Chapter 432

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

"Commander Lu once said, the Xuzhou region has seen over fifty major engagements throughout history, and right and wrong are hard to discern..."

Inside Bengbu City, at a high-level operational conference, the Youth Corps Deputy Commander and Youth Third Army Commander Zhang Fei said: "Commander Lu once said, the Xuzhou region has seen over fifty major wars throughout history, and right and wrong are hard to discern..."

Inside Bengbu City, at a high-level operational conference, Youth Corps Deputy Commander and Youth Third Army Commander Zhang Fei said as such.

"This Xuzhou-Bengbu campaign is just adding another war to this disaster-plagued land."

Beside him, Youth Fourth Army Acting Commander Liao Yaoxiang nodded slightly.

"Commander Zhang, as long as we win this battle, I think this will be the last war on the Xuzhou-Bengbu battlefield!"

Youth Fourth Army Acting Chief of Staff Zhou Weiguo looked at the map:

"Let's hope so!"

"As the main force, we tie down the vast majority of the North China Area Army's main forces on the Xuzhou-Bengbu battlefield, and Commander Lu can then act freely in Taiyuan."

"Once Taiyuan falls, Commander Lu can advance through the Zhengding Railway into Beiping, and it won't matter if we're blocked here on the Xuzhou-Bengbu battlefield."

Group Army Commander Tang Enbo lit a cigarette:

"The situation on the Xuzhou-Bengbu battlefield is even more stalemated than we expected; the North China Area Army has almost emptied its reserves."

"Commander Zhang's Youth Third Army is holding the line at Xuzhou, while Commander Liao's Youth Fourth Army and my Thirty-First Group Army are coordinating operations around Bengbu."

"The battlefield between Xuzhou and Bengbu stretches over three hundred li, with war erupting everywhere!"

Zhang Fei looked at the intelligence reports coming in:

"The overall commander of the Japanese forces on the Xuzhou-Bengbu battlefield is Lieutenant General Yamashita Tomonobu, who is Chief of Staff of the North China Area Army. This old devil is no small hand, and he's put up a desperate posture."

"He has committed the 27th, 32nd, 107th, and 108th Divisions, plus four Independent Mixed Brigades, all elites of the North China Area Army."

"Also, the Kwantung Army's 7th, 8th, and 12th Divisions have been entering the battlefield one after another; these fellows' combat strength cannot be underestimated."

"Counting it up, the North China Area Army has already concentrated seven reorganized divisions and four mixed brigades on this Xuzhou line."

"Plus puppet troops transferred from various places, the Japanese-puppet forces are approaching three hundred thousand."

Tang Enbo took a sharp drag on his cigarette:

"The situation is not optimistic. Now not only the North China Area Army, but even that old fox Gangcun Ningci has smelled the opportunity and come over."

"Gangcun Ningci's Eleventh Army is retreating to defend Jinling, but now seeing us fighting a real battle on the Xuzhou-Bengbu battlefield, they won't be able to sit still sooner or later."

"His troops will soon press northward madly, straight for Bengbu, intending to ambush us from behind."

"By then, the total forces committed by the Japanese will keep rising, and the scale of the war will escalate further."

After hearing this, Zhang Fei stared silently at the map: "The scale of this Xuzhou-Bengbu campaign is no longer something we can control, nor something the Japanese can control!"

"Regarding Gangcun Ningci's Eleventh Army at Jinling, Commander Tang, you need to send a report to that old man."

"Ask the Central Government to coordinate General Li Zongren, mobilize the Guangxi clique's main forces, set out from Anqing, join the campaign, and firmly block Gangcun Ningci's Eleventh Army."

Tang Enbo pondered for a moment, then nodded heavily: "That's natural. No matter the situation on the Xuzhou-Bengbu battlefield, we'll meet soldiers with generals and water with earth."

"As long as the Shanxi battlefield goes smoothly, Commander Lu will lead the main force charging into Hebei."

"On the Xuzhou-Bengbu battlefield, this lump of Japanese main force before us will sooner or later be annihilated."

Amidst everyone's discussion, the Xuzhou-Bengbu battlefield had by now become a black hole devouring lives and supplies.

With reinforcements from both the Japanese and Xia Guo armies, the forces committed by both sides, from an initial five hundred thousand, rapidly leapt to over six hundred thousand, and the number was still constantly climbing.

Xia Guo armies near the Xuzhou-Bengbu battlefield successively received orders to depart.

Armies of all factions were converging on this ancient battlefield, forcing the Japanese to commit large numbers of troops to the Xuzhou-Bengbu battlefield.

Meanwhile, inside the China Expeditionary Army Headquarters in Jinling City.

In the eyes of China Expeditionary Army Commander General Nishio Toshizo, more than half of Xia Guo's territory was ablaze.

And this fire was burning ever fiercer, about to swallow the entire China Expeditionary Army.

"The North China Area Army lost cities and territory in Shanxi, and is again stuck in a quagmire at Xuzhou. Truly embarrassing!"

"Not long ago, how triumphantly the Emperor Chuo Locust Army advanced! After several years, the Xia Guo battlefield has turned around, and has it become the burial place of our army!"

Nishio Toshizo slammed the table hard, making the teacups on the table clatter.

Eleventh Army Commander Lieutenant General Gangcun Ningci asked: "The Kwantung Army... can they still send reinforcements?"

Not mentioning the Kwantung Army was fine, but once the Kwantung Army was mentioned, General Nishio Toshizo got angry.

Those nervous division commanders of the Kwantung Army, last year directly disobeyed orders, actively provoked the old Russians, and stirred up the Nomonhan Incident, only to be beaten until they couldn't find their teeth.

The current Kwantung Army is busy expanding forces and preparing for war, strictly guarding against the old Russians' counterattack, and simply dare not transfer large numbers of troops into the Pass again.

"The reinforcements they can provide—the 7th, 8th, and 12th Divisions—are already the Kwantung Army's limit. Manchuria is vast and rich in resources; transfer more troops, and that side will quickly become an empty shell."

Commander Nishio Toshizo knew very well that if Manchuria had problems, then the entire Japanese presence in Xia Guo would completely lose its foundation.

If they recklessly transferred the Kwantung Army from Manchuria, fear the old Russians couldn't resist the temptation, pull the firewood from under the cauldron, occupy Manchuria, and then the Japanese would lose big.

Commander Nishio Toshizo took stock of the forces in his hands:

"The Twenty-First Army is far away in Guangzhou, too far to help, and besides, Du Yuming's Fifth Army is biting them there, so they can't move."

"General Gangcun, your Eleventh Army, although rushing toward Xuzhou, has been blocked by Li Zongren's hard bone."

Commander Nishio Toshizo paced anxiously in the room, his gaze finally falling on Shanghai.

At Shanghai, his Japanese Thirteenth Army was still garrisoned.

The Thirteenth Army was used to suppress the wealthy southeast lands of Xia Guo, with four divisions and three mixed brigades under its command, responsible for looting supplies from places like Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Anhui.

Plus, with Shanghai being Xia Guo's commercial center, the Thirteenth Army being garrisoned here could be said to bear heavy responsibility.

But now, Commander Nishio Toshizo could no longer worry about so much.

"Send a telegram to the commander of the 13th Army, ordering him to immediately transfer the 22nd and 116th Divisions northward!"

"At all costs, join the Xuzhou-Bengbu Campaign!"

"Taiyuan can no longer be guaranteed, but Xuzhou absolutely cannot be lost!"

"Also inform Commander Tada Toshin of the North China Area Army, ordering him to make full use of the terrain and lock Lv Muzhi's troops down in Shanxi!"

As Nishio Toshizo issued this order, the scale of the Xuzhou-Bengbu Campaign surged once again......

Meanwhile, in Chongqing a thousand li away, the old man never expected.

That the winter counteroffensive would develop into the current situation, nearly drawing both sides' main forces entirely into the two main battlefields of Shanxi and Xuzhou-Bengbu.

Things having come to this, besides trying harder there is no other way.

"Order Xue Yue's forces of the Ninth War Zone to immediately organize one hundred thousand elite troops of Central China and join the Xuzhou-Bengbu Campaign!"

After a silence, the old man continued: "Since that is the case... all we can hope is that Wei Yue gives it his all and turns the situation around!"

"Relay my order: establish the North China Temporary Anti-Japanese Supreme Command, temporarily commanding all troops and horses of the First and Second War Zones, with Lv Muzhi serving as North China Anti-Japanese Commander-in-Chief."