Chapter 188

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

"Brother Shou Shan, why do you look so haggard?!" Du Yuming saw Hu Gongnan's appearance and couldn't help but be somewhat surprised.

Hu Gongnan looked at Lv Muzhi: "The battle at Yangxing Town was too tragic; the enemy's naval guns struck the First Army's body, and the pain is in my heart......"

Du Yuming fell silent, having witnessed the miserable state of Huang Wei's Sixty-Seventh Division at Luodian himself: "Yes, Huang Wei was even carried away by the stretcher team......"

Lv Muzhi said calmly: "No need to worry, the Principal has already dispatched reinforcements; the War Zone Headquarters has already reported that the Central Training Corps and Liu Xiang's Sichuan Army will soon advance into Songhu."

Hu Gongnan became even more excited upon hearing this, saying: "Wei Yue, you've changed; could it be that you really don't understand? At Yangxing and Luodian, those two places, one goes in and one dies, two go in and a pair dies; what's the use of sending more people? What happens after the elite troops are finished?"

Lv Muzhi also wore an indifferent expression: "We must trust the Principal; he will surely find a way to lead us to victory."

Hu Gongnan's eyes were bloodshot: "Trust? Can I trust the Principal? I......"

"Ai~ Brother Shou Shan, you can't undermine morale! When the Principal came to inspect earlier, weren't these words spoken by you yourself? Will the Principal lead us to victory?" Qiu Qingquan directly interrupted what Hu Gongnan wanted to say.

Hu Gongnan was stunned; he had indeed said those words before, but now Hu Gongnan really wanted to slap himself.

Du Yuming also wore a pained expression: "If we had followed Brother Wei Yue's deployment, we would have already soundly beaten the enemy with ease! Unexpectedly, Brother Wei Yue's position as Acting Commander-in-Chief of the Central Route Army was taken away just like that......

Not knowing the authority of the three armies while holding the task of commanding the three armies, at every critical juncture, he directly interferes with command; sigh, it's over......."

"Guangting, what are you saying?" Qiu Qingquan hurriedly told Du Yuming to stop; these words were truly too treasonous.

Du Yuming spread his hands: "It's fine, we're all Whampoa classmates, what's wrong with expressing some opinions......."

"Enough, these words can't be said recklessly; Deputy Chief of Staff Gu will come to convey instructions, we just need to listen." Lv Muzhi ended everyone's conversation, leading everyone into the conference room.

Inside the conference room, it was now filled with swirling smoke; the various commanders, under high tension, smoked cigarette after cigarette, with no moment of leisure.

Lv Muzhi looked at Qiu Qingquan smoking a cigar to the side, and then looked at the other generals also smoking, knowing in his heart that this meeting would directly relate to the casualties of at least one hundred thousand soldiers; as for indirect relations, they were beyond counting.

"Commander Chen has arrived!"

"Commander Zhu has arrived!"

"Commander Zhang has arrived!"

The commanders of the Left, Center, and Right Route Armies, Chen Cheng, Zhu Shaoliang, and Zhang Fakui, entered the conference room in succession and took their seats in turn.

On the Songhu battlefield, the one with the highest authority was naturally the War Zone Commander; second were the commanders of the Left, Center, and Right Route Armies; third were the Group Army Commanders; after that came Army, Division, and Brigade......

"Commander Gu has arrived!!!"

Gu Zhutong walked quickly into the conference room; the Principal, as War Zone Commander, was far away in Jinling, so the meeting was presided over by Deputy Commander of the War Zone Gu Zhutong.

Everyone stood up one after another.

Gu Zhutong pressed down with both hands: "Sit."

"At the urgent request of Left Route Army Commander Chen Cheng and Center Route Army Commander Zhu Shaoliang, I specially convened this emergency operational meeting of the War Zone at Wei Yue's garrison; everyone has worked hard recently."

After Gu Zhutong finished speaking, the conference room was silent; not a single person came forward to flatter him.

Hu Gongnan at this time was like an eggplant beaten by frost, keeping his head down in his seat.

Gu Zhutong coughed: "Actually, I've wanted to hold an operational meeting for a while; let me tell everyone some good news: the Central Training Corps and the Sichuan Army are coming soon; as long as we hold out, the Nine-Power Pact......"

Chen Cheng exhaled through his nose and reminded: "Commander Gu, we already know all of this......"

Gu Zhutong felt somewhat embarrassed: "Then let's talk about what everyone doesn't know: Wu Keren's Sixty-Seventh Army of the Northeast Army has also been transferred into Shanghai......"

"Deputy Commander Gu, the frontline troops are having great difficulty; shouldn't we change our current operational method? My Center Route Army's subordinate Hu Gongnan's First Army, and Gui clique Liao Lei's Twenty-First Group Army, both have suffered considerable losses these past two days; after fighting for so long, this kind of casualty rate is unprecedented!" Center Route Army Commander Zhu Shaoliang said.

Gu Zhutong finally noticed everyone's dissatisfaction; two of the commanders of the Left, Center, and Right Route Armies spoke with a tone of reproach.

Gu Zhutong clicked his tongue; what could he do? After all, he was merely the Principal's mouthpiece; the most he did every day was relay orders from above and below.

On the Songhu battlefield, every infantry division's position was telegraphed daily by Gu Zhutong to the Principal far away in Jinling, facilitating his remote command; he only needed to convey orders.

Seeing that everyone still wouldn't speak, Gu Zhutong looked toward Right Route Army Commander Zhang Fakui: "Commander Zhang, the Shigetō Detachment has already crossed the Huangpu River and landed in Pudong; you must concentrate your elite forces to go and block and annihilate them, preventing the Japanese from spreading in Pudong."

Right Route Army Commander Zhang Fakui said at this time: "Deputy Commander Gu, my elite troops are stationed around Hangzhou Bay; I'm afraid they cannot go to suppress the Shigetō Detachment."

Gu Zhutong became anxious and asked: "How can you disobey? This is the Principal's order; the enemy has already rushed into your jurisdiction."

Zhang Fakui was not anxious at all; unlike these Whampoa direct lineage men, Zhang Fakui had previously been from the Yue Army and had even sent troops to fight the Principal; now he didn't fear offending the Principal, nor would he treat the Principal's words as scripture like Gu Zhutong did; he explained calmly:

"The Shigetō Detachment landed two days ago, but has been lingering by the Huangpu River without advancing; I think he wants to lure my main force from Hangzhou Bay to Pudong; the enemy may implement a landing operation at Hangzhou Bay!"

Gu Zhutong became alert: "The Japanese want to land on the flank at Hangzhou Bay? Any clues?"

Zhang Fakui nodded, looking at Lv Muzhi: "The Zhang Fei Brigade under Wei Yue's command has frequently spotted Japanese reconnaissance boats in the eastern waters of Hangzhou Bay these past few days; the Shigetō Detachment has entered my defense zone at this time but does not actively attack; isn't this a ploy to lure the tiger away from the mountain?"

Gu Zhutong asked: "Wei Yue, what do you think?"

Lv Muzhi raised his head and said calmly: "Without discussing whether the enemy will land at Hangzhou Bay, just saying that after the Shigetō Detachment crossed the Huangpu River and landed in Pudong, they have never left the protection range of the enemy navy; I think they want to imitate Luodian and Yangxing, making our people actively go feed the naval guns."

These words caused Chen Cheng and Zhu Shaoliang to both raise their heads.

Luodian was in Chen Cheng's Left Route Army's defense zone; Chen Cheng sent reinforcements into Luodian for the enemy to bomb.

Yangxing now fell under Zhu Shaoliang's Center Route Army for coordinated defense; Zhu Shaoliang also followed superior orders and sent reinforcements into Yangxing to be bombed by the enemy.

Now in Zhang Fakui's Right Route Army's defense zone, the enemy appeared in Pudong, shrinking within the range of warship naval guns; clearly they had tasted success at Chen Cheng and Zhu Shaoliang's places, waiting for Zhang Fakui to deliver himself to their door!

Zhang Fakui ignored superior orders; his main force remained deployed at Hangzhou Bay; regarding the Shigetō Detachment that had already landed in Pudong to the north, he adopted a vigilant posture, arranging other troops to deploy along Zhangjiabang, waiting for the little Japanese to come themselves.

Why can the Right Route Army not listen to commands and wait for the little Japanese to come themselves, while the Left Route Army and Center Route Army must rush to send themselves up?

Chen Cheng and Zhu Shaoliang immediately became excited; everyone was a route army commander; why was only Zhang Fakui given special treatment?

Chen Cheng immediately said: "Commander Gu, the enemy's conspiracy is already clear!"

Zhu Shaoliang: "Exactly, the enemy wants to implement a landing operation at Hangzhou Bay; they want to outflank from the flank!"