The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 258 The bellicose handsome nephew

In the military police headquarters, General Xiao listened with a livid face to He Wei's report on the various misdeeds of the 48th Division Commander Xu Jiwu and the battle situation of the reinforcement of the Second Army's position. He slammed the table angrily on the spot and cursed loudly: " How dare a rat do this? You bastard!"

"When he goes to play mahjong during a war, he's not afraid of losing his head. What a fucking piece of shit, it's hard to change his evil nature!"

The small victory of killing more than 60 Japanese troops in the counterattack was nothing compared to the anecdote of a division commander leaving his post without permission on the battlefield to play mahjong. Even the always elegant General Xiao, after learning about this, He also uttered foul language again and again.

General Xiao, who was filled with anger, furiously scolded Xu Jiwu for a while in the headquarters. Seeing He Wei's thoughtful look, he asked, "What do you want to say? Don't hide it."

"Yes!"

He Wei immediately stood at attention with his legs crossed and said: "Sir, the commander of the 48th Division, Xu Jiwu, has now fled to the command post of the Second Army. The soldiers in the forward positions are also very angry about him, but the chief of staff of the division The battle was quite heroic. I think we can make slight adjustments to the command system of the 48th Division to consolidate the defensive status of the 48th Division's positions."

General Xiao looked at He Wei and nodded slightly. He naturally understood the implication of He Wei's words. This was to suggest that General Xiao should replace Xu Jiwu. Of course, He Wei, a young major, could not speak out about this matter. Able to make subtle suggestions to General Xiao.

General Xiao thought for a moment, and then shouted loudly: "Of course we can't keep this kind of stuff, we must replace it immediately, Adjutant!"

A military police officer quickly ran to General Xiao. General Xiao, who was still angry, pointed at the defensive position of the Second Army and shouted loudly: "My order, Xu Jiwu, the commander of the 48th Division, neglected his duty and was killed in the battle." At that time, he left his post without authorization and was unable to control the troops well, which caused the 48th Division's position to almost collapse and endanger the overall situation. He is hereby ordered to be removed from his post for investigation and to be temporarily retained to serve at the Second Army Headquarters. The position of division commander will be temporarily taken over by his division chief of staff. Order the Second Army to execute this order immediately without any mistakes!"

"Yes!"

The adjutant left to convey the order, and after watching the adjutant leave, He Wei also breathed a sigh of relief. The time bomb of Xu Jiwu, the commander of the 48th Division who had neglected his duties, was now cleared.

Therefore, He Wei then reported his predicted Japanese military actions to General Xiao.

"Sir, I just made a comprehensive judgment based on the situation reported by the enemy prisoners. It is very likely that the Japanese army will make a big move next."

When General Xiao heard this, his face turned red because he cursed Xu Jiwu angrily. Only then did he return to normal by this even more shocking news.

"Big move? You mean the Japanese army is going to launch a large-scale attack?"

"That's right. According to the confessions of the Japanese prisoners captured by our unit, before attacking the 48th Division's positions, they had launched small-scale attacks on the positions of several other troops. During the attack, they attacked our troops. The firepower equipment and position deployment of each position have been recorded in detail, but the defenses of several other units are very tight. Only when the 48th Division was thinned out and almost became chaos without fighting, did the The Japanese army lost their position."

After He Wei finished speaking, he took a step forward, approached General Xiao and continued: "Sir, the Japanese army sent out a small force and launched an attack on the positions of various troops in our defense circle at the same time. During the attack, "With detailed records of the defense configurations of each department, coupled with their unorganized bombardment, it is not difficult for us to guess what the Japanese want to do."

General Xiao hesitated for a moment, raised his head and looked at He Wei, and said slowly: "You mean, the Japanese army's shelling is to confuse us, even the troops being attacked at the same time is also to confuse us, the purpose of their attack today Is it to find a weak point of defense in our position, and then deploy heavy troops to concentrate our forces to attack the weak point of our army's defense?"

"Yes, that's the case. In fact, we don't need to speculate so laboriously. The Japanese must have only one purpose now, to annihilate our military troops in Xiaguan. To launch an attack on Xiaguan is the proper meaning of the question. It is nothing more than what It’s just a matter of when to attack, how to attack, and where to attack.”

He Wei said.

At this time, General Xiao's face suddenly froze, and he looked in the direction of the Second Army's position with great concern: "In this way, if the Japanese army's all-out attack on our troops today is to find out the defense status of each troops, then since only The position of the 48th Division has been breached. Doesn't it mean that the main direction of the Japanese army's attack in the future will be"

"Most of the time, the other troops held their positions. Only the 48th Division lost its position easily. It can even be said that it collapsed without a fight. If I were the commander of the Japanese army, I would definitely choose the 48th Division first. The division's position is the breakthrough point."

As He Wei spoke, he walked to the map hanging in the command post, picked up the baton, pointed to the position of the 48th Division, and said: "The two divisions of the Second Army are arranged in the defensive circle. The innermost side is adjacent to the river. As long as they break through from here, the Japanese army can directly cut off our army's retreat and cut off our army's back road. At that time, our Jinling garrison and those people who have not crossed the river will become the Japanese army. A plate of delicious food.”

Although He Wei described the situation as so serious, General Xiao saw that although He Wei was nervous and serious, he still maintained a calm and calm attitude, and he immediately understood that He Wei had probably already made a plan in his heart. .

The two have been together for such a long time, and General Xiao has gained a lot of understanding of the behavior of this young officer. It is his usual behavior to seek a way out of chaos and seek opportunities in defeat.

Thinking of this, General Xiao's slightly bitter face softened, and he glanced at He Wei with some interest and said: "Since you have thought so much, I guess you have some plans, so just tell me. !”

Seeing General Xiao being so straightforward, He Wei would not hide it.

"Sir, the current situation is that the Japanese attack is inevitable. We might as well make good use of it. When the Japanese come, we will find an opportunity to trick them and mess with them."

General Xiao stared at the position of the Second Army against the river on the map and asked: "How do you want to fight? Reinforce the position in advance to let the Japanese have a chance, or do you want to find an opportunity to let them in and fight a battle of annihilation?" "

He Wei said categorically: "Since we want to do it, let's do a big one. We will fight as many Japanese as they come, with the goal of fighting a war of annihilation and eating more of their troops. However, this is difficult to achieve, but As long as you command it properly, even if you can't eat all the men and horses they attack, you can still bite off a piece of meat from them." General Xiao couldn't help but be surprised when he heard that He Wei had such a big appetite to surround the Japanese army. He glanced at He Wei.

He knew that the young officer in front of him was good at seizing opportunities and often did not follow common sense in battle, but he did not expect that He Wei's appetite was so big.

But after He Wei finished speaking, General Xiao's expression fell, and he said: "You have a lot of ambition, but Youdao can't eat a fat man in one bite. Your appetite is really too big this time, if nothing else. , where can we find the troops to attack and annihilate the Japanese army? In addition to your battalion, the reserve force is the 103rd Division and several military police regiments. Although I do not work in the field army all year round, I also knew the principles of annihilation when I was at Baoding Military Academy. The truth is that if we want to annihilate the enemy, we must have several times the enemy's troops and several times the enemy's firepower. With the few forces we have, it may be difficult to do it."

General Xiao poured cold water on He Wei in a rare moment and sighed: "To be honest, if I could draw a division of troops from all the troops in the defense circle, I would agree with your tactics and your command. I am It’s trustworthy, but the strength we have is really insufficient, so why not choose a more prudent combat plan for the time being, strengthen the Second Army’s position, and ensure that this position is secure.”

"Moreover, the Japanese army has always been determined to retaliate. Yesterday they suffered a big loss in front of the teaching corps' position and lost a brigade. According to their temperament, they will definitely come back with revenge, and they will definitely retaliate with more troops. We have strength, when they launch an attack on the 48th Division's positions, they may not have the strength of one brigade, but two, three or even more. It would be good if we can hold on. If we let them in rashly, we will lure them in. If the enemy goes deep, what can we do to eat them?"

"Your special agent battalion is a rare and powerful army, but other troops do not have the combat effectiveness of your people."

He Wei remained silent, and what General Xiao said was very reasonable. The only mobile units available in the Xiaguan defense circle now are He Shaozhou's 103rd Division and several military police regiments. They are all units with very limited combat effectiveness. The military police units Needless to say, it is not good at field combat, and He Shaozhou's 103rd Division is a newly defeated division, and its combat effectiveness is also very problematic.

From this point of view, it is indeed extremely difficult for He Wei to fight another battle of annihilation.

Looking at the silent He Wei, General Xiao actually felt quite regretful. As a traditional old soldier, he was born in the pre-Qing Dynasty. He received the traditional education of loyalty to the emperor, patriotism and killing the enemy to protect the country since childhood. Regarding He Wei's tactical intention, General Xiao actually hoped to achieve it, but due to the limited power in his hands, he really did not dare to take risks.

In short, facing the upcoming large-scale attack by the Japanese army, there are only two ways to go now. The safe way is to strengthen the defensive power of the 48th Division position that is most likely to be attacked by the Japanese army, and hold on to the position.

Another extremely risky path is to lure the enemy deep into the Japanese army, whose strength may far exceed that of an infantry brigade, and engage in a battle of annihilation.

Obviously, General Xiao still prefers to choose a conservative plan. After all, in the current confrontation between the Chinese and Japanese armies on various battlefields, any Chinese commander with a right mind will choose self-preservation first when facing Japanese troops above the brigade level. There is nothing wrong with this.

After all, if the annihilation war proposed by He Wei fails to achieve its goal and something goes wrong, it is likely to lead to a complete collapse of the Xiaguan war situation.

No matter how much General Xiao appreciated He Wei, he would never risk the overall situation.

General Xiao and He Wei both fell silent. General Xiao was worried, regretful and anxious, while He Wei looked at General Xiao with extremely war-seeking eyes, his eyes full of eager desire for war.

The silence between the two lasted for almost five minutes. Finally, General Xiao spoke first.

"This matter is of great importance and still needs to be discussed carefully. Let's do this. I will call the chief officers of each reserve team and we will discuss this matter together. Then we will make a decision and see what everyone's opinions are. Besides, even if it is Your plan for an annihilation war cannot be realized. When the Japanese army attacks the 48th Division's positions, we will still have to use the reserves we have to strengthen the defensive force. It is indeed necessary to summon the chief officers of each reserve team and let everyone have a chance."

General Xiao sighed, and then ordered the adjutant beside him to summon the chief officers of each reserve team.

He Wei stood aside, and the first thing that came to his mind was He Shaozhou, the current acting commander of the 103rd Division. As for the reserve teams in the Xiaguan defense circle, only the 103rd Division was seriously considered as a field force. The rest of the third division are military police.

The gendarmerie is essentially the police force in the military. It is mainly used to supervise the discipline of the army's field troops. During regular operations, it is okay to separate and reinforce it and give it to other troops for defense. Forget it then.

After all, even if the military police dared to let a group of military police who had not received much serious field offensive and defensive training go out to fight the Japanese army, He Wei would not be at ease.

Therefore, this matter still has to fall on He Shaozhou. Only his 103rd Division is considered a field force in the reserve. If he is also inclined to fight a war of annihilation with the Japanese army, it may have an impact on General Xiao's decision-making. Influence.

Soon, the chief officers of the reserve teams were summoned to the military police headquarters. The visitors were Luo Yousheng, commander of the second military police regiment, Chen Lielin, commander of the tenth military police regiment, Zhou Jingren, commander of the second military police training regiment, and the first military police commander. He Shaozhou, acting commander of the 03rd Division.

And when General Xiao informed everyone of the current battle situation, the upcoming Japanese attack, and He Wei's annihilation plan, the military police captains were all horrified when they heard that they might pull their troops up to confront the Japanese. On the one hand, they expressed unanimous opposition to the bold plan of annihilation war proposed by He Wei. On the other hand, they said that once the reserve force needs to be deployed to participate in the war, the military police force can be split and assigned to the front-line units for inter-force reinforcement, and it must not become an organic one. Fight to the death against the Japanese army alone.

The reactions of these military police officers were actually within He Wei's expectations, but the reaction of He Shaozhou, acting commander of the 103rd Division, greatly exceeded He Wei's expectations.

Not only did he not tend to be conservative like those military police officers, but he strongly agreed with He Wei's idea of ​​a war of annihilation. Moreover, He Shaozhou also took the initiative to ask for the war and requested that the 103rd Division be put into battle! Fight to the death with the Japanese army!
Even He Wei was a little stunned when he saw He Shaozhou's impassioned request for war from General Xiao in the Military Police Headquarters and the fighting enthusiasm radiating from him.

General Xiao was even dumbfounded, thinking that He Wei was already such a fanatical murderer, and now He Shaozhou, who took the initiative to ask for a fight and was eager to ask for a fight, these students who graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy were surprisingly consistent in some aspects. .

And He Wei also thought to himself that it seemed that He Shaozhou, the handsome nephew, was really a "militant."

(End of this chapter)