely."

Lv Muzhi looked at Zhang Zhizhong beside him. The latter's expression was as usual, completely unsurprised. He had obviously anticipated the consequences long ago.

Chen Cheng wiped away a sweat. Fortunately, Zhang Zhizhong was the one who stuck his neck out. Now that he had Commander Feng's superior order, the President probably wouldn't make things difficult for him.

Along the Liuhe to Wusongkou Line, on a front about twenty-four kilometers long, the Fifteenth Group Army had already engaged in fierce fighting with the landing forces of two Japanese divisions, plus dozens of warships.

As the news spread that the Combined Fleet's flagship "Nagato" had been sunk, the entire Wang Jingwei Regime, especially within the Navy, felt an unprecedented humiliation.

To save face and to completely destroy the Xia State Army's will to resist, the Wang Jingwei Regime decided to concentrate unprecedented air and naval power along the Liuhe to Wusongkou Line, especially at the two key points of Chuan Sha and Shizilin, cooperating with the Army to launch an overwhelming, violent offensive.

Outside the Yangtze River Estuary, the Mutsu Battleship, which replaced the Nagato as the temporary flagship, had a massive hull like a mountain of steel. Its four huge twin 410mm main gun turrets slowly turned.

Around the Mutsu was a huge fleet composed of more than ten light cruisers, destroyers, and cannonboats.

The Lion Lin Fortification Position garrisoned by Huang Wei became the primary target for the Wang Jingwei Regime to vent its anger this time.