Chapter 248: The Yichang Campaign: Seeking Allies

Jiang Anguo puts down his tea bowl, his expression turns serious: "Old Xu, you know, Chief Xue is preparing a big operation over at Yueyang. To lessen his pressure and give him better aircraft, we over here also have to make a move."

"Make a move?" Xu Guozhang is startled, then becomes interested, "What kind of move? Aren't your aircraft already moving? What more? You aren't thinking of having me lead troops to flank the Japanese at Yueyang, are you? Fine! As long as your aircraft shows me the route clearly, I, Xu Guozhang, will be the first to charge!"

"No, no, no, Old Xu, you're mistaken." Jiang Anguo waves his hand, leans in a bit, his voice carrying a hint of mystery and madness, "My target is not Yueyang."

"Then where is it?" Xu Guozhang asks curiously.

Jiang Anguo pauses at each character, then spits out two words:

"We will attack Yichang!"

"What the heck?!"

Xu Guozhang jumps up from his chair like a cat whose tail was stepped on, his eyes bulging like copper bells, his voice shifting: "Yichang?! Brother, you aren't mistaken, are you? Yichang is the defensive zone of the Japanese 13th Division!"

He paces back and forth in the room, and Xu Guozhang knows very well: "The 13th Division! That's a Class A Division of the Japanese, their ace! From Shanghai all the way to Nanjing, half of the atrocities in Nanjing were done by them! Those bastards are both fierce and ruthless, and well equipped! You... you can bomb them with aircraft, but you want me to lead troops to assault their positions? You're asking me to go to my death!"

Xu Guozhang's reaction was exactly what Jiang Anguo had expected. The Japanese 13th Division is one of the oldest and most powerful units among the invading Japanese forces, and also an Executioner whose hands are stained with the blood of the Chinese people. To deal with such a unit, not even a single 150th Division, let alone the entire Senary War Zone, can be absolutely confident.

Jiang Anguo truly does not know which Japanese unit is garrisoned in Yichang; who could have thought it would be the 13th Division? Still, Yichang is the essential route out of Sichuan, so the Japanese could not possibly leave only a single regiment there.

Jiang Anguo also has no confidence. Facing such an ace, the risk of Yan Xing's "Thunderbolt" plan is amplified tenfold. He needs more allies, stronger forces.

Class A Division, the Pacific War has just broken out, which means this 13th Division has not had its troops transferred; later these Class A Divisions each had a regiment pulled out to go to the Pacific Theater. Now, this 13th Division, consisting of four regiments attached to other division units, numbers at least twenty thousand men—truly over twenty thousand Japanese soldiers!

He forces himself to calm down, looks at the map, and his finger lands on a spot west of Yichang.

"Old Xu, don't get excited yet." Jiang Anguo says in a low voice, "Tell me, which units are positioned toward the Shipa Fortress?"

Xu Guozhang is stunned for a moment, not understanding why he suddenly asks this, but instinctively replies: "Shipa? That's the heart of the Senary War Zone! There's the 18th Army, commanded by Fang Tian, under it Hu Lian's 11th Division, also that... 79th Army, and some River Defense Army. They're all the prized troops under the command, guarding the gate of Chongqing."

18th Army! Hu Lian's 11th Division!

Jiang Anguo's heart jumps. That is Chen Cheng's "Civil Engineering Department" founding unit, one of the Nationalist Army's strongest aces, dubbed the "Seed Army".

Hu Lian, Jiang Anguo's brother-in-law, his third sister Jiang Anling married Hu Lian.

He knows that with only Xu Guozhang and the 150th Division, they cannot bite into the hard bone that is the 13th Division. However, if they can persuade the 18th Army to join the fight...

Now all Japanese airfields in Central China are crippled, air superiority is on our side, and the Little Devils wouldn't dare hold Yichang for long; otherwise Jiang Anguo's mobile arsenal would be more than enough for them to drink a pot.

Forget the 13th Division; even another division would be bombed into meeting the Little Devil of Amaterasu!

"Old Xu," Jiang Anguo turns, his gaze blazing at him, "What do you think—if I turn Yichang into a ghost town, wiping out the 13th Division's artillery and command, would Hu Lian's 11th Division be interested in picking up this ready-made bargain?"

Facing a fully staffed Japanese Class A Division, not to mention a single army, even a force of one hundred thousand or two hundred thousand would find it extremely difficult to take them down.

Xu Guozhang looks at Jiang Anguo's eyes that seem to be burning, then glances at the positions of Shipa and Yichang on the map, and for a moment he is at a loss for words.

This young Regiment Commander Jiang, his ambition is far larger and crazier than he imagined.

He's too crazy; he wants to pull the Senary War Zone into it as well!

Looking at Xu Guozhang's face twisted by shock and fear, Jiang Anguo knows that a mere promise and a big carrot cannot make a battle‑hardened veteran general go to his death. He needs to put up real gold and silver, to give Xu Guozhang an irresistible reason.

He remains silent for a moment, the air in the command post seeming to solidify. Xu Guozhang looks at him anxiously, thinking he has been persuaded, about to speak again.

At that moment, Jiang Anguo slowly, yet unusually clearly, says:

"Old Xu, whether you attack Yichang or not, this battle—our Sichuan brothers have suffered in the resistance. I, Jiang Anguo, personally will first give you some support."

Xu Guozhang is stunned: "Support? Support what exactly?"

Jiang Anguo extends a single finger, his tone as calm as if discussing a trivial matter: "On my side, I will give you three thousand brand‑new German‑made Mauser rifles, one hundred Czech‑type light machine guns, equipped with one million rounds of ammunition. Additionally, thirty 60‑mm mortars, ten 81‑mm mortars, and a number of shells."

The entire command post instantly falls into a dead silence.

Xu Guozhang opens his mouth wide, his eyes bulging like copper bells, as if he heard a fairy tale. The aides behind him are all stunned, thinking they must have misheard.

"Bro—brother," Xu Guozhang's voice trembles, he stammers, "You... you aren't pulling a fast one on me, are you?! Three thousand rifles? One hundred machine guns? And... a million rounds of ammunition? Do you know what that means? My single division can't even muster that many good supplies!"

This is no longer "support"; it's essentially giving his 150th Division an entirely new set of bones! With this equipment, his 150th Division's combat power could at least double.

Xu Guozhang still can't believe it; this isn't just enough for a regiment, the weapons could arm half a division.

"Pull a fast one on you?" Jiang Anguo laughs, stands up, pats Xu Guozhang's shoulder, his smile full of confidence, "Old Xu, when have I ever spoken empty words? Rest assured, these weapons are already stored at Changde Airport. Brother, you can send people to inspect them right away, and after verification, they can be taken away immediately."

Jiang Anguo pauses, then adds: "This is my personal gift to the Sichuan brothers. You bleed on the front line; I cannot let you be without even a single handy weapon."

PS: Actually, the Japanese 13th Division in Yichang was the unit where he studied abroad as an artilleryman; it's unclear whether the Japanese placed that division there intentionally or deliberately at the entrance to Sichuan.