"The 400,000 Japanese soldiers were less than a fraction of the total number of Japanese invaders annihilated by our army."

Jiang Dong crossed his chest with one hand and held his chin with the other, and said in a soft tone:

"Is it possible for the Japanese to get reinforcements from other directions?"

Wu Zhandao:

"The Japanese base camp has raised the age of recruitment to 15 years old, and almost all men have gone to the battlefield. The support that China's dispatched troops can get will only come from two directions."

"The first is the 21st Army in Guangzhou, and the second is Taiwan."

"Even if we can get support, the total strength will not exceed 500,000."

Jiangdong nodded.

"There is a huge disparity in strength. It is impossible for them to engage in a decisive battle with our army in a large group. This is a more troublesome place. We can only attack one defense line after another."

Xie Chengrui said:

"After the failure of the Changsha Battle, the Japanese army built a large number of fortifications in northern Hunan and the border between Hunan and Jiangxi."

"In the north, the Japanese defense line mainly relies on the Dabie Mountains and the Yellow River Flood Area. The overall situation in central China is somewhat like that of the Wuhan Battle, except that the Japanese are the ones defending in the center."

"There is one more thing to be careful about." Wu Zhan pointed at the map and said:

"We must fight across the Yangtze River. If the defense line fails one after another, the Japanese and Chinese dispatched troops are likely to flee to Zhejiang, Fujian and other places in the south. There will be a lot of destruction on the way to escape, and there will be a lot of blood debt."

"The Yellow Sea and Bohai Fleets can block the sea routes from Shanghai to the Japanese mainland and Korea, but if the Japanese want to escape from Fujian to Taiwan, our maritime power will be somewhat out of reach!"

Jiang Dong nodded, his fingers involuntarily rubbing his chin.

"With Operation Songhua River in front, I think the Military Intelligence Bureau and the special forces can effectively prevent the Japanese army from wreaking havoc in Wuhan, Nanjing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and other big cities before retreating."

"In this case, the main thing we need to guard against is the little devil escaping to the south!"

Jiang Dong thought for a moment and said to Wu Zhan:

"Send a report to the Military Commission and ask them to garrison the German weapons divisions dispatched to major transportation hubs such as southern Jiangxi, northern Fujian, and Zhejiang while defending the 21st Army in South China!"

"After the last battle, the government can move back to Nanjing. The Sixth Corps will still obey the "leadership" of the government."

Wu Zhan and Xie Chengrui gave Jiang Dong a meaningful look. The former went to send a telegram, and the latter smiled and said:

"The principal is very worried about Tang Enbo's incident. You are just rubbing salt into people's wounds, and you have a commanding tone. You really don't show mercy at all!"

Jiang Dong blinked.

"Is it possible, Lao Xie, that you want to be the chief of general staff in Nanjing and continue to keep the principal and others in Chongqing?"

Xie Chengrui waved his hand hurriedly.

"I didn't say that, you just think so."

Jiang Dong spread his hands and said: "I think Beiping is pretty good, I'm used to living here!"

"oh……"

"Samurai Min's garrison can escape from the Central Plains area." Jiangdong stopped joking.

"Where is Wang Laohu's 3rd Army now?"

"Based on the experience of North China and Northeast China, we have established militia organizations in the Central Plains region, and the garrison corps will be able to complete the disaster relief work soon." Xie Chengrui replied:

"The 3rd Army assembled in Xuzhou, and the troops conducted a river-crossing exercise. All preparations are going smoothly. As long as you give the order, they can go south at any time!"

Jiang Dong hummed in confusion.

"I'm afraid the battle will be delayed until June. Crossing the river is a big event. The total strength of the garrison has exceeded 350,000. It's time to change their numbers and organization."

"After the disaster relief work was completed, the troops gathered in Xinyang, Nanyang and other places north of the Dabie Mountains. The staff department made preparations in advance and adjusted the number and organization of the garrison."

"Understood!" Xie Chengrui suddenly remembered something.

"Commander-in-Chief, our new tanks and new weapons and equipment developed by the Military Science Research Institute can be used in this battle. Let's also conduct a test with the little devil to test the performance of the equipment in the fire of war."

"Okay, just do as you say!"

…………

May 5, Nanjing, Japan-China Expeditionary Force Headquarters.

The shadow of the war shrouded the entire China Expeditionary Force. The officers looked grim, as if they were overwhelmed by Jiangdong and the Sixth Corps.

In a spacious command room, senior officials from the dispatched army headquarters and senior officials from the 21st Army and the 13th Army gathered together for a meeting.

General Hata Shunroku, the commander-in-chief of the China Expeditionary Force, was at the top of the battle position. His eyes were slightly narrowed, and from time to time he would wipe the mustache on his lips with his right hand.

Lieutenant General Haremiya Chun, chief of staff of the Japan Expeditionary Forces, spat out the situation faced by the Japan Expeditionary Forces to the senior military officers present at the meeting.

"The General Headquarters has received accurate information that the Sixth Corps and the German Arms Division in Chongqing are about to join forces and launch attacks in central and eastern China at the same time."

"The Chinese people are very popular. They call this battle the last battle. As the name suggests, they want to completely drive the soldiers of the Japanese Empire out of the Chinese continent."

The people who came to the meeting were all high-ranking military officers. They didn't show much emotion and seemed scheming and sinister.

"Everyone knows the actual situation of our dispatched troops. If there are no reinforcements, the clamor of the Chinese people is likely to come true, and the Japanese Empire will completely fail on the land of China."

"Based on the information currently obtained, the Sixth Corps will have more than 500,000 troops in the final battle. All German weapon divisions will participate in the battle, with a strength of around 800,000."

"This will be the biggest test we have faced since the establishment of the dispatched army. Gentlemen, please tell us your strategies to deal with the enemy."

Chief of General Staff Harem Jun sat down and took a sip of water. He glanced at Shunroku Hata out of the corner of his eye and found that the latter still looked like an old god, unable to see clearly what he was thinking.

The capabilities of the Sixth Corps are obvious to all. No officer made any arrogant remarks, and all of them appeared to be very cautious in their speeches.

The commander of the Eleventh Army, Anan Weiji, hesitated for a moment and then said:

"Your Excellency, General, Jiangdong and Chongqing have never been of the same mind, and recently there has been a tendency of civil war."

"Our army has limited strength and it is very difficult to defend, let alone attack. I think the most important thing the dispatched troops should do now is to prevent this war from happening and take advantage of the Chinese people's own contradictions."

"As long as we wait for a year and wait for the army to free up its hands from the southern front, we can win."

Anand Weiji's proposal was eye-catching.

As long as the so-called final battle by the Chinese is not allowed to happen, there is no need to consider defense or retreat.

Shunroku Hata nodded, with appreciation in his eyes.

But how to prevent the final battle from happening?

This question stumped everyone at once.

Everyone discussed it for more than ten minutes, but in the end they couldn't reach a consensus because there were many loopholes in the opinions put forward by everyone.

Shunroku Hata pressed his hands and said expressionlessly:

"Abandon Wuhan and retreat to East China!"

The conference room suddenly became audible, and the senior officers seemed to have stopped breathing.

"Give the two lakes plain, including Wuhan, the largest city in central China, to Chongqing."

Shunroku Hata repeated it again.

A few years ago, when Shunroku Hata succeeded Iwane Matsui as the commander of the Central China Expeditionary Force, he had already realized that expanding the Sino-Japanese war would likely put the Japanese in a quagmire, unable to advance or retreat.

In his view, the Japanese should retreat as soon as possible and occupy the north and eastern China.

Even the Battle of Xuzhou and the Battle of Wuhan should not be fought.

The idea of ​​giving up Wuhan did not suddenly pop up in his mind, but he had thought about it a long time ago.

Shunroku Hata has been watching the North China War, the Northeast War and the Pacific War in recent years.

He felt sad for Japan's weakness and powerlessness, and felt uneasy about the ambition of its soldiers.

Shunroku Hata had a clear view of the ongoing disaster relief operations in the Central Plains through the eyes of a spy.

Because of the instigation of the propaganda machine in North China and the rise of the ideological trend of national liberation in China, a magnificent scene of united efforts to fight drought and disaster relief was formed in the Central Plains.

The Chinese have awakened. It is not just Jiangdong and the Sixth Corps that are powerful, but the entire country.

Today, if one Chinese division is wiped out, tomorrow they will have 10 divisions appear in a steady stream.

Head-on confrontation is what the Chinese want, and it will not do any good to dispatch troops.

Abandon Wuhan and retreat to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

Concentrate your forces and use the natural dangers of the Yangtze River to block the 6th Corps until the day when the world situation changes.

Apart from this, Shunroku Hata could not think of any other strategy that could preserve China's dispatched troops.
Chapter completed!