Chapter 11: Setting up a stage and singing a big show

"General Zhang, I think the plan of you and the Operations Department is too urgent. The Japanese army will not attack southern Hebei in the near future, but will gather troops to attack Huailai's front line. The main reason..." Zeng Yiyang was a little hesitant. He did not want to point out directly that the key to North China was Yan Xishan trapped by Chiang Kai-shek in Shanxi, rather than Zhang Xueliang, the deputy commander-in-chief of the National Government.

If Zhang Xueliang cannot get up and down, it will naturally bring trouble for future operations.

"You all go out." Zhang Xueliang said to the huge combat room. Originally, this was a school auditorium with a large area.

After more than a dozen combat staff members left, there were only Zhang Xueliang and Zeng Yiyang in the huge auditorium.

Zhang Xueliang found Zhang Chazi and went opposite Zeng Yiyang. He stared at Zeng Yiyang without saying a word, waiting for Zeng Yiyang to express his thoughts.

It is said that suffering losses are a blessing. Zhang Xueliang has been taking the blame since September 18th, and this blame is the kind of crime that everyone cannot bear except him and Chiang Kai-shek. As there are too many losses, people will become smarter. This is why Zhang Xueliang immediately opposed Chiang Kai-shek's policy of maintaining peace after he re-entered Peking in 34 years.

Under the circumstances at that time, if Zhang Xueliang agreed to Chiang Kai-shek's policy, the Northeast Army would have made another difficult choice. Confronting the Red Army, Zhang Xueliang had already experienced the strength of the Red Army. He could not destroy it by encircling and suppressing a million troops, not to mention that the Northeast Army at that time was less than 300,000.

It's a complete dead end.

That is, after the main force of the Second Army fled, Zhang Xueliang was a little impatient, so he wanted Liu Zhi to take the blame for the unfavorable war in Hebei.

Zeng Yiyang's opposition immediately woke Zhang Xueliang up. Chiang Kai-shek would not let Liu Zhi confess at all, because it would eventually affect Chiang's reputation among the people. This was something Chiang Kai-shek would not agree to, and in the end, only the Northeast Army suffered.

Fortunately, Zeng Yiyang's reminder made him change his strategy, which not only gave Chiang Kai-shek a huge favor, but also alleviated the conflicts between them.

Therefore, in Zhang Xueliang's heart, it is helpless to value Zeng Yiyang, and there is no good way to rely on Zeng Yiyang.

Seeing Zhang Xueliang's angry look, Zeng Yiyang smiled calmly, folded the newspaper, put it aside, and said slowly: "The battle in the First War Zone will not be launched in southern Hebei in August. It is mainly on the passage from Beijing to Shanxi. Tang Enbo and Fu Zuoyi's two armies, 70,000 troops, were in Huailai, which gave the Japanese army the best reason to shock Shanxi. Force Yan Xishan to turn to the Japanese."

"It is a good move to shock Shanxi, but it is unlikely to let Yan Xishan join the Japanese, at least in the near future." Zhang Xueliang said in confusion. He held an army of 400,000 and was in front of him, so why did he do Ergouzi?

Fu Zuoyi's 35th Army was a miscellaneous unit, and its equipment, weapons and ammunition were worse than that of ordinary Jin army. However, Fu Zuoyi was the leader in the Jinsui Army. Like Yang Aiyuan, Xu Yongchang and others, he had a high status in the Jinsui Army.

In recent years, Fu Zuoyi has further escaped from Yan Xishan's control. On the one hand, Fu Zuoyi has become the chairman of Suiyuan Province and his wings have gradually become fuller. Although Suiyuan cannot compare with Shanxi, fortunately, the combat capability of the cavalry is still very strong. With more horses, the troops' mobility has become stronger. Overall, the combat power of the 35th Army is not weak.

During the Central Plains War, Zhang Xueliang was stuck in Zhuozhou by Fu Zuoyi. The 50,000 troops besieged a small Zhuozhou and could not even besieged him, which made him lose face and he was somewhat resentful to Fu Zuoyi.

"So, the Japanese army's combat goal in the near future is not to advance along the Yellow River, but to control various traffic outlets against Shanxi?" Zhang Xueliang understood Zeng Yiyang's meaning, and then he thought of a very serious problem, that is, if the Japanese army wanted to block Shanxi, then Shijiazhuang was the starting point of Zhengtai Road, and the Japanese army would never give up.

"That's right, but in the near future, the Japanese army has been unable to threaten Shijiazhuang due to insufficient military force, but it will be difficult to say in a month." Zeng Yiyang thought about it and replied.

"Want to hear about it?"

"The Japanese army in Rehe, Chahar, Suiyuan's Kwantung Army and puppet Mongolian troops will soon advance along the Great Wall. At that time, Tang Enbo and Fu Zuoyi will be attacked from both sides and retreat from the south entrance will be inevitable. But before that, the focus of the Japanese army's attack was still on Huailai. Entering into Shanxi from Huailai's new security guard was a good choice for the Japanese army, and the Kwantung Army will lead its troops to attack Datong, an important city in northern Shanxi, which is the prelude to the battle." Zeng Yiyang said.

If Yan Xishan could give up important cities and retreat to the surrounding small county towns, only attacking small Japanese troops.

If the Japanese army encircled and suppressed the enemy, then the big city would inevitably be empty. Recovering one or two big cities would be like taking advantage of the situation. The main force of the Japanese army remained unmoved, so it would be easier to do so. Controlling the traffic lines around it and surrounding counties would make the Japanese army fall into a dilemma of the enemy everywhere and finally retreating from Shanxi in disgrace.

But it was Yan Xishan's desperate bet that made the Japanese Fifth Division famous for the Steel Army. With a 21st Brigade and the Kanto Army's *1st Brigade, he dared to rush to the defensive front arranged by the 200,000 troops of the Central Army's Shanxi Sui Army, which shows how gambled by Itagaki Seishiro.

I have to say that Seishiro Itagaki is really good in terms of luck.

Zhang Xueliang only knew that the horn for the Japanese army to attack North China had been sounded, but there was no important military intelligence such as how many Japanese troops were, the number of troops.

You can only use the Japanese army that has fought with the Northeast Army as a reference. Such military information will inevitably mislead the general.

"Commander-in-Chief, do you know the laws of the Japanese army's overseas combat?" Zeng Yiyang asked Zhang Xueliang.

"What rules?"

"In addition to the permanent division, the newly formed 1xx-Big Head Division of the Japanese army is all reserves for the permanent division. Although it is composed of two brigades and four regiments, and is equipped with the same auxiliary troops as the permanent division, the actual force of the troops to go out to fight is only half of the number." Zeng Yiyang saw that Zhang Xueliang did not understand, so he asked. It seemed that Zhang Xueliang was also confused by the Japanese army's troops number, thinking that the Japanese 109th Division in Baoding was a full-scale division of 28,000 people.

"Because of Japan's domestic defense problems, many unsolicited divisions will leave half of the troops in the country and become left-behind divisions. This is also a tradition of the Japanese army. On the front line, if the divisions on the expedition suffer serious losses, they can quickly replenish the troops with the strength of the left-behind division. In addition, when a large number of troops are needed to supplement, the expansion of the left-behind division has become its best choice."

Seeing that Zhang Xueliang was a little puzzled, Zeng Yiyang continued: "In fact, the 109th Division was formed by the local soldiers of the Kanazawa Division. It is a reserve service. Since they are all veterans, they are completely different from the 9th Division in addition to heavy weapons, but they are almost the same in individual soldiers' qualities."

"You mean that the Japanese army has only 20,000 Japanese troops in Hebei and other places outside Pingjin?" Zhang Xueliang asked irresponsible. He was actually irritated by Zeng Yiyang.

In this area, there are at least 200,000 troops, driven away by 20,000 Japanese troops. Isn’t this a sign of the destruction of the country?

"Commander-in-Chief, you don't want to have a full counterattack!" Zeng Yiyang asked strangely.

"This..." Zhang Xueliang did have this idea, but he was embarrassed to say that he was busy dealing with the sudden attack of the Japanese army in the early stage. He had no idea how many Japanese soldiers were. If he had done so, he immediately became dissatisfied with the number of Japanese troops.

But Zeng Yiyang's question made Zhang Xueliang wake up immediately. At one time, the Japanese Fifth Division had already landed at Dagukou and was heading towards Beiping. At this time, the Japanese army would definitely not be afraid of attacking.

"The Fifth Division is a permanent division with a full staff of nearly 30,000 people. There is also a field First Artillery Brigade under command, with a total strength of less than 40,000." Zeng Yiyang was like a fortune teller, allowing Zhang Xueliang to step by step into the thinking that Zeng Yiyang had imagined for him. "North China has lost the opportunity for our army to take the initiative to attack, and we have to wait next."

"wait?"

"Yes, wait. The Japanese command also understands one thing. They also know that it is much easier to attack along Pinghan Road in North China than to land in Shanghai to attack Nanjing. But they were too anxious and wanted to force the Nanjing government to surrender in three months to half a year. This is obviously impossible. In addition, controlling Shanghai and cutting off the Yangtze River water transportation is very important for the Japanese army. This golden waterway in China is cut off, so the weapons and ammunition purchased by the Nanjing government from Britain and France cannot be transported, and the Nanjing government has also cut off the foreign materials of the Nanjing government."

"What do you mean, when the Japanese army opens up the battlefield in East China, is the turning point for the battlefield in North China?" Zhang Xueliang could understand that the requirements for the Japanese army's military strength must be a test.

If the war is unfavorable, it is imperative to draw troops from North China.

"If the Japanese army deployed 6-8 permanent divisions in North China, then it would be a matter of time before the fall of the North China battlefield. However, once the Japanese army opens up the battlefield in Songhu and starts in Jiangnan, many of the heavy equipment of the Japanese army will be subject to the spider-web-like waterways in Jiangnan. As long as the Nanjing government is determined, it will not be difficult to hold up the 300,000 Japanese troops." Zeng Yiyang of course hopes that the Battle of Songhu will appear one day earlier. As long as the battlefield in Songhu is unfavorable, the Japanese army will draw a large number of troops on the battlefield in North China, then it is not a dream to eat one or two divisions of the Japanese army.

Zhang Xueliang was the deputy commander-in-chief of the National Government. Of course, he knew Chiang Kai-shek's determination to use the most elite troops in the Central Army to hold back the Japanese army, organize more than 70 divisions of troops, and fight with the Japanese army.

By then, there will be fewer Japanese soldiers and they will be killed by being driven into the sea.

"Do you fall in love with the Japanese division?" Zhang Xueliang's eyes lit up. Zeng Yiyang's record of encirclement and annihilation of a Japanese brigade was not his character at all. At that time, the Japanese division would definitely be in trouble.

"If the Northeast Army cooperated with the Jinsui Army and the Central Army, I could hold back two of them, I would be sure to take down these three divisions in Shanxi and Hebei." Zeng Yiyang had already thought about it. It would be no difficulty for the Eighth Route Army and the Forty Army to encircle and annihilate one division.

Because these three divisions are not fully equipped, each division has a force of about 10,000.
Chapter completed!