Northwest Autonomous Government Military and Political Conference
On May 28, 1933, Zhang Yunhan held a military and political meeting in Chang'an.
As the commander of the First Army, Zhang Yuntai was one of the early founders of the Northwest Army and now commands the First Army.
"Commander-in-Chief, our First Army has the ability to launch an attack on the Japanese troops in Northeast China, but we have some difficulties."
"First, our First Group Army is going to enter the Northeast. Jinzhou is the main decisive battle site in this battle, but the Japanese army has Northeast Korea at its back and can also obtain support from Japan from the sea. Therefore, our army must go all out, and the losses may be relatively large. "
"Secondly, the Japanese navy will be a very big threat to our army, and the enemy can attack our army from the sea."
"Thirdly, the main force of our First Group Army may not be enough to complete this offensive operation. Whether it is defending Jehol or marching northeast, the strength is somewhat stretched."
After Lu Bohan listened, he took a sip of tea and said: "The military headquarters has reorganized 18 second-line divisions into the 18th Army and the 19th Army, and placed them under the command of the First Group Army."
"As for the Japanese navy, we don't have a navy, but we have an air force."
"Commander Zhu, please tell me."
Air Force Commander Zhu Zhen nodded and said: "Our army has prepared air bases in Chengde, Pingquan, Lingyuan, Chaoyang, and Jianping. I am ready to mobilize the bombers of the Sixth Army to support this operation. If the Japanese Navy dares to appear in The vicinity of Jinzhou will have no impact on our offensive at all, and our army can even severely damage the Japanese navy before the start of Jinzhou Exhibition!"
"Aiming at the Japanese navy, we have prepared a batch of torpedo planes. Combined with other fighters, I think the threat from the Japanese navy is not great."
Listening to the words of the military leaders, Zhang Yunhan nodded. Indeed, the Japanese Navy, no, or the navies of other countries around the world have not realized the importance of aircraft at this time. It is simply not cost-effective to use aircraft to fight battleships.
The logistics commander said with a dark face: "Everyone, the Mongolian campaign that just ended has consumed a large amount of material reserves. If we want to fight, there may be some problems with ammunition. Moreover, the equipment of the 18th-19th Army is still problematic."
The director of the Intelligence Bureau stood up and said: "The Russian army is constantly gathering troops to Siberia. Although it cannot pose a threat to our army in a short time, its continuous troops stationed in the north are also a threat."
After thinking about it, Zhang Yunhan also felt that although the fight with the Russian army was over for the time being, the Sixth Army was currently contained in Cullen. The Russians continued to send trains of troops into the Siberian ice fields. The Russians were not like the Japanese. So many soldiers.
Zheng Lian on the side said: "During this period, newspapers from all over the country have published that our army has been attacking outwards. They criticized our army's strategic deployment and discredited our army. They believed that our army did not recover the Northeast and instead fought with Lao Maozi on the grassland. "
"How ridiculous!"
Zhang Yunhan slapped the table angrily!
"Then isn't Mongolia our land of China? The country's territory has been invaded. How can we, the soldiers, just watch the country being separated?"
"What's more! The war against the Russians was not initiated by us!"
"Wanqing has lost such a large piece of land, and Jinling has lost the northeast. One piece is lost today, and another piece is lost tomorrow. Which piece should be cut off in the end?"
Everyone listened to Zhang Yunhan's words and did not dare to speak. After all, these criticisms were indeed excessive, and the territorial integrity of the country cannot be violated!
"However, it is time for our army to adjust its strategy. It is not appropriate to attack outwards for the time being." Zhang Yunhan thought for a while and said.
"Jinzhou is definitely going to fight, and it must open up the situation quickly."
"The Japanese have been building permanent defenses in Jinzhou since they occupied it, from the surrounding peaks to the old city walls, to streets, fortresses, and moats."
"I also understand Commander Zhang's concerns. It's really difficult to pry open such a turtle's shell."
"According to information from the Intelligence Bureau, the Japanese have assembled nearly 200,000 main troops, most of whom are elites. Our army's attack is likely to be frustrated."
Zhang Yunhan pondered for a moment, then thought of the topography of the Jinzhou area. Sure enough, if you want to enter the Northeast, you can't avoid Jinzhou.
Moreover, most of the Japanese troops were concentrated in some permanent divisions, which shows the importance the Japanese attached to them.
"The Japanese not only built strong fortifications, they also mobilized heavy artillery brigades. Artillery alone is a great threat to our army."
Everyone was silent. Jinzhou must be fought, but Zhang Yunhan was not willing to trade tens of thousands of lives for a city, and neither were the commanders of the Northwest Army.
Zhang Yunhan does not allow casualties. In a battle of 100,000 people, more than 10,000 casualties are acceptable, but in a siege battle, 60,000 to 70,000 casualties are unacceptable to Zhang Yunhan.
Moreover, once it suffered heavy losses in Jinzhou, how could the Japanese Kwantung Army miss such a good opportunity?
"It is not appropriate to attack with infantry, then we will use artillery shells to break open the turtle shell!" Zhang Yunhan slapped the table and said.
"The Battle of Jinzhou is inevitable. Taking advantage of the current weakness of the Russian army, we must quickly enter the Northeast."
"But our strategic reserves are not sufficient? The ammunition is simply not enough to support this battle."
Zhang Yunhan thought for a while and said: "We will only attack Jinzhou now. After winning Jinzhou, we will rest for half a month before continuing the attack."
Hearing what Zhang Yunhan said, the other commanders nodded. After all, a battle involving nearly five to six million people would take half a month. After finishing the battle in Jinzhou, we really need to rest and recuperate, so we should take advantage of this time to prepare supplies.
…
On June 1, 1933, the First Army and the 16th Army began to advance towards Jinzhou. The 18th Army and the 19th Army arrived in Chengde from Taiyuan by train.
In Chang'an, Zhang Yunhan sat on the sofa and looked at the Jinzhou message sent back by Chang Naichao.
There is absolutely no problem with the Intelligence Bureau's information, and there is also no problem with the offensive policy.
Zhang Yunhan looked at the photos and annotations and couldn't help but murmured: "The Japanese have really turned Jinzhou into a turtle shell. If you want to break this turtle shell, the losses will be huge. But this is inevitable."
Zhang Yunhan couldn't help snorting coldly, what a turtle shell, isn't the Maginot Line of Defense useless?
Zhang Yunhan was thinking about getting Gustav out. If this thing is fired, all your defenses will collapse!
But this thing is not cost-effective, cumbersome to use, and completely unnecessary. It seems that we still have to use cannonballs to cut them open one by one. At that time, little Japan will live with the cannonballs. Zhang Yunhan couldn't help laughing when he thought about it.
Wang Yushan, who was making tea for Zhang Yunhan, was looking at this guy curiously. At that moment, he felt that Zhang Yunhan's domineering energy was leaking out, like a commander-in-chief who scolded Fang Qiu and pointed out the country. But in the blink of an eye, he was like a child again, giggling and looking weird.
