readytorunbook Chapter 515: The 6th War Zone is Established
Chapter 515: The 6th War Zone is Established
On the Chinese side, the loss of Yichang shocked the entire Chinese government.
At the same time, the loss of Yichang also made the top government officials very angry. Now the Japanese army is getting closer and closer to the mountain city, which is something the top government officials cannot accept.
Therefore, the highest level of the government personally issued an order, ordering the Military Commission’s most important responsibility at present to recapture Yichang as soon as possible and allocate sufficient troops to counterattack the Japanese troops in Yichang.
At the same time, in order to enforce strict military discipline and boost the morale of the frontline officers and soldiers, the top government also issued two consecutive orders to punish those responsible for the loss of Yichang:
The first was to redivide the defense scope and combat direction of the Fifth and Sixth War Zones, and to assign the task of retaking Yichang to Commander Chen of the Sixth War Zone.
The second is to remove the Jiang Defense Army Commander Guo Chan from his post and transfer him to Shancheng for investigation.
In fact, the Sixth War Zone was established as early as the second phase of the Zaoyi Campaign. In order to deal with the westward attack of the Japanese army, the Military Commission divided the Fifth War Zone into two corps, left and right, and the initial prototype had been established. Now the Sixth War Zone has been established on the basis of the original right wing corps troops and combat areas of the Fifth War Zone.
As for the punishment of removing Jiang Defense Army Commander Guo Chan from his post and transferring him to Shancheng for investigation, it was more of a show than an actual punishment, because the top government leaders were well aware of the relationship between Guo Chan and Chief Chen, and Guo Chan was Chief Chen's confidant.
The highest level of the government first punished Guo Chan, which was also an explanation to the people of the whole country for the loss of Yichang. After all, Commander Li of the Fifth War Zone and Commander Chen of the Sixth War Zone could not be blamed for this.
Now, at the instruction of the highest level of the government, the Military Commission has appointed Commander Chen with full command of the Sixth War Zone to recapture Yichang. Guo Chan is Commander Chen's confidant. Commander Chen can make a request to the highest level of the government on the grounds that he needs subordinates who are willing to go through fire and water for him, so that Guo Chan can escape the disaster and win people's hearts better. It can be said that he kills two birds with one stone.
However, everyone knew that Guo Chan was just taking the blame for someone else this time. After Guo Chan was taken back to the mountain city, many people felt sorry for him.
Because the key reason for the defeat in the Zaoyi Campaign was not that the Jiang Defense Army was withdrawn, but that the Military Commission and Commander Li of the Fifth War Zone had made a misjudgment on whether the Japanese army would launch the second phase of combat operations.
Moreover, before the second phase of the Japanese army's operations began, when Commander Li of the Fifth War Zone wanted to transfer the Jiang Defense Army to the east coast area, Guo Chan, as Commander Fang Jun, raised objections. However, at that time, the Jiang Defense Army and Guo Chan both belonged to the combat sequence of the Fifth War Zone and were subordinates of Commander Li of the Fifth War Zone. When his own war zone commander wanted to transfer troops, what could Guo Chan, as a subordinate, do? He was powerless.
The development of the matter was just as the top government leaders had expected. After Guo Chan was taken back to the mountain city, Commander Chen of the Sixth War Zone sent someone to test Guo Chan's attitude. Guo Chan was also a smart man. He immediately patted his chest and said that he was willing to take the responsibility for the loss of Yichang for the top government leaders and Commander Chen.
After Guo Chan's statement, Commander Chen went to the highest level of the government to report and pleaded for Guo Chan in front of them. The highest level of the government was very satisfied with Guo Chan's statement and immediately told Commander Chen that Guo Chan should stay in the military prison for half a year, and then go to work at the Sixth War Zone Command after the storm died down, so that Guo Chan could make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence.
Commander Chen of the Sixth War Zone dealt with Guo Chan's affairs while focusing his main energy on the issue of how to recapture Yichang. However, after studying for a long time, Commander Chen found that the combat effectiveness of the troops currently under his control was very limited. Regarding the order from the highest level of the government and the Military Commission to recapture Yichang, Commander Chen felt that it was impossible to complete the order given to him by the Sixth War Zone under the current situation.
However, this was a combat mission assigned by the highest level of government, and Yichang was too critical, so he had to find a way to accomplish this combat goal.
So, Commander Chen found Commander Li of the Fifth War Zone and Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone. His idea was simple. He did not have so many troops, so he would just recruit them from the neighboring war zones. His famous skill "Star Absorbing Technique" was not an exaggeration.
As soon as Commander Chen told the two theater commanders about his requirements and ideas, they agreed to them. The reason was simple. Commander Xue, the commander of the Ninth Theater, had a special relationship with Commander Chen and was a core member of the Civil Engineering Department. There was no reason for Commander Xue to refuse.
As for Commander Li of the Fifth War Zone, he was originally responsible for the loss of Yichang. If Yichang could not be recovered, Commander Li himself would also be responsible. Now that Commander Chen wanted the troops to recapture Yichang, he would naturally help with all his strength.
In this way, Commander Chen obtained the most important troops from the Fifth War Zone and the Ninth War Zone with almost no effort. Now with enough troops, Commander Chen could finally begin to arrange the combat plan to retake Yichang.
Commander Chen carefully studied the deployment of Japanese troops in Yichang and nearby areas. In order to prevent other Japanese troops in western Hubei from reinforcing the Japanese troops in Yichang and ensure the smooth counterattack to recapture Yichang, Commander Chen quickly made the following deployment:
In the area north of the Yangtze River, first, the 11th Division was ordered to quickly return to the combat sequence of the 18th Army, and then the entire 18th Army was stationed in Nanjin Pass and Xiaoxita areas northwest of Yichang, resting and replenishing while preparing for the counterattack on Yichang.
Secondly, the 75th Army was ordered to garrison in the area north of Tuya, the 94th Army was ordered to garrison near Shuanglian Temple, the 2nd Army was ordered to garrison northwest of Dangyang, the 31st Army was ordered to garrison northwest of Jingmen, the 33rd Army was ordered to garrison west of Yuan'an, and the 29th Army was ordered to garrison northwest of Yuan'an.
South of the Yangtze River, the 26th Army, which had been defeated by the Japanese and escaped across the Yangtze River, was ordered to garrison on the Beidoushan, An'an Temple, and Wulongokou riverside line opposite Yichang, the 73rd Army was stationed on the Yidu, Songzi and Taipingkou riverside line, and the 87th Army was stationed on the Gong'an and Shishou lines. At the same time, the New 22nd Army, which was still on the way, was ordered to rush to the west of Yichang as the general reserve of the theater of war to prepare for participating in subsequent combat operations.
Commander Chen also rearranged the combat missions and garrisons of each unit, preparing to launch a counterattack against the Japanese troops in Yichang as soon as the units arrived at the designated areas and were fully prepared.