History since ancient times has proven that famous generals and commanders who can stand out in wars and become the soul of an army and the heroes of a country have never relied on their qualifications and relationships, let alone any theories, but can only rely on The baptism of war, the great waves washing away the sand, it was fought on the bloody battlefield.
In the history of the Chinese Anti-Japanese War, countless famous anti-Japanese generals emerged in the national army, but most of them served as military commanders at the division and brigade level. They also achieved victory on local battlefields and could truly command large corps to fight and achieve campaign-level victories. There are very few generals.
Zhou Wen came and went, and only two generals, General Xue, who commanded the Wanjialing victory and three Changsha battles, killing 100,000 Japanese invaders, and Guangxi General Wang Li, who commanded the Taierzhuang victory and annihilated more than 10,000 Japanese invaders, were named. He is truly handsome.
However, neither General Xue nor General Li were direct relatives of the principal, and they even had great political differences with the principal. Naturally, it was impossible for the principal to entrust any of them with the important task of defending Nanjing.
In fact, in addition to the two of them, there are still many national army generals who can assume the overall responsibility of commanding the defense of Nanjing. For example, General Du, who later won the victory at Kunlun Pass and served as the commander-in-chief of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and the last general who commanded the Anti-Japanese War General Wang and others from the large-scale battle of Xuefeng Mountain.
In Zhou Wen's view, what the future commander of the Nanjing Defense War actually needs is not some brilliant tactical command and military talent, but a strong will and a determination to die with the enemy.
The so-called general is the courage of the soldier, and the commander is the soul of the army. As the commander of an army, any of your actions and psychological dynamics during battle will have an impact on the entire army's operations.
If you are brave, the whole army will be brave; if you are timid, the whole army will be timid.
Zhou Wen was not the principal, and he was not sure that the principal would obey him, so he had to prepare for a rainy day. What's more, he promised the principal that he would personally lead the team to participate in the decisive battle in Nanjing, so he was naturally prepared for the worst.
It turns out that in the historical Battle of Nanjing, although there were Japanese warships on the Yangtze River blocking the river, the Japanese warships were still unable to completely blockade the Nanjing section of the water because the Chinese army sank ships in the main channel of the Yangtze River and laid mines to block the waterway. This gave Zhou Wen There is room for layout.
The Second Regiment was transferred to Pukou. In the future war, it was to ensure the safety of the north bank of the Yangtze River opposite Xiaguan Pier and prevent the Japanese army from sending a small number of troops disguised as national troops to cause destruction and chaos on the north bank. Moreover, there are many rivers in Pukou, which is convenient for hiding ships. Once necessary, various ships can be organized to cross the river to rescue people.
As for whether the commander at that time would order the burning and seizure of ships, Zhou Wen simply ignored it.
The role of the Jiang Defense Brigade in Hukou will be even greater, because not only can they sail down the river to rescue people, but they can also mobilize and organize merchant ships and fishermen from the towns along the way to participate in the rescue operation.
Just like the Dunkirk evacuation launched by the British during World War II, almost all British merchant ships and fishing boats on the other side of France were dispatched, and in just about a week, 336,000 British and French troops were rescued.
The more than 300,000 troops that were withdrawn were elite veterans who had gained rich combat experience after months of fighting between Britain, France and Germany. With these veterans as the backbone, Britain reorganized millions of troops at home. While defending its homeland, it also fought an inextricable battle with Germany in Africa.
A few years later, a coalition of British and American troops with these veterans as the backbone landed in Normandy and launched a decisive counterattack, ultimately defeating the powerful Third Reich.
Zhou Wen wanted to imitate the British retreat in Dunkirk and pick up the retreating troops and people from Nanjing City.
Some people would say that Britain mobilized the whole country and almost mobilized all kinds of ships that could be collected across the country to rescue these troops within a week. But Zhou Wen wanted to rescue hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians on his own, but he was probably overestimating his own capabilities.
But for Zhou Wen, he is full of confidence and determination.
First of all, Zhou Wen has already suggested to the principal the strategy for the future Battle of Songhu and the Battle of Nanjing. I can’t say that the principal will obey his suggestions, but at least he has a rough strategy and campaign goals in his mind.
It will not be as indecisive and confused in strategic thinking as it was in history, which will lead to repeated mistakes in command.
And since the city of Nanjing is to be used as a flesh-and-blood mill to compete with the Japanese army for consumption and human lives, the people in the city will be mobilized in advance. Evacuations that need to be evacuated and mobilization and support will be organized in advance.
Regardless of whether the campaign objectives were achieved or not, the number of soldiers and civilians who ultimately retreated may not have been as high as in history.
Furthermore, the Yangtze River outside Nanjing is only a little more than one kilometer long. It is not as far away as the English Channel, which is hundreds of kilometers long. The difficulty of rescue cannot be compared with the Dunkirk evacuation.
In fact, the most critical factor is to have a boat.
That's why Zhou Wen took so much pains to lay out his plans in Pukou and Hukou.
Although most of the people in this period were uneducated, they still understood the basic righteousness of protecting their homes and country. After all, who knew that this was different from the previous civil war. This was a national war against foreign bandits who came to enslave China. As long as the organization is well organized, the enthusiasm of the people in front of the support is still worthy of praise and trust.
This is not Zhou Wen’s own unilateral wishful thinking, but the historical defense battle of Changsha and Hengyang. Hundreds of thousands of people participated in the defense battle in Changsha and Hengyang. It was truly achieved that the rich contributed money and the powerful people With their efforts, the entire city's army and people shared the same hatred of the enemy, thus ensuring the victory of the three Changsha battles.
The key here is to have official organization and mobilization. The Second Regiment in Pukou and the Jiang Defense Brigade in Hukou were the official representatives who mobilized and organized the people to support the front.
Especially for Zhao Qinghu's Jiang Defense Brigade, Zhou Wen was interested in the good reputation and connections he and the Yihu Gang had in the Hukou area. And as they continue to suppress bandits and protect the environment and the people in the next few years, this kind of word-of-mouth will spread wider and wider, and their connections will increase. I dare not say that they will be responded to by hundreds of people, but hundreds or thousands of ships will be mobilized. It's still possible.
And if the military committee on the principal's side has already made arrangements and made preparations by then, Zhou Wen will regard it as the icing on the cake, as long as the final result is good.
In addition, Mr. Zhou also has his own little thoughts.
Although he was unambiguous in beating Little Japan, he was not afraid of death either. But he was unwilling to lose all his brothers in Nanjing in the early stages of the war. He will also lead his brothers to kill more Japanese in the next eight years and play a greater role.
As the old saying goes, the special forces he built are not for consumption.
