Chapter 408: Principal Lao Chang's Little Darling

Now that the common people of Yunnan Province have finished building the Burma Road, paying with their sweat and blood, Lu Han must lead the Yunnan Army troops to fight a good battle in the Fifth War Zone.

He wants to repay the arduous efforts of the common people of Yunnan Province with the number of enemies annihilated, letting the common people of Yunnan Province know that the Yunnan Army soldiers they supported with their free labor did not let them down.

Finally, at this military conference, the policy of blocking in the south and attacking in the north, luring the enemy to reinforce, concentrating superior forces, and implementing a combination of movement warfare and positional warfare was adopted to annihilate the advancing Japanese Army troops.

Li Delin reported the agreed-upon operational plan to the Hankou Headquarters, and it was soon approved.

The Nanjing Command in Hankou now also attaches great importance to this battle in the Fifth War Zone; currently, the international community has many opinions regarding the Nanjing Command.

First of all, Dean Wang, who is second only to Principal Lao Chang, led his core subordinates to defect to the enemy, which caused many countries internationally to have many different thoughts about whether the interior of the Nanjing Command could be stable and whether such a situation would occur again.

The 200th Division is the first armored division just established and also the first modernized division; this division is under the direct jurisdiction of the Nanjing Military Commission.

Such weaponry cannot be found a second time within the ranks of the National Revolutionary Army, so many high-ranking officials in Nanjing, Hankou, are also unwilling to let the 200th Division go to Taierzhuang.

Chen Cixiu's speech was strongly supported by some of the pro-war faction, and everyone also believed that actual combat is the only standard for testing the combat effectiveness of troops.

After Minister Lao He finished speaking, his gaze swept over everyone.

The 200th Division is just established now, under its jurisdiction are 2 tank regiments, the 1149th and 1150th Regiments, one vehicle regiment, the 1151st Regiment, 1 anti-tank artillery regiment, the 52nd Regiment, 1 motorized infantry regiment, the 1152nd Regiment, and one division-affiliated Artillery Battalion.

The Nanjing Command spent a lot of effort establishing this troop, after the Class A Adjusted German-equipped Division was wiped out.

"The Headquarters has decided to increase the troop strength of our Fifth War Zone and dispatch the 200th Division to reinforce Taierzhuang; let us fight well and show the prestige of our Chinese soldiers."

After Minister Lao He went to find Principal Lao Chang, Lao Chang pondered for a moment and then agreed to commit the 200th Division to the Taierzhuang Campaign.

At the same time, the Sichuan Army, as a local army, had combat results in the Songhu Region and Jinyang Region that far exceeded those of the Central Army.

The 200th Division was established in this way; the combat characteristics of this troop are fierce firepower and complete configuration, the officers and soldiers achieved mechanization in marching, and artillery towing and ammunition transport are also completed by vehicles.

In the two battles of Songhu and Jinling, they were already exhausted; this is a warning from the past! Once the 200th Division goes to Taierzhuang, everyone estimates it will end up with the same fate as the Class A Adjusted German-equipped Division.

After the Communications Soldier received this telegram, he immediately came into the conference room and handed the telegram to Li Delin.

Compared to other troops that march on foot and lack guns, cannons, and vehicles, the 200th Division has a much greater maneuver speed and ammunition carrying capacity.

After reading the telegram, Li Delin's gaze looked toward everyone, "Good news... everyone, we have just received a telegram from Hankou."

"It's just... it's just... what is said also makes sense; the 200th Division is something we built with great difficulty and cannot be wasted after just one battle."

Xu Yongchang spoke first: "The Taierzhuang Campaign is to demonstrate that our Republic of China Army is still capable of fighting hard battles and winning victories."

After receiving the order, Lao He gathered the members of the Headquarters in Hankou, and everyone discussed which troop was suitable to dispatch.

People from the Military Affairs Commission suggested establishing an attack division or attack army to act as a fresh force to launch a fatal blow against the Japanese Army during the battle.

Once the 200th Division is crippled at Taierzhuang, the loss will be truly too great; for the Nanjing Command, it is not worth it!

Seeing such a situation, Chen Cixiu stood up and said: "Everyone, the troops have been established, so they should be put into actual combat to test their combat effectiveness."

There were still many similar speeches; everyone was unwilling to send the 200th Division out because of the Class A Adjusted German-equipped Division that was built with great difficulty before.

The 1152nd Motorized Infantry Regiment and the 1151st Vehicle Regiment complement each other; each regiment also possesses a direct-subordinate Mortar company, and these two regiments have four infantry battalions under their jurisdiction.

However, after Xu Yongchang finished speaking, someone soon raised an opposing opinion.

"I think we must dispatch elite forces; Du Yuming's 200th Division is very suitable. The division possesses two well-equipped tank regiments and one Artillery Battalion equipped with Soviet weaponry."

The two sides signed a cooperation agreement and also transported some Industrial Equipment and Soviet weaponry to the Sichuan Army via the Siberian Railway.

Whether the 200th Division is a mule or a horse, it must be taken out for a walk.

"If we hide the troops and don't let them participate in the battle, once there is a problem that we fail to discover, this will be unfavorable for troop development."

The United States, the British Isles, Gaul, and other countries in Europe are all also sending representatives to Sichuan Province to negotiate with the Sichuan Army.

The power of this batch of German-made 37mm anti-tank guns can penetrate the frontal armor of any tank or Armored Vehicle of the Japanese Army during this period, which is enough to show that the equipment of the 200th Division is very good.

The Nanjing Command in Hankou sent a telegram in reply to the Fifth War Zone Command to dispatch the 200th Division to participate in the Taierzhuang Campaign.

The two sides did not reach a consensus at the military conference in Hankou, so Lao He chose to report it upward.

The tanks equipped by the 200th Division during this period were Vickers, Fiat, and the Soviet T-26B; this batch of tanks were all light tanks, and compared to the Japanese Army's tanks, they were on par.

During the War of Resistance, in the eyes of the Japanese Army commander, this troop was a real "hard bone" and was very difficult to fight.

"Everyone, let's all discuss it! For this Fifth War Zone plan to encircle and annihilate the Japanese Army, which troop should we dispatch to participate in the battle?!"

The 52nd Anti-tank Artillery Regiment is composed of 3 anti-tank artillery battalions, equipped with a total of 54 German-made 37mm anti-tank guns.

The rise of the Sichuan Army gave the Nanjing Command great pressure because the Central Army indeed had no notable combat achievements and was truly far inferior compared to the Sichuan Army.

The first to come into contact with the Sichuan Army were the Russians from the north.

Regarding the Fifth War Zone encirclement plan, the Nanjing Command decided to increase the proportion of Central Army troops, letting the Central Army also participate in this battle to achieve a good combat record.

"This division, I estimate that after fighting this battle, the equipment might be half-destroyed, and furthermore, the tank troops of the 200th Division are living targets when facing the Japanese Army that possesses aircraft!"

This made many national media outlets value the Sichuan Army more and more, and they developed doubts about the combat effectiveness of the Central Army troops.

Each battalion has a Heavy Machine Gun company, equipped with 6 to 8 imitation Maxim Heavy Machine Guns; each battalion has four infantry companies under its jurisdiction, and each infantry company has 6 to 9 Light Machine Guns. The infantry Platoon also possesses weapons such as rifle grenades and Grenade Launchers.

"Dispatching the 200th Division, I do not agree with this; this division is something we built with great difficulty, if it is taken out to clash head-on with the Japanese Army."

Inside the conference room, when everyone heard this, they were all slightly surprised for a moment.

Because the 200th Division was Principal Lao Chang's little darling, and now it was actually reinforcing Taierzhuang, which exceeded everyone's expectations.

(End of this chapter)