Chapter 469: The Senile Li Yunhang

When Yu Hua led the Sichuan Army in their withdrawal, he also had the Anqing garrison quickly evacuate after annihilating the Japanese Naval Landing Force.

It did not take much time for the Sichuan Army unit under Yang Sen in Anqing, combined with the strength of one division from the 26th Group Army, to annihilate the remaining Japanese troops.

The remnants of the Japanese devils could not block the encirclement by the Sichuan Army and the 26th Group Army at all, and it was very easy to wipe out the remaining devils.

After clearing the battlefield, all units quickly withdrew according to the plan.

After the sky turned bright, Japanese aircraft took off and arrived at the location of the previous night's great battle; the Japanese pilots took photographs and only returned after finishing the film.

Meanwhile, the Yamamoto Tatsuyama Brigade had already successfully linked up with the Japanese troops moving south during the day; according to the decision of 11th Army Commander Okamura Yasuji, the three-pronged army moved south to capture Jiujiang, Madang Fortress, Hukou, and other places.

Upon hearing this, Bao Zhangyi's gaze turned cold: "Army Commander Li, this is too much of a farce!"

With a formidable enemy at the gates, Li Yunhang was still holding such a training class; this was completely disregarding the Japanese Army. After Japanese spies near Madang Fortress gathered this intelligence, they chose to strike on the day Li Yunhang's training class held its graduation ceremony.

On this day, all officers at the rank of Platoon Leader and above at Madang Fortress attended the graduation ceremony, and the Japanese Navy and Army advanced in tandem, launching a fierce assault on Madang Fortress.

After Bao Zhangyi returned, Jin Baoshan, the commander of the 2nd Battalion of the Madang Fortress Navy Marine Corps, found Bao Zhangyi.

Li Yunhang was sixty years old today; after the outbreak of the Wuhan Battle, he was appointed as the commander of the 16th Army and concurrently served as the commander of Madang Fortress.

Now, Yu Hua had offered his opinions to the 9th War Zone, and Chen Cheng had to consider them carefully; after discussing with Xue Yue for a while, he adjusted the upcoming operations.

In the Wuhan area, major newspapers printed the news that last night, the Sichuan Army, the Central Army, and the 26th Group Army had joined forces to encircle and annihilate the Japanese 6th Division.

"Oh?" Li Yunhang's gaze was unkind: "Why?!"

"However, on land, our Navy must still persist in fighting and hold the positions; we cannot smear the reputation of the Navy."

Because the officers had all gone to attend the graduation ceremony, Madang Fortress had no officers to command, and the soldiers fought on their own; in some positions, the soldiers even suffered a large-scale rout, while in others, the soldiers fought to the death and were all killed in action.

"Moreover, his judgment will absolutely not be wrong; the defenses at Hukou, Madang Fortress, and the Jiujiang area must be strengthened."

Li Yunhang served as the Principal himself, and the training class was to last 14 days; Li Yunhang stipulated that all officers at the rank of Platoon Leader and above, as well as local village heads and township heads, must attend the training class for two weeks to study river defense tactics.

Although this order did not explicitly state it, it was secretly pointing at him!

Chen Cheng personally sent a telegram to the garrison at Madang Fortress, specifically emphasizing that within the next three months, the garrison at Madang Fortress was not allowed to carry out any activities, and activities similar to holding a military Jiangwutang must also be suspended.

The common people were very happy after learning of this, and everyone shouted "Long live the Republic of China Army" and "Down with the little Japanese."

"Damn it... which son of a bitch is talking about me? Don't let me find out, or I'll make him regret it."

"At a time like this, Li Yunhang is holding a training class; isn't this giving the devils an opportunity? With officers pulled from the front lines for training, if the Japanese launch a landing, the troops will have no commanders and be like a dragon without a head; this will be troublesome."

The garrison at Madang Fortress included not only the Army but also the Republic of China Navy; as the highest commander of the Navy, Bao Zhangyi came to Li Yunhang's office after learning that Li Yunhang was going to hold this training class.

"A brilliant plan, a brilliant plan..." Li Yunhang clapped his hands happily.

After his few confidants discussed it, they thought of a compromise for Li Yunhang: that was not to gather all the troops at once, but to pull the officers at the rank of Platoon Leader and above from one division at a time to attend the training.

After the telegram from the 9th War Zone Command was delivered to Madang Fortress, Li Yunhang, as the commander of Madang Fortress, felt a bit dizzy!

However, after the Taihu Battle began, all the schemes of that kid Yu Hua had坑 (pit) the Japanese 10th Army miserably.

"This shows that the Japanese are already prepared to capture Madang Fortress; if you pull officers away for a training class, what will you do if the front-line military situation is delayed?"

The 16th Army belonged to the Central Army and had three divisions under its command: the 53rd Division, the 60th Division, and the 167th Division!

In the original timeline, Li Yunhang was the commander of Madang Fortress, and Japanese warships could already be seen in the Yangtze River, yet he actually opened a training class at this time called the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University.

Daytime!

Bao Zhangyi's Adjutant also complained about Li Yunhang, that old thing; it was already a burning emergency, yet he was still holding some training class. Could he not wait until after fighting the devils to hold a training class?

"Old Jin!" Bao Zhangyi shook his head: "Li Yunhang didn't agree; he still wants to hold the training class."

The two had a big argument and parted on bad terms; after Bao Zhangyi returned to his command post, he could only have his Navy brothers strengthen their vigilance and pay attention to the movements on the river at all times.

Upon hearing this, Chen Cheng nodded; in the 7th War Zone, during the Taihu Battle, Chen Cheng had already come into contact with many generals of the Sichuan Army, and Marshal Liu was still there at the time.

"Army Commander Li, this training class cannot be held."

"Bao Zhangyi... you kid, stop making noise in front of me. You are the Navy, and I cannot control you, but the Army must all listen to me."

They also greatly admired Deputy Commander Yu of the Sichuan Army; if it weren't for his personal command and grasp of the timing in this battle, the results would definitely not have been this great.

"After all, our army only recently annihilated the Japanese 6th Division, and the devils are still recovering their strength!"

Just like that, the position of Madang Fortress, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack, was easily taken by the devils under the joint land and sea siege of the Japanese!

This time, Yu Hua knew that Li Yunhang would hold this training class, so he had warned Chen Cheng in advance that such activities must not be held when a great battle was imminent, otherwise it would only bring disadvantages to the troops.

In the 9th War Zone Command, many officers also heard the cheers of the common people; last night, this battle was indeed fought beautifully.

Initially, Chen Cheng suspected that Yu Hua's success in the Sichuan Army ranks was entirely because the Sichuan Army generals were looking at the fact that Yu Hua was the Adjutant to Deng Xihou.

Chen Cheng called for Xue Yue, "Old Xue, you also saw the telegram sent by Adjutant Yu last night; what are your thoughts?"

"Old Jin, our two positions must communicate at any time!"

Only then did Chen Cheng truly realize that the reason this kid Yu Hua was able to get along well with the generals in the Sichuan Army was entirely by relying on his own ability, and furthermore, by conquering everyone with victory after victory.

"Old Bao, how is the situation?"

Xue Yue sat down and first drank some tea: "Old Chen, I think about this matter, it's better to do as this kid Yu Hua said."

This kid Yu Hua was quite respected by many Sichuan Army generals in the Sichuan Army ranks, and many Sichuan Army generals did not look at Yu Hua as a subordinate at all, but completely treated him as an equal.

"Now the devils' warships have reached the Yangtze River, and our troops have seen the Japanese fleet loitering around Madang Fortress many times."

Madang Fortress, in the command post!

Li Yunhang was single-mindedly determined to hold this training class, and this obsession in his mind became more and more profound after he revealed his thoughts to his confidants.

This method was really quite good; in this way, his goal of holding the training class could be achieved, and he could also avoid any loosening of the troops' defensive lines.

Li Yunhang snorted coldly: "I have already thought of a way for this matter; you don't need to worry. According to my estimation, the Japanese are not ready yet."

Regarding this, Bao Zhangyi also smoked a cigarette and sighed deeply: "Things are already like this; now we can't control so much anymore. Let's just have our Navy do our own job, even though our Navy no longer has warships."

"This kid, when we first met in Songhu, I took a liking to him."

"Hmm!" Jin Baoshan nodded: "After I go back, I will have the Communications Soldier strengthen the lines between our two positions."

After Jin Baoshan left, the 16th Army's training class was held as scheduled; at the beginning, Li Yunhang was still quite concerned about the situation on the front lines, and he was also afraid that the Japanese would take the opportunity to attack.

However, for several days in a row, the Japanese had no movements, and Li Yunhang's vigilance was completely let down; but was the reality really as Li Yunhang thought?!

(End of chapter)