The Xicheng Line did collapse very quickly. Although Wen San disrupted the situation and delayed it for a few more days, the final outcome did not change. The Japanese troops at the forefront are still advancing towards the capital, and a new round of war is about to break out.
The team sent by Wen San to lay mines still had some effect, and a lot of the Japanese tanks of the two brigades were damaged. It is unrealistic to repair and put it back into use in a short time. The Japanese casualties were not serious. Bullet mines are easy to use, but they are not that difficult to crack.
After suffering several small losses, the Japanese came up with many ways to destroy the bullet mine. The most frenzied thing was to arrest local civilians and let them explore the road ahead.
In view of this situation, Zhou Zhengbiao finally gave up his plan to continue using bullet mines. Anyway, they also achieved considerable results. More than half of the more than 100 Japanese tanks were lying on the road, which could be regarded as a profound lesson to the arrogant Japanese.
At least the Japanese didn't take much advantage, and they didn't have the capital to brag. They didn't dare to tell the media in a big way: We beat Wen San's independent regiment and fled.
Once the Xicheng Line collapsed, all the defenders had no choice but to retreat towards the capital. Only the Jiangyin Fortress is still struggling to support them, but they are already alone without any troops to support them.
The battle to defend the capital is about to begin, and the national army claims to have assembled a total force of about 150,000. The 36th Division, 87th Division and 88th Division that had just retreated from the front line were the core elite forces, plus 10 divisions transferred from other places, a total of 13 divisions, plus the teaching corps composed of students from the military academy ( A total of more than 12,000 people), gendarmerie troops, and Jiangning Fortress troops. If each unit is fully staffed, it will reach about 180,000 people.
However, except for a few main divisions of the 10th Army, the other units are basically newly formed reinforcements. The rest are remnants that were withdrawn from various battlefields and replenished after being damaged. Therefore, the ministries are actually not fully staffed. According to the preliminary statistics of Chief Tang, there are about 80,000 people, of which about 30,000 are new soldiers.
Therefore, it seems that the combat effectiveness of the army at its peak is not as strong as expected. Commander Tang's army command and combat capabilities were not very outstanding. It can only be said that the national integrity is full and there is no problem with the courage and attitude of daring to fight the Japanese.
On December 1, the Japanese army finally captured the Jiangyin Fortress at great cost. On the same day, the Japanese Commander Headquarters issued Mainland Order No. 8 at the request of Matsui Iwane: the Central China Front Army must coordinate with the navy to launch a campaign to capture the capital of China.
The Japanese attacked the capital from multiple routes, and their advance was quite rapid. Although Wen San's headquarters was temporarily freed from the encirclement of the two brigades, it was still under the threat of the Japanese 13th Division and 16th Division.
During this period, Wen San led the commanders of each battalion and company to conduct very strict training for his troops. In order to quickly form combat capabilities. Fortunately, these troops have been expanded on the original basis. Whether they are commanders at the battalion and company level, or at the squad and platoon level, they are all veterans of Wen San's original unit.
At this time, the benefits of student soldiers are revealed. They learn tactics and tactics much faster than those soldiers who cannot read a single word. After a few battles, their greenness quickly faded and they became qualified soldiers.
Individual student soldiers who have made breakthroughs have become squad leaders.
The soldiers brought over by Zhang Yonglin are actually of good quality, and most of them are veterans. With the foundation of the 88th Division, the effect of training them is actually very good.
Without Zhang Yonglin and others, they are actually very pure soldiers. No matter who takes command, they will fight against the Japanese the same way.
Within a few days, Wen San's headquarters had quickly formed combat effectiveness. Perhaps the combat effectiveness of the same force is slightly worse than before, but the overall number has increased so much, and the combat effectiveness has been essentially improved.
In the process, Wen San gathered many more defeated troops, and the total number of troops exceeded two thousand.
In terms of food, it is indeed a problem for Wen San Branch. Fortunately, they captured a lot, and Zhang Yonglin and the others also brought a reward of 10,000 yuan. This alleviated the food problem to a great extent.
Many local fellow villagers saw the Japanese army approaching the border and started to flee with their families. Even those who have a little surplus food at home cannot take it away, especially those landlords and gentry who have a lot of food and property in their hands.
Many of these people are reluctant to leave their hometowns because leaving means losing their land and wealth.
Wen San understood that many of these landlords and gentry would eventually become traitor lackeys of the Japanese. Regardless of their food or wealth, most of them became the enemy's necessities.
When meeting such people, Wen San will not be polite to them. Although it is not necessary to send troops to grab food, it is still necessary to make these landlords and wealthy people interested. Appropriate alms are also a necessary means.
Anyway, there are no senior generals in charge of his army. Isn't it reasonable to let these people support the revolutionary team?
The food problem was solved, which made Wen San feel a lot more relaxed. As the saying goes, before the soldiers and horses move, food and grass go first. His army must try its best to keep the soldiers full, otherwise how can they have the strength to fight the Japanese?
"Report to the leader, the people who supervise the battle team and the teaching camp are back." When Wen San was studying the combat map, Zhou Zhengbiao ran over.
"You guys ran pretty fast. Were there any casualties?" Wen San saw Zhou Zhengbiao's tired look on his face and guessed that he had endured a lot of hardships these past few days.
"We mainly dug holes and laid mines, and left before the Japanese could catch up. No one in the supervising team died, but a few guys sprained their feet, which can be considered minor injuries."
"How is the performance of the training camp? Did anyone escape?" Wen San was more concerned about this. It was originally thought that these officers would take the opportunity to escape, but it was just for Zhou Zhengbiao to enforce battlefield discipline.
"There are only a few people who are ready to run away, and we have already dealt with them on the spot." Zhou Zhengbiao said nonchalantly.
In fact, the company platoon leaders were also bewitched by Gao Jian, and wanted them to test Zhou Zhengbiao's bottom line. If they didn't respond, Gao Jian might plan a bigger escape incident.
Gao Jian didn't even tell Zhang Yonglin about this. Obviously, there was some estrangement between them, and their relationship was not as good as before.
Zhou Zhengbiao would naturally not be lenient towards such behavior. His supervising team was not just a decoration. Wen San gave him great power. If someone wanted to become a deserter, he would shoot him directly.
"Captain Zhang and several other senior officials have returned. I'm not sure what their attitude is for the time being." Zhou Zhengbiao reported.
"Okay, let your people rest first. I'll go over and see the situation in the training camp myself." Wen San still didn't want to give up on these people. They were all front-line commanders with great combat experience. There will be a time when we can use these people later.
