Chapter 228: Republic of China: Starting from the First Class of Whampoa Chapter 228 Sixth Division: Central Breakthrough!

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

In mid-November, Commander Matsui Iwane came to the Wufu Line, which he had captured with his own hands!

But Matsui Iwane couldn't be happy at all; what he wanted was always to annihilate the enemy's main force.

"Why aren't you pursuing forward?! Even if you bite down one of the enemy's regiments, I'll apply for medals for all of you!" Matsui Iwane glared at the division commanders before him.

"You can't be afraid of Lv Muzhi, can you?!" Prince Asaka Yasuhiko also stepped forward to question them.

Sixteenth Division Commander Nakajima Imao said: "Your Excellency, Chinese military strategy says: do not pursue a desperate foe! Our army has already won; why continue to take risks? Lv Muzhi is not easy to deal with—Fujita Susumu's Third Division is a lesson."

The other division commanders nodded in agreement.

Matsui Iwane gritted his teeth: "But before us is still the enemy's Xi Cheng Xian Shang. If you're like this, aren't we still going to have to follow the Navy's footsteps forward?!"

Prince Asaka Yasuhiko sighed: "The Third Fleet sent another telegram; they've been blocked by mines again. After Baimaokou, the enemy still laid large numbers of mines, and moreover, the Jiangyin Riverside Fortress on the Xi Cheng Xian Shang is said to have powerful firepower and be impregnable. The Third Fleet cannot push down the Xi Cheng Xian Shang's position in ten days or half a month..."

The division commanders below remained silent one by one. Anyway, they had already prepared to follow the Navy forward; otherwise, facing the powerful Xi Cheng Xian Shang, they would very likely be fish on Lv Muzhi's chopping block.

"Report to the Commander: Lieutenant General Yanagawa Heisuke, bringing the division commanders of the Tenth Army, has arrived!"

Matsui Iwane frowned: "What's going on? I ordered them to attack Huzhou on the south bank of Taihu; how did they run to our north bank of Taihu?!"

Matsui Iwane watched the Tenth Army officers file in, especially Lieutenant General Yanagawa Heisuke leading them, whose face was full of weariness and resentment, and the anger in his heart could hardly be suppressed.

All of them looked dejected! Not at all like they had won a battle.

Before he could speak, Yanagawa Heisuke raised his hand and saluted first, then said directly: "Your Excellency Commander, Prince Asaka Yasuhiko. The Zhapingjia Line, my Tenth Army has captured it, but this Huzhou city is truly too difficult for me..."

Hearing this, Matsui Iwane said coldly: "If all of you complain like this, how can the battle be fought?"

Yanagawa Heisuke said helplessly: "Your Excellency Commander, the Zhapingjia Line has been breached, but Zhang Fakui's main force contracted quickly; now they're all hunkered down inside Huzhou city and the surrounding highlands.

Do you know that place Huzhou? To the north is Taihu, misty and boundless;

to the south are continuous hills; the frontal battlefield where large forces can deploy is less than ten kilometers wide north to south! And these ten kilometers are precisely blocked by Huzhou city;

Zhang Fakui and that Zhang Fei of the Youth Army with one brigade have operated Huzhou like an iron hedgehog, and the city has also been remodeled according to the Yongbei National Defense Fortification standard;

my Sixth, Eighteenth, and 114th Divisions, three divisions, simply cannot deploy; firepower cannot be brought to bear. We attacked twice, and besides adding numbers to the casualty rolls, there was no progress."

Matsui Iwane pricked up his ears to listen, but his face still wore an expression of turning a deaf ear.

This immediately roused Yanagawa Heisuke's anger; he thought to himself that he had come to report in a good-natured way, but Matsui Iwane was giving him such a stink face.

Yanagawa Heisuke grew more and more excited as he spoke, and inevitably began to speak barbedly: "My side can't budge for the time being; on the contrary, Your Excellency Commander, your side has concentrated the main force of six divisions of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army, and has naval gunfire support; when you captured the Wufu Line, you were very composed, and moreover, Lv Muzhi's Ninth Army Group also transferred in a composed manner..."

The faces of several division commanders of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army beside them looked rather unpleasant; they didn't expect this Tenth Army Commander Yanagawa Heisuke to be so arrogant.

Matsui Iwane was choked by Yanagawa Heisuke's words until his chest felt stuffy; one hand pointed at Yanagawa Heisuke's nose, one hand covered his chest, and he said: "You..."

Prince Asaka Yasuhiko hurriedly patted Matsui Iwane's back and explained to Yanagawa Heisuke: ", the difficulties of the Tenth Army are understood by headquarters;

now the greatest constraint is not that our army is not fighting bravely, but that the Navy's strength has not been brought into play.

The Yangtze waterway is full of mines; the Jiangyin Fortress on the Xi Cheng Xian Shang, there shore batteries stand in rows and mines are densely distributed. Naval minesweeping is slow; without naval gunfire suppression, our army advancing along the river would be sitting ducks. Your Excellency Matsui Iwane is also at a loss now; everyone should calm down and discuss properly..."

"Wait for the Navy?" Yanagawa Heisuke raised an eyebrow. "Your Excellency Commander, I am on the south bank of Taihu; I can't wait for the Navy! My Tenth Army is prepared to fight on the north bank of Taihu, and I'm also waiting for the Navy!"

The atmosphere in the headquarters was very awkward; the offensive against the Xi Cheng Xian Shang hadn't even started, and within the Central China Expeditionary Army, they had already started tearing at each other.

Just then, standing behind Yanagawa Heisuke, the silent Sixth Division Commander Major General Gu Shoufu stepped forward and said: "Gentlemen, I have a plan!"

Yanagawa Heisuke turned back and glared at him, asking: "You also have a plan?"

"Your Excellency Commanders! I refuse to believe the army cannot do without the Navy? Are Imperial soldiers only capable of head-on collisions from one direction?"

Everyone's gaze focused on Gu Shoufu at once. Matsui Iwane looked at him, his anger also subsiding, thinking: Whose subordinate is this, to be so valiant; finally the awkwardness was resolved.

Gu Shoufu walked to the large combat map hanging on the wall and pressed his finger heavily on the broad blue waters of Taihu: "Please look here, Taihu!

The Chinese have the Xi Cheng Xian Shang National Defense Fortification on the north bank of Taihu, and the iron wall of Huzhou on the south bank of Taihu;

but the surface of Taihu is over fifty kilometers wide east to west, and over sixty kilometers north to south; the waters are vast. Isn't this a sufficiently open channel? The enemy defends the Yangtze; I just don't believe there can be much defense on this Taihu water surface!"

Matsui Iwane asked: "Your Excellency Gu Shoufu, how do you plan to act?"

Gu Shoufu said: "My Sixth Division requests to requisition all available motorboats, small transport ships, and even commandeer some civilian vessels!

Secretly board ships at a suitable location on the east bank of Taihu, using night or bad weather as cover, and cross Taihu!

Directly insert into the west bank of Taihu, the Yixing and Liyang area! That is the flank and rear of the Xi Cheng Xian Shang defenders. Once my troops successfully land and establish a bridgehead, we can threaten the flank and rear of the Xi Cheng Xian Shang's main position to the north, and to the south can pincer-attack Huzhou with the main force of the Tenth Army!

With such a central breakthrough, we will surely break through the Xi Cheng Xian Shang!"

Matsui Iwane was greatly shocked: "Your Excellency Gu Shoufu is indeed valiant; I approve!!!"