jdhmnovel Chapter 1059 The Trouble in Jinling
Chapter 1059 The Trouble in Jinling
Nationalist Army Pujiang War Zone Command.
"You're not really planning to get the Japanese Emperor to sign, are you? As far as I know, just like they say, the Japanese Emperor didn't even sign the order to go to war with China. This guy is very cautious."
Chief of Staff Zhang from the war zone brought lunch and placed one portion in front of Li Shaoyi.
"We all know what the Japanese have done to our civilians: demanding exorbitant prices and settling for bargains. This agreement will not stop them from continuing their atrocities, but at least it will serve as a constraint. Now that large swathes of northern territory have fallen, this is all we can do."
Speaking of this matter, Li Shaoyi's voice sounded somewhat sad. He had clearly been reborn with an army and was quite powerful, but there were some things that could not be done perfectly. If analyzed with data, what Li Shaoyi had done so far was already much better than before.
"The main problem is that we don't have enough bargaining chips. We should have known earlier that there were quite a few high-ranking Japanese officials on our territory who had broken with Japan. If we had arrested them all, we could have used them to pressure Japan and maybe even gotten an agreement."
Chief of Staff Zhang said with some regret, "Before the war started, Li Shaoyi began to intercept Japanese people on the Yangtze River. But these Japanese had been operating in my country for many years, and they didn't only have this one way to return home. With the cooperation of local officials, many important Japanese personnel were indeed able to leave China."
"There's no need to dwell on the past. The battlefield of Pujiang has been peaceful for a while now. Even if the Japanese have some schemes or tricks up their sleeves, it's about time they've finished."
Li Shaoyi was unwilling to continue discussing this matter. After all, continuing the discussion would require the removal of many figures from within the Nationalist government. What we need now is unity in resisting Japan. If we were to seek revenge later, there would likely be even more traitors within the government. As long as they can stay with you, no one wants to be labeled a traitor.
But if they know you're investigating him, then things are different.
“Even if you hadn’t brought it up, I would have reported this to you anyway. We’ve done our reconnaissance. The Japanese have stockpiled a lot of supplies at several coastal strongholds. Although we’re bombing them every day, it hasn’t been very effective. In the course of the long war, the Japanese have developed a set of effective countermeasures against our offensive methods. My guess is that they hope the Japanese troops advancing south will achieve some results, or at least tie down a portion of our troops…”
While eating, Chief of Staff Zhang discussed the current situation in China with Li Shaoyi. The war situation with Japan can no longer be analyzed by a single theater of operations; it should be analyzed by the entire nation.
Previously, the Japanese troops in the Pujiang war zone were like a hungry wolf with its fangs bared, eager to take Pujiang immediately. They had paid a heavy price for their efforts, but they still continued to reinforce Pujiang.
The troops stationed in Pujiang now seem to have suddenly turned into sheep, only concerned with maintaining their current occupied territory. Expanding their occupied area seems to have been removed from their minds.
"Ma Leizi should be able to hold off the southward-advancing Japanese army without any problem. We cannot rest and recuperate on the battlefield for a period of time. I think we should launch a targeted counterattack against the Japanese army."
When Li Shaoyi said this, smiles appeared on the faces of some of the younger officers in the headquarters.
They've wanted to say this for a long time, but some diehards accused them of being ambitious and eager for quick success. They didn't even look at the huge price our armies had paid recently, and where would we find the strength to launch a counter-offensive now?
What these people said was true. In the months following the start of the Battle of Shanghai, various warlords in China suffered heavy losses. The situation improved after the 72nd Army joined the battle, but the gap between the Chinese army and the Japanese army could not be bridged in a short time.
You can acquire weapons and equipment immediately, but the problem is the level of proficiency required to use them, plus the coordination between machine gunners and infantry—these are not things that can be learned in a short time.
Therefore, even though some troops had the enhanced weapons provided by Li Shaoyi, they were still being overwhelmed by the Japanese army on the battlefield.
This is not to say that they are incompetent or cowardly, but rather that military training is something that cannot be completed in just a few days, and even if you have similar weapons, the improvement in combat effectiveness is very limited.
"I agree with your suggestion to launch a counter-offensive on local battlefields, but we need to obtain approval from the Ministry of Military Affairs..."
Chief of Staff Zhang said somewhat embarrassedly, "If the Pujiang war zone remains dangerous, then all power rests with the war zone command."
The Ministry of Military and Political Affairs of Nanjing, along with other government departments, would not say much else, because they were afraid of taking responsibility and losing the responsibility for the Huangpu River.
Now that the Pujiang war zone is relatively stable, Nanjing is interfering more. The Ministry of Military Affairs even received instructions from the Chairman to require the Pujiang war zone to report three times a day, and all actions involving infantry divisions and above must be reported in advance.
"Why not just bypass them? The saying 'A general in the field may disobey the emperor's orders' is a new concept, isn't it?"
Li Shaoyi said somewhat speechlessly, "If I were to report everything, then there would be no need to fight this war. How many Japanese spies are there in Nanjing? Everyone knows very well that there are all sorts of top-notch Japanese spies in various intelligence departments throughout Nanjing. Let's clean up your side first, otherwise, no matter how much intelligence I report, that much intelligence will be leaked."
"You know our old man. If you report honestly, he won't cause you too much trouble. But if you report late, he might even take orders from above. There are quite a few Central Army troops on the Pujiang battlefield, most of whom are graduates of Whampoa Military Academy..."
Chief of Staff Zhang didn't say it explicitly, but Li Shaoyi already understood that if he didn't do as Jinling said, this matter of overstepping his authority would spread to his subordinates.
No matter what happens then, it will be extremely difficult for us. Even if your troops are not from the Central Army, suddenly receiving orders from the Executive Office will still cause some shock to them.
"In other words, apart from my 72nd Army, the movement of other troops requires Nanjing's approval, right?"
Li Shaoyi tossed the lunchbox aside and lit a cigarette for himself...